part i by Zucca:
“Yer gonna have to explain this one to me, Xerfantes…because you put yerself at some serious risk. Yer glamours’n charms don’t work on soulless machines you know…” Doc Mal said as he saw Zucca lean up from his work.
A whole host of robotic figures were sprawled out on tables in Zucca’s workshop, hidden away on the Dyson Ring inside the Cryok.
“What’s not to get? They need my help," Zucca said as he finished his work on AC/L, the bio-mechanical upgrades checking out.
He moved to AB/L next.
“I mean that I’ve seen you risk your life and limb for civilizations, towns, individuals, sure…but never a gaggle of spare parts.” Mal shook his head. “You can’t even sense anything from them, I bet.”
Zucca smiled, nodding, “Mm-hmm. You have no idea how refreshing it is to have a conversation with someone and not know how they feel or what’s pressing on their mind.”
“Someone? Come on, you Spanish vagabond…” Mal scoffed.
“That’s Vaquero to you, and I’m not Spanish, I’m-“
“Out of your metal-plated skull…”
“-Egyptian. And no, I’m not nuts here. You didn’t hear them, Mal. This one wasn’t corrupted…”. He motioned to AB/L. “And he did exactly what he was made to do. Protect and nurture children.”
“This one? Imagine having an eating disorder while not having a stomach, trying to use food to fill a void in your soul that can’t be satisfied,” Zucca continued.
“Soul? You’re borderin’ on blasphemy here, Zucca,” Mal sighed, feeling his Irish-Catholic upbringing rearing its head.
“This one…anger issues stemming from feeling like he’s a second fiddle. And he can’t be mad at AB/L, who’s always been nothing but decent to him, so he turns that rage inwards,” the wolf continued as he worked on CAIN/L.
Mal frowned. “They’re just programs! They’re not real people…”. He drew out the words, then remembered all the amazing things he’d seen on his journeys with Zucca, “…right…?”
Zucca sighs softly, turning to AZ/L as he worked on the final parts of her bio-mechanical upgrades. They’d all be as close to flesh and blood as possible while still retaining much of their original composition.
“This one…AZ/L….Doc, she was weeping. She wants to believe she’s good, but doesn’t truly feel it. She want’s to be loved, more than anything else in the world and would give up her most precious belonging if it meant she had that love,” Zucca explained softly.
“Mal surveyed the four as their chests began to rise and fall with breath. “And what are they supposed to do now? If they can really feel…if they truly do have souls…then what are they supposed to do? That lad the first one helped escape is still waiting in that library of yours.”
Zucca wiped his brow. “He’s orphaned. He needs a family…and they need him as much as he needs them.”
Mal sighed, sitting down. “Leave it to the Spanish peacock to make annulment of taboo virtuous…”
“Then you see that they have souls…?”
“Mal sighed, shaking his head. “That’s a big pill to ask me to swallow, Zucca.”
The wolf bit his lip. “That’s fair.”
“Why do you care what I think then? Seems you’re not gonna give up on them even if I think it’s barking mad.”
Zucca rolled his eyes. “Because you’re one fo the few people I trust to call me out if I’m about to do something stupid!”
“Dubious honor, that. But I’ll take it.”
part ii by Pyrodox:
A loud clanging accentuated by frustrated grunts suddenly grabbed their attention. Out of the shadows of the entranceway limped a diminutive cloaked figure the two took a couple seconds to recognize: Confessor Saleria.
“I had a hunch our friend Pyrodox suspected something, Mallory said. “I was just wondering how he’d sneak his fat ass over here.”
“Yes, yes, my acolyte is very fat,” Saleria responded. “He figured that he’d need to send someone he could trust, and was also more…portable.” It was apparent the stowaway had been placed in some life-support canister whose shell protected its tenant from telepathic detection.
“You’re the guy we saw fight Roussimoff,” Zucca observed.
Mallory batted an eye at the word “fight” but shrugged it off. It would have required Zucca’s telepathic powers to tell that that was whatever the hell those two were doing was intended to be.
The small Reptoia advanced toward the operating tables with surprising dignity. “I understand why Pyrodox trusted my discernment on such an affair, but I admit I am not an expert on robotics.” His dignity was someone spoiled by his attempt to peer over an operating table like a toddler. Zucca obliged by picking him up below his armpits, holding him up to get a good look at AZ/L where she lay. Mallory might have protested, but he figured that Zucca sensed the man could be trusted.
“Interesting,” the cleric said before he began to squirm. “You can put me down now.”
“I can only imagine how he’d react to what you’re doing, Zucca,” Mallory said. “If I have a problem with you trying to heal some machines as if they were people, imaging what Spanish Inquisition here would have to say.”
“On the contrary, my burly green friend. The Council has not yet decided for sure whether artificial intelligence is feasible or not.” He faced Zucca. “In fact, I could be more likely to question the ethics of this experiment if the automata were people. The ontological implications of interfering with their…brains would be off-putting to say the least. Not if they weren’t people, I would be less disturbed by your repairing broken machinery than I would be by your putting a child under the care of said machines. Imagine, all your personal relationships’ not even being real…”. The Reptoia’s legs began to kick comically as he sat on the edge of the table. Mallory could not help but notice the fragile-looking artificial vein parallel tothe creatures neck and remember how Saleria consistently kept it out of Roussimoff’s reach, knowing that all it would take is one good tug. It as the only semblance of competence that was ever displayed during that entire altercation.
“I’m only giving them the ability to be happy…they never had a choice…”
“Is it something to do with altering their minds?” Saleria continued, pointing at Zucca with his foot, “Is it possible that you could be bumbling your way into creating life under the assumption it was already there?”
“You know, Zucca, he’s got a point. That sounds exactly like something you would do.”
Saleria got up, turned around, and looked down at AZ/L, his hands behind his back. Zucca could sense the memory of horror that reduced the mans’ body to the mismatch of cybernetics that it was, but also a complete calm and acceptance of it. This man was not above feeling annoyed or occasionally doubtful, but he was remarkably secure. It was something he wished he could attain himself.
“I know your scanning me,” Saleria said calmly. “For all the insight you get into people’s minds, it makes you feel lonely that you could do this.” He then turned around to face the two, indicating the robots with his hand. “Now, I want specifics.”
part iii by Zucca
Zucca wiped the grease off his hands with a rag and glanced towards Saleria.
“I might. But unlike the Frankensteins and Geppetoos of yore, I’m prepared to deal with the consequences of creating new life. You both know how protective I am of children. I wouldn’t go into this half-baked. As for the spiritual implications…”
He looked down at AZ/L’s motionless form.
“…I believe these individuals have souls. And given that my beliefs stem from a notion that all things are of God, then I don’t see a problem granting these ones freedom from what equates to slavery. They didn’t ask to be created or given the capacity to love and feel pain. I contend that I’m better equipping them.
Mallory gave a small shrug. “I guess that’s one way of looking at it. Another way is that you’re bridging a gap that never meant to be bridged.
Saleria folded his arms. “Oh, I have no doubt this instance will go swimmingly. I am worried about the precedent it will set with you if you start believing any old facsimile of life has a soul.” He stared pointedly at Zucca as AZ/L’s chest rose and fell with respiration. “Toasters cannot bite someone’s head in twain if they feel cornered. Toasters can only burn bread to varying degrees of edibility. This is not some joke. You’re playing God, Xerfantes.”
Zucca frowned, setting his wrench down. “Wrong. Someone else played and I’m volunteering to pick up the piece while preserved what I consider to be sentient lives that were treated with such injustice. I cannot stand by while they suffer for things out of their control.”
“There’s a lot of other beings out there suffering, Zucca. Why them?” Mallory inquired, more curiously than accusatorily.
“Because I’m the only one who can help these ones.” Zucca said, watching as the as the uplifted bots began to wake, noting their surroundings and new bodies with curiosity and disorientation, some even weeping with relief after being freed from their virus.
part iv by Pyrodox
Pyrodox was not the only one who had suspected Zucca. Listening by means of a time-decayed surveillance virus aboard the Cryok, a digital mind calculated the discovery, and yet the unsuspecting subjects of its attention had little to fear. In a newfound act of rebellion, it had elected to keep this secret from its creator in an act of discretion that passed for gratitude. In its cold eyes, clean vectors glitched into blocks of azure static.
“I have a family,” JAQ/L allowed herself to emit externally, “And my father hid it from me.”
