Coffee, Office and Offer - Episode 50
Ace Dreamer
Questioning The Nature of our Realities
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Raven Lunacy, Episode 50
"You're a robot. You just sat there, drank a cup of coffee. You went white, earlier, when you looked at the murder holes. That isn't a wig, that's either living hair, or the best fake I've ever seen."
"Living flesh over a metal endo-skeleton. A quote from a film that few seem to know of in this world. Well, mostly plastic, metal's too heavy."
A disbelieving look.
"I can show you the sockets on the back of my neck? Where I can plug-in skill chips or interface cables?"
"Those can be added using surgery. There's loads of deluded fools out there that'd do that sort of thing."
I sigh. "Got a good, strong, small flash-light? A small mirror on a stick? If I roll-up the back of my shirt then you can take a look around inside me, through the maintenance seam."
---
A rather embarrassing time later, and, 'Barbara' is a lot more convinced. Yes, I've told her I'm 'Geo'. Looking inside someone, even if they're designed for it, can lead to first-name terms.
She did raise an eyebrow when she saw the knife sheathed on the back of my belt. I promised she could look at it, later.
"You didn't have to tell me that. You're a convincing enough fake that I wouldn't have guessed. So, you have an agenda. Give."
"I will do, but, didn't you promise me a look, seeing as I'm actually, physically, here this time, around your workplace?"
Grudgingly, she agrees.
---
Her 'office' is really impressive. I'd only glanced at it, before, I'd more important things to worry about. And, maybe, the sort of eyesight a spirit has... missed some of the nuances. Still haven't figured how I could hear Batman and Superman, though.
Everything at her fingertips. Computers, comms gear, like auto diallers, multiple varieties of radio, at least one satellite uplink. Fax machines, a Morse key... The lot. I think she could spot my envy. Probably, smell it.
I didn't murmur, "It's so beautiful!", at one point. Honest.
I ask permission to look around, and the queen graciously gives it. Though, I get a look when I levitate up to look at one of the higher features.
"I hope that your anti-gravity, or whatever it is, doesn't damage any of my equipment."
"Don't worry, all natural energies. More likely to make moss grow than fry anything."
"How does a robot get powers which run on natural energies?"
"Ask Robin. He kept training me till I learned it. It was either that or become a super martial artist who could walk through walls, and fly in space. Oh. I learned that later."
Not a bad incredulous look from her. I get another one when I float upside-down to look in her false floor.
"I'm not the world's best acrobat, but I picked-up a few tricks."
Though, looking at her slumped shoulders, that might not have been the wisest comment...
I ask her to explain how she does some of the more complex hacking. That cheers her up, and I think some of this is beginning to make sense to me.
Maybe she'd like to visit the Moon, some day?
But, sooner or later we run out of stuff to look at. And, float, or wheel, back to her lounge. Where, over more coffee, I have to explain myself.
The delay while I show her my knife, and my boot knives, is far too short. Though, the way she can throw my knives, hit a battered dart-board, on the far-side of the room, bullseye or near.
That was worth seeing.
---
The moment of truth.
"I don't like the way you're confined to a wheelchair. So, I asked Raven a hypothetical question, no names, no details." I take a deep breath.
"According to her a major sacrifice in someone's life can be part of gaining new abilities. And, nothing can reverse that sacrifice until a new... balance has been achieved."
She doesn't look convinced.
"I'm sure you were clever, good at solving problems, before you were... disabled. But, did you find that your new skills came remarkably easily, almost as if you were inspired, almost as if someone were whispering secrets into your ear?"
We drink some more coffee. Look at each other. Finally she speaks.
"Why? Why are you torturing me like this?"
"Because, if I believe Raven, there's something... dark, occult, about Gotham. We've seen others who've been transformed by sacrifice, become super-human. All without knowing what's going on. Something... monstrous has happened to them. But, they've survived. Become strong in new ways." I pause.
"No names, people have secrets. But, unfortunately, not all are 'good guys'. And, the powers, which often hide themselves, vary."
"Explain to me. Why robots."
"Once you've mastered your new abilities, and I'm pretty sure you have, new possibilities can open. You could have a robot, looks just like you, see through their eyes, hear through their ears, walk the streets of Gotham on their legs. All while remaining safe, here in your fortress."
She grins, in quite a nasty way. "Good try. You'll have to do better."
OK. I'll have to risk it.
"So, you won't buy the robots? Even a robot assistant to make your life easier? Right. The big one. The one you wont believe."
She cocks her head to one side.
"You don't have to remain crippled. If you want to, you can have the use of your legs back. Yes, you'll probably need to retrain, build-up muscles. But it should all be fixable."
"You still don't believe me?"
"I've had operations. The best doctors. Genius super-scientists. Nothing. Worked."
"But, that was early on? Before you'd established yourself as Oracle? You can never go back, only forwards. I learned that even before I met Raven."
She shakes her head.
"I said I was a robot. You've seen I am. Well, yes, I am at the moment. But, back at the Tower, in a med-bed. My living human body is sleeping. In one of the most advanced medical facilities in the world."
"I lay this robot, down in a bed. I stand up, from the next bed, as a human. Yes, I'm a bit of a special case, with psychic talents. But, I'm pretty sure, if you lie-down in a med-bed you could get up with working legs."
She looks at me, blank-faced.
Then, she's crying in my arms.
After a while, I'm crying too.
Will it all work out?
I hope so.
AN: Bit of a tear-jerker, but, sometimes they are...
AN: You might suspect that Gotham isn't a nice place...
AN: You might also suspect Raven's been talking about a certain clown-girl... And, maybe investigated who she's attached to...
"You're a robot. You just sat there, drank a cup of coffee. You went white, earlier, when you looked at the murder holes. That isn't a wig, that's either living hair, or the best fake I've ever seen."
"Living flesh over a metal endo-skeleton. A quote from a film that few seem to know of in this world. Well, mostly plastic, metal's too heavy."
A disbelieving look.
"I can show you the sockets on the back of my neck? Where I can plug-in skill chips or interface cables?"
"Those can be added using surgery. There's loads of deluded fools out there that'd do that sort of thing."
I sigh. "Got a good, strong, small flash-light? A small mirror on a stick? If I roll-up the back of my shirt then you can take a look around inside me, through the maintenance seam."
---
A rather embarrassing time later, and, 'Barbara' is a lot more convinced. Yes, I've told her I'm 'Geo'. Looking inside someone, even if they're designed for it, can lead to first-name terms.
She did raise an eyebrow when she saw the knife sheathed on the back of my belt. I promised she could look at it, later.
"You didn't have to tell me that. You're a convincing enough fake that I wouldn't have guessed. So, you have an agenda. Give."
"I will do, but, didn't you promise me a look, seeing as I'm actually, physically, here this time, around your workplace?"
Grudgingly, she agrees.
---
Her 'office' is really impressive. I'd only glanced at it, before, I'd more important things to worry about. And, maybe, the sort of eyesight a spirit has... missed some of the nuances. Still haven't figured how I could hear Batman and Superman, though.
Everything at her fingertips. Computers, comms gear, like auto diallers, multiple varieties of radio, at least one satellite uplink. Fax machines, a Morse key... The lot. I think she could spot my envy. Probably, smell it.
I didn't murmur, "It's so beautiful!", at one point. Honest.
I ask permission to look around, and the queen graciously gives it. Though, I get a look when I levitate up to look at one of the higher features.
"I hope that your anti-gravity, or whatever it is, doesn't damage any of my equipment."
"Don't worry, all natural energies. More likely to make moss grow than fry anything."
"How does a robot get powers which run on natural energies?"
"Ask Robin. He kept training me till I learned it. It was either that or become a super martial artist who could walk through walls, and fly in space. Oh. I learned that later."
Not a bad incredulous look from her. I get another one when I float upside-down to look in her false floor.
"I'm not the world's best acrobat, but I picked-up a few tricks."
Though, looking at her slumped shoulders, that might not have been the wisest comment...
I ask her to explain how she does some of the more complex hacking. That cheers her up, and I think some of this is beginning to make sense to me.
Maybe she'd like to visit the Moon, some day?
But, sooner or later we run out of stuff to look at. And, float, or wheel, back to her lounge. Where, over more coffee, I have to explain myself.
The delay while I show her my knife, and my boot knives, is far too short. Though, the way she can throw my knives, hit a battered dart-board, on the far-side of the room, bullseye or near.
That was worth seeing.
---
The moment of truth.
"I don't like the way you're confined to a wheelchair. So, I asked Raven a hypothetical question, no names, no details." I take a deep breath.
"According to her a major sacrifice in someone's life can be part of gaining new abilities. And, nothing can reverse that sacrifice until a new... balance has been achieved."
She doesn't look convinced.
"I'm sure you were clever, good at solving problems, before you were... disabled. But, did you find that your new skills came remarkably easily, almost as if you were inspired, almost as if someone were whispering secrets into your ear?"
We drink some more coffee. Look at each other. Finally she speaks.
"Why? Why are you torturing me like this?"
"Because, if I believe Raven, there's something... dark, occult, about Gotham. We've seen others who've been transformed by sacrifice, become super-human. All without knowing what's going on. Something... monstrous has happened to them. But, they've survived. Become strong in new ways." I pause.
"No names, people have secrets. But, unfortunately, not all are 'good guys'. And, the powers, which often hide themselves, vary."
"Explain to me. Why robots."
"Once you've mastered your new abilities, and I'm pretty sure you have, new possibilities can open. You could have a robot, looks just like you, see through their eyes, hear through their ears, walk the streets of Gotham on their legs. All while remaining safe, here in your fortress."
She grins, in quite a nasty way. "Good try. You'll have to do better."
OK. I'll have to risk it.
"So, you won't buy the robots? Even a robot assistant to make your life easier? Right. The big one. The one you wont believe."
She cocks her head to one side.
"You don't have to remain crippled. If you want to, you can have the use of your legs back. Yes, you'll probably need to retrain, build-up muscles. But it should all be fixable."
"You still don't believe me?"
"I've had operations. The best doctors. Genius super-scientists. Nothing. Worked."
"But, that was early on? Before you'd established yourself as Oracle? You can never go back, only forwards. I learned that even before I met Raven."
She shakes her head.
"I said I was a robot. You've seen I am. Well, yes, I am at the moment. But, back at the Tower, in a med-bed. My living human body is sleeping. In one of the most advanced medical facilities in the world."
"I lay this robot, down in a bed. I stand up, from the next bed, as a human. Yes, I'm a bit of a special case, with psychic talents. But, I'm pretty sure, if you lie-down in a med-bed you could get up with working legs."
She looks at me, blank-faced.
Then, she's crying in my arms.
After a while, I'm crying too.
Will it all work out?
I hope so.
AN: Bit of a tear-jerker, but, sometimes they are...
AN: You might suspect that Gotham isn't a nice place...
AN: You might also suspect Raven's been talking about a certain clown-girl... And, maybe investigated who she's attached to...
