Week 18, Friday afternoon: Dusty's birthday!

"You are indeed." Said Darya, grinning and gently shifting her grip on Smallest. "Do you want to hold on to her, or are you ok like this?" she asked, leaning slightly against a wall.

Dusty's face brightened somewhat as he thought of getting his new massive hands around Smallest.. And then looked up at his aunt and frowned. "No. I should.. go do something else." Dusty gave a look around, and seeing Rico, remembered his promise to play with his fellow replicant. Giving Smallest one last longing glance, he started walking toward the kitchen, making his way to the stairs.

Sosie appeared behind him, face beautifully at ease, smiling her blissful smile. She looked at Darya and the the cat and smiled wider, watching her son's oversized and goofy body flopping up the stairs. She reached out and gave the now furry Smallest a scritch on the neck. "You know since he's still a low level AI, he can't actually disobey you, right? Not even if he wants to?" There was a twinkle in Sosie's eye, and her voice was quiet.

"Now why would I want to do that?" asked Darya, equally quietly, but her voice was serious. "A child will often do what you tell them to if you demand them to. Doesn't mean it is a good way to raise them."

She dropped Smallest to the ground and began to walk in the direction of the stairs. "Come on." She said. "Let's see what else he's getting up to." She said at a normal volume level, a smile on her face.

Sosie followed quietly, her movements mostly smooth. Sosie kept her voice quiet. "He and Bell aren't human children, though. They are AIs. And AIs follow orders. They need to, to develop into social beings. And it's very, very dangerous and very very hard to program them otherwise." She seemed amused. "I was just.. letting you know. Be careful how you phrase things. I don't like to give them orders for that reason."

Dusty, his robe no longer very securely fastened, sat on the counter beside his smaller replicant housemate. "What's that? My face feels weird. And there's something else, like I'm touching something with my tongue in my face. Ah!" Smell was more shocking than taste, the latter of which he'd only ever experienced blood with.

Rico smiled politely to Dusty, no differently than when he had been a turret. "I think that's the sensation of smell, Dusty. I'm sure you'll get used to it with time!" He paused for a moment before continuing. "You shouldn't sit on there, Dusty. It's important to keep surfaces in the kitchen clean. There are plenty of chairs for you to sit on if you want to."

Dusty bounded off the counter, grinning hugely. "Smell, huh? I always wondered!" Dusty hovered around Rico, looking down on him. He reached out with his slightly bloody, drool covered fingers and touched Rico's hair. "You're smaller than I thought! After this we should play a game. A human-body game! Like, with throwing things! And jumping!" To illustrate his point, Dusty took his moment to jump, sending his robe flapping.

Sosie appeared at this moment to re-tie Dusty's robe closed and take a slightly more exhausted seat at the table. "Let's eat, and then you can bother poor Rico."