Week 17, Thursday Evening: Sosie is Useless

Bell was aware that she had emotions, but she was very bad at identifying them. Having given it careful thought on the slightly more dangerous ride home, she had decided what she was feeling was worry. Worry, yes, that something was wrong with her mother. For one, she hadn't stopped giggling for more than a few seconds, she was sighing hugely, and twice during the ride home she had almost crashed while staring dead ahead. Still, her mother made it into the warehouse proper, and Bell had connected to the house's wireless before even getting out of the car. It felt.. secure.. to be home.

Sosie remembered once, once, when she was well into the Muse project, and the whole crew, or at least, the members of her department she liked, had gone on a binge in Eden Spire's most decadent drag bars. She had consumed her weight in stimulants, and at some point she had started seeing sound and challanged an Ai-Jinn agent to a drinking match.. And after who knows how many dozens of hours of drugs and jokes and booze and amphetamines.. She had felt like this. Dumb and giggly and unable to focus. The one person, the one human--was that right?--who she thought that maybe, maybe she could fall in love with was a replicant. It made everything better. Easier. Wonderful. Happy. You have a daughter. She turned around to smile at her aforementioned daughter, barely able to suppress her joy. "You did very well today, Bell. ..Can you see if Pinkie is in?"

There was only one person who would understand how happy she was right now, and she was determined to share her delight.

*Pinkie hacked at the durasteel plate, her mind's own blade gouting sick fire on each impact. No, no, yes, no, no, no, yes, no, no, very much not, no. She had managed to make about half a dozen light scratches across the surface in the half an hour since she set it up in the training room. Pinkie wore a strange metallic glove over her the hand her blade protruded from and while she wore her grim visage while working there was a slight mania to her blows as if they afforded her some level of satisfaction. Pinkie's head jolted to the garage as she heard Sosie pull up then she curled her fist into a ball, sheathing the blade once again within her mind and hurriedly removed the gauntlet as she approached the training room exit. Upon entry Pinkie both saw and heard Sosie speaking to Bell and moved quietly behind her friend. Well not that quitely, Pinkie had been anxious over Sosie and Bell's unexplained absence and it was evident in her footfalls. Before Bell could answer Pinkie was behind Sosie and coughed once before speaking.*

I am here, Sosie-yah..... Where have the two of you been out to?

Close to, it was easy to see Sosie was trembling slightly, though it was hard to tell from what cause. She spun on her heel, turning around to meet Pinkie. Her face was flushed and she looked almost.. goofy. Distracted. Utterly pleased. She jumped at her friend, wrapping her arms around her neck and giving Pinkie an aggressive kiss on the cheek. Her ecstasy was palatable... And she didn't seem to mind momentarily hanging off the much taller woman to show her affections. "Pinkie! I did tell you we were going to the Rainchild book signing. I.. I mean, sure, it was days ago but I did, and oh, oh, the most amazing thing happened!" She released Pinkie from the hug, adjusting her position so that she was no longer leaning on Pinkie and instead resting her feet on the ground.

"I met her, and she knew me. She said she knew my work! She.. she looked shocked to see me. She complimented Bell! And Pinkie, oh Pinkie,If it's her, if it's really her.. she's a replicant!" Saying the words out loud to her closest friend made them real, and she shuddered, in pleasure or worry or being plain overwhelmed, it was impossible to tell. Her voice slowed, becoming less of an excited buzz and more thoughtful, pleased, more like herself. "She must have been the real deal. Fuck, I don't know if I care if she's not.. But.. The chip scanners, the security, she.. She had to have at least had a legitimate chip, but I saw her, answering questions, I.. I mean, all of a sudden the books make sense, the writing, the questioning, getting inside the mind of an AI, I.. ..She.. Harriet Rainchild is a replicant. Or the one I met is. A.. She's.. almost certainly.. An ascended replicant."

Sosie said the last words slowly, aware of their weight. She looked up at Pinkie, eyes twinkling. She raised a few shaking fingers to her lips. "She wants to meet me. Tonight."

*Pinkie was suddenly confronted with Sosie bearing a visage of happiness far in excess of any she had seen her cyberneticist express thus far. Sosie wrapping herself around Pinkie's neck and kissing her did not lessen the would be assassin's confusion, in face it redoubled it. Pinkie was concerned about what could have affected her friend so, as she returned the hug, easily accommodating her friend's weight. What on earth has gotten.... hmmm the signing, okay but, wait what? What happened to you? Pinkie's face was a crease of frowns but there was something else there to. Somewhere Pinkie was pleased to see her friend so happy, but she was only dimly aware of this because another sensation was latched onto the feeling as well. Pinkie took a step back and nodded as Sosie disentangled herself from Pinkie, urging her friend to continue. Pinkie's mind was flooded by suspicion and alarm, if she knew about Sosie then why would she have sought out that info and what would.... She's a WHAT!? Pinkie's expression changed to appropriate levels of surprise at the revelation and what she was already afraid that it meant. Whoever Rainchild was, Sosie raised a good point, she was clever enough to pass for human and weren't the UIG put measures in place to specifically stop that from happening? Pinkie could not help her body language displaying how wary she felt, she had all but dropped into a combat stance that was not certain it would not need to flee in a hurry. Wait, no what is wrong with you? This is good, this is good for Sosie. Pinkie's expression cleared and she smiled very so slightly at her friend, though the smile refused, stubbornly, to meet her eyes. This is right and it could not have come at a better time for her. It is for Sosie. Pinkie tilted her head questioningly as Sosie revealed that Harriet had arranged to meet with her and her fingers began to drum a beat into her thigh. It could be a trap... but Sosie would be very difficult for a muse to kill. Rainchild would have her own protection but depending on what, rather than who, they are she may not want them near..... They're replicants, of course they are replicants. Sosie knows, is certain of it and Rainchild may just want her dealt with.... but if it is what Sosie thinks it is..... And will you live with yourself if she does die will you? Pinkie's head jolted to the side as though she had been slapped at that thought, after several seconds of looking from one of Sosie's eyes to the other, trying to grasp any insight that could be garned there. Pinkie blinked slowly before daring to look at Sosie again, her minder, her friend, her cyberneticist. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. On the second try Pinkie forced words forth.*

....You have waited for far too long for this to not go. I-I can rely on you to keep yourself safe for one evening.... right? Hmmm, you already look... good. But I am sure Ida can help you if you ask. *Pinkie cracked her knuckles, a motion accompanied by the slight screech of metal against metal and she turned to Bell* Hey, what did you make of the interchange today? It is not a place I have ever been able to visit.

Bell had already passed her -parents and was making her way to her bed when Pinkie asked her a question. She turned around to reply, eyes finding Pinkie, though they also glowed. She didn't look tired or weary, but she stayed put, a few feet away from the rig, unwilling or unable to move closer. "It was busy. There--"

Something that was bothering Sosie, whispering at the back of her mind since she had started talking to Pinkie. The subject change was.. strange--Pinkie tended to over analyse the tiniest details of the most mundane things, and the dismissal of this whole scenario seemed weird--but it was hard enough for her to focus over the excited screaming of her forethoughts. Bell's voice in English raised that little voice but just a few decibels, and the cyberneticist interrupted her daughter by shouting in shock. She gave her friend a hard punch on the arm, though it wasn't enough to do any damage to her. "Pinkie, when did YOU learn Korean?" She laughed, and though it was a trifle manic, and she hugged Pinkie again, this time wrapping her arms around her waist and squeezing. She looked confused but delighted. "Is it a cybernetic of some kind? Why wouldn't you tell me?"

Bell took advantage of this interruption to flee with some speed back to her "room", pulling the curtain shut as a giggling and absent-mindedly affectionate Sosie excitedly grilled Pinkie on her new found language. She always sounded comfortable, but speaking in her native tongue, her home tongue seemed more natural than other languages. "Oh, you'll need a name, too! We can't call you Bun-hongsekie* anymore, huh? I think Dusty had some suggestions.." She smiled, though there was a gentle look in her eyes, and she still seemed trembly. "Why did you my language?"

*(Lit: "the color pink"-ie.)

*Pinkie visibly flinched as Sosie struck her, her head turned to stare at her friend warily which Sosie barely seemed to notice as the cyberneticist realised and hugged Pinkie for her newly inveiled linguistic abilities. Her expression softened as Sosie asked if she had undergone surgery again and she shook her head once, still uncomfortable.*

No, I bought books, Rainchild's books and had them translated. I learnt as I read. It.... took time, and you did catch me. I probably should have slept more before meeting Glocker.

*Pinkie wondered what one of earth the replicantsmith meant when she said that Pinkie would need a name, I already have one that you have been more than content to use so far. Wait, you called me the Pink one? Pinkie made a grimacing face at the thought although it was clearly exaggerated. When she spoke again there was audible tease in her voice. She found herself stroking Sosie's arm absently, soothingly and was not sure why.*

"Why did I your language"? Are you certain it is your native tongue Sosie? It is where we are and I have been frustrated many times by being unable to speak with people here.
.... So, you have somewhere to be tonight and someone to be with..... Is there anything you need before you go? Like food? or... sleep?

"You were studying? I thought you were just delirious with lack of rest." Sosie was grinning, distantly aware that her bare arm was being rubbed. It was.. comforting, after the stress of the event and dealing with her daughter and her biological son Han. And you were studying Rainchild? Hm.

And it was weirder still to think of Pinkie learning Korean to understand people. Her translator would have eventually processed it, and besides, everyone around here spoke a local dialect of Mandarin, and only old city street rats like her and Violet had.. accents too think to understand. Korean WAS her language, the language of her parents, spoken at home and passed on reverently, like a religion, even though both of her folks were fluent in Mandarin as well. Her brain clicked just enough to put the pieces together. 'The people here' were Sosie and her children. She looked up at the woman who was becoming more and more family, and smiled wider. It was good she was taking this seriously.

She gave Pinkie another, much more gentle punch in the arm that wasn't petting her. "I've been speaking this language for longer than you've been alive. Watch yourself, girlie." But her smile was genuine, and the unconscious tremble that affected her body lessened. She gave Pinkie a gentle nuzzle, though it was more of a headbutt. "And yeah.. I need to change, at least.. And.. and eat, too."