#99lleon

@99lleon

It always felt strange to walk through the city, the section his home and theirs resided in a place neither rich nor entirely violent, a lower-middle sector not crawling with danger or money but fighting to survive in a struggle of fingers over mouths; eating under rent. 

It wasn’t survival of the fittest but survival of the most skilled, the remaining human laborers fighting for jobs that required higher education. He saw both sides of it, the wet drip of blood in physical labor, bodies crushed and hands worked raw, parents dying before their children are old enough to say their names. He’d heard the stories of it, the early days before Hyperion began their rule, before there were people in streets made of metals and Plexiglas, walking, talking machines formed of both intelligence and strength doing the hard work for them. However, he also saw the poverty; the waves of jobless people left behind from the cleanse, losing more than they felt they were gaining, valuing their families health over their own lives as they realized that they had no necessary skills, no knowledge to propel them forward in the market.

Maybe it was cruel, maybe it was unnecessary to prolong the suffering of Horizon99, to change it’s flavor of pain and make it corporate again; to drag the people back from the universe they came from. 

Gael was lucky in the way, being raised in a trade that would never be eliminated, the progress of advancement and the human mind accepted thoughts of its own. If a human progresses protos, it’s science, but if a proto does it it’s dangerous. It’s tricky to create machines that are meant to know less than you, it’s hard to make them imperfect, to leave things out when human nature is to try and create something better than yourself, better than everyone. 

He approached the door, a box of pieces and parts that Kitts had requested in hand as he rapped with quick knuckles, shifting the weight in his feet.

It was hard to not be plagued by the inevitable concepts, the trail of thoughts left in the streets both curious and controversial, and in some way, he was a working cog within it. He was the soft little center, the human that built the machines to save lives and take the living. He found himself more consumed with protos than humans, more focused their lives than his own those days and he wondered if perhaps that wasn’t as good of a thing as he thought it was. 

There was a reason he preferred staying in.

“Really?” Gael looked up at Leon, with an almost surprised expression, eyebrows moving higher on his forehead. He’d been rambling again, trying to explain the difference in wiring of smaller mechanical parts opposed to larger ones in terms of different machines – people, pets, even humans with replacement parts. It was almost a lecture, stopping in between sentences to apologize for his unnecessary stream of consciousness before being prompted to continue. He appreciated Leon for that, dealing with him verbalizing his thoughts even though he absolutely didn’t need to. 

Even through the reassurances Gael still tended to feel a bit annoying, but Leon was good at neutralizing that.

He looked back down at the heat sensors in his hands, toying with them for a moment, a small smile cracking on his lips and he shrugged, face reddening a tint, almost embarrassingly modest. “Well, it’s really not that complicated, I’ve seen you help with a lot harder..” He trailed off, twisting the wires into a mechanical eyeball almost absentmindedly as he looked for a flicker or a spark of red in the front of the cornea. “It’s simple integration, really, the installation is the easy part, it’s actually making the sensors that’s a pain.” He gave it a moment, looking back up at Leon after seeing the bright blink in the pupil, one simple beat.

“I can show you! Well, if you want.” He said suddenly, almost taken aback by his own enthusiasm, shrugging it off with one shoulder. “I mean, I have to do the other eye anyways so it would be helpful.” He added, perhaps more casually, before reiterating, “You know… only if you want to.”

A soft hand reaches out to gingerly pat the proto’s arm in reassurance, his lips tugging up into a sweet smile. “Mhmm, I did. Don’t worry though, ok? I’ve got you.” Giving a little nod he gestures with a nod toward the table that holds an array of tools, a few select gems picked out along with the chains and sockets meant to house them.

“Consider this a sort of introduction into making your own jewelry, I even set out a few different kinds of gemstones for you to pick from.” Boone speaks in the gentle tone that one might expect of a child’s teacher, patience shown in how he stops anytime a question arises, answering Leon then continuing. He only guides though, helping his new friend learn by doing while explaining terms and what each piece is called. If he knows, he’ll explain the meanings behind some or offer a little story. 

All in all this couldn’t be much better, the chance to teach someone things, a proto no less who seems to be more interested in the world around him than some are. Boone wouldn’t give this up for the world. 

movie quotes meme: accepting

zachary lets out a hum, eyes flashing over to lock with those of the proto, accusation written over his entire features.

“you can’t.”

the words are spoken matter-of-factly. the doctor not necessarily trying to be mean, but it is simply how it is.

“you broke something, leon. porcelain can’t just be remade. i could glue it back together but it will always be obvious that it was broken. it’s not like a robot that can just get a new part made and attached like new.”

shaking his head lightly, he walks over to the shelf the proto just walked into and crouches down next to the shards and pieces of the broken porcelain teapot. one of his more treasured finds for the sole fact that there are very little of these high-end things on horizon still in one piece.

now this one has been taken from the collection as well.

at least he doesn’t hold any sentimental value towards it, and it’s simply the monetary value of the piece that has been reduced to nothing.

“but if you want to feel better by doing something in return, you can figure out a way to earn back the price of this piece. that way at least my business won’t suffer under it, even though you did just destroy a rare artifact.”