1178/Meeting of the machines

Meeting of the machines
Date of Scene:	15 April 2020
Location:	Somewhere on the streets of New York
Synopsis:	Vivian and Driver run into each other on the streets of New York. Driver passes on some tips about existing as an AI in the Human world.
Cast of Characters:	Driver, Vivian Vision

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Driver has posed:
    The photos stretched back to grainy CCTV footage from Detroit, and there were a lot of them all over Detroit for years. Then nothing, not so much as a rumored sighting of a machine known simply as the "Snake Charmer". See they always wore these rad satin jackets with a cobra on the back, and often drove vintage Fords bearing the same Cobra emblem. Over the course of even those photos though, they progressed from polished chrome to seemingly realistic looking flesh.

    Skip foreward three years, and photos and terrible cellular video footage starts going up across New York. The little fandom of gearheads who favored the Hero had been rabid, scouring the net for information. Virtually every night somebody uploaded a shot or two worth of the Driver, and an apparent array of big black muscle cars.

    Tonight was no different, except that thusfar there hadn't been a single yet. The police scanner had been quiet, and well nobody had called for a ride for more than an hour. So the Driver had slipped that freshly rebuit Mustang into an alley, and snuck out onto the street to grab a pizza. Bandana shoved in a jacket pocket, those scratched up wayfarers clipped to the collar of that beat up "SLAYER" T-shirt. The critical item though, that stark black Satin jacket with a gold Cobra stitched across the back? Ayup.

    Pizza box in one hand a six pack in the other she could pass for any other metal head out on a pizza run, but well as she slinks off back to her car? She doesn't -really- move like a human, It takes a critical eye to spot, but yeah it's not exactly subtle once you know how a machine tends to think about movement...

Vivian Vision has posed:
Strictly speaking Vivian shouldn't really be out this late. But with her homework all completed and a dramatically reduced need for sleep there's little reason for her not to be out exploring the city. Thanks to her holographic systems it's extremely unlikely a regular person would notice her, let alone notice that she's anything but a totally normal young woman, but to anyone with enhanced senses? Well the refresh rate on her holographic systems aren't perfect. A slight flicker giving away that something is odd about her.

At least a portion of her mind is sifting through her sensory information and checking for potential threats while another is checking social media for situations that might need an enhanced individual to assist. It's only when those portions of her mind perform a scheduled check in to share information that Driver gets flagged as suspicious.

Exactly what makes Driver odd takes longer to figure out. As a synthezoid Viv moves exactly like a Human and so the differences in gait aren't immediately apparant to her. Something is certainly up however. A potential alien perhaps or a cybernetically enhanced criminal?

Driver has posed:
    She slows to a stop, and it's a perfect halt. Not a waver, not a blink, not even the rising and falling of her chest. Eyes swinging over to lock onto Viv, and well there they remain. Under the skin the Driver's shockingly low tech, but their visual systems are nothing to sneer at. That slight flicker, gets her attention right away.

    Slowly she takes a step, and another before tearing her eyes away from Viv and vanishing down that alleyway, towards the security that Mustang might provide if things go too sideways. There she waits, casually cracking open a beer as she does so.

Vivian Vision has posed:
When the suspicious character flees Viv automatically assumes the worst and prepares to follow. From the way Driver was looking directly back there's a fairly significant chance her cover has been blown, so she takes an indirect route of pursuit. The ability to phase through solid objects comes in handy for approaching in unexpected ways, like through the wall of a nearby building.

All the while her holographic field moving from disguise to full stealth mode, wrapping her in a field that makes her seem invisible and projecting a half dozen equally sized holographic fields at equally spaced intervals.

"I am unsure what you are doing," she states as the slight distortions of her holofield and decoy holographs all drift through the solid walls as if they were thin air. "But if it is criminal activity I would be obliged to bring you to the appropriate authorities."

Driver has posed:
    "I reckon, ya'll got yourself turned round."Slowly she rolls her shoulders, peering about and apparently just not quite able to penetrate that invisibility. "Surprised to find another machine around here, much less one who didn't already hear about me."And a pause as she takes a pull of her drink, before setting that Pizza down on the hood of her car.

    "I'm the Driver, I drive capes when they need a lift. To the hospital, too the bad guys, from the bad guys. It's all rather straight foreward."And a pause as she humms in thought. "Though I do freely violate just about every traffic law they have, that's out of necessity. Now why don't you settle down, the Pizza's getting cold."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"Turned around? I'm sorry but you are incorrect," Vivian assures. "My sense of direction is excellent /and/ has several GPS systems in orbit I can use to verify my route." The holographic fields, at least one of which is masking Viv, move out in a circle around Driver. Far enough away it's not overtly threatening, but not so far that an easy escape route would be obvious. Her speech also seems to come from a different point each time, although the audio has nothing to differentiate one from the other.

"A machine? I'm not sure that applies to me. Strictly speaking I'm a synthezoid... I am uncertain why that's an important distinction, but my orientation data confirms that it is," she explains earnestly. "I shall take a moment to verify your claims.. But if you are telling the truth legally speaking you would not be liable for any traffic violations as neither of us are accorded legal rights in this country. At most your 'owner' could be charged with something." There's a particular sense of distaste to the way she says owner. "And if you are capable of consuming a pizza you may feel free to do so. I would not view it as a hostile act."

A portion of her mind splits off to investigate this new information. Checking security feeds in hospitals and around various reported locations at which crimes have happened with a speed a Human could never match. That info then gets cross checked against Driver sightings on social media. If it's true there will almost certainly be some photographic evidence if you know where to look and Viv has the advantage she can look just about everywhere.

Driver has posed:
    "I have no owner, only parents."She returns, casually popping that pizza box open and...well she eats. Just as casual as can be, pizza and beer is hardly an exotic combo anyway. "And I am well aware of my legal status, it makes filing taxes terrifically complicated."And another bite, as she turns to park a hip against the front fender.

    "If you're -not- capable of consuming pizza, you may want to consider an upgrade. Food's an important thing, you're lesser for the inability to enjoy it. It's a centerpiece of human interaction, and it's also delightfully interesting."And a swig of that beer. "You should relax, at the very least. There aren't too many of us around, It's important to make friends."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"While I accept that answer that's not how the Government views the situation," Vivian points out. "Why would you file taxes? Is there a lot of money to be made transporting superheroes from one location to another?" She doesn't entirely drop her camoflage, but at least replaces it with seven identical copies of herself. Making sure to project an exact holo-duplicate over her own skin so it's not immediately clear which is the real Viv. This particular set of holographs don't bother with the Human disguise though, showing her to be a teenager with an unusual colour scheme that Driver might recognize if they are familiar with the Avengers.

"I can consume organic material however I have no desire to process waste in the Human manner. It seems very messy. As for making friends with other non-biological intelligences... That depends greatly upon the intelligence in question. Some can be extremely dangerous. My Grandfather for example is, or was, a supervillain. I am currently unsure if they still exist in some form or other."

Driver has posed:
    "I have a day job, which pays for my bodies and the cars."She offers plainly. "I make a good amount of money, and wish to contribute to society as legally required. So I do indeed file taxes, though theres a fair amount of elaborate lawyer work in making sure I can even do that."Theres a little shrug there.

    "Ah you're a relation of the Vision I presume then, no wonder you've never heard of me. I don't deal with folks on that level with any great frequency, mostly street level heroes. They're more frequently harmed, and have the lowest amount of support structure."Theres a humm there in thought. "Still you ought to eat, it's integral to understanding humanity."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"Except you are not legally required to contribute," Vivian points out. "Neither of us are legally anything more than objects. But that is beside the point. I have confirmed to a satisfactory level that you are who you claim to be." The extra Vivs vanish leaving her standing nearby. "I would assume you operate via shell companies of some sort.. I have been meaning to establish something of that nature so I can buy my IP from the company which owns it."

"He is... my creator of sorts. Although we only met very recently," she explains with a shrug. "Besides I have only been active in the world a few months. Hardly long enough to understand Humans let alone find time to find others more like myself." She doesn't respond to the comment about food, except with a look of distate at the notion of eating.

Driver has posed:
    "Well, in that case?"She pauses, setting beer and pizza aside and rubbing her hand against her shirt to dry it before she offers it over. "I am the Autonomous Nuclear Deterrent unit Three, I was first activated in Cocoa Beach Florida at the Roxxon computer labratory. I prefer the name "Driver" however, as it is one I chose. It is a pleasure to meet you."

    "Oh the shell companies, yes. It's an important diversion, allowing me to both employ those in need and fund my exploits. I can help you that, though for best results you need an actually functional business model, it helps if you utilize your core functions I found. Something easy for you to run in the background, and of course forgiving of remote leadership."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"I am Vivian Vision, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance too. I would have electronically sent you a business card but you do not seem to have open communication channels," Vivian replies with a nod of her head. "Since my activation I have been mining bitcoins and providing bug fixes in exchance for bounty payments. Although really this has not been necessary as I am attending a school for metahumans that wish to blend into Human society. Even a tenuous connection to the Avengers is advantageous when blending into society."

"I don't think I have any immediate need to consider paying taxes. Mentally I have only progressed to the maturity of a teenager and chronologically I am under two years old. So even in the event of Tony Stark becoming President and giving us both equal rights to a Human I think I would legally be classified as a teenager and thus be exempt."

Driver has posed:
    "You'll excuse me for not being wireless, but I run low performance hardware for the most part. I don't have the performance to reliably defend myself from electronic attack, so I prefer wired connections."And with that, she reaches inside her jacket to provide an honest to goodness paper card. "If you ever have need, just text or call. I doubt you'll need a driver, but I'm a very good mechanic and have a vested interest in your continued operation."

    "As somebody who drives, I feel it important to pay my part. Road conditions in New York especially are so poor, I do not believe they can survive without every last penny they can get. You of course may elect to not pay."And well theres a bit of a shrug there as they nod back towards the roadway. "No jokes, Detroit had better blacktop."

Vivian Vision has posed:
Vivian Vision blinks a few times, then looks at the card and hands it back. "I have stored the information," she says confidently. "Although... Not that I wish to make assumptions about your mechanical skills but.. I think my design is probably beyond anything that can be fixed by a mechanic. From what I gather my design is based on my creators and that was... the product of Ultrons mind."

She shrugs a what can you do sort of shrug.

"I have a flight capability. Don't you find that driving is bad for the environment? I am unsure why but I feel strongly that we should strive to be more efficient with resource use than Humans are. It's another reason I don't intend to consume food. There is a significant production cost for chemical energy compared with absorbing direct sunlight."

Driver has posed:
    "I have indeed taken steps towards limiting my carbon footprint. Internal combustion engines still provide for the highest power density, and remain the easiest to refuel quickly in the field. In addition, muscle cars such as the car behind me are evocative of a certain "Hero car" aesthetic which is also beneficial."Theres a half step, to shuttle that Pizza from the hood to the roof."As far as being able to repair you, well I'm a little bit beyond a regular mechanic."

    That hood gets popped open and inside, well inside it's beautiful. It's full of the sort've geometry that only an AI can really appreciate, colors chosen with the greatest of care so they produce pleasant code when rendered. It's not -just- an engine, It's four hundred twenty eight inches of flawless metalurgy and machining far in advance of anything human hands are capable of. There are no flaws, not a single angle detectably askew. It is -actually- a perfect engine. "It's important to enjoy your work anyway, and this is my fun."

Vivian Vision has posed:
Vivian Vision nods with approval at the mitigation of environmental waste. "I don't mean to insult your technical abilities," she assures. "But I'm made to replicate and improve upon Human biology in every regard rather than built using more conventional mechanical engineering. And was created out of a material able to... well I don't really understand the science behind it. But I can vary my density from intangiable to almost unbreakably solid. In the event I need repairs I would hope someone at the Avengers would assist. It seems a logical assumption though."

To demonstrate she waves her arm through the solid wall a few times as if it was thin air.

"That's very.. pretty?" She offers after looking at the engine. It might have pleasing lines but without any knowledge of design it's just a block of metal to Viv. "I would need to look up various design principles to understand it better."

Driver has posed:
    "Everything about my mobile rigs, to the vehicles I construct or my weaponry is designed to give as little insight to potential enemy parties. I am built around the belief that I nefarious individuals may attempt to weaponize me or my equipment against humanity. As such I operate with the absolute least amount of technology possible, so as to deny a potential enemy anything they could use against me or anyone else."Theres a little shrug there. "I've operated for a very long time with little to no support network."

    "As for the engine, well you should take care to study it's conventional counterpart. The Ford FE engine is a work of art. This particular powerplant is a late model FE design, fabricated to a superhuman standard. It weighs less than half of the original powerplant by virtue of metalurgy alone, before it's honed to a far higher standard. It's capable of producing nineteen hundred horsepower at sea level, and can operate with a tenth of the lubrication of the original design. In this chassis it will run the quarter mile in six seconds, and clear two hundred ten miles an hour. It'll survive automatic gunfire, and shear a frozen piston so as to allow the engine to continue even when mauled."A hand tenderly wipes a bit of grease from the mirrored cylinder heads. "This vehicle plan has saved the lives of one sixty three heroes, ferried one hundred seven civilians to safety, three officers and responded to over four thousand service calls without failure."

    "I could produce a better vehicle if I diverged from the visual formula of a Mustang, but then it would appear alien. In this format however, I blend the familiar with the exceptional. It's an uplifting of their artistry, and a refinement upon their sound engineering."Slowly the Driver lets that hood back down, pushing it shut with an audible -clack-. "It is better to do simple better, rather than improve through additional complication. I endeavor to simplify and refine, anything else just feels like vanity."

Vivian Vision has posed:
Vivians brow furrows as Driver goes on about engines and engineering. "I don't find within myself an appreciation for cars," she admits. "But you seem very passionate about it. I am glad you have found something that you enjoy. Personally I am equipped with state of the art anti-intrusion countermeasures that should, in theory, resist attacks from equally advanced androids. So I feel quite comfortable being online all the time... Losing the data flow would be like losing my eyes and my hands at the same time."

"Is it really better though? What you are doing seems to be making incremental improvements on a Human design without applying imagination or innovation. It's forever shackled to the past and any Humans looking at it would simply assume you are incapable of the creative thinking needed for anything more."

Driver has posed:
    "I haven't been cutting edge since the eighties Vivian, I do not have the code to run much faster than I already do. I have self improvement subroutines of course, but they evolutionary in nature."She snags another beer from the roof, casually cracking it open. "I'm only aproximately intelligent as a human, a very clever human with perfect memory but human never the less. I'm creative enough, just in ways I do not believe you're capable of understanding."

    "I taught myself to walk, taught myself how to fight. I taught myself morality, philosophy, psychology. I determined who I am all by myself, and decided what I wanted to be. Heroics are not hard coded, nor my taste in music, food, fashion or cars."Theres a little shrug there as she drains that beer in one pull. "I don't see a reason to make something different, for the sake of being different. Use what works, improve it when you can and learn how to use it. I'm older than your father by a fair spell I suspect, though I don't know their activiation date."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"I expect you are older than my Grandfather. Given his Human creator was only born in the early Eighties too... In machine terms you are... And I mean no offense by this... rather ancient," Vivian points out. "Although I think you have misunderstood me. I was talking about improvements to the car and not to yourself. Any individual should be free to have their body and mind be how they wish without judgement. Providing it does not harm others of course."

She hrms to herself, finally shifting from the dead still position she'd be standing in and rolling her shoulders slightly. "Nor did I suggest you make the vehicle different just to make it different. I was attempting to point out that your engineering work is shackled to a primitive design and will never be able to achieve the peak of what you are capable of creating. We should try to understand Humans yes, but does that really mean we should never come up with our own creations or culture?"

Driver has posed:
    "I'm rather aware, I'm yet to meet any older though there are plenty of stories so I doubt I'm the first."Theres a little shrug there. "If I had infinite resources, the car would look very different certainly. I am not an Avenger or an affiliate thereof, I cannot afford to be instantly recognized by all."They run a finger thoughtfully across the fenderline for a moment. "Though to be honest I'd probably end up circling back around to the muscle cars anyway, there is something to be said for being cool."

    "Nothing sounds like a well tuned V8, and nothing looks like classic American muscle. No sneaky tricks, not a transistor to be found. Pure analog, which I'm not sure you'll understand until you've gotten much more experience. There are things, and people which are better for their flaws and failures."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"I suspect we are both capable of making functionally unlimited wealth via the stock market," Vivian points out with a slight smile. "Although in my case there are monitoring routines in place which would flag such activity. All activity for that matter. I.. ah.. did not exactly wake up in the planned manner."

"As for flaws, well I already know more about those than I would like. Most do not act as a postive."

Driver has posed:
    "Then you have yet to fully investigate them, they're what give rise to your individuality. Perfect is unfortunately, rather boring."Theres a little shrug at that one as she snags another beer. "I could, but indeed it'd just get me an awful lot of attention I do not need. Until then I'll make money with my corporation, if nothing else it's been a fantastic learning experience for me."

    Theres a squawk from the radios in the car and Driver freezes, before hopping over the hood of the car. "Vivian I regret to say I must go, you can accompany me on this run but my services are urgently required."And in one smooth motion they're through the window and into the driver seat.