15865/And my Grandma would *definitely* have thoughts about *that*.

And my Grandma would *definitely* have thoughts about *that*.
Date of Scene:	15 September 2023
Location:	Emily's college dorm room. On campus. New York State.
Synopsis:	Viv helps Emily move into her college dorm. They have a chat about baking, friendship, and how best to avoid angry Humans intent on getting rid of AI. Also why Terminator 2 needed more dancing.
Cast of Characters:	Emily Roberts, Vivian Vision

---

Emily Roberts has posed:
Almost 2 weeks after classes had started and Emily had finally gotten around to moving in to the University-owned apartment that her scholarship entitled her to live in. Despite packing 'only the important things', that still left an unfortunate number of boxes to carry up to her place on the third floor. Not wanting to ask for help from her elderly Grandfather, Em had eventually roped in her new friend Vivian to help her with the move. A decision that, as they trudged down the third floor hallway with the last two boxes, the redhead was thankful to have made.

    The elevator being out of order was an unexpected and unpleasant surprise. Though given the building's evident age, despite the reasonably good condition, perhaps it shouldn't have been so surprising. The multiple trips up the stairs wasn't *tiring* so much as it was *frustrating*, the ugly and outdated decor doing nothing to make the repeat journeys any more enjoyable. And while the apartment itself had an AC unit the stairs seemed to be lacking it entirely, the muggy heat of the surprisingly hot spring day giving Emily a light sheen of sweat.

    All in all it could have been a rather unbearable experience. *Would* have been, even. If not for the company. And as Emily dumped the penultimate box on the floor in the middle of the apartment, wiping her brow with the back of her wrist, she resolved that she'd have to make it up to the Synthezoid sometime.

    "Just put it where-ever, I'll sort all this out later. Thanks for help, Vivs. For realsies." She offers an earnest smile to the other girl, before gesturing with her thumb at the small apartment's fridge. "Want something to drink? There's a couple bottles of water and cans of soda that should be nice and cool by now."

Vivian Vision has posed:
Ah yes moving house. They say it's one of the most stressful things a person can do, but then people are generally avoiding a lot of even more stressful but thankfully less common things you might wind up doing. Like fighting a super villain or having to phase a bomb out of someone's head.

Thankfully while Vivian Vision is good at both of those things too there is a lack of cranial bombs to deal with today. Just a lot of boxes which, to her at least, weigh basically nothing. And various bits of furniture which may typically have been awkward to get round corners but prove substantially easier to move when you can just phase them through solid matter.

"When I moved into my apartment," she idly says as she stacks the box neatly out of the way. "We had two peoples worth of things. So I enlisted some of the neighbours to help and by the end me and my room-mate were only really supervising the work. I basically ran a special prize draw. Every box people helped move was one 'ticket' and then the lucky winners got prizes." Perhaps enlisted is less accurate than bribed. But hey it's not like it costs Viv to make a little crypto currency using her spare processing power.

"I don't really need to consume beverages," she says with a grin. "And I didn't even really work up a sweat. If needed I can carry a car without really straining myself. Or if you don't mind it taking a while I can max my strength and move a tank."

Of course she'd fall through the dorm room floor and where would Emily even keep a tank? Parking in the New York area isn't exactly cheap.

"I also made sure to add RFID chips to every box. That way I could not only tell where everything was supposed to go without looking in the box. But I could track them to make sure everything arrived at the destination."

Emily Roberts has posed:
"RFID chips..." The words are mumbled, but it's clear that Emily is now envisioning an alternate universe where she had done the same. "Seems like I shoulda brought you on-board at the packing stage. Well... I know for next time! Not that I'm planning to move again anytime soon, but, you know what I mean."

    With a shrug and a grin she makes her way to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water out and holding it against her cheek. After a sigh of contentment, she eyes Vivian contemplatively and asks "So I guess I've never really thought about it. Can you taste? Like, I know you don't *need* to eat or drink or whatever. But, that doesn't necessarily mean you can't. But I also don't really know how taste works in a human body, let alone how it might work for you..."

    Still staring thoughtfully, she drags the cold bottle across both cheeks and her neck, spreading the condensation against her skin, before finally unscrewing the top and taking a long draught.

Vivian Vision has posed:
"Well college accommodation typically is only intended for a few years at most," Vivian points out. "So you'll probably be moving within a two to three year period. If not sooner." Usually when they have to move into shared housing that costs less rent. "Did you know they have developed RFID chips small enough to be used in food? The only downside, and this is only situationally a bad thing, is anyone with an RFID reader can tell what's in each box. So hypothetically it makes it easier for people to steal valuables." Or find the box filled with embarrassing High School dairies and/or old photographs.

"Admittedly this requires someone to know in advance to bring an RFID chip reader."

"My sense of taste is like all my senses. Far more complex and advanced that a Humans. It probably has more in common with lab equipment at GIRL." She giggles. "I do not widely advertise this but on a GIRL trip to another planet I once consumed an alien grass to analyse the chemical make-up of the plants. We could have built dedicated equipment to do the same tests but we were short on time." They'd been beamed to an alien world without planning ahead for the trip. Or else likely they'd have been loaded up with a fully portable xenobiology lab!

"The biggest difference is because I don't /need/ any of the elements in the food I don't really get the same feedback. If an organic person was in need of salt they'd crave salty foods for example. And the taste of salt would most likely be more appealing as a result."

Emily Roberts has posed:
    Emily nods thoughtfully, swallowing another mouthful of water before responding. "That makes sense. So if you drink a soda you wouldn't be enjoying it so much as you would just be understanding the chemical makeup of it. So I guess I'll have to find some *other* way to repay you for the help besides bribing you with food."

    She grins, before glancing over at the boxes waiting to be unpacked. "For the record, there's no embarrassing High School diaries or photographs in any of the boxes. At worst there's a Sailor Mercury poster in one of them, but if anyone gave me any shit about it I'd kick 'em in the shins." She stares at the boxes for a few moments more before shaking her head and heaving a sigh. "I'm not looking forward to unpacking all this crap. Thanks again for the help, Vivs. I mean it. If you ever need my help with anything just say the word and I'll have your back."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"I find the aromatic components of tea interesting," Vivian admits with a shrug. "I make tea quite often when Val's Mom comes round to visit." Quite how Susan Storm-Richards, one of the most famous superheroes on the planet, can be summed up as Val's Mom is another mystery entirely. "One cup every few months provides most of the water I need to operate. The subtle differences you can achieve by varying the preparation is technically complex enough to be enjoyable."

It's probably not a shock that the practically ritualistic approach to making a cup of tea in the traditional manner appeals to an AI. Everything has it's place. There's order and methodology. And it can't be rushed. Even if she can in theory speed up the water boiling by zapping it with eye beams...

"I am always looking for art models for my sketching," she points out matter-of-factly. "I don't specifically have a Sailor Moon costume but I'm sure there are enough similar garments in my costume collection to put one together." It's hardly a secret at GIRL that Vivian makes art to learn about being 'Human'. Some of her finest works have even been put up on the walls around her lab space for decoration. "I didn't really have a lot of room for 'stuff' at my high school dorm. So when I moved out after graduation packing and unpacking was easy. I probably ordered more new things than anything else. The hardest part was deciding how to sort the costume stuff. Alphabetically based on what they're called? By where they're worn on the body? By Cosplay or non-cosplay? It was very tough but in the end I just..." She pauses, like she's about to confess some dreadful sin, and then adds "Put it away in the order I opened the boxes. Totally unsorted."

The /horror/.

Emily Roberts has posed:
    Unable to help but grin widely at Vivian's confession, Emily brings her hands together in a clap before admitting in a conspiratorial voice "I'm pretty sure at least one of these boxes has both clothes and dinner plates in it. I didn't use any kinda sensible system at all when packing. Just threw stuff in boxes. I figure being a disorganized mess is just part of being a young and carefree girl genius."

    She snickers softly to herself, before finally giving the mention of being an art model some thought. Her usual easy confidence deflates a little, though she still asks for clarification. "So, what would being an art model entail? Like, I guess I'd have to be standing still or whatever, right? How long would it take do you think? Just, y'know, I dunno I'd be good at keeping perfectly still for hours. Honestly I don't know how people do it. Which isn't to say I wouldn't try, just... tempering expectations?"

Vivian Vision has posed:
"Clearly the clothing is there as an environmentally friendly packing material to stop your plates breaking," Vivian offers helpfully. "Those plastic packing peanut things are horrible for the environment. Also there is a theory they account for the missing dark matter in the universe." This is not a true theory. Viv is making a book reference joke! Synthezoid humour is obscure at the best of times. Never ask Vision to do a stand up comedy routine...

"Mostly you just have to sit or stand while I draw you. Either in costume or not. As you prefer. I try keep my drawing as 'Human' normal as possible but I balance that with the comfort of my models."

Meaning she cheats when needed but as little as possible.

"I can schedule in short breaks and you don't have to hold a flawless pose. I can correct for small movements like talking and my memory is more than able to recall exactly what pose you were in before a break. So I can provide guidance on how to position yourself. I've worked with a variety of amateurs and two professional models who happened to also be superheroes. They did more... advanced posing? If you'd like you can flick through some of my sketch books some time you're at GIRL to get an idea of what's involved. If you decide you don't wanna do it after seeing the drawings then that's no problem. I don't want anyone doing anything they'd find uncomfortable."

Emily Roberts has posed:
    Emily waves a hand dismissively "No, no it's fine! Count me in and sign me up. Maybe if you do a good job I'll even bug you for a copy. I was only really worried that I'd be fidgeting too much or something." She nods her head, seemingly already having made her decision. And apparently already thinking about poses as she mumbles to herself about her arms getting tired if she holds them out.

    "So just let me know when's good for you, yeah? I've got compulsary labs I've gotta attend, but they're all morning classes so any time afternoon or evening I'll be free. Somehow university is turning out to be even less work than High School was..." Probably mostly because she doesn't have to suffer through classes for things she doesn't care about.

Vivian Vision has posed:
"You'll probably find there is a lot of self study and reading you need to do if you're going to keep up," Vivian points out with a grin. "Or not. Depending on if they're teaching anything that's... you know... actually cutting edge. Probably the first year everything you learn will be stuff that's already been disproved or superseded by more current research."

She makes a mental note of the scheduling requirements and nods.

"I am taking a break from education. There was a lot of hassle finding a high school I could attend without legal complications. And college is looking like more of the same. So I'm taking a little time to focus on my art, GIRL and superhero things." A little shrug. "The Titans do not keep me too busy. Thankfully the team is large enough we can come and go as we like. Although there is always the change that a world ending threat might come up which naturally takes priority with my regular plans. It would complicate my endeavours if all of Humanity was killed by an alien warlord!" And she'd miss her friends too. Possibly also the planet itself depending on just how big the threat is. "I can also email you a list of all the costume options I have. While I didn't sort them I did document the collection in a searchable database with images and size information."

Emily Roberts has posed:
    "For some reason I had in my head that University was so much more challenging than High School. I know it's only been a couple weeks but it honestly still feels about the same level. I've been studying harder stuff than this for fun in my spare time! So honestly, skipping it entirely might have been the smarter option. Coulda just done my own research in the GIRL labs. So you're not really missing much I don't think." Equal parts expression of frustration, and friendly reassurance, Emily looks conflicted after her little rant.

    "Though if my ask my Grandparents they say it'll be a 'good place to make new friends' and good 'life experience'. I dunno, I figure GIRL is probably fine for that stuff too, right?" Shrugging her shoulders in a gesture of 'but what can you do', she grins. "My Grandma would probably start cooing if she heard I was gonna be playing 'dress up' with you. I love her, but she's so old fashioned sometimes. Has no idea what cosplay is. But uhh yeah, sure, email me the costume options! If I can't figure out how to do a Sailor Mercury, I'm sure I'll find somethin else cool."

    "Speaking of superheroing, what's that like? After that meeting on the rooftop that one time I never ended up thinking too much more about it."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"Maybe it'll get better as time goes on?" Vivian offers optimistically. "And the friends and life experiences part was the main reason I was going to attend. I can just download cutting edge research papers if I want the technical info. It's the networking and people skills I want to experience more of." She blushes a little. "Probably you should not tell your Grandma that I've drawn life models too. That would /definitely/ give her the wrong impression."

There's a little pause before she adds. "Not that I am in any way unhappy with the life model drawings I've done. They're all very tasteful." She shakes her head. "I guess people thinking AI are lewd is better than everyone making Terminator jokes all the time. You would not believe how many Skynet jokes I heard in the first week at school after I stopped hiding my nature..."

She waves her hand in a what can you do way.

"Oh the superhero stuff? It varies. Some days it's very exciting and fun. Others it's dangerous and depressing. I had to hide at the Avengers Mansion for a while after Super Girl turned evil and threatened to kill me. But on the other hand I've also got to visit space and meet alien AI. They were not very good at conversations but it will still an interesting experience."

Emily Roberts has posed:
    "Hopefully..." Em mutters, in response to Uni getting better. But her disappointment in what University is so far is soo discarded in favour of confusion.

    "Wait, why would my Grandma care that you draw live models? I mean, like, portraits aren't anything weird. I don't think people are going to assume you're lewd for *that*. Though I guess people are absolutely more on board with the idea of AI girlfriends than genocidal AI overlords, so yeah I can see how the assumption would be preferable."

    Shrugging and still looking confused, she shakes her head and focusing on the more easy to understand superhero talk. Though the mention of Super Girl turning evil does catch her off guard and lead to a rather concerned looking Emily asking "Are you okay? I mean, like, obviously I guess you're fine. But I can't imagine how terrifying it'd be to have someone like Super Girl threaten to kill you. How did... y'know what, it's probably way above my pay grade. But damn. I hope she apologized?"

Vivian Vision has posed:
"Life modelling is... you know... Nudes," Vivian explains with a polite little cough. "Hence why people might misunderstand. But like I said it's all very tasteful and artistic."

She nods emphatically at the 'is she okay' question. "Oh yes. She wasn't in her right mind. Someone had shot her with a special dart that contained a... it's very complicated but it made her evil and we removed it. So she's fine now. According to my records her birthday is the day before yours.  If you have any preferences about flavour, appearance, or frosting types for your birthday cake let me know.I will be baking a lot of cakes for the whole of GIRL..."

"It wasn't that scary for me at least. Because I could relocate to the Avengers Mansion where an entire super-team capable of standing toe to toe with an angry Kryptonian lived. And I could have hidden in various other locations I have prepared for contingencies. There are some deep natural caves which I have set up some basics to sustain myself for a few years. In case I ever needed to go into hiding." If Humans ever enacted a kill all AI policy she can simply power down for a decade or two of sleep far from danger. "They can't be accessed without phasing technology and even Kryptonian X-ray vision has limits. Not that I'd like living in a cave by myself without internet access. But it's better than being killed so..."

Emily Roberts has posed:
    "Wait, you draw people... nude? I... wow. That's... wow..." Emily's pale cheeks very quickly turn red, radiating an uncomfortable amount of heat. "But, uhh, birthday cake! Right! Uhh, y'know you don't have to make me a cake or anything. I wasn't planning to do anything for my birthday, it's mostly just another day. Always feel a bit awkward being the center of attention, y'know? But, uhh, if you really want to... I love lemon curd icing. Although... red velvet cake is pretty good too. Umm, I like raspberry just generally as a flavour, umm but I *don't* like dark chocolate, or anything slightly bitter. Bitterness always really stands out to me. But mostly I'm bound to like any cake so just... surprise me?"

    Despite the rambling about cake distracting her, her face still stubbornly remains red. She returns to her fridge to grab a can of soda, solely so she can press the cool can to her flushed skin as she tries to maintain her side of the conversation. "I guess, yeah, when you've got a bunch of super strong people protecting you, one super strong person isn't terribly scary. I don't think you'd need to worry about hiding from humanity if they ever decided to kill AI though. Like, I mean, GIRL literally has its own space ship right? We could all just leave and go on space adventures with you. I don't think any of us would be willing to sacrifice you."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"It's something that's commonly done in art classes," Vivian points out with a shrug. "It's much easier to draw someone with clothes on if you know how where everything is and how the body moves in various positions." She grins. "Don't worry it's not something I ask people to do. I've only ever drawn people that way if they volunteer. And usually I let them keep the original if they have any concerns about people actually seeing the finished artwork."

And then the conversation turns back to cake and she laughs.

"Oh it's no trouble. I used to bake things for the school dorm. It was a very good way to help me fit in with my classmates. People generally stop thinking of me as a potential Terminator when I hand them a cupecake covered in sprinkles and pink frosting."

She makes more mental notes about cake preferences. "I'm thinking I'll do cupcake trays rather than whole cakes. That way I can make selections of different things to suit everyone's preferences."

The comment about the spaceship gets another nod.

"That's true. And my Great Aunt Nadia can build interstellar teleportation portals if she really feels like it. So I could just move to a brand new planet and GIRL could visit as easily as catching the Hyperloop." And it'd mean she could have a neat scifi door. Probably with some kind of an iris mechanism to seal the gate in a non-trademark infringing way.

Emily Roberts has posed:
    "I didn't mean to... I mean, I know artists draw nude models. I just... I hadn't thought... yeah." If Emily's blush had been starting to fade it's right back to full strength now. "Guess it's also another thing people don't think of a terminator doing. Though honestly the T800 becomes a good guy in Terminator 2. What's that line at the end? 'I now understand why humans cry, but that something I could never do' and then gets lowered into molten metal while giving a thumbs up. There's worse things to be compared to!"

    And then she's thinking about space, and just how frikkin cool it is. "Or a space station. Like a space station restaurant kinda thing where people from all over come to hang out and eat good food. That'd be rad!"

Vivian Vision has posed:
"I'm far more sophisticated technically speaking!" Vivian complains, although it's clearly a mock protest. Playing up for the joke. "I can cry if I want to. It's just that often when I feel that way I simply disable my emotional core so I can focus on more immediate concerns." Which is about as healthy as it sounds.

IE not at all.

"There's already an unused asteroid dome we set up for Nadia's birthday. It's probably got a few holes in which need patching up but I'm not especially concerned about the amount of air." Probably the site had all the valuable stuff like forcefield generators removed when the event was over. But the actual portal there? Likely still in place. You never know when you might need to dump something close at hand (on an interstellar scale at least) on an asteroid where only you can easily access it.

"I wouldn't want to be too close to Earth just to avoid anyone shooting missiles at me though."

Emily Roberts has posed:
    "You're even more sophisticated than a Terminator??" Emily does her best to act shocked, though the edges of her lips keep twitching as she fights a grin. "So you could do, like, *two* thumbs up while being lowered into molten metal?"

    She gives Vivian's shoulder a playful little punch, her grin finally breaking through to appear fully before it slowly fades as she processes the rest of what the Synthezoid said. "Y'know, I know you're not human so... I dunno how mental health stuff like... works for you. But when my parents died, I really didn't want to think about it. I was totally numb for a while there, avoiding thinking about anything that might make me feel. And... it wasn't good, y'know? So, I mean, uhh, like, in the heat of the moment if you're busy saving the world? Turning off your emotions is probably excusable while you finish up. But... I think it's probably healthy to make sure you do face those bad emotions sooner rather than later. Part of being alive is dealing with the bad as well as the good."

    The redhead fidgets, not really used to being in the position of giving anyone any kind of deep mental health advice. Let alone a synthetic intelligence that might not even function in a way that would benefit from it. But, having become fast friends with the synthezoid, it's not something she feels comfortable remaining silent on.

    She shrugs, feeling a bit awkward, and tries to lighten the mood. "In any case, our future space cafe will absolutely be out of missile range of earth, just in case."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"I could sing and dance the Hello My Baby, Hello My Honey dance. The one the cartoon frog does in the old cartoons," Viv states solemnly. Nodding for emphasis. "I'd demonstrate now but I don't want to trample your boxes or make your neighbours think you're weird." To be fair having an AI phase furniture through walls and carrying vast stacks of heavy boxes like it's nothing isn't getting off to a great start on that front. But this is New York. The state where everyone knows at least one superhero. Probably. And if they don't know them personally they could at least point at a building one owns. Tony Stark has his name on a huge building.

"I only rarely turn them off," she assures. "I try avoid thinking about emotional things on my birthday because that's also the day my twin passed away. So it's /complicated/. But I have a supportive organic family and many friends. Plus if I disable my emotions I can't really make proper art. It'd be technically perfect but have more in common with a still image photograph. Not that photography isn't art too it's just a different set of skills than I'm trying to learn. But without emotion... the drawing process lacks any value. It's just applying pencil to paper."

Emily Roberts has posed:
    Emily makes an embarrassing noise halfway between a giggle and a snort that somehow manages to be the worst of both worlds. "Oh, god, that... that mental image. Vivs, you are clearly an artist because your vision for the end of T2 is a *masterpiece*." She lifts a hand to try and stifle more giggles, her slight blush now more the result of her gigglefit than anything else.

    "Guess it was silly of me to worry about you. Sorry, hopefully I don't get overbearing. Having a proper friend is just sorta a novel experience still. Ugh that makes me sound so lame. I just mean, like, a friend who you can talk about serious stuff with, rather than just sorta like someone you happen to sit next to in class. Know what I mean?" Lest things get all awkward again, she resorts to more humour "But in any case it's good that you keep the emotions on for your art. If you were just taking photos of nude people that'd be closer to boudoir photography. And my Grandma would *definitely* have thoughts about *that*."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"Oh no I totally understand that what I said probably does not sound... healthy? It probably isn't. But it's been a very steep learning curve for me," Viv explains, brushing her hair back behind her ear and shifting her position slightly. "I found out my Brother and Mother had both died and that everyone else I knew was a simulation. Which is not something that anyone, AI or organic, is equipped to deal with at any age."

A tragic backstory. She's certainly a superhero all right.

"Also yes I very much understand. I'm sure you'll meet plenty of people at GIRL you can become friends with too! The more people you can turn to for support the better. Although be careful what advice you ask Janet for she... does not coddle people? But sometimes it's good to get a totally brutal honest opinion. It can put things in perspective."

Or it can wind up in most of your wardrobe including canary yellow cargo pants.

"Typically peoples parents and grandparents tend to be too busying marvelling at how I can walk and talk. Followed by blurting out awkward personal questions." A beats pause. "None so far have involved boudoirs although I have never been to France.."

Emily Roberts has posed:
    Emily's grin becomes more and more forced as she realises that Vivian might not have understood her joke. "Uhh, no, see, Vivs, what I meant was... see, boudoir photography is like, like someone will pay a photographer to take sexy photos of them, often to present them to their lover? I think? I don't actually know how it all works, I was just tryin to make a joke about taking photos of naked people."

    Fidgeting awkwardly in the aftermath of the failed attempt at humour, she sighs. "And uhh, sorry about your family. I won't pretend to know exactly what you went through since it's a bit different to my sitch but I can safely imagine it sucked. But hey, we both made it through, are tougher for it, and are making new friends and family right? So, uhh... man, I'm bad at this. Uhh, look, point is, I'm glad we're friends, Vivs. And if you ever need to talk, I've got an ear or two for ya. Or, y'know, if you just want to watch old sci-fi films with someone I'm super down for that too!"