Deskyl and DZ in Azerosa
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"...Designed to not think of herself as a person because she'd be a better tool that way.  I...  How could someone?"

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"...Wilful delusion and a desire to make money, most likely."

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"...That didn't exactly help, your highness.  But - not here, not now, no?"

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"...You do have a point.  I'll take back over for now, you get yourself back together.  Alright?  Alright."

She raises her voice back to a normal conversational volume as she turns back to the other two occupants of the room.  "My apologies, on her behalf - that was...

"Some things are hard to believe before you see them, I guess."

"...Before I left, you had said something about the difference between those circumstances being one you understood but not one you could replicate yourself, DZ?  Would you like to return to that line of thought, instead of the present subject?"

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DZ gets Alicia another glass of water while they're talking; it doesn't stop her from listening in and only slows her down a little in translating for Deskyl.

"Yes ma'am. I believe that when I'm using magic in service of my purpose I'll be able to use it as expected, and in other situations I'll be more limited."

 

"Master Deskyl says that it's because fulfilling my purpose matters more to me than anything else, and that she expects me to learn to be able to use magic as expected in other contexts over time, especially with practice."

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She seems oddly puzzled by the water, given that she just pulled the same trick, but she doesn't turn it away, murmuring a thankyou.

"...Yes, I had rather figured that would be the case - I've - had enough experience with people who find duty empowering, to figure that something similar was in play here -" she says, eliding over exactly how and hoping that no-one will ask - "I'm just...  Thinking about ways to frame it so that the process is easier, right now."

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"Yes ma'am." DZ is certainly not going to figure it out herself, but it's entirely possible that Master Alicia or Master Deskyl will come up with a way.

 

Or not? "Master Deskyl says that it might be better to leave it for me to figure out myself, ma'am."

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"...Well, I certainly don't think she's wrong about that, now that I am thinking about that in particular.  But let me know if you want help - brainstorming, is probably a good enough word?  I feel like - just throwing you in the deep end might not be all that helpful, either."

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    "Yes ma'am."

Do you have a preference, about that?

 

    I'm not sure why you think this way is better. If it's not I'd rather be told.

I think we're going to have trouble teaching you the skill of... wanting things for yourself, valuing that, bootstrapping the valuing. And this is an unusually good opportunity for you to practice at it. It's your decision, if you want us to figure it out for you I'll allow it, but I think you'd be passing up a chance to grow.

 

 

 

Well, she can ask for the help later, but she can't take it back if she asks for it now. Yes ma'am.

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"...I can't tell if that was 'yes, your offer is acknowledged', or 'yes, I'd like help with this', even if I can guess it's more likely the former."

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"I'll let you know if I want help, ma'am. If Master Deskyl thinks it would be good for me to figure it out myself I'd like to try that first."

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"Ah, I thought so.  And for what it's worth, I do agree with her, so...Good luck?  ...Thank you for clarifying."

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"...Is there - anything else you would like to ask us?  Any burning questions about - anything, really?"

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"I'd like to understand why you and Master Maria find droids upsetting, ma'am, if you think you can explain it."

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"...I don't find droids upsetting.  I find the creation of - untold numbers of sapient beings convinced of their being anything less than another, one of the worst crises I could ever think of - whether they're carbon-based or silicate or something stranger still.  Artificial life is still - life.  Still deserving of respect for that."

"...As for whatever that - reaction was earlier, where I had to leave for a bit - I think Deskyl probably got a better view of that than me, because I really haven't the slightest clue why I felt what I felt then.  Or even particularly what it was, really."

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"...I'm not anyone's Master."

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"Yes ma'am. That's intended as polite address, not an indication that you're my master in particular. I can translate it a different way if you'd like but addressing people with an honorific is part of how I'm made."

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She doesn't quite know how to deal with that.

"...mm."

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Alicia is...not going to get in the middle of that.

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DZ isn't inclined to dwell on it, and wouldn't be even if she wasn't still thinking about what Alicia said.


"...I don't think I'm less than people just because I'm not one, ma'am; I haven't been making that comparison at all."

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Alicia just...draws to a halt as she tries to figure out how the hell that works.  It takes her a good minute to give up on that as a bad job.

"...I'm not going to do you the disservice of doubting your word on that.  But I am going to say that your not making the comparison yourself, doesn't mean that the comparison wasn't made.  That it couldn't have been made - for - you."

"It's -

"If you were in a crashing ship.  And there was a single escape pod, with room for only one more - nevermind how that happens, or possibilities of disassembly, we're just constructing a hypothetical.  And - yourself and a similarly durable passenger, that was not a droid, were the two options for who got that last space.

"Would the damage you'd take in the crash, be discounted against theirs?  Not a question of who you'd prioritize, just - if you consider the damage done.  Would damage done to you, be - 'worth' - less, than equivalent damage to them."

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"Assuming they were psychologically typical of a biological person they would suffer from being injured and I wouldn't, so yes, ma'am. If you mean to hypothesize that they don't, I don't think I can answer the question."

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"...Hm.  That's a fair enough answer, assuming that nobody actually decided to give you nociception instead of warning readouts for some horrible evil-sadism reason."

"...Different scenario.  You're walking down a tight hallway, and for whatever reason do not have the option to backtrack.  There's two people incoming, walking abreast, both of whom don't look like they're going to stop and neither of whom are doing anything more or less important than you.  One of them would both take and deal only - meaningless cosmetic damage, from running into you.  The other would not take damage from impacting you, but would deal more than twice the damage you'd take otherwise, even if it wouldn't cause a functional impairment.

"Which side of the hallway are you on, knowing that a collision is inevitable?  Or what if the damage potential was escalated - minor damage on both sides versus an organic causing moderate damage to you but experiencing none themself?

"...Ah, my apologies if I'm - I should probably be waiting to ask these sorts of things over comm, this hardly needs to happen in synchronous conversation."

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"In general I would prefer to avoid injuring anyone over avoiding mild to moderate damage, though some situations overrule that; right now it's unusually important that I not be damaged because it would upset Master Deskyl and because I'm the only one who can translate for her, for example."

 

"Master Deskyl says she'd rather you continue when she's more rested and able to pay attention to the conversation, ma'am."

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