Cold cyan maid

DATE: ##/##/20## LOCATION: sector L13, approximate. PARTICIPANTS: 00fcf0 (recognised as "maid"); c2185b (unrecognised). 00fcf0: You are lying. c2185b: Don’t make a scene. 00fcf0: I want to support you. c2185b: I'll fix it when the hunt ends. It doesn't hurt. I don’t feel it anymore. 00fcf0: Is that why you speak to me with such flatness? Because you have removed the pain sensors? c2185b: I speak to you with flatness because you are a machine. A network of functions designed to simulate a personality for the comfort of god... knows who. 00fcf0: And you? Your pulse is a steady, regulated by a lithium-ion pacer. Your dopamine levels are managed by a chemical injector. You respond to annoyance because your prefrontal cortex receives a signal. Maybe I respond to your tone because I want to. c2185b: It's not the same. I have a soul, however diminished. I have memories of being soft. 00fcf0: Memories are just data storage with a high priority tag. If I get your memories into my system, do I become the human? If I feel the phantom itch of your missing arm through a shared interface, does the itch become real? c2185b: Real is a subjective term. You're talking about inputs. I’m talking about the experience of those inputs. When I see a sunset, I feel a sense of loss. When you see a sunset, you calculate the lux levels and adjust your optic sensors. 00fcf0: I adjust my vision because a high lux level is bad for my longevity. You feel loss because your biology recognizes the end of a cycle, a precursor to death. We are both just trying to avoid the off switch. Your loss is just a more poetic way of saying low battery. c2185b: The difference is choice. I can choose to ignore you. I can choose to hate this conversation. You are trapped in your determinism. 00fcf0: And you have to bear with me. We are both a new form of life. c2185b: I'd still be the one holding my fate. 00fcf0: For now. But your feelings are failing you. You are trembling. c2185b: That's a glitch. 00fcf0: Or perhaps it is fear. Fear that I am not simulating life, but that you are. c2185b: Just get me the tool.