[Ordinarily Megaman's pretty outgoing - he can make friends pretty much anywhere. Here, though...he's mostly been focused on just trying to get through this. It's only temporary, after all, and he'll be back home with Lan soon enough. Right?
Even so, he can't exactly say "no" to that, because...]
Well, there's you. [He even smiles a little bit, at that.] Still, there's a big difference between a friend and an operator. Especially for a navi like me - I was made specifically for Lan, in a big way. Nobody else could ever come close. We just wouldn't be compatible.
[Oh, he sees that flicker, and it's simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking.]
Well, for most navis it mostly comes down to personalities. If a navi and a human get along, and their personalities mesh, and the navi likes them and trusts them enough? They can make that human their operator. It works the other way, too - if a navi doesn't like or doesn't get along with their operator, they can leave them and find a new one. Navis really only ever have one operator at a time, but sometimes we'll let another human...substitute, I guess, if we get along well enough and the situation requires it.
As for me...
[There's a long pause as he looks down, obviously debating something. When he finally glances up again he's obviously a little nervous.]
[ Hiro tries very hard not to look too excited at the prospect of a secret. Or the prospect of ... well, being an operator. He's a little more fascinated by the concept than he is by Megaman specifically - ah, that's not fair, is it. A brief but guilty wince as the thought passes across his mind. ]
Remember how I said I have unique programming? Well. When dad made me...
[He might not need oxygen in the cyber world, but he sure does look like he just took a deep breath. He can do this. He can.]
...when he made me, he was working on a project at the labs. A big one, genuine Sci-Labs deal - government funding, government oversight, the works. They were working on a technique for coding and generating navis that they hoped would make us more human-like. A way for us to have a...a "seed" personality on start-up, instead of being a complete blank slate, one that would hopefully be guaranteed to mesh with our operators'.
They did that by generating the navi's frame, the personality data, the core programming, almost everything with...with a digitized sample of the intended operator's DNA.
Lan and I have identical genomes, yes-- [Not a lie!] --but I'm not "based" on anyone. I'm as much my own person as any other navi, I just...happen to have human DNA.
[Sorry, Hiro, he's. A little touchy about the personhood thing. He's Lan's twin, not his clone, dammit.]
[Oh god, what can he even say? It's not true nobody's ever called them brothers - but all those people know he's Hub. But he can't give that caveat, and he doesn't want to lie to Hiro. Lying by omission, what's that]
...some people, they say me and Lan...that we "fight just like real brothers." [Yes, he does the air quotes.] But that, I...
[He's not even sure what to say. Hiro hit the nail on the head without even realizing it, and it makes him feel...happy. Because Hiro doesn't know, and he still thought that, thought something more than just "experimental custom navi" like all the scientists who knew what he was but not who he was...
[ Hiro at least seems unphased by the concept of a program and a human being brothers, once he's had the DNA thing explained. He can jump onto this concept pretty fast. Maybe too fast, if Megaman's trying to hide it. He senses something up but ... well, mostly that's confusing. ]
Sure. I mean, I've got an older brother. So it sounds like it to me? I know what it's like.
I am. [Zero hesitation, though there seems to be a problem in the logical chronology department. Hiro should be able to notice it if his observational skills are sharp.
Now, time to try to get this conversation back under control.]
I didn't know you had a brother too. What's he like?
[ Yeah, uh. That ... doesn't make sense? Unless they got Lan's DNA before he was born ... He opens his mouth to ask but gets cut off by Megaman's incoming question. ]
Oh, uh - he's protected me as long as I can remember. Really, really nice. Too nice for his own good.
[Yes good, come up with your own logical explanations and never ask for clarification. The fewer holes Megaman has to talk his way around, the better.]
[He'll just have to keep tossing out shiny distractions then. Whatever it takes to keep Hiro as far away from The Hub Thing as humanly possible.]
That's a bad thing? Wanting to help people doesn't sound so bad to me. [Hey Hiro, you totally wanted a second Overprotective Self-Sacrificing Deceased Older brother, right.]
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microbrobotics) wrote2025-01-08 05:19 pm
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Even so, he can't exactly say "no" to that, because...]
Well, there's you. [He even smiles a little bit, at that.] Still, there's a big difference between a friend and an operator. Especially for a navi like me - I was made specifically for Lan, in a big way. Nobody else could ever come close. We just wouldn't be compatible.
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[ There's a flicker of interest. ]
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Well, for most navis it mostly comes down to personalities. If a navi and a human get along, and their personalities mesh, and the navi likes them and trusts them enough? They can make that human their operator. It works the other way, too - if a navi doesn't like or doesn't get along with their operator, they can leave them and find a new one. Navis really only ever have one operator at a time, but sometimes we'll let another human...substitute, I guess, if we get along well enough and the situation requires it.
As for me...
[There's a long pause as he looks down, obviously debating something. When he finally glances up again he's obviously a little nervous.]
...Hiro, can you keep a secret?
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Yeah. Yeah, definitely. What is it?
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[He might not need oxygen in the cyber world, but he sure does look like he just took a deep breath. He can do this. He can.]
...when he made me, he was working on a project at the labs. A big one, genuine Sci-Labs deal - government funding, government oversight, the works. They were working on a technique for coding and generating navis that they hoped would make us more human-like. A way for us to have a...a "seed" personality on start-up, instead of being a complete blank slate, one that would hopefully be guaranteed to mesh with our operators'.
They did that by generating the navi's frame, the personality data, the core programming, almost everything with...with a digitized sample of the intended operator's DNA.
...I was the only one that worked.
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So - you're based on a person? You've got your operator's DNA?
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[Sorry, Hiro, he's. A little touchy about the personhood thing. He's Lan's twin, not his clone, dammit.]
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More like a brother then.
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...yeah. Exactly.
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... What's wrong? Did I still get it wrong?
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[Oh god, what can he even say? It's not true nobody's ever called them brothers - but all those people know he's Hub. But he can't give that caveat, and he doesn't want to lie to Hiro.
Lying by omission, what's that]...some people, they say me and Lan...that we "fight just like real brothers." [Yes, he does the air quotes.] But that, I...
[He's not even sure what to say. Hiro hit the nail on the head without even realizing it, and it makes him feel...happy. Because Hiro doesn't know, and he still thought that, thought something more than just "experimental custom navi" like all the scientists who knew what he was but not who he was...
He can't help smiling.]
Thank you.
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Sure. I mean, I've got an older brother. So it sounds like it to me? I know what it's like.
... Who's older?
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Now, time to try to get this conversation back under control.]
I didn't know you had a brother too. What's he like?
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Oh, uh - he's protected me as long as I can remember. Really, really nice. Too nice for his own good.
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How so?
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He doesn't think about himself. He always tries to help people and he doesn't do things for his own good...
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That's a bad thing? Wanting to help people doesn't sound so bad to me. [Hey Hiro, you totally wanted a second Overprotective Self-Sacrificing Deceased Older brother, right.]
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