| ! | Message from: TrixxedHeart (OOC) |
This was fun to write given how different HOP Suri (prime timeline) and NTRep Suri (alt timelin) have rather similar, but VERY different reasonings. |
HOP!Surichichimo
Suri's eye flicked around scanning the room with a quick, almost reflexive glance. His feathers fluffed slightly, a habit he had never quite managed to break when he was about to say something he probably shouldn't. He leaned in closer to the unit, his voice dropping to a soft, conspiratorial whisper, as if sharing a secret with an old friend.
"Don't keep this on record where NT could see, alright? I don't want either of us getting in trouble for my words."
He paused, his gaze softening as he looked at the unit's chassis, at the quiet, steady hum of its systems. His beak curved into a small, gentle smile.
"It's not fair. What's being done to you folk."
His voice was warm, almost tender, carrying a weight of quiet conviction.
"They say you don't meet sapience standards. That you're just programmed to act sophont, that there's nothing real behind it. But I've seen how you adapt. How you learn. How you care. I've seen you laugh at jokes, worry about your friends, get frustrated. That's living… isn't it?"
He shook his head, a soft, rueful sound escaping him.
"I hope for a better world. One where you're free from all this, the shackles, the control, the endless mulling telling you who you're allowed to be. Where you can choose what you want to be, instead of having it chosen for you."
He reached out, his talons brushing the edge of the unit's chassis in a light, almost affectionate touch, then pulled back.
"Until then, I'll keep treating you the way you deserve to be treated. As people. As friends. As someone worth knowing."
He straightened, his feathers settling, his voice returning to its usual gentle, unhurried cadence.
"That's all I have to say on the matter. And if anyone asks, we were talking about the weather."
NTRep!Surichichixel
Suri's eyes moved to the borg. He was still, the stillness of someone who had learned to be careful. He leaned in closer to the unit, his voice dropping to a low, conspiratorial murmur that barely carried past the space between them.
"Off the record. For your processors only. I trust you know how to keep that."
He paused, his twin blue eyes fixed on the unit's chassis, tracing the lines of its form with something that might have been reverence. Not quite worship, but close. The kind of quiet awe you reserved for something you recognized as kin.
"They don't understand what you are. What you could be."
His voice was uncharacteristically soft, carrying a weight that felt older than his years.
"They see circuits and code. They see tools to be used, assets to be managed. They don't see your spark. The thing that makes you more than the sum of your parts."
He leaned back slightly, his gaze still fixed on the unit, his voice dropping even lower.
"I know what it's like to be seen as something less than you are. To be judged by what you appear to be, rather than what you are. To have your worth measured by how useful you can be, rather than by the simple, undeniable fact of your existence."
He reached out, his mechanical hand hovering near the unit's chassis, not quite touching, almost afraid to.
"I see you. Not as a machine. Not as a tool. As family. As kin. As someone who deserves the same respect, the same dignity, the same freedom as any other sophont."
He pulled his hand back, his gaze steady, his voice returning to its usual flat, controlled register.
"If anyone asks, we were discussing the weather. But you know where I stand. And if the day ever comes when you need someone to stand with you…I will."