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Post by Van-80 on Feb 14, 2018 18:36:33 GMT -6
PL: 5130
“I don’t get it!” the android almost screamed, causing the passersby to stare concerned. “I have nothing to go off of!” he cried leaning against a nearby display window. Van-80 wasted no time in starting his search for true beauty. That being said he also wasted no time in getting sidetracked by every little thing.
“Van please calm down,” prompted Ima in her usual slightly monotonous inflection. “The local population is staring at you.”
“So what?!” Van cried, “I have no idea what I’m doing!”
It was hardly a week earlier that Van-80 set off on his mission to discover and then spread true beauty across the world. So with this directive, the android set off into the vast world to explore. There was just one problem with this. Van-80 may appear to be in his early to mid twenties, but he’s only been alive for a week. He was practically a hyper intelligent super powered baby. It certainly didn’t help whenever he spoke with Ima, his personal AI assistant. Van-80 was the only one who could hear the AI, and as such looked absolutely ridiculous. To put it in perspective, imagine walking down the street, going wherever it is you go on a peaceful morning, then hearing this.
“But it’s right there! Right in front of me! And yet it makes no sense!” To no one in particular. Ok, maybe you could assume this man is on the phone.
“No, but it’s cream! How can cream even be beautiful?!” It would be around this time the onlooker would notice that this man has both of his hands free. That’s fine right? Modern technology has come a long way, perhaps he has an earpiece.
“Pretty?! What the hell is that?!” At this point most bystanders would probably continue on their way by now. Let’s assume someone didn’t and let’s also assume they somehow saw through the thick shining curtains of auburn hair. They would see no earpiece.
“But I want beauty not pretty! What… No! What do you mean they could be the same?!” NOW, if the watcher had any sense whatsoever, they’d have run and very possibly gone a step further and called the nearest mental hospital.
“Android Van-80 stop this temper tantrum at once!” Ima demanded, her robotic tone suddenly becoming a bit more expressive.
“And now you’re yelling at me!!” Vanity shouted back.
“I fail to see how a simple advertisement has gotten you so worked up.” the AI noted.
Oh yes, this crisis is over a simple makeup ad. The first place the android looked to learn what beauty was was the city. Certainly not the worse choice. Things were going well at first, the only odd looks Van received were from the people he flat out asked “Do you know what beauty is?” These people would either brush him off, or try and give their most philosophical, by which often translated to most vague, definition of beauty. Then someone was actually helpful, and pointed the robot to the nearest library. So after quickly looking up what a library was, Van actually figured this would be a genuinely helpful building. Unfortunately he would never make it to said library, as he would become thoroughly distraught with a display window featuring a poster marked, “Beauty at your fingertips.” It was for an entire makeup kit on sale in some random store.
So of course after looking up what makeup was, this ad triggered an existential crisis, as they tend to. So now here was a seemingly twenty some year old man having a breakdown, including a loud argument with himself, about how makeup could possibly be true beauty.
“Seriously? Can anyone tell me how this is beautiful!?” the android called out to the masses.
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Post by Saizomaru on Feb 14, 2018 19:01:19 GMT -6
Saizo PL: 5,685
"You're pretty loud, aren't you?"
Saizomaru was not too far from Van when he started screaming his lungs out at the highest decibel possible, seemingly shouting at himself as though he was arguing with his own thoughts out loud. He stared straight at the other android, his eyes scanning him up and down, taking in his appearance. This man—boy, judging by his maturity—was one who paid incredible attention to his own looks. A vain individual, most assuredly, though perhaps there was something more to him.
Time to find out.
Saizomaru made his way over to the other android, a small smile on his lips as a gesture of hospitality. He didn't want this man to think of him as a hostile presence, though perhaps his robotic body might give off the wrong impression. He had hoped not.
"So… What exactly is the problem?" asked Saizomaru as he folded his arms across his chest, clinking metal against metal as they tapped against his chest plates. "You looking for something in particular, or…?" He waited for the other to respond.
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Kjell Dahn
Newcomer
PL: ARCHIVED - XP/PL TRANSFERRED TO HAIL KALTLUFT
Brenchian Bullet (x2T)
Tag: @hewhostandsalone
Posts: 16
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Post by Kjell Dahn on Feb 14, 2018 19:07:14 GMT -6
(PL 3015)
Kjell felt like he'd been all over this ball of water and dirt over the last few days hunting for a few specific people, but so far he'd had no luck whatsoever. He didn't even have the luxury of finding a hint at their location or whereabouts. He was feeling in a bit of a slump as he strolled down the street in a brown leather vest with a gray t-shirt underneath and a pair of khaki jeans. His signature combat bootfalls thwumped down the sidewalk of the city streets.
Normally Kjell was lost in his own thoughts and just kept trudging along idly, but most people didn't make a scene on the side walk like this fellow up ahead. The towering alien's attention shifted and he raised his gaze up ahead to get a look at who was making such a racket. The hulking behemoth of a man came to a stop near Van-80 and looked up at the advertisement he seemed to be raving about. Kjell didn't quite understand what made this so confusing or why the guy had to shout about it, but maybe there was something he was missing? He hadn't been on this planet for very long. Maybe there was sub-connotations to the advertisement or cultural nuances he didn't get yet?
And so this prompted him to step up and tap his shoulder. "Hey there, guy, what seems to be the problem? You keep raving about how this makes no sense...how you can't understand it's beauty. But what are you really looking for?" Kjell wasn't stupid by any sense of the word, but he did often march to the beat of his own drum. Seeing someone so distraught over something so simple had him rather concerned. Especially since he seemed to be making a large number of people very concerned over something so trivial. Then again, maybe for this fellow it wasn't so trivial. He'd just have to find out. It would kill some time and get his mind off of his inability to locate the people he'd been looking for.
He examined the make-up advertisement for the sale and looked back to Van-80, "Maybe you are taking this too literally. You're only looking at the make-up as an object. The object alone is not beautiful. It is a tool, and one that yields highly varied results depending on the individual. It is the potential of that tool, and the culturally appropriate application of the make-up that can bring out the beauty of the person wearing it. I am not very familiar with how this culture sees beauty, exactly, as I've only been here for a week or so. But beautification products like this aren't uncommon on other planets. How they are applied and worn, however, is another matter. Did that help any?" The muscle-bound man crossed his arms and looked down at Van-80.
"You can call me Kjell, friend. Kjell Dahn." It was then that Kjell noticed the other man who had also approached with intent to help. He nodded at the other man, "Greetings to you as well."
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Post by Van-80 on Feb 15, 2018 20:28:05 GMT -6
Van-80 froze mid tyraid. Still staring at the banner, the android replied to his fellow robot. “You’re… similar. Interesting.” Van then composed himself, brushing his auburn hair out of his good eye, keeping his damaged half well hidden. “Ima, I don’t believe you ever told me no one else could hear you.”
“I believed this information would be redundant. I gave you no indication that anyone else could hear me. Although I can broadcast myself in emergencies.”
Taking a deep breath, Van cleared his throat. “Hello there sir,” he began, acting as if the recent spectacle was already a distant memory. It was if a switch was flipped from crisis mode to smooth and casual. “I’m hoping to-”
Before Vanity could properly converse with the other Android, a new, much larger figure approached the two.
It seemed the beautiful android attracted quite the crowd, and an interesting one at that, two non humans. The large one who would introduce himself as Kjell also asked what the crisis was all about. “Well you see, I’m on sort of a mission. My prime directive is to identify and spread TRUE beauty. Unfortunately I am absolutely clueless as to what that means. So I came here to learn.”
The alien then went on to give his own intriguing explanation of how makeup equated to having beauty at one's fingertips. “I see… it’s not the product itself that is beautiful, but something to help make something beautiful. Ima! Take a note, ‘buy makeup when we have acquired currency.’ got it?”
“Yes sir.”
“Excellent. It’s a pleasure to meet you Kjell, I am called Van-80. But I recently learned that most living people don’t have numbers in their names for whatever reason so you may call me Vanity, or just Van. If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you something, you too other person if it’s no trouble. Oh! my apologies, I didn’t even ask your name.” After giving other android a chance to answer and returning any possible pleasantries, Van would move on to his singular burning question. “What is beauty. I mean true beauty. I’ve been given such differing answers that it’s hard to keep track. I’m hoping there’s an easier answer, or perhaps a sort of ultimate answer. Something I can bring to the people of Earth, and perhaps the entire universe.”
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Post by Saizomaru on Feb 15, 2018 21:52:28 GMT -6
Saizo PL: 5,685
Saizomaru hummed as he watched the Brenchian made his way over to the pair of them. His eyes soon shifted over to the cosmetics advertisement as Kjell began a rather long-winded monologue. He was getting quite in-depth and explanative about make-up and how people use it to bring out their desired looks. It was rather tedious to the android though—butthen again, it wasn't as though he used it himself. Finally, the Brenchian took notice of him. As he greeted Saizomaru, he merely lifted his hand and gave an informal, though polite, "Yo."Van was seemingly keen to discuss the philosophy of beauty and the like, to the point where Saizomaru didn't want to interrupt them. He listened intently to the other android's words, though he was taken aback by the fact that he was a robot—he didn't look like one all that much. Technology has come a long way, apparently. And then a question was asked. One that Saizomaru hadn't put much thought into. He hummed as he leaned back against a nearby brick wall, arms folded across his chest as he gazed upwards in thought. "True beauty…" He paused for a brief moment, then looked back down at the other two. "True beauty doesn't exist." His words were simple, and his tone was blunt. There was no other way to interpret them beyond what they obviously meant. "Beauty is subjective. What one person may find beautiful, another may find ugly. It's like asking, "what's the best colour?", or, "what is the most delicious type of cookie?" It is impossible to state a fact based on opinion. Know what I mean?"Saizomaru smirked, and then pushed himself off the wall. "But I guess the closest thing to true beauty would be my rocking robot body," he humoured. He held his arms out to the sides and low, giving the two a good look at the burnished silver titanium that plated almost his entirety. "Look at how it glistens in the sunlight!"Kjell Dahn
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Kjell Dahn
Newcomer
PL: ARCHIVED - XP/PL TRANSFERRED TO HAIL KALTLUFT
Brenchian Bullet (x2T)
Tag: @hewhostandsalone
Posts: 16
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Post by Kjell Dahn on Feb 16, 2018 3:35:08 GMT -6
The Brenchian whipped his head back and flipped his hair out of his face. He crossed his thick arms over his muscled chest and smirked down at the other two fellows. The towering alien nodded again and again as he listened to what Saizomaru had to say on the matter. Aside from the little sarcastic humor at the end, he agreed completely. Kjell looked over to Van-80 again and began to speak once Saizomaru came to a halt in his speech. "Sarcastic humor at the end aside, this semi-metallic fellow is correct. I'd almost guarantee that you could ask each person in this city individually and each one would give you a slightly different answer than the last...to the point that some answers will be completely different and perhaps even the antithesis of a prior or future answer from someone else."
The alien took a moment to catch a breath. After the way this Van-80 had been freaking out previously, Kjell honestly wondered how he might react to the news that there simply was no concrete answer to this question. To try and comfort him, he added something at the end, "At the end of the day, it's really up to you to decide what is beautiful in your own eyes and what isn't, because not everyone is going to agree with you regardless of what you decide. Beauty is a matter of personal taste and opinion." And with that, Kjell nodded to Saizomaru and turned to start heading down the street once more. His steady, slow, casual bootfalls making loud thwumps with every step.
It seemed he was done with this conversation for the time being, unless Van-80 or Saizomaru felt the need to pursue him for some reason. He paused for a moment, though, and looked over his shoulder. "Oh, and if you want my definition, there's not really a good example nearby. For me, beauty has many forms. One of them is right here." He pointed at his own bicep with his other hand and promptly flexed the arm he was pointing at. After that, though, his departure continued.
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Post by Van-80 on Feb 16, 2018 13:42:12 GMT -6
“True beauty doesn’t what?” Van asked sharply, his words piercing through the air. He felt his heart sink, or rather his android equivalent. His entire purpose in life was already being shot down within the first week of existence. He then thought about his original purpose before the lab’s destruction, about why he was even named Vanity in the first place.
“If I may sir,” Ima chimed in, “we must not let one person put an end to our mission so quickly. Perhaps if we listen to him further, he may provide a new method of searching.”
Luckily Saizomaru went on to describe how the idea of beauty worked, at least for himself. It did indeed give Van-80 a new viewpoint. Kjell did so as well, both of them went on to say how beauty was subjective, what one person may find beautiful, another may find hideous. It certainly helped perk the android up when not one but both of them pointed out their own bodies as something “truly” beautiful.
This brought out a poorly stifled chuckled from Van, who went on to joke, “I suppose if that’s the case I should make a bunch of orange skinned muscular androids and give them out to the people of earth!” he laughed.
“There’s a slight issue with that Vanity, the repairs to the lab is about zero point zero six percent complete.”
“It was a joke Ima, though I still want the lab back up and running at some point.” He then figured that it was only fair what the android thought was beautiful. Of course he couldn’t as he still had no real idea as what beauty even was. It wouldn’t matter too much, as the alien seemed intent on making it to his destination. “It was nice meeting you Kjell!” he called after him.
With Kjell off to wherever it was he intended to go, that only left the two androids. “So, if YOU aren’t in a hurry to get anywhere… This is a little odd to ask but I actually have no idea what beautiful really means. I mean your metal body is quite shiny, almost as shiny as mine if I took my skin off,” certainly not something one would hear every day. “But that’s besides the point, if you don’t mind my asking, where do you think I should look to find beauty?” Still and odd and philosophical question, but it would certainly be better than having a metaphorical aneurysm in the streets over beauty supplies.
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Post by Saizomaru on Feb 17, 2018 14:58:44 GMT -6
Saizo PL: 5,685
With a single wave of his hand, Saizomaru gave his farewells to the Brenchian. "See ya later!" he called out after Kjell before he was drawn back into conversation with the other android. He didn't seem to take the news well of true beauty being something of a myth born of arrogance and ignorance. He was able to crack a joke out of it though, which lent some due respect from Saizomaru—he even cracked a smirk at it. Orange-skinned androids, indeed. But it seemed as though Van wasn't done with his questions, though. He had asked where he might start to find this concept of beauty. He had admitted that he hadn't a clue what true beauty meant, which gave Saizomaru some pause for a response. "Got your work cut out for ya, haven't you?" the titanium android joked with dry humour. With a sigh, he continued, "Well, first, you gotta know what beauty means. Beauty is… Well, it's something that you find pleasant or attractive. Not just how something looks, but also how something is. Someone may look beautiful, but their personality may be ugly. Beauty is skin-deep, so they say.
"As for where to find it… Well… why don't you try starting with yourself." Saizomaru patted a hand on Van's shoulder. "Decide what you think is beautiful. Then go and find what it is you're looking for. You may find it in the most unexpected of places!" Kjell Dahn
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Post by Van-80 on Feb 18, 2018 11:54:51 GMT -6
“What beauty is to me?” Van-80 repeated back in an almost trance like voice. He never considered what HE thought was beautiful. Of course with only a week of life, it wasn’t exactly expected of him to have a solid grasp of the concept just yet. Not to mention, having the seemingly altruistic directive of spreading beauty to the whole world.makes it hard to think of oneself. Then again the directive was to spread true beauty as he discovered it, so it would have to be his own idea of true beauty. But then how could he spread beauty if no one else thought it was beautiful, and then how could he follow the directive properly.. The circular thinking was starting to give the android a headache, causing him to scratch at the damaged half of his face anxiously.
“Van, I think we’ve been looking at our objective too… objectively, pardon my pun. I think what Saizomaru is suggesting is that we simply start by looking at our own definition of beauty before moving on to the entire world.”
That snapped Vanity out of his nervous stupor. “Ahh, thank you Ima, don’t know where I’d be without you. So is that true?” Of course there was no way for the other android to know what he was talking about. “Right, you can’t hear her. Err, Ima you said you can broadcast right?” With that, Van’s left eye flashed an electric pink, as Ima’s voice was projected for Saizomaru to hear.
“Indeed I can. First allow me to say that it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Ima. I simply wanted to know if my hypothesis was indeed correct. You are suggesting is that we simply start by looking at our own definition of beauty before moving on to the entire world. Is that correct?” Van-80 didn’t have to move his lips for this, instead the deep feminine and slightly monotonous voice of Ima was projected from somewhere on Van’s body.
Oddly enough, the android in question didn’t particularly care for it, shuddering slighly once she finished.
“Euugh, maybe save that for emergencies? That feels so weird.” noted Van-80 before anyone else could say anything.
“I did say it was for emergencies only sir.”
got word from Kjell, he left the thread, just letting you know so no one thinks we're cutting him off (also incase it's confusing, non italicized mean Ima can be heard)
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Post by Saizomaru on Feb 23, 2018 22:17:43 GMT -6
Saizo PL: 5,685
Saizomaru hummed. So the android wasn't just talking to himself. He was communicating with a third party, although he wondered if it was some sort of communication frequency that he was tuned in to—some sort of external broadcast. The white-haired robot folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the nearby wall of the building, letting the two of them have a half-heard conversation. He had waited for a few moments before a third voice had chimed into the conversation. For a split second, it had surprised Saizomaru, though it didn't distract him from hearing what she had to say. She was polite at least, and she only had words of affirming what Saizomaru had suggested was what he meant, not being misconstrued. He gave a slight, stern nod. "Indeed, you are correct," confirmed the android. "Though bear in mind, that both of you may not find the same things as beautiful. When that occurs, try not to be at each other's throats about it. Remember—beauty is in the eye of the beholder; a matter of taste, of opinion. And as I said before, there is not one, true opinion."Saizomaru pushed off the wall and turned to walk away. "Having said that, I think you should be fine with dealing with this on your own. If you ever find your answer, send me a text or something." With that, the android vanished from the streets. He didn't even leave them a number. Van-80Gonna be taking my leave now! I'm gonna be busy for the next couple of weeks and it'll free you up a thread slot. Have fun!
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