1597/Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

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Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Date of Scene: 23 July 2017
Location: Unknown
Synopsis: Summary needed
Cast of Characters: Viridian, Indigo




Viridian has posed:
The 'Nox' household is a nice little two story building not too far out of the city proper, away from the airport. It's a typical Xandarian home- sleek space age lines and a little, neatly manicured lawn in a small, perfectly sized lot. There is even a dog house, corodned off by a forcefield that glows faintly purple when the little fifteen pound black and white fuzzy creature places his paws agianst it and wags his tail.

Viridian smiling almost incandescently as hse proceeds toward the house, briefly looking over at the gynoid beisde her to check their expression. The girl ventures a brief wave at the dog. "Hiya, Dust!" Max is trailing behind, meters off. It is shaping to be the first time she's gone anywherew ithout her security dolphin. "Okay, so... They're going to love you!" Viri starts enthusiastically. "But they might be a bit confused? I guess we'll see what happens... Ready?"

Indigo has posed:
    Indigo nods quickly. She's a little nervous, but mostly calm (and, okay, seven percent restraining an urge to run over to the forcefield while squealing, "Dusterpupper!"). After all, she's with Viridian, and that's enough. She considered changing her clothes but ultimately settled against: let her in-laws like her for the person she is.
    Indigo takes Viridian's hand and smiles at her fiancee. "I'm ready to meet them. If they're your family, then I want them to be my family too."

Viridian has posed:
    Viridan smiles at Indigo and nods quickly, those blue eye studying her fiancee's features carefully for a long moment. Then the woman walks up to the front door of the house and takes a deep breath. BZZZT! The doorbell goes off without being touched. A moment later the door springs open. What follows next is a hint as to Viridian's natural hair colour, if such things ever interested Indigo. She's a middle-aged women with thick copper red hair done up into a somewhat messy approximation of a bun wearing a deep blue skirt and white blouse combination. She blinks.
    "Juliet! And this must be- Indigo... Hello!" The brief wavering of excitement can perhaps be forgiven, though the faltering expression and brief confusion coming from Mrs. Nox is immediately evident on her features. A smile quickly replaces it as she studies Indigo from head to toe briefly. "Oh, come in! Philip is upstairs working on something but he'll be down in a moment. My name is Margaret and, ah... Well. Welcome to our home!"
    "Julie, you never mentioned she was so- colourful," Margaret is saying as she leads the way through the neatly appointed entry way with its small table and coat rack and then toward the living room. It is furnished with a large, plush three seater couch, holo projector, speaker suite, chrome and glass coffee table. "Can I get you anything? Tea... Juice... Oil?" Viri fixes her mother with a brief glare. "Mom!"
    "Just asking! One moment. I'll go get your father, honey."

Indigo has posed:
    Indigo feels a smile coming on at Margaret's clothing choices seeming to be coordinated to match Indigo's own name, and she lets it rise to her face. An honest smile is better than a polite one. "And you must be Mrs. Nox. Viridian's told me so much about you. Thank you for having me over." The electronic hum in her voice might or might not give Margaret something else to think about as Indigo follows Viridian into the house, and she answers, "I'd be grateful to you for some juice, if you wouldn't mind. It will help some of my autonomic functions." Indigo doesn't explain which ones. Margaret doesn't need to know why Indigo likes to keep a reservoir of sweetness.

Viridian has posed:
    "Oh, absolutely. Juice. Coming up." Off Margaret goes, a humming bundle of activity in a slightly plump, matronly frame. She soon disappears through the door on the far side of the room leaving the girls alone. Viridian is giggling softly as she tugs Indigo with her to a seat on the couch, staring toward the doors. "Mom's a little nervous, I think! Never had a gynoid in the famil ybefore." More laughter follows. The girl takes a deep breath and looks up toward the ceiling. "Dad's probably working on another one of his projects. Keeps saying he's going to knock out a wall and expand his den now that i've moved out but my bedroom is sitll in the same place..." Viri sighs softly, shaking her head. "Okay. So. Um... I know they'll just love you but I guess I'm still a little- nervous?" She flashes Indigo a brief smile and then frowns faintly. "I don't know."

Indigo has posed:
    "Me too," Indigo admits, squeezing Viridian's hand. "But we can do it. We can get them to accept us." She squeezes Viridian's hand again. "After all, it sounds like your dad loves you and misses you very much. He wouldn't want to come between us."

Viridian has posed:
    "I dunno." Viridian bites her lip for a second but then she nods firmly and moves to hug Indigo tightly for a second, burying her head against the gynoid's shoulder. Which is when the door slides open with a soft whoosh.
    "Hello, my name is Philip. No... Hello, MY name is Philip... Hello, my name i... philip..." The man is mumbling to himself as he comes down the hallway, faintly audible from a fair distance, before he finally steps into the living room.
    "Hello, my name is Philip Nox and I'm Juliet's-" Philip stops to gawk for a second, eyes widening, but quickly regains his composure. Viri jumps back to her own seat on the couch. Phil, for his part, is a tall man with slightly hunched shoulders and a bushy beard that is, by this point, more salt than pepper. He's probably in his late fities, though with medical technology being what it is it is hard to be completely certain.
    "Oh!" Viri squeaks. "Dad! This is- Indigo..."
    "I can see that. Same color as her name, I guess. ANd... pink?" Philip looks like he might mumble something more but VIri glowers in her cutest scrunched face way.
    "Ah. Yes. It's a pleasure to meet you, Indigo. You look very- mechanical. Today."

Indigo has posed:
    Indigo smiles at Philip, good-natured. "Watch it with the flattery, I'm already spoken for," she banters, lifting Viridian's hand to visibly squeeze it. She gives the joke a second to land, and decides to just tackle the elephant in the room: "I know, my color palette is odd. My skin is the result of ablative particles embedded in my skin, but I don't know why my hair, lips, and eyes are this color. I suppose my creator just found them complementary."

Viridian has posed:
    "Well.. It is. Quite. It's a good colour." Philip glances at his own arm, which is arather milder shade. Not too different from human until you really look at him closely. Then the man barks a soft laugh. "It'ss a good colour palette anyway," he considers in his rumbling voice. "And any second... Ah. Right. Juice, Margaret?"
    "That's what the girl asked for, Philip," the woman states briskly. Philip's experession reveals mild consternation but he nods andtakes to his armchair while glasses of purple juice are passed about the table. "Oh, this was always Juliet's favourite when she was little. You know, she used to sneak out in the middle of the night to get some and then she'd wet the-"
    "MOM!"

Indigo has posed:
    "Thank you very much, Mrs. Nox," Indigo offers gratefully as she takes the juice in both hands. She sips it contentedly. Ah. At Viridian's embarrassment, she smiles and nudges her fiancee gently with her hip. "Viri, it's nothing to be ashamed of. I'm pretty sure it's been kind of a while since you did it last."

Viridian has posed:
    "It's been seventeen years now, the silly little thing. But she still gets embarassed." The woman shrugs her shoulders and parts her hands as if to say 'I have no idea why' and flashes Indigo a brilliant smile. Now that everyone has their juice it is time for drinking. Philip glowers at the glass for a moment but the women of the Nox family seem to be quite satisfied with the sugary treat.
    "Mmm. You know what this needs, Philip?" There's a twinkle of mirth in Margaret's eyes.
    "Drinking in front of guests? Maggie, you know better!"
    "Oh, you know me better than that you old coot." There's a laugh from Viri's mother and Viridian's eyes are left to bounce back and forth between those present as she tries to process what to say and resolves to be silent.
    "Oh, Indigo. So! Tell us about yourself? How did a lovely gynoid like yourself come to be with our irresponsible and beautiful Juliet?" Unbelievably, it's Philip who breaks the ice this way.
    Margaret continues to sip at her drink quietly.

Indigo has posed:
    Indigo didn't know Xandarians consider it rude to imbibe in front of guests... or maybe Philip is saying he has a drinking problem. Best to leave it alone and just answer the question with a smile; a real one, fond for her girlfriend. "It's a bit of a long story. I was on a space station when there was an alert telling us to clear this and that sections of the station for possible casualties and emergency crews because of a nearby malfunctioning vessel. I was familiar with the station's rescue capacity and determined their reaction time was risky to rely on, so I decided to go there myself. My body is equipped to survive in space." She sips more juice. Lovely stuff. "Aboard, I found Viridian, connected to a virtual reality console. I wanted to explore the system to be sure it would be safe to disconnect her. Once I got in, I found out the process runs much faster than time does in the real world, so she and I spent months together over the course of the next few hours while I disconnected her from the system slowly. We really got to know each other over all that time, and, well, knowing Viridian is the same as loving her, I think."

Viridian has posed:
    Everyone in the room is staring. Including Viridian. She's rather red in the cheeks now and swallows, hard. Margaret blinks a few times. Philip... "Ah- well. That's quite the, um. Sory. A virtual reality simulation? As in, an entire virtual world? "The man beetles his brows together then, squinting slightly while he studies Indigo's face.
    Margaret swallows more juice quickly. Viridian fidgets and then nods her head slowly. "Yeah. We, um. Met in a simulation. I wasn't completely sure she was real for a little while. But I couldn't have dreamed up Indigo. We really hit it off once we got out."
    Margaret ventures quietly, "Well, it- explains why you hadn't mentioned her to us until a couple months ago..." Philip nods his agreement to that statement quickly.

Indigo has posed:
    Indigo smiles and nods. "It's only been a few months in physical reality, but Viridian's abilities allow her to access my CPU, which is, well, I think very quickly. She and I have had years' worth of conversations in the time we've been together, and I want to spend the rest of my life with the person she is." She takes one hand off her drinking glass and reaches for Viri's hand to squeeze it. "She's my babe."

Viridian has posed:
Viridian nods slowly and reaches over to squeeze Indigo's hand in turn, watching her parents' faces. They're both noncommittal in expression but they nod and exchange glances.
    "I think that's- wonderful," Margaret begins carefully. "Don't you, Philip?" The man nods. "Well," she continues in a musing tone. "Arey ou both staying for dinner? I dont' know if you eat, Indigo, but we've got a lovely casserole cooking..."
    "Not the casserole again, mom."
    "It's your favourite!"
    "It was when I was eight, you mean!"
    Then Philip chimes in about how dinner is going to be casserole regardless because he likes it and the group is quietly conversing. Or bicker. It's hard to tell with families sometimes, even happy ones.
    Soon enough it's time for Philip to go plate dinner. He quietly excuses himself to doo his part in the domesticity of the home.

Indigo has posed:
    "I can eat a little bit, and process the food into my fuel cells. Plus, I enjoy the flavors of foods. I was actually hoping you'd let me make you a pot of klava. I don't know how well it will go with the casserole, but I think you'll enjoy it," Indigo offers, an eager twinkle in her eye. She loves cooking.

Viridian has posed:
    "Kalva? Kla... Klava? Hm. Sounds interesting," Philip remarks from the doorway, smiling in his bushy-browed way. The pink Xandarian arches a brow briefly, studying the gynoid's features. "Why don't you show me how it's made, dear? I'd love to try it. I like learning new recipes."
    Meanwhile, Margaret is looking around at the people surrounding her and giving a soft sigh, shaking her head. THe expression the redhead is wearing is fond and she sighs contentedly as she settles into her seat. A crocheting needle and a ball of yarn are produced from beside her chair.
    "You know, Juliet, I wondered what you were getting up to. Out there in space all this time. Stuck in a simulation? Really? I can't even imagine..."
    Philip continues to smile at Indigo and cants head toward the kitchen, gesturing mostly by shaking it. Come with me. Now. Hurry. Mother and daughter have a lot of baggage to unpack.

Indigo has posed:
    "Of course, come with me," Indigo invites cheerfully. Then she's in the kitchen, finding ceramic jugs and bottles and funnels. Philip gets to watch her boil water and the Xandarian equivalent of coffee with ground cardamomn, while Indigo cracks some eggs and pours the fluids down the drains, then washes them out and puts the shells in a straining bag before dusting them with crushed vanilla bean. Once the coffee-like mixture has begun to froth, it's poured into a jar in which the bag steeps, then poured through a filtered funnel into the serving pot. It's like coffee, but with most of the bitterness removed, with a silky texture bordering on the ethereal. Indigo offers the first mug to Philip, a little anxiously.

Viridian has posed:
    Philip takes the mug, brows beetling again in his curious way, one that makes him look closer to his what must be 55 or more years. He takes a sip of the drink and the n pauses. An eye narrows and he looks down at the mug before sipping it again. "This is wonderful. I don't even like coffee," he admits after a moment. "Never much cared for bitter things. How on earth did you do that? It's like-" He pauses. Shrugs. Then slurps the coffee and shakes his head. "Gah. Still hot though."

Indigo has posed:
    Indigo's face lights up (no, not literally, ya biological racist!) and she suppresses the urge to clap her hands. "I'm glad you like it! Let it cool down, but not too much. The heat is key to keeping it potable." She caps the serving pot and puts it on low heat to make sure it stays worth drinking, then gestures to the living room with a tilt of her head. Her voice is pitched much lower as she asks, "It's been a while since Viri's come home, huh?"

Viridian has posed:
    "Okay," Philip agrees, nodding. He squints at his cup and then shrugs, taking another sip followed by a wince. It's a wince of joy, truly. "Juliet had a falling out with her mother a couple of years ago," Philip responds in a similarly low voice. "They don't talk about it but those two girls barely tolerate eachother most of the time. I've tried to medn bridges but it's just... easier for her, I guess, if she doesn't come home more than once ever year or two. Last time we saw her Juliet had just enlisted with the Helion Research Corporation for a one month sting working on... That simulation you mentioned, I guess."Philip shrugs slowly at that.

Indigo has posed:
    Indigo nods slowly. "I'm sorry. That must be hard on you, Philip," she offers, coming a step closer and putting a hand on his elbow to indicate she's not talking about the mending but rather the collateral being cut out of Viri's life.

Viridian has posed:
    "Is what it is but... Yeah." Philip nods once, in undestanding. He reaches out and pats Indigo lightly on the shoulder, taking a deep breath as he does. "LEt's give 'em a few minutes and we can go on out there and break it up before they get too tense. At least they're talking, mmm?"

Viridian has posed:
    Dinner isn't a terribly eventful affair save that VIridian and her mother are pointedly not looking at one another and Philip is periodically glancing around and shaking his head. It's a good casserole, for all that Viridian professed not to be a fan.She ends up eating three portions. Not even Viri can be honest with herself all the time apparently.
    "So... Indigo," Margaret is starting slowly. "Where are you from? Do you have- parents? Were you built...? I'm sorry, I'm not sure how to word this quesiton." Philip and Viridian are both watching quietly to see how the gynoid reacts.

Indigo has posed:
    Indigo smiles over the table at Margaret. "It's okay, ask me as bluntly as you'd like. I know it's strange, and you deserve to know more about the person who's marrying your daughter. Alright." Indigo clears her throat and pushes her plate away (she put down one solid serving of casserole herself) and shows Margaret the back of her left hand, three fingers extended. Indigo's right forefinger pulls her left ring finger down, eliminating it from the stack as she explains, "I don't actually know where I'm from. My first memories are from just three months ago, when I was found drifting in space by someone who would become my friend by saving me. The damage I'd sustained matches data fragments I still retain, saying I'd been in a battle, but I can't remember with whom or over what."
    Her middle finger gets pulled down. "Due to my memory loss, I don't know who created me either, or what for. I do contain a significant amount of weaponry, an ability to process immense amounts of information quickly, and the ability to interact with any known machine's code, so when I consider that and my basic nature, I believe I was originally built as a police model or peace-keeping unit. I think I would be very good at investigations if called on for it."
    Indigo curls her forefinger down in the middle of that last speech and drops her hand into her lap. She's still smiling: she doesn't mind answering questions. "I know, it doesn't answer many questions, and it used to bother me that I couldn't say more about myself. But eventually I realized it doesn't really matter what my past was. How I am now is how I'd be if I'd only been recently activated, so I lose nothing by treating myself as if I'm newly activated. After all, no matter who or what I was originally, who and what I am now is who and what I choose to be."

Viridian has posed:
    "...Weapons, Philip. Did you hear that? She's- some kind of a weapons platform or... Something." Margaret shakes her head at this, frowning depely as she surveys the table with a fixed expression. Even Philip blanches slightly though he soon takes a deep breath as if he might say something.
    Viri cuts in. "Indigo's not a weapons platform, mom. She's a person. Just like you- or me. She has thoughts. ANd dreams. You can't talk about her like that. She's RIGHT here."
    Margaret continues, "I spent thirty years as a software engineer for a robotics firm, Juliet. I built Max for you, remember? I know exactly how AIs think or act and it's generally precisely how you program them to. Indigo is lovely, but- you can't think this is a good idea." The redheaded human shakes her head once, firmly. "I can't stop you marrying her but I think you are in over your head, Juliet Viridian Annaliese Nox."
    Viridian is getting to her feet now. Philip is wincing. He goes to speak and is caught by a withering glare from Margaret. Not his fight. He, predictably, hesitates.

Indigo has posed:
    Still seated, Indigo takes Viridian's wrist gently in her hand and smiles up at her. "Viri, honey, I love that you're protective of me, but it's okay. Margaret's just trying to be protective of you too. I'd be every bit as worried as she is if I was in her position." She kisses the back of Viridian's hand gently, and turns her attention back to Margaret, hands spread peacably. "Margaret, I have a theory about humans: I think as a species, you only fear what you don't know. I think once you know something, the fear goes away, because even if it's dangerous, you at least have the tools you need to deal with it. So, get to know me. I want to help make Viri happy, and even if I didn't, I'd feel bad if you were afraid of me."

Viridian has posed:
    "..." There's a pause whhhile Margaret considers this for a few secnds, staring intently at Indigo. Finally the woman breathes a quiet sigh nd slowly shakes her head. "I can get to know you but I can't get to know what is going to happen next with you. Not unless i've seen all of your code, and..." She pauses for a second, pursing her lips while she does.
    "I have seen her code, mom. Indigo's- perfect. It's incredible actually. Like nothing I've ever seen. Elegant and clean..." The now red haired Viridian is shaking her head, that quiet smile of hers returning as she does. "You just need to get to know her better, mom. Honest. You'll get it. Dad likes her." Philip shrugs at that and then nods his assent to VIri'swords withotu acutally speaking."
    Finally Margaret sighs, "I'm sorry. I didn't want to have this out at dinner. Indigo, you really are a lovely- gynoid- I just...." She sighs and looks down at her food. "Mmm. This Klava is wonderful by the way," the woman adds in a somewhat sheepish tone.

Indigo has posed:
    Indigo nods along at Viridian, smiling pleasantly but with no pride. After all, Viridian's just stating facts here. "I'd be happy to let you see my code, but it would take specialized equipment to be able to process it. I'm advanced beyond any machine I have personal experience with. I operate on a trinary programming language with a decay-driven randomized logic structure, hex-point file retrieval capabilities, and six-point-seven megamyncs of compressed dyad memory. But more than that, my code isn't all of me. It's specifically designed for the mechanical construction of my CPU's positronic network." She grins. "And I'm glad you like the klava. I love cooking," she hints subtly.

Viridian has posed:
    "You do seem to be good at it," Margaret offers in a conciliatory way though she is obviously still tense. Dinner ends much like that. Quiet, subdued only by force and fraught with tension. Philip and Margaret both retire upstairs afterward, with Philip offering apaology about Margaret getting worked up and needing some rest. That leaves Indigo and Viri alone. Viridian, for her part, is fidgeting nervously, stealing glances at her fiancee and looking- embarrassed, to say the least. Her hair is shifting backtoward green at the moment.

Indigo has posed:
    Indigo collects Viridian in her arms and hugs her warmly. "Thank you for bringing me to meet your parents, Viri," she murmurs. Her feelings are hurt that Margaret won't accept her--there's no use pretending they're not, when Viridian can read her mind--but she's glad for the chance either way, and knows how she responds out loud will matter as much as how she feels inside. She gives Viri a quick kiss, then leans back to smile at her. "So, are we staying the night, or are we excusing ourselves?"

Viridian has posed:
    "I don't care if I ever see her again. We're leaving now and going back to our real family. Come on, Indigo." Fuming, Viridian and her now crimson hair are stalking toward the door. She reaches for Indigo's hand to 'drag' her along but in reality no amount of force from the Technopath could make Indigo move- not physical force, at least. The point is the meaning implicit in it. The momentum. If Viri gets her way she will stalk all the way back tot he spaceport. Max, of course, is happy to follow once they get outside.

Indigo has posed:
    Okay, so gentle and loving isn't going to cut it. Indigo follows along agreeably, hand in Viridian's, asking only in a low, soothing tone, "Will you still allow me to invite her to the wedding? I'd like her to be there, but not if it will hurt you, love."

Viridian has posed:
    "I don't know. I'm really- freaking- angry right now, darn it!" Viridian continues to fume but she's starting to lose steam the further she gets from the house. "...Yeah, you can invite here ot the wedding," the girl adds sheepishly. "I just need to- process all of this. She thinks you're dangerous." Viri breathes a quiet sigh. "If you're dangerous, Indi, I don't care. I'm yours. Not anyone else's. No matter what."