Fic - Completing the Circuit

[kerravonsen]

Finally, here's the first of the "ficlets" in the ficlet challenge. I had to do a bit of research for this one, and it ended up closer to 600 words than 500. And I didn't use the line of dialogue quite the way it was specified. And it needs betaing. Still, I hope y'all enjoy it.

Completing the Circuit

Livejournal ficlet challenge.
Characters: Avon & Zen
Dialog: "Computers don't do that!"
Requested by: astrogirl2
Words: 630

###

The auto-repair circuits had done their usual efficient job; the damage from the trooper's blaster was all gone -- even the smoke stains had been eliminated. Avon sighed in frustration. Even after all this time, he didn't fully understand how the auto-repair worked. There was only so much he dared do to investigate it, because it was one vital system he dared not break, not without understanding how to fix it first. There was only one Liberator, and it hadn't come with a manual. He glanced over at Zen. Or at least, the manual wasn't very cooperative.

"Wisdom must be gathered, it cannot be given," Avon muttered sarcastically, remembering something that the computer had said not long after they'd gotten on board. But there was a difference between wisdom and information, and Zen seemed to be as miserly with the latter as with the former -- at least as far as the Liberator's workings were concerned. There were still controls that they didn't know the purpose of, and some that they knew only enough of to avoid touching again.

He frowned down at the lower left-hand crew-station, and the green panel which Jenna hadn't been able to remove her hand from, when they first came on board. It had been activated by the second button she'd touched, after that uncontrolled ride from her initial experimentation. They'd thought nothing had been triggered, and then... But how had Zen managed to read Jenna's mind? It wasn't as if it had been injecting nanobots into her through her hand. Yet telepathy operated through the fifth dimension, and while Orac's carrier beams travelled through it (thus bypassing the limitations of the light-barrier) the computer had no awareness in that dimension. Computers don't do that. It was the province of sentient beings. Telepaths mostly, but even ordinary humans accessed it involuntarily from time to time. So how had Zen done it?

To be completely known, it's like... innocence. Those were Jenna's words. But there was no way Avon was going to risk such an invasion of self. No way.

But it wouldn't hurt to investigate the circuitry of the device. Very carefully. He picked up his tools and went down the steps and began.

***

The probe sent a shock through his arm. He only had time to utter a curse before the paralysis hit. What had --?

It was as if he were rooted to the console. In more ways than one; as if he were a tree, or the branch of a tree, grafted onto an alien life; data flowing like sap in his veins, percieved but not understood. And then there was an awareness, focused on him. He felt like a gnat on the surface of a pond, about to be gulped by a big-mouthed fish. There was nowhere to hide. There was no way to hide.

He was not devoured. He was not even consumed with shame. His life, his existance, was one more piece of data in a world of data, known and examined by a dispassionate intelligence. There was no judgement here. Neither was there warm fuzzy love. Just... acceptance. Even accomodation. Understanding was to be desired, as a facilitator of greater efficiency. Wholeness is desirable. Harmony is desirable.

We are One.

Avon sat down with a bump, dropping the probe with a clatter. He absently massaged the hand that had held the probe. Part of him ached for lost communion, and part was relieved to be alone, small, self, solitary again.

"Zen!" he snapped, standing up.

+Yes, Avon?+

"Did you do that on purpose?"

+Circuits were engaged according to their design,+ Zen answered.

"That wasn't what I meant!"

+Confirmed.+

"You --" Avon broke off, and then smiled.

It was after this that Avon began referring to Zen as "he".

###

Notes:

This is meant to be set after "Volcano". Note that, indeed, in the next episode, "Dawn of the Gods", Avon does refer to Zen as "he". My researches seem to indicate that this is the first time Avon does so.

Comments

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like that a lot. Well-spotted on the pronouns, too. I hadn't really noticed that Avon uses "he" at that point, but if so, then this really does slot beautifully into canon. And, hey, I think "internal dialog" is an acceptable use of what you were given. :) Excellent job.

[kerravonsen]

Whee! Thank you.

My research was initially trying to check (a) the whole Zen-telepathy incident and (b) what crew-stations Jenna had used and Avon had used after Jenna left -- the discovery of the "he" pronoun was a fortuitous result, and, ironically, I decided it didn't actually matter what crew-stations Jenna and Avon had used.
I then had to go through the episode transcripts to see if Avon ever used "he" in reference to Zen before then, and I couldn't find one. Ironically, Avon refers to Orac as "he" in the actual episode "Orac" -- but then Avon doesn't seem to have protested about Orac's machine nature like he did repeatedly about Zen from the moment the computer revealed itself.

[mistraltoes.livejournal.com]

Or at least, the manual wasn't very cooperative.

Hee!

Neither was there warm fuzzy love.

Well, that's good. ;-)

Though it makes me wonder if Zen gives each person it communes with the type of support s/he most needs.

It's very tidy, the way you tied various ideas and events from different points in the series together here. And I did immediately recognize that it was set post-Volcano. Good work.

[kerravonsen]

Or at least, the manual wasn't very cooperative.

Hee!
Well, naturally, if one can't find the paper manual, one turns to the computer Help, doesn't one? (grin)

Though it makes me wonder if Zen gives each person it communes with the type of support s/he most needs.

I had a long ramble about Zen's nature in reply to this, and then the computer ate my reply (sigh). Suffice to say, that at least in this story, I was thinking of Zen as genuinely dispassionate, a true AI, but with also a genuine desire to serve; for which harmony and understanding are aids to service. That doesn't really answer your speculation, though.

And I did immediately recognize that it was set post-Volcano. Good work.
Thanks. I wasn't sure if there had been another occassion besides Volcano where a trooper's blaster had damaged a console, though I guess there hasn't been.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Applause! That's excellent and so believable for both of them.

I have only one quibble, and it's a small one. Do Australians say 'gotten' like Americans?

[daiseechain.livejournal.com]

I've heard many in the UK use gotten, and it's actually older English usage than the word 'got' (I'll have to go searching for the source as I've forgotten (heh, for'gotten', see?) where the reference is).
In cross-cultural English situations, I usually find it easier to replace the offending word with something recognisable to everyone, such as 'arrived', but I think her usage is actually correct in this case.
Anyone feel free to correct me.

[daiseechain.livejournal.com]

Very well done, and excellent research work.

[mistraltoes.livejournal.com]

Why should anybody correct you when you're right? ;-) It is the original correct usage: get, got, had gotten. I understand the Brits have largely dropped it while the US retains it (which is normal; there's more shift in a language where the language has been longer). I don't know what the norm is in Australia. What amuses me, though is Brits complaining about Yanks using the more traditional form, as though we made it up, which I've seen a lot on the 'Net. :)

[mistraltoes.livejournal.com]

Eh. Though which one Avon would use is a moot point.

[kerravonsen]

I shall change it to "come" in the final version (ie on my website, when I put it up); that way confusion shall be lessened.

[kerravonsen]

Thanks!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

You're right, it is older English. However the B7 crew did not use it and that's what I (try to) go by. For example I use 'I guess' or 'I reckon' a lot in my speech but they don't.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

He used 'got'. It's hard getting dialects straight. I'm not British actually, and our speech is very much influenced by American. I've used words I had no idea were local and I hope people pick me up on them; for that reason I'm very pleased to have got my UK beta reader back.

I'm still not sure what to do about Vila's jokes and puns about coffee in Vila's E-mails which I've only just realised are based on usage here and in Australia. No-one told me they were puzzled though. Perhaps they thought they were terms from the future. [shrug]

[mistraltoes.livejournal.com]

Yes, he'd use 'got' if we assume that the writers would use the current default (which they very likely would). The reason I said it's moot, though, is because unless we find an instance in the text of him using 'got' in this fashion, it's not unreasonable to assume that the usage might shift again at some point in the future.