She nodded before flipping a final lever and listening to the engines kick into gear. A small smile crossed her face and she looked over at the Daledus one final time before turning the ship and starting back on her path towards Horath.
"And it became Human, in most ways that mattered." // OxO // OPEN
Zev watched the Daedalus vanish as the ship pulled away. "It is…strange to be leaving it after all these years…" He said slowly. He sounded almost…human. Almost nostalgic, almost as if remembering.
"Yeah, I mean, it was your home for almost thirty years, it'll feel strange," She replied, sitting back once they were safely away from the ship and were on course. Now they just waited to get to the planet, and hoped they didn't get caught in a asteroid field.
"It is not supposed to…I am and android, it should not matter to me." Zev replied. "It is simply a place." He shook his head, looking slightly confused.
Thesa rolled her eyes, focusing out the front window to make sure they weren't going to run into anything. "You're not like other androids though Zev, there's something different for you, I can tell. It's gonna feel strange to leave one of the main places you've been in your life, I know from experience."
"But that doesn't make sense." He replied. "I shouldn't have… I shouldn't be bothered by this." He looked out the window as the position of the stars changed for the first time in years.
She shrugged, looking over at him, "But yet you are, and it gives me all the more reason to believe that you can feel emotions." She was sure he could feel emotions, she was absolutely sure.
He frowned. "That…would not make sense. Androids can't feel emotions, we are not designed to." He looked over at her. "Why would I do something I was not designed to?"
"My theory is that Alexi actually designed you to be as human as possible, which means emotions, feelings, and everything else." Thesa looked out the window and slowly closed her eyes, checking the fuel levels out of the corner of her eyes to make sure they weren't going to be stranded in the middle of space.
"But then why would they have taken so long to surface? And why would I dream? That has nothing to do with emotions, does it?" He replied, cocking his head slightly and looking over at her.
Thesa shrugged, “Maybe its the limited human contact….wait, dreams?” She looked over at him with wide eyes, intrigued by the new information.
He shrugged, then nodded. "Yes." He replied simply. "At least, that is the best description for them that i know of." He looked over at her.
"Why didn't you mention them sooner? It's another piece of information that leads me to believe that you're more human than you think you are, a lot more human." She thought about how an android could have dreams and feel emotions and her mind came up with no reasonable ways it could happen, but still, he was different than ordinary androids.
"There was no reason to mention it sooner." He replied calmly. "And how can i be human when i do not fit the seven requirements of life? How can I be human if I do not have DNA and cannot reproduce?"
Thesa rolled her eyes, "A ton of people can't physically reproduce, and yet they're still alive, so you can't use that as an excuse. The DNA one I'll have to look into a little more to find an answer. Alexi will surely know, i'll ask him when we get there."
"I still do not fit the seven requirements of life, which are: responsiveness to the environment; growth and change; ability to reproduce; have a metabolism and breathe; maintain homeostasis; being made of cells; and passing traits onto offspring." He replied.
"You fit a few of them, just not all," She replied, looking back out the main window and sinking back into her seat to get comfortable. It was going to be a long trip to Horath.
"Yes, and for something to be alive, it must fit all seven requirements, not just some." Zev argued. He wasn't exactly arguing, just pointing out the technicalities. As he always did.
Thesa rolled her eyes, standing up and walking out of the cockpit to grab her book before returning, "I know several people who don't fit all seven of those requirements that you would still consider living, so I call bull on having to fit all seven of those."
"What, the reproduction and passing on traits to offspring one? Those only apply to the species as a whole. Which means it still doesn't apply to me." Zev replied.
"Technically then, those ones do apply to Androids too, because you can be reproduced, or at least the other models can be." She sat back down unceremoniously and opened her book, clearly going to ignore him once again.
"Reproduction means sex, not building new versions. And androids cannot pass on traits to offspring, as we dont have offspring in the first place." He replied calmly.
She ignored him for a moment before sighing and looking over at him again, "I know what reproduction is, but sometimes, you have to look outside the box a little and not conform to thinking there's only one right answer, so technically, I was right. Reproduction of a android even by a machine is still reproduction, just not in the way you were implying."
"Technically, perhaps. Scientifically, no. I also do not have a metabolism, nor do I breathe, so that is another part that does not fit in the seven requirements for life." Zev replied.
"True, those two are a little harder to get around, but you can act like you have to breath." She flipped the page of her book as she read, playing the story out in her mind and trying to guess just how many times she had already read the book through cover to cover.
"Acting like it isn't the same as needing it." He countered, looking out the window and watching the stars go by.
Thesa shrugged, replying casually, "Never said they were." With that, she went back to reading, comfortable with the silence she was used to when traveling through space.
Zev frowned slightly, but did not respond. I don't understand humans. They say one thing, and mean another. It does not make sense.
For the time being, there wasn't much she had to watch out for out the front window, though Thesa felt more comfortable just staying in the seat incase there was anything urgent she needed to take care of.
Zev closed his eyes, turning his thoughts and attention inwards so he could create a file. He was creating some extra commands for himself for while they were on Horath, so that his body would fake a heartbeat and breathing.