Working

[SSA Dr. Spencer Reid]

Spencer had been a little taken aback upon meeting Clark's "son", Blackout. But Spencer was reaonable, and had a deeply-hidden obssesion with anamorphic ideals, so he was happily surprised to meet the machine, and found it funny that it only took a short time for him to feel "comfortable" around the suit and the machine. He noticed that Charlotte was still a little taken aback; he didn't expect her, or most people, really, to understand and appreciate Clark and his machines for what they were. Instead, he tried to make the scene a little more comfortable.

"Clark, I was telling Charlotte here about this awesome Vinho Verde they serve here. Would you be interested? It's a little dry, but excellent with the Osso Bucco, which is what I intended to have." He turned to Charlotte. "What will you be having, Charlotte? If you don't mind, I recommend either the Pesce alla Salate or the Cacio de Pepe, as you mentioned earlier. It's excellent here; they use an imported Pecorino."

He realized too late that he was rambling again, and really, cheese? That's what he could come up with? He sighed in relief as Joey reappeared, and he placed the order for the Vinho Verde and some Aqua d'Minerale all around.

[SA Dr. John Clark]

"Sorry, Spence, I would but I can't drink within twelve hours before flying--the FAA is too stupid to recognize that nonbiologicals cannot have a physical exam done and won't issue this guy a license over it, so I have to be Pilot In Command if only on paper," the heavier agent replied apologetically. He ordered the lasagna--"no mushrooms, please"--and tried to put Charlotte more at ease, explaining that since his career had left him to date unable to have biological children (especially given the nature of his only post-college relationship and how it would not do for a twentysomething agent to knock up the Director of NCIS) he had turned to cybernetics to produce offspring. The first AI, KARR, had been almost an accident, but had swiftly achieved self-awareness and evolved up to a human level, though not as rapidly or as highly as his younger "brother". "A horny teenager in a Trans Am body," Blackout chimed in, and all four laughed.

Finding herself starting to warm up to the idea of an intelligent machine if not totally at ease, Charlotte idly asked about the origin of his name, and the black box explained, "It came because when I was built into the ARTT and first brought online, I blacked out a couple nearby towns as I learned to control my electronic-warfare systems--as I've learned better control, I can shut down a target as small as a single car or as big as a small country, without anyone ever knowing I'm there."

"Hey, how 'bout a walk-around tour after lunch before we head back? The culture-shock might pass easier with better knowledge of what you're dealing with, and I can even run you through a brief simulation without leaving the ground," the machine offered. "With my help, even children have flown the ARTT without problems, so you would probably find flying with me only a little more taxing than driving."

"Pretty lady, I think the big lug likes you," "Clark" observed, and the table had another round of laughs.

[SSA Dr. Spencer Reid]

Spencer nodded at Clark.

"I understand. I'll drink yours, if you don't mind. It's really spectacular." He grinned as Clark continued to ramble on about his AI "son." Spencer listened carefully, gleaming a little bit of information from him, and then chuckling at his final statement.

"Clark, let's not get ahead of ourselves. But I think a walk after lunch sounds like a great idea. We don't have to be back at any particular time; the beauty of working on a Saturday is that you get to make your own hours." He was grateful when the waiter appeared to take their food order.

[SSA Dr. Spencer Reid]

Spencer nodded at Clark.

"I understand. I'll drink yours, if you don't mind. It's really spectacular." He grinned as Clark continued to ramble on about his AI "son." Spencer listened carefully, gleaming a little bit of information from him, and then chuckling at his final statement.

"Clark, let's not get ahead of ourselves. But I think a walk after lunch sounds like a great idea. We don't have to be back at any particular time; the beauty of working on a Saturday is that you get to make your own hours." He was grateful when the waiter appeared to take their food order.

[charlottemoore]

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Charlotte sat in silence for a while, trying to take in this machine that so obviously thought like a person, this voice coming out of a box, something against the laws of nature, something that never should happen. Giving it.. him... a weak smile, she fiddled with her skirt again, glancing over to Spencer slightly for help. Sensing her discomfort, Spencer began to bring the topic to the Vino Verde they were to test, the delicious Italian wine he had raved about and that Charlotte was beyond excited to try. Nodding at Reid with a small but genuine smile, she crossed her legs at her ankles. "I believe I'll get the Cacio e Pepe. Imported Pecorino? That's marvelous! I hardly ever see the dish in restaurants, but if I do it's generally with Parmesan or something of the like."

[/color] Cutting herself off before she could ramble on more about her American experiences with the cheese and pepper pasta, she joined the other two men in giving her order to the waiter, Joey.

Giving another weak smile at Clark and the machine, Charlotte wondered whether she would be ready for a tour of more intelligent machine-people, but she would try. Biting on the inside of her cheek, she wondered if she'd be able to get past her slight aversion to talking-machines, coming to the conclusion that she was simply not used to it. Charlotte was a big supporter of all things classical, and the only reason she had a working computer and E-mail address was her job. She preferred books to Kindles, believed that sometimes candles could be better than florescent lights, that sometimes a written letter was better than a text. Still, perhaps she could learn to like this machine, or possibly feel more at ease, and she would stay open-minded to the possibility.
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tagged : spencer reid & rattlesnake
words : 317
wearing : here
notes : sorry it took so long, sickness is awful. Dx
credit : to hannah (me)[/center][/size]

[SSA Dr. Spencer Reid]

Spencer smiled, and changed the subject.

"Anyway, Charlotte, I am glad you agreed to come along. It can get so boring at the BAU on Saturdays." He grinned as Joey returned with the wine, and poured some for the two agents, Clark turning his glass upside down, the customary indication that you would not be drinking.
He picked up his glass, feeling giddy with the girl's presence, and made a quick toast.

"To new friends, old mentors, and great food. Salute." He took a sip, and immediatley inhaled as the cool, dry liquid coated his throat. He smiled and closed his eyes, savoring the flavor of the wine.

"MMM, that's good. Charlotte, what do you think?"

[SA Dr. John Clark]

"I'll drink to that," the former UNSUB said as he hoisted his soda alongside the others' wine glasses; and Blackout's digital voice burbled out an enthusiastic little "Hear, hear!", trying to keep low-key. Both the little black box that housed the hulking machine's "mind" and his human parent had noticed that Dr. Moore tended to favor more archaic preferences, and they quietly observed to themselves that she might be more interested if she knew that the oldest part of the Sikorsky was as old as both her and "Clark" combined, having been first built in the mid-1960s for Combat Search & Rescue in the skies over Vietnam; despite having only achieved AI within the past couple years, there were times when he felt every minute of the old body's four decades. Especially those from the crash that had turned it into a Boneyard parts-hulk and where it had been grafted together with a much younger and more advanced but just-as-dead sibling.

At a stop in the conversation, "Clark" attempted to connect with Charlotte by bringing up the classics of design, discussing some of his own historical preferences and trying to draw her out on hers; he mentioned that he had had relatives on the old New York Central Railroad and how if he could take a vacation anytime and anywhere, it would be a whirlwind tour of the great passenger trains of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, starting with being in the cab of NYC locomotive #999 that fateful day in 1893 when engineer Charlie Hogan became the first person to crack the 100-mph barrier. Like her, he preferred hardcopy reading material for literature; only favoring digital for his reference library so that he didn't completely fill Blackout's hold or the cabins of the BAU's various FBI jets when traveling, and still preferring ink-on-paper for manuals in the workshop. Even Blackout expressed a preference for physical books despite some difficulty handling text with its manipulators, the AI mentioning that he found the slower pace of gathering data through his optical sensors and having to physically turn pages, compared to the much faster pace of digital datalink, what could be described as "relaxing." "It also helps that I learned to read on stuff actually worth reading, like the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes works," the machine observed. "Currently, I'm working through Shakespeare. 'Alas, poor Yorick!'" the machine orated as it carefully held a glass atop its manipulator, acting a small slice of the graveyard scene from Hamlet.

"Yeah, he has his own set of bookcases back in the hangar--I had to to keep him away from my own collection of inscribed first-editions," the agent reminisced. "Was real interesting trying to make them accessible yet keep them protected from his exhaust when getting ready to fly..."

[charlottemoore]

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Charlotte was enjoying herself. She was drinking good wine and eating good food and making new friends, not to mention one who seemed to be like her and shared her views and some of her shortfalls. Taking a sip of her Vino Verde, Charlotte nodded to Spencer. "Thank you! I'm glad to be here. I'm having a great time," she said shyly, smiling and content. She took another sip of her wine, finding that she actually did enjoy the wine. Perhaps a drink once in a while with dinner wasn't a bad thing. "I like it," she said honestly. "Quite a bit, actually." She and Clark spoke for a while about old machines, design, and the like. Finding herself a bit more at ease with this topic than the strange futuristic machines of present day, Charlotte ran her tongue over the front of her teeth. She listened as he talked about the machine's reading habits, about Shakespeare and the like, about favored vacations and good times. Smiling good-naturedly, Charlotte indulged in the idle chatter for a while.

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tagged : spencer reid & rattlesnake
words : 190
wearing : here
notes : Dx i fail
credit : to hannah (me)

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[SSA Dr. Spencer Reid]

Spencer was happy; both of his friends were getting along (although one only loosely fit that descripition), and one was leaning towards a little more than a friend. He sipped his wine some more, content, and not yet ready to suggest they head back to HQ

[SA Dr. John Clark]

Meanwhile, Clark made sure the waiter knew that he would settle the tab, saying "If Spence tries to grab for the bill, break his hand" in a mock-serious tone and quietly placing a DARPA credit-card on the table so it would be ready when the time came.

[SSA Dr. Spencer Reid]

Spencer turned to his old friend.

"Clark, that is unnecessary. I can take care of it." He smiled, and noticed that Charlotte had finished her meal.

"Charlotte, how was your cacio de pepe?"

[SA Dr. John Clark]

"Spence, for once take 'Yes' for an answer," Clark replied with a rare and genuinely pleasant smile. "Let DARPA pay the bill--part of the reason Blackout came along was to evaluate his handling of social situations as part of an advanced study into what human-AI relations on a societal scale will require."

And then he winced. "Ouch--haven't done that in so long I think I pulled something." Which was kinda true, this meal had been a marked contrast from the former "Grim Reaper's" usual ice-cold, deadly-serious attitude.

[SSA Dr. Spencer Reid]

Spencer shrugged.

"Ok, Clark, point taken. Thank you. And you should smile more; it makes you seem more human."

[SA Dr. John Clark]

"Don't ya just love having huge expense-accounts?" Clark said with a laugh. "If we don't use it it'll just buy some bubblebutt Brasshole a $500 toilet seat..." Blackout chimed in, displaying his penchant for snark, causing Clark to comment, "That's my 'boy', a regular chip off the old block."

[SSA Dr. Spencer Reid]

Spencer laughed heartily at the comment, and then raised an eyebrow at Charlotte.

"Shall we, then, Madam?"