Ueda watches curiously as the Rons take the equipment, but he's happy to wait until they're ready. He passes the hour in quiet thought and consideration, as well as working on his datapad. When Vonash asks about heading down, he looks up and nods, standing as he puts the device back in his bag. "Whatever they have, it should be of interest."
When the Rons get the device up and running, Ueda merely looks around for a few seconds. "Well, I am not certain that this is helping to lighten the mood," he comments, looking at Brass. "But it certainly is impressive. And may be enlightening in its own way."
With that, he walks into the projection and examines various people and groups, eventually winding his way to where a holographic mirror of himself stands.
Brass follows suit walking into the hologram instead heading straight to where his alternate self stands. He takes a moment to survey the himself studying the subtle differences. Then he takes a moment to look around where he stood. Looking for clues to what happened and what could have happened to his other self.
Ueda finds prime-Ueda standing beside prime-Doctor Samantha Brennan. On the smaller screen Gabriel had shown you earlier you didn't notice how different she looked. Something about the way she smiles tells you prime-Samantha smiled more often. Something about the way she leans towards prime-Ueda and touches his sleeve tells you he is the reason.
Prime-Ueda is not smiling. He's turning back and staring behind him. His face is uncharacteristically expressive. He looks very concerned about something and maybe frightened.
Prime-Brass is on the line between the anti-android protestors and the crowd at the memorial. The hologram freezes him in movement, moving toward the disruptive protestors.
Vonash goes into the hologram and tries to stand EXACTLY where the hologram of herself is.
"This is just cool. And kinda freaky too"
Vonash finds her alter-self consoling a pair of elderly humans near the monument. They look similar; perhaps they are siblings. By their age, they could have been children of the Tannhauser settlement if they went into cold sleep for the voyage home to Earth.
Vonash can stand inside her alter-self as she lifts her arms to embrace the pair.
Aron calls out, "Tell me when you want me to roll things forward ... Gabriel's got us the whole scene now ... Everything the police have. This can't be legal."
Milo takes advantage of his orangutang arms and climbs some of the scaffolding that supports the lights and other equipment in the cave. From a perch above the holographic reconstruction, he says "I've got a bird's eye view here and I still can't see any of the human forms I'm good at doing."
Ueda is silent for a long time, staring at himself and Dr. Brennan. When he finally speaks, his voice is quiet. "She loved me. Our own Doctor Brennan did not, or at least did not make her feelings known. And in this timeline, androids seem more looked down on by most." He gives a short hmm of thought and follows the gaze of his hologram self. "The deviations seem more and more prevalent. Is it possible your estimation was incorrect, Gabriel?"
"Your timeline varied from ours by about 1% of the aggregate data. This calculation is based on all of the births and deaths, announcements and accusations, accounts receivable and payable that were readily retrievable. I'm not sure that Doctor Brennan's feelings entered into my calculations one way or the other," Gabriel replies matter-of-factly. "However, I chose all of you, in part, because you no longer existed in this timeline; your lives may vary more significantly than those of most people in this timeline did from the majority of people in your timeline. This timeline, I acknowledge, may slightly privilege humans over other forms of life, but it is the timeline I was designed to preserve."
Jade moves close to the holographic reconstruction, impressed by the quality, and moreso by Aron remarking that it isn't legal. She still was not sure where the Senator's allegiances lay, but it was clear that Gabriel was at least on their side.
"Privilege hardly feels slight when you are one of the ones outside of it." Jade says, without looking up from the hologram. "Slight in this case is the difference between Brass being incarcerated for years and free. Slight in this case is all of us - and several others - being killed in a bombing that would not have occurred in our time."
She moves through the 3-D representation, very obviously searching for Jade-Prime.
Brass stairs at the himself then takes a moment to look around before turning to look at Gabriel in a panel “You are synthetic and self aware. Do you feel as we do? This timeline may be the original but it doesn’t seem the best possible timeline.” brass turns back to look at himself studying the slight differences between himself and the alternate version. “He seems more at peace than myself, more free. Yet he does not have the rights I do.” brass says to himself outloud.
The holographic clock above the holographic reconstruction continues to flash .
Jade finds Jade-Prime. She has a questioning look on her face and is shrugging dramatically with her hands raised. Her mouth is open, her lips rounded and forward. Jade-Prime looks very much like Jade, but the gestures don't seem like ones Jade would make.
"Unlike you," Gabriel responds to Brass's questions, "I'm not programmed to feel. I process and I strategize. Although, lately, I've begun to have ... intuitions. I suspect things beyond what I am capable of calculating. I am beginning to mistrust myself. ... I am not sure if these are 'feelings.' I do respect that you have feelings, however, and I am sorry if saving you from nothingness has troubled them."
Gabriel does not sound sarcastic; he also doesn't sound capable of actually being sorry. He sounds matter-of-fact.
"Please understand," Jade replies, closely studying Jade-Prime with curiosity. "It is not that we are ungrateful or upset at having been saved. While I cannot speak for the others, the situation from my perspective is this: We were tasked with going back in time to fix a problem, and we believed that doing so would improve our timeline. Instead, we are now in a world that, for at least a few of us, is considerably worse than the one we left."
She nods to Brass, through the holograms. "Brass is correct. This may be the original timeline, but at least part of the 1% difference is worse. I recognise, Gabriel, that your duty is to be impartial and keep the timestream as pristine as possible, but it is difficult not to see this as a step backwards in progress. I, for one, would not have gone if I knew that this world would be the outcome."
Jade begins mimicking the gestures and facial expressions that Jade-Prime is making, though whether it is out of an attempt at understanding, or to better be able to impersonate her later, is unclear.
"I wasn't offended," replies Gabriel. "I'm only capable of simulating being offended, not actually being offend-- There! I have all the data now! Up to five minutes before and after the explosions."
"We don't have anyone on Carson," calls Milo from the scaffolding. "And still no clue where I am. Should I be on Carson? Should Scera?"
"It's amazing what they can do with such antique equipment!" comments Griffin.
"It's kind of brilliant ... like primitive but so clever!" agrees Kitty.
"I don't care what anybody says, I'm pretty sure MY timeline is the original one and this is some bizarro like alternate universe. I wish I could just go home."
Vonash realizes that the high she has been experiencing may be starting to wear off
Ueda can only shake his head at the discussion of the alternate timelines. "I understand the decision, Gabriel. The outcome of our actions is troubling and even challenging, but we will overcome. And just as we may wonder if Gabriel, or its creators, have the right to choose which timeline deserves preservation--do we? On this issue, on multiple levels, we are far from impartial observers."
After Gabriel announces his access to the remaining data, and Milo's question, Ueda shifts back, positioning so he can see the surroundings of himself and Doctor Brennan more clearly. "Milo, keep looking for yourself; it's possible this you has other preferred forms, and you may only notice if you attempted to change your appearance during the event. Scera, Kitty, Griffin, if you would be kind enough to keep an eye on Carson and look for other disturbances..." All Ueda's words are offered without his full attention, as he keeps his focus locked on his hologram self.
Scera followed the others into the lift and down adn was somewhat surprised at what she saw. The recreation was amazing, better than anything she'd ever seen. Granted she grew up on a fledgling colony and then was a prisoner of a vesk warlord so her experience was...narrow to say the least. When she was asked, along with Kitty and Griff, t watch Carson she looked puzzled and asked, "Which one is Carson? I don't think I've met him."
Milo points Scera towards Carson. He's a dark-haired human standing among the anti-android protestors. His shirt reads:
2ND
LAW
Most of you, particularly the androids, would recognize that as a reference to the early days of robotics when the 2nd Law required robots to obey humans in all things unless doing so would cause harm to a human.
He's facing the crowd of androids and shouting. He's pointing in another direction.
"Shall I show you what happens next?" asks Gabriel. Without waiting he plays the next 5 seconds at a 1/4 speed without sound
Ueda sees Ueda-Prime's eyes lock onto the monument and widen. His mouth forms a word, shouting something perhaps 'no!'.
Brass watches Brass-Prime steps forward toward the anti-android protestors. His fists are up.
Vonash who has stepped inside Vonash-Prime embraces the elderly pair. Over their shoulders she sees--and Vonash sees--Ueda-prime shouting and looking in roughly her direction.
Jade examines Jade-Prime. Jade-Prime is shouting towards the crowd of anti-android protestors. Her lips form a word. Gabriel interprets and provides a written holographic speech bubble "Where"
Scera examines Carson-Prime. Carson-Prime, standing among the anti-android protestors, looks toward the monument but is pointing away from the park.
Ueda steps back in to follow his hologram's movements and gaze. His own eyes shift to see the monument... and Vonash. Ueda frowns slightly, and shakes his head. "Gabriel, do you have access to audio of the event, including what we might have been saying? Or is it locked or unintelligible?" He looks back at himself, wondering what exactly he'd said... or would say.
Gabriel replies, "I am having more trouble reproducing the audio files from the data ... many of the recording devices recovered were recording video only. When we run the event at normal speed, I can let you hear what I have compiled."
Is Ueda-Prime ACTUALLY looking at Vonash or just generally in her direction?
Vonash will turn and look where Ueda-Prime may be looking
Ueda-Prime is looking at the monument.
Vonash's head breaks away from that of the holographic version of Vonash-Prime and turns and looks at the monument too.
The monument is made out of a translucent glass-like material, but with translucent filaments running throughout.
It shows a mostly translucent ship taking off from the mostly translucent surface of the Tannhauser settlement. The android fleet is visible in the distance. Armchair tacticians, hindsight historians, and fascist philosophers debate this moment. Destroying the colony and leaving would have shortened the conflict. Giving the colonists time to evacuate was a 'tactical error,' but among the colonists who were allowed to escape were a handful of humans who became outspoken advocates of the android cause, despite having been forced from their homes.
The running lights on the Tannhauser ship in the glass-like monument blink a pattern in Morse code, just as the original ship blinked a 'thank you' as it entered space and fled.
Brass is going to take a moment and scan the protestors to try to find the source of Brass prime’s aggression. Moving about the virtual crowd and studying it to see what his alternate picked up on.
Gabriel plays the reconstruction forward so that Brass can see what Brass-Prime is doing.
Someone from the crowd of androids has fallen when the crowd of anti-android protestors pushed forward. It's a child, an android child. Brass moves forward to forcibly remove the protestors stepping on the android child, apparently accidentally.
Vonash and Ueda sees the ship blinking in Morse code.
Ueda continues to survey the scene, watching as things continue to unfold. Something about the ship in the monument is bothering him, though, and he focuses on it as he tries to decide what. It's been decades since he learned anything about piloting, and he was never really trained in anything beyond... recognizing a few common or important codes.
"The ship is going to self-destruct," he says suddenly. After a moment he looks around at the others. "In the monument. The blinking is the code for a self-destruct sequence. If this world is the same as ours, it should be saying, 'Thank you,' instead."
He stares back at the monument, then turns back to face his hologram self. Although he's trained to notice fine details, Ueda has never been good at reading expressions, and he knows that. Even if his Prime self is showing more emotional signals, he doubts he'd notice any masked intent, or subtleties in the feelings.
"Gabriel, perhaps playing through events in their totality at regular speed once would be of use. We might be able to pinpoint individual moments for further examination."
"Very well," replies Gabriel.
Vonash-Prime continues to console the siblings.
Ueda-Prime looks past V-Prime at the monument and begins to notice something wrong with the sequence. V-Prime does not notice the android's almost imperceptible reaction to whatever was behind her.
Brass-Prime steps towards the crowd of anti-android protesters.
Jade-Prime shouts "Where?" Carson points to the edge of the crowd. It's hard to tell at whom.
Something clicks in Ueda-Prime's face. He begins to move. He starts pushing Samantha ahead of him through the crowd. She looks scared and confused.
Brass-Prime punches a human in the chest enough to knock him back off the android child.
Jade-Prime cranes her neck looking in the direction Carson is pointing.
Vonash-Prime continues to talk and console.
Samantha is running beside Ueda-Prime now but is no less confused.
Brass-Prime helps the android child to her feet and then takes a punch to the head. Pushing and shoving starts all around.
Jade-Prime seems to see who or what Carson is pointing at and begins to shove her way through the crowd towards a large Riot Suppression Bot at the edge of the crowd and a bored police officer leaning against it.
Ueda-Prime has almost reached the edge of the crowd. He's yelling "It's a bomb." People around him react at different speeds.
The fight erupting around Brass-Prime slows Jade-Prime as she tries to move across the park.
Jade-Prime pushes through and continues to close in on the Riot Suppression Bot. Carson-Prime circles around the outside of the protest in the same direction. They seem to be focussing beyond it, just outside of the reconstruction.
Vonash-Prime looks up hearing the confusion but never seems to realize what is happening.
Ueda-Prime's realization is confirmed when the monument switches from flashing the code for "self-destruct" to flashing a countdown. Ueda looks back and then shoves Samantha hard ahead of him.
Brass-Prime manages to withdraw from the fight, escorting the android child to what should have been the safety of the park, but, in fact, is closer to the bomb.
You know what is about to happen and know that Jade-Prime and Carson-Prime will not exit the park in time. They don't know that though. Their urgency seems unrelated to the bomb.
Gabriel stops the reconstruction just before the explosion. "I suspect that watching yourself be torn to shreds would be disconcerting. If you'd like to look away, it's not in my programming to judge."
Scera followed the sequence of events, keeping close watch on Carson as he did something the others did not. She noticed that he was looking away fro, the towards the park and pointing at something. She watched as Carson and Jade began to talk, the android looking where he pointed, and tried to follow their line of sight. She noted the riot droid and police officer on the edge that seemed to be in the line of sight where the two had been looking and, though she wanted to follow Jade-Prime she stuck to her assignment.
When it was almost time for the ship to explode Scera said, "Before you move ahead Gabriel, do we have any more visual data in this direction?" She points to the direction that Carson had started looking in and where Jade-Prime eventually went. "It seems like something over there has far more serious repercussions than the exploding ship. Also, are you able to extrapolate speech based of the movement of lips? You might not have much audio to work with but if you can manage to read the lips of key people, especially Carson and Jade-Primes, that might give us an important clue."
"I may be able to reproduce the conversation in full," says Gabriel. "partly because they're shouting. We should be able to hear them better than they could hear each other."
Gabriel replays the reconstruction of Jade and Carson, leaving everything else frozen, running the period from T-60 to T-35 when Jade starts to move.
Jade-Prime: I DON'T SEE HIM!
Carson: DON'T YOU SEE HIM?
J-P: WHERE IS HE?
C: THERE! HE'S OVER THERE.
J-P: WHERE?
C: JUST GO THAT WAY. I'LL GO AROUND.
J-P: YOU GO AROUND.
C: JUST GO THAT WAY.
"I'm not sure how helpful that is," comments Gabriel.
"I can try to compile more data for that area. I've currently only built a reconstruction of the blast and a bit beyond," says Gabriel. The area begins filling in a little as Gabriel starts working right away. At T-60, you can see a man standing behind the 12-foot tall police robot. He starts to move at T-40 and disappears from view quickly. "I will have to look for more video."
"Do you have any knowledge of who that man is?" Ueda asks, having turned his attention to Scera and Jade's findings. His own involvement here seems relatively straightforward by appearance: he came with Doctor Brennan, noticed something amiss with the monument, and attempted to escape while warning others.
"As for the explosion, Gabriel, I have--" Ueda pauses abruptly, and seems to take a moment to rephrase before speaking again. "I for one believe I can retain my composure. As a hologram recreation, and a phenomenon full of potential important details, I will distance myself and view the event as impartially as I am able. It is only a body, and not truly mine, after all."
Somehow, Ueda doesn't sound like he's quite convincing even himself with that last bit, but he maintains his usual blank expression.
"Very helpful." Jade says simply, beginning to process the scene. She speaks aloud, primarily for the benefit of others, knowing that as a scientist she should always "show her work". "Carson and Jade-Prime knew each other." She begins, "Despite Carson's shirt and appearance on the Anti-Android side, I do not believe he was actually with them. He speaks to Jade-Prime as, if not a friend, at least a colleague. They seem to be looking for someone together, perhaps the person responsible for this, and Jade-Prime is carrying a gun."
Her mind is whirring at the possibilities. "Were they investigating one of these terrorist groups?" she ponders aloud.
Here she pauses. "Gabriel, the senator told us that Jade-Prime costarred on the vidcast "Reality Prime", which in our time was helmed by Doctor Brennan and Immanuel, here. Who is the other star in this time?" She looks towards Immanuel, "I am curious if Jade-Prime was acquainted with you or your..." she pauses, unsure of the right word, but suspects the attachment that Immanuel has for her. "If you watch the video, it may not be only your death that you see." she adds, fairly devoid of tact, but trying her best.
"Another question, Gabriel. Can you pull up the records on when Jade-Prime obtained her license to carry a firearm?"
Ueda shakes his head slightly at Jade's concern and implication, offering a slight smile. "Whatever my Prime self may have felt, in our own world, I considered Doctor Brennan a colleague and a friend." He looks away and sighs. "It is difficult to watch someone die. Anyone. But that is the way of the world. It is more important to understand why, and prevent it if doing so is possible. Here, I am afraid that is out of the question."
"Jade-Prime does not have a license to carry a firearm," says Gabriel. He quite unnecessarily marks Jade-Prime's holographic firearm with a red outline and a big red holographic arrow. "It appears this version of Jade is committing a crime. Your co-host on Reality Prime was Doctor Brennan. She initially wanted Dr. Ueda for the show but he was blacklisted due to political affiliations. Their friendship, according to widespread gossip, began several months after the show was first broadcast when they met again at an android rights conference. It appears that, in this timeline, Dr. Brennan is an outspoken advocate for android rights and insisted on an android co-host for her show."
Brass watches the scene unfold as the Android child is nearly trampled with increasingly visible anger. He looks at the area and starts to study the faces of the various people swinging at his alternate self. “Gabriel can you analyze the faces of the these people to see if any of them had contact with Brass prime before, or anything that might indicate anti-android groups.” he motions to those around Brass prime. Then looking at the violent android child, “Where did this child come from? I would like to know who “owns” her.” the words owns comes out with a lot of effort and disgust.
Once it is paused again he looks to his comrades and starts to take in the effects of this simulation. “This may be hard to see but we must push on. Everything must be analyzed as best we can. It’s the least we can do for the victims.” he says this with as much resolve as he can muster, though sadness can be heard plainly through.
He walks over to Ueda placing a hand on his back “Things have happened that hurt, it’s ok to feel... human.”
"Several of the people attacking Brass-Prime are associated with Human Rights for Humans and Blood Brothers; the latter is not only human-separatist but male separatist. Neither organization have been associated with terrorist events like this one before," answers Gabriel.
Gabriel provides Brass with the identity of the android child. Her body was over 120 years old. She was legally free. No other family or friends were identified.
Gabriel has no more information on the identity of the man Scera and Jade had seen. "I'm having trouble getting good data on him. Most of the visual data the police have gathered was from cameras facing towards the blast. I'm still working on it."
Gabriel plays the next five seconds.
Vonash-Prime does not turn her head away from the grieving people. She does not see the countdown on the mostly translucent depiction of the ship within the monument. She does not see the base of the monument explode when the countdown reaches zero. She does not see the pulse of energy and debris sent out in a 50 ft. radius in all directions. Vonash-Prime and the humans she was with are gone, annihilated.
Brass-Prime is checking to see if the android child is injured when the blast hits them. No one could have survived it from where they stood.
Ueda-Prime and Jade-Prime are further from the center of the explosion, but not far enough. The debris tears into Ueda-Prime as he throws himself on top of Samantha-Prime, his body effectively shielding hers. Synthetic flesh and biocircuitry is torn from metallic skeleton.
The debris and the pulse of energy tear through Jade-Prime. You see no biocircuitry or metallic skeleton as the blast passes through her. You see nothing android-like about the inside of Jade-Prime as she is cut in pieces by the blast. What you see is a mostly clear goo like the gel inside an aloe vera plant. It loses any semblance to Jade-Prime and liquifies as the blast passes through it. This person was not an android.
Carson is still running when the blast goes off. He looks back as he is thrown forward, but then stumbles back to his feet runs out of the reconstruction.
Samantha-Prime stirs beneath Ueda-Prime but collapses again.
Then, the screaming starts. Gabriel had muffled the sound of the explosion and shuts the audio off completely now. The second or two of screaming you heard was enough ... familiar to those of you who knew war, but new and horrifying to those of you who don't.
[dice=Kn Life Sciences]1d20+7
Jade recognizes this goo. Milo left trace amounts of it in the bathroom of the Chariot when he transformed from holding human form to being a large alien starfish to being an orangutan. The person we are calling Jade-Prime was an astrazoan.
"Oh!" says Milo from his perch above the action. "Guess I am dead after all."
"My condolences, Milo. At least Jade-Prime didn't commit any crime." Jade points out dryly. "This explains the differences in our mannerisms." She adds succinctly, closing the case on one of the several mysteries before them. For a moment, she wonders if she had the full human range of emotions and triggers, if she would be upset that she was only chosen for the show because Dr. Ueda couldn't do it. She also wondered if, in her own timeline, given the opportunity, she'd have done it.
Now that the question of mannerisms was settled, she was back to wondering just how different - or how similar - she and Jade-Prime might be. "I must admit, this reconstruction gives me more questions... Such as, did Jade-Prime know that Milo was impersonating her, why was Milo impersonating her, who did Carson think he was speaking to and, of course... where is Jade-Prime?"
Moving over to where Carson ran out of frame, she stares into the room beyond the hologram's boundaries. "We at least have somewhere to start. Gabriel, is there any information on the current whereabouts of Carson?"
"Carson is listed among the dead based on genetic evidence. That is apparently not factual accurate," says Gabriel. "I do not have any information regarding the location of Jade-Prime. She was also listed as having been killed in the attack, based on the video evidence collected from the scene by investigators."
Seeing the explosion, seeing the children blasted into atoms, Vonash collapses to the floor in a dead faint.
Ueda looks up when Gabriel mentions his Prime-self's "political affiliations," but doesn't comment immediately. When Brass places a hand on his back and offers words of support, however, Ueda shakes his head. "You misunderstand. I am not pushing away the feelings, nor do I believe it wrong to accept them. I would not call these emotions human, but natural. All living creatures understand death, on some level. They all have their reactions, and all are valid, from the simplest of biological responses to the grief of losing a close friend."
Ueda looks down at his hands, and Brass senses him struggling with what to say. He finally settles on, "As I said, the question is always why. And if you could have prevented events from unfolding as they did. Death is natural. Homicide is an entirely different phenomenon. One far too easily committed, perhaps."
Throughout the playback of the explosion, Ueda stands still, surveying the destruction. He watches himself push Doctor Brennan away from the blast, shield her with his own body, and watches the two of them fall still, unblinking and unmoving. The android turns in time to see Vonash collapse, and he moves toward her, unsure of his medical knowledge but clearly wanting to help in some way. "Doctor Essex, could you take a look at Vonash? I will assist as I can." Even as he reaches the lashunta, he also speaks in a louder voice, "Gabriel, what were the political affiliations of Immanuel Ueda in this timeline? The Senator implied they were problematic, and the notion that he was blacklisted from entertainment work further supports this. I suppose he was something of a radical."
"It appears, Dr. Ueda," answers Gabriel, "Ueda-Prime is suspected of providing financial and moral support to a terrorist organization by the name of Personae Ex Machina. Ueda-Prime admits to having been a member of the organization in his youth, which is why he is blacklisted from any government funded projects. He claims no ongoing affiliation."
"Personae Ex Machina claims to advocate on behalf of android rights but is most known for some horrific attacks on humans. Several individuals in the anti-android movement are accusing Personae Ex Machina as being behind this bombing, although they have no basis for that claim and the idea makes little sense as most of those injured were supporters of android rights. These individuals are clearly just deflecting the more logical accusations being levelled at them."
"So in this timeline, Personae still exist," Ueda says. "Gabriel, did an event known as the Horizon Flare Incident take place in this timeline? It would have involved the hijacking and subsequent destruction of a corporate cruiser, at least if it parallels our original event. In any case, it seems further and further that this timeline's Ueda had trouble letting go of the past."
Ueda stands, presumably having let Jade take over on medical duties, and looks around the hologram--the area now blasted from the explosion. "If it were caused by a pro-android group, it would likely be a false flag operation meant to trigger a more extreme response from politicians in favor of android rights. Has there been any such talk so far? For that matter, what rights do androids possess, and what are they still striving to gain? Attacks like this rarely happen when things are at their worst. Historically, terror comes when things are finally beginning to get better."
The android sighs and looks at his hands again. Never did we talk about something like this. I know Horizon Flare killed more, but to kill so callously, and targeting brothers and sisters of the cause... It does not seem like the sort of thing we would have done.
"As an aside, was this timeline's Ueda a doctor?" Ueda suddenly asks. "The Senator seems to have hesitated when adding the title, and I believe you have avoided using it when referring to this version of myself."
"Gabriel, did an event known as the Horizon Flare Incident take place in this timeline?"]
"Yes, it did. Regional Intelligence believes Ueda-Prime ceased to be an active member of Personae Ex Machina shortly after the incident but has continued to support the organization in other ways."
"If it were caused by a pro-android group,it would likely be a false flag operation meant to trigger a more extreme response from politicians in favor of android rights. Has there been any such talk so far?"
"There is a faction within the Regional Authority Senate that receives support from the anti-android factions. They have argued against speculation as to who caused the attack. The three android senators have blamed them for encouraging these hate groups."
"For that matter, what rights do androids possess, and what are they still striving to gain? Attacks like this rarely happen when things are at their worst. Historically, terror comes when things are finally beginning to get better."]
"Androids have the same legal rights as any human."
"As an aside, was this timeline's Ueda a doctor?" Ueda suddenly asks. "The Senator seems to have hesitated when adding the title, and I believe you have avoided using it when referring to this version of myself."
"It is remarkable how few differences there are between your academic file and Ueda-Prime's. Your theses have large passages that are identical; you branch off in different directions but then reach a nearly identical conclusion. He failed his thesis defense, however. You are correct. Ueda-Prime is not a doctor."
Brass sees turns away from seeing his alternate self’s death, he knows just how deadly an explosive can be at close range. He begins to walk through the simulation looking at the various carnage and listening to Ueda. “It seems we have several leads to who might have done this. I suggest we take some time. I could use some time to relax. Things have been very taxing the way couple days.”
"Relax? Whaddayaallhavinmind?" asks Milo enthusiastically as he attempts to drop from the scaffolding to the floor but misjudges the distance and lands in a heap.
Well looking to the other androids, “I was hoping someone could run a diagnostic check. I think I might have had a glitch while on our mission. I do not want to be compromised should we face any danger.”