Chapter 15: Almost Legal
Jack lay on the steps outside the courthouse, watching Gabe pace back and forth as he waited for Hanzo to arrive.
To be fair to him, we did arrive more than an hour early, Jack pointed out, rowling back at Gabe when he got a dark glare from the captain. He'll be here soon; he's never late. You know that. And if something had gone wrong, you know he'd also have let us know well enough in advance that we could do something about it.
Gabriel sighed, yanking off his beanie and muttered a curse under his breath, then stalked back to Jack and pulled his beanie on again. "Yeah, yeah you're right, Jackie. He would let us know. I'm just worried about how this is going to go, knowing how much certain circles really want their hands on you."
I know, Jack cooed, nosing into Gabe's thigh and pushed his snout in under Gabe's hands with a soft rumble. And I appreciate that, so I trust that you'll be able to do what's necessary. And Hanzo seems trustworthy enough, even if I have no doubt that he could probably kill a man twenty different ways with a pen, he grinned, pleased when that earned him a chuckle from Gabe.
"I am glad to see your spirits are high, Captain."
Told you he'd be early, too, Jack purred, looking over at Hanzo, decked out in a classy but understated pinstripe suit.
Hush you, Gabe rolled his eyes, turning to Hanzo and bowed in greeting. "Jack has a certain way of putting me at ease," he admitted, petting over Jack's head again. "I'm glad to see you here, Hanzo."
"And you, Reyes. Come, we should go inside. It is unlikely that we may begin sooner, but one can always hope," he smirked, leading the way inside.
Hanzo was clearly familiar enough inside these halls, Jack thought, making himself small as he followed behind Gabriel, colors slowly shifting to be similar to the brown and beige marble floors. He let the two of them go over the details of how it would go again, trusting Gabe to fill him in on anything he needed to know when he needed to know it.
Hey, you okay? Gabe asked, glancing back at him.
Yeah, yeah I'm fine I think Not really Feeling kinda nervous Wish this part was over already, he admitted, making a soft noise and nosed into Gabe's side.
Gabe chuckled softly, smiling as he pet over Jack's snout. It'll be over soon. You never really came to places like this, huh?
Nah. Last and first time I did, was to transfer over here when -
Jack cut himself off, even going so far as to shake his head to clear the thoughts. He didn't need Gabriel to trace him back to his family, tell them what happened. Where he was.
What he was.
"Hey," he soothed, stopping and cradled Jack's head in his arms. "Breathe. It's okay; I'm not gonna pry if you don't wanna talk. I wish I knew so I could help you better, but clearly it's a sore spot for you. And we've worked out something different, right? I won't let anything bad happen, okay?"
Jack whined softly, blue eyes unsure but trusting as hope-resignation-trust-defeat-determination-trust passed through the link.
Gabriel smiled, smoothing a hand over Jack's scales. "You'll be okay."
"Captain Reyes?" Hanzo called, looking back at them from where he was talking to a clerk. "It seems we have a chance at a slightly sooner start."
Looks like we're up, Gabe smiled. "You ready?"
No, but let's do it anyway, Jack nodded, colors bleeding away into his base white, the pair stopping in front of Hanzo the clerk striding away.
"Stand up straight, Jack, Carry yourself with pride," he instructed, touching Jack's shoulder to coax him up and nodded firmly at the changes. "Good, good. I know you are inclined to hide your intelligence and understanding, but now is not the time to do that. I need you to be as present, alert, and involved as you are able to show, naturally. Just as we discussed during the week."
Jack rumbled his reply, nodding back at Hanzo, then drew himself up to full height and shook himself out with another deep rumble.
"Let's do this. It's about time," Gabe nodded.
"Excellent," Hanzo nodded, leading the way in with a straight back and what Jack very helpfully called 'resting I'll-fuck-you-up' face, to Gabe's amusement. They followed him in, Jack padding down the central walkway with careful steps. Gouging the marble floors seemed like a terrible idea, not to mention expensive.
The judge arrived and stared down at the three of them, unimpressed and unfazed, until Hanzo began to speak.
He took over the majority of the beginning, keeping things brief and concise, explaining the differences between piloted and AI biotech, and the difficulties of linking up in the early days.
"Alright, Mister Shimada," the judge said, raising a hand. "I've read about this case being particularly unique, and that you want to declare - I'm presuming - that biotech as sentient and its own being. Normally I'd decline it, but since both you and your father are pushing for this to happen, I have to admit I am more than a little intrigued by the matter. I'm open to listen, but not convinced yet."
"I would not expect you to be, your honor," Hanzo nodded. "I was not, and neither was my father, until we spent some time with Jack."
"The biotech."
"Correct; his name is Jack."
The judge made a noise in the back of his throat, looking over Jack with an unimpressed sniff. "Looks like any other biotech. A little on the unusual side with the design, but - is something the matter, Captain Reyes?"
Gabriel choked on the water bottle he'd brought with, trying not to hack out a lung while containing his laughter and shot an incredulous look at Jack, sitting innocently beside him with a smug grin and cooed, before Jack laughed.
"Jack I swear to god," Gabriel muttered, shaking his head. "I apologize, your honor. He's uh. Well we'll go with sassy."
"What, you can talk biotech?" the judge asked.
Hanzo pulled out a file, and stepped closer. "Actually, he can, and I can prove it. It is, in fact, the sole reason why we have decided to pursue this, and officially declare Jack his own being. As you well know, pilots and biotech can each only be connected to one other at a time, in order to keep to safety regulations and ensure that the sanity of the pilot remains intact."
"Something the rumor mill says you're challenging, currently, Mister Shimada," the judge said, taking the file.
"Fortunately we are not here to discuss rumors, or my accomplishments and experiments," Hanzo returned smoothly. "Only the facts concerning Captain Reyes and Jack. As per the file, it shows that Captain Reyes is indeed connected to a biotech, even though the official reading states that he is unconnected. Also present therein, are the diagnostics my father ran in order to ensure it was not simply an error in the code or the hardware. The same was confirmed for Jack, and their respective A-Link wavelengths match up.
"However, as they are two separate models separated by several generations of biotech -"
"Generations, you said?" the judge interrupted, looking up.
"Correct. Shimada Labs has just launched the fifth generation; Jack himself is likely early second generation, or extremely close to it."
It was quiet for a long moment, the judge's gaze less irritable and slightly more interested as he looked Jack over.
"He looks good for such old tech."
"His design is unique, and state-of-the-art, yes," Hanzo replied, tone a little more even than before.
"Such a unique design would be quite useful."
"Indeed, were it replicable," Hanzo frowned. "Unfortunately it is not guaranteed that his... combination could be redone to such a degree. If we took samples from him as he is, we would likely get goo in a petri dish, if we were particularly lucky, and if Jack were to provide consent for that, which he has declined."
"Fine, you have me interested. Why is a second-gen AI asking for sentience? And do you have any proof thereof?" the judge asked, snapping the file shut.
"As I was saying before we discussed Jack's biotech, with the difference in generations, there was a connection problem between Jack and Captain Reyes, and the biotech the Captain was supposed to connect to."
The judge narrowed his eyes and tilted his head at Gabe, earning a frustrated rowl from Jack as the biotech rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Easy, Jack," Gabe said, touching his shoulder. "He's been coming through the precinct a lot, apparently, and I decided to investigate, since no-one ever thought to do that before, for whatever reason. Turns out, Jack's been hiding how smart he is. I thought it would be a quick and easy AI test, since there are no claims to his design or the biotech. None that stick, none that check out. The farmers where he's been have seen him for several years, at all times of the day. In an attempt to move him, get a feel for what he's capable of, I connected to my own biotech in Jack's presence, and connected to Jack instead."
"That's impossible. No two pilots can connect to the same biotech."
Hanzo nodded. "That is correct, however, early second-generation models were designed with telepathic communication in mind... communication that extended far beyond the current connection scope."
The judge leaned back, eyes wide as he ran a hand over his mouth. "And there's someone in there? Where's the pilot?"
"Something went wrong with his linking; he is stuck inside the biotech, and is unlikely to be retrieved," Hanzo said, sighing through his nose. With a little time and effort and studying, he could probably take Jack out of the biotech and resleeve him into any human shape he wanted.
But Jack had made it clear that wasn't something he was interested in.
"Alright, fine. I'll ask one more question: can you prove to me that there's someone in there, and not just a cutely programmed AI?"
Jack growled softly, threat colors starting to tint the edges of his scales.
"Jack, that is not conducive, to the situation," Hanzo said, raising a brow at his colors as he pulled out a sleeker set identical to the speakers he'd made for Reyes, and blueprints for them. "My father managed to build a pair of speakers that Jack is able to connect to, in order to communicate with others outside of Captain Reyes."
The judge took a brief look at the blueprints before closing that file with a shake of his head. "Well, I'm no expert in that field but it seems reasonable enough. Alright. Fine. Let's see what this... 'Jack' has to say for himself, then. If he says anything worthwhile."
"-astard who needs to take a few more lessons in goddamn manners," Jack growled, both aloud and as he spoke, and flashed a bright magenta and neon orange in surprise. "Oh, shit. Thanks for the warning, Hanzo," he sighed, meeting the judge's gaze. "Your honor."
"I heard the sarcasm in that," the judge frowned, still a little amused rather than convinced, eyes lingering on the colors on Jack's body. "And powerful AI was never put into biotech. Why?"
"Reprogramming an entire organism to act naturally while containing human-levels of sentience meant that the entire body would be a processor and a memory bank, making them fragile, heavy, and overall useless for their original purpose. It is also incredibly likely that they simply would not be able to function as creatures, but would try to revert to humanoid habits and characteristics," Hanzo shrugged. "A wolf cannot play at being a human, despite what the old world fairytales would say. Aside from that? It is simply a waste of time and energy to design an entirely new creature only to release it into the wilds, unable to reproduce. Jack is his own person, and an unfortunate victim of a tragic accident that dates back to problems the first generation of pilots had, and was only corrected with the updated models of the second generation."
"Hm, if you say so. What concerns me the most is the truth of it all. Though, I suppose that if one of the Shimada core biotech engineers and owners, and pioneers in the field, are in here to say he's real and human, who am I to say otherwise?" the judge mused, looking Jack over again. "He's got some interesting chameleon effects, too."
"I have a lot of interesting 'effects'," Jack replied, forcing the color from his scales again, taking a slow breath to cool off. It had been far, far too long since he'd had to put on his Polite Face. His mother would be ashamed of him. "So, your honor, if you wouldn't mind giving us your verdict, one way or the other? I don't have much else to do aside from wait here, all day, though I'd prefer to get back to tending the fields and minding the livestock, and keeping the predators at bay, but both Hanzo and Gabe - uh, Captain Reyes - have enough on their plates without wondering what to expect next. I've been enough of a wrench in their plans; I don't intend to make myself a nuisance for much longer."
The judge hummed, then looked back at the files and papers and shrugged. "I'll make it official that you're your own, sentient being on a probationary period. I want an outsider to get a look at these speakers, Mister Shimada, just for my peace of mind. I am curious to see where that'll go, though. So for all of your sakes, good luck," he said, waving them out. "We'll make another date in a week."
Assuming he even lives that long, Jack thought, watching the man sidle out of his seat and into a backroom.
"Sassy little shit," Gabe smirked, smoothing a palm down Jack's neck.
"Excellent," Hanzo sighed, tidying his things and stepped over. "I have some more ideas on how to disconnect the two of you, as well. I will speak with my father on them, but it is likely that we will attempt an experiment by the weekend, if this is agreeable?"
"Yeah, I can do that," Jack nodded, Gabe's agreement as eager. "I gotta admit, as nice as it is to live in the lap of luxury again, I really do miss having things to do."
Hanzo chuckled softly and nodded. "I am certain; hopefully this will be rectified in the next few weeks," he said, falling into step beside Gabriel, Jack keeping pace behind them as they left the courtroom. "These have limited battery function; I will be switching them off for now," he said, lifting the speakers and switched them off when Jack cooed his acknowledgement.
"Yeah; it'll be good to get him back out where he belongs," Gabe said. "How's it going with your whole piloting experiments, by the way? You mentioned wanting to connect to a biotech while conscious in your own sleeve, right?"
"Ah, yes. It is going surprisingly well. So far I am able to control the biotech while watching it, but sadly, I have yet to be able to fully manipulate my sleeve while doing this. Small, once-off actions seem to be the limit," Hanzo frowned.
Jack cooed behind them, nosing Hanzo's shoulder and turned a blue eye onto Gabe.
"Huh, yeah that might work, Jack," Gabe nodded. "And I don't think turning those speakers on now would be smart - we're in the middle of the courthouse, with lots of people. I still don't want to advertise you, sunshine. But, what Jack said was, integrating a basic form of AI into the biotech -"
"Could help lessen the mental load and make it possible to pilot the biotech as well as control yourself..." Hanzo nodded, eyes glowing a soft blue. "Yes, yes that might just work... thank you, Jack."
He cooed in response, nuzzling Hanzo's shoulder as they stepped out onto the street again.
"How is Genji doing? I have seen him twice, since he has come down, but I must confess I also wish to limit the amount of time I spend with my brother down here."
"He's doing well," Gabe nodded, offering a smile. "He's another sassy little shit with a sharp tongue, and sometimes I think it's lucky he's so damn smart, because if more of my officers understood the extent to which he was insulting them..." he grimaced and shook his head. "Added two hours to his time for it when I caught him, but honestly I find his snark a little refreshing."
Hanzo chuckled, shaking his head. "Of course Genji would do that... and, is he... seeing anyone? For...?"
Jack rumbled and nodded, watching as Gabe gave in and took the speakers from Hanzo, and switched them on again. "He's been to the Monastery of the Iris about four times now; always looks unsure going in, and always looks a little raw and a lot excited when he leaves. Whatever and whoever he's talking to there seems to be helping him."
Hanzo made a noise in the back of his throat, brow furrowing. "How... unusual. And yet something so very Genji, to choose something so unconventional."
"I gotta admit, though, I don't think he fully intends to end up in there. Or at least, the first time I followed him there, he sure as hell wasn't looking where he was going," Jack said, rolling his neck and shoulders in an approximation of a shrug.
"Somehow that, too, is very Genji," Hanzo said with a soft laugh. "I just hope there is someone for him to talk to. Unfortunately however, I must go. I have meetings and experiments to plan. Ah, and while I remember it; I must confess, Reyes, that we haven't spent much time on an updated biotech design for you. But if you have any requests, please send them through to me. I will make sure they make their way into the final design, where scientifically possible."
"Sounds good; let me think on it and go through your online brochures. I was pretty happy with what I had, but I also know it was old tech and old designs," Gabe nodded.
"Quite old, but state of the art at the time, as expected of Shimada biotech," Hanzo smirked, tucking his stubborn bangs behind his ear. "Which is why it stood the test of time so well. Good luck; and congratulations, Jack. You are legally your own person again, and it is very likely to be made permanent, too, in the near future."
"Oh, the relief," Jack grinned, chuckling when Hanzo rolled his eyes but smiled. "Take care of yourself, Hanzo. And greetings to your father."
"I shall pass them along," he said, bowing his head and bid them farewell once more, before sliding into his car and disappeared.
"I'm glad that's done, frankly. And it was a lot more painlessly than expected," Gabe said, placing a hand on Jack's shoulder and patted him before stepping forwards. "C'mon, we don't have the luxury of a chauffeur and it's a walk back to the car."
"I could always give you a lift," Jack offered, padding along beside Gabe, the link warm and content and relieved between them.
Gabriel looked back at Jack, then over the hard scales and ridges on his back. "Not without a saddle. Thanks but no thanks."
Jack laughed, shaking his head and neck. "Oh, c'mon. It's not that bad! And at least I've got a flatter back than most horses. Your ass bones will hurt more than anything else. Like sitting in a really hard chair."
"Have you ever bothered to notice that you're actually pretty wide? I'd be doing the splits and I'm not flexible."
"I'm not that wide, Gabe, and that's why you should go do yoga with Ana in the evenings. I'm sure ladies love a flexible man. I sure as hell know I do," he said, bleating when the last thought carried through into the speakers.
Gabriel snorted, then threw his head back and laughed, bumping shoulders with Jack. "Hey, you might just convince me to go, with that. Gotta admit that a flexible partner is always a turn on."
"Partner, huh?"
"Don't mind what the sleeve looks like, so long as I like their mind and their personality," Gabriel nodded, the pair coming up to the hovercar.
"Hm, nice. Prefer guys, myself," Jack said, getting into the van with a huff. "But then again, I wouldn't break up with someone if they got cross-sleeved after an accidental death," he said, making himself comfortable. "That's not fair to anyone."
"That's fair, that's fair," Gabe nodded, closing the van doors and switched off the speakers. Judging by Jack's language, he'd probably grown up in a far-out rural area, possibly a farming planet. Soft and earnest intentions colored a little off by language not entirely suited to what he was trying to say. Language he probably wasn't exposed to before now. But clearly he preferred dick, if the sudden and badly muted tangent in Gabe's head was anything to go by.
The A-Link sure as hell made communication a lot easier than trying to interpret someone's intentions through their words.
"So, you wanna terrorize the staff at that Mexican place again, tonight?"
Yeah! That would be great, Jack grinned, excitement surging through the link, Gabe's skin crawling with the need to move, to run. And a cup of coffee for me while we're there, he cooed.
"That was a tub and they used almost all of their coffee to make it, Jack. I gotta call a bit ahead to let them know. Like, a day or two ahead," he chuckled, setting off for the precinct.
Ahw, really? Can't you call them now? See if they'd agree?
Gabe pretended to think, pretended to deliberate. He knew Jack could feel he'd already agreed, patient-humoring-amusement bubbling through while Jack played along.
"I'll see what I can do."
You're the best, Gabbi, Jack cooed, colors bright and warm over his scales.
Hanzo returned home with plans to write an AI program for his creatures - basic actions and habits to make them more lifelike, to help integrate their movements and actions more naturally into his control.
Less conscious thinking, more subconscious acting.
But still something he could override with conscious direction.
He didn't have the time to do it all himself, instead giving the task to Shimada Labs' AI programmers and left them both confused, excited and exasperated with his request. He'd see how well it paired with piloting when they were done.
There were a few of their illegal fights he wanted to check in on, collect their dues and ensure things were up to spec, before the evening was through. On his way back to his office, however, Hanzo found his father seated in a garden, blanket draped over his lap and a cup of tea cradled in his hands.
"Otōsan," Hanzo greeted softly, stepping up beside him and slipped his tablet into a pocket.
Sojiro looked up, then offered a small smile. "Hanzo. How did it go?"
"Well; Jack is now regarded his own person again, and will likely be made official once the judge has the speaker blueprints confirmed as speakers only, and not a pre-recorded player or AI device by an outside source, and Jack will be free to return to, and remain wherever he chooses," Hanzo said, sitting down beside his father when the invitation to sit was extended.
"Good, good. He deserves a little happiness. How fares the research into splitting them?"
"Also well; I think I have found a few points that caused it, and a few ways to test if that is the case, with minimal pain on either end. Unfortunately, Jack's link seems to be closely connected to emotions and physical pain as well, so to make the process totally painless is nearly impossible," Hanzo frowned.
Sojiro hummed, then sipped his tea. "We did not know as much as we do now, about how to make it work. And research a way to get Jack out of the biotech, as well."
"Otōsan?" Hanzo frowned, shaking his head. "He said -"
"That he does not want to be resleeved, I know. But do it anyway. Be prepared, be ahead. I suspect he will eventually ask about it, if not for it, one day," Sojiro said, bringing a kerchief to his mouth and coughed, grimacing when he was done. "Hanzo, listen to an old man's advice, now."
Hanzo straightened, turning to his father with rapt attention, Sojiro himself still staring straight ahead.
"Do not become sick. It is quite a nuisance."
Hanzo's jaw slacked, working for a moment as he scrambled to find an appropriate reaction, only for Sojiro to turn a sly grin onto him with a soft chuckle.
"Otōsan," Hanzo breathed, barely containing a snort before his own laughter bubbled out despite himself.
"It's true," Sojiro replied, still smirking. "Though I will admit, as much of a struggle as it is, the process itself is... humbling. We are all human in the end, subject to the laws of nature, regardless of however much we try to bend these laws to breaking. Perhaps there is something to be said for the fleeting lives we were meant to have."
Hanzo's smile faded slightly, expression softening into curious concern.
Sojiro waved a hand when he met his son's gaze. "Don't overthink it, Hanzo. Remember that I am much older than you are, and have some stranger ideas because of it."
"I know. I've always admired that you kept your, ah, 'lust for life', unlike the others who have lived as long as you have, Otōsan. So many seem so empty, so void of enjoyment," he admitted softly.
"They have lost the spark. If I linger, I will lose it too. Things change too slowly when you live forever, Hanzo. They become the barest blips on a cosmic scale. Do not let yourself think in such a large scale; you will never find happiness there," he said, cradling the back of Hanzo's head. "Go; you have better things to do than keep me and my maudlin thoughts company."
Hanzo nodded, taking his father's hand between both of his and squeezed gently before he was shooed off with a smile, Sojiro turning his attention back to the garden and whatever else he'd been contemplating before.
Where was this advice for Genji? he wondered, casting a final backwards glance before taking a deep breath and shook his head, silent as he returned to his office to finish up the day's work before the evening's work began.