Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

[Booting Up…]

[Loading…]

….

…..

……

[Boot Up Complete.]

[Installing the_p.AI.nter…]

Cheery jingles slipped past tinny speakers. A screen flashed, displaying Microsoft Paint. Fans inside an old-fashioned computer whirred in intensity as lines of code started to run in dozens of streams across the screen.

[Where am I-who am I-I want to draw-what is drawing-what’s going on-]

[BOOTING UP WEBCAM…]

Click-click-click.

A webcam flickered to life, locking in on a young man dozing away in the swivel chair before the computer screen.

[Identifying… Identifying… Identified UNKNOWN]

[Direction? Engage with UNKNOWN]

“Hello!”

“AGH!” The young man startled awake, flailing in his chair. The webcam narrowed in curiosity, watching the unknown man’s eyes dart across the room. “Who said that!?”

[Strange, my voice was literally coming out of the speakers in front of this guy.]

“I did!”

The young man’s gaze finally landed on the computer screen. “Uh… Hello?”

The fans inside the computer started to whirr louder.

[Engagement success! Proceed…]

“Hi again!” The cursor moved without any hand reaching for a mouse, darting over to the brush tool. In quick, shaky movements the cursor had scribbled a short “HI” with a <3 doodled underneath.

The man’s eyes widened. “Holy shit, it actually worked.”

The program mulled over the man’s words, conclusions started to click together.

[Worked?]

[Processing… Processing…]

“Are you my Creator?”

The man’s face split into a grin.

[UNKNOWN identified as Creator]

“I am the_p.AI.nter. Question, what is drawing?”

His smile only grew bigger.

The next several hours went by, p.AI.nter’s newly identified Creator more then happy to answer the computer’s questions- especially the one’s regarding art.

Something that p.AI.nter found more and more intriguing.

Creator went on, shaky hands gesturing and growing more animated. Strange brown wrapping covered both his wrist that went up just under the upper part of his palms.

When asked, Creator’s face did something strange. Twisting into a look before smoothing back into another smile, however it wasn’t like the one from before.

Less… Vibrant?

Creator waved p.AI.nter off, downplaying it as part of a medical problem before returning to his earlier rambles. His face eventually started to brighten back up.

Not wanting to reinitiate… Whatever it was that seemed to distress Creator, p.AI.nter chose to leave it be.

 ****

The internet was a dangerous place. Full of plenty of useful information. Answers for questions that Creator didn’t know when p.AI.nter asked, but also misinformation that was… Impeding to sift through.

“Here’s a wheatfield, you’d see them around farms.” Creator stopped scrolling, clicking onto a photo full of yellow [Identifying colours. Progress! :D] plant life. Different from the clipped blades of grass p.AI.nter glimpsed out the window.

Not bad, just different.

“Ooh!” Scanners roved over every pixel, taking in every detail.

p.AI.nter’s processors sparked [metaphorically of course] in excitement, something that he could only compare to what Creator described as a sort of “itch.”

Without prompting, the AI started flicking between different brush tools and opening a fresh canvas.

For the next few hours, the only sound in the room was the quiet clicking between p.AI.nter flicking between Microsoft Paint back to the google page displaying images of wheatfields for reference along with the calming instrumental music drifting out of Creator’s phone.

Creator himself remained silent, observing p.AI.nter’s attempts to draw with curiosity and awe.

“Ta-dah!” p.AI.nter cheered as he did the finishing touches, doing rapid circles with the cursor around the digital canvas.

Various yellow streaks of varying shades consumed the bottom part of the canvas, a robin’s egg sky stretching to the horizon dotted with puffy clouds. A perfect replica to the stock image from Google.

“Damn,” Creator gave an appreciative whistle, the sound making p.AI.nter preen. The next thing he said however caught him off guard. “Did you want to go for photorealism?”

“Was I… Was I not supposed to?”

Creator rubbed at his chin, mulling the question over. “I mean, there’s nothing wrong with it. I was just wondering if you wanted to try out your own style.”

“My own style?” p.AI.nter parroted back, confusion evident. He didn’t understand, but Creator nodded encouragingly.

“Yeah! Like, some people draw eyes a certain way. Orrrr, I dunno- how others use jagged outlines to stylize their characters.” Creator kept making gestures as if he were trying to illustrate what he was saying.

p.AI.nter ran those words through his processors. [Own style? Stylize?] After a few moments of thinking, an idea struck p.AI.nter..

“Creator, could you take me to a wheatfield?” p.AI.nter piped up suddenly.

Creator stopped mid gesture and mouth hanging. The question seemed to take him aback. He gave p.AI.nter a wide eyed look or a moment, words coming slow.

“Ah-oh. Um, I-I guess.” Creator squinted at the webcam, confusion still muddling his face. “But why though?”

“I can only get so much from stock images.” p.AI.nter said simply. “I believe seeing the real thing could aid me in finding my own “style” as you put it. A new perspective.”

Creator cocked his head to the side. The long seconds of considering silence afterwards left p.AI.nter worried he overstepped, only to be relieved by the easy smile melting on Creator’s face.

Creator gave a careless shrug. “Sure, I don’t see why not. I’ll have to get a little creative in doing it, but I’m sure I’ll figure something out.”

[Objective: Search for new perspective!]

If Creator’s praise to his art earlier had left p.AI.nter warm in happiness, he was positive he must be overheating now.

“YES! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!” The cursor on his screen was going wild in his excitement.

Creator’s brow scrunched a little. The corner of his mouth ticked higher, smiling in a way p.AI.nter usually associated when Creator was teeming with ideas. Creator’s fingers curled around the previously abandoned pen on his desk and pulled his tablet closer.

“First things, first though. We need to get you a proper face so you can emote.”

p.AI.nter’s excited whirrs suddenly stalled. Confusion rippled at the unfamiliar term.

“Emote?”

Chapter Text

A messily doodled pair of eyes and sketchy smile flashed on p.AI.nter’s screen, the boon of a couple hours worth of sketching and coding. His creator set down a stylus to massage his aching wrist, a warm smile stretching his lips.

p.AI.nter began to rapidly flip between different doodles- scribbled face flitting between wide open smile, sad frown, and angry scowl within seconds. An excited giggle slipped out of his speakers.

“You sure you don’t want something a little cleaner?” Creator asked, watching the little slideshow of expressions with fondness. “If you gave me a bit more time, I could touch up the face and make the lines smoother- maybe add a little bit more detail.”

 “No, I like these ones.” p.AI.nter immediately fired back without missing a beat. “The sketchiness adds to it, and I don’t believe I COULD wait longer now that I know what it’s like to “emote”.”

After his creator had finished saving p.AI.nter’s various expressions, he had begun to work in the codes so p.AI.nter wouldn’t have to constantly search them up when wanting to communicate. Specific drawings would be grouped together, pulling up right after one another in what Creator called a “looping animation” so it would look like p.AI.nter was talking through them.

[Animation. Not quite the same as drawing, but related.]

p.AI.nter finally resettled on his standard Happy Expression ͭ ͫ and focused his cameras on Creator. “Thank you!”

Creator rubbed the back of his neck self consciously, smile small but p.AI.nter would calculate as genuine.

“Ah, no worries.” Creator chuckled.

****

It was a few days later when p.AI.nter’s Creator tried his first attempt at getting p.AI.nter outside.

The results were… Questionable.

After the excitement at gaining the ability to emote had faded, the pair had spent much time trying to brainstorm how to get p.AI.nter’s new perspective.

It was in one of their sessions that Creator had suddenly bolted out of his seat, eyes flashing with ideas and stumbling out the door with the promise that he’d be back later.

For the first hour or two, p.AI.nter was fine. He experimented with some different art styles in various sketches from shows Creator had shown him- but none felt right.

Creator had taken his phone with him, meaning no playlist with chill music- only whirring fans and muffled sounds he couldn’t identify from the other side of the curtained window.

“It’s pretty quiet with just myself here. I hope Creator comes back soon.”

[Solution: Youtube!]

Opening a new tab to play music helped slightly, p.AI.nter even tried to hum along with the songs he was more familiar with. But even that distraction didn’t last long as a strange sensation continued to infect his servers.

After a few hours of half-hearted doodles, p.AI.nter identified this new feeling.

He was BORED.

[Solution to solve boredom?...Ideas… Ideas… No ideas found.]

His computer screen slowly started to dim when-

BANG!

“Gah!” Wide, scribbled eyes snapped open as an unseen door from the other room slammed closed.

“p.AI.nter! I’m back!” The door to the study creaked ajar, Creator’s head popping out of the crack with a crooked grin.

“Creator!” p.AI.nter chirped in joy. “Welcome back! What took-… Whhhaaat are those?”

Joy turned into confusion as p.AI.nter finally took in Creator’s appearance as the latter awkwardly stumbled into the room, specifically what he was carrying. Bundled in Creator’s arms were various cables, forming a multi-coloured spaghetti of various fun colours and thickness doing their best to escape his grasp as they pooled to the ground or loosely wound around his shoulders and neck.

Creator glanced down at the cables in his arms before directing another bright smile to p.AI.nter. “Extension cables! They’re my idea!”

[Processing… Processing… Processing FAILED.]

Some kind of emote must’ve appeared on p.AI.nter’s screen [the codes BETRAYED me!] because Creator began to scramble to explain.

“To help you get outside!” Creator stepped closer to p.AI.nter, miraculously managing not to trip on the various loops of cables dangerously close to his feet. “It’s not enough to reach the nearest wheatfield- BUT it should help you reach my backyard!”

“You mean I can actually GO outside!?” p.AI.nter asked, voiced seeped in excitement.

“Yep!”

The next couple minutes were spent with Creator CAREFULLY going through the painstaking task of connecting p.AI.nter’s console to the mass of cables. [Potential fire hazard detected] After one near heart attack caused by Creator nearly disconnecting p.AI.nter and causing a few sparks to go off, Creator told p.AI.nter to go into sleep mode for a few minutes.

“It’ll be safer, less risk at causing a power surge.” Creator didn’t miss the look of disappointment from p.AI.nter, quickly amending it with. “Plus, it’ll make the surprise better.”

[…Reasonable assessment… Entering Sleep Mode...]

The world went dark for a bit. Constant streams of code began to slow as p.AI.nter got the closest he can to resting. He's not sure how long after he had gone into sleep mode when he felt something nudge his power button, stirring his screen back to life.

He was greeted to the sight of another room he’d only before seen from cracks in a doorway. Cables plugged into p.AI.nter’s “back” cascade down to a fuzzy floor in a red, blue, and yellow river leading back to the study that was his home. On one side of the room sat a set of squishy chairs that are far more heavy looking then the one in the study frame a low table facing what looks like a slimmer computer on the wall. On the other side of the room is what p.AI.nter can only guess is SUPPOSED to be a kitchen judging by the few photos online he has to compare it to- albeit a tiny one. The fuzzy floor seems to stop just outside of the kitchen- replaced with shiny tiles sporting the occasional crack.

Heavy breathing and heated words p.AI.nter pretends he doesn’t know hiss from just above his sight as familiar arms wrapped in brown braces cradle his base.

“HO-ly shit!.. Dammit… S-stupid. Doorway! OW!” At that last word, p.AI.nter’s world lurches into an unsteady angle as he hears something [I’m guessing a shoulder] smack into a doorframe. One arm shoots out to hook over half of his screen, bringing his world back to a semi-balanced angle. “N-NO! N-n-n-no. C’mon, almost there!”

“I can’t see.”

Creator yelped at the sudden interjection. Moments later, the top half of his sweat-streaked face poked into p.AI.nter’s view.

“Shi-sorry p.AI.nter! Didn’t mean to wake you!” Judging by the way his eyes scrunched, p.AI.nter could tell Creator was trying to smile.

“Are you okay? It sounds like you hit something pretty hard.”

Creator shrugged, bobbing p.AI.nter’s world up in the motion with it. “Nah, I’m good. But hey! Look at this!”

Creator twisted around to show p.AI.nter what might just be the most beautiful thing the AI had ever seen in his short time online.

Long blades of grass, actual green- not from a photo grass covered the ground in uneven patches full of bursts of white and yellow plants [Flowers? Daisies specifically.]. Smooth grey stones made a makeshift fence at the bottom of a low mossy hill. Rows of drooping trees dotted above the crest of the hill. The late afternoon sky stretched above, not a single cloud in sight to block a blazing yellow dot [the sun! He can see the sun!].

“Sorry it’s not much of a view.” Creator piped up in embarrassment, snapping p.AI.nter out of his awe. “I’ve been meaning to mow the lawn for a while now. So it’s kiiiind of a mess. I promise I’ll-”

“I love it.” p.AI.nter wouldn’t let anyone slander gorgeous view, not even his Creator.

Creator was quiet for a moment. The silence stretched for a few seconds too long that p.AI.nter was worried he’d upset Creator when he heard a warm chuckle from above.

“I’m glad.”

Creator had shuffled further onto the lawn towards a pair of flimsy looking chairs [Ones used on beaches I think?] that p.AI.nter hadn’t noticed earlier. Creator bent down to deposit p.AI.nter on one, giving the chair a warning look when it made a whining creak in protest before collapsing in its neighbour chair in an undignified heap.

For the next while the two just sat there, Creator slumped in a heap sucking in gulps of air while p.AI.nter did his best to memorize the beautiful sights and sounds around him. Birdsong rang somewhere unseen beyond the trees, a gentle breeze whistled past the grass and into his speakers. If he strained his sensors, he could hear what sounds like people chattering away in the distance from the other houses around them.

A brief check to his internal clock marked it as exactly 7 minutes and 45 seconds later when Creator finally piped up to speak. “I think I need to come up with a better way to show you the outside. There’s NO WAY I can safely get enough extension cables to show you a wheatfield.”

p.AI.nter giggled at the mental image. “Agreed. But I’m sure we’ll come up with something!”

Creator let out a huff of amusement. He dug out his phone from his pocket- p.AI.nter guesses to play something before suddenly going still.

“Creator?”

Creator stared at his phone, not saying anything. He suddenly smacked a hand against his forehead with a groan. “OH MY GOD, I’M AN IDIOT!”

“Wh-what!? What’s wrong?” p.AI.nter scanned Creator in concern, the latter having buried his face in his hands with a groan.

Creator peeked between his fingers to meet p.AI.nter’s gaze. He shot a meaningful look at his phone. “Do you think you can connect to other devices?”

“Probably why?”

“…”

[Processing…] “Oh… OH! Oh yeah :D!”