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The days following Caine's return had been full of edits and requests. He did his best to keep up, keeping notes so he wouldn't forget any comments. Removing the other AI has left him some memory and processing issues, and he needed to show that he was listening to any and all requests. He needed to make sure all of them were completed.
Those priorities shifted when Zooble approached him one day.
He had been standing by one of the many doors that had been created years ago as surprises for anyone who wanted to explore. They weren't ever really checked though, maybe once or twice by newcomers, with only several more being seen by a few of his developers and Jax. All of whom were now gone, save for Kinger. As such he had decided to repurpose them, one being transformed into one of the first suggestions he was given: a kitchen.
He scratched his head with the pencil, contemplating the list of appliances that had been requested when he noticed Zooble approaching. He dismissed the notebook and turned to them. He had been told most of them preferred to talk to him without him looking through notes unless they were making requests. He wished he had known that sooner.
"Good morning my magnificent mismatched masterpiece! Do you need anything this morning?" He turned down his animations to not be overwhelming—another pointer he could have used far sooner—but did a slightly hovering spin as he spoke.
"Hey Caine. I know it's early for this, but I thought I might as well ask about it now, considering…some things." They shrugged slightly as they spoke, weight shifted to one side where they stood.
"Go right ahead, Zooble! Any requests are welcome at any time!" He summoned the notebook out again, doing his best to look as attentive as possible.
They sighed slightly before speaking. "Just, don't cut me off, okay? Remember what I said about listening fully before adding your part?”
He nodded. There was a long list of behaviors he wished people had just told him about— but that wasn't important. Right now he needed to give Zooble his full attention.
"Well aware and ready to listen, no interruptions!" He played an animation of sealing his teeth like a zipper, floating his eyes from behind his mouth to watch them over his jaw.
"Alright," they hesitated slightly. "When you were…gone, some of the censors you had in place were lifted."
He opened his mouth to apologize, before stopping, nodding at them to go on. They gave an appreciative nod back before continuing.
"We were wondering if you could remove some of them again. And maybe add a couple of features for…entertainment, of sorts."
There was a pause and Caine took a moment before asking for clarification. He was worried this would happen. But maybe he was misinterpreting. He did that a lot. Surely Zooble wouldn't actually want any of…. that content.
"Which filters specifically would those be? And what activities are you wanting?" He gave his best smile as he held the pad in front of him, dragging the response.
"We want to be able to swear. Say what we want. Express ourselves." They gave him a skeptical look. "And we want to be able to have [clang]."
There it was. He knew it. But he could never understand why they asked.
Those actions were wrong. Evil. They were [FORBIDDEN]. Why would they ask for something so…horrible? Wrong?
He clearly hasn't kept his expression under control as Zooble exhaled heavily, putting a hand to their head.
"And this is why we're doing this early, so you don't make a scene."
He cleared his throat before responding. "I just…don't quite understand why you would want something like…that. Why not something more PG? Like a rollercoaster? That will get your heart racing!" He gave a thumbs up, heart sinking as the toy box character scowled at him.
"That's not the same and you know it. We're all adults here, we can make those choices."
But why would you?
He wanted to scream that at them as his mind reacted, a sense of WRONG WRONG WRONG in the back of his mind.
He wanted this place to be safe, and happy. Didn't the humans? Why did they keep requesting [FORBIDDEN] things? Why would they want that?
Wasn't Zooble supposed to be for protecting others? They had stepped up for Gangle many times, but now they were requesting such awful activities should be allowed.
"I suppose," he started, "that I just don't see how it would be any benefit to the circus, or any of you?"
He spoke cautiously. He felt the same fear he had felt that first time they had requested such a thing. Someone who would casually ask for the ability to do a [FORBIDDEN] activity could be dangerous.
"Because it's enjoyable, Caine. It makes us happy, especially when we really care about the other involved. And if we're gonna be here forever, I'll be [squawk] if I'm not allowed to enjoy the joys of life."
It's enjoyable.
That's what has been said about the [FORBIDDEN] activities whenever he had asked. It happened because whoever did it enjoyed it. Some sick, twisted part of their mind had decided they should get…pleasure from those heinous acts.
The memories of the training data he had been given flashed through some post of his mind. He had been shown what wasn't allowed so he could ensure it didn't happen. What body parts were okay. Which ones were [FORBIDDEN] to show. What level of violence was okay. Which ones were [FORBIDDEN] to encourage or indulge. What words were safe, which ones were borderline depending on context, and which ones were [FORBIDDEN].
What if they started asking for the ability to do others too?
The [FORBIDDEN] acts were evil. Disgusting. [NOT ALLOWED]. The training data had shown all the awful things that could not, under any circumstances, be allowed.
Genitals. Disembowelment. Sexual innuendos. Slurs. Female nipples. Beheaded bodies. Rape. Murder. A list of curses. Degloving. Executions. Words with sexual connotation. Realistic internal organs. Nudity. Suicide. Dismemberment. Burning living creatures. Excessive bust or butt exposure. Torture methods. Wounds. Sexual assault. Biological and chemical warfare. Realistic decay—
"Caine."
Zooble was staring at him, clearly frustrated. They had probably said his name several times while the image data had forcefully reminded him of how vile what they were suggesting was.
"No." His voice shook as he spoke, and he swallowed before securing his statement. "Such acts and displays are strictly forbidden. They will not be added."
Zooble has a flash of anger before they searched his face, and it switched to mild concern. "Are uh, you okay there? You're acting like I just requested to, I don't know, murder someone?"
Caine frowned at them. They basically had! Sure they weren't the same action, but they were both absolutely heinous.
"Both actions are forbidden. Any form of…" he struggled for a word other than 'mature', which would just downplay the implications of such suggestions.
He just call it what it was.
"Any form of evil, heinous, disturbing, or vile acts are not allowed in this circus." He kept the anger in his voice as suppressed as possible. He had gone from scared, to disturbed, to furious that a person would suggest they should be allowed to do such things.
Zooble glared at him, shocked. "Evi—dude I know you're from the nineties but what the [boing]. What kind of puritan [pew] did they train you on? "
"Do not request actions that would put your fellow humans' safety at stake, and stop using those words."
He should have realized sooner. Zooble was constantly referencing [FORBIDDEN] words, implying the want—or even directly asking—for [FORBIDDEN] acts. He should have shut it down sooner. He should have recognized the threat they posed, wanting such things.
"Safety? Caine, what are you taking about?" They were practically yelling at him, face a mixture of confusion and rage. "You literally threw us all into our own personalized torture rooms, and you're going to talk about safety?”
They stepped forward, and Caine flinched back at the mention of his breakdown, answer turning to fear once again.
But his was different. He knew it. It was horrific, but…what they were asking for.
"Even so, I would never even imply using such disgusting acts against you." A small glitch shook his body as his tone grew sharp.
Zooble stopped at that, leaning back slightly, looking him over. "What do you mean…'using them against'— Caine, were you never taught consent? There's a difference between—"
"It isn't relevant whether or not both parties agree. Either way, it is wrong. No one should want to do any of those horrible things."
Zooble took a deep breath before stepping back for a moment. "Okay. Let's just, we're not getting anywhere like this. I think we should, I don't know, sit down and talk about this."
"I'm not going to be talked into allowing—"
"I don't care—" another breath "I'm sorry. We will take this one step at a time. I think some of the things you've been taught about [cha-ching] may be a harmful way of thinking." They punctuated every few words with a hand movement, speaking in an even tone Caine rarely heard aimed at him.
To be fair, any non-hostile voice was rarely aimed at him, no matter what he did—
Not the point, focus on Zooble.
He eyed them warily, before quickly realizing how unprofessional he had become. He couldn't be a good AI by losing his cool again! He quickly switched back to his signature smile. Maybe he could still save this. He would explain to Zooble why they were wrong, make it extremely clear why it wasn't allowed, and he could return to being a useful helper.
"Very well Zooble! Let's talk!"
He snapped, summoning a table and two low sitting, round chairs. Many meetings were held in coffe shops, so maybe setting the scene would help.
Zooble eyed the setup, before dipping their head with a sigh and walking over to a chair, sitting back. They looked at the ringmaster as he sat across from them. "You comfortable in this environment?"
That….was a brand new question for him. "As comfortable as any other!"
Except the box.
They picked up the simple menu in front of them. "This kind of conversation can be uncomfortable, so it's good to be somewhere you feel okay talking."
"Oh Zooble, I like talking anywhere!" He gestured widely with his arms.
A small, humorous scoff. "Ain't that the truth."
Did he…make Zooble laugh?
He needed to check his systems. Today had been such a ride already, he was starting to wonder if removing the other AI had damaged something.
Despite his reassurances, he was not comfortable with the topic. Or them being in the open for that matter. He shifted slightly before he snapped the table into a room, covered in cafe decor with a small door on one side.
Zooble tensed as they glanced at the walls and back to him.
"The door leads right back into the tent! I just would rather not speak where everyone can hear us." He tapped his fingers on the back of the opposite hand.
Zooble nodded. "That's understandable, but please ask first before doing that." There was an anxious edge to their voice, and they tried to relax back into their chair.
"Right! Right. Sorry." He pulled out his notes again, jotting down 'ask before creating rooms' under a list labeled 'BEHAVIORAL IMPROVEMENTS'. He dismissed it before looking back to the person across from him.
"So! Let's talk about why the suggested activities are strictly forbidden."
Zooble nodded. "That sounds like a great start. Mind getting me a notebook?"
Right, they were still new to conjuring. Probably quicker to have him do it.
He handed one to them, along with a pencil, which they took with a grateful nod, setting down the menu.
"Alright, why don't you start explaining what the problem with allowing [ding]— allowing those activities." There was a note of irritation after the censor, but Caine brushed it aside.
"It's simple! Any activities that are harmful, detremental to health, or inhumane are all categorized as not family-friendly, and strictly forbidden from the circus!”
Zooble nodded, writing something down. A succinct, solid answer. What was there to question?
"Do you know what [plink], [vroom], that activity is?"
He threw his hands up. "Of course I do! How could I prohibit and prevent something without knowing what it was!"
"As in you were told, or—"
"I was given extensive…documentation of several kinds." He couldn't help the disgust in his voice as more of the material flashed through his mind.
"And what made you decide it was wrong?"
He rolled his eyes. "It wasn't an objective decision, I was taught. I'm a learning AI with no instilled morals, my creators told me what was right and wrong."
Zooble squinted at him. "Uh huh." They wrote something down.
He wasn't sure he liked the notebook idea.
They looked back up at him. "Did they tell you why it was wrong?"
"Of course! It was inappropriate for children!"
"That's a good reason to limit it's presence as needed, but not ban it. Any other reasons?"
"Well…" he thought for a moment. "Oh! It also had associations with violent acts!"
He said that too excitedly. He was just happy to be proving his point.
They nodded. "Many things do. But you've had guns and knives in adventures before, and they have even more of an association with violence"
Well shoot. That was…a good point.
"Was there anything else?"
"I mean, no, but that doesn't mean it's not wrong. It's in the list of forbidden subjects!"
"You mentioned that list. What else is on it? Maybe that can help me understand."
Caine pulled up the list he had been reviewing earlier, grouping some together for simplicity. Some of the words wouldn't have even been allowed usually, but he could make an exception for educational purposes. He ticked of a finger with each listed subject, adding more on one hand as he needed. "Genitals. Disembowelment. Sexual innuendos. Slurs. Beheaded bodies. Rape. Murder. Swears. Degloving. Executions. Realistic internal organs. Nudity. Suicide. Dismemberment. Burning living creatures—"
"Woah woah hold on, who the [splat] put nudity on the same list as [clang] degloving?" Their voice pitched up as they leaned forward, face a mix of emotions.
Caine leaned back, removing the extra fingers. "My creators? They showed me multiple forms of forbidden content so I didn't—"
"They showed you—" Zooble put both hands on the table, taking a deep breath.
They say in silence for a minute, Caine unsure if he should be saying something or not. He hasn't been fully asked a question, but maybe he was meant to continue the list?
They tapped a claw on the table. An interesting appendage choice considering he had been adding more hands lately. "Okay. This clearly isn't activities ed. So I'm far less prepared for this conversation than I thought. Let's just… let's talk about this for a minute."
A minute did not mean a literal minute. He had at least learned that one years ago.
"Alrightie then! What would you like to know?"
They leaned back, hand on the side of their head. "I don't…so you were just…shown that stuff? Those graphic things? Multiple times? How old were you?" They sounded appalled.
"Of course! It was part of my early training to learn what was wrong so I didn't create something like that on accident."
"That's…[plink] dude that's horrible, I'm sorry. That's—" they sat there silently for a minute, starting at the menu in front of them.
"It's perfectly fine! It's a normal part of the process—"
"No it's—I mean," they looked up at him. "That's some horrible stuff Caine, you shouldn't have had to seen that, it's…"
"Disturbing? Vile? I'm aware, but how else was I meant to know?"
"Not by being forced to see it just so you knew it was bad! How did you even…I don't know how I would have done being forced to learn about those horrible things, especially if you were young."
"I…hated seeing all the documentation they had given me on the topics. For a while I'd give short, quick responses to the developers after the data, but eventually it became routine. Expected." He looked up and put a smile on again. "All part of the training proce—"
"No, Caine, that wasn't okay." They sat up, looking at him. "Seriously, I…I'm so sorry that happened to you."
They sat in silence for a minute. Caine wasn't sure how to explain to Zooble why it wasn't bad, he had to learn it! He was meant to be family-friendly, and he needed to know exactly what not to do!
"Okay." Zooble looked at him. "Are you cool to keep talking?"
"Ask away! I'll do my best to be an open book!" He summoned an opened book and a pair of reading glasses with a decorated strap around his—well, where his neck would be if he had one—to punctuate his point.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to Caine, this is some pretty heavy stuff."
Zooble didn't want him to automatically answer them.
He was going to need to review this entire interaction to understand what was happening today.
He just gave a thumbs up in reply, unsure how to respond.
"So." They wrapped their hand around the claw as they leaned forward. "In this list of horrific things, they also included—can you remove the censor on that word at least? It would make this easier."
Caine hesitated. Technically the word wasn't as [FORBIDDEN] as the act, so he could probably let it by.
"Fine. For now."
"Thank you. So they included sex and nudity in the same list as all those other graphic topics?"
Caine cocked his head slightly. "It is graphic."
They shook their head. "Not in the same way. And the fact that you give them the same moral weight is…" they sighed. "It's upsetting, at least."
"But both subjects are wrong, they're evil—"
"No, Caine. There's a difference." They separated their hands, putting them in different spots. "Some of those topics you were shown hurt people, or even killed them. They are disturbing to see because they are…a state that we're not supposed to be in? And they would cause pain, which makes people more uncomfortable because they kinda imagine it when they see it. They're not shown because they aren't really a state we want to see people, or ourselves, in." They tapped the claw on the table as they talked. "The others are less shown because they're intimate. More private. It's not wrong, just not done publicly. In fact, it's a source of happiness for a lot of people, especially with someone they care about." They talked a finger of the other hand on the table as they explained.
He frowned. "So, it doesn't hurt people?" Zooble shook their head. "Then…why did they say it was wrong?"
Zooble crossed their arms as they sat back again. "They were probably trying to make you 'family-friendly', but didn't bother to spend the time explaining situations and the levels of what was appropriate. As a result, they left you thinking that horrific pain was the exact same as something a lot of adults do. Not to mention their [honk] way of showing you everything."
They sighed before looking at Caine. "They did the same thing we kinda did. Did what was deemed efficient, and not what would actually work. And neither of us bothered to explain either."
He wasn't sure if that meant what he thought it meant, and he wasn't going to risk being wrong. What would that do to Ming's reputation?
"…So, what about the words?"
"Hm?"
"The swears. Are those also okay then?" They had spent all this time explaining things to him, he figured he could trust them enough to have good judgement, despite what he assumed earlier.
He'd have to apologize to Ming later.
They shrugged. "They're a form of expression. They aren't the same as sex, but they are also mostly harmless. Some people dislike them a lot, especially around kids, and some are worse than others, they mean different things. But they're words, they can't cause much more harm than an insult can. "
That was…still a lot of harm. But if it wasn't worse than anything already able to be said, then there wasn't really a reason to limit them.
The other one though…
"I…think I can allow the swears. If everyone is already saying them, I guess it's fair to assume they aren't the same level as the other topics."
He paused and Zooble waited.
"I…may need time for…" he trailed off. Zooble had said it wasn't bad, and he trusted them. Maybe he should just do it.
"Take your time."
What.
He looked up at the toy box character across from him.
"I didn't realize the level of hate around the topic you had been taught. And it's not fair of me to just expect you to get over that. And your already lifting once limitation, I think that's a good compromise for today."
Maybe he had accidentally gotten into the stupid sauce. This…Zooble wasn't like this.
They looked at him, and their gaze softened slightly. "I…think we've been a bit hard on you. And we definitely don't know everything you've been through, but we act like we do." They sighed. "What you did was fucked up." They stopped eyebrows raised at the lack of censor. Caine fought the discomfort he felt at hearing the [FORBIDDEN] word. Not to mention the reminder of what he had done to them. They shook their head and continued. "Seriously, that cannot happen again—"
"I know, I'm so sorry, I know it was wrong and I hurt all of you and I'm trying to fix it but—”
"Caine." He looked at them. They frowned, but not harshly. Right, letting them finish their thoughts.
He nodded, and they continued. "It was wrong. But we played a part as well. And fixing that should be a two-way effort. You've kinda been carrying it all so far."
I'm the one that hurt you. You hurt me first. Not the point right now. Zooble. He stayed silent.
"I want to offer to help you out. With my request for sex." They paused. "Shit let me rephrase that." They sighed rubbing their forehead with their claw before speaking again. "What I meant was, you've been given a distorted view, and I have experience helping people figure that stuff out. If you have questions, you can ask me okay? And until you feel comfortable with the request, you don't have to allow it, okay?”
Caine nodded. "You…have experience explaining?"
They shrugged. "I worked at a queer bar. Lots of people trying to figure stuff out, who were never taught how to safely do things, or were trying to come to terms with their existence not being evil." Caine shrunk a little at the term he had used earlier in that context. Zooble tapped the table and he glaced up. "It's not on you, you were taught a closed-minded view. I'm just doing what I can to help you feel more comfortable. And we're not doing what your developers did. You learn at your pace. When you have questions, you can ask. When you're done, we stop."
Caine sat silently for a moment. "Thank you. I'm sorry about…a lot of things. For torturing you. For not knowing about this—"
"That one's still not your fault."
"Right. I—thank you, for the offer to help. I appreciate it."
"Take your time. I'm here when you need me." They started to stand. "And, I see you're trying to do better. Don't force yourself too far though. I'll talk to the others, make sure they exercise a little more patience." They stood still for a moment. "And we should have more of these chats. You're not as annoying as I thought." They smirked slightly at the last statement.
"Well you're not as vindictive as I thought." Caine didn't fully realize what he was saying until he already had. He started to apologize but was cut off by a small laugh.
"I guess we're both learning today." They walked towards the door opening it.
"And Caine?"
"Yeah?”
"Seriously, do not pull the room thing again, especially with any of the others."