#baronyofthesilverwolf

"We could..." She frowns, shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry."

The nocker looks down at her sketchbook, and all her scribbled notes on the glyphs.

"I just meant if you want a backup option. I don't think we'll need it, but Gwen might have a coronary if we don't have a parachute plan. I agree that it would be a travesty to hide or destroy this art."

The glyphs she has drawn practically seem to pulse and glow in her vision, but perhaps that's just the light reflecting off the page.

"A minor coronary. I've gotten better"

"I just..."

"Tell us. We're your friends. You can tell us anything."

"I know you believe in me." A very small voice.

"...but that doesn't mean you're not still scared... that you might fail?" Art ventures?

She nods, looking down at her hands.

"Thistle... look at me. I'm a walking botch some days. I mean, I just fell in the lake!"

He continues, serious again, "...but you still believe in me. Not that I'll always get it right, or always succeed. But you know I'll always try my best. And I have faith to try... because I know that when I fail, I have both of you to back me up."

"But if I fuck this up, it's not just a bad grade. People could get hurt. They could die."

"And if we don't try, people could get hurt. And if we never found our way here, people could have gotten hurt. There's always a chance. But the Dreaming gave me a vision, which means we're supposed to try. That's all we can do, right?"

"When the hell did you get all sage an' shit, Art?"

"And if anyone of us falls, or fails, the other helps for Clean up. That's how we roll"

"I think it comes with the house. I just have to be foolish on my own the rest of the time to make up for it."

"In... in theory, I could carve glyph coding into a ceramic heart."

"With that Asimov code, and the Code of Dagda? That's not too much is it? I would include the Escheat, biut thinking... it's not a fae, so that might not make sense to it. But Dagda's code seems to work for anyone strong and honorable."

"At least, I think so, from what I remember."

A little sheepish, "We covered that in my lessons, but it was a while back. But I DO remember being told that it's not just for trolls, but anyone who claims to follow it, by association, is held to it's standards."

""I think we'd need our own code. The Asimov includes obedience, and I think that's ripe for exploitation, especially if, say, it does gain will."

"Ohhhhhh." he nods. "I've got paper!!"

"Gwen, can you give me the outline of the code to start with? I remember it said that you can't abuse strength, that was the main bit I was thinking of."

"The clay is gonna need high vitrification - small, fine grain, probably a low and slow fire. A lot of the harder wares are gonna be too brittle, we want durability...."

"Oddly, a soft heart is stronger?"

"That makes sense, in a romantic way." He gives her a little smile.

"Protect the Dreaming, Respect those of a higher station, NEver abuse your strenght" SHe ponders "Might want to tweak that second"

"Respect is important. Respect doesn't mean instant obedience."

"Yeah, we don't want some high-handed Lord coming by and ordering it around, ruining everything we're trying to do here."

"Give respect where it is due? That's... not a bad idea for anyone, really."

"Maybe respect Kithain? That is, all changelings?"

"A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law." Tapping her pencil to her chin. "If we change "human being" to "changeling"...."

"And... just strike the second. I've read those books. The laws fail."

"Maybe give it choice. A Sentinel SHOULD not injure anyone, or my inaction, allow anyone to come to harm.... "

"It's like a child that has never been told how it should behave."

"I shouldn't swear..."

"Citrine turned out alright litening to you."

Citrine chimes eagerly, "$%^&!"

"Let's not strain ourselves needlessly" Dryly

"Citrine! Where did you learn that word!?"

"You got the inflection just furkin' so!" A sharp grin.

Art laughs, almost falling back into the water as he doubles over.

"$%^&!" She snags Art by the collar.

He leans back, tossing an arm around her shoulder. “See, that’s what I mean!”

"I will try. But we have to be prepared for an alternative."

“Gwen, any ideas?”

"Can we put a fail safe off switch? Something that ...turns it off if we need it? Or maybe blinds it?"

“What powers it?”

"That's... huh." She squints at the Sentinel.

"Good point. Maybe a g eas or something" mmmph

"The Prague Golem had an off switch. That's how they stopped it."