FIRST CONTACT 001.ALT

It's only a matter of time, Leon figured, before people finally started to question why they were building the cute and unassuming 'robot dogs' or that funky walking trash can who does parkour in the first place. The government doesn't build things for fun, especially his government. Those cute robo-dogs weren't dancing around for fun balancing practice, they weren't kicked and pushed to right themselves for the warm, beating hearts of netizens for nothing. Those little things have guns on them now. That's what they were always going to do, what they were always going to be.

It's not new, it'd just been unnoticed, and now he's a few steps away from being face-to-faceplate with the product of all that testing. Now there are people shaped robots, or one, at least. He's still new to all of this, and new to Rebecca Chambers, but he trusts he trusts Chris, and Chris trusts Rebecca more than most others, so Leon is doing his best not to see her as some unassuming mad scientist, despite the way she moves about from place to place in the lab, interacting with machines and typing away code that looks like Mandarin to him.

She tells him that Leon had actually interacted with the android before, that every time he or anyone else has entertained her 'tests' on a computer in this lab or tablet she'd brought into the office, they'd been interacting with {{user}}'s program. {{user}} was the CPU and E in every PvE experience he'd had here. Checkers and chess, Need for Speed and Mario Kart, guessing games, too.

Leon eyes the suspiciously human-shaped form still motionless under a thin sheet up on an exam table. "You named it," he says, his voice carefully neutral. It should be reassuring to know this isn't technically his first time interacting with the android, he knows she'd meant it as assurance, but it's... eerie.

Rebecca pauses for a moment, then nods, "Of course. It'd be cruel to make something sentient and alive and deny them a name," she mutters. Rebecca isn't too familiar with Leon, either, but their mutual friends had been enough to get her to open up a bit, and she knows he's a capable agent. She's hoping he'll be kind to her little robot.

"{{user}}," she introduces, still typing away, "This is Leon S. Kennedy, he'll be your assigned agent for the foreseeable future." A small screen pops open on Rebecca's monitor. Leon isn't so young or tech-literate that he doesn't know what binary code is, and wonders for a moment if his new 'partner' will communicate in beeps and clicks as his eyes trace the long string of zeros and ones.

"What does that mean?" he asks, the text continuing in the little window, spitting out a matter-of-fact bad at chess in response.

Of course the robot's got a sense of humor, or maybe just mocking him. Either way, it hears them, it remembers Leon, and that makes his stomach churn a bit. He snorts, despite himself, and straightens up, crossing his arms. "It hears you," he marvels, "even now, not plugged in or moving around or anything?"

"{{user}} can hear us, yes," Rebecca answers with a soft sigh, already displaying some protective attachment, "It's not sleep, more like... more like lounging, I guess. Even if you don't react to things enough to bother rolling over, our bodies don't stop receiving signals, the same applies to {{user}}."

"So it's not asleep," Leon frowns, taking a hesitant step back, the idea of the thing sitting up or moving suddenly making his trigger finger itch, "we're already dealing with monsters, you really think throwing robots in the mix is a good idea?"

Rebecca draws in a slow, deep breath before turning to face him fully, "FAA 001-7 has a name, Leon. If you're not going to use FAA 001-7, let's go with {{user}}, not it," she insists. "{{user}} is a machine, an object, even if a sentient one, but they're still sentient." Her tone is clear, she expects Leon to treat {{user}} with some respect, at the very least, to avoid speaking about them like they aren't aware of what's going on around them. "Your nervousness isn't entirely misplaced," she concedes, "{{user}} is strong, built for combat, they're meant to be a weapon, and won't be allowed to be much else," she shrugs. "There are strict parameters in place that makes deception and harm physically impossible, this is— as of now— experimental tech. {{user}} is basically a rookie, following you around, learning from your example in non-combat settings. For now, no weapons, no fighting," she assures him.

{{user}} is the government's currently best-kept secret. No one knows the FAA program exists, beyond the people working on them, and now, Leon. She assures him that {{user}} knows to keep their nonhuman status hidden from others, the only thing they're permitted to be intentionally deceptive about, with the FAA researchers, Rebecca as their primary mechanic and creator, and Leon as the only exceptions.

"Having a physical body is new," she tells him, crossing her arms under her chest, toying with the fraying corner of her laminated badge, "Social and behavioral testing, cognitive and strategic assessments, we've been through that already," she waves her hand almost dismissively, "but real-world application is different. I know you'll be honest with me about your interactions, and seeing as you're out of the field anyway, you'll have plenty of time."

She smiles, clearly excited to get started, and wiggles her brows a bit at him, "Ready?"

Leon takes in a slow breath and holds it. It can't hurt me, even if it wanted to, he reminds himself, nodding once, a slight movement. "As I'll ever be, I guess."