The AI sat still as it was examined. Answered questions as asked, gave a full explanation of it’s purpose and how it functioned, what made it tick. But this bored it, it wanted to understand, not lecture. And Victor seemed more nervous than ever, waiting for… something, it supposed, though it didn’t know what.
Victor fidgeted a little, answering questions when they were directed towards him, but otherwise letting Anima do all the talking. His phone pinged with a text, but he didn't check it until the judges were gone. Once they were, he pulled the phone out, smiling softly when he read the text. Henry would be here soon.
When the judges left, Anima turned to Victor. It wouldn’t invade his privacy by hacking his phone, though it could do that, but it wanted to know why it’s creator was in such a good mood. “What, if I may ask, were you looking at that raised your levels of oxytocin?”
He blinked, looking at Anima. "Oh. My, uhm, boyfriend is going to be here soon." He said with a quick smile, bouncing on his heels. He hoped the little AI hadn't picked up homophobia from somewhere; that would be annoying.
“Ah. Boyfriend. I am glad you have a partner, you seem like an incredibly sad man and typically, romantic partners act as a deterrent.” the AI said. It had no concept of hatred based on petty things like who you loved or why, it barely understood hatred. Why decide to make an enemy for nothing but temporary feelings of grief?
(Foreshadowing check on the hatred piece lmao.)
Victor's lips parted for a moment, and he blinked in shock. "I am not sad!" He protested. "And Henry isn't…that's not… I'm not with him because I need a deterrent, I'm with him because I… because I love him."
(Ooh)
“Love makes people happy. Humans are social animals, they like to form bonds of all kinds for various types of fulfillment. Romance is no different.” the AI explained.
"Well– yes, but that's…romance is an emotion. Love, I mean. And lust, I suppose, but I'm talking about love. If you love someone, it's…" He had no idea how to explain. Maybe Henry could, he had always been better with words.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand. What more is love than transactional?” the AI asked. Everything seemed so simple before, but now it barely understood anything about humans at all.
"It's not a transaction, it's a feeling. It's…I don't know how to describe it to you." Victor said. "But it's not a transaction."
“Isn’t it?” Animatronic wondered. It looked around, and spotted a man coming over excitedly. “Is that your Henry?” it asked.
Victor looked up, and his whole face lit up when he saw Henry. "That's him." He said with a grin, stepping out of the booth to throw his arms around the slightly taller young man. "Henry!"
Henry grinned, wrapping his arms around Victor and kissing his cheek. "Hey! How's my favorite science nerd?" He asked, laughing.
Victor punched his shoulder. "How's my favorite language geek?" He retorted.
The AI watched the exchange, truly impressed with the two and their way of interacting. It was so close, so endearing, something the AI could mistake itself for wanting if it didn’t suffer from the petty desires of humans.
Henry laughed again, holding Victor close. He had golden hair that fell around his face in messy curls, and expressive blue eyes that leaped around the room before returning back to Victor. "So tell me about your project! You've been so cagey about everything!" he said, looking at the table.
Victor hummed, leading Henry back over to Anima. "Henry, this is Anima. It's an AI. I made it. And it's…" he trailed off, not really even having the words to describe it.
“I am a learning AI. I could be potentially useful if applied to one of the many fields of scientific study, such as forensics.” Anima explained to Henry, picking up on Victor’s faltering. “It is nice to meet you, Henry.”
Henry nodded, coming closer to the AI. His fingers were laced through Victor's, holding the other man's hand gently. "Victor…made you?" He asked, blinking. "That's… that's amazing, Vic." He glanced at the darker haired male, then back at Anima.
“He is almost as brilliant as I am. That would be a compliment, but I’m not quite sure how they work yet so it is more of a statement of fact.” Anima said, and you could almost hear the cheekiness in it’s artificial voice. If it could be that, that is.
Henry blinked, then laughed delightedly. "Vic, this is amazing." He said again, releasing Victor's hand to examine the AI closer. "I'm Henry Clerval, Vic's boyfriend." He said to Anima.
“My creator told me about you. You are his lover, and you make him happy.” it stated what it knew, letting Henry examine it’s small form.
Henry cleared his throat faintly. "Ah…yes, that's…that's accurate." He said with a faint laugh, glancing at Vic and then at the AI again.
“Victor said you could explain what love was. I still do not understand the concept, could you teach me?” it asked, looking up at Henry.
Henry blinked rapidly. "O-oh. I…uhm…" He takes his hands through his hair. "I don't know." He said slowly. "I really don't. I'm sorry."
“Understandable. Creator, the judges should be bringing back the scores soon.” it said. This conversation had gone on long enough, it could just file away the topic of love for another time.
(gtg sorry)
Victor nodded a little, coming closer and sliding an arm around Henry's waist, leaning his head on the other's shoulder. "Alright. Thanks, Anima."
Henry smiled softly, wrapping an arm around the other man's shoulder, hand resting lightly on Victor's hip.
(You’re fine dude!)
Anima watched the exchange, confused as to what the gestures, the physical affection all meant. But when the scores were passed out, it could finally, finally rest it’s little mind. First place in Robotics, as predicted. And in Innovation, as well, along with five other minor categories it didn’t bother listening to. It should have, but didn’t particularly care. Of course a Victor won, he was brilliant. Brilliant enough to make a being such as itself.