Nyx's eyes landed on Jude at the sound of his voice, and his left hand moved, unplugging a wire from behind his head, and sitting up, studying Jude with those strange blue eyes. He wanted to ask what was happening, but he couldn't. Not without being told he could speak. He was, essentially, a living doll, unable to move or speak or do anything without permission and orders.
Jude grabbed a nearby chair, not taking his eyes off the cyborg, and dragged it with shaking hands towards it or…him. He sat on the chair backwards, resting his folded arms on the edge of it while his eyes studied the entity before him.
Jude cleared his throat, "Uh, launch cybernetic feedback?" He said out loud, not knowing if it would work and if they'd gotten as far as communication. "Optimize movement capacitor."
Nyx's eyebrows drew together. These weren't his normal commands…they were slightly different, but they did the job. "What day is it?" he blurted, still watching Jude. His raven black hair was messy, sticking up all over his head in tufts. His left eye, with that strange blue line, almost seemed to glow. His arms were by his sides, and his entire body was unnaturally still, save for his chest rising and falling with breathing.
At this moment, Jude was rendered beyond speechlessness. The sight of this being; some parts human, and some parts the creation of humans: his eyes near harboured tears of joy.
"You can..speak." He laughed nervously, still fascinated with its human-like behaviour.
"Um- i-it's Thursday, the 28th."
Nyx nodded a little, his eyes flickering. "Of what year?" he asked, cocking his head slightly. His eyes were still studying Jude, though he didn't know anything about what was happening. He didn't know anything at all. He couldn't remember anything; all of his files and memories were locked behind a password encoded firewall that he couldn't get through.
A harrowing thought passed through Jude's mind; What if he's been inactive for years? That would mean that this revolutionary advance in technology might have been hidden for God knows how long.
"..19, it's 2019."
Nyx nodded again. "Oh." Then it had been nearly a year since he was last aware of what was happening around him. He continued to watch Jude, waiting for his next order. Waiting to be told what to do. His throat closed up as he wondered what he would be asked to do. If he would be…he took in a deep breath.
Jude laughed "You seem..unreal." The skin-toned carbon fibre that shielded wires underneath was textured to look like skin, and his face; the most symmetrical and almost..sculpted features amazed him.
"Could you give me a summary of any encrypted documents with keyword 'production' or…as far back as you can manage? Please?"
Nyx blinked, and rummaged through the scant few memories he had, then shook his head. "I have no access to anything. You will have to ask my superiors." he replied, blue eyes still focused on Jude. "My memories are…nearly non-existent." He knew that his memories had been either completely wiped or hidden behind the firewall. That was the only reason he wouldn't be able to access them.
"I see." Jude nodded, wondering if he could find a way to ask his father to clear him for access, without about the whole confrontation of his fathers 'secret' project. Based on the condition the lab was in, it didn't seem like people had been working in there recently, at least to Jude, so it was most likely abandoned. But…with Jude's newfound interest, this could be the job position his father had been aching for him to have.
"I'll try to get access to that, but for now, do you have a name? Or a project name I could use to reference?" Jude smiled. "I'm Jude, by the way," He said and stuck out his hand.
(i gtg eat dinner and ill try to get on when i can after :)
"Nyx." Nyx replied carefully, eyes flicking to Jude's hand for a long moment, before he hesitantly shook Jude's hand. He swallowed, and then dropped his hand again. "Project name was CCX-18." that was about all he could remember of the project. Of anything, really. Well. That was a lie. He could remember the times he had been told that he wasn't really a person. That he didn't have a soul, that he would never be anything but an experiment.
(okay!)
The cold touch of silicon that gripped Jude's hand gave him chills, the clutch of something so artificial, yet controlled by the essence of a conscious being was a wonderful experience.
"It's nice to meet you, Nyx." He said, leaning his chin on his forearms resting on the chair, and rolling his head to see the striking appearance of the cyborg.
"I gotta say," Jude laughed, "You are the most beautiful thing I have ever encountered. If you don't mind me saying."
Nyx blinked once, twice, still watching Jude. "Thank…you?" he said slowly, eyes flicking over Jude and taking in his appearance. He hadn't seen a person dressed like this…ever. He cocked his head a little, and glanced down at himself. "Although I fail to see how I am. I am approximately 64% cybernetic. Most people don't find that at all…beautiful." his face looked mildly confused.
Jude smiled sympathetically, "Well, you know what they say; 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder.'" He shrugged.
"Most people don't find ex-junkie, trust-fund babies all that beautiful either, but here we are." He said, jokingly.
"But you're one of a kind; there isn't anyone that could ever compare to your figure. You are very beautiful."
Nyx blinked slowly, still watching Jude. So he says I am beautiful because I have had all choice stolen from me. he thought, bitter. Why he was bitter, he wasn't even sure. He shrugged slightly. "Oh."
"So, Nyx," He began, and glanced at his watch, "I have about twenty-five minutes until my father expects me to meet him in his office, why don't you tell me a little about yourself, If you like?"
"There isn't much to tell." Nyx replied carefully. "I can't remember anything anyways." he looked down at his hands, fingers flexing for a moment, then looked at Jude again. "So I don't know what you expect me to be able to tell you." he swallowed reflexively.
"You've got a point, but why don't you tell me about what you're feeling now? Like your perception of this room, me, your emotions… I don't know." Jude sighed. "There's a whole world full of material things you haven't experienced, but deserve to, so…I dunno, what do you think about it so far?"
Nyx folded his hands together. "You want the truth? i think it's bullshit, but it doesn't matter." he looked away, eyes flicking up to the roof. He had never seen the sun except through a window. Had never been outside. Didn't know what grass felt like, though he knew what it looked like. Hell, he had only seen a dog once, when a dog had been brought in so he could see what it looked like.
"It does matter." Jude snapped. He was surprised at his own hostility, "It matters because I thought the same thing too, but now I've realized that life is a gift, and that there are terrible things here but we still deserve to be happy." Jude sighed deeply and collected himself, now speaking in a calmer tone. "But why do you think it's bullshit?"
"Because I am stuck here." Nyx snapped in return. "You get to leave if you want to. You get to…to do things and actually experience the world. I haven't left this room in…ever, that I can remember." he glanced around. On the lower walls were faint, washed-out markings that looked like the crayon scribblings of a small child. His eyes lingered on those for a moment, then went back to Jude. "I don't ever get to be anything but another experiment for the scientists to do whatever they want to do to."
Jude looked down at the shiny and white-tiled floor that reminded him of the hospital. He thought he could relate to Nyx's pain, about the way they both felt helpless and hopeless. "I understand how you'd feel that way. And it's not your fault– that you haven't lived life the way you deserve to." He chewed his bottom lip nervously, "This– what they've done to you, is wrong." Jude dragged his tired gaze up to Nyx's and offered him a sympathetic smile.
"But I'm going to change things for you."
Nyx shook his head a little bit. "You aren't the first one that claimed they could change it. So no, you aren't going to. Because keeping the project safe is more important than its mental health." his lip curled in a faint sneer, then it vanished as he shook his head again.