Chapter 10: Greenill Section ID Day?

[nanocerancowboy]

[ACTION - A (BACKDATED TO MARCH 17, Anywhere in Mayfield, Morning to Evening, OPEN TO ALL)]

[See that six-foot android covered head to toe in some sort of armor, going about his business?]

[He's not wearing green. At all.]

[Try to pinch him. Go on, try it.]

[ACTION - B (BACKDATED TO MARCH 17, John Doe Park, Afternoon, OPEN TO ALL)]

[That same android now seems to have a couple of drones following him, even hanging on to him, desperately trying to pinch him—on the hard, armored parts of his body. Suffice to say, they're not having much luck—and the android looks a little annoyed as he tries to brush some of the drones off of him.]

What in th' hell are ya'll on about?

[ACTION - C (BACKDATED TO MARCH 17, Olney's Tavern, Evening, OPEN TO ALL)]

[Gat's noticed the sizable amount of patrons heading toward the tavern, both droned and undroned alike. Curious, he's come to the tavern himself, though judging from the way he carries himself and rubs the back of his helmeted head as he scans the tavern in a manner not unlike the Terminator, he's a little perplexed.]

Comments

Indeed! One might even say they were ... *sunglasses* Eggheads!

[nanocerancowboy]

[He might have caught Lancer throwing a fit at The Riddler while watching Dakki get a mug for him.]

Much obliged, Dakki.

[He'll pick up the mug to examine the beer thoughtfully—sure, Gurhal and Coral had foodstuffs of many different unnatural colors, but still, he can admire the deep emerald color of the beer, right?]

[Then he'll give it a taste. Even though he has no visible mouth with that faceplate on, he seems capable of drinking just fine. The wonders of CAST technology.]

... Ain't too bad!

YEAAAAAAAH okay I'm done

[photonicfighter]

[I had always figured that he needed a straw Dakki settles back into her seat and slides her own drink closer.]

Not bad at all. Although they had some incredible stuff back at the... October party. Before Halloween. I think someone named "Medic" threw it? It was pretty wild.

[nanocerancowboy]

Yeah?

[Though before Gat can ask Dakki what they served back then, he pauses for a beat out of realization. Someone going by the name of "Medic." That sounded awfully like ...]

This Medic fella didn't mention workin' for somethin' called RED or BLU, did he?

[photonicfighter]

Yeah! ...though... some of that was Thor's. Thor had good drinks.

[She smiles a bit wistfully, and sighs into her beer, before having another swig.]

...eh? [Wait, wait, there was a question asked.] I... Hm. I might have heard something like that. RED and BLU got brought up a few times that night.

[nanocerancowboy]

[Gat ribs his chin with a finger, thoughtfully.]

I've met a few folks who've said they work for one of them companies.

[photonicfighter]

Oh! So Medic has some of his co-workers here, then! Or at least people from his world, it sounds like. That's nice!

...right?

[nanocerancowboy]

I'd say that depends on which one of 'em he works for. Th' two I met worked for that RED company, an' as one of 'em explained to me, both companies got their own private war goin' on.

[photonicfighter]

Ohhhh....

[This was being noted, and considered, and tucked away for later reference. It might help avoid some social errors at some point in the future.]

I'll have to keep an eye out for them, I suppose. Who were the ones from RED that you met?

[nanocerancowboy]

Never told me their real names. Apparently most of th' mercenaries there go by their assigned roles. Th' two I met called themselves "Scout" an' "Engineer." Or Engie, really.

Y'might recall Engie, actually. He was th' one who built that heater for us back when th' town was forcin' us all to "go lean" on resources.

[photonicfighter]

Oh, that's "Engie!" I remember you mentioning him back during the cold snap. I'll have to keep an eye out for him, and thank him myself. That was a very generous thing for him to do.

A bit funny that they're going by assigned names. Hm. Might just be habit...

[nanocerancowboy]

Might jus' be a company thing, havin' people go by their roles. I don't reckon it'd matter much here, 'cept th' Scout mentioned meetin' some of th' ones workin' for BLU showin' up 'round these parts as well.

I ain't met any of them, though.

[photonicfighter]

Maybe they feel like they're still on the job, so they have to keep it up?

[She lifts her glass and seems about to drain the rest of her drink, but a realization hits her and she stops.] ...Oh! Oh, I met someone interesting, and... I might've worked something interesting out with him. Possibly. Haven't you been worried about what we'd do if either of us need repairs?

[nanocerancowboy]

I reckon so.

[When Dakki brings up the question about repairs, Gat another drink of his green beer as he listens. After that—]

—Repairs? ... To tell th' truth, I ain't thought of that much. Figured you still had some of them restoratives th' town sent you, an' that's usually enough for th' kind of injuries we've usually faced, but ...

[But that didn't matter when Doc Johnson was having her fun. It's what he's intending to say, but he doesn't say it.]

[photonicfighter]

I still have them. Haven't had to use any of them, yet. Anything that's happened to me wasn't really something that a Trimate could cure... [She frowns and averts her eyes. Chen probably explained the guns-for-hands-and-posession thing. She had never really wanted to mention it.]

His name is Tarvek Sturmvoraus. He's some sort of... super-powered scientist. He's very curious about how I work. [Her lips pressed into a thin line.] When he looks at me... I don't think I like how he looks at me. But if he learns, then we'll have someone who can fix anything really complicated or awful.

[nanocerancowboy]

[Yeah, they're both thinking back to that whole mess. Gat nods in understanding. He waits to respond until she mentions the whole deal with Tarvek, though.]

So ... he ain't really seein' you as a person, but a suite of technology he ain't figured out yet.

[Gat doesn't sound all too enthused by that, though he continues after a beet.]

You're thinkin' about lettin' him do some in-depth study of your systems?

[photonicfighter]

He keeps saying he respects me as a person. He just seems to have a... condition or compulsion or something. He calls himself a "spark". It makes him very good at science but very... reckless, I think.

[She nods a few times, now draining the rest of her beer.]

...ahh. Yes. I plan on having Quinn there, too. Between the both of them, they can at least try to reverse engineer the commands and equipment needed to put us safely into maintenance mode.

I'd like you to come along, too. Just... to supervise. In case.

[nanocerancowboy]

Quinn! Y'know, back when I got my CAST body back I'd been told about 'em by a Miss Pauling. I ain't had a chance to meet that fella yet ...

[For a beat, he thinks back to his encounter with Miss Pauling. He hasn't heard from her, or from that Scout, in a while. Come to think of it, he hasn't heard from Engie ever since December either ...]

I'll definitely come with ya. Is that Quinn fella more respectin' of your personhood?

[photonicfighter]

Oh! Quinn's really nice! You'll get to meet him, then. We're friends, I'd like to think. And Quinn is absolutely very respectful of my personhood.

Tarvek's... girlfriend is also going to be there, and I think she's willing to hit him with something heavy if he starts trying to reverse the orbits of my arms or something...

[nanocerancowboy]

[Gat nods approvingly after hearing of all that.]

Alright. Sounds like there'll be enough sensible eyes on that man to keep 'em from doin' anythin' he shouldn't.

Strange thing, though, havin' a condition like that. Does it have a trigger where he'll start gettin' reckless with what he's doin', or is it a constant thing with him?

[photonicfighter]

That's why I've even agreed to it in the first place. He seems to want to be reasonable, even if he sometimes can't be. Mm, I've seen him start to get wound up... He needs to get his imagination going. He needs to see a chance to... start to investigate and experiment. I think.

[nanocerancowboy]

[Listening as he takes another sip of the beer.]

So it'll be triggered by inspiration? Huh.

[He takes a moment to consider this.]

Well, I reckon if he does lose his marbles while examinin' you, Quinn could keep 'em from damagin' your systems while I restrain Tarvek.

[photonicfighter]

Mm. Sounds like a plan. Ilsa's tough, but not anywhere near as strong as you.

[Planning battle strategy. There we go!]

[nanocerancowboy]

[Gat considers for a moment.]

You've spoken with Quinn before—th' woman who told me about 'em said he might have th' ability to replicate things we've yet to get sent to us. How does he manage that?

[photonicfighter]

Replicate things? [She looks a little uncertain about that. Her head tilts.] I didn't know he could do that. He's just a technopath, as far as I can tell. He has lots of tech from when he's from, and he can talk to and interface with machines...

[nanocerancowboy]

[... Huh. Talking to machines? Gat scratches the side of his helmeted head.]

I reckon y'mean in a way other than with th' means provided. Is it somethin' like workin' with them combat support machines?

[Not the best analogy ... since they're meant to be used purely though mental commands.]