Arrival

[originalcopy]

[Church is looking around the Foyer wondering where in a dilapidated old base they had been hiding a poshly decorated castle entryway. Had he gone through a teleporter and not noticed? Those things weren't exactly comfortable.]

The hell? Did they let Doughnut decorate?

I swear to God if those idiots have dragged me into another Goddamn mess I'll fuckin' kill them all!

[Facing the choice of exiting into unknown territory and moving further into the structure he decides the best odds for finding out where he is are inside. Still, there was no reason to be stupid about it. He draws his pistol and carefully enters the lobby.]

Well.... shit....

[A giant lobby filled with plush furniture and what look like civilians was almost exactly opposite of what he was expecting.]

Comments

[originalcopy]

In the sense that I took a cannon to the face and stopped living. What other sense is there?

Schematics? Sorry, I didn't come with a users manual or anything. I can tell you what I looked like if that helps.

[inharperwetrust]

Huh. Interesting.

[He could be an AI, but Harper needs more proof...]

And not a problem, I can study the current skeleton, work out which parts do and don't work. It'll be a peice of cake.

[originalcopy]

So, wait.. you'd have to take this body apart?

[inharperwetrust]

Some minor disassembly may be required to stick the new parts on, yeah.

It'd be a whole lot easier.

[originalcopy]

Minor disassembly... New parts?
You mean you can't just build a whole new body?

What am I supposed to do in the meantime?

[inharperwetrust]

Relax. I'll take the scans, make some blueprints, get the parts then call you back in for the fitting.

Actually building up the skeleton will probably take an hour or two.

[originalcopy]

I don't know... what if I want to keep this one. You know, as a spare.

[not to mention he's just a tad used to thinking of this body as "him"]

[inharperwetrust]

It'll take a lot longer, because I'll have to design it from scratch. I have the blueprints for High Guard avatars, but it'll be impossible to get the materials I'll need.

[originalcopy]

....crap....

How much longer are we talking?

I mean, it only took Sarge a couple of days to build this one... and he's kind of an idiot.

[inharperwetrust]

Well, he probably had parts handy and workspace, and cash.

Honestly, I don't know.

[originalcopy]

Parts and workspace anyway. Although, I think he manufactured some of the parts. He'd already built Lopez, so he had experience too.

[inharperwetrust]

And I built Rommie and an avatar for the Balance of Judgement's AI. Now he was one psycho program.

[A pause.]

To build an gyroid skeleton takes a while without resources. There's loads of stuff you need to make sure of.

I can do it, of course. But this place is no Maintenance Drift.

[originalcopy]

A maintenance-what-now?

Obviously, I'd help you... even if it's just to look for the things you'd need.

[inharperwetrust]

Oh. Drifts are space-stations. That's why we call them drifts.

I need to get a list, find alternatives... it might take a while. Give me a few weeks, I'll let you know.

[originalcopy]

Do what you have to do.

... hey uh... thanks for looking into it.

[inharperwetrust]

If I'm honest, I was getting kinda bored.