Dec 30 07:49:54 108 PA - Creeping Behind Buildings

From Chronicles

Dec 30 07:49:54 108 PA.

LANDING STRIP

It's a nice time in the morning to be out and about, stomping through four-foot snowdrifts. The skies are clear and for once the winds aren't so bad. One person enjoying the snow is Pavel, walking east along the northern boundary where many of the mechanic's shops are kept. He has a huge hammer over one shoulder, and a very large bag over the other. As he walks along, he hums off-key to himself. The strip is actually in a bit of trouble at the moment. An incoming fixed-wing aircraft slipped after one of its main gear collapsed, leaving a long scar along the runway. It'll be a little while before the mess is cleared.

Alex hovers over the four foot snowbanks, must be nice. But the well-built smith has probably already noticed the well-built machine as it seems to be working away behind one of the said shops. There it looks to be going through discarded scraps until it finds a suitable piece and carries it over to a well in the snow where the machine seems to be working on something.

Pavel does stop at a spot between two buildings, just to look. He continues humming, but glances east now and then, perhaps trying to decide whether to inspect the odd machine that he's met once, or to continue on with his own business. In the end, curiosity wins out, and he tromps through the snow toward the back. As both hands are full, he ends up using his big sledge as a waving implement. "Allo!"

"Hello Pavel." Alex greets in return, the torso rotating on the disc below to return the wave and face the smith. Underneath the disc is a process probably all too familiar to Pavel. The machine has taken the collected scrap and placed it in a hole in the dirt. And now the plasma torch that hangs down among the many other tools is blasting that scrap, melting it down to recompose it into useful material.

The large man smirks at little at the process, but in a happy manner. "Ahleyx ees mehk byettehr mehtahls? Fohr syell fohr byettehr praheece? Ohr ees fohr feex sehlf?" Pavel walks right up and bonk-bonks the saucer section with a free hand - his hammer and satchel now gripped in the same one. "Has fovnd johb? Szees good, da?"

The hovering robot shrugs, not sure looking sure if it can classify the metal as better. But with the query Alex reaches an arm over to a section of its disc portion and opens a compartment to pull out its last project, a fully functional torque wrench. The robot hands the tool to Pavel for inspection. It's not spectacular craftsmanship, but definitely good enough for the job. Above average for sure. "Hard to get a job without tools. So I'm fixing myself up a set." he explains, holding up another, a screwdriver with exchangeable bits.

"Oh. Da, tools. Mehchahneecal tools, noht fohr Pavel. I seemple." He nods, adding, "Cahn yoose, cahn feex veet tools, da. Boot noht vhaht I laheek to do byest. Szees mehk sense to Ahleyx?" He drops his bag and hammer where he stands - where they impact solidly enough to make a sound. Then he takes a few steps around the saucer, looking between tools and plasma torch. "Vye ees heet mehtal? Cahn Pavel see screvdraheevehr? Eef hoort, veel hyelp mehk nev?" He holds out a very large hand. Not expecting, just asking.

"Hurt? I'm not hurt. I'm in perfect condition actually. Brand new right out of the box. Even got that new car smell can't you tell?" Alex remarks as it freely exchanges the screwdriver for the wrench. "And no small wonder I am really. I've got millions of tiny little robot that fix me automatically. Won't last forever of course. But probably the duration of the warranty under normal parameters of operation." The machines explains, meanwhile the scrap underneath is now a melted puddle of metal, starting to cool.

"Ooooh," Pavel allows as the tools are exchanged. "Rhobohts. Vyery special. Tahenee rhobohts, mohr special, Pavel szeenk, da?" He gets his face close to the saucer and peers at it, attempting to find the millions of little tiny robots. Apparently not finding anything quickly, he leans back and holds the new tool before his eyes - bending it out of alignment with apparently no effort. "Oh. Eesy mehtals." One pull leaves the tool at least as straight as it started with. Maybe a tad bit longer. "Yohr tools, ees noht fohr need szaht be mohr strohng? Or, Pavel szeenk mehbe szees ees prohbahbly nohrmal. I mehke szeengs, mohst szeengs, szat ahr nohrmal. Ees good." He does point at the cooling slag. "Hov do you vohrk eet?"

Alex would wince at the bending of the screwdriver if it could. Lacking that it impatiently holds out its hand to take back possession of the fragile tool. "Of course it's not military density compound, it's only a screwdriver you know. And all the shops around town want money for that grade of scrap. Which I don't have any of right now." The robot explains as the tools underneath rotate. Next up is a very powerful air blaster. There's little doubt that if pointed at a person it would have a good chance of blowing them over. Luckily it's pointed at the puddle, rapidly cooling it with the cold winter air. "Once it's cool I just cut up into what I need."

"Ya eezveenyahyus. Deed noht vhant to hort, ohnly look. Ees ohkey, no hoort. Ahleyx ees booyeeng scrahp mehtals? Noht veet mahny mohny, da?" Pavel squats to look at the metal process. "Yoo mehk mehtahls vyery strehnge. Eef vhant fohr hav mehtal ees strohngehr? Ah... 'mee-lee-tahree dehnseety' mehtal? Cahn booy mehtal, geev to Pavel. I mehk nohrmahl mehtals strohnger for yoo."

Alex looks very interested with that development. "You have a composite forge? And you'd forge military density compounds for me? For free? because I don't have any money, none. This scrap is considered complete junk by the shops, worthless. So I can take what I want for free. But if you have a forge that can synchronize the elements to eliminate the inherent flaws of natural metals well that would be awesome. I was hired to make a girl a walking stick with that sort of metal. Told her a thousand credits if I just salvaged the materials. That was before I found out I'd have to pay for anything military grade I salvaged, making the project unprofitable."

Pavel stands and listens. He's no fool, far from it. But there was one sentence in there that he guesses at. "Da?" He shrugs. "Noht eempohrtahnt fohrge. Ees vhaht Pavel do, Pavel cahn mehk fohr strohngehr, da. Fohr free. Szees ees vyery seempohl szeeng Pavel do. Mehbe yoo cahn ahsk fohr mohr mohney? Noht to cheet, boot ohffohr behtter prohdooct?"

"Well she isn't a rich client. By the rag of a cloak on her shoulders a thousand credits is a large amount of her savings. So I give a simple walking stick with a similar density rating to most gun barrels ought to be plenty, was going to find a suitable pole and then get back in touch with her for some basic customization. That aside, if the client has money I can offer a supremely better product. Could integrate a power source or a weapon system, could integrate several. But those options are expensive." Alex explains with a shrug. The puddle now cooled and solid the disc rotates again and the vibro-pick skewers the hunk of metal. It then holds it up as a detailed cluster of three laser tools start cutting away excess material.

"Oh? Vohmahn veet nehm 'Aya'?" Pavel watches as the robot being fusses unnecessarily over the material.

Jaxain finally peeks his head around the corner, getting bored of waiting for the curious smith. He raises a hand in greeting to the strange floating creature, a friendly smile on his lips. He is wearing armor, as is his custom of late, but has his helmet hanging on his side. "Greetings." he says simply. He heard most of the conversation, but didn't find anything in it to really interest him. Still, waiting in the street is even worse. "Wow, that's pretty nice of you Pavel."

"That’s really nice of him. If Pavel needs any mechanic work done he need look no further, I will take care of it for him." Alex agrees and vows with a slight bow to gesture the debt the machine has been given. "And yes, her name is Aya, seems like a nice enough girl."

"Aya, da. Qviet vohmahn. Tehk vhat Pavel seh veet vyery.. ah.. ehxahct vhaht vohrd ees, noht vhat ees vohrt fohr seh." Pavel looks to Jaxain and back to Alex. "Szees mehk syense? Or Pavel need try ehxplain mohr?"

Jaxain nods, being rather used to Pavel's heavily accented English by now. "Yeah, she resides in a literal world. Probably has had limited experience with other people, or some such. Quite the looker, though!" He blushes very very slightly, grinning to cover it. "Mechanic work, oh, so you met Tek? He's hardcore into the tech-stuff too."

"Of course I've met Tek. We were in the park talking the other day. And you were there Jax." Alex replies with a slight shake of its head. Sharp memory, just as you'd expect from a robot. "He creeps me out a little bit though. Every time I see him he seems to look at me like he wants to take me apart and see how I work. That makes me uneasy, it'd be in clear violation of my warranty agreement."

Pavel shrugs and asks a basic yet honest question. "Vhat ees eh vahrrahnty?"

Jaxain nods his head, having indeed forgotten, "Right, he was in the park with no armor." He smirks slightly "He's a good guy, but that raises a question. Who holds your warranty agreement?" Looking at Pavel, he cocks his head to the side. "Something to do with fixing merchandise if it gets broken because of defect. I wish weapons manufacturers had them, cuz sometimes it seems these damn guns blow up every few hundred shots."

Alex nods to confirm Jax's answer. "They aren’t very common outside of big cities like Chi-town, and you won't find one on any 'field' equipment. But a personal computer for use at home usually comes with a one year warranty that says if you don’t tamper with it and take good care of it it will work great." The machine explains. Meanwhile underneath a shell of another sized torque wrench has taken shape from the former hunk of metal. Still a bit rough the robot switches back to the plasma torch for a blast of heat that softens the metal and makes for easy smoothing. Followed by a quick cooling in the snow and the casing is tempered well.

Alex nods to confirm Jax's answer. "They aren’t very common outside of big cities like Chi-town, and you won't find one on any 'field' equipment. But a personal computer for use at home usually comes with a one year warranty that says if you don’t tamper with it and take good care of it it will work great." The machine explains. Meanwhile underneath a shell of another sized torque wrench has taken shape from the former hunk of metal. Still a bit rough the robot switches back to the plasma torch for a blast of heat that softens the metal and makes for easy smoothing. Followed by a quick cooling in the snow and the casing is tempered well. "I dunno, some alien bastard on the other side of the galaxy. I hope he kept his receipt."

Pavel lifts a finger to point at Alex. "Vhehn yoo, me meet, yoo seh szat ees Coahleeshon vas fohr taheek yoo een peeces. Look to see vhat Ahlehx ees. Boot Ahlehx been poot tohgeszehr veet oszer pahrt," he points at the saucer, "so Ahlehx, ohr bahstahrd een gahlyexy... ees prohdoct, or ees pehrsohn? Ohr ees bosz?"

Jaxain raises an eyebrow, things turning interesting. "Oh, wow, really? So what happened, you were bought, then brought here and things went wrong."

"Both." Alex confirms, cutting the tempered shell down the middle and hollowing it out as it continues to explain. "Alex was a person. A CS engineer actually stationed at the Devil's Gate Research Installation. As the top robotics engineer there he got first crack at any alien tech that showed up there. One day a giant disc on a pedestal showed up. When Alex tried to figure it out Alex's consciousness got sucked into the machine. So Alex was a person, and is now part of a product. Alex was the finishing touch, the key ingredient, a crucial component. If Alex is supposed to feel honored for the opportunity.."

Pavel's head leans sideways, and his eyebrow perks. "Yoo, vho seh ees Ahlehx, tahlk laheek Ahlehx ees noh heer. Vhaht ees prohdooct? Eef Ahlehx vhas ohnly peece, szen Ahlehx ees noh mohr ehxeest?" Philosophy isn't Pavel's primary version of entertainment, but he's a bright guy. "So eef Ahlehx ees prohdooct... vhaht *EES* Ahlehx?"

Jaxain raises an eyebrow, "Oh wow, so you are the engineer?" Jax approaches, seeming less apprehensive of the 'robot' than he was only second before. "That's kinda cool, I guess." He pokes the hard shell gently, as though testing it. "So, like, do you identify mostly as a human, or a robot, or a mix?"

"I’m a freakin toaster oven! What the hell does it look like?!" Alex answers in a loud boom of clear displeasure, his tools and body language looking momentarily aggressive to the offending question. "Alex is dead. No friends or family consider Alex alive. Alex can't go home, as the people Alex used to live with won't accept it."

"Pavel cahnnoht go hohm. Friyends ahnd fahmeely prohbahbly sszeenk noht ahlaheeve. Ahlaheeve ees vhaht pehrsohn szeenk, noht vhaht oszer szeenk. Ahlehx heer. Ahlhex vohrkeeng fohr hyelp voomahn Aya." Pavel does take careful steps back to where his things are, but offers, "Szees ahl meahn szaht Ahlehx ees alaheeve. Eef hav poorphse? Beeing ees ahlaheeve. Da." He gives a solid nod of his to punctuate his statement.

Jaxain can't help but let out a laugh at the first statement, smiling and raising a hand. "My family is far and gone from me as well, but I can see why this would cause you pain. You come from a place where difference is not tolerated, where people like me or my friend here would be hunted and killed." He is silent for a moment. "It must be hard to be rejected by your own people." He looks at Pavel, "However misguided they are in their rejection."

Alex crosses its arms and shakes its head at Pavel. "I don’t have a purpose, aside from the fact I'd like to continue existing, but even that’s fleeting of late. I can't seem to find anything worth existing for. And while you both are very far from home and cannot go back. You both are you. You both see in the same manner you saw when you were at home. You feel, hear, taste, smell all in the same fashion. I don’t even have that. Every part of my being has been violated to suite this machine I now reside."

"Da, ees troo. Boot Ahlehx cahnnoht mehk deefehryent, da? Ahlehx cahnnoht chehnge vhaht he ees, da?" Pavel lifts up his hammer and points it at the sky. "Svarog seh to me, 'Pavel, yoo be blahksmeesz.' So Pavel go fohr me blahksmeesz. Vahs noh fohr qvesthon, Svarog deed noh geev fohr leht Pavel choose. So?" He shrugs. "Ahlehx deeferyent, boot seemelahr. Ees een Keengsehle nov. Knovs Pavel, leetyel. Knovs Jaxain, leetyel. Knovs oszers vho need vhat Ahlehx cahn mehk. Ohnly cahn do veet vhat hav. Rehmembahr pahst, da. Boot do noht yearn fohr pahst. Ees pahst. Fohr all."

Jaxain nods, "Yeah, that must be pretty rough, man." he says to the robot, obviously a bit more comfortable around it now that he knows some of its story. "And you can't even get drunk, I guess. Wow..." He muses the ramifications, shuddering slightly. "But I bet you kick pretty good ass now, right?" He asks, raising an eyebrow in question. "You must be able to defend yourself if you escaped from the Coalition."

"I'm not yearning for the past, I'm mourning it, mourning the death of the human Alex. What I am yearning is the future, an answer. One day somehow I'll find out why this machine was designed as it was. I'd like very much for that day to be tomorrow, or the next day, or at least soon. That’s what I'm existing for now, an answer." Alex explains to Pavel, relaxing enough to continue its work on the torque wrench. "I didn’t fight them so I don’t know really. I just ran from them. I am quite fast, almost as fast as a Skycycle, much more maneuverable. So weaving through the forest I managed to escape, I got lucky the force escorting me was small, I wasn’t fully functional when they packaged me though."

Pavel gives Jaxain a curious eye as the mentioning of getting drunk being part of being alive and giving life a purpose is floated out. When he turns back to Alex, his hammer back where he's happy with it - over his right shoulder - he asks, "Vhat mehd Ahlehx fooly foonctional? Ahlehx deed eet heemsehlf?"

Jaxain nods at the machine's answer, "Alright, fair enough. I've been there, or somewhere close, and it takes time. I wish you well on your journey." He nods to the robot, looking at Pavel as the smith smith readies himself to depart. "So we ready to carry on?"

"I guess so. From what I can tell when I got to examine the machine it was just the basic shape of the disc on a pedestal. No tools, no torso, not optics. Just a strange statue. But once I was absorbed it started using the materials in the pedestal to make all those things. First it made the components which act as my senses, then the physical features. It was still making my senses when I was packaged for shipment to Chi town." Alex explains before looking to Jax. "Oh am I holding you two from an appointment?"

Pavel listens in as Alex explains its predicament, nodding at the parts that he understands. He probably understands a bunch of it, but perhaps not in great detail. Yes, his hammer is up, but as often happens, he seems to have confused a friend. Jaxain receives a smile. "Cehry ohn? Pavel ohnly ryesteeng fohr cohmfohrt." He slaps the long haft with his left hand then looks back to the robot-person. "Pavel ees sohry fohr be so qvestion. Seh eef Pavel shouvd go, stohp ahskeeng. Boot - eef mahcheene ees Ahlehx, Ahlehx mehk mahcheene... szen Ahlehx ees mohr szahn vhaht vhas. Fohr geev Ahlehx *nev* poorpohse. Szees ees ahnszvehr. Faheendeeng poorpohse ees noht geev ahnsvehr. Ees *lookeeng* fohr poorpohse szaht geeve ahnsvehr."

Jaxain shrugs at Pavel, and raises a hand to wave at the machine. "I'll catch you around." He looks at Pavel, "I'm gonna go on ahead then. See you later on." And with that, he turns and heads out of the alley, loosening his helmet on it's strap and placing it back on his head.

Alex nods in quick agreement to Pavel "Of course I'm more than I am in many ways. I can crush metal with my bare hands, sort of.. I can fly super fast, I can see things other people need an optics helmet to see. I feel any and all movement withing 60 feet. But.. There is one thing I remember quite fondly about being alive. Everything that is alive can procreate. You say that with my new self I should find a new purpose. No thanks, I'm not ready to let go of the old one." Jaxain goes OOC.

"Ahlehx cahnnot hav mehbe tvo poorpohse? Vhan ees fohr hav cheeldrhehn. Oszehr ees fohr nev." He pats his chest. "Pavel ees noh heer to seh for vhat. Ohnly seh steel look fohr poorpohse - Pavel need nev poorpohse vhen cohm heer. Has fouvnd mahny poorpohse nov, vhehn seem laheek mehbe vas going to be nohn. Ohnly seh Ahlehx noht geev up so seempohl. Keep lookeeng. Keep leeveeng. Eef Ahlehx knov szat Ahlehx ees Ahlehx - szen szehr steel ees poorpohse for faheend."

Alex shrugs. "If I find another purpose, something else that I need to do then sure. But for now, I think that will keep me going."

Pavel bows his head slightly, and picks up his very large sack that had previously been dropped on the ground. It's hefted and eased across his back. "Pavel veel leeve yoo ahlohne to mehk yoor mehtahls. Tools fohr Ahlehx, mehtahl staff fohr Aya. Vyery good. I veesh yoo good deh." He smiles again, then turns to leave.