i'm the drudge that goes again and again [open]

[hauntedsavior]

WHO: Anna Lehmann and you!
WHERE: All around the city
WHEN: Throughout June
WHAT: Birthday stuff, event stuff, it's a catch-all, who knows
WARNINGS: Swearing, weed drugs, alcohol, monster blood, slight body horror but more psychologically?, will keep this updated

a. upload me to the robot brain [apprassage, 6/4, closed to Astin]

Come over.

The message gets sent out early, maybe around 7:00AM, when Anna wakes up and it feels like her legs have completely fallen asleep. She can't even kick out of her sheets. Fine, god, she'll do this the old-fashioned way—

And she sees it. It's started. Her legs look fucked up, unnatural, and she bends forward at her waist and runs her hand over the smooth black material on her right leg and the patches of skin on her left and her breath hitches because she still has breath to hitch. It's not done.

Her hands reach behind her and fumble for her phone. Shortly after the first message, she tries pulling herself up to a sitting position on her futon and her legs just feel like dead weight. None of it's really hit her yet but it's sure as hell going to. Another desperate text gets pounded out.

Not a request.

b. loosen up, time to drop [apprassage, on and around 6/16]

Christ. 27. Well, she can't say she expected to make it this far. She's taking the entire 16th as a personal day, staying inside and only leaving the complex if she absolutely has to go out and get something. She's been pushing herself far too hard lately and she just needs time to relax so she doesn't burn out in a different way. Maybe Astin's on their way over. Maybe Rose, maybe somebody entirely unexpected. She doesn't know and frankly she doesn't really care.

At least by now she's mostly used to being part robot. There's still... feeling in her legs, and her brain is starting to connect the dots there and register them as her own. It doesn't hurt, and she can walk just fine. Hell, she feels like she could walk for miles without even getting tired. But she could still use some time to unwind. Which means getting impaired to her comfort level and trying to relax.

c. the robot's here if the robots paid [all districts, all month]

This is her city. It's always going to be her city. And if Retrospec needs her help to bring it back to the way it should be, it's an easy fix. She's doing everything she physically and emotionally can, based off Zee's suggestions, in each district of the city. Catch her in Enprise delivering packages to people on her own two (robotic) feet, or run into her shoplifting in Chata! Sneak up on her doing some vigilante gardening in Viea Village! Challenge her to an eating competition in Tisse! The choices are yours and yours alone.

((if it's in blue or green, that's definitely something she's doing this month and is totally open to jump into. yellow ones will need some OOC discussion, and red are things she wouldn't be caught dead doing.))

d. fuck shit up, don't forget about it [outskirts, all month]

The problem with getting a couple new limbs—well, replacement limbs—well, one of the problems—is that they really need some breaking in, don't they? And lucky Anna, because she's fixing to break some things. She'll more likely be on the paths that would normally lead to Pesgare or Magatus, taking out some of her extremely complicated emotions on the encroaching monsters there. It's not often that a bloodstained swordswoman with what appears to be way-too-high black stockings shows up and starts killing things, starts severing limbs. But hell, if it's a war they want, she's good at that.

?. nonagon infinity opens the door [additional top levels to come as things happen]

Comments

[hauntedsavior]

Hey, takes all kinds. I work out, but I'm not that strong.

[yet. not until her robot arms kick in, and if they're as powerful as her legs—because no way would she have been able to do that last month—then she'll have no problem cutting straight through sheets of metal if she's got to.]

Guess I wasn't too wrong with the whole surgical idea, huh? I don't need one now, but I might be in the market for a mechanic if something goes wrong. [though she should at least ask about his experience.] You seen any other robots run through here since you got the app?

[quiet_storm]

I really need to start working out. Maybe work on my balance too.

[A robot mechanic? Cloud tries to picture it.]

Some, but the only thing I did was design custom painting tools for them to use. No additions or adjustments to the existing hardware itself.

I'm pretty sure I can handle anything that can be accomplished with modern Earth technology. Sure, I worked on a robotic prosthetic arm as part of my education, but that's nothing special. Anything more advanced than that, or anything with magic properties? I'd just be winging it. Maybe I can fix the problem, maybe I can even make improvements, but maybe I'll just make it worse.

[He shrugs.]

Let's say there's an easy access port already built in for upgrades and maintenance and it has no security codes. Does it need to be opened only in a Xenon-rich environment? Maybe any attempt at robotic "first aid" would just kill the person and everyone in the room?

[hauntedsavior]

[well, uh. Anna blinks and tries not to let everything he says visibly stagger her, but she is kind of immediately out of her element. she'd almost be embarrassed if she were the kind of person to blush.]

You're really putting some thought into this. [yeah, the bare minimum. christ, Anna, come on.] I thought it'd be as simple as... popping open a panel and cutting a wire or something. Now I need to know if what's inside my legs will kill people just from being around it?

[her free hand goes up, brushing her hair out of the way, and rests on the side of her head.]

Fuck. I didn't even think about any of that.

[quiet_storm]

Do you have any memories of your cybernetic structures being damaged? Repaired, upgraded, maintained? How did that happen? Do you have memories of interacting safely with biological people?

[He shrugs yet again.]

Well, I am a mechanical engineer. It's kinda my job to be the only person in the room who would ever think about that kinda stuff, or know what it means, or have any clue how to deal with it.

I mean, there's a reason you're looking for a mechanic. Right? Same reason most people have to look for doctors, or healers, or potion makers if something goes wrong?

[hauntedsavior]

She can go into something her... floating computer thing called B-mode?

[it wasn't the highlight of that memory, but it was definitely part of it. so much other stuff was going on that it takes her a second to recall it. no memories of interacting with humans yet, which is strange. everything's been a robot of some kind.]

Sounded like she'd overclock herself or something. She hit harder and faster, but all her systems went into overdrive and she really fucked herself up. Don't remember how it played out, but it seemed like such a normal thing for her to do that she probably lived?

[course, she knew enough people with medical problems to know that living through something was only part of it.]

Can't do it myself. Probably for the best, since most of me still isn't a robot.

[quiet_storm]

[Cloud groaned with a bit of a smile.]

I can just imagine the mess of burned out motors and servos that kind of thing would leave behind. Maybe you're not in a hurry to remember the repair process because it would mostly be a bunch of engineers whining and nagging at her for hours on end while she stared at the ceiling.

[hauntedsavior]

Oh, I really doubt she was the kind of person to let engineers go poking around her body even if she needed it. Seems like a stubborn bitch from everything I can piece together.

[and Anna's not? well, shit, he doesn't have to know that.]

She was probably the kind of person who'd shove a dowel down her sleeve and drive herself to the hospital if she broke her arm.

[quiet_storm]

Would she go to a robot hospital if her mechanical components were broken? I wonder what those would be like.

[Cloud points a blade a little off to her left and steps a foot back into some reasonable semblance of a sword stance.]

How about I try charging that one? Back me up if I miss?

[hauntedsavior]

[she'll put the thought of a robot hospital, or robospital, on hold for now while she gets out of the way of his incoming attack and braces herself to kick into action again.]

I got you. Don't worry.

[and she sounds serious enough about that to almost surprise herself, considering she only just met this person. but people like them should stick together and not getting his back won't solve any problems. her head nods.]

[quiet_storm]

[The solemnity of her response and all that it implies inspires a thrill of excitement and warmth that Cloud is certain that he's felt before. A comrade-in-arms, fiercely competent and just as driven by the need for victory over dangerous enemies. Together they could forge a fighting team that could be so much more than the sum of its parts. He smiles in her direction.]

Thanks. Someday I'll be good enough to watch your back, too.

[After a moment of eyeing the target with focused intensity, Cloud was off like a shot. No acrobatics this time, he simply charged directly into the creature swords first. When he skidded to a stop it was skewered on his broad weapons, sliced all the way through in two places, barely twitching. And stuck. Cloud tried to shake it loose, which was not only quite awkward as the thing weighed more than he did, but comically ineffective. He frowned at it.]

Maybe someday.

[hauntedsavior]

[she's not sure. seems like he's ready to get her back pretty well after an attack like that, but she won't say anything like that out loud. instead, she'll saunter up behind him casually with her sword only half-ready and a smirk on her face.]

[she's never worked well in teams before this. always been the kind of person to try to handle stuff herself. but it might not be the worst thing in the world to have battle partners—not just people she spars with or friends she happens to fight alongside, but an actual, like... a party or something.]

Maybe, if that's what you want. Nothing wrong with being the guy who takes the lead all the time if that's better for you.

[that comes out with kind of a verbal shrug. protecting others can be Anna's responsibility. everyone else usually just does whatever they want around her anyway.]

[quiet_storm]

[Cloud finally tries bracing his boot against the monster's corpse midair and starts to make progress, though now he's hopping on one foot to keep balance. He smiles back at Anna, chagrined, fully realizing how ridiculous he looks right now.]

Nah. It's always better, from a strategic standpoint, to have everyone on the team looking out for everyone else. It's especially important when you have two people, particularly with similar ability levels. Total combat effectiveness is essentially quadrupled or more...

[He closes one eye and points his now-free sword in a direction behind her.]

Three of them, two watching in the distance and one hiding in those bushes.

[hauntedsavior]

[good, he managed to get it out. she would have been negative help with that, but the robot arms are... probably next on the docket, right? like, she has to assume.]

Oh yeah, my friend Kara was talking about th—

[she cuts herself off and notices where he's pointing, then leans in closer to lower her voice.]

They're gonna charge once the first one moves. [a guess, but at least an educated one.] It'll take 'em a couple seconds to get here. Both of us on the one in the middle, then we break and take on the reinforcements.

[she's making one hell of a plan for somebody who has no idea if it'll even work. but her sword's at the ready again nonetheless, and she has to admit she's eager to get it swinging again as the metallic smell of monster blood fills her nose.]

On three?

[quiet_storm]

[Cloud is even more excited at the plan, or maybe he just shows it more because he's a newbie and lacks discipline.]

I'll take the right flank and double back if I miss.

[He steps into position, dropping the sword in his left hand. It might be easier to aim with one? Either way, if he's going to throw a blade around clumsily it's going to be on the side that doesn't put a teammate in danger.]

On your count.

[hauntedsavior]

[it could be a combination. Anna's not big on emotion to begin with anyway. point is this sounds like a really solid plan.]

One... two... three!

[and she's off, holding her sword to the side so she also doesn't hurt her teammate. her robot legs get her there faster than she's expecting, so she very nearly overshoots—it's not really a clean stop on her end, and she ends up digging her sword pretty far back on the central panther's flank. it's a gnarly cut, but it slows her down and makes the beast cry out, so she counts it as a good opening strike.]

[she's not here to rest on that laurel, though, and yanks her sword out to swipe at its legs and make sure that even if it's not out of the fight and dead quite yet, it's gonna be as incapacitated as possible—and she actually has help on this one, too. not exactly the same case for the one she can already hear coming that she'll have to deal with on her own.]