thisavrou | Video

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[This is a video of the scattered mess of tiny robot parts she's made in one corner of the cargo bay.]

I managed to get a few of these things put together, but at this rate, it's going to take me another week. I'm really not sure what I'm meant to do with a dozen or so robot vacuum cleaners to begin with. I'm open to some suggestions.

[The feed switches to voice as Lara adds after a tentative pause. ]

I may have also received a video meant for someone else, something about Pax.

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I'm not saying you should make an entire defense array with a bunch of robot vacuum cleaners...but I'm not saying you shouldn't either.

[Is he joking? You be the judge.]

They sent them to you disassembled? What about the AI?

I must have missed that class when I was in University.

Yes, and all mixed together. I'm not really sure they have an AI.

That's what you get for slacking off.

How do the robots know what to vacuum if they don't have an AI?

They don't, I think. I never had one, but I think you just set them down and they just. Vacuum everything.

Well...okay. That sounds deceptively simple. [And inefficient.] But if you need help, I can give you a hand. Kind of curious how these things get along....

[And really, he's bored. It would be good to have something to do, especially with everything that had happened recently.]

Please. I haven't even tried to to one of these things on yet, I'm worried they'll suck up the little parts of one of the others.

[ The word is all it takes after Miles got the other file meant for it, all it takes to draw the words out that had broken her for years. ]

It's the Pax. The G-23 Paxilon hydrochlorate we added to the processors. It was supposed to calm the population, weed out aggression...

[Oh...]

I-- I take it this is your video.

It wasn't mine, I didn't want it. They tried to bury it but they wouldn't stay down.

It... doesn't seem like the sort of thing that would stay buried, no. Do you want me to do anything with it?

I'll take it, you don't need it. [ She laughs, the skins of it ragged with emotion. ] It's the kind of goushi that'll make you crazy.

...Yes, it does seem that sort of thing. [ Lara had watched it with a dim sort of horror, all the way til the end. ] Do you.. You don't have to take it. We could get rid of it, if you like.

[ Which doesn't change the fact they both know what's on it, they've both seen it, but all the same. ]

No. Getting rid of it isn't right, either. [ It was like Mal said, if people forgot they might try again. ] Don't need anyone thinking about trying to make people better.

[ That's very nearly part of the human condition... But that's too bleak and morbid of a thing to say. ]

What would you like to do with it? I'll help, if you'd like.

[ It feels wrong just to pass the video off and leave it at that. ]

Just put it away somewhere until it's needed. Somewhere quiet.

[ Somewhere no one had to think about it. ]

[ Somewhere quiet... ]

In the library, maybe. Or... I don't know if this ship has archives separate from the library come to think of it.

It's like a grenade, wouldn't want to put it where a normal person might find it. They might hurt themselves.

Somewhere quiet and out of the way, but not locked down. I think we can manage that.

Do you want to come along? Make sure it's the right spot?

I'd like that. [ A pause as she remembers something. ] I'm River. You shouldn't have had to see it.

I'm Lara. It's all right... [ She thinks about saying more, but doesn't. ] I'll meet you outside the library.

[ River makes her way to the library as agreed. She's dressed as nonregulation as ever. Thermals covered by a dress and a sweater. Part of her wants to find some corner to hide in, hum until it goes away on its own. But this is hers and she needs to make sure it's taken care of proper like.

She approaches, trying not to look as disquieted as she feels. It isn't entirely effective. ]

You're Lara. [ Not a question, she looked on the MID. ]

[ Lara is only slightly better; rumpled uniform pants and thermals, the jacket long since taken off and temporarily forgotten, envelope with the disk in one hand. She wasn't sure what exactly she was expecting, but it wasn't the girl in front of her.

She nods.]

I am. You're River?

[ She nods. Lara's state of dress puts her at ease. It reminds her of her crew on Serenity, the easy dishevelment of them all. She offers a thin smile to her. ]

You found someplace to bury it?

[ She nods.]

As it were, yes. [ she turns to go into the library, gesturing for River to follow.]

[ River falls into step with Lara, reaching a hand out to trace along the edges of the books. Paper books were a paradoxical luxury. Rich families were applauded for having collections of books that couldn't be touched while vid screens were used for every day reading.

The border planets meanwhile had paper books that were dog eared and falling apart because the vids were too expensive. River liked the library. ]

Seems a good tomb.

[ She looks back, a flicker of a smile lighting up her face. ]

Somewhere buried, but not forgotten. What a library is for, I think. [ She takes her to the farthest corner, to a filing cabinet. Bending over, she opens the bottom draw, pulling it out to retrieve an empty file in the very back. ] Every tomb needs a coffin.

[ It's good. It eases some of the panic that's been churning in River's stomach since the word Pax was mentioned. The file can go to sleep and not wake up unless she needs it. ]

I'm not saying a eulogy.

[ She's carried it long enough. People paid the price for it to reach the world. Now it would go into the dark and stay there. ]

Then we won't give it one.

[ Lara does dig a pen out of the pocket of her uniform pants and scrawls PAX across the label of the file. She kneels back down to return the file to the drawer, closing it back up. The soft roll and thump has a strangely final sound to it in the quiet library. ]

There.

Sometimes we get shit in the cargo bay and I have no idea why we have this crap. Maybe we can turn them on and make them joust if they get bored.

I'm pretty sure I saw someone opening a crate full of plastic dinosaurs, so that doesn't really surprise me.

[ BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY!! ] ...I have no idea what we could use for a lance. A broom handle, maybe?

Sounds good to me.

Well, we have actual scientists. But if they don't want to make special lances for rolling hoovers? Then broom handles.

[ She's trying not to laugh, she's not sure how serious he is, but it spills it's way over into her voice at the mental image anyway. ]

They might have more important things to do than make special lances for rolling hoovers. I'll ask Ratchet, he might have a few ideas on what we can do.

[ Pause. ]

Do you think they'll need armor. The broom handles won't hurt anything, but a lance might.

Make them out of rubber. It will get the job done and also no one can use them as weapons.

[Because even rubber lances are pretty funny.]

[All of this sounds like a good plan to him. He is easily entertained.]

Finding the rubber might be the hard bit... I suppose we could try to use some of the other bots instead of making all of them. I can't even tell how many I have, they're in so many pieces.

They can make all sorts of stuff here. I wouldn't be surprised if they couldn't come up with something.

In the meantime?

...I have duct tape.

[Niko Bellic's current favorite thing to use constantly.]

[ Niko Bellic might be a genius as far as Lara's concerned. ]

That could work.

Well we could always make them an early warning system and add little cameras and an alarm to them if you humans don't want to do patrols of the hallways and such.

[In other words make them useful so BB can hack them and control them like little swarming drones.]

I didn't even know that hallway patrols were a thing... That might be a good idea, but I haven't a clue where we'd get cameras.

Well, not officially, but many of you seem quite willing to roam about and play peacekeeper when not roaming for other reasons.

[Some of the things you lot get up to when you should be asleep, just really now.]

We could requisition some or hope that whatever controls the 'mail delivery' likes us enough. Though we may wish to stay away from arming the little buggers. Wouldn't want anyone fearing a robotic uprising or anything.

[Or you know idiots tazing one another by remote controlling them somehow.]

I don't know if they have the kind of programming to stage a revolution.

We were going to have them joust. [ Niko is a good influence. ]

Never underestimate the capacity of a human mind to believe anything if they think about it too much.

Well, that's better then arming them with a taser or such...[You humans and your blood sports.]

If I thought about it too much, I would probably laugh and hurt their feelings.

[ Don't anthropomorphize the robot vacuums, Lara. ]

Arming them with tasers honestly hadn't crossed my mind. That sounds like a terrible idea.

That would be dreadful, poor things not even an hour old and already being picked on.

[It's okay Lara, it wouldn't be the first time such has happened. As long as you don't name them you can back away from being fond of vacuums.]

About the same level as automated turrets, but someone has thought of such.

[ This time she does laugh. ]

Exactly, we can't have that.

[ She is endeavoring to be a responsible robot vacuum caretaker. ]

That... Yes, that does sound like a rather terrible idea. Wouldn't they just shoot everything that moved?

Some hopeful little waif had proposed a chip system in uniform collars or some such nonsense to tell friend from foe. Or having it recognize human from alien. It got nixed pretty quickly in the end.

Sometimes creativity doesn't realize logic still acts as a rule with some inventors.

A bit like a more proactive dog tag, perhaps?

At the very least, one would hope logic prevails in weapons making, though historically I suppose that isn't always the case.

In theory, but such a small chip would be very easy to damage and lose in the midst of a battle, and then well it's 'fire at will' and a lot of preventable deaths.

If you had not deigned to tact that last part on I would have to worry about you as well. Most of your kind tend to try and lose their logic as soon as they realize what it is. Though, it does cause amusing things now and again.

I have always been a bit of a skeptic.

[At least until recently... ]

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/Forever late to the party

sssh never late

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