x1 | video.

[t65]

[Hey, it's Luke Skywalker, sitting at his pastel desk. There's plenty of junk littered on it, mostly scraps of droid parts and tools, but the inquisitive observer will notice a few mystery vials of colorful chemicals, and a hypo of fast-penta scattered among the rubble.]

I noticed there aren't any service droids on the ship-- when I mentioned that to the captains, they said I should... make some? [Luke has a distinct look of 'what have I gotten myself into' on his face.] We definitely need some mouse droids and basic repair droids-- we already have good engineers, but this would help them out in a pinch. Do you think we need gonk droids?

[Well? Do you?]

Have you noticed any droids we could use? A 1B prototype couldn't hurt...

[That's right, request a droid, Luke might be able to make it for you eventually. He's serious. Though they probably won't have much in the way of lively personalities, who doesn't want a robot?]

Oh- and Doctor Yewll? Mr Banner? Ed? I know we discussed some kind of prosthetic... if I'm going to be making droids, I might need that sooner than later. [He kind of cringe smiles before cutting the feed.]

Comments

[dust_of_life]

[A startled, bewildered look crosses Fatima's face for a second. Like she's seen a ghost. But she quickly shakes it off.

No. That's not him. He's not here.]

I'm sorry...what's a "gonk droid?"

[t65]

[Luke moves his MID so the image pans out to show the half-completed outer shell of, you guessed it, a gonk droid.]

They're power droids. Have you got them in your system?

[dust_of_life]

[She covers her mouth with her hand, letting out a soft laugh.]

That looks like a garbage can with feet!

What does it do?

[t65]

Well, they're power droids! They convert or generate or transport power, depending on the model.

[dust_of_life]

We have generators, but they definitely don't have feet.

[Okay, pull it together, Merali.

She stifles her laughing, although her eyes continue to glimmer just a little bit.]

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what the ship even runs on. Would a...gonk...be compatible with it?

[t65]

[Luke smiles back, though having grown up with the concept he doesn't find it nearly as innately humorous.]

Well, everything runs on some kind of power. Most GNK droids-- you can call them that, too-- [Still grinning,] have basic conversion components to make sure they don't short circuit. Then you have the conversion models who do nothing but that.

[dust_of_life]

Well, I'm all for redundancy.

[Crap. That smile reminds her of...him.]

Of course, I'm also paranoid and pretty convinced they're going to try to kill us so...take that with a grain of salt.

But it seems like a good idea to me.

[t65]

Even if that was likely to happen, [Which it isn't,] these droids won't even have a personality matrix, I promise. They'll be able to understand simple commands, that's all.

[dust_of_life]

That's really cool, actually.

[She shrugs.]

These are common where you come from? Because I'm pretty sure that aside from Japanese sex robots, they're not so much a thing back home.

But I've been gone for awhile. I could be wrong.

[t65]

[Luke frowns.] Uh, they're common from where I'm from. Very common. It's strange there are so few here.

[dust_of_life]

Guessing this is your first time around the merry-go-round that is the multiverse.

[Fatima loves to pretend that she's more worldly and jaded than she really is. But every now and then, she remembers that she has certain unfortunate advantages.]

Right. Manners. They are a thing.

What's your name?

[t65]

Luke Skywalker. Yours?

[dust_of_life]

Fatima Merali.

[No need to add her customary "and I'm not a terrorist" addendum. This isn't a local boy.

Even if he reminds her of...well. Never mind.]

I'm from Earth, if that means anything to you.