May 26th: The Workshops - Requisitions

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 6:53 pm

Many of the students normally found in the workshops were busy in meetings or already dealing with saving London and the world yet again. So the work areas were mostly quiet and deserted. This was the kind of time when one work area was the busiest; the one claimed by the 4" clone of one of Excalibur's newest members. The tiny girl was standing atop the keyboard of what was essentially the smallest netbook a person could possibly own, pressing down on the keys with her feet. A plethora of wires ran to the mechanical monstrosity she had constructed; a winding, intersecting fusion of Stark, West, Sentinel and alien technology pilfered from the university's storerooms. It was a shame to just let the stuff rot, it was better off being put to some use; at least that was her rationale.

The sparse attendance of the workshop also gave the girl some time to test out systems that were a little less than safe. With a sequence entered the girl's foot hit the enter button. The metal form that had stood motionless lurched to stand up straight, it's arms raised as if it were pulling itself to do a chin-up. The few outer panels that had been attached to the arms, a mix of colours and covered in dents and scratches, popped out of the way as a pair of rather nasty looking machine guns and a pair of three-barreled chain guns erupted from the limbs, one of each in each arm, with the chain guns located above the high-calibre automatic guns.

"Weapons locked. Precision counts; a wasted shot costs taxpayers dearly."

The girl shook her head. "Ugh, I have got to update your quips. I am not paintin' you red, white and blue girl."

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 6:57 pm

As Dee walked into the room, she quirked a brow at the sight.

"...I hadn't been aware Jim Rhodes and Lisa Frank had a blasphemous lovechild."

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:01 pm

The robot's miniguns had already started spinning but emitted only a fast clicking sound, the chambers empty. It was just a dry run and the targeting area remained unscathed for the time being. When the little Ronnie was addressed she stood up straight, though if the work light over her bench hadn't been on it was unlikely that she'd been seen.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't think anybody'd be down here t'night." She said. She started to look confused. "... the Jewish girl who hid in an attic?"

Meanwhile, the guns slowed to a stop and popped back into the arms, the few panels quickly closing back into place.

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:04 pm

"No, the purveyor of sparkly unicorn stickers," Dee said, casting her gaze about to figure out where the voice was coming from as she approached the robot.

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:12 pm

"Oh, hold on." Ronnie called out. She started dancing on the keyboard as she spoke loudly.

"Artemis! Stand down!" She yelled out. With a hit of the enter key the robot's shoulder slumped, it's pose becoming much more relaxed and docile, it's eyes fading from red to a calming pink.

"Sorry." Ronnie said as she stepped off the keyboard, leaning with one hand against the laptop's monitor. "She's not loaded but I ain't takin' any chances."

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:14 pm

"I don't think I recall sanctioning this project."

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:22 pm

"Sanctions? What're those?" Ronnie said with an innocent smile.

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:28 pm

"I don't recall having approved building a warbot out of our salvage, you see..."

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:37 pm

"Oh. Well see, that's because it's not a warbot. It's a peacekeeper bot. Those guns'll fire rubber bullets. And these grenade launchers?" Ronnie reached over and tapped the screen of the laptop, causing a pair of miniature grenade launchers to pop out of the back of the bot and lock onto it's shoulders. "Tear gas. I'm still workin' on the net cannon though, and I gotta work on strippin' down a stun rod for the right hand."

The little girl was missing the point, it seemed.

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:39 pm

"And when were you planning on telling me about it?"

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:48 pm

"Well... it's kinda hard to. 'cause, well, the system asks fer yer student ID and... I don't got one I don't think." Ronnie admitted. "Technically, I ain't a student here. Veronica is. I ain't."

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:51 pm

"So the plan was just to do this whenever I was out of the room?"

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:58 pm

"Well, not just you. I don't like people comin' over and tryin' to help just 'cause I'm small. I know what I'm doin', I don't need to be a bother to other people."

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:59 pm

"Let me see your schematics."

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:08 pm

"Um, alright." Ronnie stepped away from her laptop and walked toward the back of the work bench. With a soft grunt she pulled a large touch screen mounted on an arm away from the wall, the LCD display blinking on. With a couple of taps the robot's schematics came up, each different type of technology shown as a different color in the design. The parts were surprisingly domestic, a lot of more expensive components that would have found their way into the storage areas were apparently left there, the girl having chosen more mundane parts.

The actual control center and CPU of the bot was just an empty void on the schematics, most noticeably.

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:12 pm

Dee pursed her lips.

"Would you prefer if I stripped the paint, so that you can apply a fresh coat later?"

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:13 pm

"... you're not gonna just scrap it and take it away?" Ronnie asked, her eyes wide.

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:15 pm

"This is solid work, and you restrained yourself more than I initially thought you had."

"Regardless, answer the question."

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:19 pm

"Well, I was plannin' on just paintin' over it. I mean, if it's not too much trouble, sure, I guess." The little girl said modestly as she rubbed her arm. "Thanks."

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:21 pm

Dee laid her hands on the armor plating, and the paint flaked off, settling into a neat pile nearby. Shortly thereafter, the metal started to warp and flow, dents and scratches smoothing out, and welds merging together until the piecemeal nature of the construction was no longer evident. The end results were far more like Ronnie's schematics, with minor structural improvements made, and the design strengthened somewhat.

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:38 pm

When it was all said and done the project looked like something straight out of Stark laboratories. With the plating a uniform polished steel colour it reflected the light, making it look all the brighter. Now that the bits and pieces no longer told of their origins the contrasting colours no longer distracted viewers, allow it's design to really show. It was a lot smoother than the Stark designs, flowing curves with subtle hidden bracket points rather than the overlapping panels and 'kibble' of their suit designs. That and it's more feminine dimensions made it all the more unfamiliar to those versed in combat suits and droids, looking more like something out of a Hajime Sorayama pinup.

Ronnie whistles softly, her eyes wide and she struggled to contain herself. "Wow, she looks awesome! I shoulda asked fer yer help ages ago! Thank you so much!"

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:40 pm

"I want progress reports, and if you need parts you're going to requisition them like everyone else."

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:41 pm

Ronnie looked a little bashful. "Yes ma'am. Thank you ma'am."

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:44 pm

"And last of all, I want you to tell me what's going to go there," she said as she gestured at the noticeable void in the design.

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:52 pm

"Well, the brain of course." Ronnie said. "It makes more sense to put it in the chest than the head, I can armour it better and people always try to cut the head off, so it should be safer."

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:54 pm

"Rather seems to be missing on your schematics, though."

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 9:00 pm

"I ain't well versed on AI's. Cal..., er, a friend said he'd help me build the AI. I figured it was better if I designed the brain around the AI and then put it in rather'n buildin' the brain the findin' out it wouldn't work with the AI, you know? Right know she just runs off the computer over there." Ronnie pointed to the netbook and the mess of wires running from it to the robot's back. "Apart from basic motor functions and the voice she can't do nothin' yet."

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 9:03 pm

"You've got a predetermined area to mount it in, with ventilation and heat distribution, but no actual design for the hardware that will be mounted?"

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 9:52 pm

"Yeah. Same thing that made the Mini such a great car. Nice big cavity to put any sorta engine in there." Ronnie said with a smile. "Unless I was usin' hard drives from the 1990s or somethin', that space is way too big for any sorta brain I put together. So I build the brain, then use that space to work in the adapters. Buildin' around the brain might be more traditional, but I'm goin' for a more customizable approach."

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 9:55 pm

"It does seem to be a bit of a... departure from the rest of your design theory."

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 10:06 pm

"Well, I ain't an expert on AIs. Heck, the original me, she focused more on chemistry than physics. So I worked on other stuff while the folks who do know more about robot brains are busy. They've just been really, really busy. And I ain't got much else to do. And 'cause I'm usin' stuff that's already built I don't gotta fabricate it from the ground up, so I guess I went faster'n expected.

The little Ronnie rubbed the back of her head, looking up at her handiwork. "But I don't think it's that much of a difference. This whole thing is made outta spare parts. Bits and pieces from multiple different designs from different sources with different ideas and priorities. The idea of buildin' a brain first and then tryin' to make them work around that seems flawed to me. It makes more sense to me to let the AI adapt to a finished body and work out what needs to be done to make it work right. The human brain can adapt to new limbs really easily, an AI should be able to sort this out too."

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 10:20 pm

"Do you really think it's wise to arm an AI this heavily?"

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:06 pm

"Given it's intended purpose as a riot control and peacekeeping droid, yes." Ronnie said frankly. "I will have complete control of this unit at all times. It won't so much as swat a fly without my okay. And if it ever gets hacked, I can manually jettison the power core. Nothin' like yankin' out a battery to stop a toy in it's tracks."

Ronnie started to speak a little softer. "I just wanna give somethin' back. The real me, she can fight and save the world and do all that stuff. But I can't do any of that. But maybe I can make somethin' that'll keep the students here safe. Somethin' that'll stand in harm's way so that some poor schmuck doesn't have to."

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:09 pm

"I'm merely saying, if you're expecting an AI to evolve and develop to fit its shell, and you're giving it a shell with weaponry from the word 'go,' then that will affect its outlook."

"On the other hand, this is an armament I've seen much more commonly applied to a manned or remote-operated suit..."

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:21 pm

"Well, I did build it from some remote operated suits." Ronnie pointed out. "There were a couple of really banged up Stark models in storage."

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:24 pm

"And don't think it's escaped my notice that you would fit in that compartment..."

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:37 pm

"Well, I can fit in a soda can too. That don't mean I wanna spend any time in one."

Ronnie raised an eyebrow. "Just what are you suggestin' ma'am?"

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:38 pm

"It hadn't occurred to you to fit that aperture with a cockpit?"

by **Veronica Freud** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:49 pm

"Well, what would people show more trust toward? An AI, or a robot piloted by a clone created by an evil mad scientist from another dimension?"

by **Deirdre Quinn** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:50 pm

"You're expecting us to let you build it either way, eh?"

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