To the stars!

This encounter was already a thousand times better than the last one she had with Emere on account of having her own body back. Turns out, it’s easier to be more relaxed around someone, even a near stranger, when you’re not body swapped. Who’da thought?

“This seemed like the easiest one for me to do, so I went for it, but I think I didn’t read the fine print well enough.” Or the normal print.

“I can be quiet, but I don’t know about sneaky. I…” she trailed off a bit, looking down at her shoes. “… guess I shouldn’t have worn heels…”

“And the most fun, right?! I guess the maze could  have been good too but I’m not really a big riddle person.” A thoughtful look crossed her face as she looked at the shoes. “Can you run in those?”

“That footwear seems suited for little, least of all moving quickly or quietly. That is, beyond offering some height but at this point it seems too little too late.”

Not only had she been in the area, but she had bumped into someone she didn’t actually know that well but had shared a body with, and that’s got to count for something right? And this little game, challenge, quest; whatever you want to call it sounded like fun!

“Lucky us, right! Close to the fun one and here together.”

“By your house would likely be the best option. My house is, as I have heard it said here, ‘fucked.’“ Learning new slang was some of the most fun a sentient android could have when creating a new language database.

“It’s a good thing then that we do not live so far apart as to make that untenable. I trust that you will be able to stay warm enough to survive the trip.” She’s survived much worse. Chemi would almost say she’s survived worse than Chemi herself has, though that blank spot in her memory leaves a degree of uncertainty.

“Thank you HANDY. I don’t suppose you have an idea of how to break the first diamond in order to break more diamond,” she asked the machine, “because while I do agree that it cannot be harder than itself, I think its strength has proven that even doing that much may prove troublesome.”

As she paused in thought, her eyes turned into spinning buffering symbols, just to Emere and HANDY wouldn’t think they were being ignored or anything.

“You didn’t happen to leave your garage door open, did you? I know you have in the past, but that could be a good thing in this case.”

Emere nodded along, that did indeed seem like a fair assessment. 

“I sure hope so! I feel all right... ish. I could be warmer, a lot warmer actually. But I don’t think I’mabout to freeze or anything. I’ve got my suit if things get real bad.” 

“And I am monitoring her temperature  as she is likely to overestimate what is acceptable.” Emere simply grinned, and Handy continued. “Well, a tool made of such material would be easy enough to bring to bear, or perhaps as Emere mentioned; a tool coated in the substance. It does seem to still be falling.”

Emere had plenty of time to think about that question, and her answer was; “Maybe! I don’t really remember.”

Naturally, Chemi knew that the mere mention of the scientific possibilities would be enough to get Emere going, cold weather be damned. She adjusted her pace to keep up with Emere while simultaneously looking around for the now-wanted area of space.

“Well, it appears that most of this area is already empty and covered in diamond, so I imagine we could simply choose any spot and claim it as our own and I do not believe anyone would be likely to steal it.” Why steal what has become too abundant, after all?

“However, the problem remains that as of current I do not know of a material capable of breaking these diamonds, if the ones you tried before did not work… those were your strongest tools, correct?”

“Yes I suppose we could... Though an area next too either of our houses would be best.” The slimy cogs were turning. “Oh! That’s right, I live in the woods now;” as she had done for months. “There should be an abundance there and no need to worry about others interfering or making off with it. As for tools...” An awkward look crossed her face.

“...Well, it’s not like they’re my tools... My, my tools at least. Nor have I had a chance to make something specific for this situation, or-”

“Her strongest tools, yes.” Handy chimed, attempting to nip the protests in the bud.

START.bat | @cosmooze

Chemi, by and large, was doing just fine with all the stuff that was going on! She didn’t need to eat or sleep in a bed and in fact she only got better in the colder weather. That said, she did purposely lower the efficiency of her heat sinks so that she would run a little warmer than usual, for Emere’s sake, whose hand she now held to hopefully transfer some of that warmth through.

“If all else fails, at least you might be able to get some use out of this extraordinarily strong diamond in the future. Assuming, that is, that this isn’t the new normal. However, based on prior circumstances within this city, I calculate the odds of that at only twenty-seven percent.”

Emere, however, did not get better in the cold. She got slower, physically if not mentally. That didn’t make her any less hungry though, which had never felt like a fair trade off. So to make do she was as bunded up as ever, with her nano-armour collapsed safely into her backpack if she things got particularly chilly. 

“Hm...”

     “i imagine it is only natural for me to do so. times are modern, so i cannot fall back on archaic interpretations of how knights should or shouldn’t function. besides, i don’t wish for it to be quite like a police force or anything of the like.” it just simply wouldn’t do for things to be like how they were in camelot, she would be putting her credibility at risk. besides, this wouldn’t be like leading a kingdom. she just wanted to be of help to the people.

     artoria couldn’t help but chuckle at the device’s comment. “oh, i’m aware. but it isn’t an issue.”

     “barring an emergency you’d be free to help whenever you’d like, and when it comes to tinkering with devices or creating inventions it doesn’t necessarily need to be done here.” there was one thing she was worried about though. “there could be times when it might be dangerous, but in those instances i will help guard you myself… if that is amicable?”

     she avoided using the word ‘protect’ because she didn’t want emere to feel like she needed to be protected. it wasn’t that artoria thought she was weak, either. on her honor as a knight, and as emere’s companion, she just wanted to make sure she was safe from harm. it didn’t matter if the slime was weak or the most powerful existence in the universe.

“Well, you’re the expert on how knights function whether it’s in a modern capacity or not. The only knights I’ve met were nothing like you, posers I guess. And that’s probably good because trying to run anything like a police force in this city seems... Difficult! But no matter what it is you want to do I’m sure you’ll do a great job of it.”

“However I’d like, huh.” Her head hilt tilted and her eyes looked off to the side, her mind already swimming in possibilities.

“You should also be wary of providing such dangerously broad criteria.”

Thankfully for Chemi, her legs were the wettest part of her (not at all due to the puddle splashing, surely) so all it took to dry herself off enough was a quick pat down with a towel she kept on the same coat rack. The rest of her clothing was damp, but not enough to be an issue.

“I would point you to them, but I see you are already busy, so I will gather them myself.” She didn’t mind at all, and ventured forth into the kitchen to come back out a minute later with a large basket full of many still ripe kiwis, which she set down on the table by Emere.

“I saved the best ones for my best one. Which is all of them, because they all seem to be of approximately equal ripeness.”

Now she started to look over Emere’s shoulder and into the bag of parts, seeing if she could catch anything with a hint of usefulness. “Did we get anything you needed?”

“Hm? Oh right; yeah. Thank you!” Which for her, was a remarkably attentive response from a fresh distraction. But her manners hadn’t left her entirely, when Chemi returned she looked at her with her full attention and a wide smile. For a moment at least. Then the kiwis received her full attention and an equally wide smile. She picked one up and threw the whole thing in her mouth, where it sank slowly down and promptly started melting away. “You’re the best one.”

“Mm! I mean the metals alone are always appreciated but at a fresh glance I do think this was particularly good. I didn’t realise we’d picked up so much copper wire, or am entirely intact machine drum. But!” She pointed, just in case her excitement wasn’t indicator enough. “There’s multiple engine parts here! A combustion engine sure, but they're in excellent condition.” 

“That identification skill will come in handy in the future, when my humour becomes more subtle. As you know, I wear my emotions plainly on my face at the moment.”

The kiwi conversation with Chemi clearly continued as they quickened their convivial convoy, all the way up to the front door of Chemi’s house. Well, it wasn’t Chemi’s house, but no one else lived in it, so it was her house.

“Thank you for easing my kiwi burden,” she said, opening the front door and pushing it open to let Emere enter first. “And I am capable of atypically eating in a more colloquial sense, yes. Lacking a throat or any sort of digestive system, I am wholly incapable of eating in a more literal sense.”

“Playing the long game, huh. You do! It’s quite helpful actually.” She flowed by sticking out her tongue.

It was nice to be inside again, and by some miracle she was actually mindful enough to hang up her coat by the door as well as remove her boots, rather than trail dripping water all over the place. But whether indoors or out, rain or sun, she typically looked the same as usual which was decidedly not dry. 

“Don’t mention it! You’ll be free of terrible kiwi oppression as soon as you point me in their direction.”

“Maybe they don’t want to overwhelm some people with such advanced technology. I know it is not too uncommon for people here to come from timeframes even further back in time, technologically-speaking.” It was about the only reason she could guess… but that’s really all it was, a complete guess.

“I am very flattered to know that you consider me sassy. My practice has been paying off.” She remained straight faced for a moment, but then followed it up with some android laughter.

“You could say I have a taste for taste. You can consider the entire bowl of them yours… considering I do not typically eat.”

They had just turned onto Chemi’s street now, so Chemi picked up her pace just a little. The rain didn’t bother her, but she still would like to get dry pretty soon.

“All things considered, I don’t think they care too much about overwhelming people. Or it’s not their top concern at least.”

“Oh yes, I think I’m pretty much an expert at identifying it spending as much time as I do with you two.” Yet despite that time and the extremely sassy company, she was far from it. Still, her laughter always made her smile. 

“We still don’t even really know who ‘they’ are… I mean, we know the people we can see in Fibonacci, but I am certain that they are not the same people who brought us here in the first place. The technology to do that must be beyond compare, even by Fibonacci standards.”

Emere’s excitement was a little bit infectious, even if it didn’t actually show at all on Chemi’s face. Or at all in her body language. But with that excitement also came confusion and, in small quantities, the depression that comes from being separated from all you know. It didn’t last, though, once Emere joined her under the umbrella again and they could start walking.

“If you find yourself low on tools, you are always free to disassemble me for parts. It would only be fair after I caused you such a fate. I have a wide range of non-perishable goods as well as a basket of kiwis, since I know you have a taste for those.”

Well, hopefully the kiwis were there. “Assuming they have not gone bad…”

“Not yet! It makes me wonder why the rest of the city is kind of... As basic as it is though. Maybe that’s the timeframe and space they mostly like to take from? But if that’s the case why are there still so many outliers...” She pondered this for a moment as they walked. Leaning into Chemi slightly for a moment in at least a subconscious show of support.

“Huh? What parts? I could probably only make a light out of you. Or a sassy calculator and that position is kind of already filled.”

“Between the two of us I am certain that we are among the most intelligent beings within this city, so I share in your frustrations. If we had the same access to the inner workings of this city to ourselves I’m sure we could do a lot.”

But alas… it felt like they were grounded, literally and metaphorically. Power was the biggest issue, and while Chemi had dabbled herself in making better batteries, it was difficult when more exotic elements were nowhere to be found.

“I have actually used them more than once, however I do like to keep my space tidy and organized… ^_~ So I think it would be best if you took them home after tonight.” She paused. “Or at least a few things.”

With a couple more little tippy-tappies of her pointed feet she took a step out of the puddle and waited for Emere to hopefully follow.

“Speaking of home, I do think it would be unwise for us to continue standing in the puddle for the rest of the night, as endearing as you are within it.”

“I’d certainly be using it to test all kinds of things! Can you even imagine?! They must know how stellar distance teleportation works! Time travel, interdimensional travel!” And despite being denied all of these things despite their assumed proximity, she was still becoming more visibly excited. 

“I mean I guess I could take a few... But then what am I gonna do if I find myself at your place unexpectedly and we’re low on tools?! You’ve gotta think ahead!”

     artoria had a feeling that emere would prefer to create a device rather than do the cleaning manually. “as i expected and hoped, i am in your debt as always.” were she incapable of lifting several times her own weight, then she also expected emere would have wanted to create a device to do all of the heavy lifting as well. although, actually, that gave her an idea.

     “would you like to run the science division? creating technology that will be helpful both on the field and around our bases. i don’t understand modern technology all that well as you know, so you could likewise advise me on the best tools to use and have made as needed, along with how to use them.” she paused a moment, raising a finger to her chin in thought.

     “does that sound agreeable? i’m sure we can make it more streamlined closer to our opening date.”

“Oh please! You are in no such thing.” And she was already glancing around with renewed vigour, imaging what kind of design might work best in a place like this. But when Artoria made her offer her eyes were practically sparkling. 

“You’re gonna have such a division?! I mean yeah I’d love that! Helping with what, exactly? Just so I can get some idea. I’ll pretty much help you with anything I can though! But, you should know I do help out a friend occasionally at his place, though that’s not exactly a big constraint on my time.”

The device on her wrist flashed momentarily. “You should also know she’s not very good at staying in one place for extended periods.”

“Haha, yeah...”

“The end goal I spoke of was created in this instant after the question was posed, as it has not been something that has particularly been bothering me but was the only thing I could think of to change when put on the spot. Flight would be nice however I am concerned, like you say, with the inferior technology found here and how it would hold up against what we are used to.”

Out of all the wards, this one had the most high tech stuff by far, but it was all in downtown Fibonacci and… largely in use. Not for the taking. A shame, really, because she really wants to know how those teleporters work.

“Our ship being returned to us would be the ideal scenario. In one piece, even more so, though I am sure HANDY could take over all of the repairs if otherwise.” One dry AI versus another in a battle of computer-calculated wits.

“As long as you are around, I am satisfied and happy. You have always been the more inventive of the two of us… and adventurous. So if I can help you in either of those regards, I am content to get my fill of those things vicariously. Speaking of which, I believe you still have some of your tools awaiting us at my home that you have been meaning to collect.”

Chemi wasn’t in any more hurry to get going, she just wanted to humorously (in Chemi’s fashion of humour, anyway) remind Emere that her mess is spreading to Chemi’s home now, too. With a small shuffle of one foot, she playfully splashed Emere’s rain boot to show there was no genuine bitterness in her dry voice either.

“Perfect! It just means you were incredibly efficient, as always.” She stuck her tongue out as she winked. “I mean, it can’t hold up really. Which is frustrating for a whole mess of reasons but largely because it’s obvious there’s so much more going on under the surface here! I don’t think we’ll get back to exactly what we’re use to without spending a lot of time, but I think we can keep making steady improvements.”

I tall came back to power. She could keep improving machines to make more precise and comprehensive mechanics, but ultimately they’d hit a wall if they couldn’t generate the energy to power what they’d built. “I suppose that would be typical.”

“Oh yeah, absolutely! It saves having to bring them over! Also then they’re just there if you ever need them.” Her smile was bright and entirely innocent. 

Chemi laughed too when she was called adorable, and jumped again, and then again, until she and Emere were hopping in equal amounts with equal intensity under the rain. The whole time she still kept the umbrella held perfectly above them to maximize coverage from the rain… even if ‘maximum’ was still ‘barely any’ when they jumped apart from each other.

Chemi gave a couple more hops after Emere stopped but eventually did settle too as she thought about the question.

“To make?” she repeated, though she heard her perfectly well. While she thought, her eyes turned into circular loading symbols.

“I am uncertain. Creative thought without an end goal has never been my strong suit, nor has it been for any Index. I suppose some better method of transportation might be nice, as while I do not tire, it would make it easier to carry many items across longer distances, as well as passengers like you.”

She really hasn’t put much thought into long term goals here… she’s been taking things one day at a time, and that’s been fine for her as long as Emere was here too. But Chemi didn’t think ‘helping you’ would be taken as an answer here.

“It is more difficult for me to create aspirations for myself when all of my base needs are met.”

“Well I was about to say ‘then why not think of an end goal?’ But it sounds like you thought of one already. Goals don’t always need to be distant and huge after all, some more transportation would be nice. A lot of the transportation here only really seems to favour the road or rails which is fine for a city I guess, but what I really want is something for traversing the ruined city, or the forest! Flight would be ideal but there’s not a lot to work with when it comes to efficiency here.”

“But I mean what I really, really want is our ship, even if it was effected like everything else here seems to be. For all the obvious reasons, but also because I miss it!”

Handy flashed on her wrist, the light shining from under her sleeve for a moment. 

“It would indeed be nice to inhabit the ship again and not just your suit when you lose consciousness.” It was dry, as the AI was want to be, but free of any genuine bitterness. 

“Well, I care about both of your base needs, so I’m happy if that’s true.”

“It is more than just a little rain. It is quite a lot of rain, actually…” But Chemi knew better than to think Emere meant it literally; it might’ve taken her a while after they met to stop taking her so literally, but she got there eventually! “You do look like you are having fun.”

Chemi was still a little unsure of the safety of it, but that ship has launched. So, after watching Emere’s secondary little hops she walked up to meet her in the puddle, holding the umbrella over the two of them now. With about as blank and not-fun-having a stare as a robot can have, Chemi did her own little hop in the puddle.

There was hardly any splash though, but Chemi wasn’t sure if the splash was required to have maximum fun. She did make a ^_^ face and glow a bit brighter, though.

“Psh! Psh I say!” But she said it with a smile and laughter. She knew that Chemi knew she’d taken far greater risks than rain in any amounts, and would certainly do so again. “I am!”

And it was all the more fun when Chemi decided to join her, even if it was in a rather tentative, measured way that was quite typical of the Index. “Yeah! See! You’re adorable.”

And there they were; two hyper intelligent scientists jumping and splashing around in the puddles. It definitely didn’t their route any shorter, but eventually she did stop her jumping to ask;

“While I am, of course, always willing to strive for further improvement, I would advise you to keep in mind that increased productivity is not permanently sustainable. Eventually, we will hit some sort of plateau.” Either that, or end up emptying every scrapyard first.

“I am hanging on—Wait, Emere—” But it was too late, Emere had already run out. Were it anyone else, Chemi would’ve run after her (and she did take a step or two in her direction) but she knew that Emere wouldn’t do anything that would harm her… too much.

Instead, she watched as Emere lept into the puddle with a big splash, still holding out the umbrella, over nothing at all.

“While seeing you play around with such happy energy is always cute, Emere, I have to inquire if it is safe for you or not? A raincoat does not provide total water immunity.”

“It doesn’t need to be permanent! I just think we can get so much more! Think about when we can bring transport.” Handy, knowing full well the use of discussions on sustainability, opted to remain silent for now. 

There was of course no waiting for Emere. After the big jump she did a few more hoppy bounces around the puddle. 

“Of course it’s safe!”