ximilia | text | un: asogi

You're telling me you actually broke something before I did?

I never said that!

[You good as did, buddy...]

Um. Why else would you need to take something to be repaired?

Sometimes things just break! It doesn't have to be my fault!

[It totally is, though.]

Alright, alright, granted! I mean, obviously I can't disagree with that...

[It DOESN'T have to be his fault. BUT. Is that true of THIS case...?

...No, it totally is his fault. Ryu can tell. Why else would he be getting so flustered and defensive about it? That's a 'kazuma made a clumsy and embarrassing mistake' flag right there if he's ever seen one.]

You have no room to talk, anyway. How many bowstrings have you snapped?

[When in doubt, redirect to bullying Ryunosuke.]

[He can try, but Ryu feels he has the high ground here. Also, it's way easier to act disaffected over text :)]

Mmm, but a bowstring is easy enough to replace. Now, a fancy piece of station technology, on the other hand...

If they're that complicated to replace, maybe they shouldn't be made so delicately.

[Kazuma he is going to remember this part of the conversation when he finds out you cut it in half with a goddamn sword. 'Delicately' his ass...]

I merely meant hypothetically... It's not as if I have the slightest idea how to differentiate between devices that would be complicated to replace, and run of the mill equipment.

[Anything that doesn't stand up to a sword is delicate!!!]

Hopefully it will be a simple fix. The pieces are fairly large.

（ with heavy, heavy annoyance for having to admit this, but... ）

Newton Geiszler.

Thank you. Where can I find them?

He may be in the station lab, or you may reach him via the earpiece. His username is @newt.

I appreciate the prompt information. I'll be sure to let him know you sent me.

No need.

（ newt will, no doubt, figure it out. ）

YOOOOOOOOOOOO
WHATS UP, NEW DUDE????

[salutations I was summoned because I’m needy]

[Inexplicably, Kazuma feels profound dread reading this comment. But he needs the help regardless.]

Would you be the aforementioned Newton Geiszler?

[I can't imagine why, Kazuma.]

The one and only! But call me Newt.
You having some technical issues, or what?

Edited 2022-12-07 21:55 (UTC)

[Something... like that...]

I'm still largely unfamiliar with the technology here. It will probably be easier for me to show you. [and that way he won't have to describe it in public for anyone to read] Are you available for a consult at the moment?

I'm totally available! In fact, I'm at my desk in the lab; if you ever wanna know which one, just look for the one covered in stickers and junk food wrappers. You wanna head over, or is this something I need to come check out elsewhere?

Top secret y/n????

I'll come by the lab. I should be able to take it all with me.

[And that's all the information Newt will get from him for the time being. When Kazuma arrives at the lab several minutes later, it's easy enough to spot the desk Newt was describing, and Kazuma is even feeling polite enough not to make a comment on the state of it. There are more important matters at hand: in each arm, he's holding one half of the sad corpse of a roomba, cut cleanly into two pieces; its little internal wires and gears are all on full display, neatly bisected, and each half still has a googly eye attached to it, pointing lifelessly at opposite walls.

Kazuma's own face is equal parts resigned and chagrined. He knows what he did. He also very obviously has a sword strapped to his waist that he's hoping Newt will not comment on.]

[Oh how exciting, he thinks as he sits there patiently; he feels like a kid at Christmas! Nothing like waiting for a special gift frooo-]

—OoooOOH my god, dude! What did you do to him?!

[OH HE'S GENDERED IT, OH IT'S TOO REAL NOW.

He hops up to his feet the moment Kazuma walks in with this piece of machinery — nay, this patient — and gently takes one half of the sad roomba mess into his hands, flipping it around to observe the floppy little internal wires.]

Aw, man, what a shitshow... I don't know what it ate to earn your vengence, pal, but it couldn't have been that expensive...

[Kazuma visibly winces when Newt reacts with clear distress. He'd really been hoping it wasn't actually that big of a deal, even as he knew it was sure not to be. It's--well. Clearly destroyed. He's not even been here a week and he's already causing problems.

The longer Newt goes on, the more Kazuma appears to cringe.]

...It startled me. Please don't--phrase it like that--

[Revenge murdering roombas... his father would be so ashamed.....................]

[He tuts through this teeth, and starts carrying the poor thing over to his work desk (which is, of course, littered with abandoned notes and stacked books and little figurines and snack wrappers-).]

Whelp, you're in luck! I'm a genius, so this is child's play. The question is, do we leave a cool scar on it? I think it should have a cool scar. Like in an old samurai movie, where they run into the jaded old samurai? Hell yeah.

Uh...

[Kazuma feels like he's suffering from whiplash. Newt's first reaction had implied the dead roomba was a disaster, and now it's child's play? What is happening. He trails Newt back to his horrible desk, nonplussed.]

Are you saying you can fix it? [No comment on the scar thing.]

A lot of people might call this a lost cause, my guy.

Me? I always get whatever I say I can fix fixed. Come sit, kick up your feet — have some Pringles. They're pizza-flavored. Total delicacy of earth, if you're unfamiliar.

[He rambles as he walks the sad collection of robot bits over to his work desk.]

[Well, Kazuma is relieved to hear this? He thinks? At the very least, this Newton Gieszler seems willing to help him and has recovered from his earlier distress. He'll take whatever positives he can get. All he can do now is just keep following Newt aimlessly until the situation makes sense again.

...He also stops to take a crisp, since Newt is offering. He isn't sure what he expects it to taste like, but it isn't whatever actually hits his mouth; instead it's salty, and tomato-y, somehow. The future is so weird.

Kazuma tries to keep the weird expression off his face as he finishes the "Pringle," hoping Newt won't notice or be offended if he does.]

About how long do you expect this to take?

[Newton clicks his tongue, studying the sad heap in front of him for just a moment before he begins to collect some tools — a soldering iron, some scraps of metal, the usual nuts and bolts and wires with the extravagantly over-the-top collection of wire clippers and the like (rolled up in a very nerdy tool-carrying burrito).]

Hmmm. I think I can get everything pieced back together in — thirty minutes? Give or take, depending on how clean the cuts are and how small the wiring is. It’s not like this thing is a Jaeger armament, so it won’t be criminally lengthy.

[He’s already scalping the shell off, revealing the different pieces inside.]

Oh shit, there are pennies in here. Where’d it even find pennies?

[Welcome to the show. It’s like in olden times when people watched surgeons perform from a theater room.]

[He could probably just leave Newt be at this point, but Kazuma does actually look over Newt's shoulder with some interest, watching him work. Chattiness aside, Newt's tinkering reminds Kazuma of when Susato would take apart her father's watches, and he's fascinated in spite of himself.

Maybe he can even learn something, even if he has no idea what he's looking at.]

What exactly is the purpose of these things? Why were you so upset when I brought it in?

Because it's a cute little cleaning robot, and you bullied it!

[Which is to say, Newton Geiszler gives non-sentient objects agency and individuality in his head. Well, if the roomba really is just a basic robot in function with limited AI. Jury's out!

Newt, meanwhile, seems more than okay with being studied from over the shoulder.

He was, believe it or not, a college professor. I know.]

In less passionate terms: it's a robot built for cleaning up living spaces. These there? They sweep up dust and debris and this is where the litter goes. It's got a special navigation algorithm called 'VSLAM' that identifies landmarks on ceilings and distances between one wall to the next. The little chip that handles that happens to be split in half, but don't worry — I got a replacement I can recode and put in there.

Newton Geiszler. Or Viveca, if it's something connected to the station, although I'm not sure if it's possible to break those sorts of things.

What sorts of things are considered connected to the station?

Well, most of the machinery that's built into the station itself, like the lights, and the manufacturing machine in the armory, plus everything in the simulation and training room.

I think the cleaning bots might count too.

[Uh oh.]

Hypothetically, are there any penalties for accidentally causing minor damage?

No. I mean, we all take some time to adjust, and not everyone's used to technology.

[Oh good, at least he's not going to be thrown out on his ass for this.]

I'm grateful the station's proprietors are being so accommodating.

text | un: asogi

text; un: naruhodo

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text ↪ un: うちは

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Text | Un: newt

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text > action lol

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audio; un: Sabriel.Abhorsen

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