The automaton wasn't looking as fine as before, the skin around the stomach having been cut up and sewed back together in a more grotesque fashion. Especially on the sides, there were folds here and there, clearly not meant as anything that came close to healthy. While there was no blood or guts floating around on the outside, Cassandra couldn't help but stop in her step after getting back into the courtyard.
"You have not been called for yet," the automation standing beside Jules said, looking at the woman impassively.
"You were about to do it a second ago, so I don’t think that anybody needs to get in a hissy fit over it," Jules replied before Cassandra had any chance to. "Were you bored waiting, dear? The car must have been the most relaxing place to sleep."
"I did not sleep in the car. I merely waited," Cassandra corrected, getting closer so she could see the reparations close up. The sewing was not up to her personal standards but they were clearly made to last. The material as well, the thread being nothing like Cassandra had ever seen. Though, the woman wasn't truly surprised about that fact, constructs likely using a different resource kit entirely when it came to operations on the field.
"Well, the hour-long wait must not have been fun when all you had to do was stare into the windshield. You didn't even look on the net or anything!" Jules stated, sounding disgusted with its own words. Though… that left one question needing to be answered.
"How do you know what I did during the wait? From what I have been led to believe, you were too damaged to connect," Cassandra said, finally checking the time herself. And, lo and behold, more than a full hour had passed since she first left through the main entrance. It was getting closer and closer to later in the day, yet the woman had barely noticed the time passing. How concerning an event.
"A certain someone," Jules said, smacking the automation beside it on the shoulder, "gave me constant updates on your whereabouts. I had a slight fear of you going off and trying to figure out where the mystery happened to run to."
The automation had seemingly gone into explaining mode before Cassandra could even demand more details, the construct having grown used to the treatment need to stop the woman’s anger. It might also have been due to her having troubles about her movements being watched again, the woman previously being of the belief that she had been freed from such a thing.
"Do you know what restraints you are under with the new additions?" Cassandra asked, still on her knees next to the automation. Her hands were on the stomach, putting a mild pressure around the tissue that had been sewed. There was a hardness below those areas as if some form of metal or plastic had been put there. It might have been a natural dissolvent but it would likely remain there for either a few hours or a few days. Certainly too long no matter what to make it possible for the regular amount of backflips. Could it even bend down without there being a danger of seams unintentionally bursting?
"There are some issues with lifting anything too heavy, but I believe we will manage somehow," Jules said in earnest, scratching its cheek in response to the woman’s constant touch. The other automation beside them only watched on, likely trying to figure out the need for repetitive inspections. Cassandra didn't truly care, making sure that the work was truly as fine as put out before. "It’s not like I will be expected to lift any cars in the next days."
"Be more exact on the limits. Are you allowed to lift ten kilos or a hundred kilos?" Cassandra questioned, getting up from her position. Her knees popped at the sudden lift, the previous pressure on them not doing them any good. Not that the woman paid attention, only moving over to another part of the courtyard to grab her jacket. There was no small amount of happiness related to the fact that there weren't any blood-stains on it. That would have required way too much time to clean properly.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
"It’s closer to two hundred kilos if you really want to be exact about it," Jules said, to which the woman immediately turned her eyes back on the automation. "Oh, don’t give me that look. It’s not like I'm proud of this weakness either. Sorry that I can't throw a tank like I usually can. Most people get issues like this after a bit of time. It’s called naturally ageing, okay?"
Ignoring what was likely inane comments made from a deprived algorithm, Cassandra couldn't help but be yet again surprised at just how much that thing could lift. Two hundred kilos was seen as weak? The woman could barely do the same comfortably, and she was likely in the top one per cent of the world. If the automation could do that much while weakened… it made a little more sense why the other construct in the room had been so upfront about the true limits being classified.
"I believe we won’t have a problem with that," Cassandra said. While there might have been some usefulness in having Jules help with covering the last windows, that part had already been completed by a certain other automation. Which left the three entities without to do but sit and talk. Not that the woman even thought about doing such a lazy thing, even if it would provide more time for talking. "When is the full recovery estimated to have been completed?"
"Blood packets need time to get back in working order, you know. Just pushing more in won’t do more than making it hard for everything involved," Jules said, pushing hands down in an air motion. When that explanation seemed to have satisfied the woman in no way at all, however, the construct continued with its words. "There is a continuous system of the liquid being transferred through my body. With that system having been disrupted very heavily, some stability will be needed before there is any chance that transferring more inside would cause me extreme harm. It’s hard to truly fathom how this actually works, I will actually need you to trust me on this because there is no way-"
"Sure," Cassandra said, not wanting to hear it all. She knew there was an explanation for it, and she knew that the automation could give it if she so desired. Since there was no reason to be angry or paranoid, the woman just left it at that. "We have other tasks at hand, so it might be best to get back to the street from before. Grunwald needs to be replaced."
"Oh, sure, I’ll just run up there and-" Jules began to say again, but the woman cut it off before it even had a chance."
"You will be driving with me in the car. Grunwald’s automation, however, will be running at a higher speed to let the man get back to his position in a timely manner. In fact, nobody would be annoyed if that automation were to begin this task immediately," Cassandra said, putting strain on the last sentence while staring directly at the automation mentioned. The automation in question started right back before getting a small glance from the other construct. Maybe that was where the message got into its head since it began running on the spot, out of the door before Cassandra had time to send a sigh in its direction. "It is not the smartest of the bunch."
"I would call all of us average since we all have the same intelligence," Jules corrected, talking more along the lines of the automations as a whole instead of just the group that the construct was in personally. "Though… some of us might use it for less efficient subjects. I use it to be the charming bastard that we all know and love, while my counterpart uses it to constantly review every single rule ever made in the history of this country’s reign. If it wasn't for a max quote on outset messages, that bastard alone would have crashed the national history museum. Oh, the things the idiot has sent as questions before. Almost makes me faint in embarrassment."
"If you are going to faint, please do it in the car," Cassandra said, hurrying the automation along with a push. It was a very strong push, more than enough to have crushed most adults to the bone, yet the automation just laughed it off like it was nothing. "I am being serious. Don’t you dare faint in a place where I can’t transport you?"
"Of course dear. It would be much too embarrassing for a high and mighty woman like you to request assistance another time within two hours. What would the powerful press think about such a scandal," the automation said, clearly in need of a kick between the legs. Not that it would do anything, pain clearly not in the constructed repertoire, lest it would have howled from the grip the woman had on its arm.
Cassandra had taken the warning about the fainting seriously, after all. While she might not have been able to catch the automation completely if it came to something like that, the woman was more than sure of her ability to slow the descent, if she acted fast enough. And with the preparations put out, she was sure that she could turn a cracked skull into a mild concussion.
"Just move it."
"Alright, alright. No need to push that much."