Writer’s spot: Greetings friends! Finally, a new body for our beeping friend!
SO, after much delay, here I finally deliver the body! I… still have a bit of a hard time to describe robots, so I ended up cheating a bit with a bit of google search to have some kind of basis... Sigh, I feel defeated.
BESIDES, many people were worried about what would happen with his beeping once he got his new body… Well, see the results for yourself.
BESIDES(II), I plan on taking Saturday as a break, so that I can put up some games that have been sitting around my room for some time now up to date (yeah, I’m going to play them). But I might still make a small update like an Insania SS and the so promised character list (Professional procrastinator here…)
Beep, and enjoy your story!
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[And now?] Gaz asked.
[An arachnid body with a mortar on the back.] Ruby answered immediately.
[Good. Next.] Gaz said.
[What about this one?] Ekis said curious, and Ruby stopped to think for a moment.
[An equine body with wheels for roads.] She answered.
[Right again.] Gaz said while nodding in his mind.
Since they had their talk earlier, Gaz, Ruby and Ekis had been trying to figure out how the link worked to make the girl and the robot work together so nicely. From the looks of it, it seemed that whatever plan that Gaz and Ekis had open within their link would also spill over to the young girl as some kind of idea or inspiration.
Besides that, whenever one of them decided to work on a piece in particular, the other would have a strange impulse to work on a piece that connects to that piece or that was of vital importance. It was a subtle way of coordinating, but it worked perfectly fine.
Yet, Gaz couldn’t help but wonder that the very link that allowed him to communicate with another person that wasn’t the goddess, also made conversation pretty much useless, since these impulses were a lot more precise to coordinate than simply talking. As incredible as that sounded, it was also the truth.
Meanwhile they were also adding the final pieces of the body, as Gaz finished molding the wolf-like face that Ekis had designed and Ruby used the workshop’s tools to somehow replicate the needle launcher. But, thanks to an actual genius idea from Gaz, who usually simply went around building whatever he was told to, he asked if they couldn’t separate the part that created the needles from the one that shoots it, Ruby was spending even more time than what she initially expected so that she could do such a feat.
[Say, what about seeing through her, can you do that?] Gaz asked Ekis as he opened a space within the torso to put a furnace and a steam-tank.
[That… Could be useful…] Ekis said nodding. [Do you mind, Ruby?] She asked the girl, who felt slightly surprised.
[Will… Will it hurt?] The girl asked worried.
[You will feel as if your head is splitting open and all the bones in your body are being slowly crunched to bits before being grinded to dust.] Gaz said in a perfectly serious voice.
[RE-REALLY?]
[Nah, just fooling with ya. I actually have no idea.] He said in a playful tone, and he felt as annoyance came from both sides of the link.
[Forget the mean Beepy. Mind if I try now?] Ekis asked gently, and felt as Ruby reluctantly accepted the ordeal.
Gaz… Didn’t feel any difference the moment that Ekis stopped sharing his vision, except the fact that the small text that expressed that she was sharing his video-feed disappeared.
Seeing that simply waiting for them would lead to nothing, so he kept doing his work while patiently waiting the duo to give their explanations on what was happening.
[Hmm… My head hurt a little. But it’s over now…] He heard Ruby saying. [Ekis…? Are you here?]
[Wha…? Yeah… I am…] The goddess replied, her voice sounding a bit at loss for a moment before she finally regained her focus. [This… This feels so… Different from Gaz.] She said a bit surprised. [Waah! Are these your hand? They look so small! Everything looks so small!] The goddess said in surprise.
[… I think this is the first time someone called me big…] Ruby said with a wry tone, to which Gaz laughed loudly.
…
Ekis had been marveling at how everything looked so different from when she was with Gaz. Things that she always thought that looked gigantic now looked only a bit big, and things that she thought that were just the right size now looked so small.
And she shared the other sensations of her new host. Touch, smell, hearing, taste… Everything seemed so similar to how she felt through Gaz’s sensors, yet felt so different at the same time… She couldn’t quite understand how to explain the difference, yet they were there. And this left the goddess surprised at how different the world seemed from an organic’s point of view.
So, when Lunn suddenly hugged Ruby from behind, Ekis couldn’t help but yelp in surprise at the sudden feeling.
“SWEETY! HERE YOU WERE!” The elf said while hugging the morfian. “You have been inside that depot for sooo long! I was starting to miss you!”
“Lunn?” Ruby asked while trying to get some room to breathe. “I… I was helping beepy build a new body.” She said a bit flustered.
“Hmm… I see…” The elf said while rubbing her cheek on Ruby’s head. “Oh! Sorius said that we are gathering to make some planning after lunch today.”
“Planning? For what?” She asked confused.
“Ross thinks that there’s a chance that the Blacktriggers might try to get you tomorrow, so he wants to be sure.” Lunn explained with a slight angry tone. “But there’s no need to worry! I’ll NEVER let them take you!” The elf said while hugging the girl again.
[So… What happened?] The two girls heard Gaz asking. [You two suddenly seemed worried.]
[It seems that the Blacktriggers might attack tomorrow, so Sorius want to have a meeting.] Ruby said.
[Ooh! Ask for it to be on the workshop. This way we can keep working.] Gaz said suddenly.
“Hmm… Can… The meeting be down here?” Ruby asked shyly and saw as the elf blinked surprised.
“Why? Isn’t the living room a bit more spacious?” She asked confused.
“So that… I can keep working on Beepy’s body… It’s almost done…”
“The meeting will be down here.” A third voice suddenly came from the stairs, surprising the two girls. They turned there and saw Yllivia with a decided look.
“Geez Ylli. You really like Beepy, don’t you?” Lunn said teasingly, but Yllivia simply nodded.
[Oh, before you come down, try to get some leaper’s pistons. Ross should still have some with him.] Gaz suddenly added.
[And how will we do that? Isn’t he holding them for his armor or something?] Ekis asked confused.
[I… Have a way to get them.] Ruby said as she looked towards Yllivia. She felt a confused feeling from Gaz, but she didn’t say anything elese.
…
The lesson that Ekis learned that day, was that as long as the excuse ‘for beepy’ was given to the Lynnian, they could get almost anything they wanted within the group. This once again left the goddess a bit worried about the girl’s future, as she seemed to have too easy of a time manipulating people around her.
Still, she got the pistons that Gaz wanted, so there wasn’t much she could complain.
Lunch time came and Ekis had a shock on how different cooked food tasted when compared to the fruits that Gaz usually had from Yllivia. Not that he couldn’t taste food, but even that was vastly different from what she was used to.
Immediately afterwards, Ruby helped Gaz go downstairs, and while the group sat down around the ground, she and the robot started working on assembling the final parts of his body.
“So, Ross, what do you think will happen tomorrow?” Sorius asked while looking at the dwarf.
“Dat… Actually depends.” The dwarf said with a shrug. “Dere’s probably no way dat them will know where the meeting will be.” He said while scratching his head. “But dat’s only if dey are working for demselves.”
“You… Think they might be working for someone else?” Yllivia asked and the dwarf nodded.
[Geez, that sounds annoying.] Gaz said a bit distractedly as he started to ignore their talk so he could focus back on the body.
He took the legs that took him so long to work thanks to one small mechanism that he had a bit of a hard time. He had to add a mechanism that would separate the leg’s gear from the inner motor, then align then when getting back together. The reason for that? So that he could use the pistons for sudden bursts of energy. But the sudden movement had a chance to damage the motors within the leg, so he needed to be sure that they weren’t linked when he activated it.
On the plus side, the pistons were also working as shock absorbers, so he could take on the sudden impacts that came from upwards. They also added the claws from the drones, making sure that they could be retracted when not in use.
For the main body, they added the main circuit-boards that he would need when using the body, but since the core took on most of the data processing, there was still a lot of space left within it, so they added a small furnace and steam tank to power the pistons and the modified needle-launchers. They also added the new needle-makers and a piping system to redirect it towards the now steam-powered launchers. Nodding satisfied, Gaz gave a look on his body, as all that was left now was to give the finishing touches. Meanwhile, the group kept going with their talk about strategies to do the following day.
…
Gaz waited patiently while laying low on the ground. From where he was, he could easily “see” as the large troll, Gorgoff, guided another four other persons through the corridor and towards the room where they would have their meeting. Once inside, he saw as the four others became surprised for a moment while seeing the scene before them.
Inside were Volgoff, Sorius and Ross. The three stood against the wall while looking across the room and towards the large window on the other side. They gave a brief nod towards the newcomers before looking back to the window.
Sorius and Volgoff both wore perfectly black suits and had a necktie as a finishing touch. Sorius had a sharper than usual look thanks to his suit, and had his trusted rifle standing on the wall near him. Volgoff, on the other hand, looked like a hired thug, with his suit almost ripping free. It surprised the robot to see how short the troll’s fur actually was once you got beneath it.
Ross, still had his full power-armor, now with some slight addition made by Ruby. But he did add a small butterfly tie as his formal attire, which looked a bit ridiculous, but that didn’t seem to bother the dwarf.
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“These are our hired bodyguards. We thought we could use the extra security.” Volgoff said as to reassure the guests.
They all nodded, their faces a mix of worry and relief at the same time. The woman that was with the group even threw a slightly provocative gaze to Sorius, but the elf kept his steel-hard face, not even twitching. Meanwhile, the other one, a red-furred troll, looked around confused for a moment.
“Volgoff, where’s the professor?” He asked a bit confused.
“She’ll be arriving soon, Mister Stroganoff.” Volgoff replied with a business smile, but Gaz didn’t really care about this.
[OH MY GOD! ARE YOU SERIOUS? THE GUY’S NAME IS STROGANOFF?] Gaz shouted while laughing loudly through the link. He even had to hold himself back to not end up giving up his position by doing some noise or something of the kind.
[I… Don’t think I got the joke…] Ekis said confused.
[Not now, Beepy… I’m trying to calm myself here, you know?] Ruby said with a slight hint of annoyance. [Besides, mr. Stroganoff is a respectable man on the industry.]
[Sorry… It’s just so…] Gaz said while trying to control his laughter. A sigh came from Ruby before everything went quiet again.
Turning his attention back to the room, Gaz watched as the arrivals slowly sat down around the reunion table, leaving the corner near the whiteboard empty so that the professor could take seat there.
The group waited patiently for a couple of minutes, but Gaz could see as the group started to discuss cheerfully to each other. Some of them excited to see the professor the first time, others looking forward to her new project she was about to announce today.
Then, the door suddenly opened, and in came a few people. In the front was Yllivia, the Lynnian. She wore one of the formal dresses that Lunn had forced her to buy back at the shopping spree, an oriental style chine dress, also known as Cheongsam back at Gaz’s world. Incidentally, this one was made on the occident in this world. It had a simple black color with a discreet golden embroidery around the right shoulder. According to what she said earlier, it was the easiest dress to move around.
Then, came Lunn, letting her pink hair fall freely while wearing a silver dress that matched with her gloves. The dress left little to imagination and even made some of the men in the room gasp a bit when she smiled mischievously. Different from Yllivia, who came in with apparently nothing beside her weapons tied around her thigh, Lunn was carrying a small folder around.
And just as some of the guests started to wonder whether she was the said professor, in came the last person.
From the three, she was the shortest. Wearing a red dress that went all the way to her knees which matched with her tied up hair. Even though she was obviously a morfian, they couldn’t make out her features, as she wore a golden mask that covered everything except her mouth, which was firmed into a thin line. The morfian looked briefly around, her gaze resting for a brief moment over each member of the room before moving to the next.
Gaz saw as each person within the room flinched slightly whenever the newcomer looked at them. Even Gaz gulped within his mind, as the woman in front of him had a superior air around her, as if she could see right through the men within the room.
“Greetings, gentlemen. Madam.” The woman said with a short nod towards the newcomers.
“Greetings, professor.” Volgoff said after recovering from his shock.
“P-Professor?” One of the guests asked confused. “I… I thought that you said that the professor was still very young…” Said the dwarf a bit confused.
“I can assure you, that I what he told you is true.” Ruby said in a serious tone, which made the dwarf nod and sit down a bit shocked.
[…Who the hell are you and what the hell did you do to Ruby?] Gaz asked.
[Not now.] She replied coldly. [I have a work to do here.]
[YES MA’AM.] He replied in an army tone as he saw the young girl sitting down on the table, the elf and the lynnian standing behind her.
“As you know, I asked this meeting to be hastened because I was attacked on my way here. Even after we used diversion tactics like saying that the meeting was going to be in a different city.” She said as she looked at each and everyone within the room.
“You… Have been attacked?” The Lynnian woman sitting at the table asked surprised, and Ruby nodded.
“An attempt by the Blacktriggers. Luckily, my bodyguards managed to protect me. But they still got the word that I was coming to this area in particular, so I couldn’t take my time with this.” She said before nodding towards Lunn.
Lunn smiled back at her and opened the folder where she started to distribute it to the other people around the room. Each one of them got a small stack of paper.
“Now, let’s start talking about business.” Ruby said. “I heard you had some problems with the fuel consumption of the Gargoyle’s motor, right? I might have the solution for that.” She said as she opened her own stack of papers.
…
[Will you stop that annoying music already?] Ruby complained on the link.
[It’s not annoying. It’s a music straight from super Mario brothers! It’s an eight bit classic!] Gaz said in a teacher tone.
[I didn’t understand a single word of that…] Ekis said confused.
[I don’t care about classics from your world. Just stop sending it through here!] Ruby said as she slightly frowned her eyes. Luckily, the mask didn’t show it and the guests analyzing her research’s result were oblivious to her inner conflict.
[BUT I’M BORED HERE!] Gaz complained in a teary tone.
[Then unbore yourself!] Ruby said angrily. [Just don’t do it when I’m working, okay?]
[What do you think I’m doing here?] Gaz asked. [Geez, I liked more when you were easily embarrassed. You aren’t so cute anymore…]
The duo would probably keep bickering at each other for a little longer if it weren’t for the fact that Yllivia lowered herself slightly to speak at Ruby’s ear, and Gaz’s presence sensor picked up some new signals.
Ruby nodded slightly towards the lynnian before turning her focus back at the group, seeing their reactions as they read the papers. However, this brief exchange didn’t escape Sorius, Ross and Volgoff, who all smiled slightly for a moment before going back to their expressionless face.
Just when the Professor was about to go back to her own explanations, a loud sound echoed within the whole room. It was the sound of glass breaking, people entering and guns firing. Alarms echoed around the whole building as dwarves stormed in the room, all of them wearing armor suits and sporting heavy weapons.
There were surprised shouts and bullets flying everywhere as a firefight started, the guests all ducked down in a hurry and hid themselves beneath the table. An automatic reaction to such a sudden happening.
However, the professor and her bodyguards simply stood still while smiling slightly.
“No need to worry.” She said with a mysterious smile. “It’s all happening two floors above.”
The guests all raised their heads, confused as they saw Sorius slowly take out his rifle and open a small spot on the huge window and taking aim at a far-away building. A gun-shot echoed on the whole room as the Elf took out the gun back and nodded proudly to himself and making a sign to his companions.
“Wha… What do you mean?” The lynnian businesswoman asked confused.
“We marked the meeting to be on the twentieth floor, right?” Ruby asked, and saw as the woman nodded confused. “Well, a little tampering with the floor indicator and making sure that all of you were together and I easily managed to make this meeting happen on the eighteenth floor.”
“Wait… You expected the attack to happen?” Stroganoff asked, and Ruby smiled.
“We had suspicions, and this small scene just proved it.” She said once again before turning towards Sorius. “Would you care to explain?”
“Yes ma’am.” He said as he walked up behind her. “The only ones who were aware of the location of this meeting were the very ones within this room. Yet the breach clearly occurred on that room, which should be swarming with security right about now. This can only mean one thing.” He said. “Someone within this room leaked the location of the meeting.” A quick static on his radio and a short conversation later and he turned back to the group. “We have a prisoner and we can get the name fairly easy.”
Just as he said that, he saw as the last person on the room, a male lynnian blinked surprised and paled a bit. The elf smiled at the scene and saw as the others also turned towards him.
“Err… I… You see…” The man started saying before eyeing the door.
In the end, he ran away, trying to reach the door before anyone could reach him.
“Not very good under pressure, is he?” Ross said mockingly. “Oi, Beepy! It’s yer time to shine!” He shouted.
And just as the man was about to reach the door, a loud sound came from nearby as the fake wall was ripped apart from within, and from there came a robot, jumping at him and pinning down into the ground.
The lynnian looked at the robot and tried to snap free from its grasp, but he quickly changed his idea as he saw what held him.
It was a large wolf-like robot, with thick legs and a mane-like armor on its back, it had a stream-lined design, with the armor laying in layers around the mane and the tail. Some open spots around its armor let some of the excess steam to escape, which was strange, as the robot looked like an electric one instead of a steam-powered. On its head, a pair of red-tinted cameras shined dangerously as a series of carefully planned piston and hinges opened its snout just enough so that the dangerous teeth-like blade showed.
And as if to put an emphasis on how dangerous it was, with a quick motion, spikes appeared around the wolf’s body, like the mane and the tail, giving it an edgy look as a low grow seemed to escape it.
Yllivia slowly approached the robot and put her hand on its mane as she slowly started to pet him and his head.
“Good work, Beepy.” She said emotionlessly.
“Beep.” The wolf responded, the beep sounding oddly out of place with such a ferocious looking appearance. Still, the lynnian smiled as she crouched down and lifted the downed man, dragging him back to the room.
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Writer’s spot (the 2nd): I guess I should link the robot image I used, right? I used it as a base, but made some small alterations to it...
Beepy's body