planetary

[dark_light]

Over the next week, Isabella gets the alethiometer to tell her that the planets they looked at don't contain microorganisms that know what to do with a human body (although the one with the giant bugs has some multicellular parasites that might be able to make do with the foreign macro-scale features of a human body if they got the chance). "The present", it includes in one of its answer phrasings, which is kind of worrying. But Adarin makes enough progress with his scry in little enough time that it's worth the double-check.

Isabella also hires ticket-takers, gives them little pots of ink to verify the authenticity of the passes she handed out, and opens the Los Angeles - New York route for the employees of her three companies of choice and anyone who shells out a cool fifteen thousand dollars per round trip (ten K for a one-way). This is steep, but it's within an order of magnitude of what people sometimes pay for short-notice first-class cross-country flights - with less novelty and more hassle. Albeit she doesn't supply inflight meals. She expects to have to raise the price when more people hear about it in response to volume and then be able to drop it again.

By the time the thing has been open for a few days she's fired and replaced one ticket-taker and the others have settled into a routine that she's willing to try out leaving unsupervised for awhile.

If Adarin's up for some up close and personal planet shopping and his results suggest it'll go well, anyway.

Comments

[dark_light]

"REPEAT YOUR CLAIM FOR VOICE RECOGNITION" suggests the robot.

"I'm going to fly out of the city - go ahead and drop it if nothing shoots at us on the way."

[prodigal_miser]

"All right," he replies, giving the robot a look that says, 'I won't break you. This time.'

[dark_light]

The robot does not react to his facial expression.

Isabella takes them briskly back the way they came, eyes peeled for more of the robots.

[prodigal_miser]

The shield is up the entire way. Don't mind him, reality, Adarin's just breaking your rules all over the place.

He watches for other robots as well, paranoid.

[dark_light]

No other robots trouble them.

She lands back where they teleported in, because staying on a flying tree branch is a little much effort after a scare like that.

"Fuck that was terrifying," she says, letting go of her cloud-pine to hug him hard.

[prodigal_miser]

When they're out of the city and safe, the shield is grudgingly dropped.

He hugs her back, obviously worried. "You're okay, right? No funky robotic mind control or invisible weaponry or - something? Because I will go back and break them all if they managed that."

[dark_light]

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she says. "Just scared. Geez, Path's probably freaking out at home and has no idea why..."

[prodigal_miser]

Hugs. All of the hugs. "It's okay," he says soothingly. "I said I'd keep you safe and I damn well meant it."

Now that Isabella's confirmed as both A. Safe and B. Completely fine, he can relax. A little.

(He's shaking.)

[dark_light]

Isabella is still hugging him.

"I was really spooked but - it bothered to ask questions, and answer them," she says. "I'm sort of inclined to believe the things it said. Feel free to check me over for alien robot mind control if you have a way to do that, I just can't think of a good reason for a robot to be designed to conversationally evaluate potential threats and then not shoot at, yet lie to, some of them."

[prodigal_miser]

"I... Do not have a way to do that, I'm just being really paranoid. I can't think of a good reason that it would do that either, but I was not expecting them to come to life and ask us questions, so obviously I missed something."

[dark_light]

"Well, the coming to life and asking questions I can explain, they were some alien faction's side during a war when all the aliens died and they have really good batteries. They ignore wildlife, I guess, but we don't look like wildlife, and they expect a decent chance we're invaders. And I guess the unpronounceable invader scum have a thing about not verbally denying their allegiance."

[prodigal_miser]

"I suppose so. I mean, it makes sense, but I'm annoyed at myself for not thinking of the possibility beforehand."

He sighs. "So, what should we do?"

[dark_light]

"Come back when you have a full tank of mana?" she asks. "In case you need the shield again. "And - talk to the robots and see what they have to say when I'm not thirty percent adrenaline."

[prodigal_miser]

"Yeah. I can do another shield now if we need to, it's not expensive, it just keeps draining as I hold it. And of course, the more I use the shield, the longer we have to be here until I can teleport us home, or wait for Ana to do it."

[dark_light]

"Exactly. They don't seem to be - like - trundling out here to surround us or anything, though."

[prodigal_miser]

Adarin nods. "Thankfully. Do you think if we went to another city, there would be another set asking us if we were part of the faction that decided to point weapons at us?"

[dark_light]

"The robots might know," she points out. "...This probably isn't comforting but I'd be surprised if opposing factions used the same basic design of robot."

[prodigal_miser]

"Great. So if the rest of the world had robots, they will probably point weapons at us and make us pronounce incomprehensible things."

[dark_light]

"If they do voice recognition at all. Maybe we can get some of these robots to work for us and send them as scouts into places that might be inhabited by other robots."

[prodigal_miser]

"... True. I think I'm still paranoid and on edge."

[dark_light]

Isabella pets him.

[prodigal_miser]

He is pet. "I'm extremely glad you're safe," he murmurs.

[dark_light]

"Me too. You were very quick with that shield," she says.

[prodigal_miser]

"Thanks. It wouldn't be much use if it took forever to get up, so... I worked on my reflexes for that one. A lot. You probably saw with the gummy worm training."

[dark_light]

"I saw you hoarding them, what does that have to do with shields?"