Drechi frowned coolly at West for a moment. He hated humans. Especially smart ones. But he'd be getting munitions from the deal, and the Council would probably buy it.
But even if they didn't, he could just turn the weaponry on any old human and get their funds that way.
Confident he'd benefit from some way, he and his men relaxed, although he still stared coldly at West and Essex.
The SpecOp team lead grinned smugly to himself at Toy saying they'd be best for the job.
"Yeah, I figured you'd get some sense, jackass. Alright. Where do you need us."
[ QUOTE ]
"Doctor Midas Phillis." he said with a wry smirk. "If everything Essex has told me about you is true, then I am certain that your abilities will find quite a stage to perform upon very soon."
[/ QUOTE ]
Dr. Phillis merely nodded to Dr. West. You should certainly hope so. he thought to himself. The pack of idiots in here won't last a second against real opposition.
He examined the lot of them, feeling more resentful than ever as the loudmouthed mercenaries joined the party. None of them should be doing this for a profit, but for the good of humankind. He would have to keep his eye on them. Of course, he would feel better with a bit of backup. The rest of the men here seemed to have a few minions with them, even Dr. West.
Flipping open the keyboard on his overly large glove, he began typing rapidly.
The strange little bear on Essex's shoulder growled a little at Drechi. Felix could just feel the aggression in the air. A few spikes slid out of the bear's back, and he turned to Sheldon.
The inventor was shaking his head slowly. He, too, could see from the posture and tone of the mercenary that there was some sort of bad history (or at least some small form of bigotry) involved. However, now was not the time to be dealing with it. So he shook his head so the small animal knew not to lose his mind.
Felix frowned a little and made a whining noise, but retracted the spikes. He then nuzzled into Essex's neck.
"I don't get why you had to hide yourself like that," Ryat99 said to Toy Dispenser, "Just to change your armor plating..."
To demonstrate, he reverted to his "Basic" mode. The smooth armor plating slid back from his extremities, folding up neatly into the central torso cavities designed to hold them. Standing like that, with the durable skeletal frame that made up his limbs revealed, Ryat99 gestured with his hands to his sides.
"Is it embarrassment you feel?"
The armor reverted to a "Heavy Duty" design, the central torso's plating actually pealing back and folding into similar cavities the flight armor had been placed in. The heavier plating underneath was revealed and it pushed outward as the external plating was pulled in. Another set of plates extended from the shoulders and hips to wrap around the limbs and protect the skeleton.
"This should suit our purposes from here on out," the android intoned, "In any case... If I were you, I'd switch to something that blends in with the environment... Not this obviously frightening shell you've currently donned. Oh well, to each his own. I was just curious."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Embarrassment?" Toy echoed. "Maybe. Revealing one's insides to the world would certainly make a human feel a bit quesy and as far as I can tell I've got the same emotional content as that erstwhile species."
Chuckling a little bit to himself as he leaned back in his seat, Toy continued. "But no, I think the main reason is the amount of technology I've got packed in here. I keep the secrets of my construction very close to my chest. You seem to be under no compunction however. Why so?"
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
"I don't know why I don't worry about the secrets of my make-up being discovered. Probably because most of my makeup can be found in about every other robot in the world," Ryat99 shrugged, "Sheldon used parts from just about every machine in Paragon he could get his hands on, Clockwork, Mech Men, Nemesis Automatons, Malta Titans... There's even a few Arachnos pieces in here somewhere..."
"All thrown together with 'madness,'" Sheldon wiggled his fingers to emphasize how tired he was getting of the whole "Mad Scientist" concept.
"About the only thing different is the metal and polymer shell," the big android indicated the plating he had just changed into with a light tap to his chest, "And the cooling system, which provides the basis for my armor and much of my assault weaponry... Besides, the actual internal workings of my structure aren't actually revealed during the armor-changing process. I didn't realize parts of you were exposed. In that case, defending yourself, in any environment, becomes a top priority. I understand now, and apologize if I touched upon a sore subject."
"And before you ask, yes, Clockwork parts are in me. Specifically, the Tesla Coil designs that enable the little junk machines to throw all that damn lightning. I utilize a derivative of the design to facilitate a 'self resurrection' as it were."
"Only a few of the Ryats have it," Sheldon explained, "The ones I figured would wind up in bad situations."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Hmm, I should probably put something on as well." the Krayten mused with thoughtful expression for a moment, then proceeded towards the car ahead of their current one, the door opening by unseen hand, "Do excuse me for a minute..."
((By the way Ess, it's up to you when they arrive. 
))
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Jake listened intently as the topic changed to that of mechanical workings. Of course, this was strictly automatic. After all, if one spent the majority of their past few months using mechanoids to make a living (Quite literally), one would be inclined to listen to such subjects.
That being said, Toy's mention of secret technology physically made his ears perk, however, he decided it to be in his best interests to keep such thoughts to himself, not to mention refusing to act upon them.
Another time, perhaps... He concluded, shifting his position in his chair and leaning over to watch Expirament play Bejeweled.
"My make up is somewhat more... unique," Toy said after Ryatt99 had finished speaking. "While I'm sure someone could replicate my powers given enough time and effort I would prefer to retain my uniqueness as long as possible."
"Unique shmunique," snorted Solid as he started fiddling with his assault rifle. "When you're completely identical to an entire boat full of droids you learn that it isn't what's in you that makes you special, it's what's up here."
Solid rapped his head with a knuckle before he ejected the magazine from his rifle and started sliding the bullets out one by one. After he had pulled out all thirty he started putting them back in in a different order.
"I already know my mind is unique," replied Toy as he leaned forward, placed his elbow on his knee, and then rested his chin on it. "I've spent most of my short life trying to find another sentient mechanoid that gained their identity in the same fashion that I have and have yet to find a match. Which, in some ways, is more than humans can say.
"No offense intended," he added to the various humans in the car.
"Which actually brings me to a question that I've been meaning to ask since I met you," continued Toy to Ryatt. "You see, I make it something of a hobby to learn how other androids gained their sentience, their ability to declare 'I think therefore I am'. So, Ryatt99, would you consider yourself sentient? And if so, do you mind my asking of how you came to be this way?"
"Heh, he popped the question," muttered Solid to himself in amusement.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
[ QUOTE ]
ejected the clip from his rifle
[/ QUOTE ]
((A MAGAZINE IS NOT A CLIP A MAGAZINE IS NOT A CLIP A MAGAZINE IS NOT A CLIP A MAGAZINE IS NOT A CLIP A MAGAZINE IS NOT A CLIP A MAGAZINE IS NOT A CLIP A MAGAZINE IS NOT A CLIP A MAGAZINE IS NOT A CLIP A MAGAZINE IS NOT A CLIP A MAGAZINE IS NOT A CLIP A MAGAZINE IS NOT A CLIP A MAGAZINE IS NOT A CLIP A MAGAZINE IS NOT A CLIP A MAGAZINE IS NOT A CLIP.))
OOC: *sigh* *edits*
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Ryat99 nodded.
"That's not a question I like to consider, Toy Dispenser. Yes, I do believe I'm sentient. I have had to think through difficult problems and decide from multiple answers. I have had to make difficult choices, and I didn't merely decide based on 'survival statistics.' For instance, a little girl's life is more valuable than an older man's, though I was fortunate there were other heroes to help save the man from the burning building. Still, I made that choice, and it was based off the closest thing to emotion as I can believe I'm capable of feeling at this point in time."
He rubbed the back of his head.
"I refer to myself as a 'he,' despite my androgynous makeup. Aside from my voice, I feel my personality is most decidedly 'male.' As for my sentience..."
The android paused. Sheldon leaned in close. Others wouldn't have known but he was genuinely interested in why Ryat99 was sentient. He hadn't actually written the code that made him what he was, Wallace had just stumbled on it while he cruised the information networks while feverish from sleep deprivation.
"Honestly," Ryat99 took a seat, "I don't know where my sentience comes from. My siblings are all different personalities, all different walks of life. Some are sweet and innocent, others curious and questioning. One has a heart as black as Hell. but our source code is all the same. The sparks that enable us to begin our existence always have turned out different for every model of Ryat. Not I, my creator there, or any of my siblings have figured out why."
"Giving you a copy of the source code wouldn't do you any good," Sheldon sighed to the android, "Certainly, I'd be willing to let you try, but it's only successfully been copied once, and that was when I was helping an old friend set up a superior security system when he didn't have the systems or materials for one of his own. It wound up getting deleted during a super-powered conflict of epic proportions, but it served its purpose. Every other attempt to release the Ryat Source Code to individuals who could help me understand it, from the offices at D.A.T.A. to even Synapse and Positron themselves, has met with failure. It learns that it's not with me or the Ryats just self destructs. Things that aren't possible have happened. CDs melting in freezers, hard drives exploding into confetti... I've seen them run the gamut."
"Perhaps we weren't meant to learn the truth about it until we're ready, Boss," Ryat99 said glumly, "And I guess it has to be one of us that figures it out."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Klaus suddenly gave a start.
"Ach! There I go snooozing on the job again. Vat did I miss?"
Drechi's lips curled into a sneer as he turned to face Ryat99.
"Feh. To think you soulless automata possess anything that could be seen as sentience is laughable at best, and disgusting at worst. To think that you could ever go beyond what you were built for is the most idiotic thing I've ever heard of in my entire life, which I assure you is grand and spans many years. A Machine can never have true sentience - you're just hardwired little code that was given reasoning capabilities, and you've immediately groped about for such things you'll never have - Souls, emotions, feh! You're all just hunks of metal built to do a job, so cease your damned prattle about yourself and DO that job!"
Drechi glared icy daggers right through Ryat's head, clenching his fists so tight that his armor was making cracking noises. Omaro and the SpecOps all had to step forward to keep him calm.
Drechi eventually loosened his grip and turned back to his men, growling at them in an Alien dialect for getting in his way and chewing them out on whatever he assumed they'd done wrong lately. They listened with false attentiveness as he carried on.
"Secret's, costumes, and long winded stories. . .nothing too interesting. Go back to sleep," The technoized voice said as Build turned his head to the German scientist. He was getting anxious. Staying in this form was screwing with his brain.
Even though the nanites were controlling him, Build was still aware of everything around him. To him it was as if he were sitting on a large comfortable couch infront of a big screen TV watching his life. After the nano machines had changed him they had stopped talking to him. [i]"Only bonus about being in theis place is that while I'm here the nano machines consider me irrelevant, and I don't have to listen to their chatter."
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
"Ach thank zou." Klaus replied in a sleepy voice. He took a seat on a nearby box and promply fell asleep again. Should anyone need him they'd find that it's pretty easy to wake him up, but at this point he really wasn't important anyway, so they'd most likely just leave him alone.
"Someone has an inferiority complex," said Solid out loud as he snapped the magazine back into his rifle. "And not knowing how you work is preferrable to definitively knowing that you're merely a simulacrum of a quirky human personality compiled by a hyperactive genius script kiddy from Korea bought for twenty bucks on E-bay."
"Heh," was the entirety of Toy's comment as he leaned back in his seat and tilted his head up a bit to look at the ceiling.
Drechi, with the paranoia and senses only a highly trained fighter could gain, could tell that despite looking in almost the opposite direction Toy was glaring right at him.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
"I think I would have that receipt on my credit card history," Sheldon muttered.
"I don't see why you're getting so emotional about this," Ryat99 said as he looked pointedly at Drechi, "Though, your behavior indicates that you may have lost a machination you once constructed and cared for more deeply than you may be willing to admit."
"No..." Sheldon gasped slowly, "Ninety-nine... no..."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"I've never built one of your scum kind, and have employed them only sparsely on your planet before." Drechi spat at him, taking an aggressive step forward. "And I know exactly how I work - I and the biologicals in here with me, too." He added, growing a bit more aggressive with every word. Vasquez and the SpecOps again stepped forward and pulled at his shoulders, but he shrugged them off, growling at them in the alien language again.
It was obvious that he didn't want to really get to know the Mechs.
"Actually, Osh'kan don't utilize robotics." Vern informed the Ryat unit has he returned, the car's connector door closing just as seamlessly by unseen had as it had before.
The Krayten, however, stood in crass difference to earlier. His hide no longer bore any semblance to its deep-green former state, a hue of snowy white that held the texture of finely ground stone having taken its place. Every bit of the quadruped's hide had been layered over, even the claws of his feet and the lids of his eyes, the coating staying in perfect synchronization with every move of a muscle, every ripple of his skin.
The collar about his neck formed no exception, blending seamlessly with the rest of his new coat, even the jewel of former azure in its brooch now looking more akin to blank white stone than anything else...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Experiment had been on his feet when Drechi moved forward, his game pausing as his heartbeat rose for a moment. When he saw that no imminent physical contact was going to happen, at least not for now, he took his seat again, although he kept his legs on the ground this time.
"Ugh, mercs..." he muttered, continuing his game, causing three sapphires to disappear in a blink of blue.
"If you have no interest," the android lowered his head to bring his gaze level with the mercenary flanked man, "Then keep out of the conversation. Concern yourself with other problems, not mine."
Icicle spikes started to protrude from his armor, largely from the patches of ice that made up much of the inertial dampening portion of his protection. A sword grew from the machine's left hand.
"Not unless you wish to truly learn for which purpose I was built."
"Ninety-nine, stand down," Sheldon ordered, "For your own sake."
The machine stood upright and regarded his builder for a moment. Turning back to Drechi, he hummed a note that sounded almost inquisitive.
"Interesting. I should play this moment back some more... I had more of an emotional reaction than I expected. I apologize for the perceived insult, master Osh'kan. It was made without clearly thinking through the possible consequences."
The ice weaponry immediately faded, drawn back within the android's body and Ryat99 walked away to stand next to Sheldon. The inventor turned to Drechi and narrowed his eyebrows, but he said nothing, hoping the subtle hint to let the issue go would get across.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Drechi had clearly already dropped it. He was instead reprimanding Vasquez for bringing an iPhone along for a 'serious mission.'
"I can't believe you'd take a scantly secured communications device -- to talk to WHO? THE FAMILY? -- You are the DUMBEST soldier I have ever seen! Put that worthless thing away -- Don't give me the $100 rebate line - I won't have it! You'll pay more than what you did for that...that...toy!"
Ad infinitum.
Essex looked up at Ryat99 sheepishly, and tugged at his 'hand.'
"Don't worry about sir Drechi." she whispered. "What matters is that you know who you are."
"Essex." West said, glancing over his shoulder, "No more Mr. Rogers for you. At any rate..."
The scientists gathered could feel the train beginning to slow.
"Ah, it seems we have arrived." he said, stretching.
Vanessa was having trouble controlling her snickering at the argument, and trailed off the train, as her bots trailed along behind her conversing with each other.
"Didn't Mom program us herself?" Spindle asked.
"Yep." said Rotor, carefully helping the more delicate robots down.
"Do we have souls?" Prickle chirped, tilting its head.
"Does it matter?" Gasket asked, shooing the smaller bots ahead of his huge frame. "We have a job to do. I'm not gonna worry about all of that metaphysical nonsense; not when there's lasers to be shoved down someone's throat."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
Build shrugged a little as he hopped off the seat onto the floor with a thump. He motioned toward Essex, "Ladies first kiddo" and then under his breath, "Don't worry about Mr. Buzzkill over there. Machines with minds gotta stick together."
Build would wait to be the last one off as was his habit. 'Always have your allies to your front and your enemies to your back, that way no one misses with their knives' had been a moto he had had for years.
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
((Zealstorm: ... ;_; I feel so uncreative.
/wrists ))
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace