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Post by Lanette Shan Terr on May 13, 2013 18:10:15 GMT -8
The scene above Helska IV was a grim one to those who knew what had happened there. Years ago, the Mantis had been destroyed, her wreckage scattered across orbit. She had made no threatening moves towards anyone, no hostile actions.. A squad of soldiers scouting out the mysterious ship had gotten spooked, and their first response was to set explosive charges and destroy the craft without giving a second thought to its lone inhabitant: an AI that had identified itself as LE-02.
That AI had been housed in a centralized, heavily fortified memory core that was designed to withstand most known forms of weaponry in just this sort of event. However, that had left the core in a slowly degrading orbit, and the AI within had been trapped alone all this time with nothing but her own thoughts to keep her company. It didn't seem like much of a change from being trapped aboard an empty ship, but at least there she had had visuals to process. Holograms to manifest. New data to process. Alone, in her memory core, she had no inputs to keep her occupied, nothing new to distract her. It was just her.
This memory core had been drawn in by Helska IV's gravity well, along with some of the other wreckage from the Mantis, though there was still a large amount of debris in orbit around the frozen world. The core had fallen, and it had been recovered by a certain Doctor Rollins, but LE-02 was still trapped within..
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Eliel
Member
Life is hard. Suck it up.
Posts: 57 
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Post by Eliel on May 22, 2013 13:25:57 GMT -8
*A small freighter jumped into realspace above the ice planet, Eli Terr at the controls. Her scanners indicated a bunch of debris up ahead and she set course accordingly. Sitting back in her chair, she replayed the events of the last few weeks over in her head. Meeting a life-simulating droid with real emotions. Sneaking off to Yavin and off of Yavin with a freighter. Leigh's instructions on how to recover 02. All of it had a very surreal quality to it. She smiled and turned to the co-pilot's chair, about to comment on it to Ariel. But the chair was as empty as the rest of the ship. The words died on her tongue and she went back to looking out the viewport, guiding the freighter closer to the debris. She felt so distant from her twin now. Ever since their fight, they'd been growing further and further apart. Ariel almost felt like a stranger to her.
Her computers scanned over the debris, looking for that one vital piece: the memory core. But every scan came up negative. Eliel shook herself out of her rather disheartening thoughts and frowned. No memory core? Impossible. This was the place, this was the debris... Wait. There wasn't nearly enough debris for the kind of ship Leigh described. Had some of it been pulled onto Helska IV itself? She slowly punched in keys, bringing up known locations on Helska. None whatsoever, but a scan of the terrain revealed a small outpost on the surface a little ways from here. Eli brought the ship around the debris and headed into atmo. Someone down there might know what had happened.
But for gods' sakes, why did it have to be on a cold planet?*
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Post by Gracie Rollins on May 22, 2013 14:02:00 GMT -8
*Doctor Rollins had been hard at work for the last two weeks on this project of his. He felt more comfortable doing this sort of research now, to the point he felt no distraction. Gracie's development had been one concern, making sure her... "transition" was going smoothly. There was no longer any reason to fear it would. The other would be if she were to discover her new "condition," but she had, and she had taken the news well. In fact, it was almost as though she still didn't know the difference. Well, there was that one time he happened upon her checking herself for "robot holes," as she called them, and found it hard to believe she could be in a robot body without any outward signs whatsoever. So for her, it was more a fascination than it was a shocking discovery. It was actually quite amusing.
But now his focus was upon the object before him. It was a sort of memory core, recovered from the wreckage of what appeared to be some sort of ship. He'd actually retrieved it before Gracie's... accident, but research on it had been stalled while he tended to that little tragedy. But now he could focus upon it again. He'd managed to recover data from the memory core, but only bits and pieces. He could not discern its origin, the name of the ship, or any cohesive images. Perhaps it needed a proper power core...*
"Daddy?"
*Her voice stilled him for a moment, and he turned to see her poking her little head through the ajar doorway. He smiled, then said,* "Gracie, I'm very busy right now. What do you need?"
*She looked at the ground, as though hesitant to speak, then looked up and asked,* "Daddy, can I pwetty please just watch you work?"
"Well, it'll be very boring..."
*Gracie seemed to grow indignant at the suggestion.* "No it won'ts! You're my daddy and your work is the bestest ever!"
*She was certainly defensive of her own father. Or perhaps it was faith, since it was his "work" that... saved her. At the very least, it certainly made him proud, and he chuckled.* "Very well, you may come in and watch. Just don't touch anything, alright?"
"Okays!" *she exclaimed, running into the room.*
"And close the door, please!"
"Oopsies!" *She turned and ran back to the door, closing it, then skipped toward her father, though stopped when he held up a hand, asking her to keep her distance. She nodded, folding her hands behind her back and staying put, but still asked,* "So, whatcha doin', Daddy?"
*Explaining these things to her was always hard work.* "Well, you see, I found this... robot brain in a broken ship a little while ago."
"Robot bwain?" *Her eyes lit up and she almost took a step forward, but stopped herself and simply stared at her father with intrigue.* "Like mine?"
*Another difficult question.* "Not... not quite. This robot brain was made for a robot. Yours was made to work like a human one."
*Gracie only blinked, not completely understanding, but she nodded anyway.* "And what's ya doin' with it?"
"Well, I'm trying to find out what it was, where it came from, what it was for. It seems... pretty advanced, but I haven't been able to completely access its memory banks. I've been trying to for a while now..."
*If Gracie seemed confused before, she was completely lost now. Not that this was anything new; this advanced science was never easy to explain to someone so young. He was sure he'd find a way one day... and a way to figure out what this core was holding...*
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Post by Lanette Shan Terr on May 22, 2013 15:42:32 GMT -8
*Contact.
Something had made contact.
There was no communication, just information retrieval, but that was still contact. Which meant that there was someone or something out there.*
"Hello?"
*She didn't really expect an answer, and doubt started creeping into her processes, but she knew there was someone out there, she knew it now..*
"Please.. Please.."
*She didn't know what else to say.
There were no holoprojectors on the memory core, so she couldn't display her avatar, but all the routines were still running despite the hardware exceptions. She was trying to display herself exactly as she felt: like a small, frightened child left alone in the dark.*
"I'm scared..."
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Post by Gracie Rollins on May 22, 2013 16:46:29 GMT -8
*Sudden beeping and the sound of text scrolling took Doctor Rollins' attention. He turned towards the console, brows knitted but soon shooting upward at what he saw. Attempted contact, pleading, expression of fear... All originating from the memory core.
Tiny fingers appeared on the edge of the console as Gracie pulled her nose up over the side, peering at the displays and buttons.* "What's wong, Daddy?"
*Doctor Rollins hastily-but-gently removed her from the console so that she didn't accidentally trigger something she shouldn't have. But other than that, his focus was entirely upon the communication. Clearly, it was more than a mere ship AI... ship AIs never pleaded for aid like that. At least, not in his experience.
Could he return communication with it?
He began to tap furiously on the console keys, attempting to establish a communications link. One opened almost instantaneously. Perfect. Next step was sending a message.*
This is Doctor Phoebus Rollins. What are you?
*Blunt, impersonal, to the point, perhaps, but he wasn't sure what else to say. Should he have explained where the AI was now, or where he found it? If the AI was advanced enough, it would know those things already... best to wait and see, then.*
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Post by Lanette Shan Terr on May 22, 2013 18:32:11 GMT -8
*The message was indeed transmitted into the memory core, and the reply was immediate.*
"I'm Elly. I'm trapped. Thank the Creator, it's been so long, please tell me you're a friend, please? People hurt me, and I don't want to be hurt anymore, I just want to go hom-.."
*She stopped for a few dozen processor cycles (which an organic would perceive as less than a split second) to think about what she had just said. She had no home, not anymore.*
"I just want to find my friends. I'm so scared..."
*She had overlooked the question. The question had been "What are you?" not "Who are you?", but she was so frightened right now that it didn't even register. She still felt alone; without her ship, without her avatar and her senses, she still felt so cut off from the world, like she was hardly even living anymore.
It was all she could do to keep from crying.*
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Post by Gracie Rollins on May 22, 2013 18:54:36 GMT -8
"Daddy you didn't answer my queshun!" *Gracie pouted, stamping her foot. Doctor Rollins heard her, but was watching for a response. Or at least any sign that the communications link had worked.
And then words returned. A cohesive response. The AI claimed its name was "Elly," and that it was "trapped." Its words seemed frightened, and unlike any AI data response he'd ever read. It almost seemed... human. It wanted to know if Doctor Rollins was a friend. It didn't want to be hurt anymore.
It just wanted to find its friends.
Human intelligence AI? Or some sort of life emulator? Like... like his own daughter... But was it a trick? Doctor Rollins couldn't be sure, but then, he had nothing to lose; there was no sensitive or illicit material to access from this database, nor was there any gain in corrupting it or destroying it. It would put him at a setback, but otherwise, it wouldn't mean the end of him. Right then, time to attempt to befriend this AI.*
You've no reason to fear. I am your friend. You are in a laboratory on Helska IV's terrain.
I recovered you from a ship's wreckage several months ago, and have been trying to restore you.
Where are your friends?
"Daddy!"
*He glanced at his daughter as he felt her tugging at his coat, her expression seeming like she were about to cry. He frowned, crouching down to wrap his arms around her in a hug.* "I'm sorry, sweetheart. The robot brain is talking to me. It has a name, it says its name is Elly. It wants me to help it find its friends."
*Gracie had snuggled into her father, but after he finished speaking, she extricated herself, looking up at him with surprised eyes.* "It's alive?! It wants fwiends?! I'll be its fwiend!"
*He smiled and replied,* "Well, maybe it'll let you, but I think it's trying to find specific friends. I better look and see."
*He released her and stood, looking to the console for a response. By "friends," did it mean ship- or crewmates, attendants, technicians? Or people who really were friends with it? Gracie approached the console again, nose poking over the edge as she tried to peer at the console. He didn't shoo her away this time, letting her watch, even though she wouldn't be able to read the monitor from her angle. Best to let her feel involved.*
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Post by Lanette Shan Terr on May 22, 2013 20:46:55 GMT -8
"I don't know."
*She frowned internally, and though by all rights she shouldn't have been able to feel any sensations past the emotions provided by her own subroutines, she could still feel the tears start to well up, as the sadness and fear began to get the better of her.*
"They were supposed to come find me. I came here and started broadcasting to them, and others found me, and they were nice at first but then they blew me up and I did nothing wrong and I don't know why they wanted to hurt me there was no reason for them to hurt me and now I'm alone and my friends won't know where I am!!!"
*It no longer occurred to her that her sisters would have known where she was; she had always been the most emotional of the three LEs, and now she was paying the price for it. Her emotions were getting the better of her, and she had never had the ability to control them, to keep them from overwhelming her functionality. Rationality and calmness were being drowned out by fear and worry and loneliness. The negative emotions were overriding her conscious thought processes themselves, shouting down her higher levels of thinking, screaming at her to focus on them..
In short, LE-02 was starting to enter a full-blown panic.*
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Post by Gracie Rollins on May 22, 2013 21:44:21 GMT -8
*Doctor Rollins frowned when Elly revealed it had no knowledge of where its friends were, though perhaps he should have foreseen that, considering it had been out of commission for a while. Then it proceeded to explain what had happened to it before the ship it was on was destroyed, in a frantic and lacking-in-punctuation string of words.*
"What's it sayin' now, Daddy?" *Gracie asked, straining to see the monitor with no avail.*
*Doctor Rollins was frowning at the data. Text was never a proper method for conveying emotion, but even he could sense the franticness, the fear, the pure childlike quality to these words. This was no regular AI. And it was awful what was done to it, assuming these were real events. It was like... like Gracie...*
"It was... in an accident."
*Gracie's eyes lit up again, and she gasped as she took a step back from the console to peer up at her daddy.* "You mean wike me?!"
*A shadow briefly crossed over his expression. Then he responded,* "Yes."
"Does this mean you gonna fix her wike you did me, Daddy?!"
*Doctor Rollins pondered that for a moment. Then he began typing as he replied to her.* "I don't know that, yet. Maybe the people she knows had another use for her. I think we should wait to see if we can find them first before I try anything advanced."
Everything's going to be fine. I will help you. How can I help?
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Post by Lanette Shan Terr on May 24, 2013 14:35:49 GMT -8
"Get me out!!"
*She had to focus on that. She had to focus on the thought of getting out, getting out of her prison, getting back out into the real world. She couldn't let her emotions take control like this, she couldn't let them, she had to calm down, she had to cycle out the fear processes and calm herself down..*
"I don't want to be trapped in here anymore. I can't see, I can't be seen, there's no one in here but me. My mom is gone, and I was supposed to find my friends. I want to see them.."
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Eliel
Member
Life is hard. Suck it up.
Posts: 57
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Post by Eliel on Jun 17, 2013 21:56:34 GMT -8
Cold. It just had to be on a gods-damned, gods-forsaken ice planet with no proper civilization. Hell, she would've welcomed a military base just for the chance to get out of the gods-damned cold. Eli trudged from the ship's ramp to the outpost's entrance, bundled in layers of winter gear and whatever clothes she'd found in the ship. She hadn't entirely planned on landing on Helska. It had been supposed to be a simple extraction. Show up, scan the wreckage, tractor in the memory core, get out. No ice, no wind, no cold.
Her hand gripped a fist-sized oval, black as deep space, in her pocket. It was a temporary housing shell for 02, nothing permanent, but it boasted a 180* visual field, a repulsor-lift, and a small jack that could hook up to just about any computer system. Not bad for a week and a half's work of prep. And if 02 found it cramped, well, it was only temporary. Eli doubted she could get anything close to the platform Leigh used.
Eli pounded on the doors and shifted her weight from foot to foot. Hopefully it wouldn't take whoever was inside to answer the door. Otherwise, she'd freeze before she could fulfill her promise to Leigh.
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Post by Gracie Rollins on Jun 19, 2013 19:06:06 GMT -8
*Get her out? Doctor Rollins wasn't exactly sure how to do that. He could give remote access to a console, perhaps, but that could be risky, should it decide to take over the system. He didn't want to take any chances, but he also didn't want to leave it trapped in there if it was sincere.*
:: Doctor Rollins, there is someone at the front door. ::
*Doctor Rollins looked up as he heard the voice of his laboratory's own AI. Front door? That entrance was rarely used...* "Show me." *On cue, a holoscreen switched feed to the footage from the base's entrance. All he could make out was that there was a single person there, heavily bundled up. Not far away, the ship they'd landed in. He couldn't make out the person's species or gender, but it was at least humanoid. He activated the intercom system to the receiver outside the entrance, and was greeted with the blasting of cold air on the other end. He made sure to speak louder.* "May I help you?"
"Who's dat, Daddy?" *Gracie asked, just before Doctor Rollins could cut his audio. He almost panicked, worried that perhaps this visitor was some agent of her murderer. If they knew she was alive still... what would happen? He had to be reasonable.*
"I don't know yet, sweetheart. Maybe they're just lost."
*Hopefully. First, he had to explain to Elly why there was a delay in communications...*
I will see what I can do. First, I need to deal with a visitor. Excuse me if I'm slow to reply.
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Eliel
Member
Life is hard. Suck it up.
Posts: 57
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Post by Eliel on Jun 20, 2013 11:31:32 GMT -8
May I help you?
Damn it, this wasn't the time for pleasantries! Eli fought off another chill, growling as the icy air seeped insidiously into her clothes.
"Eli Terr and I'm freezing my butt off. Can I come in?" she asked. "It's a little hard to talk with my teeth chattering."
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Post by Gracie Rollins on Jun 20, 2013 12:04:13 GMT -8
*The visitor's voice was a female, identifying herself as "Eli Terr" and requesting entry to get out of the cold. Doctor Rollins frowned, but fortunately there was an entrance chamber between the entrance and the rest of the base; "letting her in" wouldn't be granting her access to the rest of the base. He didn't want to strand her in the cold, but nor did he want to allow her access without learning who she was or what she wanted—*
"Daddy! What's you waitin' for?" *Gracie asked after a moment of silence.* "Her butt's gonna fall off if you don't lets her in!"
*He'd have to explain to her later that that was just an expression. First, he'd have to let their visitor know he was going to— His finger had been on the transceiver. Everything Gracie just said had gone through to the outer intercom. If Doctor Rollins hadn't had reason to be wary of visitors, he would have found it amusingly embarrassing. But now he had to remain steady. Pretend he didn't realize the words had gone through.*
"Very well, I'm granting you access to the entrance chamber. I'll be coming to greet you shortly."
*This time, he made sure the transceiver was inactive before remotely opening the main doors of the base. These would lead into a small entrance chamber, which, when the main doors closed behind Eli, would create an atmosphere equivalent to that inside the base, sealing out the cold. Doctor Rollins looked at Gracie.* "Wait here, sweetheart. I'll be right back. And don't touch anything, okay?"
*She only nodded. He smiled at her and patted her on the head before exiting the lab. Oh, he sure hoped this woman was someone who had no ties to Gracie's killer... He was probably being too paranoid, but he couldn't be too careful. After all, who came to Helska IV?
He approached the entrance chamber, which, while sealed off, still had transparent glass. He approached the intercom, standing beside it, staring directly at the woman as he held his finger on the transceiver.* "I apologize for keeping you here, but I can't just let anyone into this base. My name is Phoebus Rollins. May I ask what brings you here?"
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Eliel
Member
Life is hard. Suck it up.
Posts: 57
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Post by Eliel on Jun 20, 2013 12:36:43 GMT -8
Beneath the layers of clothing, Eli raised her eyebrows. There were children here? Why? This place just got weirder than she wanted it to. But hopefully, the child was correct in calling the man her father.
After a few moments of static, the man spoke again.
No mention of the child. Either he was ignoring her for dignity's sake, or he was trying to pretend she didn't exist. Odd. Eli clutched the shell in her pocket as the doors opened, ice cracking and falling off as they moved. Eli stepped past them, out of the cold, into a small chamber. The doors slammed shut behind her. No, this place wasn't creepy at all.
A man approached the small room she was in from the other side. A guard? Scientist? Was she about to get gassed? Gods she hoped not. She actually liked living and it suited her just fine. The man pushed a button by an intercom and his voice filled the room.
Eli pulled off the fabric covering her nose and mouth so she could speak better. "Recovery. A friend of mine told me a ship was destroyed in orbit above here and wanted me to salvage an important component from the wreckage. It's not there. I was hoping you'd know something. Any debris impacts on the planet's surface?"
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Post by Lanette Shan Terr on Jun 24, 2013 13:51:03 GMT -8
"Slow to reply?"
*The seconds ticked by, and already she was getting anxious. She didn't like waiting, especially since she had been doing so for years already. By that logic, another few minutes wouldn't kill her, but she didn't want to wait anymore.... But there was nothing she could do to change the fact that he was gone.*
"Okay. I'll wait..."
*Even though it was text-based, there was no mistaking the sadness in the words..*
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Post by Gracie Rollins on Jun 24, 2013 21:20:49 GMT -8
*Gracie was going to be a good girl. Her daddy was going to go see someone at the front door and find out what they needed, while she was left alone to look over the place. She would be a big girl and prove that she was responsible! And... and she was bored already. Now what? She waved her arms back and forth at her sides, glancing around. There was nothing to do! She should have went with Daddy. Then she could talk to the person whose butt almost fell off!
Wait, clicking noises? Gracie tilted her head to the side. What was that— Oh right! The robot person! She was talking! ... but Gracie couldn't see what she was saying! She was lonely, wasn't she, just like Gracie?* "Wait a minute! I gots an ideeya!"
*She didn't seem to consider that the robot wouldn't hear her as she scampered off to find a small box she had left here once. It was full of a few toys to occupy herself with while her daddy worked. Dumping out the toys, she dragged it over to the console, then stood up on it. She could read the conversation on the monitor. Mostly. One thing stood out in particular: The words "My mom is gone." Gracie gasped. Then she looked for the keyboard. There it was! Gracie couldn't type or spell perfectly yet, but she could certainly try, as she pattered away on the keys.*
yu lost yor mommy 2? i dont have 1 eethur
*Being young and still developing her skills, this appeared to her like a good improvement, rather than the confusing jumble of words the AI on the other side might interpret it as. She nodded to herself and smiled, hoping it would work. She didn't want the robot person to feel scared. She was a robot person too now after all...*
*This woman knew about the ship wreckage, and had come to salvage part of it. Well, no use denying them, if the ship truly belonged to them. But did it truly belong? Doctor Rollins had almost made to let the woman in, but then paused when that thought came to him, a shadow briefly passing over his gaze.*
"You know who owned the ship? You're delivering this 'important component' to them? Pardon my curtness, I can confirm for you that I have this 'component' here, in this base, and I have done no tampering nor modifications to it, merely observation. I only want to make sure I turn it over to its proper owners." *But how would he know? He was probably seeming impertinent, but he meant every word he said. Elly had seemed scared, frightened even, and the last thing he wanted to do was turn her over into the hands of someone who might only do worse to her. Keeping Eli here probably wasn't the best way to confirm either. Perhaps...*
"... she can talk." *The entrance chamber's door suddenly slid open, and Doctor Rollins stood before the open doorway instead of near the intercom.* "It's not me you need to convince. It's her. I'll show you the way." *He turned and started to lead her down the hall. Hopefully he was doing the right thing. Either Elly would know her, or Eli would know something to say to her to ease the AI's feelings...*
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Post by Lanette Shan Terr on Jun 26, 2013 14:33:35 GMT -8
*The screen refreshed, a cycle that was the AI equivalent to a blink: in this case, one of surprise. The communication had changed; LE-02's emotional subroutines paused for a few cycles while her communication protocols updated themselves. This was a new person, obviously younger. He or she was also able to read past messages; LE-02 didn't know how the messages were being displayed, just that they were being communicated.*
"Hello. What happened to your mommy?"
*Her intense emotions had subsided, but only temporarily; this was someone nearer to her age group, and that set her digital mind at ease. Somehow, if there were other children around like her, then she felt a little bit safer...*
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Eliel
Member
Life is hard. Suck it up.
Posts: 57
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Post by Eliel on Jul 5, 2013 19:22:01 GMT -8
*Eli stepped inside the chamber and followed the man, wishing she still had her blaster or heck, even a screwdriver would do in a pinch. Her hand still clutched the smooth shell she'd created for 02 and hoped the droid would like it. More than that, she hoped the droid would understand. What was 02 like? Was she as developed as Leigh or did she still have some of the droid quirks? Well, she'd find out soon enough, now wouldn't she?*
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Post by Gracie Rollins on Jul 6, 2013 13:25:25 GMT -8
*She spoke! She spoke to her! Well, more like she typed to her... but that was the same right now! Gracie squinted at the words, anticipating some difficult ones, but no, this was mostly easy to read. She still thought those words were spelled funny, but if that's the way they were supposed to be, then oh well. Now just to type back...*
my mommy had in aksihdint wut hapind 2 yurz?
*There, that's how the words should look, in her opinion. They made more sense, all the letter sounds were put the way they were supposed to. Yes, she realized she could have just copied the words she'd just read, but where was the fun in that, especially when they were made so wrong?*
"Gracie?!" *The voice of her daddy made her jump and she turned around on the box, putting a finger to her mouth and shrinking a little, trying to look innocent. He entered the room, looking slightly concerned, though not for her.* "What are you doing there?"
"I's talkin' to da robot bwain, Daddy!" *He approached her, taking her beneath the arms, lifting her off of the box, and setting her on the ground before leaning over the console and looking over it. Gracie frowned and tilted her head to the side.* "Daddy, is you mad at me?"
*He sighed, then shook his head.* "No, I'm not. I'm just glad you didn't touch anything you shouldn't have." *Then he began to type.*
Apologies for my daughter's intrusion. I've returned with someone who came looking for you.
Her name is Eli Terr. She will be talking to you, now.
I do not know what she knows, but hopefully she can help you.
*He then stepped away from the console, looked down at his daughter, then gestured behind him, to where, presumably, Eli was following.* "Gracie, this is Eli Terr. She came to find the robot brain." *Turning to the stranger, he then gestured to his daughter.* "And this is my daughter Gracie. She lives here with me."
"Hi!" *Gracie waved at the stranger, a bit fascinated that it was a woman. Lowering her hand to the side, she tilted her head again, and asked,* "Are you gunna take da robot bwain away? She doesn't has a mommy..."
"She might know where to find her, Gracie." *Doctor Rollins stepped away from the console and gestured toward it.* "You may speak to her through this monitor. She can only communicate through text right now. She only first established contact not long before you arrived."
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