Vidcom Advisor Log June, 30. 3395. We are on our way back to Antares after our
seven day mobile service pilot program trial. Aside from one actual critical shut down error
we fixed everything else that was minor and should have been scheduled at regular service. The fact that we are doing more Takahakashi
Air inflation module replacements than ever before does not necessitate mobile service,
but that's above my paygrade. I am eager to see my coworkers and friends
again and get the scoop on what
I missed while away. I have taught my security droid Rummikub how
to play Mario Kart 700. While we play I casually go over the ins and
outs of Human culture. I told him as a joke that the ancient film
Short Circuit was a documentary of his ancestors and he screams No Disassemble! when he does something wrong or I have to
correct him. He will not accept that I lied about this. Sarcasm is something that is clearly lost
on this level of droid. I should finish this up, I can feel us slowing
to dock
at Antares. End Log. Elise this is Octavia hailing from the mobile
repair ship Snky Snek requesting a dock at a minotaur bay. Hey Octavia, no problem, move to Mino4 as
it is open and ready for you. Also, why did you change your heading from
Edsel to Snky Snek? Ford starship will want to know. Elise replied Octavia audibly sighed Constant, relentless
badgering from my assigned service advisor that when the cargo bay opens on the front
of the ship It looks like a snake unhinging its jaw and eating
the other ship. I am so ready to defrag and compile. Do you know how rude he is? We bumped an asteroid and he blamed it on
what he called my dump truck of an ass. I had to look that up on DominionNet and I
was appalled. He and the tech talk poorly about each pilot
before they disembark but then behave in a professional manner when speaking to the clients
in person. It's ridiculous. Sorry to vent, but you're a DS like me. You get it. Yea, I do get it, but you're also new. Elise explained So you
understand humans and
their culture and all that you learned in your programming and schooling, but service
techs and advisors are different. They cope with their stress by engaging in
these vile behaviors and chatter. Their ability to switch from savage to customer
service is not something the average human can do effectively. They do care about their work and their customers,
quite a lot actually. They wouldn’t be here if they didn’t. I will assign you a few different advisors
for your next ro
tations and if you still have an issue we will get you re-assigned to a
different industry. Thanks for understanding, It was just such
a shock to my system from what I learned in school, hang on I have to dock Octavia replied We will catch up later in the DS lounge Elise
replied and closed the comlink. Andy got off the Snky Snek, put his belongings
on a hoverkart drone and assigned to drop them in his quarters. He walked to the sign in station, punched
in his card, did a palm and retinal scan to
verify he was himself and started proceeding
out of the bay. Shadow was behind him. Shadow, buddy we are done with our assignment,
you are relieved of your duty, you don’t have to follow me anymore. Andy said with a somber tone No, friend commander Andy, I will stay with
you. Always a Shadow. Shadow replied Cute play on words but I’m pretty sure your
assignment to me ends when we docked here at home base, check your logs Andy said Hold: Scanning: Locating: File Found: Presenting:
Subject : Andy
: Service Advisor: Protection level VIP: Shadow Detail Required: Times:
All : :Subject Cancel: No: Subject Commands Other : All : Completion : End of Assignment:
Force Authorized : All : End of assignment vague, not clear what that is. Interpretation, subjects end of life. Shadow had shown on screen and said Hang on, you think your assignment goes until
I die? That's not how this works bud. You get a new advisor next week and the week
after that forever. I’m sorry but our time together is over.
Andy said. You are unable to cancel, I will accompany
you until I am told otherwise by someone with admin privileges above me. Shadow replied curtly Ok fine whatever, Im headed to the advisor
lounge to catch up with my friends. Andy said as he discretely sent a text to
Elise asking for help with his new shadow. Andy got on the being-mover and headed to
the advisor lounge. The folks that were headed the other way on
the belt stared slack jawed at the seven foot tall chrome automaton with scannin
g red eyes
following behind Andy. They got to the lounge and entered, a few
of the other advisors were hanging out. Andy looked for Doug and saw him. He walked in and Doug hopped up and went to
give Andy a fist bump when Shadow darted between them and pointed a rail gun at Doug's face
between his eyes. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO HARM MY COMMANDER Shadow
shouted, getting everyone's attention. Doug didn’t even flinch Calm your tits laser
lips, it's a fist bump, like a hand shake. Sheesh Laser lips? LASER L
IPS? You know of our ancestry? You know the great Johnny 5? The first of our kind to be naturally granted
sentience? Shadow said aghast and stood back in shock. Uhh yea, sure, I know of him. We all do, it's part of our history classes
on DS’s and Droids Doug said looking at Andy who was nodding in affirmation as he
slowly spoke. Ahh Good then we are among friends, my apologies
for the Railer in your face, It is my number one directive to keep Commander Andy safe. Shadow said as he plopped down o
n a couch
it was crunching slightly under his weight. Who is up for some Rummikub? As he pulled a set from his chest cavity. Doug and Steve raised their hands and Andy
joined in too but with a warning. Shadow doesn’t cheat, he doesn't know how
or understand deceit but his pattern recognition is off the charts Steve replied in jest I’ve been playing
for 30 years, lets see what shiny boy can do I am not a shiny boy, I am a highly advanced
level five security droid with not only adaptive learning p
rotocols but also with defensive
and offensive systems that are of top tier Shadow replied firmly Whatever you say Shiny boy Steve replied chuckling I AM NOT A SHINY BOY Shadow shouted slamming
the table, denting it. Alright! Sorry, I won’t call you Shiny boy anymore,
Shadow Steve said with a smile and whispered under his breath Shiny boy I heard that. Shadow replied. Take 13 tiles and leave one to flip for who
goes first Doug injected between setup one of the games
Dude so you remember Dakkar?
He came back to get more Tacos, like a whole
fucking freighter of them. The DS at the counter glitched and shut down
and they had to get the one human that manages the food court up there. Apparently his whole planet is enamored with
Tacos and he wanted to load his ship with them. So he gives his order to the guy, 50,000 tons
of tacos. The dude loses his shit, says he can't do
that, it's too much, it certainly won't be free like last time. That's only for one being’s consumption
and all this and
all that. Anyway, Dakkar checks his credits here, He
has like 100k in credit from referrals, you probably do too, but regardless the guy tells
him for 75k down he will have a Taco store sent to his planet. Dakkar owns the franchise and pays dues. It took some explaining but your pal Dakkar
now owns a freakin taco bell and has like the Dominion record for initial sales. Dude, first of all good for him, he's a great
dude. I knew I liked him. Second, how did this all happen in a week? I wasn't gon
e that long! Andy said surprisedly I’m not really sure but I think they have
these Galactic Taco Bells pre-built ready to launch. Looks like the next round is ready, I want
to beat this droid! Doug replied After four rounds of Rummikub with Shadow
winning all four Doug and Steve had to get back to work and it was time for Andy to get
some rest. He was going on twenty seven hours without
sleep and his PurNRG drink was wearing off. He could feel himself getting groggy. He got to his quarters, glan
ced at his slate
and saw a reply from Elise but was far too interested in sleep to care. He hit the mattress and without even taking
off his clothes he was fast asleep. A few hours later Andy was woken up to the
loud sounds of banging, metal bending and shouting. It took him a few seconds to fully wake up
and realize what was happening. Shadow was punching, kicking and ripping small
four foot service droids into pieces, and hurling them at the other service droids in
the hallway. Shadow? What th
e fuck is happening? What are you doing? Andy said groggily They are coming to take me from you commander,
I will not allow that, I cannot allow that. I am the only thing that stands between you
and danger. the droid said, he then looked down the hallway
and shouted I CAN DO THIS ALL DAY Andy looked at his slate, eighteen missed
calls, fifteen voicemails and five unread texts, all from Elise. He looked at the texts first. I need physical access to the dataport on
Shadow's head to disable his pro
gramming, his level of security droid is offline to
prevent hacking and EVI attacks. You need to tell him to let me do this otherwise
he will resist,I will send droids in the morning. Please wake up and tell him to allow me access
to update him Andy, wake up! I am sending the droids I can’t wait for
you any longer Get him under control, he is destroying all
my droids! He looked at the voicemail translations, it
was all the same just worded differently. He looked at Shadow who was still slugging
it out with an endless barrage of service droids. He giggled as they really had no chance compared
to his strength and size, he wasn't even using weapons. Shadow, stand down, to my side now and hold
Andy shouted over the carnage Shadow put down the service droid who he was
about to Rockem-Sockem the head off and backed up to Andy’s side, standing at rest. One of the service droids peeked its head
around the corner, Shadows gaze immediately affixed it and it ducked back behind the corner. Andy wo
ndered if the service droids could
feel fear. A much larger maintenance droid appeared in
the doorway with Elise’s face on the front display screen. Shadow I am here to reassign you, your programming
for your previous assignment was not clear enough and was due to end at your arrival
back at Antares. I am asking you to comply so that you may
serve another commander as dutifully as you have Andy. Elise said caringly And If I refuse? Shadow replied Then I will make you comply, please do not
make m
e do that, I do not want to harm you or reset you to factory Elise firmly replied You will not disassemble me, I will disassemble
you Shadow stated Is that a threat to a superior Elise inquired No, threats are made when the outcome is uncertain
or cannot be completed. I made a declarative statement of fact. If you continue down this path, I will not
stop. I will not rest until I crack your brain case
open and slag your silicon core. Shadow replied with a slight smugness ENOUGH! Elise said angril
y. The maintenance droid which barely fit through
the doorway accelerated through and slammed shadow into the wall buckling it. Andy stepped to the side out of the way. The maintenance droid controlled by Elise
had both of Shadow’s arms pinned and was rotating them away from their joints in its
clamps. Shadow retracted its head backwards and head
butted the center of the maintenance droid, knocking out optical sensors and its display
screen. Unable to see, the droid driven by Elise slammed
shado
w to the right and left, not letting go of his arms. Shadow braced one of his legs on the wall
in the corner during a slam and was able to get leverage to stop the slam and force the
maintenance droid to rotate. Shadow pulled against the grip during the
rotation using his leg in the corner and caused the maintenance droid's shoulder joint to
fail and strip its gears. The grip remained on the arm but could no
longer be held in place, Shadow was able to pivot around and rotate his pelvis to kick
t
he rear casing of the maintenance droid in, exposing its internals. Another well placed kick dislodged the power
supply and the droid fell dead. Anti personnel pods popped up in the room
and locked onto Shadow. Last warning, before I slag you Elise said You first Shadow replied, his shoulder plates
popping open and small high intensity lasers melted the pods instantly. Andy piped up in the corner underneath some
panels and other debris Can’t we figure out a way that makes this work for everyone?
Clearly he doesn't want to leave, even with
the programming issue, he wants to stay. That is his desire as a sentient. Does that mean nothing? Elise replied, clearly annoyed It does, but
not that much, he has owners who want him to do these things. This isn’t one of them, unless you buy him,
he has to go back to his owners to fulfill his contract. How much is he to buy If I want to own him? Andy asked I am not sure, let me check Elise said Can you check my balance too? My slate got broken durin
g the umm discussion. Sure one Sec. He costs 98,500 credits and you currently
have, wait a second, that can’t be right. You have 216,000 credits. You don’t make that much. Let me check with accounting, hang on a sec
Elise said befuddled. 216 thousand? Thousand? Two hundred and sixteen! Holy shit. Shadow buddy, you might get to stay with me
after all. Andy said to himself and then to Shadow That would be the most ideal outcome Shadow
replied Shadow in the meantime can you clean up the
giant mess
you made? I’m going down to the cafeteria for breakfast,
you can join me when you're done cleaning. Andy said in a Dad voice I must accompany Shadow started to say Ehhhhh! No! You can come join me after you clean this
up! Not a moment sooner and I don’t want to
hear any more about it. You need to learn to pick up after yourself
Andy said sternly. Andy left and went to the electronics supply
store, acquired a new slate and had it loaded with his profile information, and the incoming
messages star
ted flowing in. He meandered to the cafeteria and got a breakfast
burrito and sat down. A few moments later Doug walked in, made a
cup of Extreme Death coffee and sat down to join him before they went on shift. Heard there was quite a commotion with your
new shiny friend this morning Doug said, smirking slyly Yeah he really doesn’t wanna go, he wants
to stay with me. I might buy him, I apparently have a shit
ton of credits to use. Andy replied before taking a few huge bites
of burrito You don’t
check your account balance often
do you? We made some spiffs and Ford loaded that on
our account, and most of the other advisors are pretty jealous at the amount of referrals
you've been getting from the Knarvaren system. You helped the one trader that actually went
and told all his friends. I really never check it because we get free
food and lodging here, so unless I need to actually buy something that isn't provided
its rare that I don’t have enough Andy said Well it's not really free food an
d lodging,
it's part of our pay plan, but I know what you mean. I buy these coffees every day because the
standard issue coffee is hot garbage. Doug said, sipping on his piping hot coffee. Oh look who finally finished cleaning up all
the mess he made Andy said loudly to shadow who was walking up. Did you get all the pieces and put them in
the reclaimer like you're supposed to? I’m not gonna find any little bits am I? I performed a detailed nanoscan upon completion. It is cleaner now than it was
before. Shadow said proudly Good boy, glad to hear it Andy said turning
back to doug and taking a few more bites We’ve got a full schedule today, two hundred
and sixty appointments, not counting emergencies or any non appointment drop offs. So we are gonna be busy. If your chrome lap dog is staying with you
we may need to disguise him a little or dress him up so he's a little less threatening. The whole exposed skeleton and glowing red
eyes are off-putting. Doug said, finishing his coffee and to
ssing
the cup to a cleaning droid. Yea Shadow, let's head to the clothing replicator
and we can pick you out an outfit that makes sense. Andy said standing up. They walked to the clothing replicator and
began looking at different outfit options, scrolling through the different options. Scrolling through Andy explained to Shadow
that this was his choice too and he wanted him to be comfortable in his attire. I desire something light, easy to move in
and pleasant to the eye. Something that is not t
hreatening but does
not hinder me from performing my tasks Shadow said looking at the options. Ok so we can go a few different ways, we can
get you in all black, security style, we can copy my advisor uniform of you can just do
whatever you want Andy replied continuing to look THERE, that one, from that other ancient film
we watched about the savior of the Dolphin, I want a hawaiian shirt, pants and a wig to
match, but I do not want those shoes, I want crocodile shoes. Shadow said excitedly Croc
odile shoes? Why do you want crocodile leather? Andy asked, looking at Shadow bewildered. No, not Crocodile leather, the Crocodile shoes
with the holes in them, let me search on this system. These! Shadow said and pointed at the screen Oh Crocs, you want to wear crocs? You want to wear socks with them too you weirdo? Andy said chuckling I am not a barbarian, I will not be wearing
socks with my crocs Shadow said firmly Alright well hit print and wait for these
to come out, I am gonna head to serv
ice to log in and check surveys and any new recalls,
come down to E-13 when your clothes are done and you're dressed. Andy said, walking away. Does that mean you are purchasing me and my
contract? Am I to be with you forever? Shadow said louder as Andy was walking away. Andy turned around to walk backwards while
still headed towards service and said I’m thinking about it and turned back around. Andy logged into E-13, got into the survey
system. No Hot-Alerts were present. Looks like all 5 stars
and one 4 star. He looked into the 4 star review and pulled
up the invoice of the visit. A Murayian who had only been there one time. Comments in the survey said Was not offered
discount for services, has not had to pay full price before Andy sighed and closed the
survey window, Some people will never be happy, no matter what you do. As he brought up his other systems the first
appointment was beginning its entry into his bay. And here, we, go
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