Some Reassembly Required

[rekindledtitan]

There’s an open, grassy area on the edge of the Wilds, some distance from the most popular Nexus parks where people are enjoying their picnics and centaur polo and so forth. It’s a good place to go if you want slightly more peace and quiet - or in Blaze’s case, a good open space in which to make a lot of noise. The robot soldier has a few small crates out on the grass. One of them she’s sitting on; the others are being used as tables which hold a small array of tools and components and blocks of metal. She’s working on modifying a pair of heavy armored boots much like the pair she’s wearing, refitting the soles and reinforcing their structure. Her Ghost hovers beside her, inspecting a blueprint spread out atop one of the boxes. The little bot is spinning his pointy shell back and forth as if concerned, but Blaze pays him no heed.

“So,” she says, speaking up while she works. “People change. Some of us change more than others. Sometimes we don’t notice how it happens. Sometimes,” she yanks out a component and chucks it down beside her, “we don’t get a say. So what part of yourself would you want make sure you held on to? What’s the part you’d want to be remembered?” She pauses, then looks up at the nearest people. “And, hey, anyone got some spare explosives?"

Comments

[upperfixer]

Fairfax isn't sure if he should salute her back, and looks a little bit caught out by it. But he straightens his back, hand twitching like he wants to but isn't.

"Blaze-37. Is that a designation?" Fairfax appreciates the distance, Ghost's airborne hovering reminds him a little too much of the fly-drones tracking him to be entirely comfortable. Still, he - it? - is surprisingly expressive, despite being just as mechanical. He thinks he likes this personality module much more than Byke's, considering he hasn't cussed him out so far.

[rekindledtitan]

"It's my name. Just Blaze is fine though - the number doesn't matter much." She peers at him for a second. The helm makes it harder to judge but nevertheless: "You're looking better. Not that I'm surprised. It's just good. Been busy?" She hopes so. Blaze is a firm believer in activity as a balm for the soul.

[upperfixer]

Fairfax is looking much better. He's been able to obtain more consistent food that wasn't a dented can of beanos and a smattering of stimulants to keep himself moving and awake. Fuckin' Christ, he's had bagels. His cheeks look less gaunt, and the scars on his face have had time to close over. He's even shaved.

"I've been occupied. Did some thinking. Worked some jobs."

He can squeeze out a little more expressiveness than that. He gives her a small, crooked smile, although it looks more like a grimacing slash of teeth. He's a little out of practice, to say the least. As if realising it, he drops the smile quickly.

"It's... a lot." It's meant to be a dry remark, but it comes out more quieter than he'd intended it to.

[rekindledtitan]

"Hey, and you smile now too." He probably won't if you tease him, Blaze. She can't return it, anyway: there's just a hint of it in the shift of her facial plating, the warmth of the look she gives him. At least before she nods, and glances back down at her tools.

"It's everything, sometimes. The simple stuff. Especially those days where you wake up and everything you knew has just... gone insane and turned inside out."

[upperfixer]

The smile disappears so far back to where it came from, it wraps all the way back into a frown. But the last comment has him snort humorlessly and scratch the side of his neck, looking away.

"Sometimes, literally." That was pretty disgusting to see, even for his tolerance levels. "Seeing less of that now in this place, and that's just fine for me. Don't think it could be any worse." It's not perfectly fine, not really. But it sure as hell is slightly better. He tilts his head back, back to her and Ghost. "Why? Something happen to you?"

[rekindledtitan]

"A few times over, that I remember. Half the time it's thanks to this place." Blaze knows Ghost is peeking back at her, she's just choosing to ignore it. She sets a relic-alloy plate into place and pulls off a gauntlet, testing the reddish metal with her fingertips.

"You mean lately, though? That's been more- hn, facing up to some things I didn't want to admit. Stepped in some old politics no-one mentioned to us. Had some-" Tap, tap, tap- the fit is fine. It's in, it'll hold. "Memory issues that weren't what I thought. I've got a lot to figure out. Got reason to celebrate, too. That's why I figured I'd do something fun."

[upperfixer]

"Old politics. Sometimes it's worse than a grenade."

Fairfax chooses to stare down more at her hands tapping away at the boots than her face - face? Might as well be, it's somehow more expressive than he'd give it credit for - partly because he's not great at maintaining eye contact unless it was necessary, but also because he recognises that she's saying something that sounds important to her and he really can't deal with that.

"Memory issues - what memory issues?"

She mentions something to celebrate too, but Fairfax has always been a bit hyper-fixated on the negative.

[[sorry for the sporadic replies - been a bit busy but it'll be evening out soon!]]

[rekindledtitan]

"You said it. Least a grenade's short and simple." She leans over to pick up the small box of metal pieces beside her, pulls out the next couple of plates she wants.

"Ah." It's not a secret. She might be a lot less complacent about it than she once was, but it's mostly common knowledge. "Bots like me- Exos - we reboot every once in a while. Total memory wipe and reset. Our creators are long dead, so they can't tell us about the how and why of it." This is said simply, matter-of-factly, though she admits, "I kind of assumed no more technicians meant no more reboots. Found out it doesn't work that way, though."


[[No problem! I won't be around much for the next week or so myself but I'll reply where I can!]]