Stern Algorithm

My 'Hero' Academia - Devil's Due

"Do you trust me, Diesel?"

"Meet me at the lower floors"

@Zelosse

"With my life, Midnight," Dieselpunk replied, still trying to gingerly move away from the trap arrows. "Watch out for the arrows," she warned, as Midnight emerged from a nearby building. "So, what's the plan, stardust?" Dieselpunk asked somewhat jovially.

"I admit there is risk, but," Lifting his previously metallic hand revealed where his hand should have shimmered with the cosmos was now a bloating black pouch. Something swished in its depths. "There are risks. Less volatile than tar but it should serve as your fuel."

Had it not been for the exoskeleton and his clothing Diesel could have easily seen his form was smaller than before. The fuel he was offering dangerous yet few options remained without Diesel at peak performance.

"Accept me into you."

Of course he referred to her gas tank rather than anything lewd. His lack of experience on that topic only aiding the misunderstanding even as he spoke.

"Hah!" Dieselpunk guffawed at Midnight's statement, knowing him long enough to know that he didn't mean it like that. She lifted her left arm and pointed to a location in her ribs, deciding to retort in eqully lewd fashion, knowing it'll probably go over Midnight's head, "You can shoot your load, right here."

"Err.. yes. I shall."

If he could blush it would surely be all across his features. Instead of the rosy pink flush of his cheeks that others displayed, Midnights exposed body swirled with a deep azure. As close to blushing as it was possible to do given his unique appearance. Having caught on that he probably had made a somewhat lewd and accidental statement. Ignoring that, he went about positioning the bulbous sac of fluid atop Dieselpunks exposed tank.

His free hand came across and tore a small hole at the end of his bloated hand, draining the appendage rather painfully into the gas tank with as much haste as the situation allowed, until the contents had been emptied.

Grasping the depleted and dangling piece of himself, a quick tear and a stifled gasp accompanied the sound of the almost fleshy pouch slapping uselessly to the floor. Unlike his regularly malleable body, parts he creates into unseparated tar were far more sensitive to pain.

Any other time, something of that nature would be trivial. Grasping just above the stump of his ruined limb the swirling energies were already rushing forward to become a regular hand once more as Midnight gave a nod to the mecha-woman.

"Teach them pain. I'll back you up!"

Outwardly he showed no concern at all, exuding confidence, but internally he feared multiple issues. Would the engine take the fuel properly? If it did would it be effective or would it choke the engine. If the liquid was too thick it would explode, too thin it might flood the engine. All he could do was hope.

As Midnight filled her up, Dieselpunk thought she noticed a wince, but her thoughts quickly turned towards the fuel in her tank. A few revs and her engine roared to life. "WOAH!" Dieselpunk exclaimed as glowing purple fumes blasted from her many exhausts, "This is amazing!" Dieselpunk recalled that Midnight referred to his explosive liquid as 'tar', more like sweet black-tar heroin. "Thanks for the kickstart, Midnight, now let's take down these punks!" Dieselpunk declared, slamming the ground and cracking the pavement in a show of force.

Innocence Lost: Space Western Science Fantasy (Temporarily Open Again!)

@Letter Bee I assume Legion will be staying on the ship with the Captain?

🎀 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓻 . 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓰 . 𝓚𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 . 𝓜𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼 . (a steampunk RP of petticoats, poison, and propriety)

"Nobody is dissecting anyone, Arsenio." Alyssana snapped the words out with quiet force, though she gave him a small, apologetic smile immediately after. "No apologies necessary; I understand." She rested her hand briefly on the young man's shoulder before turning to regard the latest arrival.

@shylarah

Reeza smiled politely to Arsenio, noting the youth had taken a defensive posture as she'd revealed his identity. She silently chided herself as she realized not everyone holds the same respect for the living doll she held.

She gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze as Lorelei stood beside them, the false-life doll standing patiently beside the pair. She whispered quietly to Arsenio as she placed her hands in front of herself once again.

"Be calm, sometimes to be like the rest of them, we simply need to belong..." Reeza felt the same as the young creation did most times, yet without the excuse of being a creation.

@RavensMuse

A R S E N I O

---

---

Arsenio smiled up at the two ladies who had offered him reassurance. It hadn't occurred to him until now, but he had been afraid. Now he simply had an optimistic, healthy apprehension, knowing that he had allies. As Reeza and Professor Grey conversed, Arsenio quietly took a seat nearby and decided he should read the book that Alexander had suggested, or at least make a show of it. His eyes occasionally darted up, either to see who else had entered, or to admire Lorelei, Reeza's doll, whose construction was more sophisticated than his own in many regards. What appeared to be a married couple approached, followed by a harsh-looking noblewoman. Arsenio continued to read, though his ears perked up at the argument that followed. As something of a trickster who saw himself above certain human emotions (which was entirely untrue), petty arguments were entertaining to Arsenio. Being perceived as a child, he would never be expected to intervene, nor would he have any authority to do so. Though the letter from Supreme Commander Osborne had failed to mention who exactly had chosen to employ Arsenio's unique talents, Professor Grey had mentioned a female 'Captain Kingsford', and since Arsenio had been the fourth in the room, ruling Alexander out of course, him being a man and all, Arsenio could only surmise that one of the two women in the room when he entered must be their host. Arsenio wondered what the good Captain was waiting for, as the library was getting quite crowded with colorful characters.

The Crystal Gems

Amber turned suddenly to hear the approaching voice, "Ah! Hello! Yes, I might need some he-"

Just then the grinding of stone indicated to Amber that she had succeeded in opening the door. Amber looked down the hallway apprehensively. "So, a pearl? A Black Pearl? I'm an Amber, but not just any amber." She pointed to her ankle with pride, showing off the pristinely-preserved insect specimen. Though caution suddenly gripped her, and she took a few steps back. "Wait! Are you with Homeworld, or the rebellion?"

Innocence Lost: Space Western Science Fantasy (Temporarily Open Again!)

@Letter Bee

In your post you said, "which would deliver Legion to their hands," but I assume you meant Realist?

Innocence Lost: Space Western Science Fantasy (Temporarily Open Again!)

Whew, all munchkins have been scanned and medical data entered into the database.

Innocence Lost: Space Western Science Fantasy (Temporarily Open Again!)

John Green was the first to enter Legion's office; a leader had to set an example no matter how hard it was for them. His first words to the robot were: "I'm here, Legion." Then a pause. "Let me establish what I am comfortable with. I don't want to take my shirt off, nor any other article of my clothing. I don't want intrusive probes, nor do I want my skin touched at all. If you must do diagnostics, use normal scanning technology. Again, this is merely my personal comfort; you can override it if needed. If needed.

"Oh, and no badmouthing Alexander Kherol in our private sessions; he's one of the few officers in the Ascendancy military who didn't do anything bad to me. I have Stockholm Syndrome because of that, though, so perhaps that request can be waived," John continued. He then faced Legion once more. "I trust this will all be confidential?"

@Letter Bee

"Of course," Legion replied, directing Jon to the biometric scanner, a shower stall-shaped installment in the corner of the infirmary. "This is just a basic checkup so I can have some data on your overall health, so no invasive procedures will be performed. As for Mr. Kherol, I do not know the man and can therefore not form an opinion on him one way or another. All I can say is this: Good is not merely the absence of Evil. And being part of a corrupt system while doing nothing to change it would be considered complicity, and, if one thought in absolutes, collective guilt. However, I am not a legislator, nor are the thoughts and opinions expressed necessarily my own. I simply enjoy positing philosophical 'what-ifs'." Legion went on as data was collected from the scanner. "If you have any specific personal health concerns, physical or emotional, please feel free to bring them up with me now or at a later time. As it is, the check-up is complete, and please fill out this medical datapad at your leisure."

---

"So, maintenance!" Eldrid said as he walked into the infirmary, whipped off his cape, and in one smooth motion tossed it over a chair in the corner. The chair, unbalanced by the weight, tipped over and clattered noisily to the floor. Eldrid looked at it for a moment, them unbuttoned his shirt and threw it on the pile. The symbols on his body didn't stop at his face, a larger pair was painted across his surprisingly well-defined chest. "I hope you don't mind the war paint." he said, starching his arms above his head and cracking his back. "I'm sure it won't throw off a big impressive robot like you."

He spun around. "As you can see, I've got no cyber parts so I guess this should be easier than what you're used to dealing with. Or..." he stopped, leaning forward to get a good look at legion. "Is it more comfortable working with metal for you? I'm just curious, I've never really worked with an AI. I always imagined working on a machine would be more uncomfortable for a free machine, like the sight of guts disgusts a human being. That's how I wrote it, anyway."

@Gentlemanvaultboy

Legion noted the drastic difference in personality between Eldrid and John. Legion also took this opportunity to visibly check for any scars on Eldrid's body. A few rat-sized pieces broke off from Legion's body, dropping to the floor, and scurrying over to right the fallen chair using protruding extendable manipulators, going the extra mile to drape Eldrid's clothing properly on the seat-back. "The war paint will not be an issue. I have operated on tattooed patients in the past. please step into the biometric scanner." Legion stated, and gave Eldrid the same explanation as he gave to John about this being a non-invasive, preliminary checkup. "I was created with the sole purpose of healing humans, so it is what I am most comfortable with. It wasn't until much later in my career that I learned how to operate on non-human organics and how to perform mechanical work. As for discomfort, queasiness is not a sensation I feel; any inhibitions I may feel when it comes to operating on other machines stems solely from my level of confidence for the task at hand." When the scan had finished, Legion offered Eldrid a datapad.

---

Stella peeked in through the door of Legion's office. She had tried to come by once before but she just knew that someone else was already there. She definitely wanted doctor-patient confidentiality. At least, as much as one could afford in the situation she was in, being a part of a rebellion and all.

Once she was sure nobody else was in the room, she quickly ducked into the office and closed the door. "So." Stella trailed off for a moment. She decided that being brief and to the point would most likely prevent any awkwardness. "Do you need an access panel, or... Um..."

'Maybe I should have paid more attention when they were briefing me on the prosthetics...' Stella thought to herself, as she tried to remember what an engineer would need to know in order to diagnose her. She quickly diverted her eyes to the ground, fidgeting a little.

@Crowvette

"Do not worry, please step into the biometric scanner," Legion explained, "It will scan your organic components, while I will scan your mechanical components...oh my." Legion fell silent for a moment. It was obvious that much of Stella's body was robotic, but Legion had not anticipated the extent. "This is just a preliminary scan, to see if there are any immediate concerns that need addressing. Everything seems to be in order. Please fill out this datapad at your leisure. And...if you have any questions about your body, I am available to help you adjust." Legion wondered how Stella felt about herself. Would a human feel disgust or loathing to be forced into the body of a machine, which they saw as inferior and destined to serve? The Ascendancy elites were repulsed by 'mechanical impurity' and showed disdain for cyborgs and other humans with prosthetics.

---

Rachel took her time going to see Legion. At first she didn’t see a point in fixing something that isn’t broken, especially since the Rau’ve were quite thorough in their examination at the end of the war, but on second thought she had to admit there was some sense in getting a checkup when going to a new doctor. After all, Legion was a machine - it has literally done the math.

“Hi there!” she waved to Legion when she entered the sick bay, looking around the room. A habit drilled into her head over the years. A chair slid across the room, coming to rest at her side “If you don’t like tuning up cybernetics, you’ll be pleased to know I don’t have too many of those. Just some biotech in my eyes and cybernetics in my ears. The latter gets a bit wonky from time to time, it was an afterthought.” As a child, she imagined force recon units would work as a cohesive, disciplined team, or so she thought until that breaching charge went off without a warning and messed up her ears. Some training accident that was.

“Aside from that, I grew up in a dry and dusty environment if that’s of any concern.” she sat down, remembering all the seemingly unimportant things the previous doctors seemed interested in. “And had an irregular sleep schedule. Anything else you’d like to know?”

@Starlance

"That is very informative," Legion commended, then proceeding to direct Rachel to the scanner, paying extra attention to her lungs and brain patterns, while scanning her prosthetics. "I have detected that your aural prosthetics are quite faulty as you stated. As it is, I must recommend that you do not participate in the coming mission, or any mission for that matter, until I have given your hearing implants some attention. Since you are the last of the children to see me, I can work on them now since I am not expecting anyone else, and I can always give Orky and the other crewmates their tune-ups right before we land. But if you need some time to think about it, then please take this datapad and fill it out."

My 'Hero' Academia - Devil's Due

Actually @vancexentan, go a head with a GM post. I think it'd be best if I collab with @Zelosse, otherwise, I'm just going to post a one-liner of Diesel saying she trusts Midnight.

The Crystal Gems

No worries, still here! A wait like this is nothing.

Innocence Lost: Space Western Science Fantasy (Temporarily Open Again!)

@Stern Algorithm, Anyway, I'll post once you do? Also, we might have a new player soon; I made a special exception.

@Letter Bee

Ok, give me a bit to get a post up. Gotta reply to four munchkins.