Face of an Enterprise

[Silens Telum]

@[member="Bip"]
Hypori
Droid Facility

He'd received word that his project had been finished and that he had to come pick it up. The stark white walls of the sterile facility sat in stark contrast of his black armor, making him seem foreign in the room as he watched them putting the finishing touches on the droid he'd ordered.

He needed one with complex enough an AI that she could handle being the 'friendly face' of his group. After all, he was good at shooting things, not dealing with PR. He found his gaze tracing the cabling attached to the slab she was laying on. Well, 'it', though she felt more appropriate given the face. That was the goal he'd had in mind. Make something that people could relate to.

Other than the cabling and the slab, the room was a perfectly flat box with holopanels for computer access displayed with microprojectors that the engineers worked with. It was awkward. And no cover, a terrible shootout room.

 

[Bip]

'It'. From within It's circuits, the first spark of 'life' was finally stirring. And then, it was like a light. The whirring of gears, the electricity singing in It's 'veins'. In the torso, the Droids 'heart' gently thundered, sending vital cooling liquids to vital 'organs'.
In the 'brain', something awoke.

Eyelids fluttered open, bright Aqua colored oculars whirring as the droid focused It's vision for the first time, running test after test to ensure It's visions centers were functioning at full capacity. Slowly, she focused on one face, to the next. It's vision capabilities were functioning at 100%.

Now to test speech.
"Greetings. I am B.I.P-36237. At your service."
The voice was feminine, gentle. Not robotic. Smooth, soothing.
Vocals- check. But then, it said something that one would not expect from a Droid.

"Today is my birthday."

 

[Silens Telum]

Well, she worked. The voice worked, she could see. She didn't move, really, so he'd have to test that. Would do no good to have a head that could see and talk attached to dead weight, after all.

The engineers seemed a bit perplexed by this development, what she had said, looking over displays and scratching their heads. He didn't think twice about it, though. Maybe that was for the best. "Yes, it is. Why don't you see how well you can move and if you're good to walk we'll go get you something nice for your birthday, shall we?"

He stepped back a bit, waiting to see how well she could move on her own.

 

[Bip]

The droid blinked. Why did It blink? It was programmed to mimic human habits. Humans blinked. Humans nodded too in response to things, and so did B.I.P-36237. Slowly, the arms rose. Upperlimb connection-checked.
It took one step. Clear. Another step. Clear. Two more. it walked in a careful circle, checking balance. Locomotion- Checked. The droids mouth pulled back in a smile. First steps. A human child was always pleased to take it's first steps. Pleasure was expressed through facial movement.
"Are you my creator?" It asked, aqua blue oculars falling to the male that spoke about B.I.P's Birthday.

 

[Silens Telum]

Well, she was cautious at first, hopefully that would pass. He was looking for graceful. Still, progress could be made. He nodded back at her. "Yes, I'm responsible for your creation, so you could say that." And if any of the engineers wanted to protest they wouldn't be long for the galaxy. "So what should we get you, then? Anything you want."

He'd love to see how creative she could be when given an open question like that.

 

[Bip]

Responsible for creation. What did that make him? God? No. Gods were mythical beings. He was mother... No. Not female. He lacked the proper organs for that. Male. Father. The Droid blinked again, painted eyebrows lowering in 'thought'.
Want was a new concept. The Droid had no concept yet of personal want. It had to look up the definition of the word. What could a Droid ever 'want'?

"I want..." it spoke slowly, It's 'brain' looking for something human to want, "I want..."
The droid looked down at It's body. Curvy, feminine. It's outer shell covered in certain places by black... what do they call this? Clothes? She could ask for something else to wear. According to her data, some human women asked for that for birthdays. But what did a human receive on it's first birthday?
"I want a name."

 

[Silens Telum]

A name? That was easy enough. Droids normally went with their designations so... "Bip, we'll call you Bip. That's easy enough to remember, right? Are you sure there's not something else you'd like? After all, we were going to have to name you anyway, so that isn't very fair to you." He chuckled. Most droids didn't have this level of thought so he wondered just how well this would all turn out.

"Come, walk with me to my ship, we can think more there."

 

[Bip]

Bip. The Droid examined the room again thoughtfully. Bip.
"Bip is my name," It said slowly, testing the use of the name itself, a new smile on It's face, "Hello. I my name is Bip."
It's 'Father' was asking what else It could want. It knew what that could be at once, but it did not ask yet. With a little wave to the engineers in the room, (Bip would have to practice waving) it turned and followed the Father to his ship.
"What shall I call you?"

 

[Silens Telum]

As they boarded the YT-2000, he looked back at her and shrugged. "Silens, General, Sir, or get creative? Take your pick, I'm not picky with what people call me." He began raising the loading ramp and signaled for the droid pilot to take them into the atmosphere. Once shut, he pulled off his helmet to give himself breathing room, heading to a 'booth' with a table towards the center of the ship, resting his helmet on the table. The mixture of scars and prosthesis on his face indicated he'd seen a lot of combat in his time, or he was very unlucky.

The inside of the ship was fairly plain, modified to hold additional weapons and armor, with one of the cargo bays outfitted to handle work on droids and cybernetic parts in case he needed repairs on the go.

"So have you decided on something? I have to let the pilot know where to take us."

 

[Bip]

Bip observed the Father removing his head... no. Helmet. It took a moment to calculate what was happening. It scanned his face, taking in the prosthetic he had.
"Yes, Father," it answered, using the name It had also decided to give him, "I would like new clothing. My observations tell me that it is not socially acceptable to be seen without proper coverings."

 

[Silens Telum]

"Coruscant, then." He let the droid flying know and the ship turned in space, hyperdrives warming as the course was plotted, and the jump to hyperspace was made. "Father, eh? I suppose that'll work. Feels a little odd, but I can work with it. And I suppose that's true. We'll need you to look professional, after all. After all, certainly no one else in my group does."

The engineers certainly did a good job on the exterior. The question was, how would she handle her job. Did he need to give her time to warm up or was she prepared for a 'receptionist' position?

 

[Bip]

The droid nodded, face breaking into a smile again. So he did not mind 'Father'. It seemed appropriate.
"If you do not mind, Father, I should like to shut down if I am not needed."

 

[Silens Telum]

"Hm? No, I don't mind." He wondered just how independent she could be. He did need her to make calls on her own at some point. Still, it was early. Time would tell.

He stood and moved to the cockpit, opening the hatch and staring through it over the droid pilot at space as it tore past them. Travel always made him restless. Not much to do while waiting to get from place to place, especially on your own. Still, with work as spread as his was, he had to go through this quite often. And now he was going to take a droid shopping. Today was strange.

 

[Bip]

The droid sat down wherever it could. It pulled it's knees to it's chest, wrapped it's long thin arms around and bent it's head inwards so it was taking up as little space as possible.
Bip. It's name was Bip. It was going to serve the Father.
The droid blinked once before it's large aqua blue 'eyes' dimmed to gray. Droids did not sleep typically, but Bip was no ordinary droid. It could think, learn, develop independently of it's programming.
But it did not dream.

 

[Silens Telum]

He spent the remainder of the trip tuning his weapons and spending some time watching hyperspace while thinking. It was odd having a droid ask to sleep. Weird that she was outwardly more 'human' than he presented himself to be. Probably irony in there somewhere, but it was lost on him. Still, they eventually reached Coruscant, and got to wait in line for a while before a flight lane cleared up for them to land. "No wonder people are so fond of blowing this planet up every chance they get..."

He sighed and turned back to the droid, wondering how you woke a droid up. He shrugged and decided to go for the obvious first. "Bip, wake up."

 

[Bip]

Wake up. An order. There was a low whirr as the droid stirred. it's head popped back up and it's eyes glowed a faint aqua again.
"Good morning."

 

[Silens Telum]

He was going to assume that it was because it was, indeed, morning on Coruscant, and not because she was being cute, that she said that. "Yes, good morning. How do you feel about crowds? Because there's going to be a lot of them once we get off the ship, you know." He sighed a bit, wondering if it wouldn't be easier to just run and grab her something. But no, he had to make sure she responded well to people, and that she picked out something she would be able to wear.