I Dream of Androids

[Sebastian Thel]

​

A drill buzzed within the steel confines of Sebastian's workshop. Connecting a joint in the arm of his masterpiece, he secured the screw in place as sparks flew in front of the lenses of his goggles. Green code rolled down the front of one of the lenses, displayed by an implant which kept him updated on the status of the construction, alerting to him to any errors which he was required to address.

"Visitor approaching premises." The data above the lens displayed a message. Pausing, Sebastian turned off the drill and set it aside, then hit the button on the side of his goggles and turned off the projection.

"Yeah, yeah." The engineer spoke to the implant as he pulled his goggles down and let them hang around his neck. Checking the time on his wrist communicator, he brushed the grease off his hands with a rag and walked towards the front of the workshop.

Having reviewed the thesis presented to him by the engineer Anari Mero on the subject of robotics, Sebastian had been impressed with her work and offered her the chance to assist him on a highly advanced project. On his work bench, lay the mechanical frame of a droid resembling a slender human. Still far from complete, the durasteel skeleton was the beginning of Thel's greatest creation.

The workshop opened into the storefront, where Sebastian greeted Anari at the entrance. Wearing a plain, black T-shirt with a calculus problem on the front in white and army pants tucked into lace-up boots, Bas appeared no different to the other tech heads who ran the storefronts on Terminus. The only distinguishable trait being his skinny frame and soft features, which were now blemished with patches of droid oil.

"Hey Miss Mero, she's just inside." Sebastian greeted Anari and extended a hand for her to shake. He ran a hand through his pin-straight hair and made the ends stick up in the process. "Sorry about the mess." He commented about the pieces of machinery strewn everywhere and the smell of droid oil hanging thick on the air.

While Sebastian's workshop may have been a mess, a cluttered desk was a sign of an active mind, or so it was said. He lead Anari through the storefront and into the workshop out the back, where Faye lay on the table, her joints exposed and her plating not yet applied. Standing above the table, the engineer proudly displayed his work and smiled to Anari, gesturing with a hand towards the droid.

"There she is." He expressed a sigh of excitement, then turned to the other engineer. "Your thesis was great. Glad to have you here to here to help with Faye." Nodding his head, Sebastian walked around the desk and sat down. On the opposite side, he had set out a chair for Anari. "You want anything to drink?" He asked, tilting his head to the coffee machine on the table beside the wall.

[member="Anari Mero"]

 

[Hansen]

Anarielle Giala Mero
Terminus, Sebastian's Workshop
Tags: [member="Sebastian Thel"]

Anarielle's eyes craned up towards the ceiling searching for the appropriate signage and eventually finds herself being led in the correct direction not just by the force but through wordly guide inside the industrial habitat; the distance sound of a hacksaw haphazardly cutting through what she perceived to be a piece of mild Durasteel forces a small smirk across Anarielle's lips "Amateur machinist over there." She whispered to herself, to the Sephi elitist having a vice-grip within a workshop was a sign of poor craftsmanship afterall if you machined the item to specification within tolerances the first time having such an item in a workshop would be completely unnecessary. For Anarielle's part she preferred to operated user-articulated lasers for mechanical cutting tasks they were far more accurate than attempting to perform the same task with a torch although for former equipment was certainly more expensive than the latter it was the mark of someone who had access to impressive resources like the Chairman of Samaria Heavy Engineering.

Anarielle had journeyed here to aid in the programming and fabrication of a droid model being constructed by a 'Sebastian Thel' whom had read a paper prepared by the former on the development of Read/Write functionality in Droid Brains and how in theory any droid in the absence of scheduled mind-wipes would become self-aware and develop self-preservation programming exhibiting behavior that was associated by the lay-man with 'Artificial Intelligence' But was any intellect truly 'Artificial' or just a product of its' environment and evolution? Anarielle wondered. Pushing that elegant gold-silver mask back up the bridge of nose somewhat the Sephi woman stuffs a hand into navy-blue right fire-retardant trouser pocket and keys the pager back into silent after it buzzes briefly those dexterous hands attached at each wrist clad in a black leather fitting snugly so as not to cripple digit articulation, Anari had tied her startling fair hair into a short ponytail it had been a frenetic morning and it had grown too long to readily tuck into a bun. It brought the woman's heart no small measure of joy to see that the fires of education and industry flared on even in this still largely unfamiliar century although there was much talk of a Catastrophe some four centuries ago that plunged the Galaxy into darkness.

Ach-Kay's rust-coloured boots followed behind Anari with a distinct clanging carrying a cardboard box filled with data-disks containing information copied from historical archives and ancient architectural papers that the young Sebastian would no doubt find interesting, Anarielle's droid servants had managed to preserve the works through her centuries long suspension. Knowledge was power afterall and wisely used would propel Galactic Civilization out from the slump it found itself kicked into by that ominous 'Gulag Plague'. Arriving outside the storefront Anari and Ach-Kay halt beside one-another, that ancient Assassin droid pivoted his head in his dwarfed Master's direction craning the orange flashing diodes that formed his 'eyes' down towards her. "Query: Will I be carrying this obnoxiously large box much longer Mistress?" Anarielle meets the lofty tall droid's gaze and offers up a reply after banishing a smug toothy grin from her face.

"Amused Statement: You shall continue to carry the box until we are invited inside." There was no mistaking the mocking tone of Anari's voice answering the droid's question using its' own vocalization syntax shamelessly. The Woman had a passion for droid programming and had already decided that Samaria Heavy Engineering would next re-open their Robotics development department, Anarielle's arrival here served two purposes in that she could aid a budding student of Robotics in their project and perhaps in doing-so come to understand more closely modern automaton design. Anarielle toyed with the idea of offering the man a position with Samaria Heavy Engineering when that time around if what she saw was thoroughly innovative and impressive, though they historically did not employ Non-Sephi Anarielle had come to place Merit higher above all other characteristics during her Jedi training and subsequent service in the Confederacy's Army. Sebastian emerged from behind strips of leather hanging in a doorframe it seemed and looked every bit the starry-eyed machinist hell-bent on sharing his most recent and exciting creation with the woman, Anarielle couldn't help but exchange a friendly smile.

Sebastian appeared to be very much the young Engineer with his thin frame which made his boots seem obnoxiously large in comparison, she stifled a chuckle after realizing there was a calculus problem upon the man's protective apron. Anarielle's blue eyes assess Sebastian's hand for a moment and brings her own forward taking the man's knuckles in a firm albeit not crushing grip. "Excellent, show me what you've been working on." Anarielle gestures for Ach-Kay to follow behind and place the box down out of the way offering some commentary on it. "Data-disks, contains some very old papers on automaton programming and historical designs you should find the contents very interesting." Ach-Kay goes to put the dry cardboard box on the workshop's floor carefully, with Anarielle following behind Sebastian taking note of the dishevelled and often disorganised appearance appearance. She thought that Sebastian must have had many sleepless and restless nights for the house-keeping to degrade this low although the obvious excitement radiating out from the man made her suspect that it wasn't due to a laziness or neglect but rather his singular occupation with this project. With a chuckle Anarielle dismisses his apology. "You are not the first Engineer to permit their housekeeping to degrade this low, it is often the mark of one who is most busy and industrious." Laying eyes upon what was distinctly a Durasteel skeleton laid out atop the bench Anarielle releases a low whistle. "Did you fabricate all of this on your own? I'm most impressed."

A level of his excitement rubbed off onto Anari now that she was face to face with something new, unknown and positively exciting. It was an entirely new droid model from the look of things something Sebastian was working on for himself. Anarielle reaches between knees and pulls the chair behind her knees, taking a seat promptly she examines Sebastian's work with an outward Enthusiasm. "No thank you." She answered politely, studying the workmanship and internal parts or lack thereof. Ach-Kay stood in the Workshop watching the pair near the entrance in complete silence, no doubt he was some kind of bodyguard for the Sephi Woman. "Your flattery is received with all intention although I didn't come here to hear you sing my praises." Those azure spheres in their almond-shaped sockets turn towards Sebastian with a most pleased smirk. "Perhaps we ought to assess the programming for your Droid's brain before we start discussing hardware? The latter I find easy to fall into place once the operating software and programming is stable."

 

[Sebastian Thel]

A coy smile dented Sebastian's cheeks as Anari gripped his hand in a firm shake. He unfurled his fingers from around the Sephi's hand and lead her inside. Pulling a leaver beside the window, he closed a pair of shutters over the rows of boxes which contained parts and tools which he was selling, concealing them from view and locked them away from any possible thieves. Turning to Anari and her droid servant, his eyes inspected every crevice of the mechanical being in wonder as walked into the workshop.

"Thanks for those!" Sebastian thanked the woman genuinely as the droid placed the box down on the floor. He took a moment to flip open the top lead and peer over the contents. "Oh neat! Designs from the Old Republic!" Bas exclaimed eagerly as he gently filed through the various papers and discs. He closed the box and slid it carefully under the table, before rising to his feet. "I really like your droid, did you build him yourself?" Admiring Arch-kay vocally, he turned towards Anari and sat down at his desk.

Sebastian only chuckled in response to Anaroi's comment about his housekeeping, or lack thereof. The other engineer whistled in admiration as she looked at Faye, who resembled only a mechanical skeleton without any wiring. Sebastian blushed slightly and ran a hand through his grease covered hair in a flattered gesture, making the pin-straight strands stick on their ends in the process.

"Yup, the frame is nearly complete, then I'll get around to her wiring." He responded in affirmation to Anari's question. "I'm still not sure how I'm going to construct her chassis, but maybe you can help with that." Sebastian pondered aloud, still unsure of how to craft the plates which would make up Faye's armor and skin. Pulling up the seat in front of his computer, he sat down and nodded as Anari refused his offer of a drink. His fingers moved across the terminals as he flicked buttons at every turn. Green code rolled down the screens as the files containing Faye's software were displayed.

"I've designed Faye as a melee combatant. She won't be able to process mathematics or advanced calculations." Turning around on his chair as he spoke, Sebastian slid his glasses over his ears and surveyed the programming, which was only bare bones for now. "I want her to function as both a companion and a bodyguard, with all the qualities of a close friend, who would crush any enemy if they threaten those who cannot defend themselves." He explained the purpose behind Faye's programming and reached across the desk to plug leads into several ports on the droid's frame.

"That means me." Sebastian chuckled. He admitted that the purpose of Faye was to protect him in combat situations, as well as fight on the front line of factions dedicated to liberating worlds from the Dark Side. "Let's get started on her programming, then." He pulled up a chair in front of the second terminal. As Anari sat down, she would be able to see the code which Sebastian had been writing as the figures rolled down the screen.

[member="Anari Mero"]

 

[Hansen]

Anarielle Giala Mero
Terminus, Sebastian's Workshop
[SIZE=9pt]Tags:[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] [member="Sebastian Thel"][/SIZE]

"You're welcome" Anari waves a hand flippantly and smirks softly watching Sabastian sift through the piles of data discs in their sealed hard-plastic sleeves. "Remember Sebastian that information is power and in this post-gulag plague galaxy much education and information has been destroyed, I hope those materials will aid you in future [SIZE=9pt]endeavors[/SIZE]. It's important to honour the brilliant minds who have gone before us and acknowledge their work." Sharing a small amount of her own personal philosophy Anarielle straightens somewhat and re-focuses on Ach-Kay's rust-coloured body that HK-Series Droid appeared to be a protocol droid to the unfamiliar or ignorant, in truth that product series were designed as Assassin droids after-all what better bodyguard to have than a rehabilitated Assassin? They were more likely to be able to identify Assassination plots prior to their execution. The suspicion was driven by Anarielle's fear of a would-be murderer, this fear was her own rationale for refusing now to walk the path of the Jedi even though the Praxeum had laid it out before the Sephi Woman. That and the reluctance to release her worldly possessions and personal attachments to the family she had only just recently re-connected with after centuries in exile.

Ach-Kay's diodes flash twice pivoting in [SIZE=9pt]Anari's direction permitting his master to answer the inquiry. "Ach-Kay was a restoration job actually, found him in a recycling plant and couldn't let the piece of history go to waste." Turning attention back over to Faye laying beneath her eyes studying the yet under-construction Android Anarielle notes that they lack any internal working parts as of now she was merely a Durasteel-frame Skeleton although it was of fine craftsmanship and it earned a small amount of approval from Anari as she'd conveyed earlier with her whistle. Custom jobs were always of superior quality, the hardest thing for an Engineering was designing and constructing somewhat that could be put into serial production as Anari often discovered when working on Powered Exoskeletons all too often an Engineer's dream turned out to be a Soldier's nightmare. Assessing Faye's [/SIZE]durasteel frame with a critical gaze she listens to Sebastian's entreaty for aid in completing the Android.

"I've got experience with programming Battle Droids, I'll see what I can do. What is the status of Faye's programming, are you proficient at all?" Anarielle's eyes trace and follow the multiple wires connecting to the Durasteel humanoid frame laid out neatly atop the workbench and after a few moment passed locates a connected Terminal, swaggering over towards it the Sephi Woman will carefully take a perch on some ragged-looking wheeled chair before the computer. "Since you've read some of my published work I assume you're familiar with my ideas on life-preservation programming on automatons constructed with violent roles, yes?" Anarielle queried the young man politely wanting to verify that Sebastian was indeed familiar with her belief that one should program ethical life-protection protocols even into droids constructed for War, believing that violence should be levelled with humility and restraint where one must fight. It was the Sephi Engineer's way of trying to mold her own droids' programming after their master's sense of morality.