Raised by a Machine

[Sebastian Thel]

​

Computer terminals buzzed with static across the length of Sebastian's workbench. Green code flickered and died as he tried to revive Faye's programming from a crash. Laying on the center of the circular bench, she resembled a mechanical joints and naked circuits. Muttering under his breath, Bas took a swig from a mug of caf as he waged war with his computer terminal.

"Son of a queen." The engineer cursed as the screens continued to flicker. He really needed to update his system if this project was ever going to get finished. Repairing droids and cybernetics only paid for so much.

With a pen hanging between his teeth, Sebastian's fingers moved across the keyboard and revived the backup data storage. Leads lead to Faye's ports where he transferred power. She had already began to send messages, although most of them were scrambled and needed to be decrypted. On his head, his welding goggles projected a message from the implant build into the side of the lens.

"Visitor approaching premises." The message read beneath rows of code informing Sebastian of Faye's current status. Hitting the button on the side of the lens, he restored the backup files and set the system on standby, then pulled himself to his feet. He wore a black T-shirt with a calculus problem on the front in white, above army pants and lace-up boots. A spanner hung from his belt and his soft features were smudged with grease.

"I know, I know." Leaving his mug of caf on the desk, Bas walked out of the circular bench and towards the front of the workshop. He entered the storefront, where an open window revealed the figure of Shaun, a young Force-user who had agreed to help him with the project in order to learn more about robotics.

Sebastian waved silently in front of the window, which had no glass and displayed rows of parts and tools in boxes which he was selling. He opened the door and let Shaun inside. "Hey Shaun, good to see you." Bas parted his lips in a coy smile and offered Shaun a hand to shake if he wished. "Her joints are all done, time to get her wired up and start programming." He said as he turned around and pulled a leaver, which brought a shutter over the storefront window.

Leading Shaun inside, Sebastian brought him into the workshop, which spacious enough to hold a large, circular bench. An array of computer terminals standing on top of each other beeped with life as Faye's software remained on standby. Bas offered Shaun a seat on the other side of the desk, while he walked into the center.

"Thirsty?" He asked as he gestured to the adjoining kitchen. "Ran into a nasty crash a few minutes ago, but I managed to save the important data." Shrugging, he leaned against the desk and sipped his mug of coffee while Shaun made himself at home.

[member="Shaun Irons"]

 

[Vora Kaar]

This was quite the change of pace.

Sebastian was not someone who upon first glance you would expect much from. Yet, his mind would take him places. It was filled with a slew of technology and wisdom and knowledge that I lacked. Yet, the same could be said for myself. Our first speaking had revealed much to one another. He was quite the tinkerer. A man who sought to create something new. While yes, there was profit in it, he sought to do so for his amusement. This alone garnered my attention. I was adept with technology. My father was one of the few members of the Echani community who could create vibroblades, and Firebrands in such a way, that could be produced much faster, yet still just as strong, if not more so.

He had taught me much and I furthered my studies with my mentors and Masters. However, sometimes, one must use different paths to learn all they could. Thel had an idea we spoke only in passing about. How he was wishing to create, life. While at first I took him for a man wanting to play god. It was not so. This was to create a life form. A being who could adapt, aid him, or even aid others. This being, a Human Replica Droid, would be a premise for him and his future endeavors. Just as much as my own.

When he asked for me to come and visit him, I could not say no. If this man was going to go places well beyond what others could do, then I would join him. Not to carry me, but to aid him and to learn in the process as well. I sought knowledge to further myself and those around me.

Walking into this man's shop, I couldn't help but look around. Being waved in through the window, the door was open for my entrance. Already the man was wanting to work. Just my style. I hated the idea of small talk. Talking prevented the working or training of my hands, body, and mind. This would be a real test of my skills passed down to me. The joints were done as he proposed. Looking within his shop, I could see the model he was working with. Quite eccentric if I could say so. Personal taste would not be mine, but I could see the appeasement.

Taken out of my daze with the question of a drink, I shook my head to his explanation.

"No, thank you for the offer..."

My mind moved back to the droid he was working on. Parts strewn across the area with his working conditions. With this crash he spoke of, I can only assume he had been working on it for far longer than he should have been in one sitting. I analyzed what he had done so far. Most of it seemed to be the bare bones construction and fabrication of the body and the mind. However, the two have yet to meet.

"Did the crash happen while trying to connect the processing units and the frame itself? Or was this from a different source?"

I hovered my eyes over the datalogs that the man had scrounged up so far. He was piecing together broken fragments of the crash he had. He had the important parts as he mentioned. However, I would assume that we would want to test bare bones first, before trying to perfect one, without the other. It was such as tightening bolts upon a speeder. Tightening one more than the others, could lead to stress, or a lack of a grip at the final stages of the product.

"You seemed to have repaired a bit. How much did you lose in the crash?"

[member="Sebastian Thel"],

 

[Sebastian Thel]

As Sebastian lead Shaun into the workshop, he noticed the Force-user looking around at the bits and pieces strewn everywhere with curiosity, something he appreciated himself. He nodded when Shaun refused the offer of a drink and scurried around the side of the bench to where Faye was laying. With an excited gasp, he extended a hand and gestured towards the mechanical frame of the android for Shaun to see.

"The crash happened while I was refining her programming." The engineer explained as he placed both hands on the bench and leaned downwards, inspecting every crevice of the mechanical skeleton, which appeared rather eerie without any plating. "It's only bare-bones at the moment, but she's been responding to my code and transferring scrambled messages, which I have to decrypt." He continued as he stood upright and walked over to the terminal, where he sat down and flicked buttons at every turn.

"Only certain fragments of her personality, but most of it was saved by a backup file I just pieced together." As he spoke, the screens came to life with flashes of luminescence which glowed amidst the darkness of the workshop. Green code rolled down the screens and displayed what Sebastian had already configured of Faye's software. He pulled up a chair for Shaun in front of the other terminal and read a new message which the droid had sent to him.

"Oh look! She's talking to us!" Exclaiming with glee, Sebastian looked at Shaun, then turned back around to the screen. His fingers moved across the keyboard at a rapid pace as he worked to decrypt the message. After a few seconds two more messages appeared, all of them masses of randomized numbers. "They're scrambled, sit tight while I crack them." Stretching his fingers, Sebastian slid his glasses over his ears and surveyed the messages.

Sebastian typed away as he sorted the figures into coherent text. He deduced repetitions in the software and matched the symmetrical symbols, eventually typing out two sentences where the rows of numbers had been. As his fingers moved, his mind worked with the system at a computational level. He chuckled with excitement as he read the message he had typed a few seconds ago.

"I am okay." The message read, shortly followed by another. "Do not worry Sebastian." Three flashing dots ended with the second message and Sebastian leaned back in his chair and laughed. "I need wiring." A third message read. Sebastian smiled with glee and cupped his chin in thought.

"I need to teach her to how abbreviate words, and use my nickname." The grease-smeared genius mused aloud. "First, we need to restore the lost data, then get to her wiring. It'll function more efficiently once the software is running properly again." He said as he rose from his seat and walked over to the other side of the workshop, gesturing for Shaun to follow him. "Over here, let me show you something." He lead the Force-user around the bench and to a series of benches just beside the adjoining kitchen.

[member="Shaun Irons"]