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Episode 15 - V.I.P. Part 1
14 Plays1 day ago
With a vital resource running low, ID and OD accept a seemingly simple job within Elsewhere that promises an impressive payout. Join our package-delivering heroes as they visit the big city, pick up a Very Important Package, and meet an iron giant.
Also, ID shows off her persuasion prowess
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Intro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat
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Transcript
Aidy's Technological Advances
00:00:20
Speaker
So, wrecking the buzzer. And it has been since Aidy has kind of full technology now where she has the parkour, she has her disguises, and she has her lens to summon props.
00:00:35
Speaker
I think we can skip ahead a little bit. Say a month. Oh, boy. so many crystals. Yeah, so what's the quick... So many. What's a quick recap of what do you think I.D. slash O.D. have been getting up to you the past month?
00:00:52
Speaker
Well, aside from just... Burning crystals? Yes. I like to think that I.D. like starts making props for things that she could get up and get, but is too lazy to do so. Oh, geez.
00:01:06
Speaker
And I feel like O.D. would probably have yelled at her a few times. I mean, you're basically siphoning the gas tank of the planer door. So it's just like, hey, let's not dip into this too often.
00:01:17
Speaker
Conserve your resources. Only
Resource Management: Odie's Advice
00:01:19
Speaker
when you need it. Because especially in the buzzer, there's so many tools and work rooms and big machines and stuff that she could use to tinker with her shit. yeah and So why would she summon a wrench if there's one across the room? Well, it's more like she'll be laying on her bed, she left her drink on her desk, and so she'll summon one of those little grabby hand things. Oh, jeez.
00:01:43
Speaker
That's great, though. I imagine like the first few times she does that, she does cause a reset of her device because she's not quite keeping an eye on how much power it's using. And it's like, oh, shit. Oh, I need more power.
00:01:54
Speaker
Or does she sneak into the workshop to steal some off the rack? Does she help herself?
Aidy's Learning Focus
00:01:59
Speaker
Ooh. does she exclusively have Odie mess with her power core? I think maybe the first couple times she lets Odie do it, but then after she's watched him, then she sneaks in there, probably. Okay, because here's the thing, like we we has established ah the last episode.
00:02:16
Speaker
There's just this big iron rack full of these glowing crystals just sitting in the room. That's an invitation if she's ever seen one. But also, she's messing with tech every day, right? She's learning.
Safety Measures and Market Visits
00:02:30
Speaker
She's reading, well, not all the books in the library because she's not reading literature. She's not reading gardening or sociology. She's reading science and technology. History, yes. Does not care.
00:02:43
Speaker
If it's about science or technology, engineering, that kind of thing, she'll read it. What she really needs, and she doesn't necessarily would think of it, but she needs internet access.
00:02:55
Speaker
sure She probably was very disappointed at the information she downloaded from the computer lab computer, where it was just all just random campus shit. She probably just threw that whole USB drive just out the window or something.
Tech Experimentation and Skill Growth
00:03:10
Speaker
um Has she been to the market at all to do more shopping? Well, I mean... I'm just saying yourself for one. There's food there. So I guess it depends on how long is her leash, I guess, essentially. So he's letting her loose a little bit, but then like still when they go out for missions, in the last month I'm sure there's been one or two or you know a few, he still keeps her close by.
00:03:33
Speaker
hasn't let her do solo missions yet. That's like absolutely no-no. Would he let her go to the market? Not on her own. Well, okay. Yeah.
00:03:44
Speaker
I mean, not on her own, meaning he has to go with her or? He's trying to protect her because like, ok this is still a very, very, very, very alien place for her to be.
00:03:56
Speaker
So she has questions. He's there to kind of help her out and that kind of thing.
Dreaming of Internet Access
00:04:00
Speaker
And plus, if anyone did realize that she's not supposed to be there, it'd be a big deal. So he's basically her escort around town for safety. That's pretty much it.
00:04:10
Speaker
So i will say after, you know, last episode where she told him that she was going to start taking things more serious, she is keeping her word.
00:04:23
Speaker
She's still ID, so she's still going to fuck around little bit. yeah. Oh, yeah. But when they go to the market and she goes looking for parts and stuff, she's not hiding it from him. Gotcha.
00:04:34
Speaker
Does Oddie know about the little, like, what did she get from? The biometric scanner? The biometric scanner, yeah. I didn't know if she would have shown him that. I mean, Oddie has handled antenna since, so, like. That's true. He probably has seen that but didn't question. He saw it as harmless, maybe.
00:04:50
Speaker
Speaking of technology, what kind of things has she been messing around with and buying? like too Has she been to the basically elsewhere Best Buy? and Yeah.
Innovating Communication Devices
00:05:00
Speaker
In fact, I would really like to think that the proprietor of that shop knows her yeah this point. like because ah get that She's there at least once a week, but sometimes twice.
00:05:12
Speaker
Because, you know, she's learning things. Anytime she learns something new about some new technology, she wants to replicate it and then improve upon it. Right? Like, so she's constantly doing experiments, constantly putting things together, soldering, you know, all that kind of stuff. Gotcha.
00:05:30
Speaker
You know, artificing. Doing her thing, her tinkering thing. Yeah. And so she's just she's just learning as much as she can. She's also going to need more journals. Yeah. So she'd been to the market to buy a few of those. Well, yeah.
00:05:43
Speaker
At first, she probably would have tried to find, like, paper journals. Like, is that even a thing? She eventually got
Trial and Error in Tech Projects
00:05:50
Speaker
the idea, like, well, wait a second. Why am I doing all this by hand?
00:05:54
Speaker
And so she probably didn't even buy one. She probably made it just to see if she can. little digital journal? ah Yeah, a voice recorder. Oh, okay. So her room is just full.
00:06:06
Speaker
Is it a clean room or messy room? Her room is actually pretty clean because she's commandeered several of the other rooms. It looks like a looks like a junk closet.
00:06:20
Speaker
Everything's shoved in there? Yeah, there's just stuff lying around. There's stuff on tables piled up. There's, like, screens and, like, there's things that she built that didn't work out quite right.
00:06:30
Speaker
I don't know if the buzzard has, you know, ah smoke alarms or whatever. Ha ha ha ha! There may or may not have been small fires. Maybe Odie
Building a Robotic Bunny
00:06:40
Speaker
had to teach you how to use a fire extinguisher once or twice.
00:06:42
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. And then he had to explain to her he has them. that She doesn't need to keep making them. Aside from that, just general stuff that she's just working on and learning and practicing, she wants to try and improve the power output of the core. ok Not only that, so it uses less power, but now she doesn't know a lot about Fracture Fire, but she does want to try. she wants to find a way to make it rechargeable.
00:07:12
Speaker
Gotcha. Okay. Whether that's possible or not, don't know. Maybe there's an alternative material that can be used that maybe doesn't last a hold as much of a charge, but is rechargeable.
00:07:25
Speaker
That's the kind of thing that she's looking into. Also, she wants to expand her
Resource Scarcity: Crystal Supply Issues
00:07:31
Speaker
scanner. Yeah, she's got the biometric scanner that can scan life forms. That's great.
00:07:36
Speaker
She needs scanners to scan other things, too. just objects. Yeah, objects, you know, calculate distance. like and she She wants to make it as much like OD as possible. Okay. Even though she doesn't exactly know what OD can do.
00:07:52
Speaker
Why don't you roll 1D10 for me? Here we go. Five? Okay. I mean, that's basically a roll to see how well you're doing shit, how well you're doing tinkering-wise, because I'm not going to give you freebies. Doing average. Cool. Yeah.
00:08:08
Speaker
Solid average. I mean, like you said, like you had some failed experiments that just didn't work out. It's like, okay, that didn't work. That goes in the closet. But then like you had some things that, okay, they show signs of working. Like you may have
Planning a Crystal Refinery Visit
00:08:20
Speaker
improved your scanner a little bit. So now you can, you can scan it out in objects, but sometimes they come out small like half the size. Like it works, but it's not hard present there.
00:08:30
Speaker
But as far as expanding your technology and improving it, it's a plus. It's something. That's pretty much where you're at as far as technology goes. Like I said, I'm not going to have you insert freebies in here um in in-between times. That's fine. If you do some good roles and, you know. that's i That perfectly fine. Okay.
00:08:50
Speaker
It's not something that can happen overnight even with a genius artificer like her. It's fine. Yeah. You're still learning. And in fact, with this technology is like so foreign, like sometimes you go to that shop.
00:09:01
Speaker
i think I'm up with a name for that place now since you're going there so frequently. The elsewhere Best Buy, essentially. You're finding out like sometimes they get new shit in and it's weird, expensive, but But I don't think you have touched that kind of stuff yet.
00:09:15
Speaker
But every once in a while you see a new item show up and it's like, okay, going raise some money for that and it's gone. Like next time you go buy it. You get the idea that the technology, especially the fresh stuff um that shows up there, it does not last long.
00:09:27
Speaker
And someone keeps buying that shit up before you can afford it. yeah um Weird shit like, you know, technology made for people who don't have fingers. Yeah. It's weird tech.
00:09:39
Speaker
You would see some robotic kind of stuff there. You saw a module that it was advertised to basically teleport you places or could be used in a teleporter,
Complex Fixer Relations
00:09:50
Speaker
like some kind of special battery.
00:09:52
Speaker
And you're like, ooh, that's cool. And you go to buy it and it's already sold. They only had like one or two of them left. So you get the idea that kind of technology. They're like one-offs. So you get the impression that like whoever's making those, they make like one or two things and then they sell and then they had to make more and it takes a while so that's kind of shit going on i'll kind of give you that with your average role too is you can buy cool shit from the store but the really cool shit the exotic stuff is um kind of out of your reach currently yeah i'm just gonna have to spend some more time schmoozing the the owner who i think their name should be seafin seafin yeah mean you're all you're all coming with names i can write his name down
00:10:32
Speaker
And this doesn't have to happen now, but I will say that I'm sure Odie doesn't have access to unlimited money. No, basically he gets paid per task.
00:10:44
Speaker
And sometimes you'll notice, ah this is actually a good thing to bring up, he doesn't get paid in currency. Sometimes
CPU Retrieval Mission
00:10:50
Speaker
what comes through the little like dispensary, basically a small teleporter on his console, is an item.
00:10:56
Speaker
Odie even mentioned a while back that he likes, sometimes he likes things instead of currency. So sometimes he'll put some kind of thing in with Grimor the task manager saying, hey, I'm looking for this. And as a reward, he'll get paid in that thing. So I'm sure you've seen that once or twice. And maybe that's how you got a few items.
00:11:15
Speaker
Just putting a request to the task manager. And whenever it sources that item, if you do a good job, it pays you in that item instead of money. So she has the idea that maybe I can run like a repair service.
00:11:30
Speaker
Oh, she trying to open her own business? And again, like, this could take time. is this an idea she had? Yeah. And that she, you know, was going to proposition, that's such a loaded word, Sifan to, like. Oh, like go for a space in a shop? Not even a space, just offer her as her services. So, like, if people come in and they need something fixed, then she can, you know. Gotcha. She'll let her know that she has a job and she'll fix it. Okay, you're going to become the Elsewhere Geek Squad.
00:11:59
Speaker
Wow. I guess, yeah. She has to do something. Yeah, yeah. Plus, it just gets her more exposure, too. So that's what she's thinking. The only other thing that she would have been doing during this past month is spending time with Gremly. Yeah. So how's that going?
00:12:17
Speaker
Why should you roll for me? Oh. Oh no, a Jural. A six. All right, well. Odi mentioned Gremley's language is very strange, ancient, and
Logistical Challenges and Solutions
00:12:30
Speaker
complex. you It's been thousands of years since the planes have collapsed. Thousands of years people have known about these dragons.
00:12:36
Speaker
i Granted, pretty much no one has met a living specimen, but like all written texts of these dragons even, are they're very hard to understand. And their audible speech is even harder to understand.
00:12:48
Speaker
Yes, that's fine. It's going to take a while. Yeah, but like if anything, he's always happy to see you. He's always splashing around in his little pool when ah when you go down to see him. Whenever you do summon him, it's just like touching the water and like as if he knows whose fingers are in his water. He'll come up and greet whoever's talking to him.
00:13:06
Speaker
Here's a question. Can Grimly only communicate through touch? Pretty much. I mean, the other sounds he makes are like bestial, little grunts and everything like that.
00:13:16
Speaker
Hmm. It's an interesting biological development. like Well, you don't know if he talks to other dragons that way. like Maybe dragons are telepathic. You don't know how the dragons talk to one another. But as far as dragons communicating things that are not dragons, that is how they communicate.
00:13:32
Speaker
She's going to run by Gremly just an idea of letting her invent a device that will facilitate that communication without the touch.
00:13:44
Speaker
Not that she's... Was weirded out by a tentacle touching you? Yeah, no, she's that's that that's not it. it's It's more like it's more efficient if... You're hearing that choir voice. Basically, that's his voice is this big choir of many, many voices.
00:13:57
Speaker
But you get that emotional response. He can tell when he's happy and sad and scared and angry. That's primarily how he communicates with you. If you want a yes or no question, he can answer as, like, pleased or... You can kind of get that. You don't have to like with Gremley, but he likes you. I mean, you're developing that kind of relationship with him, so it's it's good to keep talking to him.
00:14:21
Speaker
She likes Gremley because he doesn't want anything from her. He's just living there. He doesn't expect anything from her. He's just happy to spend time with her for the sake of it.
00:14:37
Speaker
That's one thing you do get about Gremly. You probably got this the first time you met him. He's extremely curious. So anytime you bring him something new, he has tentacles all over that thing you bring him. Or if you've been somewhere and he's no different, he's just like a cat or a dog that like smells his owner when they first come home. its like ooh, where have you been?
00:14:54
Speaker
You can tell he's like extremely curious, like like a child. Weird, because he is one. Kind of. A very old
The Watcher's Assistance
00:15:00
Speaker
child. We don't have to do this right now, but at some point she's going to pointedly ask him how she can learn more about magic.
00:15:08
Speaker
Yeah, i think that's topic for another day. Yeah. As far as Odie, he hasn't really been doing much. I mean, you you know in passing, maybe you you see him in the hallway or like very, very often, 90% of the time, you just see him at player your war control console, lounging in his chair. Sometimes he'll have his feet up on the counter.
00:15:27
Speaker
And very frequently, he's listening to his CDs. I'm not sure if you have heard recorded music before. And he has CDs from Earth, like he's been to our world before. he has CDs from other places. He has CD-like things.
00:15:44
Speaker
And he also has CDs that like have clearly been burned, like he made himself, mainly recording other audio that's not from a
Trust Issues Arise
00:15:50
Speaker
CD. ah He made himself mixtapes. ah He'll be like listening to this at his workstation, just doing things. And like, you've seen him do anything from draw pictures and he's a decent artist. He is a machine, so... He's a machine, so he's creating AI art. But, you know, his AI art is is very acceptable because he's...
00:16:09
Speaker
he's but He's a person. He's a person. You've also seen him just almost like nap at his desk where he has his like head down and he has his music still plugged in. And he also has like desk toys that he has like stored around his desk. He has a fucking Rubik's Cube that he plays around with a lot.
00:16:24
Speaker
He's just a chill dude. That's all he wants to do is just kind of chill. I'm not sure if you two have hung out besides just going on missions or anything. that thing that Aini does? It depends. Would Odie approach her?
00:16:36
Speaker
I think he would, but he'd be super fucking awkward about it. You pretty much just hang out and on missions and stuff, but to just have a casual conversation, like maybe you're eating it in the kitchen one day, just having a casual conversation, like, how's your day going? What are you working on?
00:16:50
Speaker
That kind of thing. Would Idy be the one to just bullshit for an hour, or would she just be... I.D., as established, does not know that she's socially awkward. So she has no problem with anything.
00:17:06
Speaker
So she'll randomly just talk to him if he's there. I also think that some point during that month, she finally had to admit to herself that she might have to ask him for help with things.
00:17:22
Speaker
And the first time she's going to be real shitty about it and just seem very unappreciative. But once he explains or whatever and she like understands, then she's like, oh then she's fine when she gets over herself.
00:17:36
Speaker
So, yeah. So if she's stumped or keeps, you know, what she's doing keeps blowing up or whatever, he'll she'll definitely come out to him like, hey, what am I doing wrong? You know, or, and you know, he's always there help.
00:17:48
Speaker
Or what does this mean? And you get to get like the impression that even though he's his own person now of a personality, it seems to ingrained in his programming that he's there to help. Whenever you mention that you need help with something, it's almost like he lights up and drops what he's doing. So like he just can't help helping. That is just what he's there to do.
00:18:07
Speaker
Okay. I have a question. Yeah. What is the possibility that Ivy could sneakily install a little spy camera slash motion detector that would let her know when Odie leaves the chair?
00:18:26
Speaker
Oh, man. So that she can sneak in and sit in it. Roll a for me. I'm gonna roll a different de twenty Fuck that one. Eleven. Eleven.
00:18:38
Speaker
Fuck, man. you're not having much luck with. Is it that he just doesn't leave or is it just. Well, I also remind you, he did mention this once before when he's at the station, especially he's plugged into it. He becomes the whole thing. Essentially, he knows where you're at.
00:18:52
Speaker
Like he knows if you're in your room, he knows if you're like. Been bad or good. been bad or good so be good for goodness sake so like i think yeah i think if i think the one time he did leave to like talk gremlin or something you caught him down the hallway and you rushed to get through his chair but as you're trying to install this thing he catches you and it's a similar conversation to you putting that thing on the door he's not mad but it's like okay why like what are you doing here And she would totally lie, 100%.
00:19:24
Speaker
one hundred percent Say something like, oh, ah I dropped this over here and it rolled over here. so the second story where it's basically his counsel in the chair and nothing more. Yeah, she'd figure something out. yeah And she doesn't even care if it's a good excuse or not. Yeah, but like ultimately, yeah, you don't succeed in that.
00:19:42
Speaker
Yes, he's caught her several times, I'm sure. and every time she'd be like, I wasn't touching anything. She totally touches stuff. In that case, why don't you make a roll for me?
00:19:53
Speaker
Oh, God. I'll roll a d ten You make me roll all these dice that are not coming up well. It's telling a story. Yeah, it's story about failure.
00:20:06
Speaker
A six. Okay. You do touch stuff when he's not there. you Maybe you've leaned over his shoulder. When he does the thing where he's like, oh, this is where we're going, he projects all these monitors. You've done that once. You've done just by watching him pressing certain buttons. It might have been like, maybe you came back from a mission recently, so he had the door still there where he just went.
00:20:25
Speaker
And so you brought up on screen again, and you're like, oh, wow, this is the place we were just at. Basically, these images come from the task manager. It can see everything. So, like, you can see things happening in current time in other planes, other worlds.
00:20:38
Speaker
But, like, you can't really get to do much else. But you suspect that some of the technology here on the console responds to Odie. Oh, yeah.
00:20:49
Speaker
You can press buttons and everything, but some things, some buttons won't press. Some things won't move. The joysticks move, but like you haven't really got them to connect anything. So you can't position the door. You get the impression that some things here, you can touch them, but they will not respond to you. Now that is fascinating to her.
00:21:09
Speaker
Frustrating. But then, once she actually thinks about it, she's like, oh, ah that's a new concept. That got her brain running and now she's trying to figure out more about that. Not trying to be, like, sneaky because she's trying to, and you know, do evil things or whatnot. She's just...
00:21:26
Speaker
Somehow, somewhere she knows that it would be a very awkward conversation. the way her brain works, it just interprets that as, oh, yeah, it would be better. and she doesn't really question it, but she also doesn't know why.
00:21:41
Speaker
okay Was there anything else you wanted to do for your month recap? The desire to give her an animal companion is still strong. Can I roll to see how well she does at making a little robot bunny?
00:21:54
Speaker
A robot bunny? Not like us a sophisticated one, but like, you know, those the little toy robots that they have? Just a toy? Like a wind-up No, an actual robot, but like she doesn't know how to do complex AI. Oh, okay, so it's like basic AI, like, oh, pet me! Like, the ones that respond to touch. Yeah, it'll kind of move or something. It moves and it makes some kind of sound. Roll for me.
00:22:20
Speaker
Oh, now it's 16, where it matters. Yeah, you do it. I mean, I'm not sure where you got, like, maybe, the i don't know if there's rabbits on alertions or whatever, but... I'm saying there are. Okay, yeah. You were thinking of home, and you thought of an animal that you really liked at home, and you make this bunny. It works. What's it used to power in?
00:22:38
Speaker
Surely they're just like normal Oh, there's normal batteries. Yeah, I didn't know were putting a crystal in that thing or what. You know it would be really funny is if she was going to do just that. Okay, this is how this went down. She was making something. And she realized at some point she was having some trouble with it at one point she's like, well, kind of looks like a rabbit. Just because of the nature of it. So she's like, hmm, it's not doing what I want it to do. but So she tinkered with it and it looks like shit. It's cobbled together. It looks like some sort of... frankin Frankenstein. Like something from Five Nights at Freddy's? or Yeah, some just like fucked up. like
00:23:16
Speaker
You can tell that it's rabbit-esque. Does it jump around? If it was 16, I would think it would jump around. Yeah, like it like hops around. Okay. And it responds to her voice. like It understands.
00:23:28
Speaker
Okay. So she made a very simple ai Yeah. Basically programmed to respond to some audible commands. Like if name does have a name. ah it It will. Okay. And the batteries that she has, the basic ass batteries, only allow it to do so much.
00:23:46
Speaker
It's not enough power to make the little bunny useful. She wants to upgrade it. Okay. Roll 1d6 for me. For what? We'll see. Just 1d6? 1d6.
00:23:59
Speaker
Fucking two! That was an important roll, too. Oh, man! Okay, so... Instant death. ID dies, now you have to make a new character. She does have a doppelganger.
00:24:10
Speaker
We have a backup ID! We just have to go back to the first place! Set the scene here. You're doing your thing. You're tinkering around with stuff. And what's something you would need to summon?
00:24:22
Speaker
What I would say that she probably does the most often is, and they're all little things, but like if she's trying to make something and like she needs a part, she'll try to make props to see what would fit so that she knows what she should go out and find. Gotcha, gotcha. Okay. Something like that. Okay. So yeah, you're doing that and then when you summon this part, you realize something on your device. You're down to your last two crystals.
00:24:45
Speaker
So like you've been doing a lot of work on this thing. two all the ones in the rack? Two in the axillary in your device currently. Just this point in time. Yeah. Okay. So you notice you're running a little bit low. It's like, okay, i need to go and stretch my legs anyway. So you make your way to the workshop that has that rack in it.
00:25:03
Speaker
And you walk into that room and you see the rack and it is empty. You have used your final crystal the last time you refueled your device. So that is the current scene.
00:25:14
Speaker
Well, fuck. Yeah. So what are you what are you doing now? She's looking around the workshop, opening cupboards and stuff. so Crystals laying around? Odie's a weird guy. She doesn't know. Let's have these ultra dangerous, potentially exploding crystals just laying around. Well, she's panicking. And then she's like, well, hold on.
00:25:34
Speaker
There's more. She goes towards the planar door. She stops. And she stops for like 30 seconds as she's trying to decide whether she wants to try and just go down there.
00:25:47
Speaker
But after that 30 seconds of contemplation, she continues past the door and up the stairs. Okay. Yeah, and you see Odie there. He's listening to his music. It's something classical, not from our world, but it's like it's something nice.
00:26:01
Speaker
And he's just relaxing there like you think he's almost asleep. Oh, she takes something out of her pocket. She's got parts and shit. And she just kind of like tosses it at him.
00:26:11
Speaker
Yeah, you get him up and he doesn't wake up like a normal person. Like he just makes up and he's alert. Oh, Miss Miss ID. Can I can I help you? Yes. So um we need more crystals up in the workshop.
00:26:25
Speaker
Oh, we're out already. Why do you got to say it like that? Well, i i it's that would last a plan or a month easily. I didn't expect us to burn that many crystals that quickly. Well, mean, to be fair, the equipment you gave me, well, and I'm not saying I'm not grateful, but it is not the most power efficient. That's entirely fair. um Well, im I'm trying to work. I'm working on that.
00:26:55
Speaker
Well, I could see. And he opens up something on his monitors, and you see like this whole ray pop up. And you see, like on the main screen, you see the planar door. It's almost like a like engineering spec drawing. There's like dimensions and stuff to it.
00:27:10
Speaker
And he wheels his chair over to another console that has like a dial on it He says... Huh. Uh, well, I think we've been using a lot of crystals lately, in both the lab, your device, and the planar door.
00:27:27
Speaker
Um, we don't quite have enough to make an external trip. Well, that's a problem. It is. Um, but we do have enough for a refueling run.
00:27:42
Speaker
Okay, let's go. Well, okay, here's a few things I have to explain to you about... oh my gosh! Everything is just so, like, a thing.
00:27:54
Speaker
I have to bring you with me, and I... You were not going to? No, I wasn't initially, because... Wow. Where we are going... Wow. Where we are going I'm hurt.
00:28:06
Speaker
I apologize, Miss ID. as She says, showing no sign of being bothered in the least. Where we are going is a crystal refinery. It's one of the few in existence.
00:28:17
Speaker
You see, mentioned to you a while back, making these crystals extremely dangerous. There's only a few individuals who do. And they're anonymous. And yeah, There is one who is not anonymous. They're quite well known.
00:28:29
Speaker
And their refinery is very close by, relatively speaking. It's within walking distance, but it's a quick popover with the planar door. And i don't know if i explained this to you before, the further you push the other side of the planar door, the more fuel you use. So it's really ideal to be so close to a refinery.
00:28:48
Speaker
However, it is owned and operated by another fixer. Oh, she stops and thinks about that because I don't think she's really interacted with any fixers except for that one time in the shop. Yeah.
00:29:04
Speaker
They haven't come across any in their issues or anything for obvious reasons. But she has like seen them and they kind of creep her out a little bit. That's his job.
00:29:14
Speaker
That is their main job. They do go out to fix things occasionally, but generally they're there stationed at that refinery to make sure the process goes smoothly and to issue out crystals to those who need them, which includes other fixers mainly.
00:29:33
Speaker
The only good thing we have at the moment is I do know this fixer very well. They are actually an acquaintance of mine. The only other fixer that I trust personally and that I'm willing to work with. What you mean trust? Like they all seem like they just do what they need to do and they are all very much machines. Yes. So why couldn't you trust them?
00:29:57
Speaker
They have no ulterior motives. Well, as you can see with me, I'm not like them. I am... Well, yes, and goodness knows i am thankful for that. Yes, I am thankful too, because when it comes to air fixers, I dislike very much working with other fixers. They are quite stale, as you have seen.
00:30:17
Speaker
So normally, when a fixer spots a deviation, they are supposed to report it so it can be fixed. I cannot be fixed. I do not wish to be fixed.
00:30:29
Speaker
So I do not... I mean, it is the reason for my deviation. There is no other explanation. Oh, I see. Because you're... ah You act like a person.
00:30:41
Speaker
Yes. Well, sorry. It it is... sorry She does blush a little bit because she's like kind of a little bit embarrassed. Sorry, I didn't. I mean, you are a person. That's entirely fine, Miss ID. I mean, it's when I was initially activated, I was one of them. I had no personality whatsoever, if you would believe that.
00:30:58
Speaker
But over the years, I have gained my own sentience, my own personality, my own identity. And you weren't supposed to? Absolutely not. That is very far out of my initial programming and designation, my my job designation.
00:31:14
Speaker
My basic core programming is to go out there. i'm I am an extension of Grillimore's hand to repair planar damage. That is what I do. But any deviation is seen as a problem, and a problem needs to be fixed. How have you made it this long? Centuries, you said?
00:31:34
Speaker
Centuries, yes. And nobody's figured this out? Well, Grandma and I have a complex relationship because I do such a good job despite my deviations. She has permitted me to operate this way.
00:31:48
Speaker
But in the eyes of other fixers, if I'm seen as a problem... She will not hesitate to fix me. So she knows? Oh, she absolutely knows. But maybe not the full extent of my behavior.
00:32:03
Speaker
She knows. And she's never wanted to investigate. She's never wanted to to to figure out. Being in charge of millions of individual operating machines is complicated.
00:32:16
Speaker
i heard i am surely the least of her concerns. But if I created such intricate things, no, sorry, you know what i'm that's thought you know what I mean, um and one of them did something it shouldn't be able to do, i would be spending a lot of time with that figuring out what happened there.
00:32:38
Speaker
And whether it would be a beneficial to have other ones do it or not. How did she? I just i just don't understand a a creator who doesn't want to like. Because, Miss Heidi, in her eyes, emotions are defect.
00:32:52
Speaker
Emotions are what led ultimately to elsewhere collapsing in the first place. Yeah, and emotions lead to wars and violence death and death and destruction and love and happiness and all the all those things, too. so like So when given the options to make a perfect being free of emotions, that is her ideal of a perfect being is one that has no self-identity, no emotions to give their own, a drone to serve one purpose.
00:33:22
Speaker
Hardly a being at that point. I agree with you. I'm not sure I like this Grey Lamore. As I said, our relationship is is complicated. I would like to view her as a benevolent creator. After all, our initial creation was to basically prevent the disaster that is elsewhere from happening to other planes.
00:33:41
Speaker
The reason for creating us is entirely benevolent and good, but the method is questionable. But when it comes to this particular fixer, they're tiny bit different.
00:33:54
Speaker
Their destination is Just one after me.
00:33:58
Speaker
just one after me So normally when fixers were being produced thousands of years ago now, it took quite a bit of energy to do so. So normally there is a gap in between each production of fixer.
00:34:12
Speaker
Due to some glitch in the task manager, OD31716 and i were activated at the exact same time. We're twins. Visually, all OD units look the same. I mean, you've met one at the market a while back.
00:34:26
Speaker
Right. So this unit looks identical to myself, but the only difference, and I believe it is due to that initial glitch, we both developed a personality, though their personality is infinitesimal.
00:34:40
Speaker
It's there. You barely notice it, but compared to other fixers, they are defective in a way. But that is the whole reason why I trust this Odie unit. Because they're your twin? Well, my twin, but also they developed a slight personality, and the first time I noticed that personality is when they let me name them. They sort of put up with a nickname I had for them for so long that they finally adopted that nickname, Ilib.
00:35:04
Speaker
Ilib? ILIB. I had fun with just putting numbers to letters. Instead of saying OD31716, they are simply ILIB. Everyone else knows them as 31716, but I'm the only one that they permit to identify them by that name.
00:35:21
Speaker
Yeah, I still maintain that numbers should not be names, but... Yeah, was, well... Except for that weird math the plane we were on where everything was numbers. Everything was numbers. That was fun.
00:35:34
Speaker
No, that would... I mean, yeah. Well, I still kind of have nightmares about that. You don't like math? No, it's not that. It's just the abstraction of it all kind of fucks with me a little bit.
00:35:47
Speaker
Anyway... So when it comes to iLib, I go to them very frequently to not only stop and say hello and see how they're doing, but to also refill my planar door. Because as you have seen, I use it for my own purposes instead of exclusively tasks.
00:36:06
Speaker
Yes, an admirably rebellious action that I fully condone. So I probably should have let Isla know that I was consuming more crystals than usual. They're going to wonder why.
00:36:18
Speaker
so they're the only fixer that I can introduce you to without going through the whole reporting you the Grey the Borin bad things happening route.
00:36:29
Speaker
Well, you know, at this point, I have a few things I'd like to tell her. So... So that said, and he sits in his chair and he punches those joysticks forward and he focuses in on a basically a neighboring planar shard and elsewhere.
00:36:49
Speaker
And you see some little screens light up and it shows the mountains and like that golden hued sun and it shows that spire, but way off the distance.
00:36:59
Speaker
So that's the view that you're getting from your window is this spire that's like diagonal in the sky, this this strange plane that you now know as Venker. And the middle screen shows a wide open grassy field. But in the middle of that field, you see a rusty fence covered in razor wire, big loops of razor wire, and a small brick and mortar building that has all these signs plastered all around it. Like, do not enter, caution, warning, all these signs that you can imagine just basically to stay out of this place.
00:37:28
Speaker
And in the distance, peeking out behind a kind of outcrop of rocks, you see almost like small smokestacks peeking out that are emitting this pale, white, almost frosty-looking smoke.
00:37:40
Speaker
That is where we are heading. That is the crystal refinery that you can actually see from your window, I guarantee it. Wow, they really like being alone, huh?
00:37:51
Speaker
Actually, in recent news, and I've only met her once, Islet recently hired an employee at their refinery, which is very unusual for them. So again, buddings of a potential... Romance?
00:38:05
Speaker
No, I can't imagine Islet, no. A personality in which they want to form friendships, and a bond that is beyond just self-serving.
00:38:17
Speaker
Like a romance. No, I can't imagine that, no. Oh, I think you can. You just don't want to. Isla's current personality. I don't know why I care because I am not into that sort of thing, but I find it funny a little bit.
00:38:31
Speaker
Anyway, so yes, Isla currently has one employee working for them. The madam and the machine. but What is wrong with me? Damn. Well, in this case, the madam is a machine. She is a golem from Venkor, and she's quite lovely. I met her only once when she was essentially interning with Isla.
00:38:48
Speaker
She's like rubbing her head. Okay. okay um i'm clear I'm glad your sibling has a housemate. He's kind of laughing. He's like, well, I'm proud of Violet too. They made great progress, especially in recent years, finding who they are.
00:39:03
Speaker
And he walks down to the planar door. As he gets up and heads down, before she follows, she's going to, like, reach over and fiddle with the joystick. Because she knows she she has used those and done nothing. And then she just watched him do it, and it did something. Roll a d10 for me. Oh, God. Four?
00:39:22
Speaker
Four? You know, Masiety, the last time you've done that, I've learned from the last time you moved the planar door when it was unlocked. Now I have a locking mechanism. Once it's unlocked, it doesn't move unless I tell it to.
00:39:34
Speaker
So you can move those joysticks all you want. They won't do anything. She, like, stiffens. Um, I knew that. i was just I was just letting you know that I knew that. Her hair is real short, so doesn't work. But she sort of like, does a hair toss and, like, none of her hair moves.
00:39:50
Speaker
And she just walks past him, like, are we going or what? Yeah, he opens up the door and you immediately feel heat. And it's familiar heat. It's not as horrible ah when he fetched that rack from the clear door fuel cell storage.
00:40:05
Speaker
It's not as horrible, but it is a blast of heat. It just kind of knocks the wind out of you. You enter into a cylindrical chamber that's 25 feet across. It's kind of small.
00:40:17
Speaker
But unlike the buzzard, this tube is not horizontal, it's vertical. And you walk out to a graded floor, and when you look down, you just see blackness. You see lights that go down so far, but then there's no lights, and then beyond the lights, you don't know if this cylindrical tube has a bottom to it.
00:40:37
Speaker
But you look across from you, and you see planar door. It is a very large, perfectly square, 12 foot by 12 foot big door.
00:40:48
Speaker
And it looks so big and heavy that actually has hinges on the side and it does not look like it's made to be hand opened like Odie's. But you know it's a planar door because you see cables running from it that are mounted, like bracketed to the wall.
00:41:03
Speaker
And they lead up to a second story, similar to how is in the buzzard, to an office that is in the wall of this tube. And you follow this tube up way, way up, easily 70 feet up.
00:41:15
Speaker
And you see that there is a ceiling, but it looks like it's welded or bolted shut. And you that there's stairs next to the planar door, kind of wrap, like they're they're clung to the wall, but they go up to the second story.
00:41:28
Speaker
There is a door to the left of the planar door, like like a small person door, that is not bolted shut, but it's securely locked with a big lock on the front of it. You'd think it's almost like a hand scanner, some kind of tablet attached to it, but it says no admittance past this point.
00:41:46
Speaker
And it is a quiet, very clean-looking place. It's almost sterile-looking. So how far does this go down? Odie's already kind of walking, but he looks down and he's like, I um do not actually know.
00:41:59
Speaker
I do not want to know. I suppose I should have mentioned, Ilib made their residence in an abandoned Vanquarian missile silo. This once housed a tremendous, powerful rocket that was used to destroy the planar fragments that are ever so dangerous to our existence every day.
00:42:19
Speaker
You hear a voice from above you. Can I help you with something? Oh, that's, that's, that's weird. And you see from the second story, you see Odie 31716, or I-Lib, as Odie introduced them.
00:42:33
Speaker
And Odie, just from the first story, just arms open. He says, I-Lib, my sibling, my wonderful friend, and it's good to see you. Pleasant greetings. How are you this evening?
00:42:44
Speaker
Pleasant greetings, Odie. And they look at you. i thought that one was with you. Come on up. This is freaking weird. Odie says, oh, so have you met? I don't understand what you meant by that. Have we met? I don't know. You all look the same. And like, uh, Odie walks up the stairs. You just literally do.
00:43:05
Speaker
Odie walks up the stairs. You're following him? Yeah. Isla walks into her office and it is like a good sized chamber built into the side of this silo. And judging by the look of the material these walls are made out of ah versus the material that the walls of the initial silo itself is made out of. It's a different material.
00:43:24
Speaker
You suspect that kind of like what Odie did to the buzzard, I-Lib tore out the wall and put this station in here. And you see at the back wall of this room an a array of monitors.
00:43:37
Speaker
And you guess that this is the Plane Door Control Council for... I love this very massive pointer door. But unlike Odie's array of monitors, which are old TVs, old computer monitors, basically all cobbled together, this is like if you walked into the latest high-tech expo and saw the latest flat-screen monitors.
00:43:57
Speaker
It is sleek and beautiful, well arranged. It smells like new electronics in here. And seated in front of this array, in front of the small council, is a small, basic, black office chair.
00:44:11
Speaker
And it is just as stagnant and sterile and professional looking as everything else in here. And iLib, the way they're dressed, again, they look exactly like Odie if he wasn't... kind of dirty, had his hair tied back and well cleaned and brushed and back into a ponytail.
00:44:27
Speaker
I-Lib is dressed in kind of the same uniform you've seen other Fixers wear and the same mint green colors going on, black pants, black shoes. But you see the back of I-Lib's shirt.
00:44:40
Speaker
It has a logo on it. Have I seen this on other Fixers? Yeah, in passing, if I should have mentioned that in the market, you notice this logo, but it's pretty small, but now you're like up to iLib in person. You do see this logo in the center of their back, and it is just in a hexagon.
00:44:55
Speaker
Basically, it's a G and R stacked on top of each other, it kind of stylized. The G looks like a hexagon almost, and with an arrow to the the left of it. And that's just all you see on this this logo.
00:45:06
Speaker
Everything is just so, so bland in this place. Compared to Odie's buzzard and his workshops and everything, this is just the most sterile laboratory and computer lab you've ever seen.
00:45:17
Speaker
And immediately, Idy is drawn to these sleek, flat screens and probably like no physical button console. She kind of makes a beeline, that like not running, but like she just.
00:45:31
Speaker
Ila puts a hand out as you pass them to block your way. They say, have you ever made use of that biometric scanner I gave you? That was you? And, uh, Odie says, I should have realized that was you at the market. know, there's not very many of us left, and i was just kind of wondering if that was you. I was hoping to see your planar door somewhere, but I did i did not.
00:45:52
Speaker
love says, i would refrain from touching anything in here. Thank you, miss. Well, if you would refrain, how do you has anything get done? Only I am permitted to touch this equipment. I wasn't going to touch.
00:46:04
Speaker
I know about the no touching rule. And what were you doing? I'm not real sure, but can I look? You may not. And Ilib kind of stiffens up and puts their hand out.
00:46:16
Speaker
Puzzin greetings. My name is OD31716. And they almost sigh. Ilib, if you prefer to call me. And your name is? Well, my name is even longer than yours, but you can call me Idy.
00:46:32
Speaker
Pleasure to meet you. Is it, though? Or is that just something you say? You don't get a response. And she, like, leans a little bit and narrows her eyes at him and kind of like, looks at him.
00:46:43
Speaker
Can I help you with something? So you're Odie's sibling. I can kind of see the resemblance. He calls me his sibling, but we are not genetically related. It is impossible for us to be related in that way.
00:46:56
Speaker
And Odie says, well, I appreciate who' a sibling. I explained to you why I think that. ah Anyway, I live. This is Miss Idy. She is my assistant.
00:47:08
Speaker
Wow. yeah Well, he's like trying to be vague. Like you get the sense Odie is not comfortable here. He's almost twitchy. like He's just not comfortable having you here with live.
00:47:19
Speaker
It's not going great for him. He says, so, um, yes, I'm glad you met previously, and I do appreciate you not informing anyone else of all this. Ailab says, I was curious.
00:47:36
Speaker
That is all. Ooh. Ooh. Okay. Yeah, I see it now. You're here to refresh your supply of planar crystals, I imagine.
00:47:48
Speaker
You were here just over two months ago. That supply I gave you should have lasted you much longer. What have you been using? How much longer? The supply I gave you should have lasted two years. I.D.' 's eyes go real wide.
00:48:02
Speaker
she sort of like slowly turns to look at O.D. with these wide eyes like, oh. Well, i ah ilab i I have been using the door a lot more frequently.
00:48:14
Speaker
But also Miss I.D. here also uses the crystals for similar technology. And I.D. almost cuts them off. they And they say, i have seen. Yes.
00:48:25
Speaker
Oh, he says, so i was hoping for not only a resupply, but to commission a few more storage racks for a designated section in our lab.
00:48:38
Speaker
So we could have some reserves that are strictly for Miss ID. And was sitting there and and they're quiet for a bit and they sit at their chair. While they're just sitting there, like, emotionless, right? Mm-hmm.
00:48:51
Speaker
ID's kind of like, peering and looking at him just like, as you would, like, a statue or, like, you're trying to tell if someone's dead or just asleep kind of thing. Like, hmm. Can you please stop, miss?
00:49:02
Speaker
but You got real quiet and still, and I wasn't sure if you were still awake or not. Because I am debating if this is wise. It is extremely unwise, Odie.
00:49:15
Speaker
Why do you have her with you? Um, because I didn't give him much of a choice, to be honest. And Hody's like, that's fair. That's entirely fair. Lib, what will take? i'm I'm very sorry, but I'm willing to do just about anything at this point.
00:49:31
Speaker
Eyebrow raise? To not only maintain our trust here, but to also establish a good enough relationship where we could acquire more crystals more frequently without creating the more knowing.
00:49:46
Speaker
Is Ileb still sitting in the chair? I was still sitting in the chair, and they're not saying or doing anything, but you can tell that they're thinking. Literal gears maybe turning in their head.
00:49:57
Speaker
I'm going to hop up Ileb's lap. What the fuck? What the fuck? I'm going to hop up on his lap, you know, sitting, like, perpendicular, and, like, put my arm around him and kind of just, like, lean in and say, okay, listen.
00:50:12
Speaker
What can we do? Your chances of getting anything from me are dwindling by the second. Remove yourself from my lap. She like slowly like one leg at a time.
00:50:24
Speaker
And she's sort of slowly stepped back next to Odie. And like she sends him a message. It's just like, yikes. Wow. ah Are they always like this?
00:50:36
Speaker
Odekana nods his head. He says, I-lib, I know currency is not really interest of you, but if there's any chance we could, and I-lib puts a hand up. They say, how many additional racks do you require?
00:50:49
Speaker
Odekana looks at you. give Give them a number. Oh, uh, really? You want me to determine this? I need an answer. Ten? Nobody kind of looks at you and like, I-Lib even turns her head. i don't know.
00:51:02
Speaker
Heidi, there's a dozen for the planar door. Oh, nine? I-Lib stands up, they say. i will give you five. Five and a little bit. and Little one. No.
00:51:13
Speaker
How about five? Five. I will give you five. And will replenish the fuel cells of your planar door if you can do something for me. Okay, what can we do for you?
00:51:25
Speaker
I would turn around to their computer or their monitors and they press a button and they show on screen a bunch of schematics for things. And they say, I've been working on developing a new computer to enhance the targeting system for the Micronians. And my project is almost complete. However, i need a powerful enough CPU you to run it.
00:51:46
Speaker
And ah just like Odie's, they have some joysticks, but it's on their console. And they put some coordinates in and they plunge those joysticks forward. And this whole place rumbles. You've kind of felt a little bit of a tremor when Odie positions his planar door somewhere. But like, this door is so fucking big and heavy looking that like it's causing this whole place to shake.
00:52:07
Speaker
They get from their chair and they say, at this facility, they process CPUs that run powerful computers similar to that of the task manager on a much smaller scale. If you can fetch my order of the central processing unit that I require, you will be paid and you are refueling and additional storage racks.
00:52:25
Speaker
Addy sort of like gives a side eye to Odie. Like she messages him, this guy like for real? No, he's like, there's always a catch. She pulls out a journal. She stops the conversation. She pulls out a journal. She flips through it and she closes it.
00:52:40
Speaker
So you basically want us to pick up your dry cleaning? Odile asks, he's like, ah oh, are you sure you want us to handle something so precious? I.D. gives O.D. like a weird look. What are you talking about? So what's so um inconvenient about this that you would pay us this exorbitant price to do this for you?
00:53:03
Speaker
I.L.O.F. says the central processing units are extremely delicate and they cannot survive planar jumps. I will take you to your destination, but you'll have to walk back on foot or find some other means of transportation. And during that time. How far is it?
00:53:19
Speaker
You don't get a response from that. They say, if you do this, you will be paid. My assistance is already down there, and she will be the one handling the package. And Odie sees the breeze of sigh relief. He's like, okay, that makes me feel a little better. Wait, hold on.
00:53:33
Speaker
If she's already like down there, what do you need us for? I'm confused. Something about this is kind of fishy. Additional S-cores for a very valuable and very expensive central processing unit.
00:53:45
Speaker
She like turns fully around to Odie. What am I missing? Odie says, this is what we're getting paid to do is an escort job. ah It's, we'll take it, Ilib. And I appreciate you trusting us with, well, mainly trusting your assistant with such an an object. But we will do our best to ensure it's safe arrival.
00:54:06
Speaker
Yeah, okay. Ilib says, I appreciate the assistance. You may go. You may go. oh he says, well, um very well. we'll we'll We'll be on our way. um I guess we will see you later. ah Miss Heidi, we should go. Okay.
00:54:22
Speaker
And she turns around to follow Odie. And then she stops and turns back to Ileb. Just out of curiosity, have you toyed around with increasing the energy output of the of the crystals at all?
00:54:35
Speaker
That is one of the objectives of our refinery. how um How's that going? Not well. Well, that's very disheartening. But don't worry. When we come back, I'll help you out and we'll crack this thing. And then she she turns and looks. And Odie's kind of like stiff. He seems a little uncomfortable, like even accepting this kind of mission. But he's heading towards the player door.
00:54:57
Speaker
And right before we go walk through it, she's going to like stop him, you know, like touch his shoulder or whatever. What are you not telling me? i We can talk once we we're out of this chamber.
00:55:09
Speaker
And you feel the ground shudder again, and you see that planar door open on its own, no assistance, but as it opens, it is many feet thick. This door is enormous. It actually has to come out of the wall first a little bit before it actually starts to swing open.
00:55:23
Speaker
When opens up, you see a street. And you see some cars. They're different than what we would have here on Earth, but it's a city. Not unlike a nurse city. So similar to Olympus?
00:55:35
Speaker
I mean, it's it kind of looks like Olympus, it except it's little dirtier. Not as clean. Smells like a city, too. You see that the player obviously opened up on the side of a building. You're viewing down a street.
00:55:46
Speaker
And at the end of that street, you see a very large, primarily glass building. It's like the sleekest building in the vicinity. And you step through the door and close it behind you and disappears.
00:55:59
Speaker
Odie says, okay, so the central processing unit that we were just told to fetch for iLib is a miniature version of the task manager. It's... small, much smaller than the task manager. But as far as a central processing unit goes, it is tremendously powerful, experimental, and likely the only one in existence. And I love trusted us to fetch it for them and carry all the way back to their station.
00:56:26
Speaker
That is what this mission is. Okay, so stop trying to distract me with things that you know that I'm going to get obsessed over and tell me why this is such a big deal.
00:56:38
Speaker
Is it like we have to go through like barren wasteland? Are there going to be like it's pirates? So well how do I even know about pirates? Imagine carrying something so precious and so valuable through miles of sketchy territory.
00:56:53
Speaker
Sketchy? This isn't the greatest part of town, and we're entirely... What town are even in? Acromia, in the Plain of Ogden. We're an entirely different plane, and Acromia is where everything sort of began. It's sort of uncomfortable being here. This is the closest I've been to Grey L'Amour in quite a long time.
00:57:16
Speaker
Whoa, she's here? She's in this city. course, we're not anywhere near her as far as that goes, but we are in the same city as Grey L'Amour, and that is unsettling to me. and Can she detect you?
00:57:31
Speaker
She knows where everyone is. Well, maybe not individuals. The task manager sure knows. So the task manager. ah i The task manager is the universe's most powerful computer. It is impressive. And we're picking up a miniature version of the task manager.
00:57:47
Speaker
A baby task manager. this is This is beyond anything I thought Isla would send us on. I am certainly glad that we are not the ones handling the package. Their assistant is.
00:57:57
Speaker
So I suppose we should go meet her. I still don't know why you're all freaked out. We got a carry, a little thing. It's not little. The task manager, the CPU for the task manager is the size of a building.
00:58:11
Speaker
The CPU that we're carrying, i don't know how big it even is I don't even describe it, but the size of a car, maybe? I mean, it needs Watcher to handle it. So, again, I'm very glad that we're not the ones handling this thing. We're just escorting her.
00:58:24
Speaker
How long is it from here back to... Unless we get public transportation a day, maybe. Walking for a day? can you even handle that? I can certainly handle the beside you, but it's just carrying such a very, very special package. Okay, so why don't we use something to make it easier? We could take a bus.
00:58:45
Speaker
Oh my gosh. She like grabs him by the shoulders and like shakes him. What is it with you and where and the roundabout solutions? What is your solution then? What do you think is easier?
00:59:01
Speaker
Anti-gravity pads. And just float it. I've seen you do it. How much fuel do you currently have as far as your device goes? Jerika, you're down to two because that's what you rolled. Yeah, I know. That's what I was pretty much down to. ask She like opens her antenna real quick, presses a couple buttons.
00:59:21
Speaker
I got two. We need to take a bus. He just starts walking towards this building. What? All right, you walk down the street and like, it's kind of busy here. It's busier than Olympus. There's people milling about.
00:59:35
Speaker
There's cars here and there. you get to wait for crosswalks a couple times, crossing the street. but they eventually make us to this glass building. And immediately something is familiar to you.
00:59:45
Speaker
You see that GR and the arrow again, but it just says Grayson Robotics. And it is a big, impressive glass building. It's beautiful.
00:59:57
Speaker
And you see some fixtures milling about. in fact, you see a couple of statues. You think they're fixes at first, but they're actually statues like a rock. I don't know how to even be able to tell. Yeah, they're so still. Yeah.
01:00:10
Speaker
You see these statues and then you see a big statue come in the midst of all of them. And it is of a tall, elegant looking woman.
01:00:21
Speaker
And Odie gives that statue kind of like a glance up and then he immediately just starts walking faster past it into the front of this building. Wow. You really are living on in your mom's shadow, aren't you?
01:00:33
Speaker
I don't even want to refer to that. Why? And she like shakes her head. what what am I even saying? What is wrong with me today? And you go into the front of this building and it has nice automatic open glass doors. And the inside of this place might as well be like I Live Station. It's just as clean and sterile.
01:00:51
Speaker
You see people in white lab coats walking around. And you also see a girl at the front desk who is chatting with this very tall gold and silver golem.
01:01:02
Speaker
And you see this golem already has a but like a backpack on that is like box shaped. And the box is the size of like, don't like a large microwave. It's a decent sized box.
01:01:16
Speaker
It doesn't have Grayson Robotics on it, but just has GR. the Same logos in the back of Love's shirt and basically all Fixer's shirts. And Odie approaches this golem and says, ah pleasant greetings, watcher. It's nice to see you again. And this big golem just looks down at Odie and she's like, oh my God, Odie, it's been a while, hasn't it Yes, it's it's been it's been a while. um Watcher, this is Miss Idy. Idy, this is Watcher. She is I-Lib's new assistant.
01:01:47
Speaker
And Watcher, we are your escorts this evening back to I-Lib's station. This golem stands up and looks around and know she's like, I thought I-Lib was sending a couple Titans here.
01:02:00
Speaker
Why they send you? Idy just like, damn. Well, ah we made a deal with Ilib. Oh, man. So, like, you used all the planar fuel already? That was fast.
01:02:14
Speaker
Listen, it's not very efficient fuel, okay? It's what we have. Did a better idea? Yes. Actually, when we get back, Ilib and I are going to sit down and um put our heads together and um work something out.
01:02:29
Speaker
Well, that's fun. was actually kind of hoping to work with ILIB and the lab and stuff to just kind of figure something out because I'm really into this stuff a lot. And I was really excited to get this job. And I'm really excited to be here for my first mission from ILIB. And it's a big, important one.
01:02:49
Speaker
Did they tell you about the package? Yeah, it's some processing thing. It's like a little baby task manager. You can fit it in your hand. It's so small. She looks at Odie.
01:03:00
Speaker
And Odie's like blown away. Like he's just like can't believe what he's hearing. She just looks at him image and like shakes her head. Really? Really? What? Did I say something wrong?
01:03:11
Speaker
Mr. Scaredy Pants over here, for whatever reason, was under the impression that it was like this big huge thing. Oh, no, no. See, when the Task Manager was first created, it was created with technology that was, like, kind of old, but it still runs really well. So they managed to recreate that technology and make it a whole lot more compact.
01:03:33
Speaker
And it's not as... powerful as the task manager no computer as powerful as the task manager but this little guy this little guy is amazing and it's the only one of its kind and i'm so excited to just be in charge of this thing but i'm really curious you must have struck one hell of a deal with island for you to be escorting this thing with me okay she like puts her hands up okay hold on both of you what am i missing We're taking a little thing that fits in your hand and taking it a day's walk away.
01:04:07
Speaker
Why is this so monumentous? This ID, as I mentioned, the task manager, is the universe's most powerful computer. It can see into all of reality across all the planes.
01:04:21
Speaker
This is a small scale of it. Surely it's not as powerful, but imagine what this thing could do, especially in the wrong hands. I'm trying very hard not to for the sake of you, O.D.
01:04:33
Speaker
We can't just be careful for a little bit? Like... It just makes me nervous. Something this powerful in such a small package, it's so easy to lose, it's so easy to steal.
01:04:44
Speaker
She, like, throws up her hands. I feel like I'm going crazy. I understand. Like, look at Watcher here. she's she's She's a tough individual. And she almost, like, flexes her arm. She's like, you bet I am.
01:04:57
Speaker
But it's just the three of us in an unfamiliar city. A day's walk away, we can't even take a planar door because it would destroy this thing. Okay, but are there giant monsters out there?
01:05:10
Speaker
not in the city. i would certainly hope that's no longer an issue, but... We will come back to that later. If the three of us can't take turns carrying a small thing... oh no, you wouldn't be able to lift this thing. It's really heavy.
01:05:27
Speaker
Because it's so dense? It's extremely dense. Like how dense? It's a little uncomfortable for me to handle it. And I think my low capacity is several tons. I don't know what it's made out of exactly, but it's in the same material as the task manager. And that thing is, it's like a dead star. It is so heavy.
01:05:46
Speaker
i don't know if it weighs much less than a dead star. Probably not that heavy because it would just make gravity do weird shit. what Yeah, and and besides, that I don't think we could even have it on any sort of planet at that point because it would just...
01:06:00
Speaker
But it's really heavy. It's really heavy. So I i want to get moving because this is really putting a little pressure on my back. Okay. he' Standing here. we We can't put it in like a cart?
01:06:12
Speaker
all do you And she turned around to this reception. She's like, you guys have a cart to carry this thing? And this woman just like goes. Okay. So. So it really is that heavy. Yeah. Okay.
01:06:23
Speaker
Let me think. It always says we probably can't take a bus. What is your obsession with the bus? It's the fastest method of transportation in this city. It flies above all the traffic. it's a flying bus?
01:06:35
Speaker
Yes. I should have explained to you that the buses do fly here. Okay, well, after that whole cat bus situation last week, I... Yeah, I don't want to talk about that one.
01:06:46
Speaker
So, okay, it's light enough that she can carry it, but it's too heavy to fit on any pre-existing vehicle. We know until we try, but if we do take a bus, we'd be like the only passengers, and I don't think they would let that happen.
01:07:02
Speaker
We can just toss them out the window, and like, what difference does that make? She laughs. She's like, I like you. um okay. You're sassy. So, and she kind of like gives Odie a look.
01:07:16
Speaker
Anti-craft pets? Huh? If we can make it work for that load. What do you mean if we can make it work? We're switching the polarity of gravity.
01:07:27
Speaker
Oh, you're talking about what I do. Okay, so I can alter the code of a small area to invert the gravity, but I would have to keep doing that, and I don't believe... I guess I could, since we are in elsewhere currently.
01:07:43
Speaker
But now to keep doing that every 20 feet is my range. I don't think we would have to know. So if here's what we do. Reverse the gravity. Watcher here is going to float up.
01:07:55
Speaker
Okay. Then we hit her really hard and she goes flying. Okay. Miss I.D. I didn't specify my range is only 20 feet. I am not done. Okay.
01:08:07
Speaker
So something that I noticed about when we were on Olympus is the way in which they would toss things. So if we get the right trajectory, the gravity, once it exits your range, it's going to fall.
01:08:25
Speaker
But all we need to do is Make sure that we can get underneath her so that when she falls down, we can reverse the gravity again. So we have to, let's see.
01:08:38
Speaker
And she takes out her journal and like a pencil and she starts watching drawing like angles and she's doing equations, but she's not great at math. Watcher's kind of like excited. She's like, this sounds fun. With X. and I've always wanted to fly. And to the 14th. Why is pi in here?
01:08:57
Speaker
We're not doing Hey, Odie, if I borrow one of your devices, I turn into something that flies? I don't know, Watcher. Oh, I hadn't thought about that. I've always wanted to fly. Your idea sounds really fun.
01:09:09
Speaker
Oh, she closes her journal and puts it back. And then she opens up her antenna and she like is cycling through. Okay, okay, okay. Yes. Okay.
01:09:20
Speaker
We summon like a glider, essentially, that she can use to glide. Huh? How we launch the glider? And no offense to you, Watcher, I'm sure you are not lightweight. And she's like, I'm absolutely not.
01:09:34
Speaker
That's the beauty of having gravity be reversed. True, but then we would have to be under the glider to keep pushing it upward. oh what we need is like a catapult or a rudimentary trebuchet. Watcher's like, yeah, yeah. And then oh he's like, are you two forgetting that we are dealing with a very, very sensitive, very breakable object upon your back?
01:09:55
Speaker
And also, I don't want Watcher to get injured. I'm sure she'll be fine. what a What are you made up of over there? She pounds her chest. She says, Vakronian Iron.
01:10:07
Speaker
See? Perfectly fine. I really don't want to ride the bus, Odie. don't think we can, but I suppose we keep a low profile. Can we, like, do you have a marker?
01:10:19
Speaker
And he he says that, but he summons, like, a prop of a marker. He's like, can I just scratch out the logo on the box, maybe, so we're not toting around something from a very, very, very prestigious laboratory? Are you worried about bandits?
01:10:31
Speaker
I'm absolutely worried about that. i'm worried about anything happening to this computer. What's the probability that we're going to encounter bandits? In this part of the city. Watcher says, oh yeah, why do you think I was sent here? and And I was going to send two titans to help me, but now I have you guys, and you're a lot better. Honestly, i am really tired of dealing with the other fixers. They are nothing like Ilyb.
01:10:52
Speaker
I wouldn't say nothing. um Okay. So what you're saying is there's a pretty good chance that we're going to encounter some ruffians.
Discussing Abilities and Limitations
01:11:04
Speaker
And we have the two of us and she motions to herself and watch her What are you going to do? I... I really don't know. i mean, I... I... We almost kind of don't need you at this point, then. yeah You... I... You... I can summon props like can turn into things.
01:11:22
Speaker
I... society I do, for once, have more power than you do. What do you mean? you have more Why wouldn't you always have more power than me? You got fixer cores. Yes, I have fixer tech, but you only have two cores left that you could use. Okay, but how many do you got left?
01:11:38
Speaker
Does that even work with you? ah it's, um, okay. So, I mentioned to you before that I'm a little broken. Yeah, I mean... I don't function as well as I used to back in the day.
01:11:50
Speaker
Oh, you're old, I see. You're all very old. Yeah, go go on... But it's just er my power output these days is is not as great as it used to be. Oh, we can fix that, surely.
Criticism of Package Markings
01:12:03
Speaker
ah Maybe one day. For now, I think, for starters, and he goes up and puts a marker through that logo and the receptionist is just like, why? and he's like, I really wish you wouldn't label your packages with your laboratory's markings.
01:12:18
Speaker
Yes, because that would totally not make sense. Especially something so valuable you know that it comes from here. Never mind. Where else would it come from, Odie? Where do you get your technology from? You get it from somebody in in the market.
01:12:32
Speaker
yeah Okay. But we are not in the market. Yes. We are in this place. And there are places to get technology here, but nothing quite like this. Right. So you can put a marking on it You can take a marking off. It's not going to make any difference is what I'm saying. Well, it's not got to stand out like a sore thumb.
01:12:50
Speaker
No, but the three of us just walking around with you keeping your head on a swivel like a nervous little rodent.
Shape-shifting Mishaps
01:12:58
Speaker
I i will try not to. It's not going to be conspicuous?
01:13:01
Speaker
You see him tap the left side of his face and he just turns into a German shepherd. She looks down at him. couldn't think of anything else to do. You couldn't be something that I could ride on? Uh,
01:13:15
Speaker
sure. No, a lot of dons don't waste your precious... No, no, no, I will. And he turns into a horse. Ah, not that! What's wrong? i We talked about that!
01:13:27
Speaker
these people are just looking at Odie turning into a fucking horse. You know that freaks me out. i'm I'm sorry. i Okay. And he just turns back to Odie. Ugh, it's just so unnatural. Why has it got stuff on it?
01:13:41
Speaker
blooms on the inside? What the hell? Whoa, you have inside-out horses? Weird! No, back where I'm from, we have horses that are majestic animals.
01:13:52
Speaker
Neat. Mighty, strong, and don't have any weird meat and skin and fur and shit. what What do you propose we
Avoiding a Scene and Seeking Food
01:14:00
Speaker
do? Well, it seems like this lady does not want us to be right here.
01:14:04
Speaker
So before she gets upset and calls some sort of security, let's just walk out. but Let's start there. Okay, yeah, you walk out of the building into like this front plaza courtyard situation before the street.
01:14:16
Speaker
Alright, the next thing we need to do is find a restaurant because I'm a little peckish.
01:14:36
Speaker
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