NETWORK - Help Wanted/Offered

[outofthepast]

Who: Nick Valentine
Username: valentine
Warnings: Discussion of robot parts and the repair thereof, robot existentialism + objectification

Hey folks, it's Valentine here. Now that I've had a taste of nitty gritty fieldwork, I think it'd be prudent of me to take a few precautions. I'm looking for a good mechanic. And I'd prefer not to involve ADI at this point, so please don't suggest I just consult with the Technology department. Let's keep this one on one for now.

The parts are proprietary and you won't have seen them before, so I need a quick learner. Advanced experience is a plus, but I've done just fine with regular Joes and Jills up to this point. The absolute most important qualification, though, is that you let me buy you a drink and have a chat with you first. Amateur transhumanism philosophers need not apply, thanks.

I'm willing to either pay or trade what you think is fair. Favors, errands. Maybe I can teach you something.

You know what, let's make that a general offer. Even if you're not a mechanic, I'm happy to teach what skills I can to anybody interested. Want to learn to shoot a gun? Use a computer? Make a theory corkboard? Swing dance? Hit me up and let's make it a date.

Really, I can't stress enough how much extra time I've got on my hands.

Comments

[bossyboiler]

Maybe next time. There's a beach party planned aleady. Don't want to force too much mandatory fun on people.

[outofthepast]

Mandatory fun. There's a concept for you.

So, I don't think we've met in person. Ms. Kate, is it?

[bossyboiler]

Instead of spending all day in the office, why not spend it at the beach?

Just Kate is fine.

[outofthepast]

Well Kate, then I'm Nick. Nick Valentine. Pleasure to meet you.

I'm the guy who's a robot.

[bossyboiler]

Nice to meet you too Nick, over text.

Well, you know what they say. Nobody's perfect.

[outofthepast]

ADI somehow slaps a human look over me away from HQ, so I feel like I have to meet everybody twice anyway. A third time's not so bad.

How long have you been here? And whereabouts are you from originally?

[bossyboiler]

That's thoughtful of them but I suppose that they can't have people seeing androids out and about. I wonder how they do that. Is it magic or technology?

I've been hear since July of last year. I'm from Earth, specifically Manhattan. You?

[outofthepast]

Yeah, I do understand. Not like I don't stick out like a sore thumb back home, too. But I guess I'd prefer if they consulted with me first. Tech or magic or whatever it is, it gives me the willies.

Happy anniversary. I'm from Earth too, right up the road in Boston. In 2288.

[bossyboiler]

That's not so thoughtful of them then.

2288? What's that like?

[outofthepast]

Just a little on the post-apocalyptic side. It's been 200 years since the Great War, and folks are finally starting to rebuild again. It's messy and violent and ugly sometimes, but people are still people and there's always hope.

Still, I'd prefer to keep the same thing from happening to this world. Just because it's home doesn't mean it's nice or people are well-off, you know?

[bossyboiler]

It's hard for me to imagine a war that big. What was it over?

I'd like to keep it from happening here too.

[outofthepast]

Too many different stupid political factors to count. And hubris, of course. That's always a big one. More than a hundred years of build-up, and they say it was over in seven minutes.

That was before my time, though. The folks who built me were strictly post-war.

[bossyboiler]

Wow.

[ That's it. That's all she has to say... AT THE MOMENT! ]

Are you the only one of your kind?

[outofthepast]

Yes, and no. The Institute churns out synths like me en masse. But I've never met another like me with free will and more brains than a malfunctioning toaster.

I'm actually pretty lucky in the grand scheme of things, even if it doesn't feel like it sometimes.

[bossyboiler]

Is your consciousness a glitch or a feature? I'm sorry. Was that too personal of a question?

How so?

[outofthepast]

Not to worry, it's a fair question. And it's a feature, near as I can tell.

I think I'm some kind of prototype in between the gen-2 synths and the newest model. Don't remember, and don't know why they'd do such a thing. But I don't know why the Institute does any of their stupid ideas.

If they hadn't given me a proverbial brain, I'd just be another one of their scarecrows. A dumb bucket of bolts following their orders, snatching scrap, killing and kidnapping people.

[bossyboiler]

[ This is a lot to take in. ]

Kidnap people? Why?

[outofthepast]

To experiment on, presumably. That's what the Institute does. Nobody knows why, or what their aims are. Even I don't know, and I was one of their pet projects once.

All we know is the Institute is bad news. Everybody back home lives in terror of getting snatched.

[bossyboiler]

That sounds well and truly horrific. Would you go back to your world if given the option?

[outofthepast]

Yeah, I would.

My friends and my secretary need me. And there's other folks there who have no one else to turn to for help. I'm in a position where I can be that person for them, and I take that duty very seriously.

Of course, if we're really here to prevent a goddamn apocalypse from happening, I can't turn my back on these folks, either.

[bossyboiler]

That's what they say we are here to prevent and it looks like we at least prevented a minor one in West Virginia.

[outofthepast]

Thank God. Whatever we accomplished, a lot of innocent people have their lives tonight. That's good enough for me.

What all'd you get up to on the trip, Kate?

[bossyboiler]

Yeah. It's great that the fish worked elsewise I think we would have left an even bigger mess.

I tried to investigate but that didn't go well. People thought I was a revenuer which I found out means they thought I was there to bust them on illegal alcohol which is also ridicules. Then I helped with the fish. You?

[outofthepast]

Went poking around in Bluestone a good distance and drew a map. Then I tried to blend in with the miners to discourage them from going inside, towards the end there.

I wish more of 'em had listened to me. But I can recall a few faces who're alive now because they did. That's got to be good enough for me.

[bossyboiler]

I think that should be good enough for anyone. You saved lives.