Bucket List

[Ugoto Chivaro]

CESTUS SYSTEM, ORD CESTUS
CESTUS CYBERNETICS LANDING PAD

Cestus Cybenetics was very protective of their patents. So protective, in fact, that their entire manufacturing division was quarantined to a single region on the planet of Ord Cestus. Further, they were mostly subterranean. The surface portion of each factory was a moderately sized, rudimentary spaceport where product was transported to Celanon, where it would be shipped elsewhere by Arceneau Trade.

It was at one of these remote factories that the Fringe's councilor of military affairs, [member="Anders Sivas"] had been cordially invited to by Zothustro Quill. The purpose of this meeting was to spruce up the councilor's personal bodyguard unit. It was an SC1 droid, but instead of referring to it as such the councilor had deigned to start calling it Bucket. Strange. It must have been a human thing.

Whatever the human thing was, it apparently called for a little more than just decorating the droid with pretty pictures. The councilor had also requested the droid's intelligence be revamped. That is, to remove the inhibitors in place to keep it from developing a sense of self-awareness too quickly. Some folks liked the droids quirky. Another human thing. How they puzzled Zothustro.

The X'Ting waited on the landing pad for Anders' ship to arrive, standing still and leaning on his cane for support.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

"Oh! Oh dear, Master there's a thread on your tunic. Oh stop! Do stop moving!" Mulligan the Z2 Servant Droid raced after me with a lint roller in one hand, a cup of stimcaf in another. Another one of the droid's arms carries an ever-present duster and I can't help but chuckle as I stop in my way and hold my arms out for the technological creation.

"Sure, what would I do without you Mulligan?"

"Be slightly less presentable, I would expect Master. Do you wish me to reply to the . . . unfortunate gentleman Cantrosian Ar-Ee the meeting time?" Sparkles the Z1 Admin Droid pipes up, shoving Mulligan out of the way. I glare at Sparkles and he mumbles, toddling off to do his work. Don't mind much on the distraction, arthropods freak me out but at least the X'Ting are one heck of a sentient race.

"All clean." Mulligan finishes and trundles off in mid-air to tidy something else up. Maybe I should follow up on Cestus' recommendations to mind-wipe the droids every few weeks, but I kind of like the company as bizarre as it sounds. "Come on, Bucket." The SC1 Battle Droid follows behind me and I skip down the gang plank to [member="Zothustro Quill"]. "Mister Quill, thank you for seeing me. Everything ready?"

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

@[member='Anders Sivas']

The human skipped down the ramp, which was strange. Zothustro had dealt with worse habits from his clientele, so he supposed some pep in this one's step was the least of his worries. He nodded politely to the councilor, antennae twitching erratically. Bucket was with her, and the X'Ting had to force himself to pay attention and not gawk at the droid's decorated breastplate.

"<< It is always a pleasure, Councilor. >>" Zothustro greeted. "<< Everything has been prepped. We will be ready to begin as soon as possible. >>"

Zothustro glanced over at Bucket before looking back to Anders. "<< Has your droid been operating adequately so far? >>"

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Maybe decoration on a battle droid is odd, but Bucket is far from a droid meant to shove off and get sizzled and frizzled in the heat of some sapien's battle. "Awesome. I've been looking forward to this like you wouldn't believe." I nod Bucket on and the droid follows behind as we enter the facility.

I pat Bucket on the shoulder plate, a nod of my head and a grin on my illusion-riddled masculine face. "Bucket's already saved my life once. Part of the reason I want the upgrade. It saved my life, but barely. Got me onto my ship, stabilized me on the biobed but didn't know to do any medical triage. Was passed out for days before Bucket and my Z1's distress calls got through and I was saved. Figured it would do well since Bucket's not being used as a usual SC1. So, yes. Adequate so far."

[member="Zothustro Quill"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

@[member='Anders Sivas']

Zothustro was moderately disturbed that the councilor had been in such a dangerous situation that an SC1 had to perform emergency medical treatment. He tried not to think too hard about what could have possibly lead up to such a predicament, but that the councilor survived at all. Also, the fact that not one but two of his products directly contributed to the councilor's survival was pretty intense. That would make for a great advertisement spot if he ever got around to it.

"<< I am glad you are alright. >>" Zothustro said, mandibles clicking sympathetically. He was, unfortunately, not that much of a conversationalist. Particularly when ambiguously dated life-or-death situations were brought up. "<< We can head to the workshop to upgrade the droid now, if you wish, unless you have any questions or would like to see a certain part of the facility. >>"

 

[Yasha Cadera]

"Makes three of us at least." I grin, tugging on the collar of my leather jacket and wonder if the clicks and chitters are making more sense than they had at the Expo. Maybe so! Maybe I'm dreaming but I open my mind again to try and Comprehend his Speech. If I could get to understand the clicks and chitters of the X'Ting maybe I wouldn't be so bleeding arthropodophobic.

He's a gigantic bug. A sentient, intelligent bug. I pull my jacket a bit closer to my chest and nod to the workshop. "Never been inside a droid factory before, wouldn't mind a tour if you have the time. But, ultimately I'm here for Bucket. . . If we happened to get 'lost' and travel around a bit, see the droids in development say, for military projects or research and development I'd be happy to look. Especially if you have droids which could handle certain explosive situations, or detect contaminants in the air and water and all."

[member="Zothustro Quill"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

@[member='Anders Sivas']

Zothustro shook his head. "<< No such droids in our possession now, I'm afraid. Perhaps in the future. >>"

Detecting toxins was something a rudimentary sensor could do. But a bomb squad droid was definitely something to pitch. He would have to let Hannibal know about it. Until then, he had a droid factory to expound upon. He briefly turned from Anders to wave over at a single droid waiting a little ways behind him. One Z3 seated at the helm a small hover car, which it promptly drove over to the duo. It wasn't a fancy thing, mostly used for ferrying himself and other guests to and from the entrance. There were bigger ones for supplies.

"<< The whole facility is rather spread out. It helps deter burglars. >>" Zothustro explained, skipping over the fact that the facility was also located in the middle of a lifeless desert that no mortal creature could ever cross unaided. "<< We'll head straight for the workshop. I will point out some things on the way. If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer. >>"

Zothustro trudged over to the car, easing himself into the passenger seat with what was probably the X'Ting equivalent to a grunt. There were two seats in the back for both Anders and Bucket.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Preceding Anders' appearance had been a message and considerable sum of money from one [member="Jared Ovmar"] with instructions for Bucket's upgrade. In that correspondence were plans for a locator device, subroutines and programs to ensure Anders Sivas' safety including one particular program to usurp Anders' command in dangerous situations and physically remove Sivas from them and on to the ship Sumatiyara, or any of which would receive them as safe haven. A considerable amount had been laid out to tend to the droid and bring it into a place of dominant safety. None of the programs were malicious, but protective. Yet, they were to be kept in strictest confidence and Anders was to be ignorant.

This Anders Sivas person was important enough to Jared Ovmar that the Lord of the Fringe went to a ship load of trouble and expense.

"You should, it might turn out great for you." I hop into the speeder and Bucket hops back into the seat beside me. "How do you decide what droids to make?" [member="Zothustro Quill"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

@[member='Anders Sivas']

"<< When we first started, it was an easy decision. >>" Zothustro began, signaling the driver to get moving. The small cab took off with a start down the pavement, darting quickly off towards a large, brutish building looming quite some distance ahead of them. Fortification over style was what the architects had been told in designing this place.

"<< We noticed there was a distinct lack of options as far as servant droids went in the galactic market. These were too expensive or too cheap. Either way, they were not very intelligent or capable of a broad range of services. There were also precious few bipedal droids cut out for a wide variety of labor. We filled this gap. >>"

"<< Our droids are cheaper, more durable, and more intelligent then other competing models. Not by particularly much, but we manage to keep the costs low by centering our manufacturing solely on Ord Cestus. The materials we need are more easily acquired here. An even more powerful brain than the J1 is in the works. We hope to employ it in two droids for the Stendarr series. A surgeon droid and a field medic droid. >>"

Zothustro left out the possibility of the combat droid they were going to develop as well. He did not suspect Anders was one to revel in delight of more war machines.