Private In the Hours Between Trouble

[Aren D'Shade]

The workshop had settled into one of its quieter stretches of the afternoon, the steady hum of machinery and distant city traffic blending into familiar background noise beneath the sharper rhythm of tools against metal. Light filtered through the reinforced front windows in pale bands across the floor, catching against suspended dust and scattered components laid out across the central workbench in careful, organized disorder. To anyone else, it might have looked chaotic. To Aren, every piece sat exactly where it was supposed to be.

She stood leaning slightly over the table, sleeves rolled to her forearms, and purple hair hanging loose around her shoulders, while a partially disassembled forearm prosthetic rested beneath her hands. The outer casing had already been removed, exposing the dense network of servos, synthetic musculature, and interface wiring underneath. One of the internal response relays had been rebuilt entirely from scratch, the newer components cleaner and more refined than the original manufacturer's work.

Better than the original.

Aren adjusted a micro-tool between her fingers and made another tiny correction near the actuator housing, her attention narrowing fully onto the delicate calibration process while diagnostic data scrolled across the holodisplay hovering beside her. The prosthetic flexed once in response, fingers curling with smooth precision before settling again.

Closer. The corner of her mouth shifted faintly, not quite a smile but enough to betray satisfaction.

The rest of the shop remained still around her. EL moved quietly somewhere deeper in the workshop, the occasional muted clink of tools and parts drifting from the back rooms, but otherwise the atmosphere carried the calm rhythm Aren preferred when she worked. Focus. Structure. Predictability.

Then the front door slid open. The sound immediately pulled her attention away from the workbench, though she did not fully straighten at first. Instead, her gaze lifted calmly toward the entrance while one hand rested lightly against the prosthetic arm, as though reluctant to fully abandon the work midway through calibration.

A figure stepped inside from the afternoon light beyond the windows, silhouetted briefly against the brightness outside before the door sealed shut behind them with a quiet hiss. Aren studied them for only a second before speaking. "If you are here to ask whether I repair cheap consumer droids," she said evenly, already turning one of the adjustment tools between her fingers again, "the answer is still no." The dry calm in her voice suggested this was not the first time she had needed to clarify that point.

Zavik Maltheris

 

[Zavik Maltheris]

the workshop was a nice little space, clearly cared for. Zavik looked around at everything as he slowly approached, the arm the girl was working on was a impressive prosthetic. Under his mask he had a slight smile, couldn't help but enjoy a space like this.

"droids? no no, i am not here for that. I heard you did cybernetics and was interested to see what you and can do." he said looking at her with his pale yellow pupilless eyes. "I've been meaning to get somemore for myself for quite some time now."

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Aren's eyes lifted properly toward him then, attention sharpening slightly as she took in the mask, the pale yellow eyes behind it, and the way he looked around the workshop with genuine interest rather than casual curiosity. Most people who walked through the door either wanted something repaired cheaply or wanted to ask questions they barely understood themselves. This felt different.

Her gaze flicked once toward the prosthetic arm still resting on the workbench before she finally straightened fully, setting the micro-tool down beside the exposed actuator housing with careful precision.

"Cybernetics are usually less complicated than people make them sound," she said evenly. "Most of the difficulty comes from compatibility and whether the person wearing them understands the difference between augmentation and replacement."

The words carried the tone of someone who had repeated that explanation before.

She studied him for another second after that, not rudely, but analytically. Existing implants changed the way a person carried themselves, especially extensive ones. Balance shifted. Reflexive movement patterns changed. Tiny unconscious adjustments became visible once you knew how to look for them.

"You already have work done," she observed calmly. Not a question.

Her eyes drifted briefly toward his posture again, the subtle asymmetry beneath otherwise controlled movement.

"More than cosmetic, too."

Aren moved around the side of the workbench, then, wiping her hands clean against a cloth before folding her arms loosely across herself. The workshop lights caught faintly against scattered tools and polished metal around her while she regarded him with quiet professionalism.

"What exactly are you looking for?" she asked. "Repair work, upgrades, replacement limbs, neural integration, reinforcement?"

A faint pause followed before the corner of her mouth shifted just slightly.

"And more importantly, are you looking for something practical…" Her gaze flicked meaningfully toward the visible signs of combat wear about him. "…or something dangerous?"

Zavik Maltheris

 

[Zavik Maltheris]

(ooc sorry i havent responed, lifes been a bit hectic sorry)


Seemed she knew her stuff, lovely a good choice then. " practical and dangerous can be for the same thing. For today I was thinking some reinforcement as well as a few specifics. The reinforcement is mostly for the spine and ribs, though a full skeletal reinforcement would not be disliked. As for specifics I have a few ideas, if you want or need to workshop the ideas with me I would be glad to."

Pulling up a list using his selkie impalt he read off what was on it. "As for specifics, a ocular implant for scanning, thermal vision, and low light conditions would be good. A respiratory filter to resist toxins or smoke. Some precision tool in my fingers would be ideal, for surgery, circuitry work, delicate repairs, a injector would also be useful, for myself or others. Ideally I'd be able to use a variety of chemicals, perhaps just the ability to switch them out, anything fro, pain suppressors, stimulates, or toxins. Perhaps have those on one hand then the other have things like a scalpel, data probes, locking spikes. Magnetic palm locks would be useful as well, primarily to secure tools or weapons. The last idea i had was a thermal regulator along my spine, for both heat and cold, would be good for environments and if i overheat."


Aren D'Shade

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Aren listened without interrupting, her attention sharpening as the list grew. By the time he reached the thermal regulator, she had already set the prosthetic arm aside and pulled a datapad closer, making notes with the calm focus of someone who had heard far stranger requests. Most people who came to her for cybernetics fell into two predictable categories: those who wanted weapons and nothing else, and those who wanted every enhancement they had ever imagined without considering how any of it would coexist once installed. He was neither, which earned him a measure of respect before she even spoke.

When he finished, she leaned back against the workbench and regarded him with something close to approval. "At least you've thought about it. Most people start with retractable blades, built‑in blasters, and enough electrical discharge systems to accidentally kill themselves if two circuits fail at the same time." Her gaze moved over him again, this time not as a customer but as a design problem she was already mapping. "Skeletal reinforcement is straightforward. Spine and ribs first. Full reinforcement is possible, but that's where we run into tradeoffs. Weight distribution, long‑term stress, and power requirements if we move beyond passive materials. Everyone likes the idea of becoming harder to break until they discover every improvement comes with maintenance."

She moved down the list with the same measured tone. "The eyes are easy. Thermal, low‑light, spectrum analysis, magnification, overlays. None of that is difficult. The difficult part is deciding how much information you actually want fed into your brain at one time. People think seeing everything will make them more effective. Mostly it just gives them headaches." The respiratory system, thermal regulator, and magnetic locks earned a simple nod. All reasonable. All doable.

Then she reached the hands, and that was where she stopped. "You're trying to fit three professions into two arms," she said, amusement softening the words. "A surgeon, an engineer, and someone who expects violence often enough to carry toxins." She tapped the datapad. "The injectors are doable. The tools are doable. The locking spikes are doable. But they all compete for space. If I were building this for myself, I wouldn't start by asking what tools I wanted. I'd ask what I needed to do when everything went wrong. The question isn't whether I can fit a scalpel, injector, probe, and lock‑breaker into the same hand. The question is which one you'll still need after you've been shot, exhausted, sleep‑deprived, and forced to make a decision in three seconds."

She nodded toward a nearby chair. "Sit." The word came automatically, the tone of someone already slipping into the design phase. "If we're doing this properly, I need to know how you actually spend your time. What percentage is surgery, engineering, and field work? How often do you get shot at? How often do you work in hostile environments?" A faint smile appeared as she set the datapad down. "Because right now you've given me the wishlist. What I need is the person who's going to be living with it."

Zavik Maltheris

 

[Zavik Maltheris]

Aren D'Shade

Zavik listed without saying anything for a moment until she said for him to sit, doing so he said. "For the skeletal reinforcement i wasn't thinking to heavy duty, durable but not redundant. A lighter metal, not a ton of extra weight or protection, but better then normal bones. Besides the legs, I have worked on these for a while now," Lifting one legs he opened it. It split down the middle starting at the back of the thigh going down to his foot, extending slightly as it stretched out. He then but then two halfs back together and crossed his legs.

"The eyes wont be to much of a problem, my brain as had work as well, main improvement being a ar addition. I am use to a lot of data at once."

He knew the hands where a bit much but they'd serve him the best out of everything listed. "It is a lot I know. My thought was have only a few things not try to overdue it." He stopped for a moment, thinking of how to word his work. When he finally spoke he said "It is a bit of both, surgery and engineering. I actually work on giving others prosthetics or cybernetics. Though I work alone so I can not give myself these, hence why I am here of course. At times i need to work in the field or away from my station however so on hand tools would be ideal. Combat doesn't happen as much, from time to time yes, but I am primarily working."

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Aren listened while he spoke, her attention shifting between the datapad in her lap and the cybernetic leg he exposed for inspection. When the housing separated and the internal framework unfolded, she leaned forward slightly, not out of surprise but because the design told a story. She could see where components had been replaced over time, where older solutions had given way to newer ones, where practical experience had reshaped the original construction into something that fit the person living with it. It lacked the sterile perfection of factory work, but that was precisely what interested her. Factory designs were created in laboratories. This had been created through use.

By the time he sealed the leg again, several of her earlier assumptions had already fallen away. Most people arrived with fantasies disguised as specifications, convinced that more systems automatically meant better results. Zavik's list had sounded similar at first, but the longer he explained himself, the less it fit that interpretation. The ocular systems made sense once she knew he was accustomed to augmented data. The environmental protections made sense once she understood how often he worked outside controlled conditions. Even the reinforcement package stopped looking like preparation for violence and started looking like preparation for endurance. Piece by piece, the design reorganized itself in her mind until the underlying purpose finally became clear.

"You built those legs yourself," she said at last, her tone carrying the quiet certainty of someone stating a fact rather than asking a question. "Which means you've already learned the lessons most people learn the expensive way. Maintenance matters more than specifications. Reliability matters more than capability. And every enhancement eventually becomes something you have to live with." She studied him for another moment before continuing. "At first, I thought you were designing a field operative. Then an engineer. Then someone trying to fit three careers into one body. But that isn't what's happening." The realization settled easily now. "You spend your life fixing people. Not just in a clinic. Not just behind a workbench. Wherever they happen to be when something goes wrong."

She set the datapad aside entirely. "You're not trying to build a soldier or a weapon," she said, her voice thoughtful. "What you're actually trying to do is make sure there is never a situation where someone needs your help, and you're incapable of giving it." The injectors, the tools, the environmental protections, all of it pointed toward continuity, toward preserving capability when circumstances deteriorated. "It isn't really about the implants at all. It's about ensuring you can keep working no matter where you are, what happened to you, or what the environment looks like." A faint, approving smile touched her mouth. "That's a much better design philosophy than most people bring through my door. Now I just need to figure out how to build it without turning you into a maintenance nightmare."

Zavik Maltheris

 

[Zavik Maltheris]

Under his mask zavik smiled a little, "Exactly, being able to work when and where I am needed is the main goal." He'd be sure to not let it slip that some didn't quite ask for the work on them. But it didn't really matter, they'd appreciate it eventually. It was his goal to improve and better others after all

zavik let out a small chuckle " I get what you mean. I had one man, a mercenary I believe, more or less ask to be a living weapon. Wrist gun, blades, grappling hooks, shoulder mounted missile launchers, that whole deal. I told him he might as well be one of those brains floating in a jar controlling a droid body. Maintenance, what a pain, yet in a way entertaining. Unless like you said, its a nightmare. I hafe had some people with crude prosthetic arms that where clearly made on some back water world. You would not belive the mess that was, spent the day just trying to figure out all the wiring and where they put everything. Almost impressive how much of a mess it was."

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Aren listened while he spoke, her attention drifting between him and the datapad she had picked up again. The stylus moved almost absently through her fingers as he described the mercenary, sketching loose structural lines without committing to any one design. The image of a man trying to turn himself into a walking arsenal earned only the faintest shake of her head. "I've met that type," she said, the words carrying the weary familiarity of someone who had met far too many. "They imagine the exciting part. The missiles. The hidden weapons. The dramatic entrances." A small twitch touched her mouth. "They never imagine spending six hours disassembling their own shoulder because a targeting actuator decided it was tired of existing." Her stylus kept moving. "There seems to be a universal belief among certain people that maintenance is a problem for future versions of themselves."

The talk of crude prosthetics drew a quiet hum of understanding, and her tone turned dry. "Those are usually my favorite repairs." Which, of course, meant they absolutely were not. "Someone installs three generations of incompatible hardware, routes power through whatever happened to be nearby, ignores every manufacturing standard in existence, then acts surprised when their arm occasionally locks itself into a fist for no apparent reason." Her gaze lowered to the screen as the sketch took shape: a framework, then internal supports, mounting points, power routing, modular hardpoints. Rough, unfinished, but already functional in its bones. She turned the datapad and slid it toward him. "Something like this?" The diagram showed a reinforced skeletal lattice along the spine and ribs, an ocular package on its own neural pathway, modular reservoirs feeding a forearm injector, precision tools folded into fingertips, thermal nodes distributed along the reinforcement. Not a finished design. A conversation.

While he looked it over, she leaned back, arms folding loosely, part of her attention still on the schematic while another part drifted toward older memories. People who had sat in chairs like this one. People who had wanted to become something else, or needed to. Frightened faces she had pulled from alleyways and shelters, the unwanted ones she had tried to rebuild into stronger futures. New names, new purposes, new bodies built atop the ruins of what had existed before. Not all of them had survived, and those were the faces that lingered. At the time she had believed it was necessary. Believed it helped. Believed the greater good justified the transformation. Most days she still thought it had. But age had taught her that changing someone and helping someone were not always the same thing. Her gaze returned fully to Zavik. "At least you're asking for enhancements that still leave you recognizable afterward." The thought slipped out before she examined it. A faint pause followed, then she nodded toward the datapad. "Tell me where I'm wrong."

Zavik Maltheris

 

[Zavik Maltheris]

Zaviks mind wandered for a moment to a few older things he worked on, entire arms failing because a single small part and having to basically dismantle the entire thing, annoying but, it kept his mind busy at times at least.

When she handed him the datapad to him he looked it over, it was just a rough sketch but well done. "Hmm seems I did choose the right person for this. Everythin looks good." at the mention of being recognizable he glanced up a bit "Indeed, I'd rather keep my self identity, unlike some who do not care to. Never quite understood them, unless their running from someone or the law."

Aren D'Shade

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Aren's expression shifted, not in disagreement but in the way someone reacts when a familiar subject is unexpectedly touched. Her gaze dropped briefly to the datapad before returning to Zavik. "Some are," she said quietly, turning the stylus between her fingers. "Running from someone. Running from consequences. Running from mistakes." The workshop settled into a soft hum around them as she leaned back in her chair. "But not all of them. I've met people who weren't trying to escape anything. They simply hated who they were, or thought they did." Her eyes drifted toward the schematic. "Spend long enough being told you're worthless, and you start looking for any version of yourself that sounds preferable. A new face, a new body, a new name, a new purpose. Change enough pieces, and you convince yourself you'll stop being the person you were before." Her gaze unfocused for a heartbeat. "The problem is that most people carry themselves with them wherever they go," she added, a faint, sympathetic smile touching her mouth. "Which tends to surprise them."

She studied the datapad again, making a small adjustment almost without thinking. "Identity is more resilient than people assume," she said. "Bodies are easy to alter. Personalities are harder. Beliefs harder still." The stylus tapped lightly against the screen. "Though I've known a few people who would argue otherwise." The thought lingered only a moment before she shook her head, letting the philosophical weight fall away as naturally as it had surfaced. Her tone warmed with a trace of dry amusement. "Fortunately for both of us, you're asking for practical upgrades rather than an existential crisis. Those tend to be easier to bill for."

Her attention returned fully to the diagram between them. "Assuming you're happy with the general direction, the next step is figuring out what compromises you're willing to live with," she said, tapping the schematic. "Every system takes space. Every improvement costs something. The trick isn't deciding what you want. It's deciding what you're willing to give up to get it."

Zavik Maltheris

 

[Zavik Maltheris]

He listened as she spoke about those who hated themselve and wished to change themselves. "Indeed, a tragic tale really. One sadly all to common in this day and age." At her mention of belifs not changing he said, "Now thats something that has always been interesting. The mind. You can do a lot to it, but depending on the person it either wont change or change drastically. People would argue its what make a person a person. Yet even droids can develop believes and desires. Ah look at me starting to ramble a little, apologies"

"For comprises though, I do know that any at the joints run the risk of slowing down movement or effecting it in some way at times. Weight distribution could be a problem but given the hand and finger cybernetics should weigh much the main thing is the spine and rib, so the weight will be fairly balanced."

Aren D'Shade

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Aren listened while he spoke, her attention shifting between him and the schematic glowing on the datapad. The stylus turned slowly between her fingers as he wandered into questions of identity, belief, and consciousness. It was a conversation she had found herself having more often than she ever expected. Anyone who spent long enough building things eventually started asking where a machine ended and a person began. "You don't need to apologize," she said, the corner of her mouth twitching. "Most people who work around cybernetics end up in that conversation sooner or later. Usually around three in the morning after staring at a diagnostic screen for too many hours." Her gaze drifted briefly toward a half‑disassembled droid on another workbench. "I've known people who say beliefs make someone a person. Others say memory, or experience, or continuity. Most of them get uncomfortable when a droid starts showing all four."

She let the thought settle for a moment before returning her focus to the schematic. Philosophy was interesting, but the design in front of them was far easier to work with. When he shifted back to weight distribution and joint articulation, her attention sharpened immediately. The stylus touched the screen again as she made a few small adjustments. "You're thinking about it correctly," she said, rotating the datapad toward herself and highlighting several sections of the skeletal reinforcement. "The spine doesn't worry me. The ribs don't either. The weight stays close to your center of gravity, so most of the adaptation will happen naturally if we keep the materials light."

Her stylus tapped one of the shoulder joints, then traced a line down toward the hips. "These are what concern me. People focus on strength because it sounds impressive. Mobility is what they forget. Every added component creates friction. Every reinforcement changes how force moves through the body. Most bad cybernetic work doesn't fail because it breaks." Her eyes lowered to the diagram again. "It fails because the person stops moving like themselves." She had seen it too many times. People rebuilt into collections of upgrades. Stronger, faster, more durable, but less comfortable in their own bodies. Sometimes less happy.

"If we do this, I would rather preserve your movement than maximize your protection," she said, making another adjustment. "You can always add more later. It is much harder to remove things once someone has built their life around them." A faint smile touched her face. "That is true for cybernetics and most other bad decisions." The stylus came to rest against the edge of the datapad as she studied the design again.

"Honestly, based on what you described, the hand systems are going to be the most complicated part," she continued. "Not because they are difficult, but because they are trying to do several different jobs at once." Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Surgery, engineering, field repairs, chemical delivery, data access. That is a lot of competing priorities for one hand." The smile returned, warmer now. "Which means we will probably spend twice as long designing them as we will installing them."

Zavik Maltheris

 

[Zavik Maltheris]

Aren D'Shade

"Well it would be spilt between the two hands" Zavik replied. "And I know what you mean about mobility. These legs where designed with mobility in mind but I still had to have a adjustment period. I agree with you though, keep mobility over protection"

when she mentioned the desig time he grinned a little under his mask, "Now that is something I am no stranger to."

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Aren nodded slightly as she listened, making a few final adjustments to the schematic before setting the stylus down. "That's usually the right answer," she said. "Most people get excited about what cybernetics can add and forget they're replacing something that already works. If you can keep the mobility, keep the natural movement, and still gain the utility you need, that's usually a better outcome than turning yourself into a walking bunker."

Her eyes drifted back to the design for a moment before a faint smile appeared. "And honestly, the fact that you're already thinking about compromises makes this easier. The difficult clients are the ones who walk in wanting everything and never stop to ask what it costs them." The smile widened slightly. "Those projects usually end with a very long design phase and a much longer argument."

The grin beneath his mask wasn't difficult to miss. Aren glanced back toward him and gave a small, understanding nod. "Then we're both familiar with the process. The installation is usually the easy part." Her attention returned to the datapad. "It's the weeks beforehand, staring at designs, changing things, throwing them out, and starting over again that takes the time. Fortunately, that's usually where the interesting work happens."

Zavik Maltheris

 

[Zavik Maltheris]

(ooc so so so sorry life has been a mess lately)
Aren D'Shade

Zavik gave a quiet nod.

"I agree. Installation is simply following the blueprint. Design is where the real work happens."

A faint smile tugged beneath his mask. "I have spent far too many nights redesigning something because one component refused to cooperate."

He looked toward her. "Out of curiosity... what project are you most proud of? You clearly have experience, and I imagine there is one that stands above the rest."

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Aren was quiet for a moment as she considered the question. She had built cybernetics, security systems, custom electronics, and more droid components than she could easily count. Most of them had solved a problem. Most had been commissioned by someone else.

"EL-31."

The answer came without hesitation.

"I found pieces of her in a scrapyard on Voss. Different discarded parts that happened to fit together." A faint smile appeared. "I spent days cleaning everything, rebuilding the chassis, routing wiring, integrating a salvaged droid brain, and getting all the systems to cooperate. It wasn't a kit. Nothing came with instructions. Every step was figuring out what the previous designer intended and convincing parts from different lives to work together."

She folded her arms comfortably.

"I've built more complicated things since then. Better cybernetics. Cleaner engineering. More advanced systems." She shook her head slightly. "None of them compare. EL was the first thing I built that became more than a machine."

The smile lingered just a little longer.

"She's family."

Zavik Maltheris

 

[Zavik Maltheris]

Aren D'Shade

"That makes sense."

Zavik looked toward the scattered droid parts and equipment around the workshop before looking back to her. "The most important creations are rarely the ones with the most advanced specifications. Usually they are the ones we had to put the most effort into understanding."

He paused for a moment, thinking over her words.

"Most people see discarded parts and assume they have already served their purpose. They forget that sometimes creation is not about making something entirely new, but recognizing what is still there."

A faint smile formed beneath his mask. "Taking something others had already given up on and helping it become something more... I imagine that is what makes EL-31 different from everything else you have built."

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Aren considered that for a moment, her gaze drifting toward the scattered pieces around the workshop before a small smile appeared.

"Maybe."

She wasn't sure she had thought about it quite that deeply when she'd built EL. At the time, she'd simply found discarded parts on Voss that belonged to the same kind of droid and realized there was enough there to put something back together. Once she'd found the brain and gotten everything working, EL had gradually become something Aren hadn't really anticipated.

"I think I just saw a bunch of perfectly usable parts that somebody had thrown away and thought it was a waste." She gave a slight shrug. "Then I started putting them together, found the right brain later, and somewhere along the way she became EL."

Her smile warmed slightly at the thought of the droid.

"So maybe you're right. Everything else I've built usually started with me knowing what I wanted it to become." Aren glanced back toward Zavik. "With EL, I didn't. I just kept working until she became herself."

Zavik Maltheris

 

[Zavik Maltheris]

Zavik rested one leg on the other, hands on his lap. "I find that at times the best creations come from something with out a idea behind it."

That reminded him of something he made a few years ago, it was part of a cyborg but Zavik thought he probably shouldn't mention his creations. "This one time I was just putting things together, seeing what worked and did not work. After some time i realized what i was making. It was a arm that was perfect for a runner. Streamlined, perfect angles for aerodynamics. That let me to create some digitigrade legs that where just as perfect. Then a piece for the torso, and special helmet. I have never seen something run as fast as that droid i put those on. I of course did the calculation and could give them to a human as well. From there i let myself have a bit of fun and designed some specialized lungs and heart enhancements. Never did get the chance to use those on someone however."

Aren D'Shade