Of Robots and Insanity(Open)

[Anonymous]

"Abarri, sweetheart, listen to mommy" Utari said, laying on her stomach so she was next to the hole while she motioned for the men to make an opening. "I'm going to get you out, but Mike welded over the door, so we have to make a new door. It'll take a minute, but I'll stay right here with you until we can get you out." She explained, worried what this might have done to Abarri and if she'd be able to help bring her back to her right mind. She heard the metalic crash of a bigger piece of metal falling to the floor beside them. "Abarri, I need to move to the new door. It's right next to us. I'm going to lean down, and I want you to take my hand and then some men who were helping me to find you are going to help pull us both up." She explained before slowly shifting to the bigger opening and reaching for her daughter "Come to me, I'll help you out."

[Anonymous]

The loud sound of the crashing piece of metal caused Lana to leap back in shock, her eyes wide with fright. She barely heard her mother’s words, but the sight of her mother leaning down into the room was enough to make her rush forward and grab the woman’s arms. Her eyes were afire with insane panic, but there was still a small glint of recognition that was directed at Utari.

She gripped Utari’s arms like a vice, as if she was a metal life-preserver and letting go would mean slipping into the black depths of her mind. Now that she was in the light, the full extent of the physical damage that had occurred could be seen. Her face was covered in the black oil that served as her blood, and her clothing was in shreds. There was a gaping hole in one of her shoulders, where the wires and inner mechanisms of her robotic body could be seen.
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Mike sat in his cell, still fuming from his treatment. It seemed as if they had taken Utari’s suggestion of a cavity search seriously. He knew that he was in deep trouble, and that he could only hope that his more serious indiscretions would not be revealed.

The only thing he looked forward to was the fact that Utari might want to talk to him to find out what he had done to her precious daughter. He wanted to see the look on her face when he went into detail of all that had happened. Then there was the added bonus of the fact that Lana wasn’t technically a person, so he may end up getting off with destruction of property. That would really stick in Utari’s gullet.

[Anonymous]

Utari hauled her daughter up with the help of the men around her. She held her close, getting the 'blood' all over her and not caring in the least. "Come on, let's get you home and patched up. Can you stand?" She asked. It was odd to see someone so worried over a mechanical device, one leaking oil and protruding wires no less. "I'll take care of you." She really had no desire to see Mike-- partly because she didn't want to see that smug look on his horrible face and partly because she wanted to kill him and being in the same room might just provide that opportunity and then where would Abarri be with her mother in jail? There was no telling and Utari just didn't want to take that chance. She had a daughter to care for, one who seemed to be mentally damaged at that.

[Anonymous]

Lana didn’t respond to her mother’s words, almost as if she hadn’t really heard them. Now that she no longer trapped, it was as if her mind had gone completely blank. She stood up and stared ahead of her, no hint of any emotion in her robotic eyes. While most people would assume this was because she was a machine and had no emotion, it was more likely that her mind was in a state of shock.

A soldier came into the ship and headed over to Utari. He had an electronic pad in his hands, on which he was writing something with a small black stylus.

“Miss Metharom, Mr. Holloway has agreed to pay for any damages he has caused to your property. We will be releasing him shortly, and you will be happy to know that he no longer has a job as a guard. He will most likely be assigned to some sort of maintenance detail.” The soldier looked at Utari’s apparent concern for the stony faced Lana with contempt. To him, Lana looked like a life-sized toy and nothing more.

[Anonymous]

"Excuse me, she is my daughter, not my property, Mister Holloway did not only take her, even if you do classify her as property, he broke into my house, assalted me, kidnapped my daughter, fled Libra with her, has been making all sorts of illeagal transmissions for who knows how long and you're going to put him on mainanence which gives him free access to most of the station? I cost him his job by exposing him for what he is and you're going to set him free in my residence and place of employment without supervision?" Utari's eyes were blazing "I'm not as easily replaced as you seem to think I am. It will take a good long while to find someone who knows how to do everything that I do around here." She pulled herself up "Why don't you just execute me and get it over with? Then I don't have to worry about when he's going to kill me."

[Anonymous]

“We aren’t morons Miss Metharom,” the solider said curtly. “We are well aware of what he did, and we will be keeping a close eye on him. He has no security clearance any longer, and he will be monitored at ALL times. As for illegal transmissions, we could find no evidence of that, and so our hands are tied in the matter.”

“Look,” he said with a deep sigh. “We are in too much need of help to stick a man in prison for an assault that didn’t cause any permanent damage. As for your “daughter”, Mike will have to pay for any repairs. I doubt that there will be any lasting effect on her ‘mind’. “

Lana continued to stare ahead, her eyes devoid of any sign that she was even aware of what was going on.

[Anonymous]

Utari eyed him "I don't suppose there's a way to have a guard that is not affiliated with Mike, to be posted outside my door?" She well knew she could potentually be in very grave danger having ticked off a man who was more criminal than anything. She was going to be killed and they would still keep him on because 'no permanate or lasting damage had occured' she was just a useless scientist, never mind the entire base was full of scientists. They had to be there for a reason right? A base didn't just collect scientists because the captain thought the labcoats looked cool.

[Anonymous]

“That might be a problem…We’re short staffed as it is, and with all the preparation for war, we really can’t spare anyone…” The soldier rubbed the back of his head in a nervous gesture, a small gleam of guilt appearing in his eyes. He knew that there was a chance that Utari would end up dead, but his hands were pretty much tied.

“Look, I can try and get one of the less gifted soldiers to protect you.” In reality, the “less gifted” soldier he was referring to was a poor young man who had suffered severe brain damage in a training exercise a few years before. While he was still physically sound, his mind was that of a young child. They had found some less taxing jobs for him, such as sorting supplies and sweeping up the mess hall.

The soldier’s eyes lit up, an idea forming in his mind.

“Why don’t you program your “daughter” to protect you? A robot would be much more effective than anybody I could send over. You could even build weaponry right into her systems…”

He knelt down and started to inspect the seemingly catatonic Lana. He was a bit of a roboticist himself, even though he was nowhere near Utari’s expertise. He prodded his fingers into the gaping hole on her shoulder, and felt the wires that were protruding.

“I’ve never see anything like this before. Then again, the only robots I am familiar with are the small toys I occasionally build…” He pulled one of the wires further out so he could get a closer look. “What material is this?”

[Anonymous]

Utari just barely resisted the urge to slap his hand away "First of all, stop poking her. Second of all, she is already programed for what she is. I don't just randomly rip out her wires and put in new ones. This is bio-engineering. She's alive-- tramatized at the moment thanks to a certain bastard no one seems to be able to get rid of, but she's not simply a robot. She has a program that functions as her brain. She learns, she can love, hurt, think, make choices, whatever. She has the full range of emotions, full range of moods, her mind can be damaged just like a persons, and Mike seems to be good at that." However, outfitting Abarri with weapons might not be a bad idea. "See if you can get the okay for Lana here to be weaponized if I can get her functioning properly again." She looked her daughter over and sighed deeply. "She could be gone already." The fact that she wasn't responding normally worried her to no end. "Will you at least hook up one of the lab alarm sensors to my door?" That randomly going off was enough to scare just about anyone. It was as loud and flashy as all get out and if it was programed right, it could zap a person too. "Maybe send one of the security techs my way?" since they couldn't spare a real soldier.