brockton bay, meet glam

[mxglam]

It's the anniversary. Glam would very much not like to celebrate.

It’s their last day on Winslow High - they’re being transferred to Arcadia on Monday - and also their last day without a patrol schedule assigned.

And the PRT released a small announcement on its website about Glam joining the Wards. Now their wiki page doesn’t get erased, of course - they’re no longer speculative. They wonder what it’s got on them.

Comments

[thinkering]

"The bots do all have to be slightly different because I avoid random number generation and the software needs a way to decide which bot to send to do any specific thing. But I could program that in too. But - when I design a bot-assembly apparatus, in my head, it's a big stationary thing, it's not a pair of hands and my actual toolkit. I couldn't begin to tell you why. I might be able to get around it, but there are other reasons I don't want self-reproducing robots while a Ward. The Protectorate freaks out about self-reproducing anythings."

[mrglam]

He thinks about it, and shudders. "With good reason."

He hovers back down, disappearing his ping-pong ball and standing upright. "It's kinda fascinating how all this works. Sometimes I'm really envious of Tinkers."

[thinkering]

"We are pretty cool."

[mrglam]

"Yeah! Though I dunno that I'd be a very good Tinker. I'd probably want to take everything I made apart to figure out why it works and how to reproduce it all and how to explain it to non-Tinkers. I mean, I spent a long time grumbling about how I can't actually look too closely at anything I make."

[thinkering]

"I can take my stuff apart. It makes sense, it's just incommunicable sense."

[mrglam]

"Well, see, the incommunicable part would annoy me! I like talking." Pause. "You may have noticed this."

[thinkering]

"No, never."

[mrglam]

"Shut up," he laughs. "Turning things verbal is kind of a hobby. Describing stuff, analyzing it in a way that can make it understood by other people. It's probably why I'm not too frustrated with my power, even if it runs on imagination it at least has rules I can properly explain."

[thinkering]

"And have to be very careful never to explain to anyone else..."

[mrglam]

"Yes. Pretty much. Though that's not as frustrating to me," he says, shrugging. "I don't care all that much about actually explaining it, as long as I'm able to? Though explaining it to you was fun, too."

[thinkering]

"You seemed upset about having to at the time."

[mrglam]

"Well, having to explain included giving you ultimate blackmail material and giving you control over my power forever - the fact that you turned out to be the only person who's immune to it was coincidental. I kinda calculated I might need to do that when I asked you to radio stuff in Acapulco, because hell, driving an Endbringer away earlier is totally worth it. And maybe there was a part of me that really wanted to have an excuse to tell. But, you know, conflicting desires."

[thinkering]

"Makes sense."

[mrglam]

"Would it be okay if I watched you build stuff?"

[thinkering]

"I guess you can? I'm really not sociable when I'm doing it."

[mrglam]

"I'm fine with that, it just sounds really interesting to see happen."

[thinkering]

"I think you'll get bored and wander off in ten minutes. Or start a conversation with the bot."

[mrglam]

"That's possible," they agree. "But I won't know 'til I try."

And of course there's the ulterior motive of spending more time with her but. Sssshhhhhh, secret.

[thinkering]

Lorica finishes the last couple bites of sandwich, her helmet clamps down, and she says, "Suit yourself."

And she builds a robot.

[mrglam]

And he starts watching.

And either because it really is that interesting or because he doesn't have anything better to do or because he really likes spending time with her even without being sociable or a combination of those, he does not in fact leave after ten minutes.

Or thirty.

He mmmmiiiight be starting to get bored if it starts pushing an hour.

[thinkering]

Lorica finishes a robot. She starts on another robot. As always she has no visible facial expression, but she's very absolutely focused on her work. Sometimes robots bring her things. Sometimes she reaches for tools without turning her head.

[mrglam]

His attention is renewed when she starts the new robot. He wants to see where she does things differently there.

[thinkering]

It looks... mostly the same. This one has slightly longer arm parts.

[mrglam]

Alright. Now he's actually bored, though he doesn't really want to leave, 'cause. Well. He's with his crush, what'd you expect?

Eventually he decides to go back to his room to grab a couple of books and then return, assuming a bot will open the door for him when he does.

[thinkering]

The bots let him in.

Tinker tinker.