milliways_bar | (no subject)

Ellen's not really familiar with the expectations of a bridesmaid in a setting other than Vault 101, where it's mostly a case of them being an Official Witness. When it comes to dealing with incipient mothers, though, she's a little more familiar with what ought to be done. Generally you round up the mother's female friends, and possibly a few extremely unmarried men, and pool your resources to provide child care gifts or personal assistance. Resources were limited, after all, so it was a time of deciding what you didn't need any more and what you could stand to part with that was still both useful and needed.

Given the nature of Ellen's world, most of the resources she can think of probably aren't going to be all that welcome anywhere else. On the other hand, someone with new children is going to be in severe need of assistance with household tasks and care, so...

Tinker Joe assured her that this particular bargain purchase will work for decades on its remaining battery power and thruster fuel, once Ellen gets it up and running again. Which is why Ellen's up to her elbows in a metal beachball thing with somewhat less than half an octopus' worth of arms. Doesn't do to give a gift that doesn't work yet, after all.

She could, of course, be bothered, but please don't spill anything into the robot. It won't end well.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

How about being bothered by another, currently functioning robot? Will that do?

rrr woop?

Sure, that'll work; Ellen looks up and smiles. "Oh, hey, hi, D0G," she says. "How're you doing?"

Bweep! says D0G cheerfully, then points at the disassembled robot with an inquisitive noise.

"It's going to be a present for Alyx if I can get it to work," says Ellen. "It's a Mr. Handy robot. They do housework and cleaning, and if she wants to she can fit these two arms, here, with a rotary sawblade and a flamethrower- I've taken those out so there won't be any accidents."

D0G leans very far forward to look straight at what he presumes to be the Mr. Handy's eye. Mwoo. He waves. Hello, new robot!

"That's his optic tracking unit," Ellen says, "and so are those two there, but he's not switched on at the moment. I'm doing some basic repairs first so he doesn't come online all compromised and messed up, you know?"

D0G straightens up and turns toward Ellen. "-.-. .- -. / -.. ----- --. / .... . .-.. .--. / . .-.. .-.. . -. / .--. .- .-. -.- / -.--. -.-- -..-. -. -.--.-" he beeps.

( CAN D0G HELP ELLEN PARK (Y/N) )

"Oh, probably," Ellen says after some thought. "Do you mind holding this part of his body armor out of the way for a minute or so? I need to get at some of his inside circuitry that I don't dare disconnect, but I haven't got room to get in there unless someone holds his top part out of the way."

Wrrp, says D0G agreeably, holding the plating in place as instructed.

"Thank you," says Ellen, and leans in to get to work. "Robotics really isn't my field of specialty, but you don't last long in the Vault if you don't know how to fix things at least on a basic level..."

".- .-.. -.-- -..- / -.-. --- ..- .-.. -.. / .... . .-.. .--.," D0G comments.

( ALYX COULD HELP )

"I'd rather surprise her with the robot if I can," says Ellen. "It's supposed to be a gift. She shouldn't have to work on it unless she really wants to, and she shouldn't have to be the one to get it to work. Maybe once it's up and running, though."

mwrmmm... says D0G hesitantly. Alyx doesn't like having things she doesn't know how to do maintenance on.

"I promise I'll give her the instructions, and as many spare parts as I can," Ellen says. "There's plenty of those to learn from."

And now you have a third robot looking over your shoulder, Ellen.

Which is fine. Ellen grew up with robots, and kind of misses them sometimes.

"Hi, Skitch. I'm fixing this robot up as a present for Alyx."

!!!

Skitch pulls back, looking alarmed.

"It's okay. He's just going to do housework and clean things up," Ellen says. "This kind of robot isn't very bright. They can't come up with ideas of their own or anything."

"... --- / .... .'... / -. --- - / .-. . .--. .-.. .- -.-. .. -. --. / -- .?"

( So he's not replacing me? )

"Not even close," says Ellen, and then, "not unless you were planning on washing clothes or cleaning the babies' sleeping space or scrubbing the bathroom or something, anyway."

...the thing is? He kind of was.

You wouldn't think a robot without a mouth would be capable of pouting, but Skitch manages it.

(D0G just shakes his head, letting out something like an exasperated sigh.)

"Well," Ellen says after some thought, "he can help with the repair work around the Greenbrier while you're working in the babies' rooms, instead? He's a Mr. Handy, he's built to do all kinds of household tasks, and Alyx says that place is really big..."

D0G nods encouragingly at Skitch, but the smaller robot is still hesitant.

"And he's from my world, not yours, so he kind of needs to be shown around and taught everything by somebody who actually knows the place," Ellen points out. "You could probably teach him all of that stuff and he'd listen."

"-.. --- . ... / .... . / -.- -. --- .-- / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. .?" asks Skitch after a long pause.

( Does he know Morse code? )

"I don't know," says Ellen. "Probably. If he doesn't, can you help me teach him?"

:D!

Skitch nods so eagerly that his entire body bobs up and down in the air.

"Terrific," Ellen says. "We'll just have to get him working, now, won't we?"

Another eager nod, and Skitch zips over to help hold the Mister Handy's chassis open.

"Okay," says Ellen, "now you might want to watch what I'm doing, so you can show Alyx where things are later when she opens him up herself...."