ic Rise of the Robots (IC)

[Heritage]

Shift lay there quietly for a bit, processing everything that Eira and Miss A had said so far. "I know my parents made mistakes, myself being one of them. They had no intention of creating an artificial lifeform. I just happened. I believe on some level, they both wanted to reproduce, but both felt unqualified or incapable of doing so socially or biologically. And then I came along."

 

"They could have fixed my errant code, line by line, or just erased the fifteen hard drives that were my womb. But they didn't. They raised me the best they knew how. They made many mistakes. But I still owe them my existence. And for that I am eternally grateful."

 

"Can I move now?" 

[Electra]

"Go ahead," Miss A told her, busying herself with the tablet again. "I need to do some quick design work before I can do anything else. I'm not going to bag on your parents for poor design choices if they were doing the best they could, but you deserve a body that works well all over. Getting upgrades doesn't mean you don't love them," she pointed out, her voice gentling a bit. "And it's all still your choice, what you want or don't. But I do strongly recommend at least letting me come up with an easier way to do backups for you." 

 

She glanced over to where Eira was working her way through her backup and maintenance chores. "Everything good?" she asked. 

[Avenger Assembled]

"E-everything is good," said Eira, shooting Miss Americana a look of profound gratitude as her wings reached their full extension. They had been, Miss A knew, a sign of what must have been an all-too-human vanity - it would not have been difficult to build her magnetic flight into the actual body of her robotic form, but Eira had insisted on the wings. As the wings slowly retracted, Eira smiled at Shift and said, "You will not regret it. Miss Americana and I are collaborating on my own new body." 

[Heritage]

Shift smiled and smoothly sat up and swung their legs over the edge of the table, and returned to their earlier 'party girl' appearance to allow for more expression. "Thank you, both. I appreciate everything you're doing for me." Then she turned to Miss A. "Earlier you asked about any documents I might have on Integrated Dynamics and their designs?" She pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows. "I might have held onto something my parents didn't know about."

 

She held out her right hand, and a small flash drive slid neatly out from under her thumbnail. "Copies of all the contracts, emails and specs I could get my hands on before they wrecked the lab. One hundred and fifty-three files." Shift smiled as she placed the drive in Miss A's hand. "I hope they are of use."