(no subject)

[gone_byebye]

The question of physical doors opening and closing means very little when you're a sprite being transported inside a holocomputer. On the other hand, the connection of high-speed cables and the opening of data pathways is quite another story. The jump to Ecto's systems shouldn't take long.

Comments

[mendanddefend_archive]

"You don't have any OCR capability to scan 'em in?"

[gone_byebye]

"Well, I do, and I can read them myself in 'bot mode, but I have to be really really really really careful when I turn the pages." She holds one hand up. "Big fingers. Fragile paper."

[mendanddefend_archive]

Bob winces. He doesn't have a lot of experience with paper books, but he can imagine how that must work.

"'Fraid that's not something I can help with..."

[gone_byebye]

"It's okay. Dad's working on an electrostatic charge attraction system like the one on his copy of the last edition of the Spates Catalog. The pages're so delicate he can't even touch the paper, so the book lets him move the page by electrical charges. He's gonna see if he can put that in my fingers." There's a little bit of pride in her voice as she adds, "Optimus Prime gave him all kinds of data on my systems, so he knows what he has to do to keep me in good condition."

[mendanddefend_archive]

Bob nods. "Never get an upgrade that doesn't come with documentation. It's just not smart."

[gone_byebye]

"I think I'm done with upgrades for a while," Ecto says. "Dad says we have to go up to Ulster County for a while and find somewhere open and quiet where I can get used to the new body changes anyway, before anything else happens."

[mendanddefend_archive]

"Good call. I spent a couple of cycles testing out my functions when I got recompiled, figuring out how everything works."

[gone_byebye]

"Dad says he has an idea what it's like," says Ecto, "because of what happened to him at Halloween. But mostly I gotta figure it out myself."

[mendanddefend_archive]

"That's the way it usually works," says Bob. "Being taught by someone else only takes you so far. You have to experience it for yourself."

[gone_byebye]

Ecto smiles a little, and if she is thinking anything about blue pills or red pills, no one is going to find out.

"Thanks, Bob," she says. "Do you have any other stuff you think I should know? Just... machine to machine, sort of?"

[mendanddefend_archive]

Bob chews his lip, trying to think of how to answer that.

"You know what? I think, in your situation, you shouldn't think about it as 'machine to machine.' You should think about it as 'person to person.' The more Users I meet, and the more I learn about them, the more I realize that in the end we're all just people. You should focus on the things you have in common with the people around you, instead of what makes you different." A beat. "Does that make sense?"

[gone_byebye]

Ecto thinks for a while, and then nods. "I think it does," she says. "Thank you."

[mendanddefend_archive]

"Oh good." Bob is visibly relieved. "Uh, I mean, you're welcome."