Housepets!

"tHANK yOU, mISS oTTER, aVERY," John said, disembarking from the car.

"Woah there Cae, hang in there!" Ashe said noticing the rat having some trouble staying on. She herself slowed down her movements when she got out after Dust. To him, she said, "That'd be great! We'll have to ask Orion for another ride though, I don't think Dad would be using the flying cars anytime soon."

Both of them walked inside the building together with everyone else, when Orion almost bumped against a familiar pink bunny.

"oH, tHERE yOU aRE hINATA! sORRY wE lEFT yOU bEHIND bACK tHERE, wE kIND oF fORGOT aBOUT yOU," John buzzed. Ashe, who didn't really know her well enough, just nodded. "Yeah, sorry about that. Glad to see you're okay though." She listened to the conversation between Caeruleus and Rosie about the car, but her eyes caught sight of another ani-driod: a ferret this time, and a very dapper looking ferret at that! She gawked at her: she had never seen any animal, robot or otherwise, wearing a tuxedo or something like that in her life!

John, however, was more interested in locating Avery's father as soon as possible. "sAY hINATA, dO yOU kNOW aNYTHING aBOUT a hUMAN vISITOR hERE? aVERY iS sTILL lOOKING fOR hIS oWNER."

S-sorry, Mr.John. I don't know... I guess we should ask Eric about--
Don't worry about it, I'll just call the other receptionist on the top floor.
After a short chat, Orion turned to the others.
He should be on the 76th floor. The elevator is that way... Dad also says I'll be attending a play tonight. Finally some live performance. I can't see virtual stuff.

Entering the building with the others Avery was surprised to see Hinata there and gave her a friendly wave.
"Nice to see you again Hinata." The dog says with a smile, then turns his attention to Orion
"76th floor?" Avery wondered why his Dad was here at all. Did everyone just come here after a crisis?

Todd sets about peeling the pseudo-skin off Lilly. With the help of the special tool and a few of his attachments he make short work of it, even getting the arms out by himself.

Not having been addressed, Kelly politely stands silently by Hinata's side.

Hinata stops the group from leaving.
I-is Wealthy okay? she asked.
---
Eric finally got his own skin on. The back was open like a jacket, so he needed to seal the opened area with the tool.
Todd, can you seal the back for me? Just flip the switch on the side to "close" and run it down my spine.

kurowolfe wrote:"Woah there Cae, hang in there!" Ashe said noticing the rat having some trouble staying on. She herself slowed down her movements when she got out after Dust. To him, she said, "That'd be great! We'll have to ask Orion for another ride though, I don't think Dad would be using the flying cars anytime soon."

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Dust said, smiling.

kurowolfe wrote:She listened to the conversation between Caeruleus and Rosie about the car, but her eyes caught sight of another ani-driod: a ferret this time, and a very dapper looking ferret at that! She gawked at her: she had never seen any animal, robot or otherwise, wearing a tuxedo or something like that in her life!

"What're you looking at?" he asked Ashe.

"Wealthy?" Caeruleus asked, tilting his head, continuously whirring

Again, John pondered about who Orion was. Just a call and he immediately got intel on where someone was? Maybe he is someone very important within the Atlas company?

He was snapped from his thoughts by Hinata's question about the AI. Not wanting to make any more scenes, he buzzed, "hE'S dOING fINE. aNNETTE mANAGED tO kEEP hIM aLIVE iN hER tERMINAL, aND sHE'S cREATING aN aNI-dROID aI fOR hIS nEW bODY aS wE sPEAK."

In the mean time, Ashe was pulled out from her doldrums by both Cae's and Dust's questions. "Oh, erm..." she started, clearing her throat once. "Cae, Wealthy is a good friend of ours. Your mommy is fixing him up right now." She petted him on the head gently while glancing at the ferret once again.

"Hello there, you sure look handsome in your tuxedo," she finally said after another pause, unable to find anything else better to say. It was weird, she was starting to feel flustered again, and as such, subconsciously held on to Dust's paw with her own.

Dust gently squeezed Ashe's paw. "It's okay." he told her.

Hinata sighed with relief.
Thats good to hear.
Alright, well... I want to go get a soda from home. Does anyone want to join me? Orion asked.
Rosie was too busy looking in jealousy as Ashe and Dust held paws.

With everyone else conversing, Avery made his way to the elevators and pushed the "up" button. He then patiently waited, with both hands behind his back.

Todd does as he is asked.
"Is the arm attached correctly now or do you require assistance with that too, Sir?" he enquires, still not having been informed of Eric's rank.

Kelly is curious about the alien's missing arms but she has been programmed with enough tact not to ask. In order to distract herself from glancing at the stumps, she begins running through the number of tickets that she's given out to make sure that they will not overfill the theatre.

"I have a mother?" Caeruleus continued to ask, looking down at Ashe and Dust's hands, then up at their individual faces. He internalized that data and started to dig through his resources to find an explaination for that action

"Yeah, you do. Your mother is Annette." Dust replied, smiling at Caeruleus.

Just Eric, thanks. And no, everything is operating normally. Eric replied. He then proceeded to unscrew the jaw.
Get ready to catch the voice box...
---
Orion followed Avery hurriedly before the elevator shut.
Hey, up there is a restricted area without a pass... At least, thats what the ani-droids say when someone hits a button. Orion said.
I'll just say that your with me. John may want to come, too.
---
Rosie didn't notice Orion leave, so she looked over at Kelly.
I haven't seen an ani-droid dressed like that before. Is that a uniform for your job? Rosie inquired.

"Thank you. Would you allow me to unscrew the jaw instead, Eric. My integrated powered screwdriver will enable a more efficient completion of the repairs than that old-fashioned manual screwdriver."

~~@@~~@@~~
Kelly bobs a small bow. "Yes, ma'am. I am Kelly Doyle, usher anidroid first class for the Doyle Theatre Company and this is my uniform."

~~@@~~@@~~
A nurse pops her head around the door of Noah's room. "Everything OK in here? Oh, good, you're awake, Noah. How do you feel?" The nurse enters the room properly and starts checking Noah over.

Uhh... Sure, but keep it slow. Eric placed the tool down and prepared to catch the box.
---
It looks really good! Rosie stated.

"Annette..." Caeruleus droned. The rat droid sat patiently on his perch, taking in more data to build a personality

John nodded at the rabbit. "yES, iT wAS iNDEED vERY fORTUNATE." He glanced back at Orion however, when he mentioned he was going to his home. "eXCUSE mE oRION, bUT i bELIEVE aVERY'S rEUNION wITH hIS fATHER tAKES tOP pRIORITY. i'M aFRAID i wILL hAVE tO tURN dOWN tHAT oFFER." After listening to Orion's explanation of the restricted area, he buzzed, "i hAD tHOUGHT sO, hENCE yOUR hELP wOULD bE dEEPLY aPPRECIATED." Maybe it was the formal, clean atmosphere of the building, but he found himself using more formal language when talking here. Some habits die hard, he supposed. Even the lack of limbs didn't bother him anymore, so the stare from the ferret ani-droid was unnoticed.

All this was lost to Ashe, as she nervously waited for a response from the well-dressed ferret. Why was she this nervous? She couldn't understand it, especially when her discomfort increased with the lack of response. In fact, she jumped out of her skin when she felt a squeeze on her paw, more out of surprise. She sheepishly rubbed on her wrist with her other paw, looking sideways at the floor. "Erm, sorry about that, I guess I'm nervous about meeting this ani-droid." Her eyes darted everywhere then, and she caught a glimpse of Rosie's face, looking enviously at them. Unfortunately, she is a bit of a knucklehead at the most critical moment, so she didn't really register that contemptuous stare, nor did she listened to Caeruleus' remarks.

Then, the door of the elevator closed. John buzzed with a dissonant tone, almost chaotic. "hEY, wHAT aBOUT uS?"

Not noticing this, the black-vested cat gathered up her spunk. "U-usher, as in the people holding flashlights in movie theaters and stuff?"

Also, this time around, she heard the rat muttering her mom's name. "Yeah Cae, Miss Annette. She is your... erm... creator, and also your mom."

"Of course." True to his word, Todd's screwdriver makes short work of the jaw's attachments and the voice box soon drops into Eric's waiting paws. Todd uses the iron to place a line of solder to seal the crack in the joint capsule before smoothing off the excess with his file. Next, he fits the new jaw, making sure that it articulates properly witht he repaired capsule and that his soldering line won't affect its movement at all or create excess wear before attaching the new jaw and voice box back into place, again using his screwdriver. Satisfied, Todd steps back to look at his work.
"That should do it. The joint will always be slightly looser on that side now due to the extra width in the joint capsule provided by the solder but that will prevent the crack from getting any worse." Todd reverses the direction of one of his cooling fans and uses it to blow the metal filings off Lily before asking Eric how to activate her again.

~~~~
"Thank you. You look good too. Would you be interested in a free ticket to our opening performance tonight?"

Orion watched as the elevator closed.
Oh great. It doesn't want to wait anymore... Ah well, I'll leave a note for the receptionist to give John a pass to get up here. Orion said. The elevator beeped, and the doors opened to their floor. Orion approached the secretary and asked where his own dad was, and if they knew Avery's owner.
Whats his name? I can check the logs if he came by this way! She beamed happily.
---
We should get her skin on first before we turn her back on. Eric replied.
He then grabbed the female psuedo skin from a locker and began sliding it onto the naked ani-droid.
---
Sure! I'd love to see your show!

Aside from the fact that my stomach is a little sore, I'm feeling great. Noah said to the nurse. How long till you think i can leave?

"Great!" Kelly prints off two tickets and presents them to Rosie. "For you and a friend. The show starts at eight o'clock sharp but there is a cocktail party prior to it which begins at six o'clock. You are welcome to attend both. The show is "Toast and Butter", a humorous take on life in the seventies, written and directed by our very own Johannes Doyle."

~~~~
Todd agrees that this would be wise and he informs Eric thus as he takes hold of Lily's shoulders and uses his propulsion units to lift her off the floor so that Eric can get the skin over her feet more easily.

~~~~
"Given your current rate of healing, I'd say either tonight or tomorrow morning but that'll be up to Bill. Do you need some more painkillers for your stomach or are you alright now? Is there any dizziness or light-headedness left from the anaesthetic or your stronger painkillers?"

Ashe shook her head. "Sorry, but I'm not really a fan of plays, never really understood them." The truth was, she never had the luxury of free time before the outbreak, after joining her troupe, doing stealth trai--

She slapped her muzzle with both paws. No, the Chief was a caring cat, taking her in, and her troupe was more of a family than any previous owner she had ever had. Not counting Daddy, of course.

She mentally stopped herself from going any further. Well, more like John stopped her from thinking anything else, buzzing wildly as he pecked against the elevator door in futility.

"Daddy, you're okay?" she asked. Then, it hit her. "Oh, we got left behind." The alien was getting even more aggravated, zooming around the group, head spinning around and eyes making the @>@ look.

Ashe suddenly dashed into John's path, and stopped him dead in his tracks. She grasped the antenna, connecting her telepathic field with his. ->hUKORIO_zHKA_dFEWQWANNA<- she transmitted, over and over again, like a chant. To the rest, it sounded like she was chanting in weird gibberish, with her pupils turning into bullseyes like her father.

Soon after, John ceased buzzing wildly, his head swivelling back to its proper place, his eyes refocusing. "aSHE?" he buzzed.

With a blink on an eye, the cat's eyes turned back to normal. "Dad, calmed down already?"

"eRR, yEAH."

"Yay, I did it!" she beamed, the tip of her tail flicking in joy.

The 2 ani-droids make short work of getting the skin back on, then Eric presses the back of her head. Then, Lilly's eyes turn into it's regular color.
Master Orion wants one of us to escort an alien named "John" in the lobby. Lilly informed.
Well, your going to have to. My battery is running low, so I've got to charge. Thanks for your help, To-- and with that, Erics eyes went black.
Lilly sighed and dragged Eric to the charger seat, then plugged him in. Then, she walked back to Todd. With a blush on her face, she said Thank you for your help, Todd. I wish you didn't see me like that, but I'm glad I had someone like you to repair my jaw. Lilly smiled.
---
Rosie accepted the tickets with a "thanks".

kurowolfe wrote:All this was lost to Ashe, as she nervously waited for a response from the well-dressed ferret. Why was she this nervous? She couldn't understand it, especially when her discomfort increased with the lack of response. In fact, she jumped out of her skin when she felt a squeeze on her paw, more out of surprise. She sheepishly rubbed on her wrist with her other paw, looking sideways at the floor. "Erm, sorry about that, I guess I'm nervous about meeting this ani-droid." Her eyes darted everywhere then, and she caught a glimpse of Rosie's face, looking enviously at them. Unfortunately, she is a bit of a knucklehead at the most critical moment, so she didn't really register that contemptuous stare, nor did she listened to Caeruleus' remarks.

"There's nothing to be nervous about." Dust reassured.

kurowolfe wrote:Ashe shook her head. "Sorry, but I'm not really a fan of plays, never really understood them." The truth was, she never had the luxury of free time before the outbreak, after joining her troupe, doing stealth trai--

She slapped her muzzle with both paws. No, the Chief was a caring cat, taking her in, and her troupe was more of a family than any previous owner she had ever had. Not counting Daddy, of course.

She mentally stopped herself from going any further. Well, more like John stopped her from thinking anything else, buzzing wildly as he pecked against the elevator door in futility.

"Daddy, you're okay?" she asked. Then, it hit her. "Oh, we got left behind." The alien was getting even more aggravated, zooming around the group, head spinning around and eyes making the @>@ look.

Ashe suddenly dashed into John's path, and stopped him dead in his tracks. She grasped the antenna, connecting her telepathic field with his. ->hUKORIO_zHKA_dFEWQWANNA<- she transmitted, over and over again, like a chant. To the rest, it sounded like she was chanting in weird gibberish, with her pupils turning into bullseyes like her father.

Soon after, John ceased buzzing wildly, his head swivelling back to its proper place, his eyes refocusing. "aSHE?" he buzzed.

With a blink on an eye, the cat's eyes turned back to normal. "Dad, calmed down already?"

"eRR, yEAH."

"Yay, I did it!" she beamed, the tip of her tail flicking in joy.

"Um, what just happened?" Dust asked.

Rosie pretended like this was normal, and waited for the explanation to come along.
Hinata did the same, but tried not to go mech assault on the alien.

Hlaoroo wrote:"Oh, you know him already? Good. That'll save some time. I've got him stable, medically speaking. We just need you to get the hardware under control now. Let us know if you need anything. Right now I'd better talk to the other visitors who are waiting outside." Leaving Dale in the care of the nurses while he's stable, Bill heads out to the two cops wtill waiting in the corridor.
"Sorry about my abrupt manner before. I have to deal with one crisis at a time though and at that time priority went to the patient. We can talk properly now. I'm Bill Tranter, one of the vets here. Who might you two be and how did you get down here? I think you said you came in with the medics? If so, I must have missed you in the heat of the moment." Bill directs this last statement at Basil.

"Officer Basil of the 648th ACPD unit. And this is my Boss. Sir, I warn you don't let the droids attempt to scan the interior of his bionic legs, they have a security system that caused this incident."

Security system, eh? Boss said.

Caeruleus, having been very close to the panicked alien with Ashe, was staring with wide eyes, "Explain that, please..." he piped in a voice that sounded closer to Ashe's than his usual

Ashe lifted her shoulders with her pawpads pointing upwards. "I dunno, Dad was panicking, so I calmed him down."

John, who was his old self again, continued. "mIGHT aS wELL. sEE, wHEN wE dID tHE rESUSCITATION oN aSHE eARLIER, oUR lIFEFORCE wAVELENGTHS hAD rEACHED pERFECT hARMONY, wITH mY lIMBS aS tHE cATALYST. oUR cORE mIGHT dISPLAY iNTERCHANGABLE iNTERFACES aND eMIT tHE oTHER'S wAVE eNERGY. sAME gOES wITH oUR kNOWLEDGE." He buzzed a very low bass sound in contemplation, noticing it might be hard to understand what he was saying. "iN oTHER wORDS, oUR pERSONALITIES aND wHAT wE kNOW gOT mIXED uP, aND i mIGHT aCT aND tHINK lIKE aSHE hERE, aND vICE vERSA. tHIS iS tEMPORARY hOWEVER, lIKE mY lACK oF aRMS aND tAIL."

"Sooooo, I can do what you can do, you know, the wavelength thingamajig? That sounds fun!" Ashe remarked, hugging John's neck. "Like roleplaying."

"sOMETHING lIKE tHAT. iN aLL hONESTY, i pREFER nOT tO dO wHAT wE hAD dONE eARLIER, bECAUSE iT'S a vIOLATION aGAINST tHE fREE wILL oF a lIVING bEING, aSIDES fROM tHE mINOR sIDE eFFECTS. nOTICE hOW--" he stopped. "nEVER mIND, iT'S bETTER yOU aLL tO nOt kNOW."

"You're welcome. I'm glad I could help. Is your jaw fully functional again? If so you had better attend to the alien in the lobby."

~~@@@~~
Kelly nods, graciously accepting Rosie's gratitude and then retreats slightly as the alien panics.

~~@@@~~
"Thanks for the warning." Bill passes this on to Rock and the droids and nurses and then returns to the cops. "So what interest do two cops have in the health of a laypet? I assume it something to do with his loss of control? Also, if you know anything else that could help us isolate the problem and prevent occurrences then you should tell us that too."

"His name is Alec Johnson." The dog quipped walking over to Orion and the receptionist.

The receptionist nodded and began typing.
---
Lilly smiled, then walked out the door to the main building.
Lilly approached the floating thing, then said
Are you Mr.John? I've been instructed to lead you to Master Orion.
she informed him.
Let me get you a pass, and we can head upstairs. she said.
---
Hinata followed after Kelly, making sure she stayed with her.
---
It looks like he's in a press conference with a bunch of other people. It should be over soon. the recepetionist informed the 2.

Caeruleus only nodded in response, archiving the new information. Suddenly the rat-droid's body made a ping, "I have received a message." he stated

Whats it say? Rosie asked.

No more painkillers please. I hate to think what I did in that state of mind. Noah said, not noticing James trying to hide a laugh. I'm not feeling very dizzy either.

"Progress is steady, but slow, on Wealthy. This may take longer than anticipated." came a recording of Annette's voice from Caeruleus' open jaw. The rat droid the closed his mouth again and resumed his computing

At least its progress... Rosie remarked.

"That's good. You're doing quite well then. I can give you painkillers that won't make you loopy too, you know. There's no need for you to be in pain. Is there anything else you need at all? Are you comfortable and warm enough?"

~@@~@@~
"Should Kelly, Hinata and I wait for you here, Lilly?" enquires Todd.