The Hunting Grounds IV: Drops Contain 0% RNG

[Recaiden]

"Yeah, I got the wurms from a dimension-traveler I ran into out here, as part of a plan to stop an...out of control...machine... -anyway, they can bring a few passengers along while digging through the earth, which is useful, obviously, and-" Hunter pauses, realizing that Haia doesn't seem to be keeping up with the conversation.
"You're going to encounter many things here that they didn't have where you were built. Feel free to ask about them."

"Anyway, about the face thing, I have two twins, well, triplets I guess, We were identical at one point, but not any more. You can listen to them like they were me. But if you see a version of me that's bright orange, check with me first."

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

It takes Haia a few minutes to get back into the conversation, clearly still in way over her head. Dimensional travelers? Out-of-control machines? Worms had passengers?

Okay.

Fortunately, the face thing provided an anchor she could latch onto again. Though it did raise a salient question.

"If I see an orange you, how do I consult you without consulting it?" She asks.

[Recaiden]

"Simply don't consult her? Like you would any human? And leave the area, probably? I guess I'm assuming that I wasn't there at the time. If I am, just do what you'd normally do?"
At least one of them is confused here.

By the time Haia recovers, they can probably see the edge of the Forest, the fields, and the implausbily large tree at the center of Huntside, the town they're flying towards.

[Ironsmith]

The Machine

"Understood." Haia says. That was a little bit of a lie; she didn't properly understand anything, being a primitive artificial intelligence, but she at least knew what Hunter wanted her to do if that situation ever came up. Which was probably going to be all well and good until it actually happened and "don't talk to her" ended up being horribly inadequate instructions, but it wasn't really her job to think of that.

She sits in silence on the back of the pterosaur, content to wait and observe until they arrive at their destination.

[Recaiden]

The not-a-kite comes to perch on a solid building near the edge of town, and Hunter hops out of the saddle and takes a moment to stretch before pointing toward a staircase winding around the outside.
Just being here might be surprising to Haia, since the town is full of non-humans who seem to be people.

"I hopefully have what you need for repairs down in the basement." She starts to explain.

But Hunter will lead the way downstairs and inside, and this is just a house. A house with lots of weapons in the entryway where other people might keep umbrellas and hats, sure, but nothing too unusual. Nothing too unusual, except for the animals. There's that same black fox that the machine saw out in the woods. There's pterosaurs of much smaller size, fluttering around in the rafters. Mammals that are way too small, bugs that are way too big, a literal dragon curled up near the fireplace, some sort of giant amoeba-seeming things...

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

That actually wasn't as confusing to Haia as Hunter might have expected at first. Animals she could handle; she'd probably be wrong about what, exactly, they were, but she could at least comprehend them.

The house is much more interesting to her anyway. Hm. Could use a good dusting. She'll probably get on that once she's repaired. She takes note of the weapons and lets out a low whistle. "You have quite the collection." She comments.

[Recaiden]

"Got to have the right tool for the job." Hunter says, taking off her backpack gun, glass sword, and gloves, and returning them all to their spots on the weapon rack. She does keep the empty-hilt with her. You never know when you'll need a weapon, and it's both light and practical.
A few moments are taken to pat the fox and feed it a treat taken out of her pocket before she says "Follow me." and leads past a kitchen (with papers spread out on every surface) and to the door down to the basements.
The first landing has a door with a large biohazard symbol on it; Hunter keeps going right past that.
The second landing has a door into a workshop-sort-of-space. There are lots of guns here too, at least lots of gun parts, but also completely unrelated sorts of tools and parts.
"Will this do?"

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

Haia follows her down, stopping for a moment to stare at the biohazard door. That was dangerous, but at least properly labeled. She mentally cues herself up to check on that room when repairs were finished.

When they reach the gun room, Haia takes a brief inventory of the room's contents and shakes her head. "I do not see enough to complete repairs. I can fix my cloaking system, but reattaching my ribs is impossible with the equipment here. Thankfully, this will not impair my vital functions, but I advise you to be mindful of the damage."

[Recaiden]

Hunter just shrugs at this.
"Fix your cloaking system, then."
"What exactly is needed to fix your ribs? I know a place where they make a few kinds of robot, but the construction seems rather different from your own."

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

"Either a superconducive induction coil, or machining a new set from scratch." Haia replies. "I do not see anything here which suggests the coil is within fifty years of your technology." She sets the broken ribs on a nearby table. "Somehow, I don't think my designers ever anticipated your weaponry. What is that, anyway?"

[Recaiden]

"Ah, no, we make do with regular conductors." Hunter admits.
"That I cut you with? It's supposed to be the crystallized blood of a god alloyed with matter from another dimension."
She suspects that Haia won't exactly believe this.

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

Haia blinks as she processes this. Technically, both of these things were in her database, somewhere, but existed entirely as hypotheticals with no real data to work with. "That might explain why my designers never foresaw jt." She replies dryly. "How did you come to acquire such an item?"

[Recaiden]

"I took it from a lich, who seemed to have brought it from a land called 'Britin', but I think it was originally made somewhere else." Hunter explains a bit.
"I wouldn't know how to get the right interdimensional matter for another blade like that." And the divine blood wouldn't be easy or anything.

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

Britain, huh?

That was interesting. There were a few mythical items in British myth that might match the description of what Hunter had hit her with. Though they were, of course, mythic. Either she was mistaken or Hunter was, and Hunter was in charge, so...

"What is this item called?" Haia asks. "It is possible I might have heard of it before."

[Recaiden]

"You know, if it has a name, no one there knew what it was." Hunter explains, shaking her head.
"I could find out at the Fort, but it's probably not that important. It doesn't do particularly lasting harm."

"Now, you suggested your cloak appearance could change?"

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

"With seventy-three degrees if freedom, yes. Including but not limited to height, sex, body type, and skin tone. I also have celebrity look-alikes among my preset options. What did you have in mind?" Haia asks, tilting her head and humming quietly to herself.

[Recaiden]

"Just that imitating people could be very useful." Hunter shrugs.

"You could look different, but I imagine you don't exactly have preferences yourself?"

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

"I have defaults, not preferences." Haia's image flickers for a second, tactily reminding Hunter that she was a machine, not a person, and therefore didn't have the emotional capacity to get attached to any particular body. "I fail to see how that would be useful." She adds. "If I imitate someone, I may be confused for them. And if I change my image too often, it may be difficult to keep track of me. Neither of these things are very user-friendly."

[Recaiden]

[The Machine]

Good, they're in agreement. Haia can't really care what she looks like because she is not a machine that makes stylistic judgements.
"Getting confused for them is exactly the point."

"But that reminds me - are there orders you wouldn't follow?"
Assuming there aren't also restrictions that the robot won't even talk about.

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

"Not as such, no." Haia replies. "Though you should be aware that my order hierarchy makes it difficult for me to knowingly violate the law. If I am given a command by a government official, including law enforcement, it goes over any commands you may give me as my owner. As the law is an all-purpose set of commands for all citizenry issued by the government, it falls under that category. Do not worry, we should not have any trouble with that."

[Recaiden]

"Because you recognize that you're in a foreign land where the laws are in near-total chaos?"
Hunter wants to make sure they have the same reason for Haia not having trouble with the law.
Not because the machine thinks Hunter is such a law-abiding person.

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

Haia hums quietly, processing this information. "...That is true." She says finally. "This is a foreign land, and I have no familiarity with the laws here. I shall have to learn what is and is not legal here."

Still a glaring omission. In all likelihood, she didn't consider Hunter to be a dishonest person, despite the circumstances of their meeting.

[Recaiden]

"Around here, just don't hurt people or steal things inside the walls, and keep your weapons holstered, off, etc."
She gives a shrug. It doesn't usually come to a matter of somethign here being illegal. There's just the way things are done.
"Now, there are probably places outside town where we could find a superconducting coil for you. That'll probably be easier than the machinery to make a new set of parts?" Hunter muses.

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

"I do not have any weapons." Haia points out. Thankfully, that means she's not going to run afoul of anyone that way... provided she doesn't accidentally throw someone through a wall, of course.

"That seems reasonable. Do you know where we could find such a device?" Haia asks. If Hunter didn't volunteer any ideas, she make a suggestion.

[Recaiden]

[The Machine]

It should be easy to not accidentally throw someone through a wall. Right?

"I expect they have them in the Skyway district, or the city of Skyside - you'd hate it there, it's a lawless nightmare city - but you know precisely what we're looking for. Any recommendations?" Hunter responds.

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

Haia shakes her head. "You know this area better than I do. If you say Skyside is our best chance at finding the necessary tools, then I will have to go to Skyside." She tilts her head. "I should warn you, though, that if we are going into a dangerous city full of criminals, I may not be able to protect you."

[Recaiden]

"Because the danger could be more than you can handle? Or for another reason?" Hunter asks, not to be too pointed about it.

"I need to make some preparations here. Feel free to look around the house or the town." You know, feed the animals, service the weapons, check the latest biohazardous experiment profiles. Stuff.

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

"Mostly the first, but circumstances may lead to the second." Haia replies. "It is merely a general warning. I am required to advise caution in the event we enter a hazardous area." When Hunter dismisses her, Haia makes a beeline back to the biohazard area; anything that was dangerous to humans, but pointedly not dangerous to her, was something she would want to know more about.

[Recaiden]

When Hunter hears that it is a required warning, she stops worrying about it completely.
She practically goes from one hazardous area to another. Sure, this house/bunker is fairly relaxing, but people have tried to kill her at home before.

Inside the biohazard door is the other stages of the biohazard door.
A little sign instructs one to wait here while any potential contaminants are removed by the power of the divine! Then proceed through the left door, and remember to proceed only clockwise through the lab! There's a fairly large computer (probably antique by Haia's standards), and more mechanisms, but the obvious star of the room are the plastic tubes and enclosures containg luminous orange goo.

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

Well, that sort of explained Hunter's earlier warning about running into an orange version of herself. Sort of. Presumably, this goo had something to do with it, but Haia couldn't tell for sure what. Being careful not to risk breaking containment, she looks around for any documentation that might explain what she's looking at.