Ace Dreamer
06-27-2012, 11:52 PM
Divided Loyalties - 31/May/2012
Early Summer, 2008, Luna.
"Big brother! Big brother! What are you doing?" The stocky red-haired figure looked up from his workbench, smiled briefly, then went back to working. Uran frowned at him.
"You're just teasing me! You've kept me out of here, every morning, all week. Now you've let me in. What'ya doing?" Uran stomped over to the wheel-chaired man, and mock-glared up at him, from all of her 1 metre height.
Brains looked down at her. "You're not going to give me any peace, are you?" He sighed. He reached under the bench, and pulled out a stool. "Hop up."
Uran bounced onto the stool, not even bothering to fly. She didn't normal fly in the house. Unless it was to get at something high. Or sneak up on someone, which she hoped soon would mean more than just Brains. She gulped.
The figure on the bench wasn't Gerry the Robot, or even Doctor Venus, which she knew he was working on. It wasn't even one of the mysterious long figures, which looking over she could see were concealed beneath their dust sheets, on trolleys on the far side of the workshop. The cat-like tail hanging down from under one sheet briefly distracted her, but this was far more important.
"But, that's me!" Brains had obviously just finished work on a robot girl figure, that looked identical to her. A charging cable was plugged-in and she could hear a faint, familiar, hum as power was sucked from the house's accumulators. The brain hatch was open, on the right side, where she had one, but she couldn't see any brain, at all, inside the head.
"You remember how I showed you, not long after you first woke, how to back yourself up?" "Squicky!", was her quick reply. "Yes. Taking half your brain out of your head and putting it into a memory recorder wasn't really a fair thing to ask you to do. But, it means that even if you're really badly hurt, then we could rebuild you."
Brains paused, obviously uncomfortable.
"I hope you remember how you said you felt a bit funny. Almost as if you were in two places at once. And, I ran all those tests on you, and the braincorder." "Huh!", she said emphatically. "Yes, I know it was boring, but it proved that the entanglement between your two half-brains kept working, even though they were physically separate. And, you seemed to be able to function fully, even with half a brain."
She looked at the body on the workbench. "This is the spare body, that you said I'd need if I got really badly hurt?" Brains paused. "No. This is so we can see if you're even more talented than I already know you are."
Uran stuck out her tongue at Brains, then dodged when he went to grab it with his fingers. She knew she was being a bit childish, but it made Brains laugh, and he didn't laugh anything like as much as he should. She realised she'd dodged into thin air, so she slid back onto her seat, thinking "I'm glad I'm not like the Coyote[1]. I don't fall if I look down!".
"I'm not going to like this next bit, am I?", she said. "No, and if I'm right, Yes. I'd like you to take out your half-brain, as if you were going to do a backup, and carefully put it into here", and he pointed into the empty head of the figure. Suddenly a faint 'ping!' told them that recharging, or, she guessed first charging, was complete.
Reluctantly she went to open her brain hatch, then stopped, and carefully wiped her hands clean, first. The half-brain disengaged, as it was supposed to, and with slightly blurred vision she placed it in the open head. RESET.
She looked up from the bench. Gradually sitting up. Automatically her hand went up and closed her brain hatch, and a shocked figure looked at her from the stool and did the same. She noticed Brains grinning widely.
"Who am I?", she said slowly. "You're Uran." And Brains pointed at the person on the stool. "You're both Uran. Now you can be in two places at once!"
The two Uran looked at each other, and slowly an immense grin spread across both their faces. They bounced into the air, joined hands, and did a little mid-air skipping dance. Each could feel the other, but they seemed to need to use their built-in high band communicators to actually exchange information.
"We're going to have so much fun!" They looked over at Brains, and noticed he looked a bit wary, and, now that they looked more closely, his colour wasn't quite right.
"You've been over-doing it again!", said one. The other flew up to at him, and sniffed. "You've been eating Nutrition again, from your hot cup. I bet you've not been taking proper breaks! You said you wouldn't eat in the workshop. And, you promised the doctor!"
"But, but", he spluttered.
The two looked at each other. "Not a motorboat! Off to bed!", they chorused, as one picked him up, wheelchair and all. The other swooped-over and picked up a stack of brightly-coloured paperback books, and stuffed them in a bag marked "Andromeda Bookshop".
"You can rest, and read, in bed. We'll get you your next two meals, there. Yes, we know we can't cook properly, yet, but we know how to defrost things from the deep freezer."
They flew him into the bedroom, then landed, and stepped outside, while he prepared and hoisted himself into bed.
"Just to check, how long is it safe to be two of us?", one called. "Six hours, or until you'd do your usual backup, whichever comes first, should be safe. We'll do some tests, tomorrow, that should tell us more about how far you can push it", came the distracted voice, mixed in with a few grunts, from inside.
"Why doesn't he dial down the gravity to Lunar normal while he's doing that?", radiopathed one to the other. "You know how stubborn he is", came the reply. They nodded at each other.
"What are you plotting out there?", came the voice, probably now in bed. A quick peek confirmed.
"I'll only do this for three hours", came the reply, "And, you're going to be working on Doctor Venus, tomorrow. No matter how much I want to play with the kitties."
"You peeked!", came from an indignant Brains. "I told you not to peek!"
"Oops." "Anyhow, you need a doctor to keep an eye on you, far more than a robot pilot, or cute cat girls."
"They're not just cute cat girls, they're... OK. I'll work on Doctor Venus[2]. Expert in Space Medicine. If I don't, I know you wont give me any peace." And, he yawned.
Uran stood and watched, until she was sure he was asleep. Then, went over and carefully tucked the covers in around him. Time to go and study the medical databases, and figure-out what symptoms they should be looking out for, and might already have seen. So they could brief Doctor Venus properly.
They might be in a house, on the Moon. But, they were going to make sure that Brains, their big brother, was looked after properly.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind
Early Summer, 2008, Luna.
"Big brother! Big brother! What are you doing?" The stocky red-haired figure looked up from his workbench, smiled briefly, then went back to working. Uran frowned at him.
"You're just teasing me! You've kept me out of here, every morning, all week. Now you've let me in. What'ya doing?" Uran stomped over to the wheel-chaired man, and mock-glared up at him, from all of her 1 metre height.
Brains looked down at her. "You're not going to give me any peace, are you?" He sighed. He reached under the bench, and pulled out a stool. "Hop up."
Uran bounced onto the stool, not even bothering to fly. She didn't normal fly in the house. Unless it was to get at something high. Or sneak up on someone, which she hoped soon would mean more than just Brains. She gulped.
The figure on the bench wasn't Gerry the Robot, or even Doctor Venus, which she knew he was working on. It wasn't even one of the mysterious long figures, which looking over she could see were concealed beneath their dust sheets, on trolleys on the far side of the workshop. The cat-like tail hanging down from under one sheet briefly distracted her, but this was far more important.
"But, that's me!" Brains had obviously just finished work on a robot girl figure, that looked identical to her. A charging cable was plugged-in and she could hear a faint, familiar, hum as power was sucked from the house's accumulators. The brain hatch was open, on the right side, where she had one, but she couldn't see any brain, at all, inside the head.
"You remember how I showed you, not long after you first woke, how to back yourself up?" "Squicky!", was her quick reply. "Yes. Taking half your brain out of your head and putting it into a memory recorder wasn't really a fair thing to ask you to do. But, it means that even if you're really badly hurt, then we could rebuild you."
Brains paused, obviously uncomfortable.
"I hope you remember how you said you felt a bit funny. Almost as if you were in two places at once. And, I ran all those tests on you, and the braincorder." "Huh!", she said emphatically. "Yes, I know it was boring, but it proved that the entanglement between your two half-brains kept working, even though they were physically separate. And, you seemed to be able to function fully, even with half a brain."
She looked at the body on the workbench. "This is the spare body, that you said I'd need if I got really badly hurt?" Brains paused. "No. This is so we can see if you're even more talented than I already know you are."
Uran stuck out her tongue at Brains, then dodged when he went to grab it with his fingers. She knew she was being a bit childish, but it made Brains laugh, and he didn't laugh anything like as much as he should. She realised she'd dodged into thin air, so she slid back onto her seat, thinking "I'm glad I'm not like the Coyote[1]. I don't fall if I look down!".
"I'm not going to like this next bit, am I?", she said. "No, and if I'm right, Yes. I'd like you to take out your half-brain, as if you were going to do a backup, and carefully put it into here", and he pointed into the empty head of the figure. Suddenly a faint 'ping!' told them that recharging, or, she guessed first charging, was complete.
Reluctantly she went to open her brain hatch, then stopped, and carefully wiped her hands clean, first. The half-brain disengaged, as it was supposed to, and with slightly blurred vision she placed it in the open head. RESET.
She looked up from the bench. Gradually sitting up. Automatically her hand went up and closed her brain hatch, and a shocked figure looked at her from the stool and did the same. She noticed Brains grinning widely.
"Who am I?", she said slowly. "You're Uran." And Brains pointed at the person on the stool. "You're both Uran. Now you can be in two places at once!"
The two Uran looked at each other, and slowly an immense grin spread across both their faces. They bounced into the air, joined hands, and did a little mid-air skipping dance. Each could feel the other, but they seemed to need to use their built-in high band communicators to actually exchange information.
"We're going to have so much fun!" They looked over at Brains, and noticed he looked a bit wary, and, now that they looked more closely, his colour wasn't quite right.
"You've been over-doing it again!", said one. The other flew up to at him, and sniffed. "You've been eating Nutrition again, from your hot cup. I bet you've not been taking proper breaks! You said you wouldn't eat in the workshop. And, you promised the doctor!"
"But, but", he spluttered.
The two looked at each other. "Not a motorboat! Off to bed!", they chorused, as one picked him up, wheelchair and all. The other swooped-over and picked up a stack of brightly-coloured paperback books, and stuffed them in a bag marked "Andromeda Bookshop".
"You can rest, and read, in bed. We'll get you your next two meals, there. Yes, we know we can't cook properly, yet, but we know how to defrost things from the deep freezer."
They flew him into the bedroom, then landed, and stepped outside, while he prepared and hoisted himself into bed.
"Just to check, how long is it safe to be two of us?", one called. "Six hours, or until you'd do your usual backup, whichever comes first, should be safe. We'll do some tests, tomorrow, that should tell us more about how far you can push it", came the distracted voice, mixed in with a few grunts, from inside.
"Why doesn't he dial down the gravity to Lunar normal while he's doing that?", radiopathed one to the other. "You know how stubborn he is", came the reply. They nodded at each other.
"What are you plotting out there?", came the voice, probably now in bed. A quick peek confirmed.
"I'll only do this for three hours", came the reply, "And, you're going to be working on Doctor Venus, tomorrow. No matter how much I want to play with the kitties."
"You peeked!", came from an indignant Brains. "I told you not to peek!"
"Oops." "Anyhow, you need a doctor to keep an eye on you, far more than a robot pilot, or cute cat girls."
"They're not just cute cat girls, they're... OK. I'll work on Doctor Venus[2]. Expert in Space Medicine. If I don't, I know you wont give me any peace." And, he yawned.
Uran stood and watched, until she was sure he was asleep. Then, went over and carefully tucked the covers in around him. Time to go and study the medical databases, and figure-out what symptoms they should be looking out for, and might already have seen. So they could brief Doctor Venus properly.
They might be in a house, on the Moon. But, they were going to make sure that Brains, their big brother, was looked after properly.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind