driftfleet | [snuggle up real close everyone]

Thank you. I find I prefer to be surrounded by living things. [He floats down from one of the upper shelf, settling on the ground because it's not polite to hover.]

May I help you?

[Erik frankly wouldn't care if Vision had stayed up there; to each their own. Who was he to ground someone if they didn't want it? He shakes his head slightly, hefting the bag.]

I'm here to visit Kitty, actually. I have something to give her.

[It's more habit than anything else - Erik's a flier himself, and so unlikely to be intimidated by such a thing.]

Then I welcome you to the Windrose. I'm afraid we're out of fresh coffee and tea leaves, but I would be happy to put on a pot of instant if you plan to be here for a while.

Fresh anything has been a bit hard to come by. [He'd paid an arm and a leg for a salad weeks ago, just to have something that wasn't paste-like.]

Well, if you're offering, I'll take you up on it. Thank you.

Perhaps the next stop will have more in the way of resupply. I've yet to acquire a tea or coffee plant, but the kelp and algae do well enough in their tank, if you've anything to trade and would like some. [See, they're not just backup oxygen supply.]

Gladly. I'll meet you in the kitchen when your business concludes?

[Kelp and algae... he's not even certain what he would do with those, and it shows on his face. He should ransack the library for more cookbooks.]

I've been working on purifying metal I took from the moon. Steel, mostly. I have some pieces left over, if you need anything like that. I can shape it into other things.

All right. [He heads off to deliver Kitty her claws. After a while, he leaves for the kitchen.]

[Erik, you're making his engineering self happy with the offer of raw materials.] I would, depending on what you have available. We'll talk of that later.

[And sure enough, he has a fresh pot of tea and some blueprints waiting on the kitchen table when Erik reappears.]

Dr. Crusher is working to construct a surgical suite and has asked for my assistance with the components. Do you think the raw materials you have might be able to help with these?

Thank you. [He pours himself a cup, casting a curious glance at the blueprints.]

They should be able to, though I may not have enough for extensive amounts of work. However, I've been getting them from a junk heap on the moon, then stripping the poison from them. It would be easy enough to do more of that, or tell you the chemicals needed to do it yourself.

[It's pretty decent stuff, as far as space beverages go.]

I'd appreciate your help in shaping it most, I think. We shouldn't require a great deal of raw materials, but the finesse can be difficult without a proper forge.

That's true enough. [He's worked with both his own hands and a forge before. That was long before he learned how to liquefy things under his own power. He reaches out and taps the blueprints with a finger.] Is that what these are for?

[The Vision nods.]

Given the lack of sufficiently trained medical assistants, most of the surgical work will need to be performed with robotic assistance and a doctor in control. It also allows for precise work on a small scale.

[Robots and surgery... his two least favourite things, combined. Erik can't stop a slight twisting of expression at that, though it eases quickly.]

Sounds reasonable enough.

[Not to him. But in general, perhaps.]

[Yes well, Misty's healing potions wouldn't make a dent in the mess that's Wrath's back injuries, so they have to approach it from a more traditional standpoint.]

I appreciate it. Is there anything I can do for you in exchange?

If I think of something, I'll let you know. [A pause, as he stares into his teacup.] Though I wouldn't mind having some of this to take back to my ship.

Certainly. I've yet to find any Camellia sinensis to grow, but I'm told this is an acceptable substitute.

I'd have to agree. Well, if we begin, then I'll have some of this as payment at the end.

Then it's a deal. Please feel free to take the blueprints. [It's easy enough to print out more.]

[He nods, pulling the nearest one over so he can look it over properly.]

These robots wouldn't be programmed, would they? [Taking a sip of tea, his eyes don't leave the plans. His mind, however, is elsewhere. Surgical robots may sound benign, but he's been "operated" on by a machine being before. He has to know how far it goes.]

Hm? No, they'd be remotely operated only. There'd be no reason to give them anything beyond that. Even among baseline humans, anatomical differences can be such that a trained doctor is the best surgeon.

[As much as he likes AI, this is one of those things still best left in human hands.]

[It's of small comfort to him. Doctors are as variable as human beings, and he's been subjected to the worst of them. It's enough to know that the robots won't be sentient or under their own power in any way.]

Glad to hear it.

[His people have such a bad rap. Though really, someone who can control metal should be fine against most types of robots.]

I wouldn't have the necessary medical expertise to program them, regardless. It would require a vast database unavailable to us.

Edited 2016-05-23 16:23 (UTC)

[Most types, except the ones designed specifically to kill mutants like him.]

I take it the doctor doesn't either.

Dr. Crusher has an impressive amount of medical knowledge and skill based on both education and practical experience. Translating that into a form usable by a medical program is another skillset entirely, however.

It would be incredibly useful both to medical staff and the Fleet at large if we did have a database of that nature, though, which is no doubt why Atroma has denied it to us.

[He wrinkles his nose a bit. Computer programming is well outside his ambit, regardless of how well he can hotwire a robot after seeing the blueprints.]

Too much self-sufficiency is likely not on the agenda. [Food needs to come from the ships when between planets. Systems need to be maintained lest they die. Attempting to leave gets nowhere. They're in captivity, make no mistake.]

[He inclines his head in agreement.]

It would no doubt upset their grand plans for us. It doesn't hurt anything to plan for such an eventuality, however.

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grandstanding - 2016-06-01 09:25 (UTC) - Expand

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unbearablynaive - 2016-06-02 16:35 (UTC) - Expand