[OPEN] Maybe someone should call an exterminator...

[ding_bots_are_done]

Who: Agatha Heterodyne, some dingbots, and you
Where: The Pisces apartments, and possibly also the other apartments via the teleporters.
What: Agatha has built herself some small assistants. They've gotten bored and are wandering around unsupervised.
Warnings: Precocious little robots. Potential mutilation of household appliances.
OOC: Let me know in the subject line if you want the Dingbots, Agatha, or both.


[Agatha has been busy since her arrival in Hinoto-Ri. The first order of business was to build a more reliable death ray. But, as she preferred to work with assistants, she'd built a handful of dingbots before she started in on the project.

This is all well and good, but while she is occupied with tests and adjustments on her new gun, the little dingbots decided to make a few new friends. And then those dingbots decided to go exploring.

By the time Agatha looked up, she was facing a single dingbot. The rest of the room is littered with parts and tools, but all the other dingbots are nowhere to be found. ]


Oh, no....


[So, those who live in the Pisces apartments may have noticed the tiny clanks rushing about. They can be found poking around rooms, exploring the greenhouses, and perhaps even trying to be helpful by fixing or improving any small appliances they might find.

If not the clanks, perhaps you might see Agatha, wandering the apartments, peeking around corners, peering into rooms, and checking behind potted plants. She's clearly looking for something. Those with sharp eyes may notice the dingbot in her pocket.]


Ugh, why do they always run off like this?

Comments

Let's have Agatha show up!

[unbroken_chain]

Kotoha does, in fact, have sharp eyes. It's not hard for her to pick out the dingbots lurking around with her peripheral vision, but she very carefully doesn't react.

"Hm. I almost thought you were Steel-types at first, but I guess you're just regular robots, huh?"

o7

[ding_bots_are_done]

[They blink their single eyes at her in confusion. Then they make some clicky noises at one another. One of them is clever enough to make some ticking sounds and then point at her magnezone.

Kotoha may also notice a young woman at the other end of the hall. She's looking up at yet another dingbot that is hanging from an air vent.]

Alright, I know you want to help, but whatever you're trying to do can wait. I still have to find the others...

[unbroken_chain]

Kotoha very faintly shakes her head in response to the ticking and pointing, a small smile on her face.

"It's complicated."

And then she notices the girl at the end of the hall. Her first instinct is to wave, of course, but with the dingbots on her shoulders she just pitches her voice to carry.

"Hello! Are these yours?"

[ding_bots_are_done]

[Agatha whirls around in surprise just in time for the dingbot above her to fall right on her head.]

Ow!

[Rubbing the sore spot and looking very embarrassed, Agatha musters up a smile. The offending clank climbs into one of her pockets.]

Hello....

[But the little dingbots on Kotoha's shoulder wave to their creator and her smile brightens.]

Hey, you found some of them! Thank you!

[unbroken_chain]

It doesn't take long for Kotoha to reach Agatha and hand over the dingbots.

"Interesting little guys. You build them yourself?"

[ding_bots_are_done]

[She gratefully accepts them, tucking them away into pockets and placing a couple on her own shoulders.]

I did. I'm sorry if they caused you any trouble. I wasn't paying attention and they wandered off.

[unbroken_chain]

"Oh no, it's fine! Tesla and I were just wandering around anyway."

At this, the Magnezone buzzes, its primary eye flashing.

[ding_bots_are_done]

Ooh, is that clank yours? That's some beautiful construction.

[unbroken_chain]

"Oh no, Tesla's a Pokemon. He wasn't built, he was born."

[ding_bots_are_done]

Born? So... some sort of genetic breeding experiment?

[For a construct, it looks awfully metallic. Agatha steps closer for a better look.]

Still very nice work. He hardly looks organic at all.

[unbroken_chain]

Kotoha raps one knuckle against Tesla's dome, producing a clanging sound.

"He wasn't really made by anything, though? The first Magnemites...just kind of showed up out of nowhere back when my grandparents were young? It happens with a lot of Steel types - when technology gets advanced enough they just sort of show up in the local ecosystem."

[ding_bots_are_done]

They just show up out of nowhere?

[She's a little skeptical about that.]

Are you positive about that? No one is creating them? Or performing breeding experiments, maybe?

[unbroken_chain]

"Oh no, there's only like...two kinds of manmade Pokemon, and everyone involved in making those is pretty well documented."

[ding_bots_are_done]

Is that so?

[She's not convinced. There must be some process by which these things appear. Whether it's by scientific manipulation or evolution. But those questions can be pursued later.]

Anyway, I'm Agatha. Agatha Heterodyne. I just moved in the other day.

[unbroken_chain]

There probably is, but Kotoha's interest in science is limited to Popular Mechanics magazines.

"Hi, I'm Kotoha! Nice to meet you!"

[ding_bots_are_done]

[Agatha holds out her hand for the other girl to shake.]

Likewise. Have you lived in this town long?

[unbroken_chain]

Kotoha's handshake is energetic but not overbearing.

"Five months or so!"

[ding_bots_are_done]

That long?

[Hmm, Agatha is beginning to wonder if maybe helping this city out is going to be more complicated than she thought.]

[unbroken_chain]

Nod nod.

"Yeah, apparently people started showing up here a year ago. There was even an anniversary festival a while back."

[ding_bots_are_done]

And.... how much progress has been made in the war effort so far?

[Because she definitely heard there was a war going on. At least three people mentioned it the day she arrived.]

[unbroken_chain]

"War...effort?"

What war?

[ding_bots_are_done]

Um, the war against the forces of chaos? The reason we were summoned here?

[At least, as far as she was told....]

[unbroken_chain]

"Oh, that. Whoever told you it was a war might have been overselling it a little, you know? Generally it's just weird things that happen every couple of months. Not really active enough to call it a 'war'."

[ding_bots_are_done]

Wait, what? If that's true then why were we summoned here in the first place?

[unbroken_chain]

Kotoha pauses.

"Well. Um. If you go back on the Visitor's Network about seven months or so there's this entry..."

Okay, please hold still while Kotoha is HELPFUL and brings up the Network!

"Okay, see this entry? This guy claims that it's basically a game or something between that Beautifly dude and, uh...let's call him Mr. Nya, I dunno how to pronounce that name."

Kotoha regards the archived entry critically.

"All those shouty capitals didn't really help his case, but he might just not have been very familiar with how the Internet works. I'd take his claims with a grain of salt, but it does seem like he knew a bit more than most of us."

A brief pause.

"...it's kind of weird seeing all these responses and thinking that like half of these people aren't even in the city anymore."