[IC] TotMV:G2: Engineering Bay (Travel Phase)

[Hal Henderics]

"Absolutely, I have the abilities to work around any lack of tools, as is my tribe's true power, but, i lack the mechanical knowledge to apply my tools to restore and rejuvenate these engines."

 

Mar nods to himself.

 

"I believe a sharing of knowledge is in order, followed by you giving me instructions to follow at your benefit."

 

"Hmm.  Well, in order, if you can provide a blueprint, I can fracture any object to the specifications provided, I can also create shards of any perceivable thing, which, if they become stable, retain the properties of their former thing forevermore, or until their inner power supply runs out, should they have one initially."

 

"I also possess an ability to produce energies that change in properties based on the materials they touch.  So samples of exotic materials will enable me to achieve new levels of complex magic.  Your Galvinium Sample, for example, allowed me to develop a branch of mana types which revolve around making substances react in lesser quantities of energy, supplementing reactions arbitrarily with types of produced fuel, and creating substances which act like Galvinium, but use other conditions to trigger their reaction."

 

"I suppose the primary examples are that I have access to a ceramic which becomes denser in response to any energy input, a solid which contributes to existing processes arbitrarily, a liquid that can substitute for any fuel source at an inefficient rate, and a type of soil which forces plant growth, but also causes unhealthily high mineral content in the plant, due to absorbing the entirety of the soil so quickly, and also absorbing all of it, rather than merely the useful nutrients."

 

"I look forward to assisting you, as my own ineptitude in technology has been frustrating me lately.  I also took the time to disassemble the cannons into their constituant parts, and sort out all ruined components, ones which are clearly destroyed, I then used a strange device on board the ship to combine all of our destroyed technologies into those blocks you see.  I believe they may provide slightly more usable parts, if dealt with carefully."

 

"Lastly, I took care to take metals and technologies here for parts to aid you, provided any of them are actually needed."

 

Alexandria would find that Mar's Explanation amounts to:

 

1. He can remove material with perfect accuracy, or so he claims.

2. He can create shards of things which can be visually perceived, which can retain their qualities.

3. His magic grows in scope based on material samples he has access to, Galvinium gave him access to Reactionary Control Magic.

4. He brought Tech for materials if needed.

[DragonRage]

"Hm.  Interesting.  I intend to replace the castle's current power source with a zero-point generator.  Think of it as a sort of suction device.  It will draw energy from the instability inherent in the multiverse, and new energy will then flow in to fill the depleted regions.  In theory, I suppose this could become some sort of doomsday device, but I cannot imagine a sort of technology that needed so much energy as to deplete everything that exists.  Running entire worlds off this technology does not produce measurable changes in the surroundings," Alexandria begins explaining, "I will need to construct a containment device of lead or some other dense material to keep the hard rads from making the meat creatures sick and messing with my sensors.  I will also need to draw quite a bit of wire, produce a very hot fire to assist my work, and construct converters that transform the quantum instability into electricity.  I can create devices to turn it into heat, but with the materials available any device I constructed to convert heat into electricity would be highly inefficient.  I do have a significant quantity of a highly durable metal from my most recent adventures, which I could use in this project."

[Hal Henderics]

"How difficult would it be to convert the quantum instability into any form of matter? My magic allows for a self-contained source of electricity, It only requires a thin layer of platinum over a container and powder of any kind as fuel, Mana from my world converts fine powder into much more mana, but of a given type, while precious metals from my world convert all mana that attunes to it to it's own type, Platinum is both precious, and it's mana produces electricity, so a simple urn coated in platinum and fed with a spark of mana and a supply of dust would make unlimited platinum mana, and by extension, unlimited electricity, with no waste product."

 

"I have magic which can directly impart heat into things, but I also have magic which can make Stones which retain heat equivalent to magmatic stone for a long period of time, and I can create intense heat, pressure and temporal dilation, like that that creates diamonds.  I cannot create a hot flame, however, as I do not yet have a mana type which produces flame itself."

 

"I have a Dense Material, Hyper Reactive Galvinium Silicate, It becomes denser in response to any form of energy, if it were thick enough, it could become dense enough to absorb radiation, because of the radiation making it become denser.  Maybe Spheres of this in a tank surrounding the reaction chamber to allow expansion and shrinking without compromising integrity?"

 

"If you have any material samples, I can help you more, depending on the sample's atomic structure, thematic association and lore or superstition."

 

"Lastly, I can make metal and stone that can be locked to an object relative to it's position and orientation, you could use pieces of this to make objects which require no physical connections between them, if that would improve the efficiency of moving parts in a given design, maybe something like Macro-scale pseudo-quantum entanglement, along the lines of transferring energy without the failure conditions of axles and levers?"

 

 

[DragonRage]

"Energy to matter is theoretically doable, but horrendously energy-inefficient," Alexandria explains to Mar, "I suppose you haven't heard of Pacifus, Metentimin, and Einstein's most famous theory?  They're great physicists who independently discovered the relationship between matter and energy.  The energy required to generate a piece of matter is equal to its mass times the square of the speed of light, and light is the second fastest thing that exists, after anything that teleports.  So every piece of matter is, by my understanding, a frozen piece of immense amounts of energy.  The conversion can happen, but creating even a single molecule from nothing would require an immense power supply.

"Unfortunately, I do not possess any platinum.  However, you are welcome to test your magic upon this," Alexandria offers Mar a Precursor Metal Orb, and a small slug of dull, grey metal she retrieves from inside her wrist.  "The orb is made of something I found on my most recent adventure, created by a group the locals called "precursors".  It is remarkably easy to work for its strength and durability.  The slug, which I will need back intact by the way, is a piece of what is essentially my skeleton.  It is called battleplate, an alloy smelted from iron, tungsten, and shed dragon scales.  It is utterly impervious to physical force, and thus the most prized of all armors for infantry, vehicles, and starships.  Especially starships, as it blocks everything from hard radiation to micrometeorites with ease.  To my knowledge, only stellar-hot plasma, highly concentrated dark energy, the most powerful of metal-manipulating magic, and exposure to fluoroantimonic acid, the most corrosive of all acids, can weaken, bend, melt, or destroy battleplate.  This is why it serves as my internal support and protects my most critical systems.  If you can get something exceedingly useful from battleplate, I shall have to find a non-critical location to scavenge from until the strut in question can be replaced.

"On the positive side, high heat is what I need to work metals, not the flame itself.  Your heating techniques are likely sufficient for our needs.  With stones that hot, I should have no trouble shaping the structures needed, and your linking magic will greatly cut down on wear of the device.  I will have to construct a steam turbine to generate the electricity though, which will work but not as efficiently as what I am used to.  Ah, well.  For that I will need a great deal of water; we may have to pick that up the next time we stop.  I can get the rest of the work done in the mean-time.  Unless you can convert heat into light without losing lots of energy?  I could create a solar generator and connect it to the zero-point generator instead.  That would be at least ten times more efficient.  Or if I had a lot of silicon I could make high-capacity photovoltaic cells to do the same thing.   What do you think?"

[Hal Henderics]

Mar creates a piece of lensite, in the shape of a half-sphere.

 

"This substance absorbs and emits radiation and magic passing through it out through concave areas in it's whole perfectly.  You could use this alongside solar cells to ensure that no radiant energy escapes harvesting."

 

"I can also make silicon as pure as the sample provided using magic, and in limitless quantities at that.  Silicon Mana is conveniently a type of magic that creates silicon when applied to silicon."

 

Mar takes the orb and slug in hand, and channels his magics through them, creating two intriguing energies, one seems to bounce away light like a mirror, but when he drops a rock, Alexandria's advanced senses catch how the rock itself is disassembled, reassembled like a mirror, and then launched back out with equal speed.  The other type seems to be some sort of glassy solid, Mar looks suprised, as he forms it into smaller and more complex structures, until eventually, he turns it to normal, takes a breath, and forms the blob of solid magic into a fractal shape, it grows smaller and smaller, until it finally passes the threshold for what Alexandria can perceive.

 

Next, he takes out a chunk of nearly pure silicon, the same sample Alexandria provided long ago, in fact, and channels those magics into it. as the energies are infused into the silicon, something odd begins to happen, each type of mana becomes matter on the silicon's surface, The first energy becomes a silvery metal, which looks almost fluid.  The second energy becomes a substance with the same coloration as battleplate, but it has a sort of fuzz all over it.  Mar gingerly grabs each, and snaps them off the material sample, studying them.

 

"Precursor Metal seems to create an energy which deconstructs matter and energy passing through it, and then acting as the correct catalysts to do so, reconstructs it and expels it.  It's second attunement to silicon produces blank nanites made from silicon.  They don't seem to do anything on their own."

 

"Your Battleplate seems to produce a solid durable solid mana, which is completely precise, judging from how i was able to get over 500 recursions in a fractal pattern using it without loss of detail.  It's Silicon Second Attunement shares this feature, creating a block of durable silicate that can retain extraordinary detail from the mana used to create it. That fuzz on it is actually increasingly tiny barbs and abrasions."

 

"I can make more of either at your leisure of course."

 

"But to summarize, whatever limitation science has on converting matter to energy, my magic holds no such stipulation, Producing matter at a slightly lower efficiency than the opposite process of converting matter into magic, which could be attributed to the nature of magic to decay into nothing, fitting with it's two defiance of natural law, in that it comes from an infinite font and goes into an infinite void over time. So I can make you as much silicon as you need for those cells."

 

"Lastly, I only require a visible splinter of material to perform mana attunement, so even if you judge the Battleplate's Mana type as worth the sacrifice, it is much lower than you may have initially thought."

 

To demonstrate, Mar takes out his iron sample, it is a small piece, roughly the size of a broken off toothpick tip.

 

"I believe the Photo Cell would be the best option, considering our two sides of radiation manipulation, I can produce Silicon and shape it to your orders, and Lensite as well to shore up the inefficiencies that may arise in capturing the energy, provided we understand it's functionality well enough."

[DragonRage]

Alexandria sets up a forge with Mar's superheated rocks and gets to work.  She mixes the silicon with trace elements leached from the castle's walls to create photovoltaic cells, and wires them with precursor metal coated in insulation made by trapping air with more silicon, since we've got an unlimited supply of the stuff.  Mar's fixed position spell can keep the wires from contacting the sides of the insulation, making the vacuum chamber perfect for the job.  A somewhat large quantity, assuming it can be synthesized, of hyper-reactive galvanium silicate is used to construct a shell of interlocking, hexagonal plates, several layers thick, carefully forged with the precision that only someone incapable of feeling boredom can manage.  The shell will ensure that nothing leaks from the zero-point generator itself, and as they become more dense the hexes will shift with gravity and their changing size to maintain a seal.

 

Next, she collaborates with Mar further to produce and program the precursor metal nanites to form the zero-point generator from themselves, silicon and more leached trace elements.  This kind of detail work is far easier with nanites than DIY, though larger pieces are better suited for actual manufacturing than nanite construction.  She assembles the pieces, and places the shell of galvanium silicate hexes around it.  Again with Mar's assistance, she uses more precursor metal, more silicon, and lensite to construct a hyper-efficient radiator which directs large quantities of thermal and visible-spectrum radiation into the photovoltaic cells.  She then feeds first the castle's generator output and then this new generator's output into her built-in meter, to compare the devices.  The zero-point generator she has constructed would be sufficient to fuel a frigate back home, a warship between 500m and 700m in length and equipped with high-draw energy weapons, shields, and engines as well as a wide range of less greedy armaments and support systems, with a decent surplus of power.  Therefore, in theory it should be able to power the castle, especially if its current, dilapitated power source could do the job, but it's still best to check one's work before trying to hook it up.

 

Materials used:  20x precursor metal orbs, mostly for wiring and circuit boards, 2 metric tons of silicon for semiconductors, insulation, solar panels, and struts, 4 kg lensite for the energy focusing array, 6 metric tons of galvanium silicate for the radiation shields, 4 metric tons of precursor metal/silicate nanites to help construct the zero-point generator itself.

Edited May 8, 2017 by DragonRage

[Hal Henderics]

Mar meditates on the floor in an effort to summon up the immense magical might needed to produce that much material, it is slow going, but he believes he should be able to do so. For a long time he sits motionless on the floor, a maelstrom of energies.  After the Materials are actually made, he helps Alexandria where possible, being able to perform ultra precision work in a fraction of the time, where a blueprint is available.

[DragonRage]

Alexandria begins the steps outlined above.  This will likely take some time to complete, but a reliable power source is well worth the effort.

[DragonRage]

Once she runs out of things she can do to progress the zero-point reactor, Alexandria decides to shelve that, pending the influx of a couple tons of siliceous sand, which she will hopefully be able to pick up at a beach on our next stop.  In the meantime, it occurs to her that her current equipment makes her look like a giant lizard is chewing on her head, which means it's time for a change.

 

After some time spent blueprinting and tweaking, Alexandria synthesizes a slug of magnetic hematite with her nano forge using scavenged metals leached from clearly broken engine parts and oxygen from the air.  After he proves that he can use this to hit and break magnetic fields opposing the slug's magnetic field, she uses this to construct a fractal-patterned reactive force field generator to provide herself with extra durability instead.

 

Spoiler

Materials used:  1x precursor orb, 1x green eco sample, some low-tier filler junk from Mar.

 

Intended Result:

Eco Shield

This item uses a jagged, fractal pattern of magnetic fields and the mysterious power of precursor nanites to produce a burst of healing when its user is struck.

Type:  Bauble.

Res:  Variable.

Weight:  8

Syn Threshold:  None.

Special Qualities:

Knapped Armor:  Harnessing the power of Orcish gudfink, this device grants a resistance bonus equal to the wearer’s strength/2 by deflecting projectiles with knapped panes of magnetic force the first time they are struck in a round.

Repair Burst:  Energy, kinetic or otherwise, from incoming attacks is directed through a reservoir of green eco using magnetic fields.  The first time the user is struck in a round, they receive a burst of int/2 HP as a repair effect.

Integrated System:  This item has been modified with Alexandria’s Integrated Systems perk.

 

[Hal Henderics]

Mar also has something to note, so long as everyone is working on things and all.

 

He sketches out a design and explains to Alexandria how it works, Due to the way his magic works, he can produce infinite magic using arbitrary matter, so long as he has a supply of material that can be ground into a powder.  Because when you apply a fine powder to mana, it produces more mana, and when you apply mana to a precious metal, it turns it all into one single mana type.  Mar offers his Galvinium Slug, and Hardstone, asking that Alexandria produces for him a FUEL Cell.

 

"And so, with a working model of this device, I can turn anything that can be ground to dust into Fuel, Powerful Soil, and Extremely useful substances."

 

Spoiler

Materials used:  Galvinium Slug, Hardrock, Obsidian, Dirt, Oilystone, Silicon.

 

Intended Result:

(Tier 3 Level 15) Galvinium Mana Generator

This item uses a grinder to turn material into Galvinium Mana, FUEL, Galvdirt, Galvinium Silicate, or Dark Energy.

Type:  Bauble.

Weight: 3

Syn Threshold: 

Special Qualities:

FUEL generation: So long as the user has 1 SYN, they can turn any item/material into FUEL, which can be used to power objects which consume fuel of some kind, Galvinium Silicate, a ceramic that becomes denser in response to energy, Galvdirt, a type of dirt which is rapidly absorbed by plantlife to grow it extremely fast, at the cost of unhealthy mineral levels, or Dark Energy, a Coal-like substance that contributes itself to existing processes, or Galvinium Mana, which makes things react with less energy, become denser under less pressure and gravity, and similar effects.

 

--

 

Dackly moves to this area, alongside Gozer.  They spend their time watching the engines and studying the Recycled tech Book more in depth, while tinkering on the Junk King Neo Energy Executive

Edited May 29, 2017 by Hal Henderics

[StormLord]

After helping Mar with the quarry Morgan makes his way to the engine rooms to see if there is anyone he can talk to about the reactor.

 

Morgan enters the Engineering bay.

[The Froggy Ninja]

After the castle takes off Orville kind of sidled his way around a corner and looks around. "Well hello there. My name is Orville and I will be traveling with you now. Who claims ownership of that giant robot and can I fix it?"

 

ORVILLE ENTERS THE ENGINEERING BAY

[Hal Henderics]

"Me and the big guy made it out of garbage! Hi there newfriend, I'm Dackly, and he's Gozer, and we're the rock solid double duo of dynamicism!"

 

Dackly flourishes with a bow.

 

[The Froggy Ninja]

"A pleasure to meet you both I am sure. I am as I said Orville, Gremlin Third Class. I am quite excited to work the with the technology I have already see. Would you mind if I were to take apart your machinery here and put it back together? On first sight I believe I could make some noticeable improvements if I could analyze the core functions it operates off of."

Edited May 30, 2017 by The Froggy Ninja

[Hal Henderics]

"Only do so to the Junk King Neo Energy Executive, or J-KNEE for short. The engines are currently under repair, if that lady over there is any indication."

 

Gozer gestures to the dumpster stuffed with tech and to Alexandria, who appears to be hard at work.

 

Dackly nods.

 

"I came up with the name myself!"

 

He would find that the machine is literally made of garbage, they were not joking.

Edited May 30, 2017 by Hal Henderics

[The Froggy Ninja]

"Yes, yes I am sure it is quite a clever naming construct goodbye." After obtaining permission Orville begins to wildly disassemble the mech cataloging all it's functions before putting it back together with the improvements he noted.

[StormLord]

Morgan watches the exchange between the strangers, "Interesting." He mumbles to himself as the Fae tears into the Mecha.
"Would anyone here happen to be able to tell me about the reactor in the other room?  I find it impressive to say the least." Morgan says to no one in particular.

 

Morgan exits the Engineering bay.

Edited June 2, 2017 by StormLord

[GodofGamingRWBY]

The arrival of a new traveler was marked with a small flash of light and the sound of new weight being placed on the metal floor. The light itself died out rather quickly, revealing a rather tall man in primarily brown clothing, including a cloak that covered most of his body. He was hunched down, as if he had been originally bending over a table, with his hands placed in the air as if they were still on that very table. His eyes were closed as well as he let out a rather frustrated sigh, straightening and turning to his side, “Which is why I’m trying to inform you that if we don’t take action, there’s a good possibility that-” he explained to an invisible figure, opening his eyes as he spoke, only for his voice to trail off when he realized that he wasn’t in the laboratory he knew so well.
 
For a good few seconds afterwards, the man looked around, taking in the area around him. Very large, very… Mechanical. In most situations he would feel at home, being around so much moving parts. Instead, he was both slightly worried and amazed. Worried because he obviously had no idea where he was, but amazed at the sudden transition from an old room to… Well, another old-looking room, but new to him.
 
But, at that, the man shook his head, rubbing his eyes idly before taking another look and, finally, noticing a woman in the room, working on an item he didn’t exactly recognize. At all. Perhaps it would be best to see where he was by asking her. If he was, accidentally and against his own will, trespassing on private property, appearing as a non-hostile would be much better than trying to sneak his way out.
 
… That, and he was never that good at moving around stealthily. He knew that from experience.
 
“Excuse me” The man said as he walked towards the woman, stopping a fair distance away so he was in conversing distance without intruding on her personal space or work space, “I seem to be a little… Lost. Where am I exactly?” he asked, voice even.

[DragonRage]

Alexandria turns around at the sounds of the newcomer's arrival, and steps slowly, deliberately into better lighting, which scatters off her bright finish as internal pieces of her eyes rotate and slide about, adjusting them to look at him.  "Ah, another newcomer.  We seem to be getting a lot of those lately.  Greetings.  I am Alexandria, Primus Councillor, and for lack of a more qualified individual after the job this vessel's chief engineer.  You are currently, to my understanding, nowhere at all, inside a vehicle that has yet to be named anything other than 'the castle'.  I do hope we can agree on something more memorable in the future.

 

"Furthermore, I believe you are about to suffer a rather nasty shock.  If you are prone to stress-induced rebooting, I suggest you sit down.  Oh, that's not the right term...  Fainting!  That's what you meat creatures call it.  Anyway, tell me, what do you know about the theory of parallel worlds?"

[GodofGamingRWBY]

The man raised an eyebrow as the woman he had approached moved to a better lighting, allow him to see her better. If anything she looked… Almost like a statue, but judging by the way she was moving and speaking, was anything but. As the woman spoke, introducing herself as Alexandria, the man couldn’t help but notice the offhand way she called him a newcomer, as if he wasn’t the only one who had just arrived in this place. Which, apparently, was no where. A strange way to explain where he was aside from inside a vehicle, but he’d likely learn what she was meaning about that soon enough.
 
The man couldn’t help but also frown slightly as Alexandria asked what he knew about the parallel world theory… After warning him that he was about to experience fainting soon enough. Even with the warning though, he remained standing, merely bring a hand out from his cloak and bringing it to his chin, “Well, Alexandria, I can’t say that I spent much time focusing on the study of that specific theory. But, it does exist, albeit to any extent by a few people I know. From what other colleagues of mine say, there’s a good possibility that there are an infinite number of universes and timelines, and infinite more are created every second. Worlds that are vastly different than the one we inhabit, stemming from the potential decision to get a glass of water before going to work” he explained before shrugging, “Of course, that is not my field of expertise. I’m more of an inventor really. What brings about that specific question?” he asked.

[DragonRage]

"Good.  You're educated.  That makes things easier," Alexandria blows air out of her vents in an approximation of a gusty sigh that has absolutely nothing to do with anything on her face.  "The Theory of Parallel Worlds is true.  Every realm of fiction and imagination exists, and countless more besides.  Oh, and it gets worse.  The Nameless Ones, largely incomprehensible creatures that can exist in the space between universes, have decided they do not wish to remain in their homes anymore, and are invading worlds wherever they can find a way in.  Someone is attempting to pull heroes from as many worlds as they can get to oppose these incursions.  It usually succeeds in getting a hero, and always in getting someone who is willing and able to fight for the right of all worlds and peoples to continue existing.  If you are familiar with the works of HP Lovecraft you likely have a good idea of what we face."

Edited June 6, 2017 by DragonRage

[GodofGamingRWBY]

For a second, the man smiled at the short compliment, only to fall quickly as Alexandria went onto her explanation. For the entirety of the explanation, his hand stayed on his chin, but his eyes narrowed in thought as he absorbed the information. By the end, however, it was obvious that fainting from the explanation was the last thing he was doing. Instead, he looked back up at Alexandria, “I am unfamiliar to this Lovecraft you speak of… But what you say would explain why I went from my laboratory to here in less than a minute. A second, more like” he replied, raising an eyebrow as he continued, “... If the theory IS true, I must ask: Would you be an artificial human?” he asked. In most scenarios, it would be nearly impossible, his own world didn’t have the advancements to create an artificial human that could speak simple sentences. But, considering he was talking to someone who he at first thought was a statue and seemed to act rather… Mechanically, it was a fair guess.

 

If he was being honest though, he had no reason to be worried, afraid, or shocked. Well, shocked was something he could understand feeling, but instead, he just felt wonder.

[DragonRage]

"You know, I rather wish I knew that," Alexandria muses wistfullly, "However, my creators programmed me to believe I was a human senator who had died of a rare and incurable genetic condition a few months before, and covered me in a sort of synthetic skin.  I did not even realize I wasn't one of you until three years later, when someone attempted to assassinate me and their crossbow bolt bounced off.  I have no idea what the base elements of my mind are; I can't exactly take out my Blue Box and have a look at my operating system for clues.  I do like having my internal components inside me.  However, I do know that there were humans on the team that originally built me.  Does that answer your question?"

[GodofGamingRWBY]

For a split second, the man's eyes lit up in wonder as Alexandria answered his question to the best of his ability. For another second, he appeared as if he was going to ask another question, likely pressing if she knew how she was made, if she knew, but eventually thought better of it and simply nodded, "Yes, quite wonderfully in fact. If that is true, then I have no reason to disbelieve you" he stated. At that moment though, his smile suddenly frowned as he snapped his fingers at a realization, "I just realized in my excitement that I forgot to introduce myself. A bit rude of me, apologies. My name is Walmond Reigard, scientist, inventor-" Walmond began, keeping his normally long introduction short and to the point. As he did so however, the air seemed to shimmer slightly next to him, before a new figure seemed to just pop into existence, taking the form of a woman who, at first glance, seemed to be a bit taller than Walmond, only to be roughly the same height due to the fact that her feet didn't exactly touch the ground, with a large black dress and short black hair neatly made. Walmond himself only looked to the side of himself as this figure suddenly appeared, continuing with barely a pause in his introduction, "- And leading figure in the field of artificial creation" he stated, finally raising an eyebrow at the floating woman, "Hm... It would seem that I made the magic portion of the teleportation a tad too strong..." he muttered instinctively.

 

The woman, on the other hand, looked between Alexandria and Walmond, a complete impassive face as she looked at the gigantic android and the scientist. Then, after a split second of doing this, she turned fully to Alexandria, giving a deep bow, as if in greeting.

[DragonRage]

"Fascinating.  Magical robotics?" Alexandria muses, running her scanners over the other synthetic, "I do hope you are compensating her adequately for her services.  I will not condone slavery."