Technocratic Schematics…and Schemes

     The blueprints were spread across a heavy mahogany table, and as the pink-haired former Technocrat leaned over them, she frowned.

     "They’ve managed to bypass half of the firewall security I put on these, Trenk," she said, tracing a line with her finger. "I don’t know how they got into my computer, especially since I crashed the damn thing when we left."

     The massive man was silent, as always, but she saw a frown of disapproval in his eyes as he leaned over her to look at the schematics. Valerie frowned, kicking at his shin.

     "What was I supposed to do? Tell Marius no? He wants me to fix the glitch I wrote in, and develop a kill switch for them." She turned back to the plans and frowned. "That’s going to be harder than I thought, especially since I designed these to work independently."

     Trenk frowned, tapping a key on the schematic, and frowning darkly at her. Valerie stretched to look at what he was indicating, then sighed heavily.

     "Yes, they are designed to be made largely of biological materials. How else would they withstand the entropy? I intended on using mainly fiber optics and human flesh for the development." Her pink brows drew together. "And Marius told me they’ve built the HIT-X. That is not good."

     Trenk’s black eyes widened, and his eyebrows shot up in a demonstration of emotion that would have surprised anyone else. Valerie simply nodded sadly.

     "Yup. If they caught on to the flaw I designed into them, we are totally screwed. Especially since they…make sense," she finished lamely, unable to truly describe why it was the HIT-X would not suffer from Paradox in the same way the other HIT models had. Trenk simply listened, then nodded gravely. He tapped the blueprint again, tapping in a particular pattern of sound which Valerie listened to calmly.

     "Yeah, I know it’s my fault, but what the hell was I supposed to do? We’ve both done stuff we’re not proud of," she snapped, her irritation finally showing through. Standing up straight, she motioned to the board-flat, reed-thin, stick-like fourteen year old’s body which was hers to claim. "I’m stuck like this, Trenk. No matter what I do, I’ll always be a fuckin’ fourteen year old. I’m nearly thirty, and you’re almost fifty, and we haven’t changed at all. They’ve screwed with our heads, our bodies…they practically took our souls. I don’t know how we got out alive, but we did. I can’t take back everything I ever did, and neither can you, so there’s no point in calling blame now."

     The giant looked down calmly, then gently rested a massive hand on the fluff of cotton-candy pink hair which barely came up to his waist. The light tap of his fingers was an apology, and Valerie smiled up at him, her natural good humor instantly restored.

     "I know you don’t really mean it, Trenk. We’re both just scared." She looked back at the schematics, her light grey eyes narrowing. "They really shouldn’t have been able to read these, and that’s what bothers me." The slender technician moved back to the table, boosting herself up to sit cross-legged and pulled the heavy schematics onto her lap.

     "See here? I rewrote this code so that it made no sense unless you knew to use my book of fairy tales to decipher it," she said, chewing briefly on her lip. "And they figured it out. Which means they found my book. Which means they know kind of how we got out." Trenk tapped another section of the schematic, drawing Valerie’s eyes.

     "Yeah, I saw that. It’s just a modification I made to the original design for the droids. They were going to be powered by hydrogen, but I thought using a self-generating battery would be a better idea. It’d have to be powered by a human’s body head and natural electricity." She sighed heavily, leaning back against Trenk’s immovable body. "I’m afraid to fix these, really. Every time I look at them, magick seems so far away…so…irrational. I know that I can fix the problems, and make a kill switch for them, but every time I look at my computer, I feel more…rational." She craned her head, peering up at the silent man. "Don’t you?"

     He said nothing, signed nothing, but squeezed her shoulders lightly and pointed again at the schematics, then motioned to her laptop resting nearby. She nodded, and swung her legs off the table. "I know. Quit whining and get coding." Valerie smiled up at him. "I don’t know what it would have been like without you, Trenk." The giant shrugged idly, and handed her the laptop bristling with wires and dangling thingies. Valerie looked at the laptop in her hand, and an odd expression came over her face. For a moment, all animation and life had vanished behind a mask of uncaring reason. She set the laptop down carefully on the table, and opened it, booting the small computer up with flicks of deft fingers. While she sat before the screen, she looked up at Trenk, and blinked rapidly, clearing the glaze from her eyes.

     "If nothing else, I’ll make it so I never have to do this again," she said quietly, leaning her head into the hand he placed on her hair. "This feeling of…reason is really uncomfortable now, and whatever schemes they’ve got concocted for these droids is going to go really, really badly for them just because I feel mad." She smiled suddenly, perked up, and then beamed up at Trenk. "I feel mad! I can still feel!" She whipped about and began opening programs, typing with a passion. "And while I can, I’m going to take

out my mad on them! It may be misplaced aggression, but it won’t be wasted!"