originally posted in:The New Dojo
[i]Shi Canyon. A desolate and barren land of empty waterbags and broken dreams to many, but a promising land of success for those who know how to make it work out. Not many frontiersmen remain on the planet of Tatakai, especially with Dojoville, Lumen Solis, and Khalosh being such big locations, but there were a good number of pioneers in the world to settle in the dusty ditch. And that was exactly what a certain person was looking for.
Posters had gone up months ago, promising safety and land for all people who went there. The Shi Canyon, an oasis in the desert - But not the inner parts of the canyon, rather the top rim of the immesurably high walls. That one area, far enough that an earthquake wouldn't send the whole settlement over and into the canyon but close enough to be on the territory, was advertised as a potential option for people wishing to live their lives. At first those who came were the poor and the criminals of society, but after a certain beneficiary paid for their schooling in medical, electrical, engineering, and many other fields? Plenty of others came and signed on to settle.
And now it was the hour at hand for these people to make a home. The Marshal had purchased enough transport trucks to carry over a village worth of equipment, and he had driven them in a trek out of Dojoville and into the land of promises and life. A paving crew followed behind and made a road behind the caravan, and soon enough they had managed to get to the lip of the canyon closest to Dojoville.
From that came the building. Smaller structures came at first but everyone pitched in, and a few shacks of wood were erected. Those who built the wood houses got first shift of sleeping, and those who didn't work yet got to doing it. It took a good few weeks, but soon there were enough ranches around the place, enough community buildings to form a city. And thus, Marshal's Rest was created. It wasn't named by the people or anything, instead JT took the name and forced the people to run with it. [/i]
[b]Marshal's Rest, Shi Canyon // Ranch, 10km from the city // "Marshal JT"[/b]
[i]"...Now, why the fûck did I do it? Simple. I was bored and needed something to do. So, why not make a place of redemption?" JT asked himself, staring in the mirror of his bathroom. His face was half covered in a blue shaving gel and he kept a straight razor in his right hand, staring himself down in the reflection with a grin on his face. He got to cutting the beard after - Not enough to lose all his hair, but enough to make him look noticeably cleaner and smooth shaven.
The cowboy left the washroom and went over to the porch of the ranch. As far as the eye could see, there was farmland. Fertile soil and water had been imported from Dojoville and purchased by him for each house, and farms of wheat, corn, and plenty of other foods had been set. JT had looked to the wheat field and grinned, taking a seat on the rocking chair in the corner of the wooden porch. He wasn't even wearing pants this time, but it didn't matter to him - He wasn't expecting guests, so he just kept a towel on and a shotgun on his lap as he stared out across the wheat field. [/i]
[spoiler]Open.
Y'all write bar posts when you're bored, but JT set up a city. Feel free to just go and buy some property for free, speak to him, do whatever. [/spoiler]
English
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Roughly thirty minutes went by, before Penny actually entered. She had stayed sitting as she was out in the fields, thinking to herself, trying to understand things. She didn't say much, instead speaking to something that wasn't there initially. "Bismuth, bring up maintenance deck." Then, a disembodied voice replied, an Irish woman's voice. Natural, exotic. Beautiful as it rang throughout the high tech room. "acknowledged. Specifics, 2E?" "None, bring it all up." She stopped in the center of the room then, as a click was heard, and a circle in the floor gave way. Rather large, forcing JT to step back. It halved, and then slid under the floors as another circle was raised up to replace it. A table lay on it, cushioned to support Penny's body. Several smaller tables around it, wheels on them, organized with tools and supplied. The monitor of the computer lit up then, displaying real time information on Penny.
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[i]"Right, ready to start?" JT asked. He tried his damnedest to not make a joke that would make her freak out about being opened up. [/i]
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She glanced to him then, a neutral look on her face, hiding emotions. "Normally I would work on myself. But the second body is still being built. Please don't damage me further." Her voice cracked, as she didn't mean it in a rude way. She was more begging, sorrowful still. Walking forward, she lay down on her back on the table, a ring rising around her forehead, which then displayed her entire conscious as a holographic map on the screen. He had access to her every whim and thought once more.
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[spoiler]Mind if we skip this part? Like last time, I don't know the specifics about Penny's internals. Plus I don't actually have much A.I experience beyond knowing slight bits about coding. [/spoiler]
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[spoiler]Sure I'll leave you to start it up again[/spoiler]
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[spoiler]Kk. [/spoiler] [i]JT had finally finished up, though it took him some time to correct all the code. He managed to reattach her head through a fine tuned welding process, since he had to actually physically reset part of her 'Brain' earlier. He sat down on thin air, locking his legs into place in a reclined state. [/i]
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With it done, the computer ran diagnostics, the AI named "Bismuth" looking over everything. The Irish voice having been directing him at times. JT had succeeded in fixing the error in her coding, a literal divide in her matrix having existed, but repaired now. The reset having cleared the abrasive part of her AI, she was left with normal self. Finally. A few minutes went by before it was that the computer winked an all clear, and Penny jolted once more, signifying her awakening.
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[i]"Welcome to the land of the living," JT said to Penny, watching her jolt up. His face adopted an expression of happiness that it had worked, and her awakening was a sign. [/i]
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She sat for a moment, running a diagnostic of herself, checking all that JT did. The android wanted to be sure it was fixed. A few moments went by before she did nod, moving to collect her shirt from where it lay. Having to disconnect and then reconnect a head meant removing clothing. "If I was living it would be different. But, thank you, JT. I can't think of how to repay you. Maybe not insulting would be a good idea, although now it won't happen.
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[i]"Heh. Don't worry about payment." Penny was like a daughter to JT, so there was no need for him to take payment. Nor any ways, given her financial status. He stood up from his seated position and gave a sigh of relief. [/i]
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"Seal it up, Bismuth." Nothing was said then, as the floor once more sunk, disappearing into a pit below, as the original blank one reappeared and slipped back into place, leaving the room empty once more. Penny sat down on a bench across the room, rubbing her temples.
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[i]"Are you feeling alright, Penny?" [/i]
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"You try having someone dig around your core processors and redo coding. Everything doesn't feel right, but I know its as it should be." She groaned then, leaning back against the wall.
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[i]"Yeah, had it happen before. Back home in Cedyetica, got a chip implanted into my brain. Hurt like hell for weeks." [/i]
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"You had a chip. You just reset a part of me, then redid the rest. Half sure there's a big difference there."
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[i]"Not really. I was a massive junkie back in the day - So the guy augmenting me had to deal with installing part of my brain as it malfunctioned."[/i]
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"Oh..." It was all she could muster at the moment, falling silent again. The only sound now being the sound of the machines constructing the body. Eventually she looked back up. "I'm sorry."
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[i]"Don't be," JT said, his tone somewhat upbeat. There were times he reminisced on his past, but never times he regretted augments. "It was a different time." [/i]
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"Well, it was that. And I'm sorry for earlier." She let put out a sigh then, standing up.
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[i]"Not your fault, I made an error is all. Won't happen again." [/i]
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"No, I should have let you know sooner, it would have avoided that whole mess."
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[i]"No, we both reacted badly to it. Remember." [/i]
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"If you say so..." She trailed off then, deep in thought once more.
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[i]"Want me to leave you be for now?" [/i]
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"I... I don't want to be alone." Her words sounded a bit forced, as she made herself say them. It was reality, after all.