"Name is 'Alita', or is it 'Gally'?" asked the uncertain gynoid.
"Maybe it's Alita Gally? Or Gally Alita?" asked Kizna as she set a program to work on recovering other sectors.
"Neither sounds right," said the gynoid.
"It's the first time I've seen an artificial self-repairing neurostructure," said Kizna. "If it's an experimental system, there might still be some tweaks needed."
"Maybe it's 'Gunm'? Gunm..." asked the gynoid.
"Or 'Gundam'?" asked Kizna. "I think I saw that term come up once."
"No, I do not think that is it," said the gynoid.
"We'll just call you Alita for now then," said Kizna.
"Very well," said Alita. "What am I?"
"That's a good question," said Kizna after a few moments of reading displays. "Legally you'd be a gynoid in five star systems. You'd be considered a cyborg in four other star systems. Everywhere else it varies."
"Varies?" asked Alita.
"Well, yes, interstellar law isn't exactly one of my hobbies, but I've had to learn a bit," admitted Kizna. "In the Phi Manju Sigma system, you'd be considered a toaster."
"A... toaster?" asked Alita.
"Whereas in the Eltakik system, you'd be considered an abomination to be destroyed on sight," said Kizna.
"A 'toaster'?" repeated Alita.
"Yeah," said Kizna. "Don't worry. We're not going anywhere near there. In the PMS system I'd be considered a mutant just because I've got cat-ears, and I'd be escorted off-system. In Eltakik, I'd be considered an aberration and sentenced to death."
"I see..." said Alita.
"You've got a lot of techno-wizard systems," said Kizna. "I don't know much about those. My first job worked with them to some extent, but it's a VERY specialized area of knowledge."
"Oh?" asked Alita.
"The sort of thing you have to get a replacement and then send the original off for repairs," explained Kizna. "I can try to contact some people, but they won't work cheap."
"Oh," said Alita simply.
"Well, like these," said Kizna, bringing details up on her screen. "I can tell that they're short-range plasma emitters. One of the mecha I worked in had a similar TW enhancement. You've got them in housings behind your knuckles - but it looks like they were originally in your fingertips. Which is STUPID for a thought-activated system."
"Why?" asked Alita.
"Hmmm, oh because of the possibility of an accidental activation," said Kizna, still pointing to the thin tubes on the screen. "Not to mention it'd drop the tactile sensitivity of your fingertips by over 70%."
"Oh," said Alita. "I've recovered some data. Looks like a knowledge base on a martial arts style named 'Panzer Kunst.'"
"Don't get me wrong, it's great that you've been able to recover some data, but I really wish a repair manual were in there," said Kizna. "Magic isn't my field of expertise."
"There are four such additional hard-memory cores," pointed out Alita. "As you repair the damage, I will attempt to recover their contents. Self-repair data may still be accessible."
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:07)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.