thisavrou_log | Welcome, friend [Closed]

After a long nanocycle, Ram slowly raises his head from his hands, looking rather drawn and exhausted.

'That's good to know, thanks. What's the quality like?' Staying objective is easier to handle right now. As is discussion of energy over... Let's just leave it at that.

It takes a moment, but Ram pushes himself up from the sofa and steps across the room to Yori. He nods at her explanation of the lock and gratitude and relief flash across his expression. 'Clever lock.'

"Not bad. Nothing liquid, though. Energy doesn't work quite the same way out here." Yori moves into her room, letting Ram decide whether he's willing to close the door while she gets out the necessary equipment.

Batteries come in varying levels of perceptible quality, some better than others. Yori has five large rechargeable ones in her room and a few more hidden away for emergencies.

Her main source of recharge, though, the best as long as the station has power, is a flat flexible surface attached by wires to one of the specialized adapters she and the Savrii had worked out. "The energy lines that go through the walls here can feed whole systems, so to make it safe for a program like you or me, we have this adapter."

The coiled cord is long enough to pace with, if you're careful not to trip. Yori plugs it in by way of demonstration and rests her hand on the charging surface, a steady bright intake that doesn't show much when her circuits are so hidden.

It's worlds better than the trickle the MCP kept the factory programs at; she's not sure how that compares with game grid imprisonment. There's a strange unfiltered quality to it, even stepped down to safe levels. Energy that's never passed through any part of a system, now hers alone.

She holds out the charge surface for Ram's inspection.

'Not liquid?' This is a distraction, this is welcome. He follows her into the room and inspects the equipment as she explains it. It all seems well thought out and is clearly effective given the continued resolution of the programs he's seen so far.

'Good thing for the adapter. Did they already have that or did it have to be installed when programs came here?' Would Users have a different use for it? If so, what? If not, how long did it take? Did the first programs here struggle while they tried to hook it up? Did they--

/Terminatefunction-queryline

Under normal circumstances, he can handle the slew of questions that come with new experiences. These are... not.

He can just make out a slightly brighter glow under Yori's clothes and when she offers the surface to him, he studies it carefully before reaching out and resting his hand on it.

/Ohthat'sbetter.

The energy that flows into him reminds him of that which he, Tron and Flynn drank (less than a microcycle ago) at the energy pool. It's clean and pure with a slight tingle that you don't get once it's been processed, and his circuits brighten as he lets out a small sigh of relief.

"They had a number of different adapters for all kinds of computer systems." She holds up the ACE on her arm. "Including small ones. It only took a little work to make it taste good." Work she'd done with with the Savrii, most of whom she must assume are dead.

Evidence strongly suggested that Ram wouldn't have any problem using the same energy input as Yori does, but it's still good to see him enjoy it.

Rinzler, impatient, had tried to tap right into a wall socket once. She can't recommend it. If not for Security program toughness, he might not have survived the experience.

That's another story Ram probably wouldn't want to hear right now.

Yori leaves the charger to Ram and move to trail an affectionate hand across her shelf full of collected batteries, blocky shapes from large to small. "These can store energy for emergencies," she tells him. "The adapter makes them a much nicer experience, but they won't damage you if you're stuck without one." She'd chosen her supply as carefully as she could, back on Kauto when there was any choice.

'I'm glad there was an existing energy source to work from.' That implies they were quickly able to adapt it to make it safe, so hopefully the first programs didn't get low on power.

The energy continues to flow, clean and steady. He closes his eyes for a moment, then opens them again and shakes his head when exhaustion starts automatically beginning protocols for shutdown. He can't sleep standing up, or with his hand on the charger.

'Portable energy sources? That's certainly useful.' He follows her trailing hand with his gaze. 'How do you use them?'

"I'm glad, too." Both on the Moira and with the Savrii, she'd learned a great deal about how Users construct systems and the rules that energy follows out here. The scant months in Inugami high school had been much more frustrating and less informative.

She picks up the smallest and demonstrates the metal contact points. "If you complete a circuit like this, on the path where it would connect to other systems, you can pull energy. Carefully. It's almost like absorbing it from a system, but if the battery is full there's always going to be a lot more here than you need, so set your own limits a little at a time."

Exactly opposite to the standard limits the MCP had set low for factory workers. She assumes Ram wasn't on high priority usage quotas either.

He looks too tired to listen to more than the absolute necessities. Yori smiles, sympathetic. "Don't worry, there's time to learn all this. You should rest." Her bed with its neatly tucked blue blanket is soft enough to be irresponsible even by the standards of programs outside a prison cell, something she's come to appreciate.

He watches, making notes on the procedure so should a battery ever be a necessity, there will be minimal time and energy wasted in trying to find the proper method of use. It may be a good idea to find his own access to such supplies, portable energy would be very useful.

'How much power can they store? Or does it range between the battery types?' She seems to have a number of different ones available.

He takes his hand off the charging pad and his circuits dim a little as the connection breaks. He's not up to full, but the need to shut down is proving more urgent. 'Could I sleep here, what with--' A nod of his head towards the door Rinzler had left through. 'If not, where might I find a place?' Please not too far away.

"There's a range," she agrees, patting her collection gently. "The little one here can provide me charge for about a week, if I'm not fighting all the time." Programs don't need much compared to the systems the Savrii designed these batteries for. She'd tested it herself, and then there had been that dream journey.

Rinzler is a separate calculation, of course, but Ram doesn't need the details now as much as he needs rest.

This is the best place for Ram to sleep, since the other options are closer to Rinzler. As long as she lets Rinzler know where she is and tries to work out the issues elsewhere, it should be fine. "Go ahead," she assures him. "I can rest somewhere else, and Rinzler will be happier not to run into you on his patrols."

It would probably be fine now that Rinzler's agreed that Ram is her problem, even if she weren't there to separate them, but she doesn't want to take that risk too soon.

'That's a lot of energy stored in a small component.' Very useful. He nods, impressed. Certainly he'll have to get himself some of these batteries. He makes a note to do so in the next few microcycles. /Not right now.

He follows her back into the sleeping chamber. 'Are you sure? That's very kind of you.' He would also like to not run into Rinzler for a little while, please. 'I suppose I'll see you tomorrow then. Thank you again for... well, for everything.'

The bed base is squishy, the sheets on top soft and so very different from the shelf on the Game Grid. It's been so long. So long and this is his first night out and--

/It wasn't supposed to be like this.

--freezes.

/Systemstalled-redirectingpower

/Redirect-successful//

Ram staggers and catches himself on the bed, blinking hard. Okay. Time's up. With careful movements, he climbs into the bed. It's comfortable but he almost feels like he's sinking into it. After a nanocycle he pushes the sheet to the bottom of the bed and adds the pillow. Funny how he used to dream of these and now they're just... too much. For now.

He curls up on the bed, arms tucked under his head like he grew used to, and, finally, lets his system crash and shut down.

Reassuring Ram again and wishing him a good rest are easier to process than figuring out what she needs to do next.

At least Ram's need to rest gives Yori a moment to recover, to calculate. Rinzler won't object to Ram spending the night as long as she tells Rinzler where she is, as opposed to making him go looking for her and possibly running into Ram instead.

Yori stretches out on the couch nearest her room, weary on many levels in spite of the partial recharge. Her head rests against the soft cushioned edge, tempting her toward sleep.

After a long moment, she gathers the strength to lift her ACE. She promised Rinzler a report. Rinzler will need accurate details, the better to convince him to keep avoiding hostilities with Ram.

I'm all right, she begins, to head off any worry.

Sent new ally to rest in my room. I'm on the couch. He doesn't have all the data he'll need yet. Too tired to keep talking. I'm sorry I couldn't explain before he started making assumptions about you, Rinzler.

Welcome, friend [Closed]

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