Five seconds later...
Slowly, quietly, D0G pokes his head back out through the door. Sure enough, the scanners are right where he left them, low in the western sky and moving slowly, almost lazily, toward his position. But he's not very visible with just his head poking out; if he stays absolutely still, he has a good chance of escaping undetected.
Robots are very, very good at holding still if the situation calls for it.
As they approach, the scanners descend and spread out, covering the entire ruined village at an elevation of thirty feet. A few of them descend further to investigate one building or another, but apparently find nothing of interest, because they quickly rise again to the level of their siblings.
If D0G had lungs, he'd be holding his breath just now.
Two minutes and fifty-one seconds later, almost all of the scanners have all passed through the town. Almost. There's one straggler. As it passes the building where D0G is hiding, it slows and turns to face the combat droid directly.
D0G's response is immediate and decisive. hmmmmm - TCHOOOM goes the zero-point energy gun, grabbing the scanner and smashing it against the wall before it can react. D0G immediately freezes again--did the other scanners hear that? Apparently not; they're rising back up to continue their journey east.
Once the swarm is out of sight, D0G bends down to get a better look at the creature-device-object he's just smashed. It's smaller than a roller mine, and irregularly shaped, with several antennas and a large optic on the front, now cracked and useless thanks to D0G's assault. The droid has never seen anything quite like it. Why is that?
D0G carefully wedges the remains of the scanner into his undercarriage basket, on top of Skitch and the battery pack Ellen Park made for him. Alyx will be able to figure it out, once he finds her.
Robots are very, very good at holding still if the situation calls for it.
As they approach, the scanners descend and spread out, covering the entire ruined village at an elevation of thirty feet. A few of them descend further to investigate one building or another, but apparently find nothing of interest, because they quickly rise again to the level of their siblings.
If D0G had lungs, he'd be holding his breath just now.
Two minutes and fifty-one seconds later, almost all of the scanners have all passed through the town. Almost. There's one straggler. As it passes the building where D0G is hiding, it slows and turns to face the combat droid directly.
D0G's response is immediate and decisive. hmmmmm - TCHOOOM goes the zero-point energy gun, grabbing the scanner and smashing it against the wall before it can react. D0G immediately freezes again--did the other scanners hear that? Apparently not; they're rising back up to continue their journey east.
Once the swarm is out of sight, D0G bends down to get a better look at the creature-device-object he's just smashed. It's smaller than a roller mine, and irregularly shaped, with several antennas and a large optic on the front, now cracked and useless thanks to D0G's assault. The droid has never seen anything quite like it. Why is that?
D0G carefully wedges the remains of the scanner into his undercarriage basket, on top of Skitch and the battery pack Ellen Park made for him. Alyx will be able to figure it out, once he finds her.