Day 42: Bus 1

[rope_victim]

After the way night had ended (Miku wasn't sure if they'd ever get the smell of charnel out of her clothes), and morning had returned with its clockwork weirdness. She was hurried onto the bus in her dark red long coat and the dark, knee-length, slightly full dress beneath it. It was surprisingly warm, Miku noted, but that could've just been her

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[arc_wrench]

HK was in a good mood, and back to tormenting his nurse as soon as he woke up. He'd gotten a new knife, gotten to test it, gotten to pin meatbags to the walls with scalpels, make one meatbag explode, and got to see his roommate as a giant, malevolent droid-like being! Oh. And watch another former inorganic lose a kidney. That had been fun too, although he had enough sense of how that would go over to already put that on the list of topics he would not mention if he saw Blitzwing again.

His good mood was soured slightly by the clothing he was given today. The worn, black "jeans" were fine, as was the black jacket, but the shirt... He suspected his nurse might be retaliating for what he'd been doing, because it... had a lot of naked meatbags on the front. He was definitely keeping his jacket closed today. And giving his nurse a double-helping of pestering as she led him out to the bus, putting him in a seat by himself and giving him a sack-full of meatbag fuel

[arc_wrench]

"Statement: I do know that, and I occasionally solve problems without the use of violence, but it's so much fun!" His eyes were lit up with the happy memories of his hundreds of kills, even though his face remained utterly blank.

"Definition: Cortosis-weave is a swordsmithing technique commonly used on high-quality vibroblades and other melee weapons when combat with opponents wielding lightsabers was considered to be likely. It also was a descriptor for equipment that had been crafted utilizing cortosis ore. Cortosis-weave was employed primarily because it made the weapon able to withstand lightsaber blows," HK said, ever the helpful encyclopedia of everything remotely related to violence.

[fencing_captain]

"Umm... what's a lightsaber?" Juri was pretty sure this man was making things up to confuse her. She didn't like that at all. As she waited for her answer, she looked in her bag to see what food there was.

[arc_wrench]

HK sighed before launching directly into the next lecture. "Definition: A lightsaber is a blade of pure plasma energy suspended in a force containment field that kept individuals from feeling the plasma's heat and to limit the length and concentration of the blade. They are mostly wielded by Force-sensitives," the capital letter was enunciated, somehow, "As other beings generally cannot handle the strong gyroscopic forces created while wielding the blade. They are quite capable of slicing straight through almost anything, deflecting blaster bolts and other energy, and are best fought against using grenades, mines, sonic screamers and cluster rockets, among others." Because none of the above could be deflected with a lightsaber.

[fencing_captain]

"That doesn't even sound possible," Juri scoffed. She pulled out a very small apple from her bag. The rest didn't look all that tasty. "I hope they medicate you soon. You're talking nonsense."

[arc_wrench]

"Statement: Then I do hope you never meet with a lightsaber, then. It would be quite embarrassing to be decapitated by nonsense." ...But who was he really kidding? It would be hilarious to watch!

[fencing_captain]

Juri waved her apple at him. "I'm sure you're right." Then she rolled her eyes. This conversation was bordering on embarrassing. She slouched lower in the seat and started to put her legs up until she saw her bare calves and remembered the stupid skirt. She sat up again and glared at HK-47. "Do you have a name?"

[arc_wrench]

"Statement: My designation is HK-47. A name beyond that is something I have no wish for. It is descriptive and utilitarian. Addendum: I do not like attempts to come up with monikers or nicknames." The embarrassment of a meatbag's spirited attempt to mangle his designation into oblivion could not be overstated.

[fencing_captain]

"Well, I'm Juri." She shook her head, still not quite believing her bad luck to sit with this character. "Why don't you want a name? There could be another robot like you, couldn't there?"

[arc_wrench]

"Negatory: I am the only HK-47 unit ever produced. My Master designed and built me personally." Always a point of pride. He wasn't just some assembly line model like an HK-24. "Since then, the HK line has been declared highly illegal in most civilized systems because of this unit's effectiveness in carrying out assassinations." Another point of great pride. He wasn't just illegal, he was highly illegal.

[fencing_captain]

"You assassinate people?" Juri asked. Not that she liked the answers, but creepy HK-47 seemed perfectly happy to answer her questions.

She rubbed her eyes, mostly so she could hide her expression a few moments. "So, Mister Killer Robot, have you been here long?"

[arc_wrench]

"Affirmative: Yes, as I said, I am an assassin droid. It is my primary function to burn holes through meatbags that my Master wishes removed from the galaxy."

HK made a small irritated sound. "Statement: I did say I did not want a name, and it has now been eighteen days since I booted up in this meatbag chassis here." Eighteen days of humiliation, frustration, and a distinct lack of killing things. ...It was rather like being stuck on the Ebon Hawk, actually.

[fencing_captain]

"That's a category, not a name. It's like saying you're a 'droid." Juri wondered a bit about the 'burning holes' statement, but decided she didn't really want to know the honest answer to that.

"In all that time," she ventured instead, "you haven't gotten away. Have you seen any of these monsters?"

[arc_wrench]

"Statement: Droids are usually created for a certain function, unlike meatbags. If I was a bulk-loader droid, I would make an extremely inefficient assassin." Well, maybe he could just squash meatbags if he ever was stuck with that terrible fate, but dropping cargo containers on targets would get old quite fast.

"Answer: I have terminated many, including last night, which involved fairly small, fire-breathing, acidic lizard meatbags. One of them exploded. It was messy. And very, very fun." He wished more things would explode when he punctured them.

[fencing_captain]

Juri found the yogurt and looked through he bag for a spoon. "If you were a bulk-loader droid, I would have called you 'loader robot' or something like that. You're a killer robot." Juri didn't like making people comfortable around her. She realized she was probably going to extremes with this man who could be potentially very dangerous, if he still had his skill at murder. However, she didn't want to show any gaps in her emotional armor. Sometimes that meant staying on the attack.

"Is there a big variety here?"

[arc_wrench]

"Statement: Thank you." HK took the 'killer robot' part as a compliment.

"Affirmative: There are many kinds. Usually this would be the time when I would direct your attention to the ever-present list of varieties of hostile collected on the bulletin board, but it obviously is beyond reach at this moment." The great art of being un-helpful in a helpful manner was quite satisfying to practice.