(Untitled)

[a_mere_child]

Finally, the Resistance has had some good news. Oh, sure, they're still short on manpower, supplies, and transportation ( at least as far as Alyx knows), but Alyx thinks she may have hit a breakthrough on PIaDOS's systems. Assuming she can get the right parts

Comments

[i_candozat]

There is a second person studying the bits spread out on the table with cocked head, and a tiny pout as he concentrates on the pieces.

"Vhat is all zis?"

[a_mere_child]

"A broken AI I'm trying to get working again," says Alyx without looking up. "Don't touch anything."

[i_candozat]

"Broken how? And vhat sort of AI?" he asks, hands behind his back.

[a_mere_child]

"She used to run the Borealis's systems," explains Alyx. "But she's been offline ever since we crashed, and she wasn't exactly in perfect condition before that."

[i_candozat]

"Hm."

Pavel cocks his head. "And you are trying to fix zis, obwiously. Do you know vhich of zese parts in malfunctioning?"

[a_mere_child]

"These ones--" she gestures toward a small pile on her far right-- "are probably a lost cause. The rest I'm still trying to sort through."

[i_candozat]

He nods, and continues to watch her for a moment. "If I can be of help, I vould be interested in doing so."

[a_mere_child]

Alyx considers this a moment, then shrugs and gestures to the chair next to her. "Just--be extremely careful, okay?"

[i_candozat]

"Da."

He sits carefully and lays his hands on the table, careful to avoid messing with any of the pieces. "Can you tell me vhat caused it to go offline?"

[a_mere_child]

"Offhand, I'd say the drop of about a hundred feet onto a dry lakebed did the trick," says Alyx dryly. "That, and Aperture was lousy at securing their internal fixtures to the walls and floors."

[i_candozat]

He glances at Alyx curiously for the lakebed comment, but Pavel doesn't ask out loud. "Hm. Nozing looks to be irreparable," he says. At least, not to the naked eye.

"And zey all still hawe ze magical vhite smoke?" he asks offhandedly, the tiny crook of his mouth the only clue that he's joking.

[a_mere_child]

"Unless the ship had much better ventilation than I was aware of, yeah."

[i_candozat]

Pavel made a light, thoughtful noise, and picked up one of the tiny pieces nearest him, asking a rat for a pair of magnifying glasses--though he hated the way they looked, his eyesight wasn't good enough to focus on the tiny components for each chip.

[a_mere_child]

Evidently Alyx thinks this is a good idea, seeing as how she has a word with another passing waitrat, who comes back with one of these.

[i_candozat]

Pavel gives it a sideways look, and his waitrat comes back with the glasses, which make him blink to adjust before he goes back to studying the chip in his palm, now a mere few centimeters from the end of his nose.

"One of ze circuits is jarred loose on zis," he says, tilting his hand to show her.

[a_mere_child]

Alyx frowns at it. "Hm. Let me see that..." She gently takes it and clamps it in one of the magnifier's grippers before picking up a pair of tweezers. "I've got a soldering gun, but I think if we just push this in, that might fix it..."