(Untitled)

[a_mere_child]

Early yesterday morning, there was an unexpected arrival at White Forest. D0G was in remarkably good shape, all things considered, but he still needed a lot of work. Alyx spent the better part of the day pounding out dents, replacing faulty wiring, and gathering spare parts so she could start designing a new left arm for her robot

Comments

[evilontheloose]

"What happened to it?" Oh, look, an Evil Genius that seems... well, remarkably non-evil.

Today. At least.

[a_mere_child]

"A building fell on him," says Alyx without looking up.

[evilontheloose]

"Need a hand?" Jordan never passes a chance to tinker with new, strange tech.

Besides, the bot is cute, and looks so hopeless, half-crushed...

[a_mere_child]

Alyx hesitates. She's always leery of other people working on her stuff. "I dunno..."

[claudiometer]

"--crap. What happened?"
Nothing quite like a severely damaged robot to bring the party to your table, right?

[a_mere_child]

"The Combine happened," says Alyx darkly. "Bombed our base into rubble. Skitch and D0G were trapped inside."

[claudiometer]

"Ouch," Claudia says, with the feeling that it's one epic understatement. "Any human casualties?"
Robots, you can at least fix, even when they're this bad.

[a_mere_child]

Alyx shakes her head. "We all made it out. Gordon and Shephard got stranded, though. They're making their way to our position on foot."

[shoeless_ed]

"Alyx-lady!" Alyx now has a skinny, red-headed, juvenile, hyperactive companion. And said companion's Corgi. "Ed has been worried! D0G-bot came here before and Ed fixed him a little but he was still kinda wonky and Ed could not fix Skitch-bot at all." Ed peers at the prone form of Skitch on the table. "Can Alyx-lady fix him?"

[a_mere_child]

Alyx takes a deep breath, and lets it out. "I'm gonna try."

[shoeless_ed]

"Ed had a thought," Ed says. "A thought she did not have before when D0G-bot was here, and then she was like 'Argh!'" Ed smacks her palm into her forehead. "'Ed, you have a head full of mush!'"

(She's got a head full of something, all right.)

"Bee-bot said Skitch-bot is like a Cybertronian, and he is all made of Cubefall Legos, right? Maybe the Cybertronians will know how to fix him!"

[a_mere_child]

"Hey, it's worth a shot," says Alyx. "Have you seen any around?"

[pattersongs]

There's a thudding of boots against the floor nearby, probably the only warning Alyx will have before the shadow falls across her table. Mordin Solus is very good at moving quietly and not talking when he has to, and the circuitry he's looking at is interesting enough not to disturb the worker.

[a_mere_child]

"You're in my light."

Alyx can be a bit blunt when she's working. And this is different from the rest of the time how, exactly?

[pattersongs]

"Apologies. Will correct."

A light flickers on, illuminating the workspace. Mordin's collar is a great place to stash small electronics, and he bends over his work often enough to need it.

[a_mere_child]

"Oh! Thank you." Alyx leans further into her work. She's located what she thinks is one of the fasteners holding Skitch's head together, but it's so tiny that she can't make out if it's a screw or a rivet or something else...