[When everything else in Rocket's life is a clusterfuck of epic proportions, tech is always there for him. Maybe it's because he, himself, is a nice little hodgepodge of cybernetic parts and the act of tinkering and repairing and rebuilding things gives him some sense of control over things. Or maybe he just likes to keep his hands busy. It doesn't have to be that deep. God.
He's been at this sporadically all afternoon and as everyone begins to head to bed, he's gained an additional set of hands in the form of Angel who seems to know her own way around these things, he's learning.]
I mean we didn't all freakin' die when we landed, so that's a point in their favor, but there ain't a whole lot to these things.
[ Lucky for him, Angel is both tech savvy and not much of a sleeper, so she'll be here for a while. She picks through the pile of scavenged tech, picking up and turning an unusual looking circuit board over in her hands, trying to get a good look at the pathways in the dimming light. ]
I suppose, but I would have preferred to remain on the station. At least there things were somewhat familiar in nature, unlike...nature.
Right? I had a tree for a friend back home, and that was as close to nature as I ever wanna get.
[He's an urban creature, first and foremost. Half-World's labs may have been in a lush tropical area, but he didn't stay there long enough to master the untamed wilds.] I would've had this place nailed down if they'd dropped us near a city.
[ It's not even said as a question, because she doesn't know where to start asking (and considering who she's talking to, it might just be easier to accept such a statement.) It does sound like something only those very into nature would say though, you know the ones.
She's still trying to get a good look at the piece in her hands, to make out what the markings at the connecting points say but it's gotten too dim to read clearly. ]
Even in a city, I'm not sure how well I would have fared. I don't remember the last time I set foot in one.
[Rocket shrugs. Yeah. A tree. Which is a little bit weirder than an uplifted animal, because Groot is from a race of sentient tree people that live out on some distant planet somewhere.
He eyes her, about to make some dry comment about being a shut-in, but given what she's already told him and what he can discern, he deigns not to. He remembers a time when he was a "shut in" as in "shut in a cage."]
I guess Legion fucked off somewhere. I was usin' him earlier. Here. [He rifles through the pouches around his waist and produces a small flashlight.] That oughta do it. I'm trying to figure out the components that cushioned the impact. The problem is the landing was so rough, most of 'em fried.
[ She takes the small light from him, clicking the button at its base to turn it on and holding it to the board in her hands...only to see that the circuits are fried beyond use. She sighs and sets it aside, picking up a strange spherical piece in its stead. ]
Anti-grav mines if nothin' else. I thought maybe I could make a small forcefield around the camp, but it's too much of a pain to put up and take down. Mines travel, and they don't blow up so I can keep usin' 'em. It's just a matter of making them react on their own or else I'm gonna be stayin' up all night with the controls.
I see...So you think the landing may have been assisted by an anti-grav component? I've heard people speak of the road from here to the city being a dangerous one, so any weaponry will likely benefit us.
[ As she speaks, she's trying to unlock the piece in her hands. It seems like it's made of two parts that can separate so she tries twisting the ends in opposite directions- only to get a bit of a shock, thing must have been storing some charge. ]
Here. [He takes it out of her hand while she's recovering from the shock and carefully twists in a slightly different way and then hands the two pieces back.] Electrical shocks throw some of my wiring off-kilter, so I figured out how to avoid it pretty damn fast.
[ Angel blinks a bit at that. There's so much strangeness in this place, the types of magic you'd only read about in Bunkers and Badasses- Angel hadn't really questioned Rocket's ability to talk or act somewhat human. So the mention of wiring catches her attention. She wants to ask...but she doesn't want to be insensitive. You can't just ask someone, raccoon or no, if they're a robot. Especially with how she feels about her own modifications. Even now she gets a little self conscious, worried at the thought that the shock could have done something to her ports and touching them gingerly. ]
I have a lot of knowledge with regards to technology and its inner workings, but admittedly I was hardly ever hands-on about it.
[ She passes the piece over to him with some care, opting to hold the flashlight on it instead so he can see it clearly. ]
[His hands move deftly, switching wires and piecing together parts until he has what amounts to a small anti-grav field that he tests by dropping his screwdriver into it. It hums with a soft blue light and holds the tool up until Rocket switches it off.]
Before I got real good at stealin' and even better at making money, I had to mod all my own tech, myself. I learned fast. You'd be surprised what you can pick up when you don't have a choice.
[He picks up the dropped screwdriver and gestures with it.] I'm not pickin' up anything from out here, though. We better be goin' someplace with a nice, big urban sprawl.
[ She watches as the field turns on and supports the screwdriver, clapping her hands together when it's a success. ]
All my specialties revolved around coding [ And acting ] a task that's has already been made more arduous with the absence of my...abilities. But out here, I'm becoming exponentially useless.
[ She deflates a little, reaching over to take another miscellaneous tech piece and fiddling with it as a distraction. ]
I'd at least like to learn how to take care of my augmentations. Even if I remain incompatible with our surroundings, it would be an unfortunate fate to die from malfunction.
[ Unfortunate but kinda hilarious, if you're a lover of dramatic irony. ]
[Rocket looks over at her and then turns away, turning the screwdriver over and over in his tiny hands.] They're basically cybernetics, right? I could teach you how to maintain 'em. I've had to keep up with mine on my own for years now. Hopefully, the station'll have any parts we might need in an emergency, but if it's just upkeep...
[ That Rocket sights them as involuntary really hits home for her, something not easy to talk about she's sure. ]
I'm so sorry... Mine...remember how I mentioned my father was just a bit of a monster?
[ Because it wouldn't be fair, for Rocket to trust her enough to divulge something so personal and her- especially with her similar past- not share in turn. And sharing is caring. ]
[Rocket's used to people just looking at him and knowing without him having to say anything. Cybernetics really are common out in the wider galaxy, but if a little animal has them, then it's clear he's a discarded (or escaped) science experiment.]
He put you under and put those things in your head without askin' first?
[ She frowns, letting out a sharp breath. Angel is far from strong (or even average in strength) but the piece of scrap she's currently holding creaks quietly in her grip. ]
[His teeth bare in a kind of pseudo-flinch. It's hard to grok exactly- she's such a nice person. People from bad backgrounds aren't generally that nice.]
Made you feel like an object? Didn't give a shit about you unless it gave him some personal gain? Stop me when I get close. I got a million of these.
[ Kept her in extreme captivity, made her do his dirty work, turned her first into a human computer and then into a human battery... ]
You could go on, though I'd prefer if you didn't. Here--
[ She passes the piece she had been toying with, it's in pretty good condition, and even though Rocket has already finished his anti-grav mine, he may find use for this as well. Picking up another to channel her nervous energy. ]
Back where I came from, I had...unique abilities, ones that were extremely rare. My father-- Jack, did not hesitate to take advantage of them, or me.
[ She slots what looks like a matching piece into a strangely shaped hole on the first, smiles briefly when they click together ]
I was more of a prized science project than a daughter, in the end.
[ And complicit in the majority of his greatest crimes, a key piece to his rise to power and destruction. But she isn't ready to say those things out loud to someone she only met in the past couple of weeks. She does't want to ruin yet another friendship with the truth of her. ]
[Rocket doesn't know the extent of what Ego needed Quill for- he caught bits and pieces of it when they were traveling to the core, but he was focused on mining and not the family drama. If he had, maybe he could have driven away from his own damage and promptly laid out Quill's for her.
Except he's not that much of an asshole. Even just with what he gleaned in passing, he thinks the two of them should probably talk, though. That's a problem for another day. For now, he tries to piece something else together with an ease that looks careless.]
Yeah, it seems like everyone I know has got a dad like that. Well, almost everyone, but it's definitely a majority of people with bullshit dads. Not that it makes anything better, but...
[But what? "Well, you have a bullshit dad, but so does everyone" comes dangerously close to the same logic behind "everyone's got dead people." He wrinkles his muzzle in a quiet snarl.]
Point is... You're not an asshole. Sometimes when your only family treats you like shit, you start thinkin' you really are, and then you just lash out.
[ Angels head snaps up and turns to face him after he says that. She spends so much time thinking about how she isn't a good person, that she's done terrible, unforgivable things. That Jack's influence was an explanation, but never an excuse. She could have defied him sooner, she should have...Hearing someone voice otherwise, even something so simple as "you're not an asshole" resonates with Angel and speaks to the guilt she's been harboring in a way she can't really describe. The sentiment means a lot to her. She fights back against it but her face still screws up a bit ]
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beatupgrass) wrote2017-07-02 05:08 am
action; for Angel
He's been at this sporadically all afternoon and as everyone begins to head to bed, he's gained an additional set of hands in the form of Angel who seems to know her own way around these things, he's learning.]
I mean we didn't all freakin' die when we landed, so that's a point in their favor, but there ain't a whole lot to these things.
no subject
I suppose, but I would have preferred to remain on the station. At least there things were somewhat familiar in nature, unlike...nature.
no subject
[He's an urban creature, first and foremost. Half-World's labs may have been in a lush tropical area, but he didn't stay there long enough to master the untamed wilds.] I would've had this place nailed down if they'd dropped us near a city.
no subject
[ It's not even said as a question, because she doesn't know where to start asking (and considering who she's talking to, it might just be easier to accept such a statement.) It does sound like something only those very into nature would say though, you know the ones.
She's still trying to get a good look at the piece in her hands, to make out what the markings at the connecting points say but it's gotten too dim to read clearly. ]
Even in a city, I'm not sure how well I would have fared. I don't remember the last time I set foot in one.
Do we have a light available to use?
no subject
He eyes her, about to make some dry comment about being a shut-in, but given what she's already told him and what he can discern, he deigns not to. He remembers a time when he was a "shut in" as in "shut in a cage."]
I guess Legion fucked off somewhere. I was usin' him earlier. Here. [He rifles through the pouches around his waist and produces a small flashlight.] That oughta do it. I'm trying to figure out the components that cushioned the impact. The problem is the landing was so rough, most of 'em fried.
no subject
[ She takes the small light from him, clicking the button at its base to turn it on and holding it to the board in her hands...only to see that the circuits are fried beyond use. She sighs and sets it aside, picking up a strange spherical piece in its stead. ]
What do you plan to do with them?
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[ As she speaks, she's trying to unlock the piece in her hands. It seems like it's made of two parts that can separate so she tries twisting the ends in opposite directions- only to get a bit of a shock, thing must have been storing some charge. ]
BBDZTTtshi-!! shoot. ow.
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She wants to ask...but she doesn't want to be insensitive. You can't just ask someone, raccoon or no, if they're a robot. Especially with how she feels about her own modifications.
Even now she gets a little self conscious, worried at the thought that the shock could have done something to her ports and touching them gingerly. ]
I have a lot of knowledge with regards to technology and its inner workings, but admittedly I was hardly ever hands-on about it.
[ She passes the piece over to him with some care, opting to hold the flashlight on it instead so he can see it clearly. ]
no subject
Before I got real good at stealin' and even better at making money, I had to mod all my own tech, myself. I learned fast. You'd be surprised what you can pick up when you don't have a choice.
[He picks up the dropped screwdriver and gestures with it.] I'm not pickin' up anything from out here, though. We better be goin' someplace with a nice, big urban sprawl.
no subject
All my specialties revolved around coding [ And acting ] a task that's has already been made more arduous with the absence of my...abilities. But out here, I'm becoming exponentially useless.
[ She deflates a little, reaching over to take another miscellaneous tech piece and fiddling with it as a distraction. ]
I'd at least like to learn how to take care of my augmentations. Even if I remain incompatible with our surroundings, it would be an unfortunate fate to die from malfunction.
[ Unfortunate but kinda hilarious, if you're a lover of dramatic irony. ]
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[ Her politeness continues to keep her from asking bluntly ]
You're the first person I've met since waking who has knowledge on this, so I would greatly appreciate that. Were you...
[ She doesn't know how to ask this, tries again ]
Are you--
[ No no that's worse ]
If I may ask, what is your background, in this field?
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Cybernetic skeletal structure. Highly involuntary, which means I don't do doctors. If I want it done, I do it myself.
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I'm so sorry...
Mine...remember how I mentioned my father was just a bit of a monster?
[ Because it wouldn't be fair, for Rocket to trust her enough to divulge something so personal and her- especially with her similar past- not share in turn. And sharing is caring. ]
no subject
He put you under and put those things in your head without askin' first?
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He did more than that.
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Made you feel like an object? Didn't give a shit about you unless it gave him some personal gain? Stop me when I get close. I got a million of these.
no subject
You could go on, though I'd prefer if you didn't. Here--
[ She passes the piece she had been toying with, it's in pretty good condition, and even though Rocket has already finished his anti-grav mine, he may find use for this as well. Picking up another to channel her nervous energy. ]
Back where I came from, I had...unique abilities, ones that were extremely rare. My father-- Jack, did not hesitate to take advantage of them, or me.
[ She slots what looks like a matching piece into a strangely shaped hole on the first, smiles briefly when they click together ]
I was more of a prized science project than a daughter, in the end.
[ And complicit in the majority of his greatest crimes, a key piece to his rise to power and destruction. But she isn't ready to say those things out loud to someone she only met in the past couple of weeks. She does't want to ruin yet another friendship with the truth of her. ]
no subject
Except he's not that much of an asshole. Even just with what he gleaned in passing, he thinks the two of them should probably talk, though. That's a problem for another day. For now, he tries to piece something else together with an ease that looks careless.]
Yeah, it seems like everyone I know has got a dad like that. Well, almost everyone, but it's definitely a majority of people with bullshit dads. Not that it makes anything better, but...
[But what? "Well, you have a bullshit dad, but so does everyone" comes dangerously close to the same logic behind "everyone's got dead people." He wrinkles his muzzle in a quiet snarl.]
Point is... You're not an asshole. Sometimes when your only family treats you like shit, you start thinkin' you really are, and then you just lash out.
no subject
She fights back against it but her face still screws up a bit ]
Thank you.