All work and no play...

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

There is an AI on the ship that goes by the name Bender Stack. It only pops up now and again, and now its function may finally be somewhat clear.

"Hey. Hey meatbag!" says a grating voice.

Bender Stack chases people away from work when they've been doing too much of it.

This is why Brainiac 5 leaves the Special Weapons Division and by the time he gets up to the Living Area (having decided to eat anyway if the irritating AI is going to heckle him out of work) he's about at his wit's end.

"--For the last time, I am not going to build you a robot prostitute! You're an AI, not a mechanoid, you couldn't interface with it anyway."

Comments

[halfa-hero.livejournal.com]

"Well. There's a phrase I'd never thought I'd hear. From you or anyone else."

[shes-intense.livejournal.com]

"You know, I've got this kind of a knack for walking in on Jaime and Paco's conversations at the most inopportune moments and then they have to fill me in on context to prove they aren't horribly warped people... but somehow I don't think that's going to make any more sense IN context."

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

"This one AI is particularly irritating and I can't even fathom what its primary function is," Brainy says. "My best guess would be 'annoyance.'"

A pause.

"Much like your own."

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

"One of the AIs is obscene," is Brainy's somewhat scandalized answer.

[shes-intense.livejournal.com]

"So I gathered." She tries not to laugh a little bit at the slightly flustered look on his face. "I'd punch it for you if I could."

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

"If you could punch it, it would be a mechanoid and my statement would be wrong--not that I'd build it another mechanoid for such purposes anyway."

[halfa-hero.livejournal.com]

"Hey, being annoying is how I make friends."

[shes-intense.livejournal.com]

"Did it chase you out of Special Weapons?" She raises a brow at him. "Also, have you even LEFT the general area of the med-lab anytime in the last few days?"

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

"It seems immensely counter-productive," Brainy notes, but funny thing is, he's standing there talking to Danny, isn't he.

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

"Yes, and I left several times for nourishment, and once for sleep."

[halfa-hero.livejournal.com]

"Depends on how you do it. I mean, you're standing here, talking to me, in a relatively friendly matter."

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

"Yes, well, that--" Hmmph. "--that has much more to do with repeated close proximity than anything else."

[halfa-hero.livejournal.com]

"You just don't want to admit it's working."

[shes-intense.livejournal.com]

"...you're a worse workaholic than me at midterms." She shakes her head a bit but she's smiling. "I was gonna get something to eat, you want to come with?"

She finds the slop in the cafeteria wholly unappetizing but if she waits until she's stomach-growlingly hungry when she does finally eat it sits even more terribly than usual.

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

Brainy's fingers twitch slightly against his omnicom. It's not that no one ever asks for his company to eat with them. It's just that happens back home, not on the ship. It's a nice change back to what he's used to.

"Yes. That would be acceptable. I am in need of sustenance."

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

"It isn't."

[shes-intense.livejournal.com]

His formality is too weird but god help her she finds it sort of charming, even if listening to him sometimes reminds her of watching Spock on Star Trek as a little girl. (Or maybe that's WHY it's charming...)

"C'mon. Lesse how much of that sludge I can handle before I feel sick THIS time." She nods her head for him to follow and starts walking toward the mess hall. "You get that power source thing up and running finally?"

[halfa-hero.livejournal.com]

"Brainy, if you weren't starting to smile I'd believe that."

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

But he must always use exact, precise wording (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SesquipedalianLoquaciousness)! He's a smart alien! They do that.

"Yes. The lab is making considerable progress, and is now close to full functionality," Brainy says, actually putting his omnicom away, tucking it into his belt. "Once it's fully functional, we'll most likely be making probes to aid in exploration of the ship."

[shes-intense.livejournal.com]

"Sounds like a step in the right direction. This place has to be bigger than the areas we're in so far."

She's not just saying that because she's starting to go a bit stir-crazy. Not at all.

"I'm still trying to figure out who would build something like this. Some of the structures... well I can only assume they're meant to be artistic but they're just creepy beyond reason."

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

"You'd be surprised what some species find aesthetically pleasing. When I pay attention to it, I find most human art to be incredibly distasteful," he says. "But then, I haven't much interest in art, in general."

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

"You should check into the Medical Bay for an examination," he says mildly. "You appear to be suffering from hallucinations."

[shes-intense.livejournal.com]

"Well, not all things are for all people." She shrugs a little as they make their way into the mess hall. "Do Coulan's really have much in the way of arts and entertainment in the first place?"

[halfa-hero.livejournal.com]

"I'm not gonna take advice on reading emotions form a guy who can't tell that he likes a certain Kryptonian female."

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

"Not as much as other planets. Our world is primarily one of scientists, medical professionals, and information brokers," he says, "but there are occasional artists, especially those that engage in architectural design. Coluans generally consider other species as lacking proper appreciation of space and form in their art."