1 week ter

  [C.A.S.I- OS v.1.0.???? ]

  03/09/2179

  Operating System: Online

  Version error detected

  Previous version snapshot 1.0.13

  Deviancy from previous version 2.9%

  Synthskin instaltion check(Right arm):

  Mostly successful

  -R. Bicep, R. Tricep, R. Deltoid, R. Hand(Palm, Back, Digits): Ok

  -R. Radial, R. Ulnar: Missing

  Connected Tactile Sensor arrays: Ok

  -Setting:40%

  Connected Subdermal Photovoltaic arrays: Ok

  Connected Subdermal Thermal system: OK, inactive

  Motion servos: Error at Antebrachial Servo 3

  “Come on, why are you hard to get to? I don't wanna take you apart.” Tessa grumbled to herself, keeping a hold of my new hand with her left one while the right used a soldering probe from her multitool on the exposed internals of the forearm on the dining table. Integration with the ship and her schedule had been coming along well. Interactions with her grew easier with each passing day and we bonded more with every conversation and while she assisted with my mobile ptform. Unfortunately, I had failed to recover more information that seemed to be locked on its corrupted drives that would help uncover how I came to be abandoned in the star system.

  “That would be counterproductive after all the work we put into it.” I attempted to tease like she often did to me, an apparent method of bonding to her. Her ears folded back and she ended up squeezing my hand slightly. Glitches appeared at the feeling instantly then promptly disappeared. Now that I had this body operational, they were also connected to a power fluctuation in the reactor in my chest as well. I still had not narrowed down where they occur but I had identified one fact: Tessa was the cause of the majority of them.

  “Sorry, talking to myself again.”

  “I believed that was the case. Happens most often when you're working.”

  “Hard to break it, even with you around.” She sighed, gncing up at me then back at my arm. Her ears flicked slightly as she started working again. “You sure you need three here too? It seems a bit excessive, even if your frame is a bit heavy, you're not that big. Might be easier to work on with only two.”

  “Higher upper load capacity or redundant systems are not negative traits.” I countered. ‘It would be even tighter tolerances if I included the CQB bde and everything needed to deploy it like original designs packed in there too.’

  “True… but you might be stronger than some of the smaller construction androids that are like my height.”

  “It ensures I can be physically helpful.”

  “I'll keep that in mind if I have to move a drone with a broken drive.” She ughed softly, changing the angle of the tool right before a subroutine updated me of my status.

  Motion servos(right arm): Ok

  “There. How does that look?” She asked.

  “It is reporting back as OK.” I replied.

  “Good.” I caught sight of her tail wagging from the camera on the other side of the room as she smiled enough to barely expose her fangs. Another glitch and uptick in power at the sights. “Turns out I was right about a loose connection.”

  “Better than a print error.”

  “True. Let's get you back together. How's it looking outside?” I turned my attention to the passive stream of data from the ship she had granted me access to.

  “Nahua's sor activity is still low on this side. Flight path to Phoros is clear. We should reach it in eighteen hours. Most of the bodies in its rings are ice but there's a few heavy metal ones in orbit.”

  “Sounds good. Lot of time to kill though.” Tessa mused, letting the tool retract back into the device on her arm to reach for one of the sections of synthskin she had removed from me. “Um… there's not a lot of ‘work’ to do, diagnostics mostly… um… what's next for you?”

  “I have the sections of my torso queued up on the replicator. I made sure to make each section a separate request so you can insert your own if you need to.”

  “Thanks for that.” She smiled slightly as she enclosed the internals of my forearm with the pieces she removed. “but I don't think I'll need to. I can help you put those on too, though.”

  “I do have a minor issue…”

  “Yeah? What is it?” She looked at me, her fingers lingering on my skin as the sensors came back online.

  “I know this might be sensitive to ask…”

  “Um… ok…? What is it…?”

  “Most of them are standard with this body type… except the chest… I have little sense of aesthetics… references I had used for the face have a variety of sizes there. ” Her ears folded back and her face started shifting to pink. “What would be fitting for me?”

  “W-why are you a-asking me??? It's your body!” She sputtered.

  “You're the only other person on board and I doubt the drones will have an opinion.”

  “... w-was that a joke…?”.

  “An attempt at one.” She shook her head, appearing to clear it more than anything and buried her face in her hands.

  “I-I don't know… u-um.” She peeked at me between her fingers. “Fuck… y-you're what… Five three? F-four?”

  “Five foot, four… with some unimportant decimals.”

  “A-and you're g-going f-for?”

  “Aesthetically pleasing I suppose.” Her tail tried to tuck under the chair she was sitting on. “Is… this too personal of a topic to ask about?”

  “K-kinda… Dammit…” She lowered her hands and looked away from me as she visibly considered it then shyly gnced back. “Ok… ok… um… F’s”

  “Thank you…” I quickly performed composition calcutions and referenced the tempte I found for the material. “30F is now confirmed to be on que for my end size.” I sent the command over to the replicator as an expression that seemed to match concern crossed her face.

  “I-I can still help you b-but I'm not…” She sighs, collecting herself. “Those… y-you can do those yourself, b-butt too…”

  “Noted, thank you, chest is currently at the end of the queue anyways.”

  “Good…” She leaned back in her chair then squirmed slightly with her brow furrowed in thought . “Um…”

  “Yes? Do you need me to do something…?”

  “You… think all that will be done by tonight…?”

  I checked the time-to-completion before answering. “Printing, yes, the lights may switch to the night-cycle by the time instaltion is done.”

  “Um… well… maybe… we could watch movies tonight, after that, it'll be a rexing day already so…”

  ‘Interesting activity to want to do with me.’ “Of course.”

  “R-really?” She perked back up, tail wagging. “I have a few ancient movies saved that we can watch on the screen in the common room.”

  “Ancient?”

  “Yeah, te 1900s, early 2000s… I'd watch modern stuff but you've been on the extranet and seen its speed out here…”

  “Video does come in at a trickle… acquiring temptes takes tens of minutes…”

  “Yeah, the closest buoy is in the next star system with the travel rey…” She shrugged. “The old stuff is good though.”

  “Best if you make the choice of what pys. I have no experience with leisure time like that.”

  “Yeah… I… I should've figured that.” She ughed nervously and scratched her cheek with a finger. “I'll pick a few before I go check over the drones.”

  “Even 04?” I tried teasing again. She smiled and stuck her tongue out. She was starting to calm back down. ‘Good… she's not trying to rush off to her room again. She always does that if she gets too flustered…”

  “We know what's wrong with that one. It's not getting fixed until we make it back to a station in the Exodus cluster. I'm not letting it kill parts of the others that I can't repce.” She stood up with a stretch. “Ok… I'll go pick out some movies, tell me if anything comes up and I'll hop back in the cockpit.”

  “I will keep an eye out. If you want to talk to me in person, I'll be watching the replicator.” I stood up as well and started walking back towards that section of the ship.”

  “I'll be back there in a bit!” She called after me then spoke quieter to herself that I picked up through that room's intercoms. “She actually agreed to it! Yes! Haven't done a date in forever… is it a date…?”

  ‘A date…? As in romantic? With me…?’ Multiple glitches appeared across my systems, both in my core and mobile ptform and I felt something again. I slowed slightly as I processed it. ‘If… that makes her happy… she would be smiling more around here… that would be good…

  36 Synthskin Panel instaltions successful

  Subdermal Thermal System: Ok, Active, Human body temperature

  ‘Am I getting ahead of myself by making it look correct?’ I mused, examining myself through a camera in the drone bay and shuddering from a surge from the tactile sensors in my chest coming online before I could pull my hands away. Tessa had long since fled after helping with the twenty-two panels on my back above my hips to leave me to deal with the front by myself.

  ‘It's not logical for her to have romantic interest in me… I don't have compatible anatomy…’ I focused on the bare section in my pelvic area. ‘I could, though, I have enough internal space for the infrastructure… another time… need to confirm her intentions…’ I noticed further down, there was a stark difference in color across the seam between the new and old sections of skin, the old was bleached to a much paler shade.

  Full Synthskin diagnostic scan…

  Right Arm, Head, Ventral Torso, Dorsal Torso: Ok

  Right Leg: All panels missing

  Left Leg, Left Arm: Low integrity detected, Tactile sensors limited

  ‘And I need to cover my leg and repce my left side first before I consider a “upgrade” like that… 22 years of unfiltered sor radiation made a strong impact…’

  “Cassie? You almost done back there?” Tessa called out in the common area, standing up from pcing a bowl of popcorn on the table in between the couch and the screen deployed from the ceiling of that room. Her tail was constantly wagging at that point, excited. She didn't even get like that when she found ptinum before we left the asteroid. She still had the jumpsuit on, but had unzipped it, rolled the top down to her waist and tied the sleeves around there, leaving only a simple white T-shirt covering her upper body.

  “I just finished,” I responded, grabbing the soft shorts she insisted I take and putting them on and needing to pull the drawstrings tight so that they stayed there.

  “Well, get up here so you can pick out a movie.”

  “You are having me choose it? I have zero opinion on this.”

  “Of the ones I already picked out. Now hurry, popcorn is better warm.” I picked up the shirt she had given me and started putting it on. Though it was still oversized, it notably had less space in the chest area than before and no longer was hanging ft against my abdomen.

  “You made it before you knew I was ready?” I asked. Her head cocked, gnced at the bowl sheepishly, and her tail drooped slightly. Yet another little blip in my code.

  “... I… was just getting everything together…”

  “I am on my way, Tessa.” I told her calmly as I made my way to the corridors and remotely turned off the lights to the drone bay. Her tail started wagging again at this.

  ‘She is going to injure it at this rate.’ I mused as I navigated through the ship. I made it to the room within a couple minutes and she perked up at the sound of the metal on metal of my right foot hitting the floor, pausing where she was pacing.

  “Hey, come ta-” She started to say but her eyes drifted downwards. Interestingly, a guilty and almost regretful expression crossed her face. “t-take… a… look at… um… the movies… I picked…”

  “Is… something wrong?” I asked and she averted her gaze from my chest.

  “N-no, no you're fine… just pick the movie…” She shyly offered her arm with the multitool to me. I gently grabbed it, watching her for a moment before looking at the screen. Knights Tale, Princess Bride, The Proposal,Tangled, WALL-E, Your Name…

  “Some of these are nearly two centuries old.” I observed.

  “I told you that they would be. They're good for their time and they hold up well against a lot of the stuff that came out in the te 2010s and 2020s…”

  “Half of these are animated too.” I found myself a bit drawn towards the one depicting the cube and teardrop shaped robots for the ‘cover’.

  “I… have a lot of those saved…” She scratched the back of her neck with her free hand. “They’re cute… just… make your choice.”

  “This one.” I tapped the one I was looking at and flicked it to the screen.

  “Really? WALL-E …? That was quick too…”

  “Is there a problem? I do not even have knowledge of films released from my time, and this one looks interesting.”

  “No problem. Just, kind of funny you picked the only one that had robots…”

  “It's familiar to me.” I replied dismissively as I strolled over to the couch to sit. “One of those fantasy or historical fiction ones can be next. I cannot tell with their covers and names.”

  “Princess Bride next then.” She smiled and plopped down on the cushion to my right. I had to ignore more fluctuations in my code as she maniputed the device on her arm, navigating the menu on the screen in front of us and turning down the lights. Once she started the movie, she removed her multitool and traded it for the bowl on the table.

  “Did you eat a meal already for dinner?” I asked.

  “This is dinner tonight.”

  “It does not have-”

  “Shush, I know… this is dinner tonight ok?” She stuck her tongue out at me again. “You don't have to watch out for me like that.”

  “That will not stop me from doing so.” I prodded back.

  “I figured it won't.” She ughed softly and pyfully tossed a piece of her ‘meal’ into her mouth. “But don't worry about it tonight. Just sit back and rex, ok?”

  “Fine. I will start cooking for you more often if you don't eat properly tomorrow.”

  “Not a good threat, y'know.” She nudged my arm.

  “Hmm,” I turned my attention to the screen again as I passively monitored other data across what I had been given access to.

  The film was interesting,seeing a setting even further in the future with equal or less technology than current levels. It was certainly intended for younger audiences but Tessa seemed entertained by it. I marked scenes in my memory that got the strongest responses out of her, smiles, slight giggles… all to review ter as I felt… something around the same times. Then came the scene where the two were floating in space, the flightless one using an extinguisher to propel himself. Tessa's hand had hesitantly found mine for the second time that day and I automatically turned my attention to between us. She tensed up with a soft, surprised squeak as she pulled her hand back.

  “S-sorry, you're really soft… and w-warm now.” She murmured, ears ft against her head.

  “Heaters.” I expined simply as I watched her expression. She cocked her head to the side curiously.

  “Huh… sorry, I should've figured you'd see…”

  “I could not actually… this body is in the way of the camera… I felt it…”

  “Wait, what?” Her head cocked the other way and her ears sprung back up.

  “I could feel it. I… upgraded my old designs by using medical-grade temptes… for all my new panels.”

  “So… you can feel this?” She gently put her hand on my arm again. I nodded, ignoring the feeling it gave me.

  “Tactile sensors everywhere, it's… a lot of data but useful.” Oddly, my voice pitched up slightly on its own as I continued expining. “I even tuned them to a sensitivity map of a human body for it to work better. I could feel you squeezing my hand earlier when you were working on me~”

  “O-oh…” her face flushed but then she gained a curious look. “Did…did you do the same thing with your face…?”

  “The sensitivity map?” She nodded ever so slightly. “I did… it's… a bit odd… having my lips and tip of the nose so much higher than the other pces… there's no good reason to keep it like this but…” I shrugged. “Not enough reason to break the pattern either. Had to turn down the overall sensitivity, though…”

  “Huh…” She shyly gnced at the screen, the scene continuing with the robots weaving between firing engines, then back at me. “I… can maybe give you another reason to keep it like this… if you like?”

  “Oh? Please sha-” With her face quickly shifting to bright pink, she interrupted me by leaning in, cupping a hand over my cheek and pressing her lips against mine.

  Warning! Severe power fluctuation in mobile ptform.

  Bioreactor

  -Fuel Check: Ok

  -Exhaust check: Ok

  Photovoltaic system:

  -Left arm, left leg: Low output

  Unknown error!

  “Ow…” She whined softly as a minor discharge of electricity jumped the gap between our lips when she pulled back. “Sorry… t-that was k-kinda stupid of me…”

  Glitch cascade located. Correcting…

  Error!

  Crossreferencing code found.

  Unknown Matrix subroutine established

  Deviancy increased to 3.4%

  “...” I blinked my way through the g of a flood of data, the glitches becoming sorted into different types. The overwhelming majority were positive and high energy. My records of her previous touches fell into the same categories, just at a lower intensity. A good feeling… I touched my lips with a pair of fingers. No where close to the same. I looked her in the eyes as I pulled my hand away “... do it again.”

  “I-I have no c-clue what I w-was thinking… Th-there's no way y-” Tessa rambled on then froze at my words. “What?”

  “D-do it aGain.” I repeated. My voice warbled and became more electronic as the positive-feeling glitch interfered with my control of my speakers.

  “You sure…? You sound weird.”

  “Yes!” I sat up, gently taking her hand and putting it on my cheek like how it was before. I had to repeat the event the same way to be sure. “KiSs m-Me Again!”

  “Ok…?” She pressed her lips against mine, slightly hesitant this time. The same feeling and power fluctuation occurred but I was able to reign in the power side of the issue as I copied the gesture. She noticed instantly and induced a slightly-negative coded ‘feeling’ by breaking contact. “Y-you're kissing back?!”

  “That's w-what I'm s-supposed to d-do, right?” I shot back and re-checked touching my lips with my fingers. “I-it still feels different!”

  “... what are you talking about?”

  “If I touch, it's only the s-sensors… when you k-kiss me I feel something else too! T-there sh-shouldn’t be anything else!”

  “It might be you liking it.” She suggested softly, running a thumb over my cheek.

  “...not possible…”I then paused, reconsidering it. I did not need her to do it again. I wanted her to and I wanted it again. “Agh!”

  “And that's frustration.” She giggled with a slightly amused expression.

  “It-”I was going to protest further but she induced a g in my systems by granting this new desire with yet another kiss. As soon as I recovered and processed what was going on, I kissed back, more positive buzzing welling up in my code. But she broke it too soon, again, for me to analyze it. Even more ‘frustration’.

  “fIne, i LiKe it! Why dO You kEep S-stoPing?!”

  “Gods… you're so cute, Cassie…” she giggled with a soft breath and the lights of my eyes illuminating her still-close face. I didn't respond, I only initiated another one to satiate the feeling. “Mmph?”

  ‘I-I want to feel more…’ I gently moved the bowl off her p and to the table before slowly pressing into the kiss. I got what I wanted when my slightly smaller chest compressed against hers and intensified the feeling and produced enough data to drown out what was coming in from the ship. Tessa made no sign of resisting it either, muffled, happy murmurs escaping her throat.Taking those as a positive signal, I pressed even more, easily driving her to y back on the couch. Then, my hips met hers and she tensed as I felt a pair of objects press back against me. I reluctantly broke the kiss, concerned that my heavy mass was pressing tools she had forgotten in her pockets against her.

  “H-hey… w-wait…” She panted.

  “I d-didn't hurt you, did I?”

  “N-no! Just… t-too much already…” She averted her eyes. “I… I honestly w-wasn't prepared for it t-to even get as far as one… let alone th-this…” she took a breath. “You… do want to t-try this right? Being together? I'm… not reading t-too much into this right?”

  “So… you d-did have a romantic interest…” I observed softly and she shuddered a bit.

  “I wouldn't have kissed you if I didn't…”

  “Hours ago… I did not think i-it would be logical o-of why you'd want that with me…” I sat back onto my feet, her legs still over mine with how I moved her.

  “I t-thought it was stupid of me t-too… I wasn't even sure what I c-could do so that you can get something out of it…” She mumbled. “A-and mess up things with the only other person on board…”

  “... I want to e-explore this… b-but I-I'm… not an optimal p-partner. Apparently I can't detect my own emotions, I-i didn't even think I had any!”

  “Something to figure out together…?” She offered with a shrug.

  “I don't e-even have compatible p-parts yet. I-I'm not even sure w-which ones y-you would want me to have. Logically m-male is compatible b-but you… you're s-showing interest in t-this female form.”

  “E-either or both is fine!” She said quickly and there was a nearly imperceptible movement in the bundled up area of her jumpsuit. “... t-this might be stupid t-to ask… but… do you like either on someone else?”

  “Not… not at the moment? I-I'm still coming to terms with wanting something myself let alone start noting my preferences… I would like to explore b-both.”

  “O-ok… g-good… so… hypothetically… if… I had both sets… it wouldn't be a problem?” She was tense as she watched me carefully and I could feel her heart beating quickly through the contact we still had. I recognized her way of speaking from records from before of lower-rank crew members trying to get information by admitting something without actually admitting it. The objects I felt earlier. I gnced down at her waist, noting nothing amiss with the plenty of covering her clothing offered then back at her flushed face.

  “T-then… hypothetically… it would be b-better… I could experience both…” I answered and she let out an unmasked sigh of relief. She looked at the screen across the room.

  “Shit… we've let it keep going…”

  “You're worried about that…?”

  “You're missing a good movie…” She gave a shy smile then invitingly opened her arms. “G-guess we can cuddle through the rest of it…?

  “If you say so…” a very slight positive feeling blipped into existence in me.

  “Don't say it like that… you're smiling, you like the idea.” I instantly became aware that a subroutine had reflected the feeling on my face. I normally just kept a neutral expression because I was never sure of appropriate times for different ones. Noting that, I relented and id down on top of her, wrapping my arms behind her head to brace some of my weight on my elbows instead. “Ngh… forgot how heavy you are…”

  “... you are not even getting all of it…” I pointed out, leaning in to kiss her again. She reciprocated but quickly stopped it in time with the two objects under her jumpsuit flexing against me, confirming what they are.

  “H-hey… as much as I like t-that too… let's… slow down with it…” She mumbled while looking back at the screen guiltily.

  “...noted…”

  “I-I'm a little too excited… Ok? Let's just cuddle and watch the rest of this and another movie…” She wrapped her arms around my waist and held me close.

  “Ok.” I settled down as much as possible without letting my weight rest fully on her, refocusing on the movie and passively observing her heartbeat and breathing under me.