Chapter 12: Chapter 11: A copy of a copy.

"Who's a good puppy?" *BLEEP* "You are, yes you are!" *BLEEP!*

"You know, I could make it sound like a normal dog."

"Nah, it's kinda cute!" -She was stroking the Puppo all- *BLEEP!* all over its, for some reason, fluffy exterior.

The printer making it spazzed out while making the last steps, namely the audio output and finalizing the casing, and both gutted and burnt the audio circuit in a way that it still somehow works, and covered the casing in silicone based-pseudo fur, that feels like the real stuff, but is easy to clean, good at conducting heat and extremely tough. Needless to say, the printer is out of order and Fred is currently looking through every part. We wouldn't want something like that happening when we are working on something dangerous, and from the reports I'm getting, it's not a one-time thing. Everything that that thing makes is now... unique.
"At least allow me to fix the circuit! It is supposed to also act as a communication point, but all it can make is beeps and boops! What if you are out, and I need to quickly call you back?"

"But you are going to disassemble him! I remember what you told me about repairs!"

"What? No! I would need to disassemble him if for example the storage cube broke, as it's far too complex to use normal Nanos, the only reason it's not fixed yet, is because you protested!"

"Oh. Wait, what are these 'nanos'?"

"Microscopic robots that do everything here. You saw them work, didn't you? Fixing the outside? Moving the furniture? You actually crushed quite a lot since coming here."

"Oh, I'm so sorry for that! And I just thought you were using magic!"

"Don't sweat it, I make them by the millions."

"That's good. But wait, you said that you were a mage, but I haven't seen any actual magic from you."

"Once again, not an actual mage, I only use this 'magick' to start up some of the better machines."

"So, what you are telling me, is that you are actually a sorcerer?"

"What's that?"

"Well, I'm not too knowledgeable, but from what I've seen, they draw some weird stuff, it starts glowing, and cool things happen."

"Yea! That about describes it! I even had to do some of that on the dog's brain!"

"First of all, his name is Fluffy, and you reminded me of something." -She stops petting Fluffy, to which he lets out a sad saw wave (So I fix him, and he uses that to go chiptune on me. Great! Now I want one!), picks up her backpack, and starts digging through it.

"So, what are you reaching for?"

"Where is- Aha!" -She pulls up a somehow pristine letter with weird marks on it... Wait. I remember those marks. Fred, isn't that runes? Thought so. Save the footage and copy them into the CAD, they seem more basic, so we might be able to decipher them, and finally start figuring stuff out.

"So, what's that, and can you please show both sides to the cameras?"

"Sure. This, this is a magick letter. I completely forgot about it, but I'm supposed to use this to use this to send a report when I'm either dying or found the problem. They are pricey as all hell, and the destination has to be set during the making, so you don't get to use one often."

"Wait, are you planing-"

"Don't worry. From what I've seen, it would take a sorcerer about a year to break your walls, so you're safe. And, this letter goes to my sorcerer friend, so he can spin the story in a good way. I'll tell him that you need that radio tower of yours, and ask him to say that it's just some weird tree, and they would just chalk it up to one god screwing over another, and leave you alone. So don't sweat it, I know how much you are concerned about safety. The most that would happen is my friend coming here to look at the tower."

"..."

She looks a little nervous at my silence;
"All good? You don't normally take so long."

I was actually having an argument with Fred on super speeds. On one hand, that's a lead on runes and figuring out how to bypass that permission lock on the router, on the other, having other people know about us is REALLY bad. All our power currently comes from the outside, so we can be easily cut off. The turbines are difficult to construct due to the high pressure of the water table, and the borehole still needs about a month of digging down before the temperature is high enough for the thermal system to operate. But, with me liking people, and a helping of taxes for Fred, we decide that it's fine to tell the world about us, although with some precautions.
"I... want to ask some questions."

Carla, looking extremely nervous, worried and slightly scared for some reason, looks up at the camera;
"What are they?"

"How long is the shortest time someone can get here?"

"About three months normally, and about a week using sorcery." -Not good.

"How far can you trust your friend, how sure you are he can keep a secret? What if that secret can flip the entire world on it's head?"

Looking more and more scared, she replies;
"I would bet my entire life on it. I did, actually. He is the only person who knows my opinion on the church. Not even my parents do" -Excellent.

"Would he be open to... share some notes?"

You are reading story Batteries not included at novel35.com

Eyes wide open, she says with a shaky voice;
"I don't care what you do to me, but don't touch him."

"What?" -And I notice. With my stress from such a decision and full focus on the conversation, Fred took over operating the voice modulation software, and not really understanding what he is doing, he... The voice that comes out of the speakers is not... human. It's not just uncanny-valley, it's uncanny-ravine. Even I feel a little bit of fear hearing it, so I quickly take over and begin apologizing;
"I am SO sorry for that, Fred was operating the voice box, and he doesn't really know how actual voices work, so he tried to mimic me, and that's what came out. I am So, SO sorry for that. I didn't mean to scare you. And I just wanted to learn about runes while sharing some of my own knowledge, I don't plan doing anything even remotely nefarious. I am EXTREMELY sorry for that."

She looked more and more relaxed as I spoke, and while she was still slightly pale, she wasn't shaking anymore;
"It- it's fine-"

"No, It's NOT fine!" -I say as I tell fluffy to go play with her; "I did a HORRIBLE mistake, and there is zero need to sugarcoat it. I would make you a glass of hot coco, but I unfortunately can't yet. I am so very sorry."

After a couple minutes of cuddling and a glass of cold water, she was finally ready to speak;
"So, you are not opposed to me sending the letter and him coming here?"

"Not really, but only if he holds out for a month before coming. There is a couple precautions I would like to make before somebody comes, but I don't see why not."

"Then, I'll go write the letter" -She shakily stands up, and walks off while leaning on Fluffy.

After entering and closing the door, she slowly walks to the bath. She most certainly deserved some rest, so I leave the monitoring to Fred and start doing... something.

---

It took an entire day for Carla to calm down. From the reports, she spent the day laying in bed, hugging fluffy. During that day, I designed a modification that replaced his back solar panel, and added a detachable one into one of the compartments. Fred also figured out what happened with the printer. Apparently, I modified it during one of my experiments while depressed. We will probably never figure out how exactly I did it, as I somehow made it in under an hour after being restored, and then got myself corrupted or something, so there was no save after that, so the info is gone. Basically, I shoved a small piece of me into the onboard computer, and did something to it to make it basically insane-but not quite, and told nanobots to upgrade the hardware until it could comfortably run. We isolated the circuit and the software, and run a bunch of tests on it. It basically tries to "improve" anything given to it, although quite weirdly. Give it a mug, it will somehow turn it into a donut. Give it a wall, it will add a secret door to it. Give it a some copper wire and a bunch of nanobots, and it creates a tree sculpture out of it. It now has its own rack with a bunch more processing power, a small printer on its way, and a bunch of manipulators. Fred was opposed to the idea, but Artyom is now a part of the family, and he can do nothing about it. Anyway, now that you are up to speed, it's time to continue the situation with Carla.

"You want to add anything to it, or do I just write it myself?"

"Actually, yes. I don't think that the radio tower is what is making that disturbance."

"Oh? Do you know what it is?"

"Probably this." -I say as Custo moves from around the elevator, squirrels running all around it, modem on top of it; "That thing on top of it is a modem. It's a device that allows you to connect to different computers like myself over a complex system of phone lines that were not even intended for it. It basically converts information into sound and transfers it like a voice over a great distance."

"I didn't understand Any of that, but what are you leading to?"

"This modem, most likely, connects no mana."

"No way."

"Yup! It's called a Magic modem, and when I accidentally got to listen how it sounds, I got a head splitting migraine."

"So, from what you're saying-"

"Yup! This thing does what priests and wizards do, but better."

"Can you understand what it's saying?"

"Fully and immediately. Most likely what they are getting is binary, and that's meant for computers, not people. As an example, Fred can listen just fine, while I break down."

"That's... I... I don't..."

"That's why I asked about the world shattering revelations. You should probably include this info because I need your friend's help in decoding how this thing works."

She shakes her head;
"Ok, so, if I write that down, he will be here in less than a week. Is that ok with you?"

"Not really, but what can you do?"

"Not tell him?"

"I will want him to probably move in, so it's best to explain everything from the get go, and give him the ability to prepare to move and to know what he will be doing here, don't you think it's fair?"

"Yea, kinda. Knowing him, he wouldn't care, but it's your choice."

So, after Carla writes the letter, and I correct all the mistakes and print a fixed version, Carla putts it in, seals it, and-
"WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!?!"

"The letter needs some blood to power the enchant, just a drop would do. Normally, you can just push some mana into it, but I never learned how, so blood it is."

And with that, the letter vanishes with a puff of red smoke.