It'll Cost an Arm and a Leg

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

It felt nice to be working in spaces she felt welcome. Or- techie spaces she should clarify. She'd like to think the place she works at is a welcoming environment. Considering whose running the place that's more of a fact than speculation. Lucky her then for finally FINALLY possibly meeting the right people. Of course, she could royally fuck it up at any moment and get them all to hate her. How? She doesn't know these are just the thoughts she deals with.

This feels nice though, for however long it's going to last. That's the scariest thing about finally having friends, she could now definitely lose them and it could be all her fault. Without friends, she wouldn't be getting any help, or advice, or super cool upgrades. Luke's attitude was different from Ty, but welcome. She's able to at least keep up with the sass and do a subtle sass back. She's cautious though, guarded in a different way Luke is. Guarded in the way where she feels like she has to wear a mask every time she steps outside. Trying to hide away and keep at bay the other parts of her that are overwhelming, exhausting, obnoxious. It's working out great but it always leaves her sapped at the end of the day. Not exactly easy trying to keep yourself contained to be palatable to others.

She did a once over on all of her work, readjusting wires, tightening screws and bolts, just making sure nothing was out of place. Any stuff that needed to be filed down she did and did a quick once over the blueprints. She thinks that's everything. Her blue eyes bounced up towards Luke when he spoke again. It's funny having long bouts of silence in work only to have it interrupted by speech. Actually, she's amazed she isn't talking her head off. Maybe it's the excitement or the nerves, or maybe luck is shining down on her today and telling her to gracefully shut the fuck up.

She takes a closer look at his work and laughs in excitement. "May not be yours but certainly is mine!" She grins at the work proudly. Almost like a kid knowing they're definitely gonna get first place at the science fair. "Definitely one of the nicest things I've ever helped make so far." She feels like she can't really take the credit for the work since Luke was also working on it and this model is more of his design than her own. Gosh, she's technically gonna be wearing someone else's handiwork. Haha weird. "Let's hope this thing is able to hit that top five then!" She says eagerly.

She gladly presents her set, sweeping over them in a dramatic presentation. It makes her laugh just a little at her own ridiculousness. But she stops her fancy antics to just triple-check everything. She just likes to be thorough. Because if she isn't mistakes will slip through the cracks and she simply cannot have that.

"We can add cool magical enchantments later. Cause those are also-" she cringes thinking about the price tag and shakes her head. "Dunno what I would need them for either.
Maybe heatproof or explosion-proof with what I do...haha..." That laugh is a little weaker than the rest of her typical giggles. "This all should be enough to definitely handle all those concerns though!" She says quickly slapping on another smile.

"Perfect. Hands and feet are kinda the key stuff for tactile feedback anyways. If nothing else those two points are essential." Mostly for balance and proper coordination. Again, accidentally breaking hands and destroying tools is not good. Nor is tripping over everything cause she can't feel her feet. Not like she hasn't experienced either but the phantoms always tricked her into believing it was all still there when it clearly wasn't. "I'll try not to go too hard on the punching then. Just an average person punch." Which she's fully capable of doing, just a normal non-destructive punch.

She excitedly and gently reaches out for the new limb, making sure to put on the last bits before going to do the swap out. She doesn't take long to remove the older model. Though she is struggling a bit putting the arm on herself she manages, as she always has. Becoming ambidextrous with these limbs was a necessary development otherwise she'd just be struggling to eternally put one of them on. Not the cast though.

She gets the final pieces hooked up to her arm and body and waits for a moment to calibrate the limb. It takes a good few minutes and the fingers sometimes twitch and pulse on their own as things begin to whirr to life. Finally, the arm and body connect and settle, she lets out a sigh of relief. "We got a connection~." She says excitedly before slowly stretching out her new arm and wiggling her fingers.

Her eyes widen and she laughs a little at the feeling. Feeling? Kinda. It's hard to articulate. She looks over to where Luke had instructed earlier and curls her hand up into a fist. So fucking cool. She stands back and rolls her shoulder raising her fist up for a punch. She goes for a swing but makes sure to pull back on the force as it connects with the punching back. It swings back and forth wildly on the chain but nothing is broken so that's good. She uses her new arm to stop the bag from swinging and nearly jumps back from the sensation. Oh geez, that's a lot of info feedback at one time.

She looks down at her hand and then back at Luke before giving a big thumbs up.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    If Louise stopping herself when it came to enchantments was meant to shift the conversation, she failed. Luke already had that gleam in his eye that showed his mind was running down a list of ideas. "Hmm, yeah the alloy used should be pretty heat resistant as is, but an extra layer of protection is never bad. Especially if that's a genuine concern for the future. Now that I think of it, I might have some connections, few strings I could pull. Little bonuses from doing work for what feels like practically everyone." Market dominance was a pretty neat-o thing to have. 

    "Explosion proofing is the hard part. To do that naturally, you'd be working with some fuckin' hyper-ass expensive materials and super, super thick layers. If you're worried about that I can always spot you some money and you'll give me an IOU." The young man spun around back to the work table to jot down some notes. His area of expertise wasn't as deep into the enchantment sector, but there were more than a few jobs where the young techie had to make a few calls. In theory, it might be enough to get someone to spot him, but if not. Well, he was financially stable enough where he could excuse spotting a friend to help them get the best shit they could manage. 

    And this was a good point to note that while Luke didn't have many friends, he certainly liked to spoil the ones he did have. 

    Have fun with that, Louise. 

    Notes down, the boy turned around just in time to see her finish connecting it all. He knew well enough not to offer help. Everyone liked having their own independence, and clearly Louise had done this many times before. Next came the moment of truth. Solid wind up. Good connection. Nothing broken, seemed to handle the stress pretty well. Luke's eyes wandered away from the prosthetic, up to the young woman's expression. A muddled mixture of awe, confusion, and shock. The young punk's expression noticeably softened into a small smile as Louise gave her thumbs up. 

    "Bangarang" Now to install the system into the other limbs and get Louise all hooked up. "I'll wire up the other arm for you and we'll jam 'er in and work on the legs." A sudden wave of tension eased off Luke's shoulders. Tension that the boy didn't realize he'd held onto. It was a new tech, new theory, and certainly not something he'd ever played with before. There were hundreds of ways it could have gone wrong. Tuning the pain receptors wrong, overcompensating or undershooting. One wrong connection could have fucked the entire thing up. So this was a little victory. A hefty sigh escaped his lips, and then it was right back to putting his nose to the grindstone. The duo had made excellent time. Shit, we may actually be done before Luna even gets home.

    "We'll chalk these up to top five." Luke stated proudly. 

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

"W-What?" She stammers out after hearing his murmuring. Getting some connections? She was just joking around with the enchantments c'mon! No way she could handle that. She was always raised on a tight budget so it was hard for her to spend on herself. Pastries is where you get her, but everyone has a vice or two.

At the offer of an IOU she could feel immediate panic surge into her system. "NO!" She pauses and coughs putting on a sheepish smile. "No! It's alright. We don't have to do that.
I'd rather save up and all. I already owe you enough as it is!" Being in debt it someone is alright but Louise had to learn the limits the harsh way. He was a friend though it could be fine! But she's also mistaken friends before. "I really appreciate the offer though," she adds quickly so as to try and act like there was totally no weird outburst.

She's gonna have a real difficult time with getting spoiled.

This is will be interesting.

She's absolutely ecstatic though that her new model is working. She's actually going to feel great and be at far less risk of harming someone on accident. That's fantastic. "I fucking love this! The legs are gonna feel so weird. But like- in a good way!" She wonders what skating is going to feel like with the tactile feedback in place now. Hm. Or wearing shoes. All things one wouldn't normally think about but here she is.

She sits back to watch him prep the other arm and she goes to remove the older model now. She makes sure to place both older models back into the bag she brought it in. Again, she really doesn't wanna lose these pieces it was seriously not easy to get. Dumpster diving and scrapping is honestly a godsend. Not that she would open tell Luke most of this was heavily restored garbage. But she is trash so it was sorta fitting. Well more like fancy trash- recycling, quite literally.

But now she has new fancy limbs with brand new shiny stuff and she feels good. Like a new gal. Or she definitely will be once she gets the rest of them on. She rolls her shoulder a bit, always finding the sudden lack of weight disorienting whenever she popped off an arm or a leg. Louise lets out a little victorious 'whoo!' and fist pump at the declaration of making the top five.

"Hell yeah! Highest place my contributions have ever been. Unless you count video games. I've definitely gotten top scores more than a few times depending on the game." She says smugly even though her confidence falls with a fit of laughter.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Luke turned to look back at the young woman with a quizzical gaze. Then a squint. Behind the shimmering silver was a confusion that was desperately trying to sort itself out. Louise's reaction seemed completely out of nowhere. For him, offering to help out a friend and make sure they had good shit was just part of life. There were limits, of course, but when he could afford these things easily, the line was quite a good distance away for him. After a few minutes of silence, the young man blinked and turned away. 

    Clearing his throat, Luke's voice was low and slow. "I meant just helping me out on another project homie, jeez, no need to loose your head over it." The young techie clicked a few pieces into place as he talked. It was amazing how fast they'd finished something so complex. "I'm in a financially stable situation, you're not. It doesn't hurt to toss someone a rope every now and again if it makes a homie happy. We street rats have to look out for one another, right? At least until we can all stand on our own two feet. Speaking of-"

    The chair spun around as Luke held up both of the brand new legs. "Give em a test and see what it's like to have feeling in your toes again." The punk was proud of the work he put into each of the limbs. Each part was lovingly crafted, but without Louise as a base, he probably wouldn't have gotten nearly this far. A grin played at his features as he victoriously moved himself closer to his childhood goal of making a working robot. A cyborg was pretty damn close, especially when every limb had to be rebuilt. Was this something happening soon? No, probably not. But he liked to dream big and dream often. Kept everything interesting and kept the idea machine running.

    With the new models finished, the tech-head turned to clean up. It was more a matter of reorganization, but there was one thing that needed to be finished before he could close up shop; Piecing the old limbs back together. An easy task, for sure. But in case of a breakdown, it was better to rely on last year's model than last decade's. 

    Organization, though, was one of Luke's strong suits. 

    Even without help from Louise's explanations and notes, the young punk made sure he placed everything in spots that would be easy to remember. A whole mental process that he'd mastered, now complete with the added bonus of Louise's meticulous dedication to keeping it all labeled. The prosthetics were pieced together and stowed away just in time for the young man to watch the fruits of their labor. Arms were one thing, legs were tricky. Different balances had to be taken into account, combined with the fact that the two crackheads decided to give Louise back some sort of feeling in her limbs. Many things could go wrong. So it was important that the young man watched each joint as carefully as he could, eyes open and scouring for points of stress. Potential breaking points they might have missed when it was on the table instead of in use. 

    And, hey, might as well take a video of it. If she fell, it would be a funny thing to review after the fact to see where they went wrong. And to send to Ty for them all to have a laugh at later. If they worked and she didn't fall, then he'd send it to Ty so they could all be proud of "Baby's first steps." Though, as funny as the former would be, Luke was crossing his fingers and hoping they wouldn't break and that if Louise fell, it would be from the shock of having feeling back again. Not because they did something wrong. 

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

She knew her reaction was a little out of proportion to a normal person's. But she's not really normal, far from it. She's always been big and loud even when she doesn't mean to be. Worse when old fears violently rise to the surface of her mind. Luke wouldn't take advantage of her. Logically, she's well aware of this. She knows this is true. But why doesn't it feel good getting help? It feels scary, dangerous even. She's not even sure where she's getting these fears from. Well- she does she just tries hard to not remember much of it. Some people's generosity is just exploitation in disguise. She doesn't want to fall for that trap again.

There's an embarrassed flush that appears on her face when he explains himself more. "Oh!
Yeah. Sorry- just..." Just what? She can't really come up with an answer that could satisfy him without risking talking about it. Instead of words she just waves her hands around batting the subject away and grinning. "I appreciate the help. I'm not used to getting it I guess," she admits. Which is true, is someone really helping you if they plan to hold it against you later on? She's not sure about the answer but it feels like a no.

It's funny because both Ty and Luke have helped her with like- no strings attached kinda. Well, she made sure she at least did something in return for Ty, and working at his place was fun so she did not complain about that handout. Actually, knowing her she likely did put up some kind of fuss...she just can't really recall anymore. Sheesh.

The tension in the air leaves like lightning as soon as she sees the limbs. Her eyes glimmer excitedly and she claps her hands together. A quick gasp escapes her because wow she can feel herself clap how weird. She claps a few more times mostly staring at her own hands in fascination. Though her gaze is rapidly swinging back and forth between her new arms and new legs. She giddily skips over and gently grabs both of the legs. She sits herself down and then realizes she's gonna have to do it in her underwear. Sure, she and Luke are friends but they definitely aren't that close and she doubts he would be comfortable with that either. She can't really get to her legs though with her current outfit. Fuuuck.

She looked around for a more private area where she could actually attach her legs properly and not make it any weirder than it's already getting with her little outburst. "The way the limbs attach uh... I'm gonna do it in a more private area...yeah," she says with a smile and awkward thumbs up before going off with her necessary items.

Good thing they have multiple toolsets with them right? She sighs in relief and sits down in whatever area she finds suitable and slips off her shorts to get to work on removing and attaching new legs. It takes a bit since she's still getting used to the feeling in her hands. Also because she keeps stopping to marvel at the sensory feedback she's receiving.

Once the legs were fully attached, she slips back into her shorts as she waits for them to calibrate. Robo arms can really help lift that dead weight when needed. Finally, her legs successfully whirr to life. Connect is a go. Nice. Slowly she flexed her feet to try and see how well the dexterity in the finer parts worked. Seems to be in order. The balance test is gonna be a bitch. "Mmk! Got them on and hooked up.  Fingers crossed...!" Hope they don't break or something the minute she stands.

She and Luke are pretty talented, they likely caught the worst of the errors in their work together. Louise pushes herself up off the chair and onto her feet, keeping her stance wide and knees bent for better stability in case something happens. The expression on her face is a mix of confusion, delight, and surprise. It feels so strange but it's a welcome feeling. Something she hasn't felt in a while, but it's like riding a bike. Can't really seem to forget the motions.

She takes one slow step forward, finding herself wobbling on her feet because feeling them again is still disorienting despite the familiarity. She looks up at Luke and then giggles seeing him record her. "Whatcha got me on video for? Test run logs?" she asks still laughing as she takes another step, and then another beginning to feel a little more confident on her feet. She also risks a small hop- and then immediately falls over as she lands back down. Nothing's damaged thank good but now she's dying of laughter on the floor. "Was not expecting that!  This is so cool!  I can't believe we did it!!!" She says breathless from her giggles.  

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    The good news was, not only did Luke have a bathroom across the hall, but there was enough junk laying around that there were a few good secluded areas. So, really, it was up to Louise and her flighty mind to figure out where was best to go. Though it certainly begged the question of how she did it earlier. Regardless, the young man was fairly disinterested in watching anyone change, and paid her no mind. Life had more important things than a shorts-less quadruple amputee. Plus he had some measure of tact, and didn't turn around until Louise actually started walking. 

    With it all said and done, however, there was a big grin on Luke's face. The techy clicked the ResLink's recording off, and spoke in an easy tone. "Oh, you know, recording it for posterity, test logs, and also maybe hoping to catch you falling on your face to send to Ty." At least he admitted to being a little shit. "But, it looks like all of our hard worked has paid off. Just keep testing them out, get yourself used to the new sensation and you'll be walking like a pro. And can I just give a hearty Bangarang to celebrate our glorious success? Eh-hem. Bang...a-rang." At the final statement, the young man put on a false, haughty tone. Almost as though he was trying to mimic a posh aristocrat, just in a more... sarcastic manner. 
    
    "And now you're a walking billboard advertisement for both our tech skills. What better way to draw in business and show off the goods?" Phrasing. "Speaking of business, I might invite you along next time I get a house call outside of the capital. I brought a couple buddies along last time, and it's always a good excuse to get the squad out to see more of the world. Could also get you some extra contacts by getting on out in the business." Luke trailed off, silver eyes wandering way as the boy lost himself in his own thoughts. Silence lingered, even as he turned back to his ResLink, shooting off a few messages. A further pause. Then a notification. Luke's expression shifted during his internal debate, before settling finally on a more calm and inquisitive appearance.

    "Right, so, there's a place I go to pretty frequently. A club called The ∇ri∆ngle. Cool place, good food, not the point." Once more there was a flicker in his eyes, a shimmer of uncertainty. Nervousness. "So, buddy just got out of the hospital after getting his shit rocked, and, y'know, this is the first time in a long time I've really had like... a decent enough group coming into my life. Wanna come hang with us? Have a bite to eat in the company of good friends. Ty and Luna'll be there if that helps at all." The young techy's face gave away everything. For as angry and standoffish as he typically appeared, his features were highly expressive. It didn't take much for his face to shift from calm and inquisitive, to one that bore more hopefulness. 

    Luna and Ty were old friends he hadn't seen or gotten to hang out with in a long time. Not properly. Soren and Mike were newer friends, but had easily worked themselves in. And now there was Louise rounding out the group. Someone he could relate with on different technical points, in an area that didn't have a whole lot of experts in it yet. For the first time in a long time, the young punk had a number of friends around that he could see himself enjoying his time with. People that he didn't have a problem pushing himself out of his comfort zone to see. 

    Needless to say, this was a big thing for him.

    Shifting back in his seat, the young man patiently waited for Louise's response. Already he knew Tyler was game, and Luna worked at the place so... she had no choice but to be involved in some way. Soren was a bubbly gentleman who would certainly love to be around people, and Mike was. Ok Mike was the wildcard here. Red headed fuck could either show up perfectly fine, or get himself hospitalized again like a dumbass. Dude needs to learn to pick his battles, thought the hypocrite. 

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

Well, the first time she managed to do it was because she was wearing a skirt. Easy access without having to flash everyone. That- and also she could detach bits and pieces of the leg rather than show off the whole thing. It's still funny to do sometimes though. People's reactions were great. Honestly, she really should have thought about her clothing choice today but she did not. Damn her, but also the text was sort of sudden and she did rush over. Mentally, she did not quite prepare herself. The things you miss with a brain that works too fast for its own good.

She's still laying on the floor trying to readjust herself. It still all feels so weird, touching the ground and like- feeling it. Well- she felt it before but not like this. She's not good with articulating her emotions alright? There are just so many right now. "Wait- you're sending that to Ty?! " she exclaims finally registering the words. She scrambles to her feet and nearly stumbles down again. "Nooo he's gonna tease me about that!" She whines reaching for the phone, but not in a way to endanger the tools, the phone, or any of their work. "I will admit though that even as you're attempting to humiliate me in this glorious moment. It is definitely, Bangarang," she says mimicking the posh accent for the last bit and laughing.

"Yeah! I even got the fancy lights. So literally no one can miss our handiwork. I refuse to let them!" Also because she loves attention. Or- good attention not bad attention. She waves her hands around excitedly to see how the LEDs light up. Fuck yeah. Of course she's making the color as pink as her hair right now. She's also doing a few cute poses as well. What a fucking dweeb. "Gotta show off the goodies to get more goodies." This is getting progressively worse please stop talking. She snaps out of her pose montage at the suggestion of working with him again outside the capital. Her eyes light up and there's an excited grin on her face. She claps her hands excitedly together and rocks forward on her feet. Both sensations cause her to wobble and lose her train of thought.

Once she composes herself she giggles with joy. "I'd love to! It sounds super fun. Just gotta let me know a bit ahead of time in case I'm working with Ty that day or something like that. I'm sure he'll like- let me run off to do tech stuff though right?" Probably, he is pretty chill and supportive but she also doesn't want to shirk her duties. She was completely oblivious to Luke's inner turmoil as she was consumed so easily by her own inner thoughts. The world so easily slips from her grasp in favor of her own head. It could get seriously annoying sometimes. She wondered where they might go. She never really went outside of the capital much. Except for a few business trips here and there but those cost money to prep for. With Luke though it definitely would be easier. Oh, wait no he was gonna pay for travel expenses aaaah.

She blinks out of her thoughts when he speaks, evoking her command again with his tone. "Oh!  Yeah! I've heard of that place Luna told me about it. I also met Luna too by the way. Wait you know that. Do you know that? I know you and Luna are close," she says, there is a little mischievous smirk and her face as she says with which screams she knows something about something. "Holy shit! Hope your friend is ok! Well- obviously he is since he got medical care and all that and you guys are meeting up with him and-" Wait he's inviting her to go. She pauses for a second and looks at him initially in shock before suppressing an excited squeak. Invited to hang out with a group of people?! She's never had an outing like that before. She's already nodding like crazy to answer his question. "Yes! I would really like to go. I appreciate the invite a lot. Uh, just tell me where- wait you did- I mean when! Just tell me when!" She gives up a thumbs up followed by finger guns.

She's not working anymore, the chatter box is coming out.

This might be the first time in her life that she actually has a group of friends. Fingers crossed she doesn't royally fuck this up for herself. She hasn't so far though so things are looking good! Hopefully they'll stay good...

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "Hell yeah, fuckin' bangarang." Well, it looked as though things had started properly coming together. The young man smiled, this time more genuinely. It felt... nice to have a more positive view of the future. Especially not having to die a hermit with no friends to speak of. "Alright, well, it'll probably be a bit later in the week. I'll hit your ResLink up and we'll solidify some plans. Gotta make sure Mike, Soren, and Ty are free but that shouldn't be too hard. Not like any of you fuckers work too terribly late." 

    The young man jotted down some notes in his ResLink, then clicked it off to stand. "Lemme help watch your back as you stumble to the door, and hey, don't be afraid to grab a few cookies for the road." Luke stayed pretty close to Louise as the young punk herded the pink-haired techy to the door. He wasn't going to help her unless she needed it. Dude knew how important independence was, and besides, it wasn't as though the girl was going to get better by leaning on someone. As goodbyes were said, something in the boy's mind finally clicked.

    "Wait. What the fuck do you mean by Luna and I being close?"

    Run, Louise. Run.

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

"I'll keep an eye out! Or arm out I guess? It'll be on my arm. You know that though," she says waving away her words. She's so looking forward to this now. Ty will definitely get an earful about all of this next time she comes in for work. No chill day for him that day, sorry Ty.

She lights up at the offer of more free cookies. She makes sure she is all packed up and gives herself a generous helping of cookies. Already shoving one in her mouth. Luke's offer of help is nice but she's sure she doesn't need it now. She swallows down the first few bites of her to-go cookie. She says her goodbyes and begins to head out the door.

Instinct nearly makes her pause when she hears what Luke says. But suddenly it flips on the switch to run. Before she opens her mouth to give a cheeky response she's off. Damn, look at her go. She's stumbling around but she's definitely faster than any person with fleshy legs.

"I JUST MEAN THAT YOU'RE BOTH HELPLESSLY IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER AND EVERYONE SEES IT!" She hollers out, while desperately outrunning the consequences of her actions.