I Need to Know (D10 EA Expecting)

[John Slaktare]

Butcher hopped out of his mech after the salvage operations, looking like he was unhappy about something. More so than he usually looked. Well, he usually looked more like he wasn't happy rather than he was unhappy. But now he looked like he was unhappy.

Climbing down a ladder from the mech opening, he found himself on the floor looking around the hangar, wondering how to go about what he wanted to do.

[Hrafnhildur Ylfasdottir]

"That sour look on your face is tellin' me somethin' is wrong. It's different from the usual sour face you got going on Big J." Hrafna's voice and laughter could be heard from around back of John's mech. She already had eyes on the piece of machinery and was looking for anything that needed to be fixed or maintained. "Everything okie dokie?"

[John Slaktare]

"I just been messing up the salvage operations. I don't do real well at figuring out what the different stuff is. I... need to learn more about this stuff, so I know what is useful I guess," he says, a bit of frustration in his voice.

"It ain't what I'm good at though."

[Hrafnhildur Ylfasdottir]

"You meanin' to help is good though. Heck, sometimes I miss some good stuff too. Maybe we just gotta train those eyes of yours to see the good stuff when it's right there sittin' in front of you. But hey now, you're a mech pilot. And a good one at that. A really good one. I gotta tell you Big J, and here's my secret...if it was up to me we'd just bring it all back. Every bit. Every little drill bit. Then we would have it all and wouldn't have to worry about what's what and what to bring back. We'd just have it all here and we could take our time sortin' through." As she spoke she stepped out closer to John. Her coveralls were open and the top section was down around her waist, the sleeves tied together in a makeshift belt.

[John Slaktare]

"It's the sorting part I have the most trouble with. I ain't any good at that stuff," he says with a nod. "You got a good talent for that stuff. How do you tell the difference and figure that stuff out?"

[Hrafnhildur Ylfasdottir]

"Hmm..." Hrafna shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she thought. "Part of it is knowin' what the pieces do. Hey look at that, I know that's a piece that completes a circuit in one of those hover tanks. Better grab it. Another part is see what the pieces could be. Liiiike when I built that motorized cart of mine and I knew what parts were goin' where and what they needed to be. See, you just gotta keep at it so you know what's what with the what's up, you know."

She reached up and placed her hand on John's shoulder reassuringly, though the angle was a bit off. "I know you got a good brain rolling around in that head of yours."

[John Slaktare]

He nodded at that. "So I gotta figure out how the stuff works together to know what's useful. Makes sense I guess. I'll need to start reading the maintenance manuals and stuff like that. Maybe watch some of the work you folks do in here. Learn from professor Ylfasdottir."

[Hrafnhildur Ylfasdottir]

"Oh...well...I can teach you. Yes. I can for sure." The compliment had her stuttering for a second. "Just look over this shoulder here when we're sortin'. Or better yet, get your hands dirty and we'll look over that stuff together. In faaaaact that's how I learned. I was always sortin' through stuff back home to have al the parts I needed to fix that old tractor of ours. Or anyone else's tractor as it was, since they always came to me. First Big J is a famous mech pilot, now he'll be a famous engineer."

[John Slaktare]

"I don't know about all that. Just trying to figure out what parts are useful to bring back. I ain't trying to steal your job. If I did that then I wouldn't need you around anymore and I like needing you around," John says. "So just a few tips so I can figure out what I need to bring back for you to build some nice stuff."

[Hrafnhildur Ylfasdottir]

"Nah, I'm not worryin' about that. Even if you did become some big engineer type you'd still have little Hrafnhildur around, I'm sure of it. Even if it was to just talk about duck names." She laughed at that and tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"Okay now. What do we look for when salvagin'. Well like I said, keep to what you know. I'm sure you know a bunch of the cockpit stuff and I'm sure you've seen inside a bunch of the cockpit stuff. You that as a base to jump off of. Yup."

[John Slaktare]

"I actually don't know too much about what's inside the cockpit stuff. Like the controls and everything, sure, but I don't know how it all connects to the mech and controls it. Don't know what's inside the consoles or controls. Most of the time, if things are falling apart that bad that I can see inside the consoles, I probably need to be ejecting."

[Hrafnhildur Ylfasdottir]

"Hmm...that makes sense. So leeeeet's see here." Hrafna began to pace a bit as she thought. "Okay now, here's a good idea. I'm thinking we go back to you peepin' over my shoulder and we work together. This way I get more Big J time. Win winning." She stopped pacing and gave John a nod.

[John Slaktare]

"Alright, sounds good. What were you working on before I got back?" he asks.

[Hrafnhildur Ylfasdottir]

"Oh! Oh! I was getting getting ready to do some maintainin'. Yup, there's some preven...pre...pre-van-tate-give stuff I like to do on the equipment around her. Gotta make sure we follow the schedule after all. Every six months for some of these guys around here. Not just the mechs and tanks and stuff, Big J. Nope, gotta take care of everything else too. I haven't quite started yet though as you can see. These sleeves go on when it times to get to business."

[John Slaktare]

"Then let's get started on some preventative maintenance. Are we going to take care of some of the power tools then? Or maintenance machinery?"

[Hrafnhildur Ylfasdottir]

"Hey now, check out that go gettin' attitude. I guess these sleeves are comin' on then." And so Hrafna began sliding her arms into the sleeves of her coveralls. Prior to that anyone looking might be able to see the work she was putting in the gym was starting to do something. There just happened to be a clearer definition in her shoulders as she moved to get completely dressed.

"Power tools first. Not much to do there so better to get them done quick. Just makin' sure they work properly and the cords are not all messed up and stuff like that. A drill doesn't measure somethin' so it's not complicated. Just gotta make sure it doesn't explode the next time I gotta put a hole into somethin'...so it doesn't put a hole in me."

[John Slaktare]

"Yeah, we already got the right number of holes. Never good to add extras," John replies.

"Also, you're getting some muscles there. Good work in the gym. I better start working harder or you're gonna get stronger than me soon."

[Hrafnhildur Ylfasdottir]

"Right, two of everythin'. Well, not everythin'. We only got one mouth after all." She worked on the buttons as she spoke. "These muscles are yours. Well, thanks to you I should say. It's only been a few days but I guess you can see a change on this small frame of mine. Not much but it's a dang good start. I gotta get as being as a mech after all, just like we said. I have a long way to go to catch up to you. Liiiike I know you can pick me up but I can't pick you up. I don't think I can. Never tried, to be honest. I doubt it big time."

[John Slaktare]

"You can't pick me up over your head yet? Hmm... we're gonna have to work harder then," he replies, watching her work and trying to remember the stuff she's working on.

"But I guess if you needed to, you could also build something to pick me up. Maybe a Ducky sized robot that is super strong?"

[Hrafnhildur Ylfasdottir]

Hrafna put down the drill she was looking over and looked at John. It could be seen that she was really thinking about it. "A robot. My size. To lift thing. While I'm getting stronger. Hmm..." Now her eyes went up to the the ceiling as she whispered to herself.

"A simple lifting robot should be easy, but it wouldn't do much other things. Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! I can have a compartment for drink dispensin'. Water all day. Nice, nice. Good thinkin' Big J."