Tempora Part 5: Bin
Note: This story is a continuation of a larger series. Here is the complete list of sections.
Bin led Steve down the hall to a different room, simply labeled Lab. As Bin pressed the button next to the door causing it to hiss upwards, Steve could hardly believe his eyes.
An entire room with illuminated Drone bodies of all kinds on display. They were grouped by general build, but the various styles and custom apparatus were far too numerous to absorb all at once. The smaller ones had open compartments and built in multitools, while the larger ones had things like a back mounted tank or a chain fed machine gun where the right arm would normally be. Steve could hardly contain himself.
Running like a kid in a candy store, he quickly surveyed the options, wondering which ones he could actually afford. Eventually, an amused Bin calmed him down and explained which section he thought Steve should be looking at.
“We have specialty chassis, but my understanding is you don’t have an enormous amount of capital. So, what you need is a custom general purpose chassis; something with character and unique features that you want, but nothing that would make your everyday life hard to live.”
Steve spun around. “Are you saying… some Drones swap their entire bodies out like changes of clothes? Not just individual parts?”
“Of course. The more affluent citizens of Tempora have entire storage facilities filled with them. But that can be really expensive, so most Drones only have one for the majority of their life, and maybe an extra one for their occupation. Now tell me… what kind of features are you looking for?”
“Hmm… I don’t know, I’m not sure what kinds of features really exist. How about some extra arms? Maybe a jet pack?”
Bin scratched his head. “Could you define what you mean by jet pack?”
“You know, something that lets you fly. It seems like something like that would be possible in such a technologically advanced civilization.”
Bin thought for a moment. “The closest thing we have would be a electrostatic gyropositioner, but I don’t think you would get a lot of use out of it. It requires a high amount of electro energy to operate, so you would either be chugging fuel almost constantly while using it, or you would need to be a class five caster at the very least – which I doubt you are, otherwise you would know this. Let’s just start with the arms…”
The two Drones walked to one body that was slightly larger than Steve’s current body, and roughly the same height of Bin’s. It was a non-glossy darker gray, as well as being more angular and not having the same glowing lines running along the frame that the default model of Drone seemed to have. The face had triangle shaped eyes instead of the plain circular most drones had, and the facial profile was much more chiseled, giving a distinct air of masculinity. “This one has a faster fuel burn rate, but overall it is much more capable than the standard chassis. Now, let’s get down to the customizations...”
Bin extended an arm which expanded apart partially as a ratchet popped out of an inner compartment into Bin’s hand, and he made quick work of attaching a new set of arms. He then pressed some controls on the back of his arm, causing a glow to appear in the shell’s eyes. “Check this out…”
The arms of the chassis split apart into two more arms each, giving the resulting robot four arms with claws of three. Bin pressed the button again, and the arms reformed into the original two, with five fingers each. Steve whistled, impressed. “Yes. This. I am definitely liking this. How hard are they to control, though? Obviously, I’ve never used four arms at once before.”
“Usually an AI helps with things like that, but don’t worry. All it takes is a bit of practice, and you can control all functions of a Drone chassis with your mind and nothing else. But this is a pretty basic upgrade… interested in anything else?”
Steve gave Bin a bit of a mischievous glance. “How about weapons?”
Bin chuckled. “I trust you aren’t planning anything nefarious, but yes, most Drones have some level of installed self defense. Let’s see… are you trained in any weapons?”
“No.”
Bin thought for a moment before snapping his fingers. “Of course! A combination targeting system and full capability projectile apparatus.” He installed a container inside the chest cavity of the chassis, and attached an unassuming rectangular box to the back. He finished by attaching an additional piece to the right eye, but folded to the side of the head so it wouldn’t obstruct the sight. He pressed a button, and the backpack unfolded into a tube extending over the shoulder toward the front while the eyepiece flipped over in front of the eye and began to glow slightly. “This has the necessary equipment included to make new projectiles as well. They are fired using magnetic propulsion, so each projectile needs a certain amount of iron in it to function properly. You can also modify the firing mechanism to use some different types of propulsion, but I recommend this version initially as it is easiest to operate and maintain.”
Steve nodded in approval. “I’m still new to this technology, but I love the idea of customizing it further. I hope I’m able to figure it out...”
“Well, it will be a bit harder to learn how to navigate it without an AI, but I’ll add a schematic sequencer and extra storage space. It will give you basic search functionality and other features not included standard with Drone chassis. Oh! And I just had an idea...”
Bin swapped out the standard human-like legs for legs that had a the joint bending backwards like a grasshopper’s back legs, making the entire construct appear much more intimidating and less humanoid. “It’s no jet pack, but this will give you a much higher jump. You won’t be able to run as fast, though, so keep that in mind. What do you think?”
“Is there really no way to have a jet pack? I thought levitation technology would be relatively easy to come by when you have ordinary people with the ability to fly.”
Bin gave Steve a strange look, until he understood. “Ah. You are referring to gravity casters… that’s actually the crux of the problem. Drones are, for lack of a better term, attuned to electricity. Adding other types of energy alongside that can interfere with both, so giving a Drone the power of flight through that method has proven not only difficult, but dangerous. But… if you are that interested in flight… then I have something you may find interesting.”
Walking to the other end of the lab, Bin turned on some lights to display several drawing boards with schematics of boats. “I don’t just work on Drone chassis. I’ve also done some work with gravity skiffs.”
“Gravity skiffs?”
Bin picked up a stack of papers and flipped through them before taking one out. He handed one to Steve as he explained. “Gravity skiffs allow the application of a gravity caster’s power to an entire vehicle, giving it lighter than air qualities while keeping the occupants firmly planted on the deck. However, there are a load of caveats to this, as not all gravity casters have the talent to operate them effectively. So, one alternate design idea I’ve worked on is a control apparatus that can be operated by someone other than the gravity caster. If you want, you could-”
Bin stopped mid-sentence as a beep emanated from his head, prompting him to turn away for a moment and speak to someone else, evidently using a built-in wireless communication device. “Yes? What’s so urgent that- Oh. Oh, no...”
He turned back to Steve sounding concerned. “Steve. I have a proposition for you, but it needs to be handled fast. I sometimes help run jobs for the Gatekeepers, but we are shorthanded for an urgent one that just came in…” He frantically grabbed a writing implement and scrawled some directions and numbers on a paper before handing it to Steve. “What do you think?”
Steve took the paper, and read through it. His eyes grew wide at what he was reading. “Really? I mean, with a schematic for a gravity skiff, I could build something that would suffice, and I have some ideas for a crew… are you really paying this much? I don’t have much context for the currency yet, but… it seems like an awful lot.”
“Yes, this needs to be done immediately. Can I count on you?”
“...Is there some reason you couldn’t handle this yourself? I mean-”
“I have other responsibilities! This will take a full day, I don’t have that time to just travel! Now, is that a yes or a no?”
Steve thought for only a moment before smiling. “Yeah… yeah, I can do this. Don’t worry about a thing. I’m on it.” He began to run out, before he stopped mid step. “Oh, right, the new body. How do I pay you? Is this enough?”
Bin took a single gold coin from Steve’s outstretched hand. “In combination with trading in your old body, this is perfectly acceptable. If you run into any problems, swing by and ask for me anytime. After you get back from the job, that is.”
With no small amount of trepidation, Steve walked up to his new customized body. It’s core chamber sat there already open, the shell currently devoid of any speck of life. Steve slowly pressed the panel on his chest, opening it and removing his core. It glowed a subdued blue, as if it sensed his concern. Or rather, it was him, observing a physical manifestation of his own fear through the use of artificially constructed and connected eyes.
He shook his head, trying to dispel the existential dread from creeping up on him. He quickly put the core in the new compartment, and closed his eyes as his hand let go.
As he opened his eyes, everything looked different. His now lifeless old body, while smoother in design than his current more robust form, looked slightly scratched up and a different shade of silver. He realized that the eyes in this new body had greater resolution. His movement felt a bit sluggish as he took a step forward, supporting hooks on the chassis automatically disconnecting. Bin walked up and pushed the old body to the side in order to speak with Steve. “So… what do you think? You will probably have some minor issues with movement initially, but those shouldn’t last longer than twenty four hours.”
Steve spoke, his voice sounding slightly more commanding to himself, though he mused that may just be the psychological effect of being in a more physically imposing form. “Everything works fine. Now, I’m off. I’ve got work to do...”
Bin gave a little informal salute with his left hand as Steve slightly clumsily left the lab. “It’s been a pleasure, Steve Lyon.”