[audio]

[psimera]

Would anyone know where one could get uncommon adapters? Or, um, wire something electronic up to the grid here directly without frying it? Or any other way you can think of to charge unusual things?

[The voice starts off trying to be calm, almost mechanical, but it very quickly slips into desperation. Apparently this is urgent. The Commander's got blueprints of his insides saved in his head for repairs, but he doesn't actually know how they work, besides the fact that they do if everything's connected properly. He's clueless about this.]

[...he isn't someone who's been heard on the network before, either. It rather sounds like he chose it as a last resort.]

Comments

[psimera]

"I would be very grateful if you could manage something portable. Or something I could set up in my apartment. ...I'll just have to avoid serious damage, then."

He assumes right away that some form of repayment is going to be required, whether or not Ruri was planning on saying something. He segues into that without much warning. "I don't have many material possessions or resources in this city, but I can repay you with..." - he pauses for a moment to consider. "...my design is intended for combat." As Ruri might have noticed. "Besides that, I am proficient in the use of PSI." If mostly offensively as well. "I am willing to do unskilled labour if there is no use for those."

His charge level slowly inches down to 5%, but he makes himself stay calm, in case there'll be bargaining ahead. He doesn't really care about an amount of work - he can't really go without a way to charge - but he's worried about other things.

[electricyousei]

"Portable would take a few days. If you can get the resources for me I can construct it though. Why Don't I plug you in here and we can discuss payment when you have a full charge. I find it bad practice to hold someone random while dealing with them."

She offers an array of several dozen adapters to him while she starts stringing a cable from one of the mecha berths.

"Pick whichever adapter you are most comfortable with and I'll plug you in. Honestly, I'd rather just help than extort people but I don't have the resources to build one right now."

[psimera]

The Commander hesitates for a bit, then nods - technically, already charging would put him in a position of lower bargaining power, but he doesn't have elsewhere to charge, so it's an illusory advantage even if doesn't. He scans over the adapters, picking one out in a few seconds and pointing to it.

"...what kind of resources?" If it's something that can be bought in Hinoto-Ri - he doesn't have funds for much, just the city's allowance for Visitors, but he can ration food for a while and buy with what's left over. He won't be operating at peak efficiency, but less food and charge is better than food and no charge. If it's something expensive, or more complicated to obtain - well, one step at a time here. It's inefficient to start planning for a problem without understanding all the parameters.

[electricyousei]

"A generator, wire, things needed to build a charging machine. I know there are jobs we can take for funds, but I assume you do not want to be reliant on coming here every time you run low on power."

[psimera]

"...if you give me a list I will try to obtain everything. Until then..." Well, he guesses he will have to keep coming back, unless Ruri's about to offer something else. And there's still repayment to speak of.

...maybe he should try to find some employment.

[electricyousei]

"I can have a print up of parts ready in an hour or so. I'm not certain how long your batteries will take to recharge though."

[psimera]

"From my current charge..." he counts it up in his head. "Five hours." Which isn't bad at all considering he can last for a week with normal usage on full charge, and even longer with conservative usage.

It's a bit boring to sit around for five hours, but he usually made sure charging time coincided with sleeping time when he had that option.