[Marlene Lovechild]

UAU was a place of many discoveries for Marlene.

A thing she discovered today was that she were not, in fact, invincible. Durable, sure, but not invulnerable. During a sparring practice, she was placed against a very strong student. The teachers knew Marlene was sturdy, did not feel pain, or fear for that matter. A perfect sparring partner. The student in question wailed on her, until he got tired. But, with enough force and determination, managed to break her elbow joint. After the class, Marlene saw the nurse. The woman could not do much, she was trained to deal with human injuries. Or... organic, anyway.

Which was why the automaton girl found herself where she was. In the UAU support labs, home of the support class students. She walked past some of them, her arm lifelessly hanging in an arm-sling, her eyes scanning the area for any familiar faces. A challenging task, when one is a new student. Of course, she could have always gone home, and asked her mother to do the maintenance. But... she did not want to bother mother with something like that.

Perhaps, instead, one of these friendly tinkerers would help out? The damage was not that extensive, just a few cogs to be replaced, surely...

"Excuse me, can you help me with something?"

Marlene asked one student, then another, and another. Some of them seemed flustered or bewildered by her request of assistance. None of them took a chance of "fixing" the odd student. Something about personal responsibility or a lack of experience. After a dozen inquiries or so, and a dozen of rejections, the automaton was slowly being convinced that she would have to perform maintenance on her own. She did not have much experience, but she had her quirk still. Maybe it would be enough. She went about gathering materials around the place. Cogs, springs, etcetera. Carrying a tray with some, to the workbench, in one hand, she had almost run into a tall girl. Or was it a boy? Hard to tell. The automaton stopped, as running into her would be like running into a 450-lbs safe. She looked over the new person with her unblinking glass eyes. She did not bother this one before, with her request. She would repeat it.

"Excuse me..."

[Morgan Matsumoto]

[nospaces]

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THERE'S FEAR IN THE EYES

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[attr="class","nikki100"]

[attr="class","nikki101"]OF ALL OF YOU THAT BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE RIGHT, AND YOU'RE RIGHT

[break]

[attr="class","nikki102"]BUT ARE YOU RIGHT?

[break]

[attr="class","nikki109"]Things had gotten a lot more lively in the support labs since the new freshman class had started. Whether it was new support students testing the limits of their skills or hopeful hero course students looking to get a leg up on the competition. It was a golden age for the support labs! 'This is a nightmare' Morgan thought to herself as she worked on an assignment for one of her classes. The entire room had been filled to such a degree that had to reserve two extra work spaces just to put some distance between her and the next person. Luckily there were other upperclassmen around that were much more likely to answer questions so for the most part Morgan was off the hook.[break][break]


It had been made pretty clear by her actions that she wasn't exactly inviting any freshmen to strike up a conversation. For her assignment, as they tended to have general and then personal ones, the focus would be on repairing several different types of support gear without any assistance. Her specialty had been assembly and disassembly which is something her professor was trying to push the boundaries on. Sure there was always quirk improvement, but she didn't really have any desire to fight which is what quirks were primarily used for at this school in her experience. [break][break]

Standing with her back turned in between two of the workspaces she was balancing a box of parts in one arm as she went to open up the first machine she was tasked with repairing. Just as she was about to do so when she heard a low voice speak waaaaay too close to her. Turning rapidly she jumped a solid two feet back, dropping the entire box on the floor. She would quickly pull up her face mask and used her quirk to pick up all the parts at blinding speed before she moved to put the entire workbench between the two of them "Uh...have you tried one of the others?" her hands shook as she pointed to the larger crowds of people not even hearing out what Marlene needed to say. There was virtually nothing that could be said to prolong this conversation and thank god for that. [break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","nikki103"]WORDS

[attr="class","nikki103"]Marlene Lovechild

[attr="class","nikki103"]MUSIC

[break]

NOTES

notes here, i guess?

PHARAOH LEAP CREATES

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[Marlene Lovechild]

Any other person would have gotten the hint.

Marlene, though, interpreted it literally. The girl she ran into did not reject her outright, saying "I cannot help you" or some such. Instead, she asked if she asked anyone else to help her out. To that, the machine shook her head, back and forth. "I have asked all the other people here. They are either too busy or unable to perform the repairs on my arm." - she nodded towards the damaged appendage in a sling. Her voice sounded neutral, though a finely-tuned ear would recognize the metal reverberations of a machine in distress. 

And she interpreted the putting of a workbench between them, as a sign of willingness to help.

The automaton girl pulled a chair for herself, and sat, on the opposite side of the workbench. The chair creaked underneath the weight of 450 lbs being put upon them, but held. Marlene placed the parts and tools she had been carrying on the bench, on one side, and her arm - on the others. Removing the bandage and hiking her sleeve up, to expose the damaged elements. The silicone skin was torn in a few places, revealing metal plating underneath. The elbow joint looked mangled too, a few metal bits, springs, and cogs sticking out, or trying to turn, and getting themselves jammed even more.

"Can you take a look? If you cannot perform the repairs, I would appreciate advice, still. The school nurse could not help me out, much." 

Marlene reached for a scalpel, to cut the silicone on her own arm. The demeanor, and general apathy towards having been harm told a tale.

That she was not quite human.

[Morgan Matsumoto]

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THERE'S FEAR IN THE EYES

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[attr="class","nikki100"]

[attr="class","nikki101"]OF ALL OF YOU THAT BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE RIGHT, AND YOU'RE RIGHT

[break]

[attr="class","nikki102"]BUT ARE YOU RIGHT?

[break]

[attr="class","nikki109"]A mix of confusion and slight curiosity came over Morgan as she looked the girl up and down. She was clearly a freshman as Morgan may not have had a penchant for...anything but she did remember faces pretty well. Made it much easier to avoid people if you could remember them especially with the egos floating around their hero school.[break][break]

"Perform repairs?" she started waving her hand in front of her dismissively. She had run into a bunch of weirdos including her own classmates but this one may have had a screw loo-...wait repairs?? Her nervousness had morphed into a gentle curiosity as she realized that the girl's movements and even voice were very robotic in nature. Turns out she wouldn't have to put more thought into it as Marlene had shown the damage she needed repairing. Despite her instinct to get away from people Morgan fought it this time to get a closer look, taking her glasses out of her pocket as she inspected the damage. Just for a quick assessment, it was fairly obvious that it was physical trauma as several of the springs had been chipped and the cogs were jammed as they moved against each other. Cupping her chin for a moment as she looked around the room Marlene was correct that everyone was busy. Even her fellow upperclassmen were easily taking on two to three freshmen at once. She hung her head sighing outwardly as she was going to regret offering, but at least Marlene was robotic and not a germ-filled sac like herself. "I'll help you. Just need some basic information, name would be helpful and do you have any blueprints of specification numbers for parts? Either way, I'll try to fill in the blanks." she pulled out a small pad to write down any details Marlene gave her and would begin to dig through her box of parts before looking over at Marlene fiddling with the 'skin' on "Just...don't do that." her skin looked very realistic and it was making Morgan slightly uncomfortable to watch her be so cavalier about opening it up like that. [break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","nikki103"]WORDS

[attr="class","nikki103"]Marlene Lovechild

[attr="class","nikki103"]MUSIC

[break]

NOTES

notes here, i guess?

PHARAOH LEAP CREATES

[newclass=.nikki99]width:500px;height:250px;[/newclass]
[newclass=.nikki100]width:500px;height:30px;text-align:center;font:8px Helvetica;line-height:30px!important;color:#f5f5f5;background-color:#333333;letter-spacing:2px;position:relative;z-index:1;overflow:hidden;[/newclass]
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[Marlene Lovechild]

Glorious success!

A helpful person was acquired. Now all Marlene had to do was sit tight and let the master of repairs do repairs for her. Hopefully, she would be proficient enough with it that mother would not need to be bothered with fixing her up. She did not want to disappoint her creator any more so than she already did, and taking damage in a training exercise would surely add to her ire. A barely noticeable shadow of worry crossed Marlene's face, as she thought of it.

But when the green-haired girl came over, and told her what to do, the train of thought focused on the Now. Marlene was very good at following what she was told to do.

"Very well. You can perform the incisions yourself." - she said, putting the scalpel down, with its handle towards the person. The glasses-wearing girl asked for information, and the automaton girl would provide.

"My name is Marlene Lovechild. I am a year one student at UAU. The damaged parts are as follows: Great wheel, 38 mm., Secondary wheel, 24 mm., Cannon pinion 20 mm, type 5, mainspring..." - Marlene listed out a number of components, totaling 20. There was an oddity about them, though. None of these were robotic parts, cybernetic in any way or measure. These were ... parts of clockwork mechanisms. Some of these Morgan might even recognize if she had ever gotten her hands on a grandfather's clock. After having listed off the parts, the automaton girl finished, on an opened note:

"I do not have the blueprints with me on hand. It is considered intellectual property of my mother. Thank you for your assistance, though." - she said, and an awkward silence followed. It was only broken by another question, from a curious machine:

"What is your name?"

[Morgan Matsumoto]

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THERE'S FEAR IN THE EYES

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[attr="class","nikki100"]

[attr="class","nikki101"]OF ALL OF YOU THAT BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE RIGHT, AND YOU'RE RIGHT

[break]

[attr="class","nikki102"]BUT ARE YOU RIGHT?

[break]

[attr="class","nikki109"]Morgan may have considered herself the worlds biggest coward, but she did have a genuine interest in support equipment. It was the easiest thing to blend into her lifestyle as machines were simple and easy to clean, and people were filthy and difficult. Her face scrunched up with the thought as she thought more about her own experiences as a first year. Pure chaos was the most fitting descriptor.[break][break]

As she worked her eyes kept wandering over to Marlene. She did seem to have some of the stereotypical tics one would expect from a robot or at least in some of the games she played that's how they acted. As Marlene listed off some information about herself Morgan cracked a small smile only a logic-driven machine would think to add that they were a student at the school they were literally standing in. She took out a small spray bottle and took the opportunity to spray the handle of the scalpel before she would wipe it off and brought it closer to where she was situated. "Wait, aren't those clock parts?" she had done a lot of tinkering in her day and to confirm she looked through the database to see what type of equipment the lab had on hand. "Hmm." she quickly scanned her basket to make sure before she would step away to look through the various sections of the lab for what she needed. [break][break]

It didn't take long before she had gathered up all the pieces and brought them back to the station. Perhaps it was because Marlene was more machine than person but Morgan didn't feel as nervous as she usually did. "So, your mother built you?" small talk still sucked person or machine "I'm Morgan by the way. Second Year, Support Course." she would take this opportunity to move closer and use the scalpel to make a large incision to give herself more working space. [break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","nikki103"]WORDS

[attr="class","nikki103"]Marlene Lovechild

[attr="class","nikki103"]MUSIC

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NOTES

notes here, i guess?

PHARAOH LEAP CREATES

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[Marlene Lovechild]

"Yes, these are clock parts. My mother used to be a famous clock-smith."

The name of her mother, Helen Lovechild nee Zamenhof, was fairly known in small circles of specialists. From time to time, they even visited her in their little apartment. Offering jobs, orders, expensive contracts. The woman denied them all, though. Which was a shame, in Marlene's opinion. She only wished the best for her creator.

"A pleasure to meet you, Morgan."

The automaton then fell silent, letting this Morgan girl work. The incision was made, letting the skin be removed, and demonstrate some of the inner workings of her arm. She could see pistons, each moving whenever she moved a finger. Kind of like in that old movie about machines exterminating humanity. They wore skin-suits of grown flesh and blood. Marlene did not have that. Though remarkably lifelike from the outside, upon touching it, one could easily tell the material.

But there was another thing. 

The surface plating. One could tell it was made for protection. Military-grade steel, practically, or the next best thing found in the commercial market. Meant to withstand punishment. One could guess the force of the blow Marlene had to take to actually end up being damaged. When the incision reached the part where it would help access the elbow, though, and the skin was removed to the sides, a kind of a yellow glow poured out of the incision. It was whimsical, almost, it made the immediate area on the table a bit brighter. And it traveled from the 'wound', in whispy strands, around the table. Seeking to touch the scalpel, and the various bits and pieces around the table, lifting and putting them down.

As if a curious creature, looking for something. 

[Morgan Matsumoto]

[nospaces]

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THERE'S FEAR IN THE EYES

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[attr="class","nikki100"]

[attr="class","nikki101"]OF ALL OF YOU THAT BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE RIGHT, AND YOU'RE RIGHT

[break]

[attr="class","nikki102"]BUT ARE YOU RIGHT?

[break]

[attr="class","nikki109"]'Famous clocksmith?' Morgan thought to herself as she finished making the incision. Odd career choice especially in this day and age but clearly her mother had pursued it for a reason. Seeing as Marlene was inorganic in nature she figured her sentience was probably related to a quirk. If she didn't think Marlene's mother was another human being she was almost tempted to meet her. Too bad not everyone could be a robot she thought with a sigh as she began to get more delicate work "Uh does this...hurt?" she wasn't sure if Marlene had pain receptors or even synthetic ones to stimulate the pain and was nervous that she would hurt her in the process of repairing her arm.[break][break]

She continued to work diligently before the yellow glow caught her eye. Initially, she figured it was just some feature that Marlene's mother had installed. The why was something she had no idea but what came next was something she couldn't have ever expected. As the yellow wisp began fiddling with equipment Morgan jumped back in fear, eyes widening as she exclaimed "Marlene, what the heck is that?!?" she would refuse to come any closer until Marlene could thoroughly explain what that was. More importantly, she would need to resanitize the entire work surface once that...thing would be taken care of.[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","nikki103"]WORDS

[attr="class","nikki103"]@pharaohleap

[attr="class","nikki103"]MUSIC

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NOTES

notes here, i guess?

PHARAOH LEAP CREATES

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[Marlene Lovechild]

"No, it does not hurt. I cannot feel most things. I just register minor damage."

It was a very robot-like response. However, even though the excruciating feelings of having one's elbow destroyed were something not available to Marlene, she could still feel upset over being damaged. Could it constitute as a substitute for pain? A question for another time. Because, as soon as her quirk-strands started coming out, her repair-person bolted away like a skittish girl she was. The automaton girl looked at her, then at the curious energy strands, then at her again.

"I am sorry. That is the extension of the energy that moves me. It is harmless. Allow me to de-energise the limb."

Having said that, Marlene made a mental command for her body to do just that. The energy strands let go of the tiny pieces they have been fiddling with, going back into her arm, and further into her body. The arm slumped back onto the table with an audible thunk, as if no longer supported by whatever was in it that kept it suspended against the rest of the body. The automaton shifted herself a bit, to get into a better position, for herself and the support student working on her. 

"You may proceed. I apologize for the interuption. I did not mean to scare you." - the machine promised, after scanning Morgan's facial expression. That girl hardly made an effort to hide her emotions, with dilated pupils and refusal to come closer. 'I should have thought about it beforehand.' - Marlene chided herself. 'Humans are skittish. They are often afraid of ... me.'

[Morgan Matsumoto]

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THERE'S FEAR IN THE EYES

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[attr="class","nikki100"]

[attr="class","nikki101"]OF ALL OF YOU THAT BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE RIGHT, AND YOU'RE RIGHT

[break]

[attr="class","nikki102"]BUT ARE YOU RIGHT?

[break]

[attr="class","nikki109"]Morgan was fighting her instincts to run away from the situation and let someone else deal with it. A tried and true classic that never failed her, but there was some nagging feeling keeping her from just giving up entirely. Marlene wasn't dealing with some sort of broken gear, she herself was broken. So as Morgan kept her distance awaiting some sort of explanation she forced herself to stay put even though her legs were urging her to keep going.[break][break]

'Extension of the energy that moves her? Who the hell designs a robot like that' it was visually impressive sure, but functionally it was...weird. Then again Marlene did say her mother built her so perhaps it was one of those classic "to be more human" efforts that she read about in comics. This revelation did cause her to calm down a bit and the subsequent 'off switch' being flipped brought her stress levels back down to their normal amount.[break][break]

she couldn't exactly read Marlene but she did believe her when she said that it was all set. She approached, taking a once to confirm there were no energy wisps still floating around, and then took the opportunity to wipe down all the equipment they had touched. Falling back into her work she did have some follow-up questions "So I'm sure you get a lot of questions given your...er parts?" she placed down one of her tools, picking up a small pair of tweezers to replace it. "How long ago were you built?" since automatons were ageless Marlene being built yesterday was just as likely as her being 50 years old.[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","nikki103"]WORDS

[attr="class","nikki103"]Marlene Lovechild

[attr="class","nikki103"]MUSIC

[break]

NOTES

notes here, i guess?

PHARAOH LEAP CREATES

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[Marlene Lovechild]

"I am not a robot. I am an automaton."

Marlene corrected her 'healer', while the girl worked on fixing her joint. There was a difference, from what the machine girl knew. Robots had their intelligence derived from advanced processors and circuitry. They were digital, electronic, and had all the strengths and weaknesses associated with such. She did not. The machine part of her was simply a body for the quirk to inhabit. In essense, she was a ghost in a machine body. Or a magic golem. The analogies were limitless. But she did not doubt her mother's genius. 

It was her place to serve, after all.

"I was built three years ago. I was designed to function as a young adult." - Marlene answered the question about her age. The added explanation was necessary, she felt. To avoid confusion of being treated like a child. Though, in many aspects, she did lack vital knowledge and sawwiness about the world. Almost akin to a child. As much as that stoic, unblinking expression would have one believe otherwise. Unfamiliar social situations, in particular, made her feel lost and confused, often.

Marlene waited patiently, her arm powered down and static, while the doctor continued repairs. When asked about if she were questioned about her parts often, she shook her head. "No, I do not get many questions. Most people do not realize that I am a machine, until it is too late." - the girl made a pause, to let the words sink in, before breaking the ominous silence: "That was a joke."

[Morgan Matsumoto]

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THERE'S FEAR IN THE EYES

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[attr="class","nikki101"]OF ALL OF YOU THAT BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE RIGHT, AND YOU'RE RIGHT

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[attr="class","nikki102"]BUT ARE YOU RIGHT?

[break]

[attr="class","nikki109"]Morgan cringed at her faux pas. This was completely new territory for her but she still felt bad for calling Marlene a robot. It was an easy mistake to make given her demeanor and the fact that she came to the support labs for healing instead of the nurse like 99% of other students. "Sorry." she avoided eye contact as felt extremely uncomfortable instead opting to reach for her protective glasses to begin soldering some of the pieces back together. It was an interesting challenge for sure but nothing she couldn't handle even if anyone else in the lab would have been a much smarter choice. [break][break]

"I see" Morgan kept it brief in response to Marlene's age. She was doing some of the delicate work trying to create the smaller connections that would house the gears required for motion. She prayed that she wouldn't be put on the spot like this again but UAU was notorious for putting its students in dangerous situations and she figured that Marlene would continually come here for any repairs in the future. It had only been a few weeks since the new freshmen had arrived and she'd already heard of so many incidents where the students seemed even more reckless than her own class was last year.[break][break]

She was focused when she froze for a moment upon hearing 'until its too late'. There wasn't much more she could do at this moment except pray that Marlene would elaborate as Morgans eyes drifted towards the exit. The revelation of it being a joke let her breathe again. She sighed heavily briefly breaking her workflow "Okay well jokes aside I think that should finish the internals. Can you uh...turn on that stuff again and see if you can move your arm?" she was 70% sure it would work...50%.[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","nikki103"]WORDS

[attr="class","nikki103"]Marlene Lovechild

[attr="class","nikki103"]MUSIC

[break]

NOTES

notes here, i guess?

PHARAOH LEAP CREATES

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[Marlene Lovechild]

"It is alright. I do not think I can be offended."

Marlene shrugged her shoulders a little. Her memories went back a little, towards things that happened shortly after her construction. She tried to reconnect with people she had memories of. Reactions were very ... volatile. Words were said. Much harsher ones than a simple and honest mistake. She knew what she was supposed to feel, but felt nothing. 

So, she simply remained seated, and letting the glasses girl work on her arm. Soon enough, a test had to be made. Following instructions, the automaton nodded.

"Understood. Reconnecting the limb."

The wispy strands traveled down from her shoulder, all the way through the arm once more. Its golden glow making the internals appear like some sort of fantasy-like dwemer technology. The arm seemed to have been filled with life once more, some of the fingers jerked to close into a fist, and then into an open palm. Two of them, remained motionless, jerking only slightly, and then getting stuck mid-motion, as if jamming.

"I can move the arm." - she said, bending the elbow, and rotating the forearm.

"Damage is more extensive than initially anticipated."

Marlene looked up at Morgan, her look bearing a slight semblance of guilt and apology, something one was more familiar with in a dog, rather than a machine. It looked... Surprisingly natural, too, before it disappeared.

"I am sorry."

[Morgan Matsumoto]

[nospaces]

[attr="class","nikki98"]

[attr="class","nikki99"]

[break]

THERE'S FEAR IN THE EYES

[break]

[attr="class","nikki100"]

[attr="class","nikki101"]OF ALL OF YOU THAT BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE RIGHT, AND YOU'RE RIGHT

[break]

[attr="class","nikki102"]BUT ARE YOU RIGHT?

[break]

[attr="class","nikki109"]'Can't be offended? Huh. Weird.' she thought to herself as she continued to work away. Once Marlene uttered that she was reconnecting the limb Morgan pushed her seat back now expecting what would come next but still not being a fan of it.[break][break]

The energy from her shoulder travelled down and Morgan couldn't help but winch. She had no idea how Marlene was able to do that and frankly she didn't want to know. She watched carefully as Marlene engaged her arm and it wriggled to life. Since she hadn't put on the synthetic skin she could see all the gears turning so when two of the fingers didn't work Morgan could immediately see the problem. "Ah I see the problem." she approached pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose "You can keep the arm powered I can do this quick and uh..." she fidgeted "please don't apologize" she would crack her knuckles and then activated her quirk, speeding up to the point that her hands were a blur. A bead of sweat dripped down her face and just a few minutes later she stopped, panting "Okay. I think that should do it."[break][break]

[attr="class","nikki103"]WORDS

[attr="class","nikki103"]@pharaohleap

[attr="class","nikki103"]MUSIC

[break]

NOTES

notes here, i guess?

PHARAOH LEAP CREATES

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[googlefont=Montserrat:400,700]

[Marlene Lovechild]

Marlene was being repaired.

It wasn't done in an instant, and a few tries had to be made, but Morgan seemed to be getting the hang of it. The more she worked, she would discover that although intricate and infinitely complex for a clockwork mechanism, the basic principles behind each element remained remarkably bog-standard. Almost as if she were designed for the ease of repair. After she replaced and fixed the gears in the correct manner, everything seemed to click into place. 

And the automaton watched her every step of the way, with those unblinking eyes.

'She is very fast.' - Marlene thought to herself, watching her. 'And kind. She fixed me. Mother will not know of the accident.'

When told to check the machinery, Marlene moved her fingers again. Everything seemed to be working normally. Carefully, she lifted the forearm and held it in front of herself, while watching the exposed cylinders move back and forth. All that was needed now was to re-seal the silicone skin, and she'd be set to go.

"Everything appears to be fixed, thank you." - her voice, though neutral, had a slight reverb of gratitude to it. "You saved me from much trouble back home. Is there anything I could do for you, in return?"