Scene #591: Wily MD - Episode ??: It's Robo-Lupus!

Owner	Pose
Taro	Taro is currently a patient in the AI-machine-medical ward he normally normally serves. The horror. At least unlike some medics that could be mentioned, he hasn't been terrorizing the staff with unreasonable demands. Someone has been kind enough to bring him a strand of prayer beads to replace the ones sacrificed in combat, which have been set on the bedside table. Aside from that, his private room looks about the same as most of the others in medical, save that the instruments and medical devices surrounding his bed are definitely intended for mechanical life rather than organic, and the drawers and cabinets are full of the small tools and spare bits for repairing ones like him. The readouts on the monitors by the bed are tapped into one of his still functioning I/O ports on his upper left arm, while the rest of him is covered up in a blanket with an anti-static coating. It looks like someone did a nice job of trying to bash Taro's head in, his hair a jumbled mess and his normally pleasant face scratched and scuffed but not bruised. The television is off, apparently having tired of its narrering a while ago.
Dr. Wily	A hospital. This is no place for an old man - more a grim reminder, even if this is the artificial lifeforms ward. Further, this is especially no place for THIS old man - it's a wonder anybody would trust Doctor Albert Wily around this many vulnerable, near-defenseless robots. For some reason, however, not only did they let him in, but... "Hrmph. Don't know why they called ME here... I'm a doctor, not a medic, dammit." Wily grumbles to himself as he stalks through the ward, a toolbox the size of a suitcase in one hand and... inexplicably, a cane in the other, supporting a slight limp. It doesn't take long for Wily to find himself at the room he has been sent to. A couple of orderlies may be traumatised by his idea of 'asking for directions', but that's fine, it's all part of their job, right? So, arriving at Taro's room, he opens the door without even a polite knock, and barges right on in, offering no greeting or other pleasantries. Only "... you're the Taro they called me in for, right?" There's a certain undertone of 'because if you're not...' in the way he says it. Someone, it seems, doesn't want to have to try another room.
Taro	Taro frowns at the loudness of this intrusion, opening one eye to regard his intruder. "Unless someone has copied me or some other poor soul has to share my name," he says dryly, "then yes." His other eye opens then, though the frown remains. "Doctor Albert Wily, I presume. You will excuse me if I don't get up."
Dr. Wily	"Of course. Now, let's see what needs fixing first." Wily wastes no time in hobbling across the room and setting his tools on a convenient chair. He certainly wasn't called in for his bedside manner. "I'm guessing you're a model that keeps its brain in its head? ... hah, I don't think I need an answer..." Just a quick once-over, looking at the damage evident above cover before giving the blanket a sharp tug to try to move it aside. It's anyone's guess why he doesn't just check the readout - doesn't trust it? Didn't notice it? Just really wants to be rude and stare?
Taro	"My core is in my chest," Taro is quick to reply, just in case the man's first idea is to separate his head from the rest of him. Surely not a fatal procedure, but being left blind and deaf is most certainly annoying. Standard-issue sleeveless dressing gown and shorts, and a great deal of dermal damage. No bruising - that along with the lack of blood are telling signs that he is less human than he appears - but there's a great number of cuts and gouges in his synthskin, along with wooden and metal schrapnel for good measure. One of his knees is stuck in an awkward angle as well. The android is till scowling, but that might just be his normal expression. Regardless, he doesn't voice a complaint over his exam. Yet.
Dr. Wily	"Well, that would explain it, then. Damage like that would have shut you down if your processors had been up there." After noting the shrapnel and apparently broken leg, Wily looks up from his exam. "As it is... well, if you were one of mine, I'd start over with a spare body." As he heads over to the readout display, the doctor continues on in an almost bored, lecturing tone. "Damaged frame, superficial outer damage, looked like some damage to sensory input - you might not notice now, but something's going to short out in that head of yours if it's not fixed." Of course, none of this is likely news to the patient. "AI seems stable, at least." Wily's eyes go wide, however, as he looks at the readout, and his tone changes - quieter, a bit hesitant. "... were you... bitten by zombies, by chance? I was called up before I could read the reports, but..."
Taro	"Also damage to fine motor controls," Taro adds to the list. "I shut down that system before arrival because the tremors were distracting." The readout display confirms this, helpfully marking in bright red all of the damage done to internal muscular control and in some places the entire artificial muscular system itself. His left arm is down to less than 1%, a total loss, really. A faint grimace. "I am a Bishop Engineer, Doctor. I'm aware of my conditions and what they mean. However, I am in such poor shape that I cannot repair myself, and my current shell is both complicated and expensive to construct. While I did have a spare shell at one time, it was stolen, allegedly by fangirls." Yes, said with a straight face. His head shifts on the pillow so that he can keep Wily in view. "...bitten by zombies?" The surprise is more in voice than experssion, a question he was not expected to be asked. "It's not out of the question, I suppose. I was beset by a number of them, from which I had to fight my way out."
Dr. Wily	"Well, that could explain these irregularities. If you were organic, I'd worry you were turning into a zombie yourself, but as a machine..." Wily shakes his head resignedly. "... well. I'll see what I can do about patching you up, and we can worry about THAT problem later." "Here. This won't fix anything, but it might reset a few of the more... salvageable circuits." Wily rummages about in a lab coat pocket, producing a small glass capsule glowing with inner light. Sure, sure, energy capsules can't solve everything, but hey, who knows. Of course, traditional repair work is going to be needed here too. Well aware of this, Wily hobbles back to the toolbox, still leaning on the cane - which is topped with a lovely decorative skull, of course. "Looks like I'll have to clear my evening..."
Taro	"It's highly unlikely that whatever disease they carried can be transmitted to me. Still..." His tone is more musing now, "...it is possible that I could be a carrier. Basic decontamination should have removed it, though." Energy Capsules? ... Ah, right. Variant energy source. At worst, they would do no harm (and his nanobots cound use the energy boost no matter what the source), and so he'll take as prescribed. "I hope I haven't interrupted anything too pressing." Taro shifts his head back to where it was, eyes toward the ceiling. "There's a rolling workchair in the corner, if that would be more comfortable for you."
Dr. Wily	When Wily responds, his tone is skeptical and just a tiny bit patronizing. "... yes, of course. Decontamination. You should be fine, must just have been a glitch in the scanner." The doctor grabs a few tools, and makes his way around the bed. There are a clear set of priorities now, so it's time to get to work. "... now, this arm... it's going to need to be replaced, at least for a few days. Do you keep spare limbs somewhere, or should I have one brought in?" The question of important business is simply brushed off - though he wouldn't ever admit it, this probably IS what Wily's evening was going to look like anyway.
Taro	A glitch in the scanner. Yes, that's very reassuring. "I requested that spares be sent in fron Neo Arcadia," is Taro's answer. "An arm, along with other components, should be in the cabinet." a bit of a nod is made in the direction of it. He'll wait until Wily finishes gathering things before venturing, "...which scanner?"
Dr. Wily	Is that a hint of disappointment crossing Wily's face when he hears about the cabinet? Surely he wasn't looking forward to the chance to use one of his spare drill arms... well, make do with what's there. After a quick adjustment to the damaged arm, he heads for the cabinet to find a good one. "Oh, it was... the main readout is showing some odd energy flow hiccups. Rounding errors or a connector that isn't seated, it's nothing." Not a reassuring tone. Once again, Doctor Wily is not a real doctor - bedside manner isn't one of his strong points, since he's more used to just shutting off any 'patient' who complains.
Taro	Certainly not reassuring to a patient whose programming is...questionable. Taro's deep frown takes on a more pensive cast, his earlier irritation reined in by other concerns. The contents of the cabinet are in a bit of a jumble - Taro had nothing to do with the delivery or the arrangement, and he'd be unhappy were he to see it. All of the boxes bear the seal of Neo Arcadia and a smaller sigil of SHODAN, and (not so helpfully) labeled with model codes and serial numbers. The long skinny boxes contain the arms. One left, one right. Minus synthskin - presumably it's in another of the boxes - which means all of the light metallic purple-gray artificial musculature bundles and subdermal plating is showing. "Where are these minor energy fluctuations, exactly?"
Dr. Wily	"Signal attenuation, bit of randomization. It's probably why you had motor control problems, now that I think about it. ... let's see... junk, junk, brought a better one... ah! Arms." Wily fishes out one of the arm boxes from inside the cabinet, carelessly tossing aside smaller boxes to get to it. Nothing too important in there, right? As he returns to the bed, he continues to describe the scanner issue. "Right now, there should barely be any current through your hands. Diagnostic mode, but... you've got what looks like command signals shooting off on their own. Just a bit, and they're weak. But if everything were in working order, and your AI core were removed, this body," Wily pokes Taro in the forehead with his own spare arm, for emphasis, "might start shambling around on its own. I'm afraid that you COULD be turning into..." Wily trails off, leaving the unspoken words hanging heavily in the air. ... for a minute, anyway, after which he follows up with a lighter, "Or it could be a scanner malfunction. Now, let's just get this switched out..."
Taro	"I see..." It's hard to say just how seriously Taro is taking what the good doctor is saying, but he doesn't seem to be entirely discarding the idea out of hand. Being poked with his spare hand causes a wince, more from a return of his irritation than of pain. "..yes. Let's. Disengaging contacts, powering down." the monitor, should Wily deign to look at it, reports that his current arm has been shut down and is safe to be removed. "If you have any difficulty, please say so." Said without being too patronizing about it, but with the recognition that he -is- fairly complicated. "I suppose we could see whether the damaged arm attempts to reactivate by itself after removal."
Dr. Wily	"Difficulty? Hah. This thing looks like another of those... plug and... ... hmm." For the first time, Wily seems to be really LOOKING at the arm he's holding, and noticing... something? While there are a few minor snags along the way, the new arm is installed without major incident. However... "I'm going to need to hold on to the damaged arm for analysis. Can't hurt to be sure." A casual toss lands the scrapped limb squarely in Wily's toolbox, as he proceeds to check the monitor. "... looks like the new one isn't showing the same error, at least." Another dig through the labcoat pockets produces something that absolutely should not have fit in there - a canister with a large E printed on it, to which Wily quickly attaches jumper cables. "... now, if we put a little more energy through your systems... you seem to have some auto-repair functions, that's good. After that, I can get to work on that head trauma..."
Taro	Taro accepts the minor snags with stoicism and tolerance - Doctor Wily -is- one of the greatest minds of his generation, but he is also only human. The error seems to have disappeared, meaning that most liely the fault was contained in the arm itself. That is in fact reassuring. Once it's fully seated and the connections are made, he almost absently tests it by touching thumb to each fingertip. "Mm...satisfactory." A compliment, judging by the tone. "Thank you." His head shifts again to follow whatever Wily does next...and his frown becomes puzzled, at least until he can place the logo with a reference. "Mm. all right." As for his old arm, he grudgingly agrees, "Normally they are dismantled for recycling. We reclaim what is no longer needed. Please do so once you've finished that analysis." He'll remain a well behaved patient for the rest of his repairs, occasionally giving a suggestion when it seems to be needed, but not to the point of patronizing. At least one of them has decent bedside manners.
Dr. Wily	And so the repairs continue, with barely an attempt at brainwashing or nonsensical armament installation in sight. As for the mysterious case of the zombie robot arm... well, that seems to be a problem for another day.