Three of Five, Chapter 40

[melo_annechen]

Chapter Forty

Charlotte helped Jeannie carry the purchases they had made before going to Donna into the professor‘s apartment. As she set the bags on the table, Sela asked her, “Could you help me in the medical lab?”

“Of course, Sela,” Charlotte said with a resigned sigh, realizing what was likely to happen.

Jeannie waited until the door closed before turning on the professor. “It will not work - if you want her to leave the lab, you are going to have to fire her and order her to not return.”

“What are you talking about?” Madblood looked up from the book he was reading on his PDA.

“Forcing your intern into situations where she feels threatened will not make her quit. She will complete her assignment, even if it kills her. What did she do to you to deserve that trip to the mall?” Jeannie stood with her hands on her hips, Phils coming to stand behind her.

Lupin put aside his reading, “Was there a problem with the mall?”

“This is the first he has heard about it,” Phils said to Jeannie. “We initiated the recall sequence without his knowledge.”

Lovelace addressed the professor, “I found out tonight that Charlotte has a problem dealing with unfamiliar mobs, after she and Jeannie had been at the mall half an hour. No one has connected her with the injuries to three gang members-”

“Three? I only saw the one, and that one shook her up enough I was going to suggest leaving when Phils called.” Jeannie talked to the ceiling, as she had taken to doing when speaking to Lovelace. “She calmed down a little when she left, and took me to a small shop in the older part of town.”

No, the whole sliding shift thing was supposed to make this week better for her, Lupin thought as Lovelace continued her report. “I’ll have copies of the police reports when they are transmitted to Central, but the LEO is not looking for her - the officers involved would like to know who caught the pickpockets who were working the mall tonight, and warn them to drop the vigilante methods, but no charges are pending against her.”

“I doubt that would make her feel better. She looked positively green after the guy screamed.” Jeannie was surprised by the professor bolting from his seat towards the door.

Lupin crossed the hall to meet Sela leaving the medical lab, carrying Charlotte’s clothes with her. “Charlotte is being treated now, sir.” She pointed to the medical pod, “Galen will let us know when she is calmed down,” and then she headed for the laundry.

>>>>

Inside the pod, Galen initiated a sketchy counseling intake while using the shiatsu nodules to make Charlotte relax. “Now, Charlotte; please tell me what happened this evening.” She burst into tears, unable to articulate the issue. The screen was replaced by a cool compress while Galen raised the ambient temperature in the pod. Once the worst of the emotional storm had passed, Galen murmured, “You should not keep these feelings clamped down so tightly.”

Charlotte wailed, “I have to - it’s the only responsible thing I can do! If I lose control, others will get hurt. Tonight’s actions are proof that my control is not good enough yet.”

Galen responded, “If you insist on sealing these reactions up, you only create a pressure cooker. You have to valve off sometime, otherwise you will lose control. All you are doing now is hurting yourself while delaying the inevitable.”

>>>>

The professor slowly approached the medical pod. There was a slight hum, indicating it was in operation, but there were no other sounds coming from the machine. Lupin circled the unit to the chair beside the control panels “May I help you?” Galen asked when he reached the closed main panel.

“Has Charlotte been hurt?” he asked, keeping his tone low.

“Charlotte has not been physically injured. She has encountered a psychological trauma, and will need to deal with it before she is able to return to duty.” Galen stated. “Her current status is nominal, and she should be available for duty in the morning.”

Lupin sat, staring at the incomprehensible readings visible through the smoked Plexiglas cover. “I will not allow her into the working areas of the lab until you clear her for duty,” he said heavily as he put his face in his hands. “What happened?”

“Charlotte entered a building holding a large number of people she did not know. This put her in alert status. Normally this would not have been an issue. Unfortunately, she apparently fit the visual profile as an easy mark to a group of pickpockets. Three made attempts to lift her, whom she dealt with in a manner that would bring them to the attention of the proper authorities without bringing attention to the lab. She is having difficulty dealing with the fact she caused physical harm to civilians, and possibly minors.”

>>>>

“The professor is worried. You did not tell him the task was outside your scope.” Galen reported to Charlotte once she relaxed into the massage program.

“I thought I could complete the task as it was set,” Charlotte murmured. “I didn’t want to disappoint him.” Excess moisture seeped out of her closed eyes. “I let him down, again.”

“You should tell him when something is outside your abilities.” Galen responded, modulating the tone to match her murmur. “Shared burdens are easier to carry.”

She responded, "He doesn't need… my box of… rocks." as she dozed off.

>>>>

Galen paused, and added, “She is also upset that she did not complete her task as strictly ordered.”

“I didn’t intend to order her into a threatening situation; it seemed to be the mall would be the simplest solution. I will correct that error if it ever comes up again. She did complete the intended request I gave her, and I-” Lupin stopped, and rubbed his forehead with his fingertips.

Galen said “You should sleep, sir. The lab personnel will be contacted if there are any further emergencies.”

Lupin placed his hand on the pod, lingering until Galen reported Charlotte was asleep, and reinforced the order that the professor should be asleep as well.

>>>>

Charlotte woke early in the morning, with a momentary flash of panic when she did not immediately recognize where she was. Galen greeted her “Good morning, Charlotte; it is 0449 hours.”

“Thank you; please do not wake… anyone else.” Charlotte exited the pod and found that Sela had cleaned her suit, and stocked the shower area. “Lovelace, are you busy?”

“Nothing but the security sweep, Charlotte; is there anything you need?” Lovelace’s tone was casual, but there was an undertone that had not been modulated out.

Charlotte winced as she recognized the worry threaded in the question. “Don’t wake the house; I just wanted to ask if Tw’eight had been by yet.”

“Yes, he dropped off the clothes for Phils and something for breakfast as well. He asked me to ask you to call when you were feeling better.”

“Well, technically I am better than I was last night, but I think I want to wait until I’ve had a shower, maybe even some tea, and I really ought to wait until it’s a reasonable time…”

“You’re stalling, Charlotte.”

“Hm, maybe so, maybe no - but anytime you call before a person is normally expected to be awake…” Charlotte entered the shower.

“Charlotte, he’s an android.” Lovelace switched to the speaker just outside the shower to avoid using excessive volume.

Charlotte paused while she shampooed her scalp, and then answered as she rinsed the shampoo through the length of her hair, “And his schedule follows a pattern. After closing the bar, he usually compiles from four to six hundred.” She quickly scrubbed her face and continued washing down.

“He compiles? He hasn’t had the hook-up installed!”

“No, but I’m considering offering it to him the next time we have time and he can come in for it. He’s using his cell phone to link to the building’s wi-fi to build his data base in an alternate server.” Charlotte rinsed, and quickly finished her shower.

“But he compiles? What is he doing that he needs to compile at night?”

“I suspect he is preparing his thesis for the hive.” Charlotte dried off and pulled her hair back up into her usual knot. “There’s an even chance he might even share with the professor, as well.”

>>>>

Lovelace contacted Sela and Arsène in the polymer workroom. Since they weren’t asleep, that didn’t conflict with Charlotte’s request. [Charlotte is awake and out of the shower. She seems okay, but the sooner we get things back to normal, the better I’ll feel about it.]

[We got Phils's new chassis skinned while Charlotte was in the pod.] Sela responded.

[Returning to the lab’s value for ‘normal’ should be within a few days after Phils and Jeannie leave] Arsène added.

[Good. If we can manage a week without a crisis it would be a miracle, but that would be better for Charlotte, I think] Lovelace said. [Oops, the professor is waking up ahead of schedule. I’ll check back with you later.] She switched to the audio speakers in the professor’s suite, “Good morning, Professor. It is 0500, would you like to sleep in and have me wake you at 0700?”

“Is Charlotte out of the medical pod?”

“Yes, sir - she is moving slowly this morning, but she seems to be within normal operating parameters. She asked that I not wake the house, as there was no emergency.”

“Very good,” the professor said, walking to the shower. “What is the status for Phils’ Mark II chassis?”

“Sela and Arsène are checking over the skin of the new frame now, sir. Unless they find any unacceptable flaws, it should be ready for download by 0800.”

Madblood smiled, and said “I will take my time this morning, then. Has Charlotte had breakfast yet?”

“No, but 2875 brought a cooler with the clothes delivery. Charlotte is brewing tea in the break room.”

>>>>

“Downloading Phils took less than half the time we needed for Sela, and not much longer than Arsène,” Madblood commented. The break room was almost crowded with the entire lab personnel roster present. Merely a perception on the professor’s part, as the break room was large enough to accommodate twice their number and Lovelace did not take up physical space, but to a man who had spent most of his life working alone, it was an odd sensation. Just my luck, he thought, that I spend decades wanting an audience for ranting, and now I’m too tired to rant.

“I believe the follicular hue control program accounted for the additional loading time,” Lovelace said.

“Explain, Lovelace,” the professor said. He changed his focus to Charlotte when she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Would you have anything to say about this, Dr. Bowman?” He regretted his tone when her head snapped up, and Lovelace cut in.

“It was her program for my mobile peripheral. Phils agreed to test it for us, and Jeannie liked the effect so well he asked if he could keep it,” Lovelace said. “It was your fault - you said I could choose my hair color.”

Charlotte said warily, “I had thought if she could change her hair darker to appear as if she had black hair, the violet wouldn’t be as remarkable.”

 “Charlotte has the ability to think around corners. Now that I will be able to change my hair color, I can go from Hino Rei to Mirai Trunks to Ororo Munroe as the need arises, or the whim takes me.” Lovelace smugly concluded, “My friends try to work with me.”

“Yes, well,” Madblood muttered, “that brings up the fact that we have set aside several other projects, in order to complete the deLoups job.”

“One should not pass up paying work in your field, sir,” Charlotte commented, “it looks bad in your biography.”

“We haven’t totally abandoned the other projects, professor. Charlotte’s work on the programming for Phils has been useful to my mobile peripheral, and the moon lodge was completed the weekend after your last walk-through.” Lovelace added, “The project manager is available if you would like to have a report from that quarter.”

“The… project manager?”

Charlotte chuckled, “You haven’t forgotten Tony already?”

A new voice came over the speakers, “Padrino - hey, I’m crushed, I do my best f’youse, an’ dis is da t’anks I get?”

“Antonio, do not annoy the professor,” Lovelace scolded.

“Na, na, Madre - I’m joking, really.” He dropped most of the Little Italy from his voice simulation as he continued the report. “There hadn’t been much to report, except the two unregistered survey drones that crossed the property line last week. The first was returned to the property line with a warning, and the second makes a nice antenna mast.” Tony chuckled, “Hey, I did warn ‘em, and it’d be a shame to waste that prime alloy.”

“So long as it cannot be traced back to us, that’s fine,” Madblood said.

“Na, salright - it’s gonna take crystallite mapping for them to trace it, and even then they gotta get the right section of the right tower to find it.” Tony’s chuckle was darker in tone this time, “Nobody messes with us and gets found again.”

Madblood’s eyes glinted briefly, and then turned on the intern, “Ah, yes - that reminds me - I wanted to bring up a point about the shopping trip. Charlotte, when you accepted the internship, you agreed to protect the lab personnel.”

Charlotte’s shoulders twitched, and she muttered, “Paragraph B, subsection 3,” she straightened her shoulders and stated, “I did not let them get in range of her.”

“Lab personnel includes you, Charlotte.” Madblood laced his fingers and rested his elbows on the table. “If something is not within your means, you should let me know. Now, is there anything else you are unable to do that I should know about?”

“Nothing that would be within the confines of the lab, but then again, the mall was not one of the environs to which I expected you to send me.” Charlotte’s eyes lost their focus a moment, and then she responded, “I am more enthusiastic than accurate when I sing, my sewing skills are limited to minor repairs, I have difficulty leaving a book shop empty handed, and I never had time to learn to ride a bicycle. I’m not sure what else would apply, but I will let you know if anything else comes up.”

“Very well, this is only the second demerit on your record for contract violation. I believe that catches up the loose ends. I will be in my study going over the detailed reports that the Mark I series have submitted.” Madblood stood, “The final assembly for Lovelace’s unit should be ready tomorrow, if everyone keeps on task today.”

Lovelace waited until he was in the study before shouting at him, “WHAT do you MEAN, giving her DEMERITS for following YOUR orders!”

Madblood calmly activated his screen, saying, “You will compute her most recent shift under the danger pay scale.”

“Oh. Were you going to tell her?”

“Perhaps, or I can let her find out when she receives her e-stub at the end of the pay period,” Madblood opened the Mark I files. “I haven’t decided yet.”

"You just can't apologize to anyone, can you?" Lovelace said.

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Comments

[jeffreycwells.livejournal.com]

It's interesting to see Madblood in charge of a whole lab ful of people. For all his designs toward world domination, he's really not all that stunning of a leader. Still, there's something there...

[annechen-melo.livejournal.com]

How many times have you done something that was expected of you, and when you achieved your goal, it wasn't what you expected? Did you convince yourself it was what you wanted, or did you find the source and disintegrate erm, disregard it?

[cerrberus.livejournal.com]

“Was there was a problem with the mall?”

We got Phil’s {Phils'} new chassis skinned