A body built for sin

Lily woke up hours before sunrise. As always she vacillated between feeling amazement that she only needed three or four hours of sleep at night to annoyance at needing to sleep at all. But, she was entirely grateful that her basic gene optimizations included that feature. She was still at a point where any civilized habitat would deny her entry because her biomorph body wasn't even at the baseline level it considered safe.

She'd be treated like a historical samurai that was somehow displaced out of space, appearing in the middle of Tokyo. Kindly, curiously but at a minimum, such a hypothetical person would be given vaccinations or monitored for a communicative disease before being let loose upon the world. And considering her culture had salvaged neanderthal DNA and cloned and uplifted them, that was saying a lot. She wasn't sure her fragile pride would survive a neanderthal morph looking down their nose at her. Uplifted animals weren't so bad because it was hard to anthropomorphize an intelligent octopus without having a proper mesh insert to communicate electronically. Maybe she was just as well in this post-apocalyptic desert where she was indisputably the most civilized person on the planet. Wait, they had AGIs on this planet, didn't they? ZAX units. Her long-term survival depended on either killing or subverting one, specifically. Well, at least the title of most civilized meatbag was hers.

She sighed as she worked on her morning ablutions. Since she was travelling with someone else that she could reasonably trust, she wasn't being as paranoid. Since she was working at the clinic, she had braided her hair in a single long alternating braid that ended just past her rear. She used a small silver bracelet she found in Vault 108 to terminate the braid. She thought it looked quite nice, so she redid the braid after washing her face. She would wrap it up in an ad-hoc bun if they had to trundle through brush or thickety areas or expected possible combat, but she had grown to like the look of it, and she thought other people did too. Indeed, it was a sign of wealth or power to have as long, well-cared-for hair as she did. She believed it would give people she met subtle social signals even if they didn't understand it consciously.

She had to ask Louis when and where to meet Scott in the morning since he just up and left before stating anything more than "tomorrow." Louis figured he meant just prior to sunrise and at the clinic. She wondered if the incipient Mechanist would consider such a time and place so evident that it didn't, in fact, need to be stated. Probably.

She slid back into her white/grey bodysuit. While doing her clinic rounds, she had been wearing some purchased clothes, including an actual lab coat or at least a good impression of one. It wasn't that the clothes were even close to as good, but it was hard to do laundry if you only had one set of clothes. The hole where Gary shot her in the ass wasn't even evident. It wasn't that the clothing was actively self-repairing, but the weave was so tiny that the hole closed up. It probably wouldn't be quite as bullet-resistant at that location anymore, though. Next, she donned her combat armour, holsters for her weapons and camelback. She had packed her ruck for a five-day trip, but that was her being conservative as she assumed that there would be opportunities to forage for provisions and restock water. She had to say that pure water without the radioactive particulates and slight heavy metal toxicity really agreed with her. She had been noticeably peppier since she stopped drinking the radioactive water. However, she thought the little bit of caesium actually made her MRE instant coffee taste better. That was going to be a limited luxury here soon. There didn't seem to be much global trade, and it wasn't like coffee beans were cultivated on the east coast.

Last night she took the time to extract from her blood into a small solution of saline and program some medichines for an Alzheimer's treatment, followed by general brain maintenance. That was about as many instructions she could fit on that few nanomachines. Their processing and storage capability, absent a nanohive, increased with their relative local population, but it would still be cheaper to have multiple vials of medichine solutions. The only downside being injecting one person with two different kinds would cause the programmed schema to conflict and all of them to shut down in safety mode. She had a few other preprogrammed ampules, the most interesting one being a hostile medichine attack which would temporarily paralyze all voluntary nerve inputs. Now, if she could find a blow-gun, she would be in business, like one of those uncontacted tribesman living in the Amazon or Congo, who would, in fiction, jump out of the tall grass and shoot a dart into Indiana Jones' neck. Until then, she could draw a small amount in a syringe, and it would give her an alternative to a lethal takedown with her knife. It would be helpful in interrogation situations, too, as most people become unnerved if they are reduced to being able to only breathe and blink.

She ate a hearty breakfast and went outside to wait. She didn't have to wait long. Scott hadn't taken up the mantle of the Mechanist yet, so the armour was just run-of-the-mill metal combat armour, but to her surprise, three robots were with him. They all appeared to be Mister Handy derivatives. One was obviously a Mister Gutsy; the other might have been a chopped-down Mr Handy -- it seemed to be missing the articulating tools, and the chassis was cut-down. It looked like a floating half sphere. The last was what appeared to be a Mister Handy without any of the usual tools or weapons at all; instead, each of the limbs featured a dextrous-looking manipular claw, and its chassis was impeccably painted white with pastel trim. She was reminded of men in her previous life that would spend an entire afternoon waxing the paint job of their classic car. Whatever this robot's purpose was, it was well cared for.

Scott came up to me and nodded. "You're ready, good. Lily, this is Sophie. Sophie, be introduced to Doctor Lilliane St. Claire."

The well-coffed white roboted floated up to her and spoke in an even more affected French accent than Lily had decided on. Her eyebrows went up into her skull, "Ah, 'ello Doctor St. Claire. It is nice to meet you. Scott has told me all about you; 'tank you so very much for agreeing to help his mah-mah."

Lily glanced between the robot-girl named Sophie and Scott and back again. Surely he hadn't programmed this robot with a French accent overnight? Then, whatever this model was came with one? She didn't recognize it. Was it just a custom Mister Handy? Well, Miss Handy, now, she supposed. Still, some of her best friends were robots -- heck, she was a robot until recently, too, "Ah, it is nice to make your acquaintance as well, and it would be my pleasure if you would call me Lily, Sophie. And there is no need to be so effusive; Scott is paying me."

Sophie seemed to vibrate in her chasis in excitement and said, in French, "Ah, he told me you talk as I do, but I just assumed that he meant that you were... ah, you know... nice. I haven't had the chance to speak like this in ages. Your accent, is almost Parisian, and is music to the ears!"

Lily giggled softly, replying in the same language, "Ah, thank you very much. I can see how you would think that, Scott he does appear very much the gentleman but he is a bit brusque and to the point, isn't he?"

Sophie did a complete three hundred and sixty degree rotation in exuberane, "Yes, yes! He is so kind but he is not ever so much for the words, my Scott. Let's switch back to English so he isn't so left out."

Lily froze momentarily in comprehension. "My Scott"? The future Mechanist had seemed a hair warmer when introducing the robot to her, and if she recalled from the game The Mechanist had taken up the mantle of superhero and swore eternal vengeane against the AntAgonizer after the AntAgonizer's ants killed an important woman to him. Considering he lived a hermit's life Lily had thought that this woman was probably the same mother she was going to help, but now...

She couldn't help but have a sly grin as she gave him the side eye. Scott, you dog, you. Lily kept to the French briefly to tease the fembot, "Your Scott, oh? Ohohoho, are there wedding bells in the future?"

This caused the white robot to sputter scandalously, spin in a circle and possibly change runlevels in embarassment. If she had a coat of chromavariable Smart Paint she would have no doubt that her chasis would be blushing bright red. Lily chuckled again, "Sorry, Scott. I was just teasing Sophie. Girl-talk, you know?"

The Mechanist, however, just seemed a bit confused and replied, "No." After a pause he asked curiously, "What language were you speaking? I've never in my life heard another language than English..." He paused, "Actually, I think I've heard Chinese. There are still some occasional Chinese propaganda radio transmissions that we receive intermittently. But that wasn't Chinese."

Lily smiled and laid it on thick, "Ah, it was French. France was a coastal country in Europe. Quite a pretty language, no? Before the Bombs dropped, it had the well-deserved reputation as 'a language of love'. Many romantic terms originate from French. Perhaps Sophie could teach you a little? At minimum it could be a useful code language you two could speak in privacy amongst most other people in the Wasteland."

The white robot did a circle around both of us before tittering embarassedly, "Ah, yes. I would love to if you ever wanted to, Scott." He seemed to consider it before nodding, "A private code language would be useful. What kind of romantic terms are French?"

Lily smiled beatifically, "There are so many! Perhaps I should just tell you my favourite, and you can have Sophie translate it for you when you're alone?"

Scott nodded. Hook. Line. And Sinker. Sometimes these verbal traps set themselves. She smiled innocently at him, "La petite mort."

Sophie sputtered incoherently while Scott tilted his head to the side before replying, "I don't know what that is."

Lily grinned the grin of a cat who had stolen all the cream, "I'm sure she can help you with that also."

That, apparently, was the straw that broke the camel's back; it caused the robo-girl named Sophie actually briefly to shut down and reboot in sheer embarassment. Scott looked concerned for a moment, but she levitated back into the air, and her sensors stared daggers at Lily.

She must had Scott wrapped around her little manipulator because she easily changed the subject, "Ah, perhaps we should be off, no? I don't want to waste the daylight. Lily, you can hang your pack on that third floating platform. It was sadly a Mister Handy that was irreparably damaged. There is no processor or controlling personality, just a small circuit board that Scott designed that plays follow the leader with whatever is walking in front of it. There are hooks to hang belongings, and the standard Mister Handy levitation system can lift more than five hundred kilos, quite ingenious, no?"

Lily blinked. That WAS smart. If she met a rampant Mister Handy or Mister Gutsy in the wastes, she'd try her best to aim at the brain to leave the rest intact to make her own hovering packmule. She clipped her rucksack to one of the eyelets with a heavy-duty carabiner. Wait, levitation? Blinking down at it, she finally noticed it wasn't shooting a jet of fire out the bottom for propulsion like in the game. That is different. She wondered if she was in an AU again or if it was just similar to how all the weapons were more realistic.

They started walking at false dawn, pausing a little bit out of town when darkness returned. Lily had to have her curiousity sated, "Sophie?" The robot replied, "Yes, Miss Lily?"

"You don't seem to be a standard General Atomics Handy model. If you don't mind me asking, do you have a model number designation?" asked Lily as they waited for the real dawn to arrive.

Sophie seemed enthused, "Ah, of course not! I am always happy to discuss this. I am a Miss Nanny model. Zhe pride of General Atomics! The Miss Nanny model was designed primarily for domestic, feminine duties to include, of course, as a nanny, governess, tutor, maid, chef, and any number of other possibilities through expanded skill packs, which are available for sale at a reasonable cost. Or would have been if General Atomics was still in business, I suppose. We were the last model created by General Atomics and were intended to be a potential completely upgraded and possible replacement for Mister Handys, who might be better suited for outside light duty like landscaping, gardening, waxing the car and security."

Lily nodded, "What sort of upgrades did they work into your chassis? If you don't mind me saying, you certainly pass my personal Turing test, and I am quite discriminating as far as that goes."

Scott seemed interested in that, "What is a Turing test?"

Sophie seemed to preen at the complement and answered Scott, "The Turing Test was devised by a theoretical computician named Alan Turing in 1947, shortly after the second world war, as a theoretical way to examine a machine's ability to exhibit social intelligence equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human. If I have passed her personal Turing test then she means I am, or at least act, indistinguishable from a human. It's possibly the nicest thing anyone that isn't you has ever said to me!" She paused a moment before continuing, "Thank you for that, Miss Lily. The upgrades were full spectrum, but the biggest was in the quantum core processor. It has more than twenty times the FLOPs as the Mister Handy! And more than one thousand times the memory! We are the first General Atomics product to use a state-of-the-art solid-state memory system instead of magnetic or holo storage technology." she said proudly.

Then she squinted with the irises on her optical sensors, seeming considering something, "You know, Miss Lily you seem extremely educated on topics that people just don't teach other people anymore. Who provides a classical pre-War education these days, I wonder?"

Lily chuckled a bit and rubbed the back of her head, "Ahaha, yes I suppose I am. I'd rather not really talk about that though if you don't mind."

She was saved from further awkwardness by a molerat burrowing up from the ground and trying to eat her foot. She kicked it straight in the snoot and then jumped back to create distance. Sophie levitated out of the way of the melee while several more of the critters appeared.

She cleared leather, shot the first molerat in the eye, and then looked for new targets.

Mister Gutsy yelled, "Have at you, then!" and completely bisected one with a continuous laser beam it played across the giant rodent's body. Shit, she didn't know they could do that. She thought they were just mounted with traditional pulse lasers if they had laser weapons. Everything seemed slightly more dangerous in this world, or at least had the potential to be.

Scott shot another with a laser pistol that acted more like a shotgun in how it reduced the molerat to giblets. Lily finally found the last target, but it took four rounds in the side as it was charging Sophie, who kept backing away from it, to put it down.

Lily frowned at the fact that Sophie seemed limited to 'run away' strategy. Such a cheery individual was like a rare gem in the wastes. There was no way she would let such an innocent girl die to a swarm of ants. She made a solemn vow that she would protect the happiness of this fembot. There had to be upgrades, even just armour, that would preserve her against some mere ants.

There were a couple of encounters like that the next two days, but Mister Gutsy was OP as fuck and usually took care of things without anyone else having to do much at all. Once, they took sporadic long-range fire from a group of feral-looking raiders who wouldn't close into a range that Mister Gutsy could obliterate them at, which showed that they were both smart and stupid. Tactically cunning for recognizing the threat and leveraging a range advantage, but ridiculous for trying to engage anyway. Even if they killed us, how did they expect to get the loot off our bodies with the Mister Gutsy still operational?

Their marksmanship was horrendous, though, and she was able to pick three off with six or seven shots from two hundred meters from a prone firing position with her carbine. The rest fucked off, after that.

A little past noon the second day Scott stopped the party and said, "Her farm is just up here. Let me go first, I provided a couple of Protectrons who might attack an unidentified person at arms coming up the walk."

The farm seemed somewhat prosperous, which surprised her. She mentioned it to Scott who scoffed, "It is now. But when I was a kid we flirted with starvation every day. The reason they call me Bean? It's because my parents sold me indenture to a caravan merchant for some beans." Lily didn't remember that part of the lore, if it was in the game. She seemed shocked and Scott shook his head, "It was the best thing for me. Saved my life, probably. The merchant gave my folks the beans just a salve to pride, it was really charity to take me in. He taught me a lot, and I never went hungry. Eventually, I discovered I had a knack for machines, but not for people, and settled in the Commons, close enough by my folks that I could help them."

Lily still was in shock, but only because that was more words than she had heard Scott say since she met him. Combined.

Lily guessed from the absence that Papa Mechanist had already gone through the pearly gates, so she didn't mention it. A complete family was living here though; apparently, it was his sister, husband, two children, both girls, and nana Mechanist who she was here to treat. It was, perhaps, the first completely happy-looking family that she had either seen or heard tale about.

She briefly fiddled with her operational PipBoy to drop a marker on the moving map at their present location. She had repaired it a few days ago when she had bought a soldering iron and some electronic scrap. Sadly, of course, there was no inventory tab that linked to a hammerspace or skills tab where she could empower herself with points. Surprisingly there WAS a tab that displayed a health breakdown, including blood pressure, heart rate and theoretically injuries, although that part remained untested. She was interested in what sensors could allow a device on her arm to detect all that without any apparent light-based pulse oxymetry or blood pressure cuff.

There was a quests tab too, although it was labelled tasks, and she had to delete all the entries as they were repeating 'GARY GARY GARY' over and over.

Uncle Mechanist was sure a hit, the kids loved him as did his sister and her husband. He must have been the source of this farm's prosperity. Protectrons to guard it, and possibly a Mister Handy or two to help in the fields? She felt that he had balanced it well, it was a hard target for a casual Raider attack as they didn't have anything more valuable than food, it seemed like. Still, she suspected many a Raider were turned into compost here anyway. As subsistence farmers, they were wealthy beyond measure, though, and they seemed happy. It was cute that he seemed to care for his family, even if he didn't like most other people.

She was introduced to the whole clan. The littlest girl remarking that Doctor St. Claire talked just like Aunt Sophie made her grin.

They offered a light lunch, but Lily shook her head, "Let's put a pin on that, no? If it works, the treatment for your mom will be quite rapid, and perhaps she would want to join us for that lunch, eh?"

She had taken her scanner out but kept the screen off while she scanned both Scott's madre as well as each of the other family members. Since she got the PipBoy operating she decided that she would tell people she trusted somewhat that she had a specialized medical module for her PipBoy. It was really the 12K full color display that was shocking if people saw it, that interface technology in such a miniature package was decades beyond what was usually available.

"Ah, Sophie, Scott..." Lily began, "Can I ask the both of you to keep a secret for me?"

Sophie replied instantly, "Of course, Miss Lily!" Scott hesitated, "Uh, so long as it doesn't involve anything that would hurt us, sure."

Lily tilted her head and nodded, "It doesn't. I have what might best be described as an experimental medical module for my PipBoy, I'd rather people did not know this, could you help me keep it a secret? It really isn't all that special, just kind of unique and if the wrong people found it... well, it might tell them more about my past than I'd prefer. I'm living in a new world now, and I'd like to keep the past in the past. I've already taken readings from your mom, but I need a private place to interpret them."

Scott relaxed appreciably, "Oh, that's no problem." He noticed the scanner with the screen off, "It does look quite state of the art to be a medical device. If you like, if someone finds out about it, you can tell them I made it for you. And maybe we can build something, a case or something, to make it stand out less. Give it less a straight off the factory and more of a scavenged look and feel."

That was a good idea. She planned on hacking the PipBoy too; there had to be a data line or port. If she could build a specialized microcontroller with a wireless module, she could have the scanner actually interface with the PipBoy and bring up a textual diagnosis on screen. Then she could use it more around people without startling others or inviting covetous thoughts.

She was led to a sun room, where she sat and pulled up the medical scans of the family.

She let out a sigh of relief. Scott's mom did have Alzheimer's. She wasn't relieved for the reward so much anymore as much as wanting to help him stay happy. In her opinion, anyone who dated a robot was ipso facto a good person. Especially a robot as sweet as Sophie was. She wanted to make a note to find where they manufactured Miss Nannies. She couldn't very well act on her desire to disassemble her friend to see how she worked, now, could she?

She flipped through the rest of the family. A few nutritional issues, the husband had arthritis, and Oh-- that was interesting. Mazel tov, Mrs. Mechanist Sister. The pregnancy was just far enough along that she probably started to suspect, maybe five weeks by the look at the zygote development. While the process of sex differentiation hadn't even started yet, eukaryotic chromosomal pairs were much bigger and easier to distinguish than individual DNA triplets or codons, so the sex was clearly decoded on the screen in a single scan. Perhaps they'd like to know. She'd arrange to have a private chat with the mom-to-be.

She stowed her device and pulled out the small 5cc ampule for the Alzheimer's treatment as well as a similar ampule that had some medichines with default programming. She'd offer the latter to the husband to clear up arthritis in his knees. It should barely be enough nanomachines there to do it, she figured.

Lily stuck her head out the door and called, "Scott, can you bring your mom and maybe your sister into the sunroom? It is Alzheimer's like we hoped and we can begin her treatment right away. However, it might be best for her to sit down in here for the few minutes it takes for the treatment to work." She didn't have any benzos with her, so it would be best if she could relax through it.

Scott, Nana Mechanist and his sister arrived. Scott and her sister looked extremely excited, but their mom looked churlish. Ah well, it seemed like she was one of the people who get cranky when they get dementia compared to her last patient, who was more gentle.

Nana Mechanist wasn't having it, "If you want your mom dead, you don't have to trick me, Scotty! I'll go off and find Pa on my own! You don't need to have some whore poison me! This strumpet ain't even old enough to be a doctor! What bordello did you drag her out of, no woman that works for a living has hair that long unless its on her back! How much did she charge you, with that body built for sin?!"

Lily almost tripped, fell and broke the small glass ampules she was carrying. Strumpet? Whore? Body built for sin? Well, that last one she kind of liked the sound of. It made her sound like some sort of Bond girl. Lily Sainte-Claire, body built for sin, license to thrill. But wait, weren't Bond girls always murdered in the end?

She had to stop herself from snickering at her inner thoughts and gave Nana a professionally neutral gaze. This bitch seemed awfully observant for someone whose brain was half-crystalized, she thought.

Scott's sister became apoplectic when she heard a tiny voice in the next room tell Sophie, "I want to live in a bordello too," followed by another little girl's voice yelling, "STRUMPET! STRUMPET!"

Scott tried to calm her, "She really is a Doctor, mother. Please do not say such things." But all that got him was a scoff as Nana sat down and said, "Fine, I won't put up a fight! I miss your dad anyway, and I know how it is -- ya'll can't afford to feed me when I can't help 'round here anymore."

Lily rolled her eyes at the high drama unfolding, and decided the best solution was the quick band aid-removal. "I doubt you'll convince her, Scott. Let's just let the treatment speak for itself, no?"

He nodded. She approached the old lady, a professional smile on her lips. "Don't worry; I'm quite adept at this."

Nana scowled, "At killing old women?!" to which I surprised her by chuckling, "Well, that too, I suppose, if I put my mind to it. But only crazy raider grannys. I meant giving injections. See? All done."

Nana kept the scowl on her face, "There ain't no damn raider gran..." she trailed off as the medichines must have passed the blood-brain barrier and begun identifying and decrystalizing pockets of her brain, she stared off into space and even drooled a bit.

Scott looked concerned, "Is that supposed to happen?"

Lily shrugged, "Yes, more or less. The detection process dampens nearby electrical signals, so it is almost like she is in a temporary coma. It took the last patient about one hundred sixty seconds to recover to full lucidity."

Scott nodded and held his mom's hand, and she could just hear in his head him counting. What a nice son, Lily thought. He and his robowife deserve to be happy. Perhaps she should assassinate the AntAgonist before she even tries to kill Sophie. But Lily didn't quite remember what she looked like, except when she was wearing that costume. She also was pretty sure she wasn't a local.

A few moments later, Nana Mechanist starts blinking, then orienting herself before looking up at me. Her cheeks go red as a turnip. I suppose that means the treatment didn't interfere with her short-term memory. Honestly, Lily thought it would. You learn something new every day. The old lady sounds completely mortified, "I'm sooo sorry, Doctor!"

Lily grins back down at her, "It's okay. I'm going to put that on my office door. Lilianne St. Claire, Doctor, Built for sin."

Scott's sister finally returns after scolding her two daughters to find her mom already treated. Again, there was much crying and cavorting about -- but this time Scott looked as uncomfortable as Lily did with the hugs and affetion. They shared a glance in shared suffering and completely understood each other at least for that one moment.

"I'd like to see Sara alone for a moment, if you guys don't mind," Lily said as they all got up to go have lunch. Sister Mechanist stayed behind, "Yes?"

Lily smiled, "I have certain medical technology and couldn't help but notice that congratulations should be in order?"

She smiled, holding her hands up to her bosom. "I was right then? I haven't told anyone yet. I wasn't sure, I missed my period last week but that sometimes happens, you know?"

Lily nodded politely. She pretended, but she didn't know. Involuntary menstruation would probably have been considered cruel and unusual torment in any space habitat she knew of.

Lily offered gently, "Would you like to know if its a boy or girl?"

This shocked the woman, "You can tell so soon?!" She started wringing her hands, "He's always wanted a son but I know he'd be happy regardless... but still.." There was a pause, and she nodded, "Yes, tell me."

"It's a boy," Lily confirmed. This caused Sister Mechanist to out and out fist pump, "Yes! Dennis will be so psyched!"

Lily chuckled, "An interesting fact one learns in medical school. You understand the concept that a baby is half you and half your husband, yes?" She nodded.

Lily continued, "Well, in mammals, the large gamete, that's the egg -- that's you -- is always female. There are no male parts to it. You could even say that every human is by default a girl, at first. However, that is a mite philosophic. In any case, the man's contribution, the sperm, provides sex assignment and differentiation. He's the only one that could have anything to do with what sex your children are, so he must have really wanted two daughters!"

That caused her to laugh uproariously. She briefly spent some time explaining about her husband's arthritis and brought him in to treat it before a nice meal was served. She was offered the guest room, and she took it. The bed was soft! She fell asleep before the sun was down, which just meant she woke up about the same time others were falling asleep since she needed such little sleep by comparison.

She worked on her computer until it was time to get up and begin the trek back "home", as temporary as it was. If she was going to stay here for longer than she thought, she would have to accelerate some of her plans. She intended to wait until she put down roots in Megaton to build her first fabricator or healing vat but that just wouldn't do.