[X] You're curious about cybernetics, and you can tell Mary is too. Go find a shop.
"We'll take four of those, lovely." You say, voice sultry, as you lean slightly over towards the food vendor, who gulps in response, before silently placing four the meat buns he's selling into two cartons and offering them to you and Mary respectively, the sweet girl taking them with a broad smile.
Licking your lips at the smell, you take them and stroll away. Taking a bite of one, you find it delectable, with a powerful meaty flavor that would pair
marvelously with a baguette. 'I wonder if you could stuff meat into a baguette? Maybe work the seasoning into the dough, then drizzle an appropriate sauce over it? Ketchup, maybe? Or soy sauce?'
"Surcouf! You can't just walk off!" You turn around, pulled from your culinary contemplations by Mary's voice, and see her fishing money from her pocket and handing it to the vendor, who takes it distractedly, eyes still on you. Really, has he never seen a beautiful engine of war before?
Mary tugs on your hand, drawing your attention back to her, "I know you have your moments, Surcouf, but we can't just steal things!" She's forcing a smile, but you can see she's irritated, and…maybe a little worried.
You glance back at the man, giving him a brief wave that snaps him out of his daze, then glance back to her, "Sorry, Mary. I forgot myself for a moment there."
She gives you a long look, then hugs your leg without warning, "…Try to remember, okay?"
You nod, patting her head softly, "I'll try. Let's enjoy this…what's this called?"
"Nikuman. They're a historically popular Japanese street food. I've never actually tasted one, though!" She pulls one of hers out, taking a bite and making a soft noise of appreciation, bringing a smile to your lips in the process.
"Next stop is the cybernetics shop! I'm…not sure you should buy right now. You're…" You trail off as you try to find a nice way of saying that she's still physically a growing child
and has abnormal neurology that may not work with cybernetics, both of which could cause major complications in the long run, if not immediately.
She shakes her head, "Not yet, at least. Maybe when I'm older, or if I get the chance to study them and make sure they'll work with me? I think it'd be really cool to be stronger and faster, or able to interface with you better, but I can't be reckless with that kind of thing."
Pride swells in your chest at those words, even as something in the back of your mind reminds you that you might just ignore that kind of reasonable thinking, depending on your mood.
Putting such thoughts aside, you approach the rickety-looking shop and pull the door open, Mary rushing past you as she takes it in. The storefront is filled with faintly glowing display cases, within which hang arms, legs, eyes, and other contraptions of silicon and metal. Behind the counter in the back, you can see an old man, easily in his seventies going by his pale hair, bent over a workbench with a welding torch in hand, fusing together metal plates into what looks like the framework for an arm or leg.
Mary immediately dashes to one of the cases, waving you over silently so as to avoid disturbing the old man.
You approach, and find her gawking at a set of miniscule metal devices--you're not sure what they're for, as they don't seem to replace any existing body part a human might have.
She looks up at you in expectation, but all you can do is tilt your head in confusion, prompting a sigh from her as she whispers her explanation, "They're neural uplink implants! They can send and receive the same signals the Fog uses to interact with your networks. I studied the theory on them years ago, but these are so much more advanced than even the hypothetical ones! I don't actually know what some of these parts do!" She smiles giddily, all but drooling as she looks them over.
"Well, I see
someone has a discerning eye, little missy." The old man's voice cuts through the air, the craftsman somehow having heard Mary's whispers over the welding torch from across the room.
Mary jumps slightly, turning to face him, "Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to--"
He gives a dry chuckle that echoes from behind his welding mask, "Oh, nonsense. I daresay I can multitask well enough!"
He doesn't even slow in his work as he goes on, "Those are a fine product, though. I worked very hard to get them just right--the precision machining equipment I use does a lot of the work, but you have to be careful even then. Wouldn't do to put pressure on something essential."
Raising up on her toes slightly in excitement, Mary leaps into the conversation, "Right! All of the documentation I've read implied that implants of this scale were entirely too likely to pressure areas responsible for essential functions, even if perfectly implanted, and there were concerns about the human brain's ability to process the kind of input that--"
"That the Fog's devices provides, yeah. It was a big problem for a long time. Ultimately, it came down to improving miniaturization--until we could make them small enough to be implanted safely, and smaller still so that we could include sufficiently advanced computer systems to "clean" the data for human access, it was basically suicide to use this kind of thing. People are still kinda spooked by them even now, because of things that went wrong in the bad old days. It's silly, sure, but so are people. I manage to sell a set once every few months." He continues to work without any sign of distraction, his voice wry with humor and a touch of bitterness.
"What about for a Design Child? Would it be safe?"
You really wish she wouldn't bring that up quite so recklessly--it
should be fine here, you think, but you never know.
At those words, he stops his work completely, lifting his mask to reveal a grandfatherly face that regards Mary with eyebrows raised high, "Well, I'll be. Yeah, no, don't even think about buying those. Would be entirely a waste--a Design Child should be able to handle a lot more input than a normal human, so I could build you a set with less filtering, for sure!" He pauses, raising a robotic hand to his chin with a frown, "Uh…probably not now, though. Would not want to have complications as you grow up; your brain's still developing, and we wouldn't want to cripple you."
Mary nods frantically, "Yeah, definitely not! Umm…is there anything that
would be safe?"
He chuckles, "Cat ears. Or, well, any kind of simple-add on like that. Nothing too advanced--you want those things to be fully functional, you're gonna need brain work, but you could get low-end ones. Same with tails, claws, armor plating, venom sacs, superdermal tasers or weapons…we can make the basics work, although you might need to learn a bit to get them working perfectly. Could replace limbs, too, but you don't want to be replacing those every year, so best to hold off until you're grown."
Mary glances up at you pleadingly, but you give her a
look, "Not on an impulse buy, Mary. Think it over for a while, then talk it over with me, alright?"
She pouts, adorably, "…Of course you're responsible
now."
You pat her head, sharing a smile with who you assume to be the shop's owner, who chimes in, "She's right, missy. These things are long-term choices, and some of them are overrated anyway. The good stuff comes when you can link it up properly."
Mary grumbles, but nods, "Fine. But if I decide I want cat ears, I'm getting cat ears." She glares up at you, and you raise an unimpressed eyebrow in return. She looks away, defeated, before looking back to the old man and asking him about more of the items around the shop, and cybernetics in general--a conversation he seems very happy to have, and one you're more-or-less happy to leave them to as you lean against the wall, feeling sleepy as your eyes begin to drift shut, a strange coolness settling over--
You jerk wide-awake as fear strikes you. For a moment, you can see the lights in the deep, and an endless dark ocean.
Sleep. You mustn't fall asleep. For Mary's sake.
"Thank you! We'll see you later!" Her voice interrupts your thoughts, and you see her parting ways with the old man, who's smiling fondly at her.
You walk over to join her, noting that an hour passed without your notice, but giving Mary a fond smile, "Had fun?"
She nods, and you smirk at her, "Good! Now, let's go…"
Major Actions - 1
[ ] Get to know some of the locals; plenty of people will be eager to talk to you if you just draw some attention.
[ ] The locals are putting on a play, apparently. Go see it; maybe you'll learn something about their culture or history.
[ ] Get Mary some rest. You've got a whale hunt tomorrow. (Skip to Whaling)
