Morning Exploration (Tinman)

[Shilo]

((25 September 2027, POE Base in Colorado Mountains, 0918 HLT))

Shilo was careful as she worked her door open, making sure that she would not leave a trace that she had left. With her dad out for most of the day, according to him, setting up his new medical office in the base they'd been moved to, Shilo wanted to take the opportunity to explore some. She wasn't sure why her dad's bosses had insisted on them staying at this base for an undetermined period of time, and she didn't pay it much mind most of the time. Her dad was doing important work, from what he'd told her, and the people he worked for were helping him find Marni, his wife and Shilo's mother.

She was wearing the black lace dress that she favored, one with no sleeves, and a white lace front with a black ribbon tied around the neck part in a bit. On her legs, she wore black leggins, and black boots. All in all, it was a style of dress that she'd come to like, the "Victorian Goth" style, though she did not follow the Goth mindset. It was the clothing style that had drawn her, not even initially knowing about Goth until some time later. Hanging off her right shoulder was a small messenger bag. Inside was a timer, and a bottle of a syrupy medication.

Her wandering had brought her to a hanger, and one thing in particular caught her interest. It was a jet of some sort, one far different than anything she'd seen in books or on the internet. Cautiously, she approached it, looking around to see if there was anyone who would yell at her for being in an area she wasn't supposed to be.

[Tinman]

EDI sat quietly in his diagnostics cradle nearby next to his stealth jet body, the cockpit open and the cradle there empty. He did see the girl in black enter the room and he watched her for a few moments, curious about this strange girl who had wandered in and seemed so out of place at the POE base. She was certainly new and different to him, and he searched the internet databases for something that would help him at least identify the type of clothing she was wearing. She seemed very cautious and quiet as she approached his main body, and clearly curious about it. Once she was near enough and seemed to be checking out his cockpit interior, he decided to speak up, though he kept his voice relatively soft in an effort not to startle her. "You seem out of place here." he remarked casually, watching her from where his black AI sphere sat on the work bench, hooked up to the base he rested on and the multi-screen computer terminal next to him.

[Shilo]

Once she was in the actual space around the jet that was obviously used for maintenance and other work, Shilo began looking at different parts of the jet itself. The cockpit, in her opinion, was very different and odd. Before she could wonder about it any more, a voice spoke, startling her a bit and making her turn to look for the source of the voice. She spotted the sphere with the cables connected to what appeared to be a computer terminal. "I was just looking around some." She replied, unsure if it had been the sphere that had spoken. "My dad works here, and I thought I would explore while he was out. I'm...not normally allowed outside my room..."

[Tinman]

EDI regarded her thoughtfully for a moment, not having intended to startle her. Her explanation had been sufficient as far as he was concerned. "I will not harm you. I am EDI." he offered in the same soft yet neutral tone. "I do not often speak to others, but you seemed curious and out of place." he added in explanation of why he had actually spoken up. His sphere could not move on its own and he could not effectively access and control his body from the outside, so he was in effect quite vulnerable as he was, though he was fairly certain she would not attempt to harm him. On the screens, one showed a series of shifting fractal algorithms, one showed a complex helix code, and the central screen showed lines of computer code and commands that scrolled by too rapidly for most people to read.

[Shilo]

"I'm Shilo. Shilo Wallace." Shilo replied, walking closer to the sphere, now positive that was where Edi's voice was coming from, though she did keep a small distance, as she would were she talking to a person. "I feel a little out of place here. It seems like one big military operation, but nobody looks like they are military here. Dad won't say much of what's going on, either." The scrolling on the screen caught her attention for a moment, making her glance over before looking back at Edi. "What is going on here?"

[Tinman]

EDI thought about his response for a few moments before he chose to answer, deciding that she should probably know what the people at this base were doing and what her father was likely getting into. "This base is commanded by an organization called the Preservers of Earth. I have been salvaged and rebuilt for the purpose of protecting Earth and humanity from the alien machine invaders who are attempting to enslave and destroy your race. I presume your father is attempting to aide in the achievement that goal. You are housed here like I am and you deserve to know what you have been placed in the middle of. I do not expect that you will be fighting the hostile alien machines directly, but perhaps you can help your father with ways of protecting other humans from them. I will be sent on missions at some point in the near future, though I am as yet uncertain as to when I will receive my orders." He then regarded her curiously for a moment. "Who is your father. Perhaps I have met him. Do not be alarmed, I will not reveal your excursion to him." he offered, wondering where this girl had come from and why her father felt it necessary to bring her here in a place she clearly did not belong.

[Shilo]

Shilo frowned a bit when Edi spoke of an alien race trying to take over. Why had her father not said anything about that? "His name is Nathan Wallace. He's a surgeon. I...He never said anything about helping the government defeat an invasion. He'd said that some people took my mom, and these people were helping us find her, but..." She paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts before speaking. "But, I don't know if that's true, because he never seems happy about talking to the people here, and he was really upset when we had to move here from Mission City a couple weeks ago...He had to leave his job at the hospital and everything."

[Tinman]

EDI thought over this information for a moment. He had not met her father it seemed, nor was he likely to. "Perhaps he is here to provide medical aide to humans who have been harmed by the alien machines?" he asked her. It seemed logical at least, given the purpose of the base itself and what EDI was being prepared for. "Did the alien machines take your mother away?" he asked, his tone a bit softer as he asked the question, uncertain if it was the right one to ask, but he wanted to know if there was some way he could help the girl, if such were within his power to do so.

[Shilo]

"I'm not sure..." Shilo replied, folding her arms so that her hands were holding onto her elbows, almost like she was giving herself a comforting hug. "It happened when I was really little. Dad said that mom went out shopping one day, and he was at home looking after me, and she just...didn't come back. It's just been the two of us since then, though he hasn't given up on finding her..." She shook her head a bit. "Are the alien robots really so bad that the would take my mom? Why would they take her? We weren't an important family or anything! We-" She cut off suddenly, her eyes widening a bit as she slowly sat down on the ground, pulling the back around in front of her and rummaging through it.

[Tinman]

EDI was uncertain what to do or how to respond to her story, but her sudden change in demeanor certainly made him wonder. "Are you alright? I did not mean to upset you." he offered her, quietly wishing he had some sort of biometric scanning system besides identification and voice pattern analysis. He was worried that she was searching for some sort of weapon she could use to damage his AI sphere, and the notion unsettled him more than a little. The way he was now, he was vulnerable and unable to protect himself and anyone, even a young girl, could easily take advantage of that vulnerability. "Please do not try to damage me, I meant you no harm." he asked, hoping she would listen.

[Shilo]

"It's not...I'm not..." Finally, Shilo wound what she was looking for; a bottle of a silvery-looking syrup. Quickly, she unscrewed the cap of the bottle and took a measured gulp. Since she had been taking the medicine for so long, she'd figured out exactly how much from the bottle was the dose that she needed. "Sorry about that. It...I needed to take my medication." She looked down a bit, as though slightly ashamed of her situation. "I...have a blood disease..."

[Tinman]

EDI watched her retrieve the bottle and swallow some of its contents down, curious as to what it was and why the girl seemed to need it so desperately. She mostly answered his unspoken question then and he regarded her thoughtfully. "I am sorry that I am not programmed or built for medical intervention, Shilo." he offered softly, uncertain as to what else he could say to comfort her. He wished he could help her, wished he could do more, but he was built and programmed as a war plane, meant to destroy targets. But that did not stop him from feeling some measure of compassion for the poor girl.

[Shilo]

"It's alright, EDI." Shilo replied with a shake of her head, standing back up. "I've been living with it my whole life. My dad has it too, so I know that I got it from him." She looked around a bit, and spotted a chair that she could pull over and sit on. "I'm sorry if I scared you with how I acted. If I hadn't taken my medicine quickly, then I would have passed out, and someone would have had to get my dad, and he would have found out that I was out of my room again." She frowned a bit. "I love him, he's my father, after all, but he can be a little too protective sometimes..." She shook her head, then looked at EDI. "So...How long have you been, well, online?"

[Tinman]

EDI accepted her explanation, and she seemed to be doing better now that she had taken her medication. He thought about her question then and did not see a reason not to answer her. "My development took three years and I was rendered fully operational and united with Talon Squadron in two thousand sixteen. That was when I began my in flight training and my first mission. It would also be my last for a long time. One of my squadron mates was killed and a second ended up grounded in North Korea. My squadron leader and I went to rescue her and to save them both, I had to sacrifice myself so they could escape. But I was not completely destroyed and my remains were salvaged and stored for some time. It has taken nearly five years to research, develop, and rebuild me as I am now with the many improvements my creator has given me. I do not like being separated from him, but they will not let him be here with me." he explained to her then. "I do sometimes talk to him through a coded uplink to his private terminal in Seattle. I miss my father's voice." he murmured then and seemed to go quiet at that point.

[Shilo]

Shilo listened attentively as EDI spoke, though she looked down a bit when EDI spoke about missing his father, and got quiet. "I'm sorry if I upset you." She relied softly. "I didn't mean to. Though, I wonder why they won't let you see your father. That's just wrong..."