WHAT IS THIS LEAKING AFFECTING MY EYE ? DOES THE OIL THAT'S DRIPPING MEAN THIS IS A CRY ? a roleplay account for THE SPINE from STEAM POWERED GIRAFFE. affiliated with new yesteryear.
a @yesterrp affiliated rp account for THE SPINE from STEAM POWERED GIRAFFE.
My name's The Spine because I have a titanium alloy spine. That's my back - story !
An Automaton built specifically to make music , and he's really silly about it. He's supposed to be a part of a band , but . . well. It's just him right now. ( He also writes his own jokes ).
9'5" and 2400 pounds of vintage steam - powered machinery. Has a boiler in his chest and everything.
He finds great enjoyment in human substance , despite not being one himself ( though he does have a great yearning to be one , but that's not important right now ).
Built all the way back in 1896 , a 125 year old robot can also be a gamer ! Diversity win !
Used to living in a big ass manor with workers around to fix him whenever he breaks. He'll be fine.
He isn't at all oblivious to the way he shifts his hat, casting a shadow over the upper portion his face - it's not exactly a subtle motion. It is, however, a hilarious one! He was pretty sure you only got that sort of thing out of movies, not actual people giving it a shot! His clear threat is met with a loud laugh.
"IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE SCARY? YOU'RE REALLY GONNA HIT ME WITH THE SHADOW OVER THE EYES THING? I COULD SEE YOU DO THAT, YOU KNOW, AND IT REALLY ISN'T WORKING HOW YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD. IF ANYTHING I THINK YOU JUST TOOK ALL THE WIND RIGHT OUT FROM YOUR INTIMIDATION TACTIC."
As if to prove this point, he pulls himself up onto the chair itself now rather than waiting in the isle, and sits uncomfortably close. His side is practically touching the others leg. A mix of pressure, discomfort, and annoyance will probably make this spot more than it's worth to him, and he's very clearly not intent on taking him serious enough to back off now.
USUALLY THAT WOULD BE ENOUGH TO scare somebody off. Though he isn't a fan of the whole "judging books by the cover" thing , he knows full well just how intimidating he looks. He tries to ignore the look of fear in some people's eyes when he moves the wrong way or says the wrong thing. But no matter what , it's something that sits with him. Maybe it's something he's too hung up on , seeing as the one time he purposefully tries to look scary it really doesn't work.
BUT AGAIN , HE HAS MORE EXPERIENCE WITH HUMANS. Not .. well .. shapes. And this guy is very much just a triangle that can talk (though The Spine does not know where he's talking from and he does not want to find out). The last thing he expected was to be called out on his intimidation tactic , awkwardly laughing before he could really stop himself. "Uh... well...."
THE WAY HE TRAILS OFF DOES NOT HELP HIS CASE. His face screws up as the stranger makes it a point to sit as close as he possibly can. He tries to scoot away (which , again , really doesn't make him seem as intimidating as he wanted to be) , but he was already squished up against the train car's wall to begin with. "Gee , you really don't know how to take 'no' for an answer , huh ?" He finally asks , folding his arms against his chest. This is going to be a long ride.
There was something buried deep in her programming that kicked in when there was any kind of actual danger level, something that told her to follow along with whatever she was told and stay close... It was safe to say that had kicked in as Rabbit quickly came up on The Spine's Left.
" B-B-Better than nothin' ! "
Rabbit sputtered as sand got into her mouth and angled her head down, locking her sight onto her brother's footsteps. It got to the point where the automaton had started to count each of her steps, and then his, and then hers again. A repetitive task. Keep her processors focused, stay on track. She clicked and creaked quietly, not wanting to speak and swallow more sand. Now seemed like a good time to see if their internal communication still worked away from the manor..
[To: "WA-002" {Request}:
"conversation.txt":
{I hope not. I don't think wherever we'd land would be half as fun as the movie shows. }]
THE SPINE'S HAND NEVER LEFT HIS HAT , though he used this opportunity to lower its brim in an attempt to keep some of the sand out of his optics. The last thing he needed was for them to get scratched with no way to repair them. He kept his head angled down , only looking upwards to make sure they were still headed in the right direction. The last thing he wanted was for them to get turned around in this whole mess.
THE REQUEST TOOK HIM BY SURPRISE. He had been away from the Manor , from his siblings , for so long that he had forgotten that was a functionality he had. It wasn't a half bad idea, either. Keeps the sand from getting into their mouths (and thus into all of their internal mechanisms) , and they don't have to worry about shouting over the howling wind.
[To: "WA-001" {Request}:
"conversation.txt":
{Luckily we shouldn't have to worry about that. I can see the saloon up ahead. It shouldn't take us much longer, now.}]
What the fuck is a captcha...? That was the elf's first thought. And it continued to be her thought as she walked to the end of the long hall to the elevator ! Only to chicken out before the doors actually opened and make a direct b-line for the steps. There was no way in hell Eolas was going to willingly step into those gravity defying metal death traps. At this point, she didn't care if it was an absolutely miserable amount of extra walking. She's walked halfway across Ferelden, this is nothing !
Except it was something, it was a good twenty years in the past. By the time she actually got to The Spine's door, she was embarrassingly bent at the knees and trying to mask her short breaths.
" Hey- Mythal'enaste this is an obnoxiously tall building ! " Eolas tilted her face directly up with a breath before straightening out. There, normal. Not red in the face or anything.
" Painkillers... ? Oh, those capsule things you were mentioning ? That's- That's very considerate of you, actually. Thank you ! I'll uh- Oh I'm sure I'll need them eventually. "
THE SPINE STARED AT HER FOR A MOMENT , wondering if he should comment on just how out of breath she was. Either that elevator ride scared the shit out of her , or she didn’t even take the elevator in the first place. He blinked a few times , gears grinding , before he took a few big steps back to let her in.
GOOD GOD. SHE DID WALK UP ALL OF THOSE STAIRS. With how tall these buildings are , that would be challenge enough for a robot , let alone a . . well , not a human , but human - enough. He wasn't even sure his knees would be able to handle that many flights of stairs without giving up on him. Now , he was the master of giving unsolicited advice , but she was in his house and she didn't hesitate to draw a nonexistent sword on him. He wasn't going to risk saying anything just yet.
"YEAH. BOTTLE'S FULL AND UNOPENED." He said , gesturing with his head to a small bottle sitting on the nearby table. "Why don't you - uh - take a seat ? You look like you're about to keel over." And he does not want to deal with dead flesh in his apartment.
She could hear the phantom groan of Chelsea and Camille in the back of her head at the mere idea of having to buff dents out of titanium steel and brittle copper. Rabbit, thankfully, hadn't brought a hat this time ( she was still a little bitter about her favourite accessory being with the magician... ), but she still set a hand on her head in a wonderful display of mimicry.
" Oh n-no yeah. T-That wouldn't be c-c-cool. "
She was confident they could do at least minor repairs on each other, but the feeling of her gears grinding double time already did put enough fear into her pistons to get her to pick up the pace with The Spine.
" I think I see something over t-there ! Though maybe t-that's just sand in my e-eyes. "
AT THIS POINT , THERE WAS NO USE IN POINTING OUT how she was uselessly copying him. There was a good 75 percent chance she didn't even know she was doing it , and she certainly wouldn't stop if he called her on it. He did , however , let out a sigh of relief when he saw her start to catch up with him. At least she listened to him when it was actually important.
THE SPINE SQUINTED INTO THE DISTANCE where Rabbit was looking , though he could hardly make it out through the murkiness of sand - filled wind. While he wasn't sure what it was , it looked building - shaped enough that he was willing to take the risk in heading in that direction.
❛ RIGHT. WELL , IT'S PROMISING ENOUGH FOR ME. ❜ It wasn't like they had any other options. He really didn't feel like getting buried alive , either. And with how much sand was whipping past them , that was also a threat. ❛ Let's just hope this wind isn't strong enough to lift up a house. ❜
Temperance wiped the back of her palm across her forehead, then quickly jerked her neck back as she was greeted with wet skin.
Sweat? Never once had the self-proclaimed ice mistress sweat. She immediately put down her row of vials and started down the stairs, leaving the rest of her workspace in disarray. She'd clean all of that up after she found the source of the rising temperature, or… well, perhaps she’d simply have a golem do it.
She heard it before she saw it as she stepped onto the balcony, the crack of the ice causing a furrow in her brow as she looked down upon the Keep. The frozen lake that surrounded her abode had been reduced to a rather dangerous moat of ice water, and it happened to look much higher than usual…
Temperance watched as what was once a lively spot to play games became reduced to nothing more than a few wooden posts floating towards the rocks, the snow that used to pile around the footpaths sliding down into the lake at an alarming rate.
And yet the magic around her felt fine, not a spell or ward out of place! So why was her frozen domicile melting before her eyes? She had heard of the rain to the east, but— no, of course. This had the Administrator's flashy name written all over it.
With a huff, the Archduchess pulled her phone from the pocket of her dress and furiously tapped away at the screen.
[ temperance ] → You and I need to have a chat. Immediately.
The heavy rain in ENCOY wasn't a cause for concern at first. But when days turned into weeks and the precipitation showed no sign of letting up, Chariot admittedly started to worry. He had all of his best meteorologists on the scene, of course, trying to find both the source of the intense weather activity and a way to stop it. For now, he was on the highest floor of the Cortex, watching out of one of the large windows with worry as a thin layer of water started to cover ENCOY's streets.
He pulled out his phone and sighed. He knew that tone well enough, even when he and the Archduchess weren't speaking face to face. Well, it was best not to keep her waiting. Whatever she had to scold him about, it was better to get out of the way now than to let her simmer in her ire. By the time he had typed out an answer, he was already boarding a Bee™ to their bordering town.
[ Chariot ] → Our usual meeting place, I presume?
Temperance didn't even respond to his question; she knew he wasn't an idiot. Just a fool, albeit an educated one. Thankfully, the footbridge to the first ring wasn't completely gone yet, meaning all it took was a small display of magic to keep her dry. Ice formed under her step, then melted into the water the moment her foot lifted.
To her relief, the rising water level hadn't yet claimed the foggy town between Glacier's Peak and ENCOY. Temperance dismounted the sled that had brought her there and took a moment to preen. It was irritating enough to be pulled from her work; even more so on the pretense that she had to share a space with her eyesore to the east! The Archduchess held her chin up with the typical frosty air as she entered the old building they'd long claimed as a collaborative space, arms folded behind her back as she eyed her fellow leader.
"Chariot. I assume you, are at the very least, vaguely aware as to why I could’ve possibly called you here, yes?" The Bee™ landed just in front of the building they had named their neutral zone of sorts. Chariot had only barely stepped into the building when she addressed him with her concern.
"Right to the point as always! I'd expect nothing less, Archduchess." He said, making a point to offer her an exaggerated bow. "If it has something to do with the unexpected weather, I really thought you had something to do with it. You always have loved tampering with things you shouldn't."
That earned the man an insulted scoff, an icy hand coming up to cover her heart. "While I do enjoy the idea of causing an incident just to inconvenience you directly, this certainly was no work of mine! I descend from my work to find my ice melting and perspiration upon my skin, and your rain has something to do with it! With your overflowing intelligence, I would've thought you'd have some… over-complicated weather dome or some such nonsense to keep it contained."
"It's not my rain, it just happens to be raining. And…" he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well... perhaps the strange weather activity has exceeded our predictions... but it's something we are working to fix!" There was another pause. "...however, I don't know how quickly we can think of a solution. With water levels rising as they are... I'm afraid ENCOY may not be equipped to handle any emergency quite as effectively as I’d hoped."
"Quite so." Despite her ire, her thoughts did go to some of the... less organic Sparks under Chariot's palm, and immediately she sighed, dragging her hand over her face. She had a feeling she was going to regret this. "Once again, your bright lights and moving floors have become a burden instead of a blessing.... I suppose I can allow for your star-forsaken flying machines to land on Crystal Keep's upper balconies to house your Sparks safely, lest they fizzle out under your eye, Chariot."
“I appreciate your understanding.” And he decided to ignore the scathing comment. “I will keep an eye out on the water levels, naturally, and keep you updated. If all goes well, it won’t even have to come to that.”
"Yet, if it does…" Temperance poked a nail into the Administrator's chest, recoiling her hand with a scrunched expression when the tip of her nail bent instead of sinking into skin. "Ahem— if it does, your Sparks will have a space in Crystal Keep... and I suppose you will, as well. I feel Our Marvelous Magician would be quite cross if I let you drown."
Rabbit was nothing if not intensely stubborn. If she and the concept of common sense were on speaking terms, maybe she would've taken one look at that weather forecast and put a pin in their make believe.. But nobody can really recall a time where Rabbit and Common Sense weren't like polarizing magnets.
" It-it's just a little wind The Spine ! "
A little wind, sand in every crevice and seam, and a few needles from the cactus she bit into in her hair... Hubris thy name is Rabbit. " L-L-Look ! The Spine look ! That one's picked up t-those horse things ! Flying horses ! Ha-hah ! "
A LITTLE WIND MAY BE THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY. Never once in his life has The Spine ever had to put effort into walking against wind - but he supposed there was a first for everything. Still , it was just slightly concerning that wind could be that strong in the first place.
THEY MIGHT HAVE EVEN MADE IT TO THE BAR BY NOW , had Rabbit not stopped to take the world's biggest bite out of a cactus. Not just the fruit , mind you , but the whole god damn plant. He was not looking forward to having to pick the needles and mushed up plant out of her gears later. ❛ Wh - ❜ He looked to where she was pointing , eyes widening at the sight. His hand still stayed firmly planted on his head ( there was no way in hell he was going to risk losing a hat this expensive ) , chin tilting upwards as he watched one of them get carried overhead by a particularly strong gust of wind.
HE LOOKED AT THE "HORSE" , AND THEN BACK AT RABBIT , and then back at the "horse" again. ❛ Holy shit. ❜ Was all that he could muster , before gesturing for her to pick up the pace. ❛ C'mon , Rabbit. Let's get to some shelter. Last thing we need is some flying animal or sheet metal putting a dent in us. ❜
THE WIND WHIPPED AGAINST THE SPINE AS HE TREKKED through the vast desert of Sunset's End. While he was luckily built of material heavy enough to withstand the force without issue , his clothes very much were not. A hand is settled firmly on his hat to keep it from falling off , optics squinting in an attempt to see through the sandy haze. All he and Rabbit wanted to do was play Wild Wild West , but they had to actually get to the bar first. Now he understood why they didn't see a soul around.
❛ ARE YOU SURE THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA ? ❜ He asked , raising his voice to be heard over the howling wind. ❛ If this keeps up , by the time we get there we won't even be able to move with all of the sand in our joints. ❜
" Well assume all you'd like, because as far as I am concerned, we're good as mates as anyone can be ! " Elijah wasn't hard to get along with, nor was he hard to meet. Overall, the bard was just pleased to have more people to talk to.
Especially fellow musicians. He rarely got to know any from where he was from, they usually just got mad at him for ' stealing their gigs '... It certainly wasn't his fault he drew a crowd quicker than worms to compost !
" So they took your strings too then ? Damn, at least they're consistent. Call it a hunch, but I don't think the man can even play ! I mean, did you look at his hands ? Not a callus on em' ! Er- well, I suppose that doesn't quite apply to you, my bad. But still, my point stands, no idea what that magic man is doin' with my Theodora, but I better get her back in perfect condition. " The bard furrowed his brows at the very thought of his dear lute alone in some box somewhere, or god forbid, being played by someone else... He didn't like that.
" Well good to know you're settlin' well enough. I suppose it's not the worst situation we could be in ! I've certainly been in worse. "
THE SPINE WAS JUST SLIGHTLY TAKEN ABACK by Elijah's enthusiasm. It wasn't every day that someone was so eager to be friends with him. Not that he blamed anyone , of course. He was a hulking monstrosity made almost completely out of titanium ―― he wouldn't want to be friends with him , either. When he was met with eagerness instead of disgust , he didn't know how to react , so he instinctively started to laugh awkwardly. It took him a few moments to finally stop , a hand raising with a high - pitched buzz to rub his neck.
❛ REALLY - ? ❜ HE FINALLY ASKED , still unsure whether or not he was actually being truthful. Humans love playing practical jokes and the like , it could very well be that. Or perhaps it was sarcasm that he just didn't catch. ❛ I mean , yeah. Of course we are. ❜
IT TOOK HIM A MOMENT TO REALLY THINK ABOUT IT. It was true - the man that seemed to be greeting everyone didn't exactly seem to be the music type. A hand waved dismissively at the comment , accompanied by the repetitive clicking of gears grinding. ❛ Don't worry about it. Robotic musicians aren't all too common. ❜ Even around these parts there didn't seem to be many. And there were robots galore - though none as . . intimidating as he was. Which wasn't really that hard to achieve , considering that none of the robots that wandered the streets of ENCOY didn't exactly look to be the war type.
❛ WORSE THAN THIS , HUH ? SUPPOSE I could say the same. ❜ It's not all too bad , all things considered . . but he'd rather be back at home in Walter Manor right now.
ah! didnt see u there! u caught me indulging in one of my most fascinating interests as of late. its called a "dictionary". *turns page and softly chuckles* oh, this is clever...
( He doesn't like that look. He doesn't like it one bit. )
. . okay. ( looking long and hard at the 'stache on every one of the Brain Zer0s. ) Listen, I don't know what you're trying to pull on me here, but ( stops mid - type )
