"THERE ARE TWO MAIN FORMATS."
They're sat across from her in a window booth in the busy cafe, a muffin and flowery tea sat half-consumed in front of them; her, a mug of motor oil and some refreshments from the "robot menu": one of the main reasons they'd chosen this establishment time and again. For Jimmy, who had no real way to eat yet, a charging pad to rest upon.
Between them on the table is a punchcard.
"ONE USING COLUMNS AND ROWS ASSOCIATED WITH CHARACTERS WITH TWO DESIGNATED ROWS TO DENOTE A SEPARATE CHARACTER SET, AND ONE USING BINARY."
Now they point to the embossed labels at the left side of the punchcard where the rows begin.
"THESE USE THE FORMER METHOD, AND AN EXTENDED CHARACTER SET FROM THE USUAL THAT I INVENTED."
Little did they know, 50 years after their disappearance someone else would invent it, in much the same way.
"THERE ARE 80 COLUMNS AND 12 ROWS. THE TOP TWO ROWS,"
Their finger now tapping the upper left corner as Uzi takes a sip of her drink,
"Those the ones that tell you it's the next set?"
They nod, pride spreading across their face.
Now, it was her turn to look prideful.
"ANYWAY, THE LIST OF CHARACTERS BY PUNCH PLACEMENT IS SIMPLE. THE NUMBERS ARE IN THEIR OWN ROWS AS A SINGLE PUNCH-"
"You just said the top two tell you the next set."
"THE TOP TWO ARE DESIGNATED AS 12 AND 11. 0 IS THE THIRD."
They shrug and take another bite of their muffin.
"I'M JUST WORKING OFF OF WHAT ALREADY EXISTED."
"THE SPECIAL CHARACTERS I ADDED IN MINE ARE A LITTLE TRICKIER. ONCE WE RUN OUT OF SINGLE PUNCHES, AND DOUBLE PUNCHES WITH ROWS 11 AND 12, WE HAVE TO START TRIPLE PUNCHING IN DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS."
They point out a column punched with a semicolon: rows 11, 6, and 8 are punched.
They have a brief impulse to chide her for talking around her food, oddly enough- but dismiss it. They'd literally just spoken with a mouth full of muffin, what room did they have to talk? Plus, since when did they care?
They hold up the card in two fingers, quiet a moment longer as they drink from their tea.
"THIS IS FROM A SET JIMMY OUTPUT AFTER SCANNING A BUTTERFLY EARLIER. IT DOES NOTHING ALONE, BUT WITH THE REST OF THE SET INCREASES MENTAL CAPACITY WHEN READ BY MY CIRCUITS."
Her silent stare tells them all they need to know of her skepticism.
"I AM NOT ENTIRELY CLEAR ON HOW A BUTTERFLY IMPROVES THE MIND, EITHER. BUT THE MODULE HAS WORKED."
The two of them shrug almost simultaneously, and while WX-78 manages to hold back their amusement, Uzi half-snorts into her drink, which makes them lose composure and genuinely smile. Everything she did made them feel so proud, even though they had next to no part in it.
Finally, they pass the punchcard - and a couple others, each numbered 1 - 3 in the bottom corner - across the table to her.
"IF YOU WANT TO STUDY AND ADAPT THIS CODE FOR YOURSELF, YOU MAY TAKE THIS SET. IT IS EASY ENOUGH TO CREATE."
