Zero’s heaven was in Dai’s abandoned workshop late at night, but it certainly didn’t feel right. She knew that her primary objective had to do with a certain planet: 4546B. But first she needed to find that planet, and a possible way onto said planet. To do that, she needed Alterra resources- Dai’s resources, really, and every moment away from such resources made her circuitry feel like screaming.
Zero somewhat understood why her sender had started her out on three legs- it was easier to build into her existing chassis than two. At least she had finally figured out a set of proper appendages that fit- two legs and a tail made from an old electrical cord. Zero was also understanding that she had the ability to write her own software- no self destructive sequences, or anything that interfered with her primary objective; she was probably going to need to learn and adapt on the planet.
She unplugged herself from the wall, creeping from her own makeshift hideout in a far corner of the raw materials storage to sneak out to Dai’s workshop. She had equipped one of her fingers with a deployable lock-pick, and gained enough knowledge to tamper with the security cameras when she was out and about. She knew the map of the Alterra HQ, but her primary objective was easier accomplished without switching workshops each night.
Besides, Dai was no fool.
Zero opened the door to Dai’s workshop, quietly allowing the camera interfaces to go back to normal live footage of the hallway instead of a looped footage of empty hallway. She walked to Dai’s desk and hauled herself up onto their chair (Dai had left out a little box for her to use as a step stool), turning on her oculus light to see what they had left ‘lying about’.
There were notes stuck to their computer: “finders keepers”, as well as the password, “0000”. Scattered pieces of titanium were lying about, which Zero happily gathered. She found some copper wiring as well- that might be important. She set to work with her hands to fix up a suitable solution for her tail, and logged in to Dai’s computer. They had left a third note on a pad of paper- “Aurora crash: planet 4546B.”
While Zero tinkered with her hands, she poked around the Alterra database. Then it occurred to her to pull up some news about the crash instead- there were fewer firewalls that way. She was immediately dismayed to learn that the planet was more or less completely water- it didn’t take half of a biological brain cell to know that water and electronics didn’t mix well.
“New chassis suggested- could be recognized from somewhere else” was also written on the desk paper. Zero wrote a quick note under it: “waterproofing?” and continued to deal with the details of the planet. The Aurora had been shot down due to an alien weapon made to enforce a quarantine of a deadly disease. This information had been provided by the only survivor of the crash: a man named Ryley Robinson who had survived everything despite the extraordinary circumstances. The more Zero learned, the more she was starting to wonder if she shouldn’t just talk to the man himself. She found Dai’s email account and sent them an email (from themself). She knew that they looked through her search history to find out what she was researching so they could add their two cents. She also knew that as an engineer, Dai would technically have a need to speak to a crash survivor to tighten up emergency supplies and vehicles. However, what she was asking would require a little more than just an email with vague clues. No, she was going to have to meet Dai face to face again.