#lam-hu

[kaxenart]

For some reason, I was very upset to learn that many prosthetic limbs are not dishwasher-safe. ((If someone who has prosthetic limbs would like to tell me what cleaning method they fantasize about, I would like to hear about it))

So I guess TKverse has at least some dishwasher-safe prosthetic limbs.

Deeply unclear how hard it is to clean more complicated cybernetic limbs. I feel like all the greebles would attract so much gunk.

There is a reason the Patron in Cyberpink 1824 is a clean freak with a full time massive cleaning staff.

HOW ARE PEOPLE STAYING CLEAN IN THESE GRUNGY CYBERPUNK CITIES

[kaxenart]

While many mech pilots are so physically and mentally wrecked that their "retirement" life is catatonic misery, some of them crab bucket their way into the handler position.

Mercenary pilot: I HAVE MADE ENOUGH MONEY TO ESCAPE DEBT. NOW TO WRECK SOMEONE ELSE TO EARN MONEY FOR ME!!!

Some handlers really hate the idea of considering an ex-pilot an equal, so the viability of this path in any organization depends heavily on the handler clique at the organization.

Rimbaud: Well, if I can't pilot now that the M3 SABAV is being replaced with an incompatible system to my augments, maybe I can be a handler. Hummel: We are not and never will be equals, pet.

Pilots-turned-handlers are never milquetoast.

You're either gonna get 15 new mental illnesses in the name of being the best pilot alive (lesbianism optional... maybe...) or you're going to get a fucked-up person's vision of "nice."

Depends if the pilot-turned-handler is closer to the "I got fucked up and survived and so can you!" end or the "I will protect them from all danger as I wish my handler had done for me" end.

Once in a while, these two concepts are somehow the same thing in the minds of a pilot-turned-handler and woe upon the pilot they manage.

Not sure if Valkyrie Corp mercenaries tend towards being female, but it is funny to consider that Penis King never had a penis as a human either. It just took that call sign because it likes killing people and the Penis King call sign is very attention-grabbing.

Call signs working under "you can kill people to take their call sign" is possibly the worst way to handle call signs without invoking 300 levels of paperwork hell, but mercenaries are always looking for an excuse to destroy rivals like bored Napoleonic Frenchmen craving sword duels.

Some handlers don't like risking their pilots and their expensive mechs for no money in fights over call signs and try to avoid their pilot hearing about duelling challenges.

Other handlers consider it a good way to practice real combat when in-between contracts and argue that having a hella good call sign makes it easier to get mentioned specifically when a mercenary corp is called up for a job. A client is going to be a lot more excited when someone with a badass reputation can be sent in compared to a fresh newbie trapped in hell with an idiotic call sign like Doofus.

Penis King is one of the top earners at Valkyrie Corp which is why the company puts up with its eccentricities including being a slightly illegal transhumanist. Lawyers have been in arguments for decades over whether or not a human brain upload counts as human still and it's a legal gray area. Penis King doesn't really care about money and doing taxes as long as Valkyrie Corp keeps its mech in good condition and securing contracts because it loves nothing besides deadly combat.

Kaczka has the call sign Duck because she often goes on sorties with Penis King and they are P.King and Duck on the company leaderboard. Kaczka also means "duck" and you ought to get out of her way when she comes barrelling in.

Kaczka doesn't get into many fights for her call sign since it sounds kind of stupid (she will beat the crap out of you if you make a "Sitting Duck" joke) and Penis King tends to absorb the attention, but she still has a strong reputation due to being a more than competent wingwoman.

Penis King has attachments for walking about when not on a mission, but it prefers being carried by Kaczka.

[kaxenart]

I still hate drawing spokes. Gonna just give the entire universe spoke covers...

Due to the brain-wackiness required, some pilots eventually hit a point where they physically or mentally (or both) have a very messed up relationship with their body. Some just crave being hooked up to the mech as telling themselves their body is a 10m tall death machine incapable of pain is preferable.

It might have been what happened to PK. Aside from the general psychopathy of a person who enjoys killing for fun.

Depending on how a pilot's handler is, they may exacerbate the issue on purpose to get a pilot to run more missions without breaks, or to save money because a pilot who is detached from their human body doesn't ask to have as many amenities.

"Minimum Viable Human" is talked about a lot in mercenary circles since the company's goal is to make as much money as possible for the least investment possible.

PK's status as a human consciousness uploaded into a machine makes it very cheap to maintain.

The handler, Lam-Hu, knows disposable urinals exist. Cat litter is just cheaper and she does not give a shit and shakes the pilot out like a bug in a cup to clean him periodically.

The green goopy Inertial Dampening and Respiration System functioning kind of like floating in a sensory deprivation chamber makes it easier to mentally connect to a mech, but experienced pilots can connect dry. It's cheaper to leave them dry if the intent is just to idle in the cockpit.

It is highly inadvisable to actually move the mech at any considerable speed while dry inside the cockpit because the pilot will just get slammed around.