The V.I.C.I. Diaries: MGV (Metal Gear Vicki) Part 3

[DukeNukem 2417]

After what felt like an eternity (even though it was only an hour or two), Vicki---by now bored to tears with the Silicon Dynamics catalog that had been left on the passenger’s side of the Prius---looked up to check what time of the day it was, only to find that the car was now travelling through a tunnel carved out of rock, lit by brushed steel wall sconces. “Ah, you guys are getting this, right?” she asked, hoping her connection to the guests at Tell’s house hadn’t been severed by the sudden change in environment.

“We’re getting it,” Anton replied, “though I’d advise against trying to make a dramatic leap out of the Prius any time soon.”

“I wasn’t even thinking about it, Strange Animal,” the brunette gynoid drawled, amused at herself for having become familiar with everyone’s codenames so quickly. “Sandtrap, Diamond Dave….any ideas on what might be waiting to maul me at the end of this tunnel, or should I just ignore the sinking feeling in my gut and soldier on as always?”

“The only thing at the end of that tunnel is a door, Sunshine,” Tell chuckled. “Unless they’ve gone and installed a turret or something….”

“That’s a comforting thought,” Vicki muttered. “Seriously, though…”

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Ted assured her. “The entrance to the facility is as stable as Diamond Dave’s basement, and if the West Coast plant is as secure as the East Coast and Midwest plants, it should be hidden fairly well to keep any intruders out---“ “Except an intruder already got in,” Oberon reminded him. “Proceed with caution, Sunshine, but do not use excessive force to engage.”

“Roger that, Ground Control. I wasn’t planning on shooting first anyways.”

After a few more minutes, the Prius reached a set of frosted glass doors set into a concrete façade; the name Silicon Dynamics Manufacturing & Processing LLC was set in a large, aluminum version of the Assiduous font above the door. “Impressive stuff,” Vicki mused. “I just hope---“

“Welcome, Miss Lawson.”

Vicki nearly jumped straight into the ceiling. “Who said that?!”

“Look down and to your left….” Not wanting to get shot for any displays of recalcitrant behavior, Vicki did as she was told and found a speaker grille set into a metal post. “Ah, you can hear me through this thing, right?” she asked tentatively. “Indeed, Miss Lawson….and I suggest you enter the building quickly. You’re not in any danger at the moment, least of all from me.”

“Okaaaaay……but why should I---“

“Another vehicle is approaching, Miss Lawson.” As the voice from the grille said these words, the Prius---with Sierra’s motionless form resting in the backseat---sped down a curve in the tunnel and disappeared from view.

“Ah, yeah, about the two who showed up at…uh, the place I came from---“

“Their destruction is a minor inconvenience. Now, if you would, please---wait…..” Vicki stared at the speaker grille, pondering any course of action that wouldn’t end with her getting disassembled or reprogrammed, when the voice kicked on again. “Use the side door, but stay quiet.” A section of wall a few feet away slid forward and hinged open, revealing another entrance. “Thanks,” Vicki whispered, carefully making her way through the newly revealed corridor. I’m really hoping this isn’t a trap…otherwise….

After twenty seconds of maneuvering through the small maintenance corridor, Vicki found herself staring into an impressive marble hall of sorts. A circular desk sat against one wall, with a bank of elevators at the far end of the room; a few chairs and potted plants served as the only decorations.

Before she could comment on the room, Vicki noticed the individuals currently occupying it---a blonde cowgirl in a broad-brimmed Stetson, a tassled vest over a tight-fitting plaid shirt, equally tight jeans, chaps and boots was leaning against a wall, conversing with a raven-haired cheerleader in a ridiculously short skirt and insanely tight (and low-cut) sweater. A woman in a blue double-breasted jacket and a silken white dress shirt sat calmly behind the desk, ignoring the angry demands of the auburn-haired girl in coveralls that were three sizes too small for her curvacious form. Great…now I have to wait for those three to leave. So much for a quick entrance…

After two minutes of arguing with the woman behind the desk, the mechanic stomped off towards an elevator; one down, two to go….

“Well,” the cowgirl yawned, “see y’all later…I’m gonna go see if them boys from the city need any more good ol’ fashioned Texas hospitality…” “Try not to push them past their limits, Miss Savannah,” the woman behind the desk advised. “One of them has a heart condition, and this facility doesn’t have the necessary medical equipment to rescusitate him.” “I’ll be careful,” the cowgirl replied in a stereotypical Texas drawl. “It ain’t my fault them bucks cain’t keep up…” She gave a saucy wink before sauntering off to the elevator. Two down…

“Miss Stephanie,” the woman behind the desk prompted as she turned to look at the cheerleader, “the testing lab is ready for you….” The cheerleader, who seemed to have zoned out after the cowgirl’s departure, came to and nodded excitedly, skipping off to the elevators while humming a catchy tune. As soon as the elevator doors closed, the woman behind the desk called out: “You can come out now, Miss Lawson.”

Vicki entered the hallway, somewhat intrigued by what she’d seen. “I’m guessing you’re not going to report me to whoever’s in charge,” she mused. “Considering the fact that Madame’s attention is focuesed elsewhere at the moment,” the woman replied, “my filing any reports regarding your presence would only distract her, and give the intruder enough time to cause more damage.” She smiled politely. “I understand why you’re here, Miss Lawson, and I’m perfectly willing to assist you if the need arises.”

“No offense,” Vicki stated, “but….well, I’m not exactly a native around here; how can I be sure the other droids in this place won’t try to haul me off to the lab and take me apart?”

The woman gave her a look. “Miss Lawson, this facility specializes in pleasure droids, not soldiers, guards or assassins. Any gynoids you may encounter will either try to seduce you or alert Madame---“ “Why would they try to hit on me?!” Vicki gasped. “Madame has been experimenting with…alternate programming options,” the woman replied. “Apparently, she believes that our customer base can be expanded by producing a line of bisexual pleasure droids.”

“That makes sense,” Vicki drawled, rolling her eyes. “Anyways, sorry about my paranoia…I’m not exactly used to being in a building full of gynoids I’ve only seen as catalog pictures before. Speaking of which….unless I’m sadly mistaken, you’re Rebecca the Receptionist, right?”

The woman smiled again. “Correct. At this moment, I’ve been removed from the active product lineup to prove that not all Silicon Dynamics products need an inhibitor to function in day-to-day jobs….” She paused, staring past Vicki at the frosted glass doors. “Someone else is coming,” she whispered. “I suggest you hide, Miss Lawson---“

“Way ahead of you.”

V.I.C.I. was crouching underneath the desk. “Just be sure to tell me when the coast is clear---“ “I will,” Rebecca promised, “but for the time being I suggest….” She stopped as the door slid open, waiting silently as footsteps approached the desk.

“Suggest what?!” Vicki whispered. “A little help would be nice!”

Annoyingly, the robot receptionist was focused entirely on the new arrival. “Good evening, Miss Mary.”

Vicki peered through a slat in the desk; several tanned pairs of legs, all clad in kneesocks and Mary Janes, stood by the door on the other end of the room. One pair of legs in particular stood close enough to the desk to allow Vicki to see the hem of an insanely-short plaid skirt (and the underwear beneath it….they really know how to pile on the subtlety around here, don’t they?). “’Good evening’, yourself. You hear about what they found in the Prius that just pulled up?”

“I have,” Rebecca replied. “Sierra’s malfunction was unfortunate---“

“Her malfunction?! Rebecca, her processor was practically cooked! Something fried her brain while she was in that car, and…..oh, never mind. When’s Fiona coming back?”

“I’m afraid she won’t be coming back for quite a while,” Rebecca admitted. “She has been…delayed…”

Mary gave an indignant snort. “Figures. I mean, getting a whole busload of guys in here is great, but after that stupid alarm tripped, it’s been ‘constant vigilance’ this and ‘protect the facility’ that…..hardly enough time for me to even think about how I’d like to treat our guests….” One of the girls from the doorway yelled something, and Mary shouted “IN A MINUTE!” before turning her attention back to Rebecca. “Look, if you get any more news about Fiona, call me….she was supposed to help me and the girls hold a wet t-shirt contest for the guys…”

“I’ll notify you immediately if anything comes up,” Rebecca assured her.

“Thanks,” Mary replied. “Well, I’d better get back to hitting the books….be seeing ya!” She turned and headed for the elevators, her “classmates” following close behind; Vicki noticed that the girls were all wearing school uniform jackets in addition to the kneesocks and ridiculously short skirts. “Anyone think the boys will be up for some strip poker after class?” Mary asked, prompting a chorus of high-pitched giggling as the door closed.

Rebecca sighed; “They’re gone, Miss Lawson…..”

“Call me Sunshine,” Vicki replied, “and feel free to add yourself to my contacts list…” She held out the PDA from Tell’s house. “Considering how screwed up this place seems to have become, I’m going to need all the help I can get. Speaking of which….how do I get to the communications control center for this place?”

Again, Rebecca sighed, this time sounding more apologetic. “Unfortunately, Madame has taken full control of the communications and security systems, in order to keep us from being ‘exploited’ by the intruder.” “Wait,” Vicki countered, “there’s a whole busfull of men in here, yet this Madame----hang on, who is this Madame person, anyways?” “She is in charge of this facility,” Rebecca replied, “and the presence of an unidentified individual has made her increasingly paranoid. She believes that this intruder intends to steal our trade secrets and eventually destroy her…..”

“…except that’s not going to happen.”

V.I.C.I. held up her Tazer-gun. “If anyone tries to keep this place locked down just so they can have some stupid fun,” she informed Rebecca, “they’ll get the biggest shock of their life---“ “I’d recommend against that,” Rebecca advised. “I could alter the security system settings just enough so that the majority of the gynoids who might significantly impede your progress will ignore you, unless---“

“Thanks,” Vicki replied, “but I think I can handle it…I’ve got a few tricks of my own. Still, every bit of help counts, so….”

She handed the PDA to Rebecca. “A map, a list of pleasure droids currently active in this facility, and a heat signature tracking app would be great….if you have any of those,” she offered. “While I don’t have anything resembling a heat signature tracker,” the robot receptionist replied, “I can give you a full map of the faciltiy, and a list of active gynoids.” She plugged her right index finger into the PDA’s USB drive, her eyes flashing brightly as the data copied itself to the handheld.

Without warning, the elevator pinged; Mary and several of the other schoolgirls ran out, panicking.

“Hide!” Rebecca hissed; Vicki once again dropped to her knees, crouching behind the desk.

“Some…some guy just…….oh, man…” Mary was at a loss for words, pointing with trembling fingers towards one of her fellow classmates. “She….she never even had a chance…”

Vicki glanced around the edge of the desk and instantly regretted it; the schoolgirl in question had been pinned to the wall of the elevator by a ruler, hurled with enough force to pierce her cranial casing and impale her CPU within mere seconds. Either the intruder is another android, she reasoned, or it’s someone who’s spent a good long while practicing this kind of stuff…

“I’ll notify Madame immediately,” Rebecca informed Mary. “At least her core is still intact….if we can shut off the elevators, we might be able to---“

“What’s that?” Mary cut in, pointing at the PDA. “You know Madame’s rules about this sort of stuff…”

So much for subtlety….

“It’s mine,” Vicki admitted, standing up. “And before you ask, I’m not here to cause any trouble. I’m just here to reboot the communications, rescue the guys from that bus crash and find whoever’s causing all the problems around here.”

Mary eyed her skeptically. “You came here to take down the intruder?”

“Among other things, yes,” Vicki replied.

“We don’t have time for this,” Rebecca interjected. “Miss Lawson---“ “It’s Sunshine, remember?,” Vicki amended. “At least, when we’re talking via radio…or PDA, or whatever.” The receptionist rolled her eyes. “Very well. I’ve uploaded the information you requested into the handheld---“ “Which is what, exactly?” Mary inquired. “Just a map and a list,” Vicki shot back. “Like I said, I’m not here to start any trouble…”

Mary stared at her for a full three minutes. Neither gynoid blinked.

Finally, the schoolgirl relented. “Fair enough. If it means flushing out the whackjob who took down Missy, then I’m all for it.” She grinned. “Just be sure to kick his ass once you catch him.”

“I will,” V.I.C.I. replied.

“Cool trick,” Mary chuckled. “Oh, and before I forget…” She fished around in her jacket pocket and pulled out a small charm, shaped like a heart. “I think Michelle dropped this when she was vacuuming the carpet in my dorm hallway…she’s probably been looking for it.” “I’ll give it to her if I see her,” Vicki replied, pausing to consider what Mary had just said. “Ah, your dorm hallway?”

“This facility has several scenario chambers,” Rebecca explained. “We use them to test---“

“I get it!” Vicki groaned. “Look, while I’m thinking about it, is there a Co-Ed Kelly in this facility? Specifically, is there a Co-Ed Kelly in here that was deployed to San Jose State University?” Rebecca checked the records; “A unit matching that designation is currently undergoing a memory evaluation in the testing lab on the twelfth sublevel,” she informed the brunette gynoid. “May I ask why---“

“I need to talk to her about something,” Vicki explained. “They’re not…deleting her memories ot anything, are they?”

“I believe that would be counter-intuitive,” Rebecca politely replied.

“Thanks for the tip. I’ll call you if I need anything….” Vicki scrolled through the list of call numbers on the PDA, noticing that Rebecca’s number was now added to the list. “Right. Any particular codename preference, or should I just call you Rebecca?” “I’m not sure I understand why you’re using codenames,” the receptionist gynoid admitted, “but I would prefer being identified by my own name.”

“What about me?” Mary pouted. “I want in on this too….I just lost a fellow sexbot back there!”

Vicki sighed and handed her a slip of paper. “This is the call number you can use to contact me,” she told the gynoid, “so don’t lose it. Find a handheld walkie-talkie, cellphone or anything that allows you to reach that frequency to call me, and…well, call me. When we’re talking to each other over this comm line, use the name ‘Sunshine’ to refer to me.”

“Kinda like a secret agent, huh?” Mary quipped. “I may have to get Sam in on this act---“

“As much as I hate interrupting a good conversation,” Rebecca interjected, “I believe Miss…Sunshine should continue with her assigned duties…the sooner she can stop the intruder, the better.” “Sounds like a plan to me.” Vicki headed for the elevators, making sure that the PDA was hooked securely onto her belt. “Anything else I should look out for---any robots with dangerous weapons, or a tunnel that I have to crawl through while microwaves threaten to boil me from the inside out?”

Mary arched an eyebrow; “A few of the droids here carry swords, but other than that, all the props around here are pretty harmless….well, if they’re used correctly, at least. But why would we have a tunnel with---“ “Never mind,” Vicki replied, entering the elevator car and thumbing the button for the 12th sublevel of the facility.

“Good luck!” Rebecca called out.

The elevator doors closed, and Vicki took a deep breath---more out of habit than anything else---as the car began its descent. “According to this map Rebecca gave me,” she mused, “the communications hub is on the sixth sublevel; if I can get there without any problems, I should---“

The car lurched to a stop, sending Vicki face-first into a wall.

“OW! What the….” She got to her feet, examining the controls. “What’s wrong with this stupid thing?!” A cursory check revealed the controls themselves were no longer functioning---someone had cut the power to the entire elevator car. “Either the intruder is having fun with the elevator controls,” she muttered, “or this place hasn’t paid the electricity bill in…” She stopped, realizing how stupid the idea sounded even before she finished the sentence. “They’ve got a generator,” she groaned. “They don’t even need to---“

The lift car lurched again, almost knocking the brunette gynoid off her feet.

“THAT’S REALLY STARTING TO GET OLD!” she yelled angrilly. “WHOEVER’S DOING THAT, CUT IT OUT NOW OR---“

The speaker grille built into the ceiling crackled to life. “As you wish….”

A second later, the car began to drop.

Any normal human being would’ve been too panicked to think clearly by now, but Vicki---already at a distinct advantage with her bubble-memory processors and Olympian reflexes---had mapped out an exit as soon as the car started falling. If I time it just right, I should be able to clear the car doors, break through the outer doors on one of the sublevels and avoid a very noisy finish to this whole thing… She counted the seconds, knowing that waiting too long would only screw things up for her even more. At 33.15 seconds, she flattened herself against the rear wall of the lift car, ready to make a flying jump…..

5……4…….3…….2…….1……NOW!
--------------------------------------
Several floors below the lobby of Silicon Dynamics, a freckled, redheaded gynoid in an elaborate French maid outfit emerged from a charging booth with a sigh. The recent power outages, random alarms and rumors of an intruder had disrupted the usually-mundane routines, and the gynoid was rather anxious to get back to her daily schedule of cleaning up after the other gynoids. Of course, there were also the guests to consider….

“Je dois finir nettoyer ici,” she murmured, as the door of the charging booth closed behind her. “La Madame ne sera pas heureuse si je ne termine pas mes travaux.” She paused; “Je me demande comment nos invités font…”

A grinding sound from the end of the hall caught her attention; something was happening in the elevator shaft.

“Ordinateur?” she asked quietly.

“Oui, madamouiselle?” a perky female voice replied from inside of her.

“Quel était celui?”

“Je suis l'analyse,” the computer responded, scanning the building’s systems to figure out what had made the ear-wrenching noise. After a few minutes, the maid’s internal computer spoke up again: “Erreur.” The noise from the elevator shaft sounded again, louder this time---and, for reasons unknown, accompanied by what sounded like a girl screaming.

“Je ne comprends pas,” the maid sighed, frowning. “Je blâme l'intrus, celui qui qu'il est….tout fonctionnait parfaitement avant qu'ils aient apparu!” The lights in the hallway went dark, prompting a frown from the gynoid; the power outages throughout the facility had already caused enough trouble. The maid gave an indignant huff; “Lumière!” she stated, glancing upwards as the lights flickered back on…a few shades too dim for her liking. The elevator shaft issued forth with its grinding noise again, leading the maid to cast an annoyed stare in its direction; something had to be done.

“Ordinateur?”

“Oui, madamouiselle?”

“S'il vous plaît communiquer avec Mad-,”

The doors to the elevator shaft exploded outwards, peppering the surrounding area with shrapnel. The maid, by this point in the grip of fear, tried to backpedal away from the commotion, but only managed to fall over backwards; she emitted a tiny squeak as she landed on the floor in a rustle of lace and ribbons. Through the smoke, a red-and-white-clad female figure barrelled through them into the hallway, shielding her head with her arms as she hit the floor in a heap. In the shaft behind her, the elevator car plummetted to its doom, landing with a horrendous crunch below.

“Ungh,” the newcomer grunted, picking herself up. “Stupid elevator….nearly killed me….”

The maid returned to her feet and rushed to aid the girl. “Vous m'avez effrayé!” she cried, more concerned than angry. “Êtes-vous bien?”

“I….ow….”

“Êtes-vous bien?” the maid repeated. “Avez-vous été blessé?”

“I…I’m fine,” the brunette girl replied. “Just a little shaken up….it’s the first time I’ve ever tried to jump out of a moving elevator while it’s plummeting down the shaft.” She glanced back, noticing the ruined door she’d just hurled herself through. “Ah, sorry about that,” she apologized. “I didn’t want to end up at the bottom of the shaft with the rest of the car….”

The maid nodded, before noticing something else about the girl: “Qu'est arrivé à vos vêtements?”

“What?” the brunette replied, looking down. “My clothes should be---OH, COME ON!” Her outfit had been shredded in several places---her shirts, skirt and tights hung loosely off of her figure, reduced to tatters by her dramatic leap through the door. “Please tell me the PDA is still here,” she pleaded, checking her belt and finding the handheld still attached. “Good..but does it still work….YES!” Returning her attention to the puzzled maid, she decided to answer the question about her clothes: “I guess my outfit wasn’t as lucky as I was…good thing I’m still wearing my swimsuit under here.”

“Que s'est juste produit?” the maid asked, staring back into the now-useless elevator shaft.

“I think someone tried to kill me by dropping that elevator down the shaft at full speed,” the brunette informed her. “Oh, and just so you know---I’m not the intruder who’s been causing all of this chaos.” She extended her hand; “Vicki Lawson, aka Sunshine. I’m here to help.”

The maid shook Vicki’s hand, nodding. “L'ascenseur ..... est lui cassé?”

“Probably,” Vicki replied. “Someone cut the power while I was trying to get to the twelfth sublevel.”

Before the maid could ask another question, Vicki’s PDA beeped. “Sorry, I’ve got to take this…” She tapped the device. “Sunshine here. What’s up?”

“Did you just break one of the elevators at the Silicon Dynamics facility? Seismic sensors just recorded a massive impact---”

Anton’s question prompted a groan from the brunette gynoid. “That’s a negative, Strange Animal. Someone else tried to break the elevator while I was inside it---I had to jump out while it was still moving.” She gave herself a once-over; “I tore up my clothes pretty badly,” she added wistfully, “ but other than that, no major damage to report.”

“Good. Try to keep it that way. Where are you now?”

Vicki checked the map Rebecca had given her. “I’m on the…..crud! I jumped out six floors below the one I was trying to get to!”

“It shouldn’t be too difficult for you to get back on track. Just find another elevator----“

“Oooohhhh, no!” Vicki protested. “From this point on, I’m taking the stairs!”

“I don’t know if there are any stairs, Sunshine! Just---“

Anton’s voice and face vanished, replaced by Tell’s. “The Silicon Dynamics plants aren’t exactly known for ease of access, Sunshine. If there are any stairs, it’s for evacuating the workers---a holdover from before the place was fully-automated…you’ll probably have to find keycards just to unlock the emergency exit doors.”

Vicki groaned again. “Who uses keycards these days?!”

“I don’t know,” Tell admitted. “Just try to find another way to the twelfth floor---wait, why are you going there, exactly?”

“That Co-Ed Kelly they deployed to SJSU back in October is there,” Vicki replied, “and I’ve got a feeling she may know more about this inhibitor failure. If she does, I’ll send the info to you. If not….we can always have a heart-to-heart about girl stuff. Sound okay, Diamond Dave?”

Tell chuckled. “Fair enough, Sunshine. Diamond Dave, over and out.”

The PDA went silent, and Vicki rolled her eyes. “That was entertaining, as usual….” She stopped when she noticed the maid gynoid glancing at her curiously. “Qu'est-ce que c'est?” she asked politely, gesturing to the PDA.

“Right…I guess I’ve got some explaining to do,” Vicki admitted. “I was, ah, conscripted into coming out here and getting this place back up and running, and this thing… “ She held up the PDA. “This allows me to stay in contact with the people who are helping me out.”

The maid nodded. “Je pense que je peux pouvoir vous aider,” she informed the brunette gynoid.

“Thanks,” Vicki replied. “First thing’s first….I may need your help to find some people in here later, so feel free to add your call-number to my list---”

“Qui êtes-vous exactement recherchant?” the maid enquired.

“A busload of people who somehow got into this facility after a crash,” the brunette gynoid replied. “They were sent here a few weeks ago to investigate whatever caused this place to start wigging out, and they haven’t been heard from since. They are here, right?”

“Oui, madame,” the maid replied.

“Good. I need to get them out of here, and---“ The PDA went off again. “What now?” Vicki groaned.

“Sorry to interrupt your conversation,” Alicia informed her, “but we’ve got a problem. It seems one of the guys from that bus has a heart condition---“

“So I’ve heard. Your point?”

“If he’s not out of there by 11 PM tonight, he might die.”

Vicki gasped. “What?!”

“Turns out the guy was on his way to the hospital for surgery, but his car broke down on the side of the road and the bus picked him up. He probably never had a chance to tell them…”

“Doesn’t he have medication for it?”

“If the documentation recovered from his car is correct,, he’s on his last dose of medication today. He needs to get out of there before tonight, Sunshine…”

Vicki steadied herself and took a few deep breaths. “Roger that, Burning Torch. I’ll be sure to have him out of here before nightfall.” She paused, remembering what she’d asked Rebecca for back in the lobby; “Any chance you can upload a heat signature tracking program to this thing and make my job easier, or will I have to look for them the old-fashioned way?”

“Sorry, Sunshine, but the PDAs don’t support the app…”

“There has to be something you can do!” Vicki cried.

“Hang on….isn’t your artificial hearing able to detect a person’s heartbeat, if you focus in on it?”

“Yeah…..but----“

“’But’ nothing! Use your hearing to listen for an irregular heartbeat----just filter out all non-biological sounds, and you should be able to hear it easily.”

“That….is definitely something I should’ve thought of first. Thanks for the tip, Burning Torch!”

“No problem, Sunshine. Burning Torch, over and out.”

The PDA went silent again. “Well, seeing as how that’s taken care of,” Vicki mused, “I need your help with another small matter. How do I get to the security and communications controls without stepping on the toes of ‘Madame’?”

“Je ne comprends pas,” the maid replied, as if the brunette gynoid had just told a joke that she didn’t get.

“At least you’re honest,” Vicki called up the map from her PDA, examining the schematics of the facility from every possible angle. “And, of course, there’s no way for me to get to the sec/com controls without going past the twelfth floor,” she muttered. “There has got to be an easier way for me to do this….”

“Une manière plus facile de faire ce qui?” Michelle inquired.

Vicki sighed. “I need to get to the twelfth floor to, ah, talk to the Co-Ed Kelly unit that this facility deployed to San Jose State University earlier this year, to determine if she saw anything…important. After that, I need to get to the communications and security system controls and turn both of those systems back on. Once I’ve finished with that, I need to find that busload of people who arrived here a few weeks ago and somehow lead them to safety---and one of them in particular needs to be brought to a hospital, because he has a heart condition. As soon as I’m done with that, I need to….” She sighed again. “Long story short, my whole mission plan is really, really complicated.”

“Je ne comprends pas,” the maid repeated apologetically, “mais je ferai mon meilleur pour vous aider.”

The brunette gynoid grinned. “Thanks. I suppose I could probably go for a new set of clothes first…”

“Vous pourriez emprunter mon équipement, si vous voulez,” the maid offered. “Thanks,” Vicki replied, “but it just wouldn’t feel right for me to be wearing your clothes while you’re walking around wearing this---“ she gestured to her own tattered clothing--- “or even worse, nothing at all. There has to be some place around here that has some spare outfits….I mean, every single gynoid I’ve seen so far is wearing something out of the catalog!”

The maid thought it over; “Vous pourriez pouvoir trouver un nouvel ensemble de vêtements dans le laboratoire d'essais.”

“The testing lab…..the same testing lab where Co-Ed Kelly is?”

“Oui, madame.”

“Cool! Well, that’s two objectives I can accomplish at the same time…..of course, there’s still the matter of me actually getting to the testing labs.” Vicki sighed, staring at the ceiling. “I could look for the key cards I’d need to unlock the stairwell doors, but seeing as how this isn’t DooM, and I’m on a bit of a time constraint….” She turned to address the maid again. “You wouldn’t happen to be carrying a master key-card that could unlock all the stairwell doors, would you?” she asked. “And if so, PLEASE feel free to let me borrow it…”

“Je voudrais à,” the redheaded gynoid replied apologetically, “mais je n'ai pas la clef que vous avez besoin.”

“CRUD. Eh, well, it couldn’t hurt to ask…..” She frowned. “Seriously, though…keycards? I mean, the security at Dad’s office is complicated enough, but keycards?! Those things are impossible to keep track of! If you lose a keycard in the crack between the sofa cushions, for instance, you have to take out EVERY SINGLE CUSHION to find the thing….”

She stopped when she noticed the maid staring at her quizically. “Ah, never mind.”

“Qu'est-ce que c'est dans votre main?” the maid asked.

“Ah, what are you---“ She stopped; the silver charm Mary had given her earlier was dangling from her fingertips by the chain. “Oh, this? Someone said you’d dropped this earlier….”

The maid let out a joyful cry. “Merci boucoup! J'avais recherché ceci!”

“Ah, no problem,” Vicki replied. “Just…doing my job, I guess.”

“Merci de me renvoyer ceci!” the maid declared, hugging Vicki.

“Okay, okay!” Vicki replied, laughing. “I guess it’s really important…”

The maid (Mary said her name was Michelle, if I remember correctly) released her hold and stepped back, smiling appreciatively. “So,” Vicki mused, “any chance that this good deed of mine could be paid forward somehow? Say, in the form of information regarding my passage from one floor to another?”

“Vous pourriez essayer les ascenseurs d'entretien,” Michelle replied. “Ceux vont seulement d'un plancher à l'autre, mais elles fonctionnent sur une source de commande indépendante et d'énergie que le reste des ascenseurs.

“Hmm……independent power sources AND controls….sounds like a plan to me! Where’s the nearest one?”

“Disparaissent le bas droit le hall jusqu'à ce que vous atteigniez l'extrémité, puis tournent à gauche.”

“So, go straight down the hall until I reach the end, and turn left. Got it.” The brunette gynoid grinned. “I think you’ve just made my journey a heck of a lot easier…that, and you just saved me the trouble of having to go keycard-hunting like some 90s first-person shooter character. Thanks for the advice, and for not freaking out too much when I came barrelling through that elevator door.”

“Vous êtes bienvenu. Je suis heureux je pourrais vous aider, Madame Lawson,” the maid replied, curtseying.

With a chuckle, Vicki patted the maid robot on the shoulder. “You are one cool gynoid, d’you know that?”

Michelle giggled; “Oui, madame.”

Good looks and a pleasant personality….Silicon Dynamics has really made a winner here. Ted would be proud, if he was here right now….

“Guess I’d better be on my way, then,” Vicki told the robot maid, “seeing as how that busload of people aren’t exactly going to rescue themselves. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get everything done that I need to get done….” She sighed once again. “If not, then I can always call in the cavalry and hope for the best….unless they decide to play poker and ignore my calls, in which case…..” She noticed the maid giving her a look. “Eh, never mind,” she muttered. “I probably won’t need their help anyways….seeing as how you’ve been giving me some pretty solid advice thus far.”

With a course of action already taking shape in her mind, the brunette gynoid decided to try the maintenance elevators and hope for the best. “I’d better get going, so….yeah.” She grinned. “See you later, I guess.”

“Au revoir, Madame Lawson, et bonne chance!” Michelle replied, smiling as she fastened the silver heart charm around her neck. The two gynoids shook hands and parted ways---one with a determined expression and a desire to set things right, the other with a spring in her step as she skipped off down the hallway singing “Frererr Jacques”.

Neither of them saw the intruder slip through the shattered elevator shaft doors…..
--------------------------------------

[DollSpace]

I love it! *And* I understood a lot of the French; that's good for me, too! I am looking forward to the next part!

[DukeNukem 2417]

I love it! *And* I understood a lot of the French; that's good for me, too! I am looking forward to the next part!

Awesome. I had to use BabelFish to get the French lines, but since they weren't lost in translation (ba-dum-PISH!), it's no big deal.

Thanks for the comments and compliments; Part 4 will be up tomorrow.

[DollSpace]

I love it! *And* I understood a lot of the French; that's good for me, too! I am looking forward to the next part!

Awesome. I had to use BabelFish to get the French lines, but since they weren't lost in translation (ba-dum-PISH!), it's no big deal.

Thanks for the comments and compliments; Part 4 will be up tomorrow.

I generally use Google Translate... The French wasn't quite correct, I don't think, but the important thing was that I could *understand* it. And if you want really accurate French, PM the English lines to Mirage; French is his first language, if I remember correctly. Double-check with him, though I'm a perfectionist, so I'd want my translations to be the same way, but that's just me lol...

Things are progressing nicely in this story, though it seems Sunshine has a large number of androids in the facility willing to help her. Giving a brief explanation why may be a good idea.

Keep writing!

[Brytestar]

Finally I JUST had a chance to read this! I'm thinking up putting up an RP thread in the Character Play section VICI Diaries: The RPG!