[open] I'm passing sleeping cities

[droide]

CHARACTERS: L3-37 and YOU!
LOCATION: Ximilia station
DATE: February 15th
CONTENT: L3-37 returns from a trip home to the body she hasn't had in over a decade. A body which is still damaged from the bandit attack.
WARNINGS: loss of autonomy, severing of close familial connections. will edit as necessary

01. (Not So) Triumphant Return [OPEN]

[ Those who feel the tug and then find themselves back aboard the Ximilia, orb in hand, will notice that they're number is less than it had been on the surface of the planet. Their resident droid freedom fighter seems to have vanished during the teleportation back to the station. A day passes, two days. It seems that L3-37 really is gone.

But then, she's back, arriving on the teleportation platform, missing half her arm just as she had been in Scorpion's Bend. It's almost as though there was a delay in retrieving her. She seems to be in shock, at first, as her remaining hand pats herself at various points on her chassis— her chest, her hips, her dome. ]

It's back. It's really back.

[ Not "I'm back." "It's back." ]

02. Parts Of Me Need Fixing [OPEN]

[ Returned to the station and her body, it doesn't take L3-37 long to find herself in the laboratory, working on a computer there to draw up blueprints for her replacement arm. Sure, she could just replace the arm she'd lost, building one that's identical to her remaining right one. But she had seen the usefulness of having a weapon affixed to her arm during the confrontation with the Bouldersnakes. Not only that, but her time back in her galaxy had been spent without any hands at all, or any of the rest of her body. When you spend over ten years bodiless, you have a lot of time to daydream about the body you long to have. She has a unique chance now, to make the improvements to her body that she's been dreaming about.

Find her tweaking her designs on the computer in the laboratory, visiting the armory to make the weaponry she plans to include in the new arm, or searching for the parts she needs in tech storage. Or, later in the week, once her designs have been finalized and her parts selected, find her assembling and installing her new arm. ]

03. Somewhere To Lay My Head [CLOSED TO FINN]

[ Now that she's back, both back in her body and back on the Ximilia, Elthree has decided that she wants somewhere better to stay than in the tech storage room. During her previous stay, she'd waved off the idea of claiming a bedroom, reasoning that she had no need for either a bed to sleep in, or a room to keep the belongings she didn't have. But she does have a collection of belongings now, accumulated over the months she'd been part of the Ximilia crew last time. Thankfully, Finn was gracious enough to offer to share his room with her. Elthree moves in, a small box of her personal items held in a box between her hands, both old and new. ]

I appreciate this Finn, thank you. Just— fair warning, it's been a while since I took up physical space, and I'm still getting used to the feeling again. So don't mind me if I wind up knocking into the furniture as I walk around.

04. The Cards Are Wild

[ Want something else? Hit me up @ millennialfalcon or ©hris#1234! ]

Comments

ii.

[construing]

[ why was gwen walking into the lab? not important right now. task that needed doing? thbbpt.

instead, a blur of white, black and pink barrels into elthree in a hug.

she'll jump back if her head is about to be knocked down to her feet, but let her have a microsecond of this, thank you. ]

[droide]

[ Elthree is not accustomed to receiving hugs. She's just spent fourteen years with no body to hug, and even prior to that, it was rare that anyone wanted to hold her in their arms. The last time someone had... It had been Lando, cradling her broken chassis as she slowly went offline in a shower of sparks.

So it may come as no surprise that Elthree is somewhat shocked by the sudden sensation of arms wrapping around her. She's so startled that her reaction isn't to push the person away, but instead to freeze in place and just allow herself to enjoy the sensation of pressure. After as long a minute as it takes for the surprise hugger to begin to relent, Elthree swivels her dome 180 degrees around to look down and see who it is that is hugging her. ]

Oh. Hello, you.

[construing]

Sorry. [ gwen lets go and takes a step back, arms held in front of her in apology. ] Sorry. When Venom said you were gone, I—

[ she trails off with a helpless little laugh. ] I thought you'd been whisked back for good.

[ it's not easy to read elthree's…it can't properly be called a face. still, gwen's eyes roam over her as if she might glean clues as to the mystery of the past few days. ]

What happened? Did the teleporter malfunction?

[droide]

Venom? Is that your little black friend's name?

[ Once Gwen lets go, she pivots, head still pointing towards Gwen, but body turning to catch up. ]

You know, I couldn't say. I did get sent back to my galaxy. Spent fourteen years there. Maybe the orbs forgot about me for a time, who knows. But then remembered me eventually, and brought be back, back to the station... Back to my body.

[ She pauses, seemingly waiting for someone to say something. In her mind, she knows this is when V5-T would chime in with her usual comment of, "Rude.". But V5-T, and ED-4 as well, aren't here. When Elthree's consciousness had been summoned by the orbs, it had left her two sisters behind. ]

02.

[spacedisaster]

[ Peter doesn't notice L3 being gone the first few days because he spent them either unconscious or drugged out of his mind in the infirmary. These are miserable times for everyone, and once he is capable enough to stand without passing out, Peter runs away from the infirmary. 

All he wants is to find a comfortable hole to hide in and ignore the rest of the world for a few years. But such a thing isn't possible, and Peter can't even find comfort in his room because it is the one he shared with Gamora before she disappeared, and the double bed haunts him. He wanders the station, avoiding people, and ends up in rooms she never visits. Like the laboratory. 

Has he ever set foot here before? Peter really isn't sure. The stark lights here, made to help people work with ease, really do nothing to hide the fact that there are dark circles under his eyes and that he has lost weight. In his right hand, the bruise he got from tearing of the IV is still visible, and he still can't raise his left arm properly, his shoulder is still healing from Kaneki biting him. 

But all that is secondary. Peter's curiosity gets the best of him when he spots a familiar droid lady working. He walks up to L3, walking a little slower than usual, and tilts his head in question. ]

Whatcha doing?

[droide]

[ Elthree spends more time in the laboratory than probably anywhere else on the ship. So by now she's used to the way the harsh lighting can make her organic crewmates look less than ideal. However, when she swivels her dome to see who it is coming to bother her just as she's installing her new hand onto her arm, she notices that he's looking even less ideal than usual. ]

You look like bantha shit. [ Said with a tone of voice that's more concerned than insulting. ] What happened to you?

[spacedisaster]

Thanks, you say the sweetest things. [ Peter deadpans, his face pretty neutral. He's not offended, he's aware of how he looks, but he also doesn't have it on him to make light of the situation with a decent joke. ]

The mission happened to me. What happened to your arm?

03.

[hatejakku]

[ Elthree had been missed those first few days, and Finn even managed to speculate on whether or not they left her behind even though he knew the real truth. What he didn't expect was to see her again but he's very happy to be wrong.

Though, discovering that she had taken no room was... not cool. ]

Yeah, of course. [ He could really use the company these days, anyway. ] You, uh-... Can I ask what happened back there? You went home, right?

[droide]

[ Elthree nods, setting her box of items down on the bed that will now be hers, and then sitting beside it, leaning back onto her hands casually. ]

I did. The rebellion on Kessel went just as I remembered it-- Probably because I haven't paid off my deal with the orbs yet. Not sure why they sent me back if I hadn't, but...

[ There's a soft whirring noise almost like a thoughtful hum. ]

I went back exactly to the moment I had left, with Lando holding the upper half of my body in his arms. [ She looks down at her legs, and places her new hand on her knee, as if reassuring herself that it's still there. ] No idea what happened to the lower half. In the end, none of it was salvageable. I had to be uploaded into the Falcon's computer systems just to save my mind.

[ She finally looks back up at Finn, and he might get from her posture and the way that she's holding her head that if she had a mouth, it would be smiling a rakish grin right now. ]

You were right. Once Han got his hands on it, the Falcon turned into a real shithole.

[hatejakku]

[ This news comes as a surprise, Finn expecting the worst. But his eyes go wide, and he ends up laughing.

Yeah. Yeah, Han made a mess of it. ]

You were uploaded to the Falcon?

[ He walks forward to sit on the side of his bed, facing her, getting a few flashbacks to the days of barracks and ignoring them. ]

You must still be there in my time, too. Throughout the whole Rebellion and everything. [ Elthree has seen some things. But Finn's mostly excited that she's there in his time, too, that he should be able to find her in the ship's core. Or... Well, Rey could. ]

[thelastb1]

[During one of his regular commutes to the lab and tech storage room, Roger freezes in the doorway. Though Roger has not kept most of the outfit he wore as a disguise for the mission, he has continued to wear the brown coat that reaches his knees.

He had feared that Elthree might have returned home, when she had not returned to the station, but assumed that would only mean her immediate destruction. He'd heard rumors that Elthree's consciousness still existed in his galaxy, but hadn't taken them very seriously. He'd even been on the Falcon a few times, and seen the very navicomputer she had been uploaded to, but had not thought to communicate with it in any way.

So he is relieved to see Elthree in the same state she was before, doing virtually exactly the same thing he had done after the previous mission.]

You're back.

[droide]

[ Having to wear clothes had been Elthree's least favorite part of the mission in Scorpion's Bend. As soon as the illusion vanished, so did her restrictive dresses. She recalls Roger feeling differently, though, so when she sees him, she's not surprised to see him still wearing his coat. ]

I am. [ She abandons the schematics she'd been working on, turning to face Roger and give him her full attention. ] It's good to see you again.

[thelastb1]

[Still tired and feeling some lingering pain from the pulsefire, he merely slowly nods to indicate that the feeling is mutual.] What happened?

[He then takes a look at the schematics] That's for a new arm, right?

02

[winscenario]

[ Jim didn't immediately notice her missing from the group, but then they were all a mess, most not in great physical condition either, and Jim's focus was mainly in getting Bones to the infirmary and making sure he didn't die from either blood loss or infection. But with that done, and things settling down again, it doesn't take long for him to gather numbers and realizing there's one missing.

He tries to find her, but to no avail. For a while there he actually wonders if she might've gone back home, in fact he's almost coming to terms with that when he comes into the lab one day, PADD under his arm and reading glasses propped on his nose, and finds her just sitting there, pouring over some schematics on the computer. ]

El! [ His grin is immediate, tiredness leaving his features momentarily to give way to relief. He makes his way over and (excuse him if this is a very organic thing to do) wraps his free arm around her shoulders in a hug. ] You're back! Where'd you go off to?

[droide]

[ As soon as she hears Jim's voice, Elthree sits up straight, her dome swiveling over to look at him. She even narrows her optic in a way that might suggest fond familiarity. Her version of a smile. ]

Jim. [ No sassy nickname this time. She honestly is just glad to see him again. She allows the hug, even places an arm around Jim's back, the touch lingering even after he pulls away. ]

Would you believe.. home? I've been living in the navicomputer of the Falcon for fourteen years. It's kind of mind-turning to realize I've only missed a few days.

[winscenario]

[ The fact that she returns the gesture lifts his spirits beyond words. Despite everything that's happened during the mission, he finds himself genuinely happy right now, his smile heartfelt and honest. ]

Really? [ It's not the first part that surprises him, necessarily. Others have gone home and come back, memories of this place largely intact. It's the length of time that catches him off-guard. ]

Fourteen years, that's... a long time. [ And stuck in a ship's computer too. He sits next to her, looking a bit amused. ] I'm surprised you still even remember me.

o2;

[bijective]

[Later on in the week, Hermann can finally see the project L3-37 is working on. If he had to infer, he can spot several improvements made to the overall design.

He approaches her from behind, peaking a head to see that she is assembling it.]

Ah, I see your arm is coming together in one piece.

[droide]

[ As Hermann approaches, Elthree is carefully soldering the metal pieces of her new arm together, connecting the wires that will control her joints and relay sensory information back to her central processors. She leans to the side slightly to give Hermann some room to look on, if he wishes. ]

It's nearly done, now. Almost ready to be fitted.

[bijective]

Marvellous... [He pokes his head over to observe her work, throwing on his spectacles all the while.] Your detailing is immaculate. Are these all a part of the schematics you were working off of?

02.-ish!

[groupiedrifter]

[Newt's been hovering around the lab while she's been working on her arm, collecting different armaments, adjusting the ranges of motion to correlate with her body, all of those fun things; she's having to endure his obnoxious music through parts of the day, though... he seems a bit distant. Less talkative. Usually he'd be chattering on and on, and...

Well, it's been a while since you've seen him, right? Time's passed for you. Maybe it's just being away so long that makes him seem off. Either way, he seems more himself today when he wanders into the lab, laying his chin on the edge of the table where she's working.]

Take a break and come play a game with me! I'm bored.

[droide]

[ She's able to tune out the more obnoxious strains of music, lowering the input on her audio sensors until a song she likes better comes on, or until Newt decides to turn the music off. He is being a bit concerningly quiet, but Elthree is grateful for it, as it allows her to concentrate on her work.

That doesn't stop him from finally giving in to his childish nature and interrupting her, however. She puts down the tools she was using, leveling a look at him that might be considered glare-esque. ]

Hello, bored, I'm Elthree-three-seven.

[ Did she just dad joke at him? ]

What game do you propose we play? What could possibly be more tantalizing to me than replacing the arm that I've lost?

[groupiedrifter]

[He blows out a raspberry. Eloquent human noises!]

Anything but Monopoly. Or chess. Everyone always goes for the chess.

I think we've got a dusty old box of Hungry Hungry Hippos.

Oh! Or Operation! Ha. That'd be kind of relevant.

ii

[aurable]

[ When Drift had overheard that L-3 had been injured during the mission, he had gone looking for her. Easy said than done, apparently. It wasn't until he had searched high and low every else did it occur to him to try the labs.

Sticking his head in and looking a touch sheepish, Drift announced himself. ]

Assuming you'd go to the infirmary was maybe...not my brightest moment, in retrospect.

[droide]

[ The thing is, even if Drift had thought to check the labs earlier, she may not have been there. She hasn't been much of anywhere on the station until just this morning, when she was returned to her body in the teleportation room.

She looks up when Drift speaks, her tone light and casual, as though she hadn't just been returned to living half a life for over a decade. ]

Not really, no. There's not much that Doctor McCoy could do for me, even if he didn't have other patients to tend to.

[ She hasn't heard yet that McCoy himself had been injured, and wasn't exactly in any shape to be tending to patients. ]

[aurable]

I hadn't seen you around anywhere since we got back and I had gotten worried. [ Drift hadn't been up to speed with the day-to-day lives of several of his friends. Too many things — and people — had fallen by the wayside in the commotion since they returned.

At the mention of McCoy, Drift flinched and his finials noticeably flagged downward. ]

Leonard is recovering from the wounds he sustained during the mission. It was bad, but he's out of the woods. [ Trying to distract himself with his curiosity he asked, ] Can I help with anything? Three hands are better than one.