[Open Log] Sometimes You Work Too Hard

[plate_builder]

WHO: Reeve Tuesti, OTA
WHERE: Sh'Ka Security and Water Treatement
WHAT: Dealing With Machinery and Infrastructure in Sh'Ka
WHEN: Late October
WARNINGS: Minor possible mental manipulation in Security log starter

A. Work Is Always Distracting | Water Treatment Facility

When in doubt, work to make other's lives better. This was a philosophy that Reeve had been raised with. Sure, when he had been raised with it the point had been 'make the lives of your family better' but that didn't mean he hadn't brought those thoughts into his adult life and had a lot of complication from it. But here and now, with so much going on, Reeve found himself falling back on this.

The way it was manifesting in Sh'Ka was Reeve's arrival at the Water Treatment plant, mere hours after he had gotten off of the train from Temba. It was here he had set himself up to sleep in one of the side offices, and here, looking at readouts from displays while he tried to figure out where systems were backed up and needed help, that he was getting yelled at.

"Will yah listen tah meh for a wee moment and let yahself get some sleep?" Mini was demanding, the robotic cat's voice loud and carrying through the halls.

"If I'm sleeping, I'm not helping make sure there is clean water," Reeve countered, not looking up from the displays. He wished he had paper to work with. The programs on his datapad just could not keep this straight for him, not with how his eyelids were getting heavy.


B. The Strangest Computers Ever | Security Station

Get out of the office and take a damn walk.

It wasn't what Reeve had wanted to do, but Mini sure had been good at channelling Cid in that moment, and giving Reeve no choice but to finally stop working. It had come down to the fact that the cat had basically taken Reeve's comm pad to keep him from working further. Damn keeper.

With a sigh he had agreed to at least get up and move his legs some, stuffing the cat into his bag and taking Mini's weight onto himself to explore. Where he'd ended up was one of the better lit areas in the city. The Security building had looked so inviting from the outside, and slowly he had made his way deeper and deeper until he finally ran into something both familiar and new.

Reeve had been staring at a monitor for almost five minutes now, watching the image of some sort of plant matter being roasted over a fire. Strange how he hadn't been hungry a bit ago, and now his stomach was starting to grumble.

"I wonder what the point of having videos of food is," Reeve mused aloud, only to earn a snort from his bag.

"It's like ya forgot tha channels like tha were big back home."

"How would you even know that?"

"Because you do."

Comments

[sinistral]

"After you've rested." In which time hopefully the Soldier would be able to reconcile any problem himself. Realistically he knew that eventually he would get to the point where he needed assistance, either today or another day. There were no HYDRA mechanics here, which was absolutely a good thing. But it also meant no one familiar with the inner workings of the arm.

He glanced over at Reeve, then made to settle himself more comfortably where he sat. "But now we are safe and dry and can rest."

[plate_builder]

Fair, he can accept this deal. Reeve sighed and moved to lay down. He tucked his arm under his head to serve as a pillow.

"Careful when you say 'safe and dry'. You'll jinx us and then there will be rain and animals."

[sinistral]

"If we end up with rain and animals, I'll let you go right back to your work." He felt it a safe bet to make, because there seemed no chances of rain and the Soldier had made sure his chosen camp was secure. Surely he made a safe bet.

Reaching for his bag, he pulled out a warm shirt and folded it over a few times. Then he handed it over to Reeve. "Here. I don't have a better pillow."

[plate_builder]

"Fair," Reeve noted as he closed his eyes. Though he opened them again when he heard Soldat speak.

His attention alighted on the offering, then shook his head.

"I'm capable of a bit of discomfort, I assure you."

[sinistral]

"I don't doubt your ability to shoulder necessary discomfort. But the unnecessary can be mitigated." He paused for a moment. "And maybe I was thinking of Mini's comfort."

Did that even apply? Did Mini sleep? Feel physical tiredness or pain? He had no idea. Asking armed unnecessarily rude.

[plate_builder]

Okay, yes, it totally could. But Reeve wasn't prone to trying to avoid it these days. He owed the world for things he's done.

"He doesn't sleep," Reeve provided for Mini, who had already moved away to investigate the area. "Sadly he's not biological enough for that."

"Aye, but ah can clean while ya sleep. And watch out fa ya," Mini offered, shuffling some rocks away from a path of traversal.

[sinistral]

"Maybe I'll just give it to him to shove under your head after you've fallen asleep then." Was he joking or serious? Certainly the Soldier's poker face wouldn't give away the truth. He did turn his focus to Mini though, watching the cat move around the space.

"He's so lifelike," he commented eventually, then remembering Reeve's words about Cobb's behavior, addressed Mini as well. "No offense intended. I don't think I've encountered anything quite like you. And I don't expect you to clean if you can rest instead."

[plate_builder]

"I suppose that's always a strategy," Reeve allowed with a shrug.

"Aye ah'm life-like. Ah'm alive ain't ah?" Mini asked, turning to look at Soldat, his hands going to his hips to show he wasn't pleased with that comment. "And ah get a wee bit bored when he sleeps."

[sinistral]

"Just considering all possibilities," he replied.

Attention back on Mini, the Soldier frowned in thought. The question of life tied into the idea of personhood: what could a weapon say about that?

"I don't know," he finally returned. "I think it depends a lot on how life is classified, and I'm not the best choice to ask. You're probably more alive, more of a person than I am."

[plate_builder]

All possibilities. Is it even possible to consider ALL possibilities? Seemed unlikely to Reeve.

"I cannae think yah nae a person. Yah realleh alive," Mini insisted.

[sinistral]

Perhaps in considering exactly how many possibilities could exist, someone would get bored and fall asleep, Reeve.

"Technically," he replied. For all the good it did him. "It's hardly a requirement."

[plate_builder]

Oh yes, he’s definitely getting sleepy, and in fact, Reeve wasn’t the one responding anymore, not with how his eyes were closed.

“Ain’t nah technically ta it. Yah more alive than me.”

[sinistral]

Small miracles. And see how the water plant wasn't blowing up? Proof that Reeve could take a few hours away from work without catastrophe.

"As I said, it depends on how you define life. Or how it's been defined for you." He shrugged in an attempt to shed the conversation and the offense he'd caused in it. "And being alive doesn't automatically equal personhood."

[plate_builder]

Yes, it’s not blowing up. Yet. Though it was better not to make that comparison to an awake Reeve. He had seen things low up when he was sleeping just his few meager hours away from his job.

“Nah, ah think it does,” Mini insisted, shaking his head. “Ya know it’s like that, right? It’s all okay to admit to. Maybeh it ain’t easeh ta be uh person all tha time, but ya still one.”

[sinistral]

If the place blew up over night, then maybe Reeve could argue staying awake next time. For now, sleep was the best thing for him.

"No," he replied, but it sounded contemplative more than argumentative. The Soldier leaned his head back against the wall, looking at the ceiling. "It's a goal, maybe. Something to try for. But not at the expense of forgetting what I am. That would put too many people in danger."

[plate_builder]

Yes, it was the best for him. Too bad for the Soldier that Mini needed no such thing. The doll was absolutely going to argue.

“Danger? How can ah person be danger on they own?”

[sinistral]

Someone somewhere was cheering on Mini in his attempts to get through the Soldier's thick skull.

The Soldier didn't cheer. He didn't want to have the current conversation either, but at least Reeve was finally asleep. The man no doubt needed it, with how quickly he'd dropped off. That should be worth a little discomfort on the part of the Soldier.

At least the answer to this question remained fairly straightforward. "I am a weapon," he replied. "A very effective one."

[plate_builder]

Mini would bow to the person applauding because he liked being praised for good work.

"Bein' trained like ah weapon ain't make ya less a person. Except thing is if ya act like it do, ya can justify really bad shit, like in Reeve's home."

[sinistral]

As well he should! He certainly deserved it.

"I don't remember much of how to be anything else." The Soldier finally returned his attention to his bag, dragging out a small cloth roll containing the tools he'd gotten from the replicator. They weren't fancy, but he was able to pry up one of the maintenance panels on his forearm, grimacing as he attempted to shake gravel loose. "But I have heard very many opinions of what, who, or how I should be."

[plate_builder]

Well now Mini was definitely going to slip closer to look over the process.

"Ah ain't sayin what yah shud be. Or who. Or how. Just that yah a person."

[sinistral]

The Soldier shrugged. He didn't quite agree but also didn't want to drag out the conversation in that direction. Some of it he knew probably couldn't be understood by someone who hadn't experienced his life; he knew he didn't describe it well for others.

Fortunately, it seemed like they could drop it. The arm was a good distraction in that pursuit; the Soldier manipulated the thin nose of a pair of pliers around wires and connections, wincing now and then when he brushed against active nerve connections.

[plate_builder]

That looked uncomfortable by half and Mini frowned up at the man.

"Ah cud wake Reeve. He knows thin's like this."

And he had two hands compared to Bucky's situation.

[sinistral]

"He needs the rest," came the immediate protest. Reeve had looked ready to drop, probably from putting everyone else's problems, real or perceived, before his own needs. Getting him away from work was a victory that the Soldier didn't want to give up so easily.

He finally withdrew the pliers, a chip of stone between the blades, and put it aside. The rest really needed assistance, but it'd be fine for the night. The shelter was secure enough that the Soldier didn't worry about needing to defend them. "If you wake him, he's just going to worry over it, then worry more when he realizes the extent of it. Let him sleep."

[plate_builder]

Stupid man having a good point.

"Is it really bad?" Mini asked, sounding worried. He definitely didn't like any of this. His concern would hopefully be plain.

"I think yah deserve someone tah help yah from time tah time."w

[sinistral]

"It's not bad compared to past damage," he replied, adding a little more information on nothing that concern. "It's mostly annoying, as opposed to seriously damaged. An itch you can't reach might be the closest way I can describe it." An inadequate description, but one that hopefully captured the frustration of it.

He shook his head, then shrugged. "I prefer self maintenance as much as possible. It's..." He lost a moment or two in contemplation of the opposite wall. "My experiences with others working on it are not positive. And while I don't believe that Reeve would have ill intentions, that doesn't make it comfortable for me."