Oh! Kind of. I mean... Yes, but maybe not in the way you're thinking.
[Right, 80s. He might have to take this bit by bit.]
That's a cleaning robot - kind of a smart vacuum cleaner, if you will. We called them roombas, back where I was from. But we do have other robots here, and other smart appliances, for that matter. For example -
[HOLD THAT THOUGHT. A weird janky dog comes in with a robotic bark.]
Well, ah, him I've had for a couple of years now. That's Polo.
[ Excuse Majima while he padded over to the robot and batted at it with his paw, looking almost more like a cat than a big old 6' long wolf. ]
Hey, the future is here.
[ Now Polo looked something more like he was expecting, a bit awkward and made in obvious imitation of a living creature. But the name didn't escape him. ]
Heheheh. Someone's got a sense of humor. Didn't realize ya had so much company out here.
[ Majima chose that time to shift back into his human form, presumably so as not to get wolf hair all over Marco's things. He reached down to pat Polo. ]
What's he run on? Not run-of-the-mill batteries, I'd imagine.
[ Probably Polo? Maybe? Perhaps? What Majima did know was that these words seemed to have extra meaning nowadays, but he turned to Marco all the same. ]
Hey, that's pretty convenient. So ya got a robot pooch, and a robot cleaner. Any other mechanical buds I ought to meet?
[Yeah, Polo's a pretty good boy. It's not his fault Elias put a spying device on him!]
Well, the other big one is Gregory, but he's not here, he's at the workshop. We're still renovating, but, ah, you know how things go in this place. There's always... always something.
[He pauses for a moment after the brief digression, as if needs to physically make his way back on topic.]
Then there's a lot of technology in this place, but most of it isn't exactly what you'd call a robot, just smart. Oh, has anybody told you about smartphones?
In a sense! Smartphones are mobile phones, but not all mobile phones are smartphones. Smartphones are a newer development, you see - they're not just portable phones anymore, they're more like... pocket computers!
Oh, well... Because they still do calls, I suppose? In the end, communication is still their main purpose.
[That's a good thing, because Marco is probably kind of impossible to be around if you don't like to talk about this kind of thing.]
There are smart cars of a sort, yes, but come to think of it, nobody calls them that... I guess that's because of the brand. Uh, there's a brand of cars named Smart, I mean. But those are just... small, I'm fairly sure.
That would be McGucket Labs! Maybe I've mentioned the place before, ah, it's where we work. We're mostly closed for renovations right now, but we're still seeing customers with more urgent requests. Maybe you can drop by once we're properly ready to show the new space to the public! We'd be happy to have you.
[When you get Marco talking like this, that's probably when he sounds the most like the businessman he used to be.]
[Ah, there goes the PR Voice. He's back to normal now.]
No, see, the inventing, most of that is on Fiddleford. He's the engineering genius, not me. And - and when I say he's a genius, I mean it, you know? He can make things you wouldn't believe - like, like his robots! - out of ordinary things you can find around Bavan. No deals with Mana necessary.
[No, sorry, not just normal. "Gushing" is more like it.]
Yeah? In that case, maybe I oughta ask for his help for a project I've been thinkin' about. Back home, we had all kindsa goods you could get your hands on for fending off angry thugs.
Here, though...
[ Well, you know. In many ways, Ryslig was a bit behind Majima's point in time. ]
Anyway, I had a pair of nunchaku back in Osaka that I really miss right now.
I don't mean to dissuade you or anything, but you should know, if you ask Fiddleford to make you nunchucks, you might end up with something, uh... More than that.
[Marco opens his mouth to say something, but then it occurs to him that he can't be sure the government wasn't at least looking into this type of thing in 2016, so he closes his mouth and rethinks what to say.]
Well... Well, in that case, Fiddleford is absolutely your man.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[Right, 80s. He might have to take this bit by bit.]
That's a cleaning robot - kind of a smart vacuum cleaner, if you will. We called them roombas, back where I was from. But we do have other robots here, and other smart appliances, for that matter. For example -
[HOLD THAT THOUGHT. A weird janky dog comes in with a robotic bark.]
Well, ah, him I've had for a couple of years now. That's Polo.
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Hey, the future is here.
[ Now Polo looked something more like he was expecting, a bit awkward and made in obvious imitation of a living creature. But the name didn't escape him. ]
Heheheh. Someone's got a sense of humor. Didn't realize ya had so much company out here.
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[ Majima chose that time to shift back into his human form, presumably so as not to get wolf hair all over Marco's things. He reached down to pat Polo. ]
What's he run on? Not run-of-the-mill batteries, I'd imagine.
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Oh, I just need to plug him in and let him charge every so often. He's pretty good at letting me know when he needs it.
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[ Probably Polo? Maybe? Perhaps? What Majima did know was that these words seemed to have extra meaning nowadays, but he turned to Marco all the same. ]
Hey, that's pretty convenient. So ya got a robot pooch, and a robot cleaner. Any other mechanical buds I ought to meet?
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Well, the other big one is Gregory, but he's not here, he's at the workshop. We're still renovating, but, ah, you know how things go in this place. There's always... always something.
[He pauses for a moment after the brief digression, as if needs to physically make his way back on topic.]
Then there's a lot of technology in this place, but most of it isn't exactly what you'd call a robot, just smart. Oh, has anybody told you about smartphones?
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marco he wants to see the HOUSE]no subject
Smartphones? If I recall, ya did mention mobile phones way back when we met. That what you're talking about?
[ Or maybe at this point Marco just meant an out-and-out phone with little legs. Maybe not intelligent, but convenient? ]
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[No legs. Yet.]
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[ God humanity why didn't you make any damn sense? At least Majima seemed content to chat about technology with Marco, how's that for friendship. ]
So there's smartphones, and smart... other stuff? Houses? Cars?
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[That's a good thing, because Marco is probably kind of impossible to be around if you don't like to talk about this kind of thing.]
There are smart cars of a sort, yes, but come to think of it, nobody calls them that... I guess that's because of the brand. Uh, there's a brand of cars named Smart, I mean. But those are just... small, I'm fairly sure.
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[ Did Majima sound a little amused? Must be the old imagination. ]
Where's this workshop ya mentioned? Are visitors allowed?
[ Look, Marco clearly liked talking about technology, so he might as well give the guy the perfect opportunity to show off, right? ]
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[When you get Marco talking like this, that's probably when he sounds the most like the businessman he used to be.]
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[ Which was hopefully the point, right? ]
Did Mana help ya get materials for your inventions? Maybe as part of the house deal? Or was that all you?
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[Ah, there goes the PR Voice. He's back to normal now.]
No, see, the inventing, most of that is on Fiddleford. He's the engineering genius, not me. And - and when I say he's a genius, I mean it, you know? He can make things you wouldn't believe - like, like his robots! - out of ordinary things you can find around Bavan. No deals with Mana necessary.
[No, sorry, not just normal. "Gushing" is more like it.]
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Here, though...
[ Well, you know. In many ways, Ryslig was a bit behind Majima's point in time. ]
Anyway, I had a pair of nunchaku back in Osaka that I really miss right now.
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I don't mean to dissuade you or anything, but you should know, if you ask Fiddleford to make you nunchucks, you might end up with something, uh... More than that.
[Like, potentially with buzzsaws and all.]
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[ Maybe not the buzzsaws, but definitely the extra? He was a menace. ]
The ones I had could keep a charge, so you could use 'em to zap people. Only the ones that were trying to menace ya, of course.
[ OF COURSE. ]
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[ This seemed to be something of a fond memory for Majima, actually. ]
The business I made deals with sent agents out to find all kindsa stuff. Cursed dolls, explosives, gravity converters...
[ THIS SOUNDED RATHER ILLEGAL. ]
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I'm sorry, gravity converters?
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[ Yakuza was a strange and mysterious place... ]
They worked pretty well, though. Had to use 'em in a couple weapons.
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Well... Well, in that case, Fiddleford is absolutely your man.
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[ Was Majima also going to try and make a pair himself? MAYBE. ]
Y'know, he sounds like he might make an interestin' cook, too. Or maybe ya don't let him near the kitchen?
[ Look. If a man could invent nunshocks, think of what kind of culinary havoc he could wreak. ]
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No, no, he is the one who cooks in this house, actually. He, uh... To be honest, I'd barely ever eat regular food if it weren't for him.
[Ah. That's why he's embarrassed.]
want to wrap this one?
sounds good o7