Chapter 123 - Invisiboop

Lucas pauses for a moment to clear his throat, waiting for 23 to be out of hearing range. Even if it's a robot with limited sentience, it still feels weird to talk about buying it right in front of it.

'Hey, um, 427, buddy? Can ya hear me? I could, uh, use your help here…'

[Yes, I'm here, Lucas. I heard about what was going on from 011 and have already completed research and estimates. As far as I can tell, 23 was probably worth something around 750,000$ when brand new, but seems to be about halfway through its standard lifespan, putting it at 5 years old. Given some data I found, they may actually be more than willing to sell one of their units, as it looks like they have been downsizing due to consistently low traffic.]

'Woah, hey, welcome back. That's… A lot more than I was expecting. Guess I won't be offerin' as much to Lakshmi tomorrow as I thought I would. And, damn, Mark has so many of them too, the hell?'

[Well, the price between models varies greatly, 23 is an elite specialized unit. The more general-purpose ones are much cheaper, in comparison.]

'...Oh, yeah, makes sense. Hey, if it's only good for 5 more years, that'll really lower its price, yeah?'

[Yes, among other factors. One thing to keep in mind is the fact that you already have Miss Calculated's offer to look over and upgrade him. That 5-year estimate was assuming normal operations, I'm sure you'll be able to keep it running in a prime condition much longer than that with her help. The better base model to work off of in its current used condition is potentially better than a brand new budget one, assuming her continued cooperation.]

'Noice.'

"Ah, well, uh… I doubt you get asked this a lot, but is there any chance you would be, er, willing to sell 23 to me? I, uh, just finalized my own organization, and after we're done eatin' here we're all on our way over to my, uh, HQ I already got lined up, but have some work to do to get things ready. I figure, it's already treated Willy good, so that saves us from needin' to program a new one, yeah? And I could put it to work right away, and it saves me havin' to go find somewhere to buy one or two for maintainin' the HQ early on." While Lucas is a bit heavy-handed in overexplaining why he wants to buy 23, Miss Calculated quietly shakes her head. While he doesn't have a full-on slur any longer, there is a bit of a drawl as a lingering symptom from his now-mild state of inebriation.

Miss Calculated braces her left elbow on the surface of the table and heavily rests her forehead on her left hand, closing her eyes. If she had any idea that Lucas would be this bad at negotiating a price, she may very well have offered to do it for him, being a witness to this is just painful.

Lorelei's expression had slowly become a much more genuine smile, rather than her initial pure work-mode one.

"Actually… We could arrange something. The owner has been planning on some… Changes… And we could stand to trade a few bots in the meantime. Would you care to discuss the details in private? Also, would you perhaps be interested in more than just one?" As Lorelei answers him, she takes half of a step towards the hallway she had come from, holding a hand out to indicate that they should head in that direction.

"Oh, sure, thanks. Uh, I think just one to start…" Lucas nods reflexively as he answers, then starts walking to the indicated hall.

Miss Calculated starts massaging her forehead, but she knows full well that she is in no position to interject. Even though Lucas is casually following a stranger to a second location, at least the only thing she's an immediate threat to is his bank account.

Miss Calculated at least gets a small amount of peace of mind from knowing who Lorelei is and what her power is. She's fairly sure Lucas is safe, baring some very niche scenarios that he HOPEFULLY isn't drunk enough to wander into. And, if he does, well, guess Jonathan is going to be an orphan again. Maybe if they adopt him, he'll share some of the money he seems to have, assuming it isn't exclusively all Lucas's.

As Lucas follows Lorelei's lead to an office past a few closed doors, he notices a curious 'hmm?' at the edge of his hearing.

'I guess Chi is tagging along?'

[...She wasn't at first, but now that she noticed you heading this way she has started following close on your heels. I suppose there's no harm in letting her eavesdrop to her heart's content, but please do try to act accordingly.]

When Lorelei indicates for him to enter first, he hesitates for a moment, but eventually does so. Noticing a pair of chairs in front of a desk with a large office chair behind it, he starts heading over to stand next to the left-side seat near the door, but waits for her to get settled in behind the desk before he sits down.

As he's already aware of the fact that Miss Chievous has been following him, he watches for and notices the slight movement of the seat to his right sinking a bit from her making herself comfortable.

'...Why am I so tempted to kick her or somethin'?'

[If it's just because you want to troll her back, that's one thing, but if you do want to make it clear you know she's there… You could nudge her a bit.]

'Hmm…'

Out of sight from Lorelei, Lucas slowly slides his right foot over until he makes contact with Miss Chievous. Given how far he had to travel before there was any impact, she seemed to have tried to avoid him.

Once he was sure he had her attention, he lifts the toe of his shoe and waves it back and forth, as if he were waving hello, and then casually pulls his leg back to a normal resting position.

[She seemed rather surprised, but at least she managed to keep quiet.]

'I'd been meaning to ask, can you just like, see her, all normal-like?'

[Not as clearly as when she's not using her powers, but enough to get an idea of large expression changes and certain gestures. Perhaps, you should think of it a bit like that wireframe image you saw of Willy while the machine was still in the process of scanning him, not the final detailed one. Well, rather than a distinctive wireframe, it's like she's made of glass and I can see the edges, but the incomplete wireframe is roughly equivalent to the level of detail I can make out.]

'...Oh. That's kinda neat.'

"Excuse me for just a minute, let's see what I can pull up first to help us figure out some accurate pricing. I should have detailed maintenance history for 23 as well, which I'm sure you'd at least like a copy of, if not outright look it over before making any final decisions." Once Lorelei had nestled into place, she had begun fussing around with a computer set up on her side of the desk, clearly in the process of looking up relevant information.

[...Hmm… Ha, seems my estimates about 23 were largely correct. Now it's just a question as to what kind of price modifiers they'll apply due to its age and usage, and the fact they technically have a surplus of service bots right now…]

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Lucas total kills: 7

Lucas total deaths: 11

Lucas total assists: 1

Lucas current GDV: 12.25 (+.01 +.01 +.01 = +.03 net change)

Lucas's fame level: 4.50* (Beyond just local, viral meme tier. Local levels are extremely high.)

Lucas's hero suspicion level: 2.5* (More than just passing suspicion for some paranoid individuals, people are realizing he's an impulsive idiot)

Jonathan total kills: 6

Jonathan total deaths: 2

Jonathan current GDV: 3.97

Jonathan's fame level: 2.75* (Mostly just local)

Jonathan's hero suspicion level: 2.75* (A few paranoid individuals are suspicious)

Willy's fame level: 1.5* (Anonymous meme fame, local fame primarily as 'Xenoclast's dog', but some strangers know him as William/Willy now)

Supervillain social circle size: 11

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Little character theater:

Jonathan was awkwardly self-conscious at first about being left alone with Miss Calculated and Miss Masher at first, but before long Miss Masher remembered their previous storytime and offered to continue, getting a hearty agreement from Jonathan.

Willy is busy living his best life, off in doggo-dreamsville.

Lucas is sorely tempted to pull his phone out to distract himself while he's stuck waiting, but somehow manages to just be patient.

427 is busy being smug about each and every data point that confirms his previous speculations as Lorelei keeps digging up the various relevant files.

Author, chuckling: You know, 427 pointedly left out a certain detail about Chi right now. He's probably equally looking forward to the reveal.

Mr. Quacks, personally guarding the desserts on the tray 23 is carrying back to the table: Quack!