Refurbished Fun – Surplus
Story by Gruffy on SoFurry
The robots have arrived to the workshop and repairs begin...but what is their exact goal?
Refurbished Fun – Surplus
by
Gruffy
2016-17
*
A scifi themed commission sponsored by :iconheru: - hope you enjoy this and I shall look forward to hearing your feedback! Remember that all votes, faves and watches will help others to find these stories to enjoy as well!
*
“Well, what do you think, bro?” Ed Ritchie questioned from his little brother.
“I think…,” pontificated Michael Percival Richie to his senior sibling, “I think that they really loved cutting costs when building these things.”
“Well damn right!” said Ed Ritchie.
The pair was perched over the body of Corporal Alfie, lying on his back on a height-adjustable table. The soldier was currently but a homunculus of silver-colored plastic, prostrating limbs and open maintenance hatches that offered them a view to the inner workings of the anthrobot under their gaze. The two men wore respirator masks with plastic faceplates for maximum vision, and white robes that hung loosely about their bodies, to keep their natural dirt away from the sensitive components held inside the usually hermetically sealed body of the robot. The air in the plastic tent was constantly circulated, filtered and kept at a lower than ambient pressure to ensure that they would remain clean as well.
“Look at this stuff,” Mike Ritchie pointed at a brass-colored cylinder with a small pen-like tool, which made a beep, and a sent a signal to a laptop sitting on a nearby tools cart. Information poured onto the screen and attracted their attention, “like this…this hydraulic sub-pump is a Loggart & Saunders model 50-X. Just like the one on the Mr. Blaze firefighter series.”
“Doesn’t surprise me,” Ed Ritchie replied. “Most of the motor assembly components on Private Mike were stock Mr. Blaze parts as well. The gov must’ve told Lockheed to use them as the basis for the rolling chassis.”
“It makes sense, I guess,” Mike Ritchie mused, “they wanted something that has a fully self-contained body with no external heat exchanger modules to provide max protection from the elements, as well as sturdy enough to withstand impacts and explosions and stuff.”
“And to carry heavy loads,” said Ed Ritcie.
“They’re sturdy boys alright,” Mike Ritchie grinned, “and…”
He pointed his pen at another exposed component, and got a result he could spy on the computer screen.
“…and they run on a Mark VI SRF central inertial platform…”
“Nifty!” Ed enthused. “The Swedish gyroscopes are great!”
“Must be another NATO subcontract,” Mike commented. "Would make sense."
“I guess so,” Ed said.
“I'm glad we don’t have to take these totally apart,” the younger brother continued to speak, “would take even longer.”
“It’d be fun, though,” Ed grinned wishfully.
“Yeah,” Mike smirked in agreement. “See all it has swallowed.”
“Hopefully the rest is as good shit as the stuff we’ve seen so far,” Ed said.
“Yeah!”
A door opened with a rustle of plastic – made of a sheet of it on a steel frame, on the scaffolding that kept the whole tent up – and Hassan stepped in, similarly clad as the Ritchie brothers were, though his apparel was much more clean.
“How’s it going?” he asked cheefully.
“Good,” Ed said.
Hassan stepped next to them and peered at the opened hulk of the anthrobot.
"Looks neat," he said. "any surprises yet?"
"Not really," Ed said.
“It’s mostly a stock chassis with bits and pieces from all over the place,” Mike added.
“I see,” Hassan said. “That’s gonna make it easier to do the retrofitting, I suppose?”
“Yeah, sure,” Ed shrugged. “As far as I can tell from the general dimensions, the power utility network, cooling, lubrication, hydraulics…should have no trouble integrating with standard Loggart & Saunders, SRF and ROCCO stock.”
“He’s gonna need a new skin job, though,” Hassan replied. “They all probably do. Though I guess you should call them fur jobs this time around.”
“Is there much damage to the skin?” Mike asked.
“A bit of wear and tear, of course, and then there’s the matter of the rest of the upgrades,” Hassan said, “they’re going to be changing the external dimensions enough that the original skins just wont’ fit anymore.”
“Damn,” Ed muttered. “Is that gonna delay stuff?”
“Don’t think so,” Hassan said, “that custom workshop we contract in Burbank also makes fur jobs. They print them using a super-soft polymer on an elastic lattice. They snap right onto the body and stay on and feel perfectly natural. They make wigs and hair extensions out of the stuff, fit to measure.”
“And is the lattice made up to full standard?” Ed asked.
“Of course it is, fully interfacing with all the primary sensor network processors. Should be directly compatible with these boys.”
“Well, get a quote for us,” Ed replied. “I’m sure Mister Reuben will have no problems with whatever they suggest in Burbank.”
“With what he’ll have to pay for the retrofits, it’s nothing compared to that total sum,” Hassan said. “Fifteen to twenty grand each, I suppose.”
“I’m sure that the guy only wants everything to be best,” Mike Ritchie said. “And the best has a price.”
“Oh yeah,” Ed Ritchie grinned. “We’re so expensive…”
“Reuben may own us, but we aren’t doing this for free,” Hassan added.
“Damn right!” Ed Ritchie chuckled.
“With what he’s paying us, we’re gonna buy some sweet shit,” Mike Richie stated dreamily.
“I want a spray rig and a new 3D contouring device and a T-inlay scanner,” Hassan said.
“Someone’s already got a shopping list…” Ed smirked.
“Of course I do,” Hassan replied. “We should have implied that we need this stuff to do the job to begin with, so we could have gotten it earlier.”
“Now that’s a thought…” Mike Ritchie said.
“We already had him buy us the new fast-track holographic memory buffer,” Ed Ritchie reminded his colleagues, though not without a smile, “and the nozzles for the big printer.”
“But those are essential,” Hassan said, “the amount of custom moulds we have to make - and the reprogramming of four units…”
“And he coughed up,” Mike Ritchie said, “as he should, since he bought us out of our business so that he can have us tweaking bots for him at his pleasure.”
“I can’t say I mind getting these kinds of specimens on my table…” Ed Ritchie glanced happily at the stripped off robot on the assembly platform."
“I’m going to have to go and strip off Private Charlie next,” Hassan noted. “I look forward to seeing what kind of tiger fur stripe patterns they’ll come up for him in Burbank.”
“You’re enjoying this part, aren’t you?” Mike Ritchie suggested.
“I enjoy all parts of my work,” Hassan replied enigmatically. “Let me know when you want to start looking at Private Charlie’s insides. I should be ready with his outer parts by tomorrow.”
“Sounds about right to me,” Ed Ritchie said.
“Alright,” Hassan said, “see you for tea in half an hour.”
“Seeya,” Mike Ritchie grinned.
*
Thank you for reading my story! Remember that all votes, faves and watches will help others to find these stories to enjoy as well!
Enjoy my writing and want to support my work? Considering checking out my Patreon here www.patreon.com/Gruffy for exclusive stories and sneak peeks :)
www.twitter.com/therealgruffy for updates and randomness
@GruffGruff for Telegram contact
Cheerio!