A Job Well Done, a very short story.

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slade2501
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A Job Well Done, a very short story.

Unread post by slade2501 »

Roxy's tail wagged as she held herself firmly still. Dad had told her she needed to walk slow and stay calm in
his workshop and she desperately wanted to learn about his work. Compared to her homeschooling this seemed so
much more exciting.
"Alright Rox, you can see these burn marks on this armor plate, yeah?" Jackson, Roxy's dad, tapped the plastron
of a suit of Titan heavy power armor. Roxy peered close, noticing three slight divots in the upper chest of the
suit.
"Yeah I can see 'em. Like someone took a knife to it." Jackson chuckled darkly.
"not a knife Rox, more like a pulse laser. The impacts are set real close together. Means rapid fire. We can
fix that with the filler gun." He hefted a two-handled spray-gun with a hose that ran to an attached tank
labelled "Metallo-Ceramic Fluid Suspension" and below that in block letters, "Property of the Coalition States"
above a small skull with lightning bolts.
Jackson pointed a clawed finger near the business end of the gun.
"The nozzle here is automatic, it changes size and shape depending on the damaged area. Its got little eyes that
can see the holes. We just move it close, pull the trigger and the filler gun does all the rest." Matching
action to words Jackson played the muzzle over the burn holes and like magic they were filled in with slightly
steaming new armor. Roxy almost couldn't make out where the holes had been. Her nose wrinkled at the smell.
Roxy looked the suit up and down, noticing the deep gash in the leg.
"What about that dad? I don't think the filler gun's gonna fix that." Jackson followed her gaze and gave the
leg armor a critical eye.
"Nope, your right about that Rox. The armor plate has been compromised. We'll be lucky if there isn't any
internal damage. I don't see or smell any blood so there might be a chance the leg didn't breach. Lets grab the
magno-lock and pull the armor loose." Jackson reached for a another gizmo, this time running it close along the visible
seam of the legs armor. Roxy's sharp ears picked up small, dull clicking sounds as the plate suddenly dropped
off the armor onto the floor with a clang. Noticing no internal damage on the leg, Jackson smiled as he handed
Roxy the tool and reached down for the fallen plate.
"Magno-lock; undoo's the tiny bolts that hold a suit's armor onto the frame. Works on most vehicles too. Makes
it easy to change out the armor in a hurry. The folks who built this armor would have replacement plates but
we're gonna have to make a whole new one from scratch." Jackson held up the plate and winked at Roxy through the
hole. Roxy smiled as her father opened up the laser scanner, a flat coffin sized box and slipped the plate
inside. Its LCD screen lit up as the internal mechanism played a beam of light over and around the armor plate,
taking its exact measurements, density and shape. close by, an auto-lathe began to whir as its rotors and cutting
tools began shaping an exact replica of the damages plate. Carefully using hand tools and a small laser,
Jackson removed the bolts from the old damaged plate and just as carefully fit them to the new one. Another pass
with the magno-lock and the suit was sporting armor good as new. Roxy couldn't even find the seam. The plate was
slightly off color, but Roxy wasn't sure that anyone without her eyesight would even notice.
Jackson smiled proudly, running a hand over the repairs to check for burrs or miss-alignment.
"That looks like a job well done. Lets go bring the client in and see what he thinks." Roxy bounded happily
through the shop after her father, a broad smile on her muzzle.
"What about the old plate dad?" "We'll throw it into the goo bin, Rox. The machine will break it down and make
new armor goo out of it and someday we'll patch up another suit or somebody's armor with it. Waste not, want
not."
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taalismn
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Re: A Job Well Done, a very short story.

Unread post by taalismn »

Nice brief aside in the lives of Operators. :wink:
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
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