The really bad garage sale.

[hunterkiller]

Who: HK-47 and Luke Skywalker and maybe Kaylee Frye
When: July 26
Where: 3474 Erwin Road
What: Fixing HK-47

[Exposition: About a month ago, HK-47's master, Anakin Skywalker, left Mayfield. This was especially unfortunate for HK, because Anakin had cannibalized some of his own regains to repair HK's damaged systems. So, when Anakin's regains disappeared, HK's system shut down, and have remained that way for the past month. The household of drones have just assumed that their "son" has been really "lazy" all this time.

A few days ago, a package from the postman arrived for HK: a box full of repair parts and upgrades for the droid. Unfortunately, the drones opened it, didn't know what to make of the stuff, and deposited it in the garage. After seeing the mess in there, the drones decided it was time for a garage sale!

So 3474 Erwin Road is having a garage sale today! And since HK's been so "lazy" lately, drone Anakin thought it would build character to put him in charge of running the things while he does some chores inside. Which basically means... there is an offline droid, a box of robot parts, and a bunch of other junk (including A LOT of mundane shotguns, pistols, and other weapons which HK acquired back during the Zombiefield madness) free for the taking right now...]

Comments

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Great day for a garage sale and great day for a jog. Luke's nearly finished his and soon finds that he's on the street where his father lived, now merely a drone. He spots the house even from a distance, only because there seems to be a great load of junk scattered around the driveway.

As he gets closer he sees a form sitting at a table but he senses no life form there. It doesn't take him long to figure out that it's a droid, though, and this realization spurs him on. A droid at the house his father was assigned to definitely piques his interest. Was it a project Anakin had been working on? Did he know or even own this droid?

Luke walks up the driveway, peering around for any sign of a human being. Strange that the drones left this powered-down droid out here with the garage sale. Anyone could just come along and... take something.

He stares at the droid for a moment, then at the house, sensing for any movement in his direction. Nothing. Making a quick decision, Luke reaches around the droid's heavy metal frame and hefts it up over his shoulder. He's just about to make a break for it when he spots a large box sitting open with... are those droid parts?

It only takes a quick glance to confirm it and Luke awkwardly attempts to scoop up the box with one arm. It proves to be too unwieldy, especially with a full-sized droid over one shoulder and he decides to use the Force to levitate the box in front of him, just hoping that no drones are looking out of their windows right at this moment.

Luke moves as quickly as he can, glancing all around him nervously. It's a block or two back to Mal's place and he's breathing hard when he finally sets the droid and the box down in Serenity's cargo hold.]

Kaylee?

[He climbs the stairs up to the common area, then up to the hall leading to the bridge, stopping to peer down into the room he shares with Kaylee, the hatch/ladder already open.]

You there? I've got something for you.

[wrench_and_ruffles]

[Kaylee scrambles up the ladder, flashing a broad smile as she pops her head out from below]

Ya do?

[hunterkiller]

[HK-47 looks much like he did the last time Kaylee saw him, except that now his power has run out, and a few more components are missing. Scorch marks are all over his chassis, and bits of wire hang out of two of his joints.

The parts in the box that Luke has, however, are shiny there seems to be a whole new set of plating to cover this droid's chassis in there, as well as all kinds of servos, gears, sensors, and other droid components.]

[last_ofthe_jedi]

Mm-hm. Come on. It's down in the cargo hold.

[He's grinning broadly. Luke loves making his Kaylee happy and he knows how much she loves tinkering. Oh what fun they'll have fixing up this old protocol droid! What could go wrong?

He excitedly leads the way back down into the hold, holding out a presenting arm to the droid sitting powered down next to the box of spare parts and upgrades.]

Found it at the house my father was assigned to. It was probably something he was working on and never got to finish. Remember me telling you about the droids we have back home?

[wrench_and_ruffles]

[Kaylee practically skips down to the cargo hold]

Machines that walk 'n' talk, right?

[She looks over what she finds... actually kinda familiar...]

Hmm.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

Mm-hmm. More specifically, artificial intelligence in a robot body. They range anywhere from little pods with accessory arms that roll around with very basic intelligence and next to no personality, to humanoids with emotions, learning capabilities, and programmed etiquette.

This one, I'm pretty sure, is one of the latter kind, a protocol droid. I actually own one back home. My uncle bought him for translating the moisture vaporators on our farm but he's proved useful in a lot of different ways.

[Hint #1 that Luke is excited: he's talking a lot. He kneels down and starts searching through the box of parts. He takes Kaylee's "Hmm" as simple pondering over the droid's function.]

This guy might be a big help around here, so why don't we see if we can get him up and running? Maybe he can tell us where he came from and who his last owner was. Sound like fun?

[hunterkiller]

[As Luke searches through the box of parts, he will likely find a hydrospanner and other tools as well in there among the droid components.

HK-47 still isn't really doing anything so far; no power and all that.]

[wrench_and_ruffles]

Think I mighta seen him walkin' 'round town.

[Not really likely to forget meatbag. Even if that's the only bit she knows]

Sure can't leave him like this!

[Oh, she wants to know how those legs work...]

[last_ofthe_jedi]

You did? Was he with anybody?

[Luke doesn't exactly have good feelings attached to his father at the moment but he can't hide being morbidly curious about his father's life. If this droid belonged to him, the things it could tell...

He pulls some replacement servos and a motivator out of the box, deciding to start with the important stuff first.]

[hunterkiller]

[Luke may (or may not) note that the motivator is very unlike the modern FV-50 droid motivators. It's still recognizable as a motivator, but it is thicker and seems to have been modified. It is stamped with a logo labeled as Czerka, but that label is also very different from the recognizable label that Czerka Corp used in Luke's time.]

[wrench_and_ruffles]

No, he was walkin' about all on his own. Bit rude, really... but can't leave him like this!

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Luke's definitely noticed how outdated that motivator looks and he's frowning at it, trying to figure out that logo. He raises his eyebrows at Kaylee.]

He was rude? Well that doesn't sound like a protocol droid at all. Now I really want to find out who this guy is.

[He holds up the motivator, inspecting it.]

These parts are absolutely ancient. I've never seen anything like them. I'm thinking this droid might be from a very, very different period in time. Hope I know where everything goes...

[He pulls the box over so it's closer to Kaylee.] Here. See if there's anything in there that you recognize.

((You want to skip forward at all? Through the *fixing process*? Considering they'll probably be doing that for a couple hours.))

[hunterkiller]

((I'm game for summarizing the fixing process. Just some notes of things you may discover while working on HK-47 during that process and want to note in your RP:

-HK's internal workings are stamped with a menagerie of different logos, suggesting that this was not a mass-produced droid, but a total custom-job.

-Despite the ancient tech and serious damage, it appears to have been very well engineered. Someone put some serious attention and care into building this droid.

-HK appears to have two memory cores instead of the typical one. One is particularly unusual, in that it is completely sealed shut, with no way to access it (which is very unusual, since memory cores always have a port to transfer programming or perform a memory wipe). This would likely make a complete memory wipe impossible.

-HK is built with a lot of reinforcements and back-up systems, as if its builder intended for him to continue working after taking intense damage. (It also appears that the reinforcements were done as inconspicuously as possible, as if the designer wanted HK to look less formidable than he really was.)))

[wrench_and_ruffles]

Just gotta get him workin' again then. Show 'im I can actually do it.

((OOC: Yep, timewarping is fine by me!))

Fast-forwarding, here we go!

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[It's been hours of figuring out ancient parts and boggling over the unusual design. Luke is rather excited to see what this guy has to say. He's also taught Kaylee pretty much everything he knows about fixing droids and how they work.

Luke checks over all the connections, making sure nothing's going to short out once they try switching the droid on.]

That should about do it.

[He only needs to check things over once. Because rushing through stuff and plowing right in is the Skywalker way.]

Here we go!

[The power switch is flipped and Luke steps back to let the droid do what he's going to do.]

Re: Fast-forwarding, here we go!

[hunterkiller]

[HK's photoreceptors (eyes) flicker on and his joints kind of jerk a bit at first. His "neck" pivots so that he is looking up at the two of you.]

"Statement: HK-47 is online."

[He pauses for a moment and his photoreceptors flicker again as he performs a quick self-diagnostic.]

"My systems show that I have been disabled for quite some time.

Query: Are one of you claiming me as my master, as per salvage protocol 6.70221?"

Re: Fast-forwarding, here we go!

[wrench_and_ruffles]

[Kaylee grins as the droid comes to life. She knew she could do it, but it always feels so good to actually pull a big repair job off]

Claimin' what? Ain't ever really heard of that rule.

[Rules for salvage beyond I was here first? Now that's a whole knew world]

You heard of it, Luke?

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Luke grins at their achievement as the droid jerks and whirs to life. Its question confuses him, though, and he furrows his brows at it.]

No, that's new to me, too.

[Still, he steps up the droid attempting to look confident.]

HK-47, I'm Luke Skywalker and I'm your new master. You've been repaired and upgraded. How do you feel?

[hunterkiller]

[HK's receptors flash for a moment.]

"Statement: New master designated as Luke Skywalker. As to how I "feel"..."
[HK's tone is a bit sour when he says that word]

"I have once again been reactivated at well below optimal operating parameters, after a long period of having been rendered inoperable, for the third time in a row. It appears I am still in a primitive meatbag settlement..."

[HK looks about.]

"...And am once again weaponless. Oh, I am doing fine, Master."

[wrench_and_ruffles]

[Yep... that's definitely the same droid]

But all yer joints... they runnin' okay?

[And a puzzled glance to Luke]

Should he have weapons?

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Uh-oh. This is definitely not a protocol droid. HK-47's attitude has already struck a nerve in Luke. If a droid had behaved like this back on Uncle Owen's farm it would have been deactivated and dismantled for scrap metal faster than you could say "bantha poodoo".]

HK, you will show more respect when addressing your master. If you're truly unhappy with the work we just spent several hours putting into getting you back online again, I'd be more than happy to put you out of your misery. With the limited technology in this town, there are an awful lot of people who'd pay an awful lot of money for droid parts.

[Luke rests his hand on the blaster at his hip to show just how serious he is. He glances to the side at Kaylee.]

No. He'll be in possession of a weapon only when I say so and only use it in defense of himself or the other prisoners in town. Is that clear? [It's evident that the question was addressed to the droid. He sees now that he's made a miscalculation and he'll have to be very careful with how he handles this.]

[hunterkiller]

[HK pauses for a moment, turns to face Luke, and straightens up.]

"Statement: It creates a positive charge in my capacitors to have a master who can be so authoritative and cruel when he needs to be. It is the closest thing a droid such as myself feels to happiness."

[wrench_and_ruffles]

Well that's a mite... creepifying.

[What the hell, droid?]

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[A positive charge in my capacitors?? Kaylee's right. That was a bit creepy. He almost laughs.]

Yeah. What are you, some kind of masochism droid?

[Luke can tell that HK-47 is obviously from a completely different era. For all he knows, a droid that thrived off of negative reinforcement and abuse might have been very popular hundreds or thousands of years ago. People are weird.]

[hunterkiller]

[HK tilts his head a bit in a way that makes him look annoyed.]

"Statement: Oh, very witty, Master.
Clarification: No, master, I am an assassin droid. My primary function is to put very large holes in meatbags you find objectionable, including generally difficult targets such as Jedi. My secondary functions include body-guard duties, reconnaissance, psychological profiling, protocol and translation."

[wrench_and_ruffles]

Wait, Jedi?

[Worried. Very, very worried. Channeling Wash worried.]

[last_ofthe_jedi]

Jedi? [He says it at almost the same moment as Kaylee does, right before giving her a 'I've got a very bad feeling about this' look.]

Well, I hope you're not disappointed, HK, because your primary function will be put on strict lockdown until further notice. I also hope it doesn't bother you to learn that I am a Jedi.

[hunterkiller]

[HK slumps slightly]

"Disappointed Statement: Admittedly, Master, when I saw the lightsaber, I had hoped that I had fallen into the service of a Sith instead of yet another Jedi. To have been programmed with the unique capability of exterminating Jedi, only to then repeatedly have them designated as my masters is the pinnacle of irony."

[wrench_and_ruffles]

But why would anyone... ain't Jedi the sorta folk ya want around?

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[While Luke understands that a droid can't ignore its programming, being in possession of a droid that specializes in anihilating Jedi makes him uncomfortable.]

Not everyone agrees that Jedi are a benefit to society. In fact, because of people like that, once I finish my training I'll be one of the last Jedi in existence.

[hunterkiller]

[HK seems to perk up at this fact.]

"Eager Statement: What a coincidence, master! The second Jedi who served as my master was also one of the last of the order, thanks to the Jedi Civil War. I took great pleasure in extinguishing the lives of all the would-be assassins who came after her!"

[wrench_and_ruffles]

I really ain't sure about this...

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Luke briefly turns to Kaylee, sensing her obvious discomfort.]

It'll be alright. He was obviously programmed by somebody who didn't like Jedi but he still won't disobey his master. At least, he'd be smart not to. [That last sentence was spoken to HK in an almost threatening manner. Luke knows that some droids are programmed with a failsafe or disobey code that is triggered under certain circumstances, especially droids like this one. He's going to be careful.]

HK, you realize your main function is superfluous here? No one stays dead.

[hunterkiller]

Resigned statement: I am aware master. It is most disconcerting.

Correction: Also, Master, I would point out that my original programmer didn't dislike all Jedi. He did not seem to have much objection to himself, or to that other female Jedi he was always swapping mucus with in the cargo hold of the Ebon Hawk.

[HK clicks for a second.]

Apology: I'm sorry, Master, but my information sharing filter seems to be malfunctioning slightly.

[wrench_and_ruffles]

[Kaylee is getting more and more confused by the minute]

This is makin' less and less sense.