Ask Little Things

[D3-EZ]

D3-EZ wasn't the type of droid to ask questions about a job, especially when half the credits were already in it's account on down payment and the other half were sitting on the table just waiting to be taken. The job was well within it's primary functions, and it's programming was satisfied with the logic of operating any of those functions, not just the elimination of targets, for credits.

This was what led to D3-EZ sitting on the seat of a repulsor hoversled, holding the reigns to a nerf that pulled the sled as it directed them down the country road. D3-EZ was heavily disguised, wearing a poncho that covered much of it's metal frame and a wide straw hat. A piece of straw hung off of it's faceplate where it was taped to the edge of where it's 'lip' might be when it emoted.

The hovertrailer of course was covered in a thick tarp, the kind that protected goods and crops from the harshness of the elements. The crops that D3-EZ would be planting that day were of a rather explosive popularity, though they weren't a native crop to Bandomeer. The droid had a particular fondness for them and it knew they were popular among other's who fulfilled similar functions as it did.

"Statement: It's hot out today." The droid said to it's partner as it looked over to the organic sitting next to it, an expression popping up on it's faceplate.



The droid's ambient temperature indeed indicated that the heat index was above optimal for organics, and while such things had little effects on the droid except when in the extremes, D3-EZ had done it's homework. The droid had consumed several outer rim adventure holo's on it's journey to the job in Imperial space. The organics in those holo's often commented on the temperature, and the droid was committed to staying in character for this operation.

 

[Zhaan Duran]

Tipping his wide-brimmed hat down to match the midday sun, Duran had a good look around the Bandomeer countryside. Few people, skittish animals, and rolling waves of grains and such. Kinda nice actually if it weren't for the heat. A poncho he'd picked up at the local spaceport replaced his usual coat. It was breezy on much of Bandomeer owing to the massive ocean, better not to rely on leather. It also concealed the guns on his belt.

Not that guns were an unusual sight out in the countryside to begin with, but showing them off made people nervous. Zhaan wasn't here to make anyone nervous. "Sure is," the Chiss replied around a locally-made cigar, puffing smoke and propping a boot up on the nerf-led sled's front end.

The wacky emoji faceplate got a second look. He wasn't sure what to make of this droid. "Can ya do an eggplant?" It'd be funny if they could. Whole situation was a little odd, but so was damn near every job out in the galaxy. Duran didn't give a damn so long as he got paid.

Zhaan moved his hat slightly upward so his sunglasses-covered eyes could see the road ahead. "Looks like the place just there."

@Arcangel

 

[D3-EZ]

D3-EZ's 'partner-in-crime' certainly looked the part. Poncho, large straw hat, six guns on his hips. Just like one of the nerfherder's from the action holo's. He even spoke like one. His next words were a question however and they got a pause out of D3-EZ as it searched its databases, cocking it's head at Zhaan before.



"Query: Like this?" The droid asked as the image displayed on it's faceplate screen. "Statement: This unit is programed with 6 million forms of emotes, however, this unit does not know why." The droid said as they arrived at the target location.



"Statement: We have arrived." The droid 'smiled' as they passed through a gate leading to the target. A few more moments passed and they had pulled up to a farm house. Dismounting, D3-EZ walked around to the side of the hover sled and pulled the tarp free, giving them access to the crates of baradium 'seeds' that they would be planting.

"Statement: Time to get to work!" The droid said with what could almost be considered and excited tone as it grabbed a shovel and rake from the side of the sled and started to dig a ring of holes around the target. To an organic it would be painstaking work, exerting muscles under the hot sun. To the droid it was just another job and it didn't show any signs of tiring, taking no breaks as it dug, planted, and raked clean each hole until the dirt appeared even and uniform.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Zhaan Duran]

The droid going through with the emoji change got a hearty chuckle out of Duran. "That's the one," he confirmed, briefly removing his cigar to puff a smoke ring that floated off behind the sled. "Could be the uh..." He sorta gestured over his own face. "Otherwise blank expression. Faces get the point across." Which given their line of work was a certain sort of point more often than not, but y'know.

Duran hopped off the sled and looked around. These places were always crazy isolated, what with their vast fields of stuff growin' all 'round. He took a deep, nature-y breath, and took out a tool that quickly popped the front door open. While D3 was sowing seeds, Zhaan was fixin' up the house. In this case that meant planting sensors and the like in wall panels, vents, and door controls.

What were seeds without, uh... Water? No, that analogy didn't work. He shrugged to himself and walked back out when that step was done, noting down the specifics for the client, and then helped the droid haul crates and dig and the like. It was hot, hard labor for him and his organic self, but he wasn't exactly averse to tough living.

@Arcangel

 

[D3-EZ]

It took hours, but D3-EZ and Zhaan Duran finally finished the hard labor of surrounding the house with their crop. There were several crates of the stuff left over when it was all said and done, which meant they still had more work to do. Taking one crate down into the basement of the dwelling, D3-EZ found a step stool in the corner that allowed him to reach high up into the rafters of the underground room. There he planted more of the seeds, so they could yield their explosive growth up into the house whenever the time came.

The barn was next. D3-EZ's timekeeper indicated that the pair would be working into the night, but all was well. After all, D3-EZ did not need to sleep or eat, and the droid still had several days of charge left in it's batteries. The bar was the last place of storage for the remaining 'seeds', planted all around it, inside it, and up along the support beams and rafters. All perfectly calculated for overlapping fields of explosive growth. The moon was high in the sky and the stars shimmered up above as D3-EZ returned to the hover sled, it's expression changing as it looked at it.



"Statement: It appears there is one box left." The droid said as it re ran calculations through it's head, running over it's precise map of every location they had planted the 'seeds', calculating yield and growth. Everything seemed to be within specifications for the job.



"Speculation: Perhaps this extra box is intended as a bonus." The droid said as it cocked its head at Zhaan. The droid knew that probably wasn't true, that it was perhaps just a logistical error. But it also knew that it could fulfill several functions with a box of baradium 'seeds'. Even half the box would be quite useful to the droid.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Zhaan Duran]

There were two things a life of growing up a pirate, then a merc-slash-bounty hunter taught him. One: Terms and contracts clear and upfront. Two: Logistics. So the first thing Zhaan did was check the specifics, real professional-like, on a datapad.

"Must be," he agreed with a shrug, bending back slightly to stretch his back. Right there as a standard clause; excess material beyond job specifications transfers ownership from client to service provider(s) unless otherwise specified. It wasn't specified, so... If they hadn't missed anything, it was a bonus.

The joys of being an independent contractor. "Let's do another walk-around to make sure all's at its best, first, shall we?" To that end Duran started on the inside spaces to check for total seed coverage. Check twice, worry none, his old quartermaster used to say. Worked pretty well until his death, at least.

@Arcangel

 

[D3-EZ]

"Statement: This unit will do another walk-around." The droid said as it pulled up the job specific's, cross referencing them to the planting location map it had in it's database. Just to be sure it did a complete walk-around as well.

After several minutes of walking around, it came to a conclusion.

"Statement: There are unfilled seed locations around the barn." With everything going on, they had missed setting up a ring around the barn that would overlap with the ring around the house.

"Statement: I appears as if there is more work to do." And with that D3-EZ set to work. No tiring. No rest. Just more of the same. Dig, plant, cover, rake. It only took another two or three hours but by the time they were done there were still a handful more seeds leftover in the crate.

"Statement: These are extra." There was no way it's calculations could be off now, but it would let the organic make an attempt to sort it out anyways.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Zhaan Duran]

Zhaan helped fill in the missing bits, mostly in the form of linking seeds to sensors and remote this time. It went a little faster that way since the droid could dig what looked like forever. Once they were finished and the rest were declared as actually extra, the Chiss mercenary went over the total yield coverage of the seeds. After a few seconds he whistled in appreciation.

This kind of setup could solve any problem in its significant radius, with multiple overlapping points and everything, several redundancies. It was kind of beautiful. "Yeap, these are extras," he finally agreed, marking checkboxes on his datapad. Duran leaned over to examine the handful of leftover seeds and separated the uneven number in a larger and smaller half, offering the larger over to the droid.

They did do more physical labor after all. "Y'find that a satisfactory end to the contract?"

@Arcangel