"Very smart girl, isn't she?"
Fantastical designs surrounded the two men. Each one showing a certain degree of intricateness, starting off a few blue dyed paper with white crayon scribbled over it, to expensive professional blueprints with thin white lines and carefully drawn sketches. The boxes and containers around them were not also filled with these blueprints, but also scraps of all kinds, spare parts for robots and vehicles, simple workshop tools, and to intricate construction tools.
"Well, yes. Ever since she saw a loader bot lift a one ton shipping container and a car digitize before her, my little girl has been chasing after her dreams of engineering."
All of this intricate blueprints, woeful amounts of parts and scraps, and the mighty tools were all of the belongings of an absolutely smart person. All of it, in a small shed that was hastily and carefully erected. Said shed was situated in a backyard of a relatively normal house, and a relatively normal neighbor, on a relatively corrupted planet. Indeed, it is a very odd circumstance that the smartest person on Eden-5, is living in a relatively normal life.
"Robotics engineering is what she does, right?"
There was also the thick, gray, metal frame that held onto a much more thinner, black, metal frame, with wiring, electrons, and other parts stuck on it. Tools lay around it, ranging from a hammer to a industrial plasma blowtorch. Nuts, bolts, and metal rods were placed aside to avoid accidents for the two men. It was clear to them that it was close to being finished.
"Highly proficient at it. She had scored very high on multiple subjects, with the exception of a few, and had built a small robot to help with her chores."
"Had?"
"Er… well, it fell apart of a gallon of water was accidentally spilled on it. Actually, really, it sort of quickly rusted and blew up."
The first man, a tall and lean one, had a certain air of swagger around him, especially with the suit he was wearing and a rather familiar H logo on the said suit. The first man, a visitor, was inspecting one of the latest blueprints, a humanoid robot designed to be the ultimate bodyguard for the poor kids who get picked on by school bullies. It was an ambitious design, with numerous intricate electronics and mechanical parts being cited on the blueprint, and was surely out of the kid's league.
The second man, slightly shorter than the first and slightly more buff than the first, was a definitely approachable man, with a sort of homely feel to him, especially with the clean set of khakis and the green polo he wore. He stood in line with the visitor, arms crossed. He was the father of the girl who owned this shed, and a very proud father indeed.
"Anyways, this is one of Gaige's latest concepts. She calls it the "Anti-Bully Bot", mind you. This thing was really not made to be a fighter." The father explained, looking over to the his very special visitor. A few seconds passed before the guest spoke up.
"Frankly, this is a helluva bot your girl is making. Extensive IFF electronics, a complicated power source, and… what is this?" The man in the suit asked, pointing to the metal rods hastily drawn on the blueprints. The father of the girl who designed the bot looked over and hummed.
"Oh, that? Gaige tells me those are supposed to be the storage rods for the bot. So you won't have a large and bulky robot following you around." The father answered, casting a glance at the said rods. The metals rods were laid on the floor, near a box of bladed tools. Another blow torch and a buzzsaw sat near it, ready to be used for whatever purpose it may be.
"Mhm, clearly very ambitious. Buuuut, if she can pull this off-"
"Which I'm very sure she can."
"-then I'm considering to have my company sponsor her, and all of her educational expenses paid for." The suited man finished, setting the blueprints onto the work table the smart girl, Gaige, used to draw up her blueprints. The father of said girl nodded, and opened the door for the suited man to leave.
The lights were flicked off, and the shed's interior was covered in a blanket of darkness. The door creaked as the father shut it tightly and locked it, and turned to face his visitor. The nights on Eden-5 were pretty much above average, but it still held on some form of exceptional beauty. The view of the other plants, the witnessing of a massive meteor shower, and so much more.
Instead, the father looked to see two tall frames covering the night sky, a single, blue, glowing optic staring at him. Their metal bodies were t-shaped, and their arms were armed with the best SMGs the Hyperion Corporation could provide for their robotic military forces. They easily towered over him, and they featured black paint with a single red stripe going down the right side of their body.
"I suppose you'll be visiting again this afternoon, mister-"
"Handsome Jack, John. And yes, I'll be making a visit this afternoon, if my meetings don't take so long because some idiot started to sidetrack it."
"Alright then, Jack. Have a goodnight."
"Thank you, John, for showing me this. When your girls wakes up, tell her I said hi."
With that, the president of the Hyperion Corporation and the hero (or villain, depending on who you ask) of borderworld known as Pandora, signaled his two elite Loader bodyguards to follow him. Under the discreet cover of darkness, they left the backyard unnoticed. That left the proud father of Gaige with a business card with Hyperion's logo and their ECHOnet number printed on it. He sighed and shuffled his way back to his home, where his wife waited patiently inside with his late night dinner.
Afterall, not every night do you have the Handsome Jack come and visit you covertly at midnight.
John Walter, husband of Emily Walter, and father of Gaige Walter, rubbed his eyes as he descended the stairway of the Walters' house. It was purely constructed out of actual wood, straight from the Core World New Canaan, rather than the synthetic copies of oak and birch. In fact, most of the house was constructed out of non-synthetic materials, making the house, or really, the neighborhood, a very expensive place to live in.
The smell of breakfast broke John's musings and he quickened his pace to get to the table. He could smell the bacon and the wonderful poached eggs, and the sizzling of something special. John grinned as he entered the dinner table room, only for it to falter at the sight of a equally grinning Gaige. In fact, she was creepily looking at him with her grin, a finished bowl of cereal in front of the little robotics engineer.
"Gaige. Would you stop with that gr-"
"Isittrue?"
"... what?"
Gaige laughed a bit and coughed, her creepy trademark grin still plastered on her face.
"Sorry, dad. I was asking if the Handsome Jack actually came to our house this midnight."
John furrowed his eyes. He was sure the windows on Gaige's room was closed shut and the curtains covering every inch of it, and that there was no lights on in her room. Of course, his daughter is a very crafty one and possibly made somesort of drone or device capable of seeing through stuff.
"First off, how do you know that Jack visited our home?"
Gaige's eyes widened in disbelief and surprise, and stood up instantly. So, she didn't see Jack last night and she definitely didn't jury rigged a RC toy to act as a drone for her. Must've been Emily, then. Said woman was still cooking in the house's kitchen, but when he glanced at her from the table, Emily gave him a wink.
"HE REALLY DID!? OH MY GAWD!"
"Sweetie, volume."
"Sorry."
Gaige sat down, slightly less energetic than before. She had sent her bowl onto the floor and spilled the remaining contents, along with the utensils in it. Ultimately, Emily came in, arpon on and carrying a mop, bucket, broom, and pan all at the same time. John gave her a nod of appreciation.
"Why was he here? What did he say? Why didn't you tell me? Oh, oh, did you show him my stuff in the shed?" Gaige fired all of her questions like a Jakobs shotgun, overwhelming her father with multiple questions. After a few pausing seconds, shook his head and leaned on the table.
"He was here last night to talk about you and your particular talents and skill in engineering. Said that if you manage to win your science fair with your "ambitious death robot", his words not mine, he would have Hyperion and himself personally sponsor you and pay the expenses for college." Gaige's father answered the best he could, taking out the business card Jack had gave him and tossed it over to Gaige. The teenager quickly grabbed it mid-air and began to inspect, only to stop when she realize it was a thin sheet of paper with fancy printing on it.
"Wait, Jack and Hyperion would personally sponsor me? That's sooooooo cool!" Gaige bubbled with excitement at the prospect of Jack watching her ace a contest in the far future, with her totally awesome robot. Still need to name the thing, Gaige noted idly to herself.
"If, if, you win the science fair. Which I'm sure, sweetheart, you can, and will win it." John sent an encouraging smile to her direction. Gaige responded with her own cute smile, shaking with absolute excitement.
"And also to answer the rest, the reason why I didn't wake you up is… well. Your prone to being too bubbly, overall. Don't want to irritate Handsome Jack, afterall. Also, yes, I did show him your shed and your prototype robot."
Gaige squealed hard. Like, really hard. To the point that her voice starting to quickly crack and she coughed violently. John came over to her, and placed several good pats on the his daughter's back.
"Like I said before, just relax and calm down." John tiredly repeated to Gaige. Emily, already finished with the mess, gave the two a reassuring smile and went back to the kitchen quickly, less if the sizzling meal burn on the pan.
"Sorry, dad. Ack, freaking crankshaft."
"That's what happens when you're getting too excited, dear. Now, isn't it time to head to school?"
Gaige raised an eyebrow and checked the time on her ECHO device. Her eyes went wide, again, with disbelief and surprise and quickly grabbed a piece of toast conveniently placed on a plate that conveniently placed near her. John took her school bag up as Gaige ran to the backyard and into her shed. He could hear the clanging of metal, some few curses that were uttered too loudly, and the occasional object thrown out of the shed's doorway.
"Toss me my bag!" Gaige shouted as she exited the shed, running quickly towards her father. Gaige's father, with one hand, tossed the backpack at his daughter and watch it get caught clumsily by his daughter.
"Luv' ya, dad and mum!" Gaige mumbled through her mouth as she stuffed the toast into it. She rushed to the door and quickly opened it, and quickly slamming it shut. The air shook slightly and then settled down. The sizzling stopped, and Gaige's mother walked into the dinner table room, another set of bacon on hand. John smiled and watched as the pile of bacon and eggs were placed upon his plate.
Another morning for the Walter household, he mused.
"So, sir. You want to reschedule the twelve o'clock meeting to tomorrow, cancel the three o'clock meeting with the Eden-5 Planetary Police Chief, and cancel the six o'clock weekly Hyperion employee pep rally?"
Silence met one of Handsome Jack's many human assistants. The petite girl raised an eyebrow at the odd silence from her rather scary and not-so-handsome boss. She looked up from the computer she was assigned to and noticed that Handsome Jack was looking at his ECHO, sifting through various documents and pictures. Being a curious, but cautious being, the assistant cleared her throat. Jack didn't take notice of the confused lady.
"Sir?" The assistant asked, standing up and tapping her boss' shoulder. While such action was not recommended by the veteran assistants, she was not aware of such thing. The girl was a very recent (first day at the job, really) replacement for a currently deceased assistant.
"Hm?" Jack glanced at the confused desk jockey, who crossed her arms after Jack finally noticed her. His face of not of anger or annoyance, which surprised the other assistants surrounding the two. They breathed a sigh of relief and went back to their jobs, piles of paperwork to sign and edit and thousands of client to answer to.
"Did you hear me, sir?" The petite assistant held up a paper copy of Handsome Jack's schedule of meetings. The twelve o'clock meeting was circled with red pen, while the three o'clock and six o'clock meetings were crossed out in thick blue pen. Jack took a moment to look at his assistant and the paper she was holding up.
"Uh… sorry. Run that by me, again?"
The assistant sighed and sat back down in her cubicle chair. Her office was cluttered with coffee mugs, instant coffee packets, paperwork, and a few broken coffee machines.
"I was asking if you are sure if you wanted these meetings and the weekly pep rally out of today's schedule."
Jack absentmindedly gave the assistant a nod and a hum and went back to his ECHO device, sifting through various documents and pictures, again. The assistant wasn't sure what the documents or the pictures were suppose to be, but she decided not to press on the matter, less she summon the irritation of Handsome Jack. She watched her boss walk away from her office, leaving her fully with her work.
Handsome Jack was a very busy man.
He had meetings to attend to constantly, and often, he would cancel the least important ones and rearrange a few in his schedule. Today was a very special day because, today he would be off to meet the supposedly smartest robotics engineer on Eden-5.
Jack had his doubts, but considering he saw the prototype last night, he was sure the girl would impress him, one way or another. After all, he needed to increase PR outside of Pandora and the borderworlds. So, why not personally endorse a cute and aspiring robotics engineer in her endeavors?
Hell, maybe if she makes this stint, she could be designing loaders and other robotics for Hyperion, Jack thought, closing a window of Gaige's birth certificate, the gal is pretty talented, and I like very talented people who are willing to help Hyperion.
He reached his personal office, or really, one of his many personal offices. Most core worlds with a Hyperion office building usually has a empty office room to be personalized by Jack himself. Two Hyperion Commandos guarded the door, weapons at the ready and turrets primed to deploy. They were veterans and personally picked by Jack, though he was sure they would not last any longer. Most veteran employees would quickly resign quit their jobs, after they just became a veteran of Hyperion's employment. For the perfectly sane employees who aren't worshipping the ground Jack walks on, which were a rarity among Hyperion's human workforce.
Jack was saluted by the commandos and he gave them a cold shoulder to them as he passed by them. Jack never cared for the ones below him, and only for himself and his trusted few. Wilhelm was an example, the former Vault Hunter stuck with him from the beginning of his career to today. He owed Wilhelm one for helping him rise through Hyperion's ranks, and so did a few others.
The doors slid behind Handsome Jack, and he found himself alone in his comfy office. It was laced with carpets made of the finest Bullymong fur, the paint and dye was utmost quality, and the furniture was more fit to be in a mansion rather than a work office. He cleaned his shoes on the customary greeting mat and crossed his office. He sat down on his desk chair, resting comfortably before calling for someone.
"Angel?"
For the outside observer, it would be very odd, since there was no one but Jack in the room. He had no paging machine on the desk either, but to Jack, he knew the person answer right away, no matter what.
"Yes, Jack?"
His desk opened up with a screen projector, and it shot up a screen of a beautiful woman. She had unwavering blue eyes and her wonderful black hair were tossed up in the wind. Her face smiled like a little girl at a beauty pageant. A few frames of the feed popped up to her right eye, but it didn't bother Jack or the woman in the screen that much.
Her name was the Guardian Angel, the one and only personal Artificial Intelligence for Jack. The one true assistant for Handsome Jack.
"Any update on our little girl of interest?" Jack leaned back on his chair, stretching his muscles and cracking a few joints. Angel, undeterred by the lax behavior of her boss, answered with a video feed of a classroom. It was a large classroom, filled with the usual furnishing for a high school. The teacher was showcasing a documentary on the technology behind digitech. Engineering class, the obvious favorite subject of Gaige.
It was a live feed of it, too.
So far, Gaige has constantly answered questions on digitech and asked questions about digitech. The teacher looked exasperated but glad at the girl, and did the best he could. A quarter of the class, however, looked very uninterested in the lesson. Must be the rich brats, then. Jack could tell because of their accessories and the fact they had other students writing notes for them.
One of them, a girl beside Gaige was barely doing anything. She just merely inspected her painted nails and quietly rolled her eyes at Gaige's hyperactiveness. Jack had learned of this girl when he was looking at the list of people associated with Gaige. She was sixteen as well, and a daughter of "a man richer than God himself." The brat's name was Marcy, and she obviously never heard of Hyperion or Handsome Jack, because really, her family and herself was like another rich, snobby, bratty family that were incredibly ignorant.
It made Jack sighed very loudly.
"So far, in this year, her grades have been very consistent in the A-B range. Gym, particularly, not one of her strong suites. It is also noted of her lack of attention in some subjects, barring engineering, math, and science. She has also gotten in several conflicts with school staff and students." Angel reported in her usual tone of boredom. Jack nodded at the information and leaned forward onto the desk. In the live feed, Gaige was silently fuming as she worked, sending glares at Marcy, who was lazily filing her nails.
"Hm. A rebellious and outspoken teen who has a snobby rival? Sounds perfect for me, Angel. I think I'm not going to regret this choice."Jack watched as the video was closed down and replaced with a holographic screen of Angel.
"Of course, sir. I've looked deeper in her history of engineering and so far, it's pretty impressive. Do you want a list?"
"Oh, I'm good, Angel. Have it printed tomorrow and make sure pictures are included. I love pictures. That's all, Angel."
"Yes, Jack."
With that, the screen with Angel's face disappeared and the projector lowered back into the desk. The wooden top slid back together and closed up. The office was filled with only the ticking of a old analog clock, an antique Jack received, as a gift from the Jakobs company. He sat there for a few unmoving minutes, and before looking at the analog clock.
"Probably should've started to prep for the visit." Jack groaned, standing up from his comfy chair.
He hated playing dress up.
Gaige hurriedly climbed over the fence that blocked her from accessing to the backyard of her home. She tossed her bag to her shed and quickly unlocked the shed's door. Lights went on, dust started to fly, and the clatter of metal emitted from the backyard. It drew attention from the main house, and Gaige's father entered the backyard. It was already evening, and school had ended.
He watched tools and materials fly out of shed, throwing up grass and dirt as they landed. The man took a sip from his steaming cup of coffee and approached the shed. He heard frantic muttering and sounds of a pencil scribbling very quickly. He peeked into the shed, to only see Gaige halfway through her workplace with a roll of blueprints under one arm and a toolbox under the other.
"Gah, holy fuckin' motor oil!" Gaige cursed in surprise, stumbling in her step and dropping the stuff under arms. One of the blueprints unrolled and revealed a reworked design of the robot project Gaige was working. There was several differences on the design, noticeably the lack of storage rods and that the robot was drawn out in a more intimidating way. Bulkier, bit more heavier, and even claws were add on the design's hands.
"Gaige-" John looked up to see blood. Fresh blood covered his daughter, and her work table and the floor beneath it. His heart froze for a second before he realized that Gaige's left arm was replaced with a mechanical one. He stuttered and stumbled with his words before Gaige spoke up.
"Oh, uh… I can explain?"
John nodded, placing his coffee cup down on a untouched shelf. Honestly, he wasn't sure if an accident happened or something else. He was ready to grab her and take her to the nearest hospital. He may be a very chill father, but sometimes, some things just go too far.
"Okay, uh… for starters, I did this on purpose. Y'know the thing with digi-storage rods? They were waaaaay too long and bulky to be carried normally. So, while I brainstormed for a solution and replacement for the rods, I accidently cut my left shoulder. Then, I got a really good answer to my problem. So, I severed my arm, which is a lot more harder and painful than you think. Blood was gushing n' stuff, and I quickly got to work with one hand. And then a few more things happened, and poof! I got this totally badass and strong-as-fuck cybernetic arm"
Gaige's father stood there, completely silent at the explaination. Gaige wasn't sure if her dad had reached his limit at being chill or something, but it wasn't good. She bit her lip nervously, and hoped he wouldn't call for the ambulance and get their next-door mechanic to torch her cyborg arm off. Thankfully, he picked up his cup of coffee and coughed.
"Well then, thank you, sweetie. For being honest." John exited the shed, closing the door behind him. The girl was completely silent for a moment and waited for the sound of the slide door closing. After that, she breathed out a relieved sigh and looked back. The frame that held her precious school project was empty. It didn't bother her none the slightest, nor was she alarmed.
A deep buzzing sound came from one of the overburdened shelves in the shed. A long and bulky arm shot out behind the shelf, which was followed by a glowing blue optic. Gaige smiled and beckoned the being to move out of its cover. The being compiled, and Gaige took a good look at her finished prototype.
It torso was shaped like a bodybuilder, and armor plating covered it, and a spine tail thing poked out of the bottom of the legless robot. Gaige had had used Mr. Torgue's body as a basis for her robot. She was thankful she wasn't one of those girls who get swooned easily by rippling biceps. Now, obviously the head was the one of the unique parts of the robot. It was the eye optic of a old CL4P-TR4P Steward robot, which somehow found its way into the shed's stockpile. It was only optic that could work with the robot's massive frame, along with the fact it was the only one that could work the the laser eye ability installed.
The robot's arms were long, armored, and definitely strong. Its sharp claws can cut through military-grade metals and it guaranteed a instant death for any poor fellow stupid enough to piss the not off. Gaige had more in plan, but for now, she would test it on the dummies she had carefully hidden in the backyard.
"C'mon, Deathtrap. Let's go test out your claws and lasers." There was also renaming, since Gaige was stuck in a circle of fuming vengeance on her Marcy. She swore she would get first place so she can tell Marcy to fuck off. Gaige could see it, especially with Deathtrap's redesign.
Hyperion would definitely sponsor her.
Deathtrap let out a deep, rapid series of beeps and followed his creator outside. He would have, actually, if he wasn't so… large. He looked at the small door uncertainly, and was hesitant of smashing through the door. Gaige groaned, forgetting that the shed's door was entirely too small for Deathtrap.
"At least I have this kickass arm." Gaige muttered, digi-storing her pet robot into the SDU rods that cut up and linked into her arm. She watched Deathtrap as a flurry of pixels began to cover him. It only took a few seconds for Deathtrap to be completely stored into her arm. Gaige flexed her cybernetic arm, watching the joints and hydraulics work perfectly and in tandem. Good, good, her arm is working.
Gaige rushed over to the nearest bush in the backyard and proceeded to pull out several humanoid cut outs made of plates of aluminum. It was lightweight and strong, perfect for being test dummies for Deathtrap's claws and laser eye. They were also painted crudely to resemble a certain snobby classmate in her high school.
"Alright, DT. This is a weapon testing thing, and these," Gaige pointed at the arranged set of targets. They were randomly scattered and distanced from Deathtrap, and one was behind the backyard's sole tree, "are your targets. Destroy all of them, and try to not go overkill. My parents would freak out."
Deathtrap stared at his creator for a moment before floating over to the first target. At first, he didn't do anything, merely studying the cutout and even poking it with his claws. Gaige furrowed her eyebrows and facepalmed, grumbling to herself. She massaged her temples and looked up to shout at Deathtrap.
"Jesus on a crankshaft, DT, wh-" Gaige was cut off as Deathtrap literally cut off the target with his claws. He proceeded to switched to the next target, powering up his laser modification. A quick second is all it took to slice through the target and another second passed as Deathtrap rammed the third one. The third target was sent flying over the fence, and into the neighbor's trash can. A cat yelped and Gaige saw it jump over the fence in surprise. The cat leapt down and started to wander the backyard, occasionally licking and matting its fur.
Until Deathtrap accidentally quartered the poor creature. Its blood, entrails, and its fur splattered against the grass and dirt. Gaige squeaked in horror as Deathtrap demolished the last cutout.
"Jeez… that was… uh…"
"Cool?"
Gaige flinched in surprise of the voice behind her. She let out a yelp of undecipherable words and failed her arms around like a bird.
"H-Ha… Handsome J-Jack!" Gaige sputtered out, her face red as the color of her hair. The man in question stood at the sliding door that led to the living room of the Walter household. He was relaxed in posture and casually leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. Gaige saw her parents in the living room, giving her a encouraging wave and smile.
"In the flesh, kiddo. Now, let's talk about your school project of yours."
AN: So, here's another attempt at writing after a long ass time of hiatus.
Yeah, I feel like shit now. Anyways, I'd taken the liberty to alter a few things, such as Gaige's personal timeline. In this fic, she's 16, and will turn 17 soon. Yes, Marcie will still explode like a explosive barrel from Torgue on slag crack. However, Jack will be there.
And you know what's he's gonna do, anyways.
~QUARTERMASTER TANEY-CHAN
EDIT: Buffed up the chapter to about 5K words. The addition was meant be to Chapter 2, but I felt that Chapter 1 fell short and really, I was in the mood for trying to extend my average word count.
Please, review to critize on my characterization, word building, and anything else related to creating a story.