Chapter Six – Salutations!
Soundtrack: Heathaze by Genesis
29th of April, 1891.
Time seemed to slow at the stroke of two on that fateful Wednesday afternoon as General Ironwood, Magnus Rose, Dr. Polendina and Johannes Schnee walked into the laboratory, where Oscar and Ilia waited within.
The sight that greeted them was uncanny. A mane of horse hair, dyed ginger and parted down the robot's left side in waves, framed a cherubic face with a closed pair of jade eyes and a calm smile. This sat atop a fair-skinned body that was bare, save for a white hospital gown that barely reached the robot's knees. Were it not for the half a dozen wires sticking out of the robot's wrists that serve to prime the batteries of the Analytical Engines, no one would have been able to tell that this wasn't a human woman of twenty.
The reactions of the men who hadn't seen the project take shape were, understandably, shocked.
"Good heavens," Johannes breathed. "Should this work, no-one outside the six of us would ever know about this being's true nature."
"Indeed," Magnus Rose admitted, stroking his blonde goatee. "How long will this robot exist for, General?"
"As I understand," Ironwood replied, "the being is designed to have a life-span typical of a human's adult life, meaning that it would be at least fifty years or so before the main machinery began to slow down. I'm sure that Dr. Polendina would be willing to explain a bit more."
"Indeed," the American continued. "It should be said, however, that we've designed the being to be upgradable and repairable as time wears on. While it will age normally as humans do as a result of the bio-technology we employed, it could theoretically last even longer than half a century if it continues to be upgraded and maintained correctly – but I wouldn't bet on it exceeding seventy years any time soon."
"Fair enough," Magnus acceeded. Suddenly, Oscar had a brainwave.
"Incidentally, in case anyone outside this room asks about this robot's identity, I have a name we could potentially give it."
As one, the four investors and inventors turned to face their intern.
"General Ironwood described her as a 'prescient and evolving being' to me when I was first attached to the project, and we only achieved success with the use of nickel-neodymium magnets within the superstructure. Given the robot's feminine appearance and voice, we could call it the Prescient Evolving Nickel-Neodymium Youth … or for short, Penny."
A decided silence followed, then Ironwood spoke after exchanging glances with his cohorts.
"Well," he started cautiously, "it would help it – her, I mean – integrate with our world more effectively."
"Not to mention that humanity won't feel too alienated by her if she had a name of her own," Pietro seconded.
"I will say that 'Penny' has a pleasant ring to it," Magnus admitted glibly.
Johannes, though still wearing his automaton expression, nodded in acquiescence. "Very well. Penny it is."
Oscar looked relieved. "My thanks, sirs. Though there is one other thing … should we give her a surname as well?"
The decision on this idea was much swifter.
"It would only be fitting," Johannes declared, "that the surname of Polendina be given to her. After all, she wouldn't have existed if it weren't for Pietro here. Perhaps she could be referred to as his niece outside of this office."
"That's reasonable," Ironwood concurred.
"My thanks, President Schnee," Pietro intoned calmly.
Suddenly, the cables detached themselves from the being's wrists, having completed their task. All six of the room's occupants drew back slightly, waiting for the culmination of years of research and development to arrive. They didn't have to wait long, barely a single minute, before the being's mouth opened at last.
"Salutations!"
And then, like an unfolding piece of origami, Penny Polendina awakened. Her eyes opened and swivelled around, taking in her surroundings. Her legs and arms moved experimentally, allowing all to see that her joints were able to take the pressure exerted on them. Her blades retracted into position on her back, a green glow signifying that they were fully charged. A curious expression appeared on her face, surprising even Johannes with how realistic her emotions looked.
"I seem to be missing a designation," the robot announced suddenly, showing how detailed her mouth looked to an even more surprised group of investors. "Can you please assign one for my personal use?"
Oscar deftly handled her complaint. "Your full designation is Penny Polendina, with Penny as your given name and Polendina as your surname."
Penny nodded, her internal server box storing that information after updating the rest of her AEs. "Understood. May I please request some clothing?"
Oscar blanched, realising too late that he'd forgotten to hide the fact he'd made her apperance especially realistic. Thankfully, a reprieve quickly came in the form of Pietro Polendina.
"They're in the weapons locker, Oscar."
"A-ah, right," Oscar nervously responded, carefully avoiding the gaze of his employers while he fetched the clothes he'd specifically designed the previous day with Ilia's input. He and Penny carefully put on her undergarments first, then a black pair of tights and court shoes followed next. A pine-green skirt, white shirtwaist and mint-green suit jacket replaced the hospital gown in quick succession, making the combat-ready robot resemble a young secretary.
"Obviously, these aren't her combat clothes," Oscar reassured the others as Ilia helped Penny straighten out her jacket, "just her civilian outfit to help her blend in. We've got her combat clothes coming in later this week."
Johannes nodded. "Indeed; our militarised security division have their tailors working on those as we speak. Shall we show the weapons capabilities she possesses?"
"We shall," Ironwood agreed. "Let us head to my division's main training room."
The training room in question was one of the few sections of the Schnee Tower that straddled multiple floors, being a massive gymnasium that linked floors fourteen and fifteen together. There weren't any of the guards inside the room at present, all of them being on duty at this time of day, but the training room was General Ironwood's favourite part of the building he worked in.
Leading Penny downstairs to the centre of the room, Ironwood took off her coat and taught Penny how to withdraw her weapons without tearing her shirt. Reaching beneath her untucked shirt, Penny produced the pair of blades and unfurled them to their full length.
Ironwood, meanwhile, approached an Analytical Engine mounted on the wall. Quickly ordering a number of combat automata to enter the room, the military man quickly ascended the stairs to the viewing room where the rest of the assembly were standing. Approaching a microphone, Ironwood then waited as Ilia and Oscar patched it into the gymnasium's PA system.
"Penny, commence training sequence Alpha on those drones."
Penny saluted her benefactors. "Yes sir. I'm combat ready!"
The next fifteen minutes showed Magnus and Johannes that the creation of Penny was worth investing every single pound they could get their hands on. Ironwood damn near emptied the training room of its normal combat droids while Penny swirled with the fluidity of a ballerina and stabbed with the ferocity of a berserker. She even got to shoot her weapon's lasers a few times, vapourising a pair of droids already in need of replacement.
"That'll be enough, Penny," Ironwood announced. "Sheathe your weapons and come upstairs."
Penny did just that without problems, but then tripped over and fell through the wooden stairs as she tried to ascend the unfamiliar terrain. Hurtling down half a floor, the robot righted herself with her pre-loaded combat training and landed on her feet unscathed, cracking the concrete floor beneath her as Oscar and Ilia gasped in shock and bolted towards the hole.
"That hurt," she muttered glibly, and the younger employees sagged in relief upon sighting no damage to the robot's body. Johannes, observing the spectacle, had one thing to say as he smiled.
"The penny's finally dropped."
It took all of Ironwood's willpower to lead the older men into his office silently, promptly bursting out laughing as soon as the heavy doors were closed behind the four men. Johannes and Magnus promptly decided to celebrate the success by uncorking some champagne, while Pietro put the Song of Olypmia from Offenbach's Contes d'Hoffmann on the gramophone, reserving the disc for this very occasion. Oscar and Ilia, meanwhile, decided to lead Penny to the elevators rather than risk more property damage.
A/N: And thus awakens our favourite robot girl. Next chapter's ETA is unknown, not least because of a new job I'm set to start within the next fortnight.