[Novgorod] I Saw What You Did There

[Sam Porter]

A raised eyebrow and an amused 'hmph' were the only things sent his way, and returning to the scattered disaster of her workbench, Sam set about thoroughly ignoring MARCUS. Normally when she ignored things they went away, though in her short amount of time spent on the Novgorod Sam Porter was quickly learning that that particular coping tactic didn't work quite so well.

As was quite evident by the fact that MARCUS was still standing in the same spot, unmoving and certainly not showing himself out the door.

She made a face that he couldn't see.

"If you're going to come in, then come in. If you're going to leave, then leave. At the very least stop standing in the doorway; you're letting all the cold air in."

She thought for a moment, then went on.

"And if you don't mind," she blindly gestured behind herself, "... get me my servodriver."

[MARCUS]

MARCUS stepped through the threshold, allowing the door to close behind him. Of course, her comment caused him to ponder.

"Sam Porter, the temperature within your quarters and in the corridor beyond are both exactly twenty two degrees Celsius. Your perception of temperature discrepancies is flawed."

Nevertheless, he did hand her the servodriver.

"Is your perception of a temperature variation genuine, or rather a pretext to discourage my presence in your domicile?"

[Sam Porter]

She snatched the tool from him, giving a parting glare as she did so.

"I see that they haven't programmed you to take out the stick in your ass, yet," was her only grumbled response.

[MARCUS]

Again, metaphors. MARCUS whirred along as he attempted to parse them.

"I have no analogous excretion port to compare to your organic components, therefore I would have no obstruction within which would require extraction.

Your unfamiliarity to the design of my chassis does not inspire confidence in your mechanical prowess. I am inclined to assist you."

[Sam Porter]

"Oh by all means enlighten me, Amazing Mechanical Wonder of the Gods."

The servodriver was absently tossed to the worktable's surface as she faced him fully, leaning back as her elbows rested on the edge of the bench.

If ever anyone was able to see sarcasm, they would be able to see it dripping from each word she spoke.

"I am already enraptured by the thought of your wisdom being bestowed upon me."

[MARCUS]

His visual receptor focused on Sam, zooming out and then back in.

"Given the inefficiencies of vocal communication and organic information retention, I suggest the assistance of a data storage device for the purpose of taking notes.

What is the nature of your initial query? Chemistry and molecular reaction, Physics and force dynamics, or a more specialized search?"

MARCUS either didn't get the joke at all, or was perfectly at ease in steamrolling through it.

[Sam Porter]

Giving him a strange look, Sam let out a puff of air through her nostrils.

"Forget it," she grumped, turning back around to survey the scattered remains of other cannibalized explosives that lay jumbled along the top of her workbench.

"Don't you have some other poor sod to pester? Or am I today's lucky winner."

[MARCUS]

Approximating body language he'd determined to be most capable of eliciting calm dialogue, the droid replied.

"My tasks, processes, and subroutines are distributed as shared workload among three modules. Undivided attention is not required. Only this particular terminal facilitates direct interface.

You have rebuffed my attempt at cooperation despite obvious net benefit to efficiency. Why?"