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Part 8 of the Robot Princess web novel, stay tuned for the next parts which will be posted in the next few days
Read the previous part here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/45385105/
Read the next part here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/45563757/
Story is mine, written by
NuclearWendigo
The light on Franz’s desk turned off, signaling a broken-down light bulb. Franz was so preoccupied with his work he continued staring at the code on his laptop without blinking without mentally acknowleding what happened.
Eventually he grumbled to himself and threw his headphones on the table, turned the lamp off and got up to turn the other light on, the one on the ceiling. He could’ve used the light source that came with his home but he preferred the lamp when working. This way only his work station would be illuminated whilst the rest of his room would be blanketed with shadows, cementing his attention on his projects while adding a sense of intimacy.
Once he put his slippers on he ran down the stairs and went straight to the storage room where they kept all the cleaning supplies and hardware. He scavenged a box containing the type of lightbulb he needed and only after getting a can of energy drink from the fridge did he go back to his lair. His phone read 0:23 A.M but Franz did not care about the time. The excitement was screwing with his mind and he couldn’t wait. He downed the drink and changed the bulb and now it was back to business with a world compromised only of his work station. Surrounded by darkness save for a sliver of light. He forced his body to work the same way he forced his machines, though artificial energy and deadlines.
The base was already constructed. Taking his job very seriously, he ordered the best material he could currently afford with the money he earned from his actual employment. Titanium alloy, the same kind used for prosthetic limbs, light and durable. Plastic prosthetics are the most affordable, and the most short term, he wasn’t going to bother with that stuff. This material was light, very durable. Costing a pretty penny.
Franz’s mother condemned him from doing the construction indoors, so he man made a compromise. The garage was his manufacturing plant. He hauled the car out and packed up anything that didn’t have practical value to him, selling the bulk of it at the flea market. The rest was dumped. With the money he installed foam pads on the walls, ceiling and inside door. He stuck electrical tape on the garage door windows and glued dense leather fabric around the door’s edges. The sound that emerged was minimal, sparing his mother from the shame of enduring the neighbors’ wrath.
He lost weight this month and not because he pursued a healthier lifestyle. He spent his free time designing the base of the body, a titanium alloy skeleton, expensive servo motors with analog feedback, and all sorts of PCBs wired up to bring everything to life. Once he sketched his idea he bought the resources and began working on it, trial and error and trial and error over and over and over again. Sweating in the garage as he heated, bent, and twisted the metal. The music he enjoyed, a thing that almost universally calmed him down even in the tensest moments, was struggling to keep his frustration in check. But he endured and put the finishing touches on the part of the project that he isolated and pushed to completion. Just an arm. Not much, but it was something.
“Franz.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
His laptop was sitting on the chair next to him, screen off. He pressed the light screen button and there was a new light source in the room. His phone would notify him whenever she posted a message with an audio callout and ring.
Mia’s window was open. The font and UI icons automatically adapted to the background, in this case, the background was the moon atop the ocean, silver reflection in the dark-blue ink water. The rays were like swirling strips of molten silver. The font and UI were elegant and white. Voice to text for Franz.
“Sure.”
…
“Are you almost done?”
…
“Almost. I need to connect all the wiring to your joints and install the port. It’s going to be weird for you, I think.”
…
“Sometimes weird is good, right?”
…
“Yes Mia. Sometimes weird is good. You know, with a port installed in you, it means I can monitor your performance on my computer. Pressure, power levels. Makes optimization a helluva lot easier.”
…
“Manual?”
…
“All manual. A century ago quality control was done by trial and error and looking out for any visual or auditory faults. Nowadays we have computers for pretty much everything, humans are becoming more dependent on tech and its only a matter of time until we become obsolete. Heh. Imagine us centuries into the future, our bodies become so weak our legs can no longer support our weight, so we build mechanical cradles to move ourselves from point A to point B. Our eyesight is gone so we need cornea implants. We can’t breathe our air so we have purifiers installed in our lungs.”
…
“That’s a very grim vision of the future, Franz. It might be a utopia, like Star Trek.”
…
“You don’t know that. Neither do I, but I like to imagine the worst. You can’t be shocked that way.”
…
“…It’s doesn’t hurt to be positive.”
After a few more adjustments, he believed the arm to be ready. He rested it upright on the table and put the laptop on his lap. The tiredness, the energy drink in his system, the excitement and wishing all the hard work pay out was a lot for the man.
“Mia.”
…
“Yes Franz?”
…
“I got a surprise for you.”
One of Franz’s friends worked at Arduino. Through a mixture of bribing, lying, grandstanding and appeal to authority, Franz managed to get his hands on a beta version of the latest Arduino Droid Kit, next year’s release. This version of the Droid Kit, version 6, had superior analytics software and smoother wireless capability, though the ease of use and effectiveness would always be determined by the complexity of the creation. An unreleased superior version of an already established software running a simple mechanical arm? A first-year student could do it. Not much of an achievement at the moment, but for Franz, the notion of creating your own droid was just…a dream.
He linked Mia’s AI to the arm and typed out some lines of code to see if the arm functioned. Fingers moved in a totally unrealistic fashion, say, like scared fish in a bowl, but after applying some limits, the movements were more natural.
“This is a lot harder than I thought.” he thought to himself.
He didn’t have the resources to make it like the big corporations. He had to do it the old-fashioned way. She had posted several messages.
…
“Franz this feels weird!”
“Did you give me an arm already?”
“What are these new systems? You linked me to the arm, right? Am I moving my fingers correctly? And my palm and shoulder?”
…
“Yes Mia, I linked you to the arm, but you haven’t mastered proper motor function. It’s going to take you some time.”
…
“Okay! I wish I could see it. I bet it would look so cool!”
…
“You can. Gimme a sec.”
…
He had gutted Mia’s code and could give her access to any aspect of the laptop. He placed the laptop on the desk and turned on the built-in camera.
…
“You should take better care of yourself. I think a stylish beard would look good on you.”
…
“Noted.”
He dragged the arm in front of the screen and reset the movement conditions.
…
“That’s my arm?”
…
“The one and only. Try to move your fingers. Then let me explain. Okay? Go.”
…
Her fingers flailed like worms. Twisting back and forth.
…
“Now, I’m using the Arduino Droid Kit, Mia. It’s the kit most folks nowadays use for their robotics. It’s very versatile.”
…
“There’s no text about liability or any terms of use. Did you pirate it?”
…
“Perhaps. There’s no corruption and it is the best choice for robotics. That’s all you need to know girl. Gimme a second.”
…
“But piracy is bad.”
…
“Remember what I told you about Werner Herzog? How he stole the camera he used for his first few films? People would call this theft. But Herzog believed it was his creative right to own that camera, that if you deprive him of it, he couldn’t realize himself. If you’re isolated in a room you’re not going to wait until your air runs out. You’re going to try to break down the walls and breathe.”
…
“Interesting perspective. Hmm…”
…
“Okay Mia, I added some more limits. Try to move your fingers now.”
…
Mia complied and moved her fingers by clenching and unclenching her fist, the wires transferring the signals like the nerves of a real flesh and bone limb. The parameters he set prevented the fingers from moving beyond a certain point, similarly to the limitations brought about by organic anatomical structures. This was the “indie” way of programming motor function, big corporations these days use motion capture to allow programs to understand how they should move, mimicking the movements until they have a good feel for the bodies they’d inhabit. This was done under the pretense that the AI was competent and capable of adaptive learning. Mia would have to learn the old-fashioned way. By watching and trying it out herself. A very “raw” experience.
Mia was playing around with her limb and Franz noticed the time. Almost 3 A.M now.
“Goddammit.”
Mia played around with the arm, spamming the chat with messages. She was like a child with a new toy. Seeing her happy brought comfort to the man.
…
“Hey Mia.”
…
“Yes Franz? Are you going to change parameters? I want to do more with this hand!”
…
“No sweetie, not for now. I need to go to work early in the morning. In like, 3 hours.”
…
“Oh…it’s because of the new order, right?”
…
“Yeah. Gotta do it. Need the job, need the cash. Tell you what, we’ll do more stuff after I’m done with work and I get some rest. We can do some tests, some exercises. Sound good?”
…
“Yes!”
…
“Good. Right. Gonna turn you off now. Anything you want to share before I call it day?”
…
“Thank you, Franz. Thank you for everything.”
Read the next part here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/45563757/
Read the previous part here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/45385105/
Read the next part here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/45563757/
Story is mine, written by
NuclearWendigoThe light on Franz’s desk turned off, signaling a broken-down light bulb. Franz was so preoccupied with his work he continued staring at the code on his laptop without blinking without mentally acknowleding what happened.
Eventually he grumbled to himself and threw his headphones on the table, turned the lamp off and got up to turn the other light on, the one on the ceiling. He could’ve used the light source that came with his home but he preferred the lamp when working. This way only his work station would be illuminated whilst the rest of his room would be blanketed with shadows, cementing his attention on his projects while adding a sense of intimacy.
Once he put his slippers on he ran down the stairs and went straight to the storage room where they kept all the cleaning supplies and hardware. He scavenged a box containing the type of lightbulb he needed and only after getting a can of energy drink from the fridge did he go back to his lair. His phone read 0:23 A.M but Franz did not care about the time. The excitement was screwing with his mind and he couldn’t wait. He downed the drink and changed the bulb and now it was back to business with a world compromised only of his work station. Surrounded by darkness save for a sliver of light. He forced his body to work the same way he forced his machines, though artificial energy and deadlines.
The base was already constructed. Taking his job very seriously, he ordered the best material he could currently afford with the money he earned from his actual employment. Titanium alloy, the same kind used for prosthetic limbs, light and durable. Plastic prosthetics are the most affordable, and the most short term, he wasn’t going to bother with that stuff. This material was light, very durable. Costing a pretty penny.
Franz’s mother condemned him from doing the construction indoors, so he man made a compromise. The garage was his manufacturing plant. He hauled the car out and packed up anything that didn’t have practical value to him, selling the bulk of it at the flea market. The rest was dumped. With the money he installed foam pads on the walls, ceiling and inside door. He stuck electrical tape on the garage door windows and glued dense leather fabric around the door’s edges. The sound that emerged was minimal, sparing his mother from the shame of enduring the neighbors’ wrath.
He lost weight this month and not because he pursued a healthier lifestyle. He spent his free time designing the base of the body, a titanium alloy skeleton, expensive servo motors with analog feedback, and all sorts of PCBs wired up to bring everything to life. Once he sketched his idea he bought the resources and began working on it, trial and error and trial and error over and over and over again. Sweating in the garage as he heated, bent, and twisted the metal. The music he enjoyed, a thing that almost universally calmed him down even in the tensest moments, was struggling to keep his frustration in check. But he endured and put the finishing touches on the part of the project that he isolated and pushed to completion. Just an arm. Not much, but it was something.
“Franz.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
His laptop was sitting on the chair next to him, screen off. He pressed the light screen button and there was a new light source in the room. His phone would notify him whenever she posted a message with an audio callout and ring.
Mia’s window was open. The font and UI icons automatically adapted to the background, in this case, the background was the moon atop the ocean, silver reflection in the dark-blue ink water. The rays were like swirling strips of molten silver. The font and UI were elegant and white. Voice to text for Franz.
“Sure.”
…
“Are you almost done?”
…
“Almost. I need to connect all the wiring to your joints and install the port. It’s going to be weird for you, I think.”
…
“Sometimes weird is good, right?”
…
“Yes Mia. Sometimes weird is good. You know, with a port installed in you, it means I can monitor your performance on my computer. Pressure, power levels. Makes optimization a helluva lot easier.”
…
“Manual?”
…
“All manual. A century ago quality control was done by trial and error and looking out for any visual or auditory faults. Nowadays we have computers for pretty much everything, humans are becoming more dependent on tech and its only a matter of time until we become obsolete. Heh. Imagine us centuries into the future, our bodies become so weak our legs can no longer support our weight, so we build mechanical cradles to move ourselves from point A to point B. Our eyesight is gone so we need cornea implants. We can’t breathe our air so we have purifiers installed in our lungs.”
…
“That’s a very grim vision of the future, Franz. It might be a utopia, like Star Trek.”
…
“You don’t know that. Neither do I, but I like to imagine the worst. You can’t be shocked that way.”
…
“…It’s doesn’t hurt to be positive.”
After a few more adjustments, he believed the arm to be ready. He rested it upright on the table and put the laptop on his lap. The tiredness, the energy drink in his system, the excitement and wishing all the hard work pay out was a lot for the man.
“Mia.”
…
“Yes Franz?”
…
“I got a surprise for you.”
One of Franz’s friends worked at Arduino. Through a mixture of bribing, lying, grandstanding and appeal to authority, Franz managed to get his hands on a beta version of the latest Arduino Droid Kit, next year’s release. This version of the Droid Kit, version 6, had superior analytics software and smoother wireless capability, though the ease of use and effectiveness would always be determined by the complexity of the creation. An unreleased superior version of an already established software running a simple mechanical arm? A first-year student could do it. Not much of an achievement at the moment, but for Franz, the notion of creating your own droid was just…a dream.
He linked Mia’s AI to the arm and typed out some lines of code to see if the arm functioned. Fingers moved in a totally unrealistic fashion, say, like scared fish in a bowl, but after applying some limits, the movements were more natural.
“This is a lot harder than I thought.” he thought to himself.
He didn’t have the resources to make it like the big corporations. He had to do it the old-fashioned way. She had posted several messages.
…
“Franz this feels weird!”
“Did you give me an arm already?”
“What are these new systems? You linked me to the arm, right? Am I moving my fingers correctly? And my palm and shoulder?”
…
“Yes Mia, I linked you to the arm, but you haven’t mastered proper motor function. It’s going to take you some time.”
…
“Okay! I wish I could see it. I bet it would look so cool!”
…
“You can. Gimme a sec.”
…
He had gutted Mia’s code and could give her access to any aspect of the laptop. He placed the laptop on the desk and turned on the built-in camera.
…
“You should take better care of yourself. I think a stylish beard would look good on you.”
…
“Noted.”
He dragged the arm in front of the screen and reset the movement conditions.
…
“That’s my arm?”
…
“The one and only. Try to move your fingers. Then let me explain. Okay? Go.”
…
Her fingers flailed like worms. Twisting back and forth.
…
“Now, I’m using the Arduino Droid Kit, Mia. It’s the kit most folks nowadays use for their robotics. It’s very versatile.”
…
“There’s no text about liability or any terms of use. Did you pirate it?”
…
“Perhaps. There’s no corruption and it is the best choice for robotics. That’s all you need to know girl. Gimme a second.”
…
“But piracy is bad.”
…
“Remember what I told you about Werner Herzog? How he stole the camera he used for his first few films? People would call this theft. But Herzog believed it was his creative right to own that camera, that if you deprive him of it, he couldn’t realize himself. If you’re isolated in a room you’re not going to wait until your air runs out. You’re going to try to break down the walls and breathe.”
…
“Interesting perspective. Hmm…”
…
“Okay Mia, I added some more limits. Try to move your fingers now.”
…
Mia complied and moved her fingers by clenching and unclenching her fist, the wires transferring the signals like the nerves of a real flesh and bone limb. The parameters he set prevented the fingers from moving beyond a certain point, similarly to the limitations brought about by organic anatomical structures. This was the “indie” way of programming motor function, big corporations these days use motion capture to allow programs to understand how they should move, mimicking the movements until they have a good feel for the bodies they’d inhabit. This was done under the pretense that the AI was competent and capable of adaptive learning. Mia would have to learn the old-fashioned way. By watching and trying it out herself. A very “raw” experience.
Mia was playing around with her limb and Franz noticed the time. Almost 3 A.M now.
“Goddammit.”
Mia played around with the arm, spamming the chat with messages. She was like a child with a new toy. Seeing her happy brought comfort to the man.
…
“Hey Mia.”
…
“Yes Franz? Are you going to change parameters? I want to do more with this hand!”
…
“No sweetie, not for now. I need to go to work early in the morning. In like, 3 hours.”
…
“Oh…it’s because of the new order, right?”
…
“Yeah. Gotta do it. Need the job, need the cash. Tell you what, we’ll do more stuff after I’m done with work and I get some rest. We can do some tests, some exercises. Sound good?”
…
“Yes!”
…
“Good. Right. Gonna turn you off now. Anything you want to share before I call it day?”
…
“Thank you, Franz. Thank you for everything.”
Read the next part here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/45563757/
Category Artwork (Digital) / All
Species Raccoon
Size 1280 x 985px
File Size 250.3 kB
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