Is This What Phones Do Nowadays?

Damien, for one, wasn't too happy.

For one thing, his phone - the primitive, metal rectangles they actually used back in this time - was slowly running out of battery: only 9%, and Damien had only taken it off the charger cord that morning! How could such a stupid rectangle even lose that much battery in such a small amount of time? For another, he'd been working all night last night on his machine, in the hopes of getting it to charge even a bit faster. For his efforts, he had a grand total of 0 successes and had wound up looking halfway like an Infected - or, he guessed, "a zombie".

At least there was technology here, though - the last time he'd jumped through time, he'd wound up in a position where they didn't even have transistors or engines yet. Or bulbs. Or coffee machines.

Oh well - he'd made do anyway. At the very least, the person at the cafe he was currently dreading entering would be so kind as to not question it and hand him his daily usual - a scalding hot black coffee and a cream-cheese bagel with lox.

"Thanks," he muttered at the barista, shoving a ten at her across the counter. Normally, the barista would have questioned this behavior, but for this customer it was normal. Instead, she said nothing as she slid his coffee back across the counter.

At least the coffee in this time was better. Not so eco-friendly like home's coffee had been, but with an almost not-dirtlike taste.

He took out his phone - dumb thing was already at 8% - and scrolled through his schematics one more time, grumbling at the crowds of people going in for the daily grind.

Damien wasn't much for talking - not in public anyway - but he did occasionally mutter stuff like "light-fusion core... thermodynamics... power gauge... leakage in fuel... so then why would it be -"

He was about to finish the thought when a tiny... girl? banged on his screen with such force he almost thought it would break the screen. But the thing came from inside the screen...? This damned primitive phone. Must have been some smart upstart hacker thinking she'd scare Damien Invasio. Pff. There was no scaring Damien. If this were the 3000's, she'd be as commonplace as a tablet was now. Quietly, he clicked off of the schematics and sighed, tapping the phone with his other arm.

"If you're looking for a grandpa, I ain't it," he remarked in a casual tone, doing a once-over of the new thing in his phone. Now that he was looking a bit closer, he could see that she looked kind of like an ancient pop star, though he couldn't remember his history lessons enough to remember their name. There was something interesting about her, though - where her avatar's digital legs should have been, there were instead two... pixely stumps.

Ugh - this time had such stupid rules on avatar fashion. Though, he should have been able to see her legs, and her pigtails (quite fitting for a kid) seemed to float up, ike they didn't give two shits about gravity.

Damien almost wanted to peer closer, but by the time he leaned in to get a closer look, she was thrusting the thumbnails of the schematic files at him. Instead of humor her and look concerned, he humored her by looking annoyed.

"Stop moving. You're wasting my battery and I'm trying to get a good look at you."

Huh. Pixely design, banging on the inside of even this primitive thing? Sarcasm, too much so for the robots of this time?

"Happen to know where a charger is?"

"I'm not used to this primitive tech" he explained, peering at the posed girl. She had a lot of guts, didn't she. Damien was no pervert - she'd showed up and asserted herself, and now Damien was only making scientific observations. But, he guessed, an immature kid would see it the wrong way.

Nonetheless, while her demeanor was annoying, he got a feeling that he'd been wrong the first time. Way too human for a robot, much too active for an avatar, smoother than any framerate he'd seen of characters in this time. Yes - now he was certain. This was no human being. Could she be purely technological? Damien's eyes gained a glint that told the girl he'd figured something out. She was even slowing down the framerate on his device... huh.

He had to agree with her on the Orion NPCs - they were beautifully crafted for the era they were in, adequately integrated, but humans had a bit more... reliability? No fancy schmancy powers.

"Got a name?"

\Hhhhh. Years of being in the first half of the 2000s, and this was the first advancement of tech that was at least 2080s level? Damien sighed in annoyance and ran a hand through his hair. This was going to be, hands down, the most annoyance he'd ever felt towards an electronic existence. Though, he had to admit, this particular AI was aptly named.

She struck another pose.

He rolled his eyes. "Are you gonna do that every time you say somethin', kid?" Because it was starting to grate on his nerves, almost more than her overall demeanor.

Still, there was something to be gained here - namely, an AI perspective on how to fix his damned machine. He'd been throwing everything he had at it for months, years, decades, hoping something would stick and recharge it, fix it, renew it faster. After all, to exhaust all but one option would be kind of pointless. And, judging by the way the girl was quite literally in his phone, it could have been true that she could enter machines. Perhaps there was a snowflake's chance in hell that he could fix it faster with her help.

Even if she annoyed him to the point of death.

"Home, then," he grumbled, tapping the power button so the screen went dark, then shoving the rectangle into his pocket and making a beeline for the doors of the cafe, which was already filling up with people.

- - -

It wasn't that the walk to the apartment was too far - it was also that the cold built up against his jacket, and the dread of having the AI (who already annoyed him enough, mind you) being in his actual house. Which he still regretted bringng home. I mean, he could have just... not picked the virus up in the beginning (he could have sworn he'd gotten an anitvirus app lately.... piece of shit 2000 technology) but then again - this could be his only shot at repairing his machine. And, if not, he could always just take her back to wherever she originated and work in peace.

He dismissed the thought, shoving his hand in his pocket and yanking his keys out. The jingling sound they made hurt his ears, but he twisted them into the lock and pushed the door open anyway. Tossing his keys on the coffee table, he stopped to regain a little bt of his strength, then plopped himself on the couch and plugged the phone into a charger neaby, one of maybe ten in the apartment. Say what you would about Damien, but he knew how to keep well-stocked with electrical equipment. At least, at home - he would have to see about getting a portable charger that wasn't complete garbage.

Finally, he savored the one moment of quiet.... and then the phone turned on.

"My apartment," he said aloud. "Make yourself at home or something. Just wanna ask a couple of questions."

@Demonicmuffin