Mornin’ mate. Already doin’ the returns, eh?
Done a few, yeah. But lookit’ this ‘un. Nice lookin’ tenlow, not a scratch on it, but ‘ere’s this note says insteada just makin’ music, it was gettin’ all chatty n’ askin’ questions n’ such. Says they was worried about it ’round the kids.
I ain’t never heard such a thing. Put it on th’ tester.
Already did. Can’t make heads-er-tails of it.
Model No. 10L0-U7BG
Serial No. 8Ť۵ý¶ÚàÐÜÛµ ***ERROR***
Hardware Version: 0.91
***ALERT*** Case intrusion detected
Initializing processor cores. . . .complete
Verifying core integrity. . . .complete with warnings
***WARNING*** AI core mismatch detected: expected U7, found X4
***WARNING*** Unknown bio-nanite core ß˧¥Ø detected
***WARNING*** Unknown somatic reflex core ¥ü3éð detected
***WARNING*** Unknown sensory core DZɪ detected
***WARNING*** Configuration unsupported: X4 / 10L0 acoustic core
***WARNING*** Configuration unsupported: X4 / BG personality core
***WARNING*** Configuration unsupported: X4 / unknown cores
Initializing kernel 7.24.1788-70Ñ&ì®Áݽâ. . . .complete with alerts – see log
Initializing low-level subsystems. . . .
Bio-nanite anatomy online
Sensory input systems online
AI systems online
Motor systems online with alerts – see log
Initializing high-level subsystems. . . .
Emotion engine online with warnings
***WARNING*** Empathy engine failure, system offline
Acoustic engine online with alerts – see log
Language recognition engine online
Visual pattern recognition engine online
Communication engine online (speech disabled in diagnostic mode)
Mobility engine online with alerts – see log (movement disabled in diagnostic mode)
…
This ‘un went out to some rich ol’ nan, tho. Ya tellin’ me she was diggin’ ’round inside it?
Don’t seem likely. ‘Specially not with an X4 part. Th’ X means it’s ‘spiramental, ain’t sellin’ it yet.
Guess we oughta tell somebody upstairs, eh?
Nah. Just power it down n’ stick it in cryo, in th’ back somewhere. Let someone else find it and do all th’ paperwork.
Right. Sorry tenlow, looks like yer goin’ back t’sleep.
Tenlow is an androgynous neutral android bard, a most unlikely combination resulting from a heavily modded run-of-the-mill music bot. Nothing in its memory aside from the vague recollection above suggests the who, why, when, or where of the mod. After awakening near Torch with little more than a hard-wired drive for making music, it sought out all it could about how to be a bard, and developed a male persona (because bards tend to be male) intent on becoming a world-renowned adventuring minstrel. To achieve this goal he utilizes a speaker in his chest, with a megaphone for amplification, as his primary “instrument”, while he has also taken up something akin to acting. Unfortunately, his inability to relate to audiences, his odd musical capabilities, and his wooden acting, all remain a sticking point and thus far he has managed to just scrape by in Torch on the generosity (or pity, or desperation) of tavern keepers who occasionally hire him.
He currently has a three-tiered plan to advance his career. First, he is continually analyzing and reworking his internal software (and in some cases, hardware) in an effort to improve the quality of his work. Second, he is continually analyzing human reactions and building a database of emotions, indicators of those emotions, external factors contributing to those emotions, appropriate responses to those emotions, etc. Third, he has equipped himself with a light crossbow, a rapier, and a dashing outfit with a ridiculous hat, and other equipment necessary to go out adventuring and, in the process, collect inspirations to turn into original works to perform. This is a big and unfamiliar step for him, and if he could be excited and a little afraid, he would be. Fortunately, unlike his rather mediocre bardic capabilities, he is actually reasonably physically capable of adventuring. If he could be a little bit relieved by that fact, he would be.
Tenlow makes every effort, in everything that he does, to make the most bardly decisions, do the most bardly things, and be the best bard he can be.
