After Lucas gives Willy a few comforting pats, he holds his arms outstretched before him.“Here, buddy, lemme pick ya up. It’s gonna be tight in here, don’t want no one steppin’ on ya.” Once Lucas makes this offer, Willy barks agreeably and climbs up Lucas’s chest, resting his front paws over Lucas’s shoulder, with his snoot between them, holding the chew toys dangling over Lucas’s back.After Lucas takes a moment to melt a little, he makes sure his left forearm is securely under Willy’s rump. He slowly stands back up again, ensuring the awkward long boi is staying comfortably in place, which he is.As the rest of the group files into the elevat

Lucas is still staring past Miss Calculated’s shoulder, transfixed by the recently revealed wreckage of racks, robots, ruined remnants of remodelings, promotional materials, and more. As the elevator doors finish sliding all the way open, he clears his throat before speaking up.“Hey, uh, Marsha? Are ya gonna be busy the next few days?” Lucas asks in a deadpan voice as he slowly blinks.“...I guess I am gonna be, now. Seems I’m havin’ a protein shake for dinner tonight. Eheh…” Miss Masher matches Lucas’s tone at first while staring past Miss Calculated’s other shoulder, but she gains a simultaneously delighted and dangerous smile when she starts chuckling. Although, the smile is hidden from sight, courtesy of her

Mark snorts and sharply turns away, marching to the elevator. He has to circle around Miss Masher to get there, and she pivots in place to keep her eye on him while he does so.As she is tracking Mark’s path; when her gaze passes Lucas he covertly points at her and gives a thumbs up, then gently pats his chest in solidarity. Even though he can’t see her smile directly, her eyes visibly crinkle a bit from it, and she gives a small nod in acknowledgment and appreciation.Mark hits the elevator’s downward call button before turning back to look at Miss Calculated once more.“Even if you’re right, that was unacceptable. I expect an apology once you’ve calmed yourself

23 has all four of its hands grouped up in front of it and is looking down at them. After letting Miss Calculated delight in her crazed laughter for a few moments longer, it finally speaks up.“To accommodate storage for retractable components, I suppose I would require new, thicker arms. The power lead currently running through them may still suffice, but perhaps a new one that has the new tools directly hardwired into it would be better. Ah, the power draw of the power tools would be notably higher than what it takes to operate my current hands, so I really would be better off with a new cable, too. Adjusting to the upgraded appendages’ usage shouldn’t be an issue for me... But, If you were intending on implementing any of your newly developed, limited availability, technologies, improved durability may be necessary..? Also, I

While Willy is walking over to join Jonathan and Miss Chievous in the elevator, he stops and turns around when he hears another service bot approaching the carefully curated component compilation he left behind. Before it upends its box into the gap between the two piles, he barks twice.23 immediately issues a warning beep at the service bot, and it stops in place, holding its box slightly tipped but not dumping anything quite yet. 23 looks at Willy briefly, then over at the two piles of service bot equipment. After a slight delay, it issues a series of high-pitched beeps and clicks. The service bot moves over to the side a bit and then begins a new, third, pile and walks away. Before that bot has even gone very far, another bot has come over, adding to the new pile.Read more