Right. Humans were dead when they lost their heads. Automations didn't have this restriction, just switching over to non-verbal communication instead. Cassandra felt like she really should have remembered this fact before she took a step back in shock over what she thought was the new Frankenstein. Her old tutors would have been ashamed at her lacking composure.

“I thought it would be shut down while you operated on it,” Cassandra said, getting close to the partly dissected construct. The woman had mostly spent her time looking through the parts that had been taken out of the thing, never really bothering to see the current insides of the skull.

She almost wished she hadn't, her immediate reaction to the sight being to feel the contents of her stomach bubbling up. It was not pretty, some parts of the inner nose barely hanging on as it was. The woman guessed that Jules had been in the process of cutting that part out before she had invaded the construct's private space.

Below the half-removed inner nose was the mouth cavity. She couldn't actually see the inside of the mouth, seeing as it apparently functioned as its own thing, a small wall stopped anybody from going through the head and into it. A normal human would have had tubes that connected to it, but there was barely anything fitting those requirements. Though… the woman was decently sure she could see some kind of tube under the mouth, going down into the throat. Food had to go somewhere, she supposed, even if Cassandra wondered just where it went after that point. She put it up on a list of questions she already had when the chance came around for it.

“It was supposed to be shut down at some level, yet my inactivity seems to have spurred an emergency restart,” Jules said. The construct put its finger on the other automations neck, eyes moving rapidly at the same time. Cassandra guessed that some kind of interfacing was being done, even if she couldn't really know what it was about exactly. She just left the automation to its own devices, not wanting to bother with any questions that could possibly interfere with Jules’ work.

She had to wonder why the construct that was being operated on used a global messaging instead of directing it at the other automation specifically. There was no way that it had guessed she would be in the room, eliminating the sole reason for even having the general chat. Perhaps the function for ranged directional messaging was damaged in some way? Or it might just have been one of the organs that Jules had taken out. No real way to know without stopping the automation from working.

‘Protocol for shutting off has failed repeatedly. An error in this function has been detected. Source not located. Assistance is requested,’ the automation on the table decided to send out. Jules removed its fingers from the other’s neck, looking displeased with itself. Bad day, perhaps? Or maybe the problems were just a bit more complex than expected.

“The core body has somehow been damaged without having any obvious wounds on the surface,” Jules commented with a sigh, the construct sitting back in its chair. It looked overworked, sleep-deprived, and so many other things all at once. Cassandra nearly felt the need to ask if she needed to get some coffee. “My day suddenly got that much longer. I am not sure if I would be able to finish this myself within the time frame that I have to work with.”

It couldn't do the work needed with the resources it had to pull from. The woman could relate to that, having had similar problems when understaffed while having the exact same problems as before. In such a time, there really only was one way to handle it.

“Do you need me to help?” Cassandra inquired, putting her sleeves up a bit. “While I have not undergone training in this field, I do believe I could-”

“Nah, don't worry about it,” Jules cut in, stopping her from doing her customary sales pitch. A shame, since the woman had spent so much time practising. She definitely showed her displeasure at not being allowed to finish. “No need to permanently ruin those hands of yours. And some of this stuff might even put you in the medical anyway, so there’s no chance that I could in good conscience allow you to even touch the innards. Instead, I have just the thing that might help.”

Wiping off the small stains on the fingers, Jules went over to the row of automations that stood by. Or, more specifically, the construct went over to the only one of them that had different clothes on. Instead of a simple white fabric meant to hide the body, this one had something resembling the inner layer of a police uniform. Cassandra wondered why that was, until the construct was activated, the thing opening its eyes the same second that Jules put its hands on the neck of the automation.

“Automation number five, six, two, nine-” the construct began, but Jules hurriedly stopped it before the thing could get too deep into it.

“No need to say all that stuff, man,” Jules stated, doing a small wave of its hands. That made the construct stop, eyeing the other one in front of it. “Please do an inner diagnostics about your personality matrix and give a brief summary.”

There was a second of waiting, where the construct simply looked at Jules without movement before it suddenly began talking again.

“No errors detected. Personality matrix fully operational,” the construct stated. “I am to report to Officer Grunwald to work as his personal assistant. Please give me directions to Officer Grunwald.”

Oh, Cassandra was actually wondering about that. Throughout the last couple of days, she and Jared had been accompanied by an automation near-constantly. Yet, there had never been a single time where Grunwald had been seen near an automation at all. The officer had previously mentioned that they would be all getting personalised automations sent to them, eyt the superior officer had clearly never felt the need to grow accustomed to the one issued to him. Cassandra wasn't that sure what she really thought about that face. Was it bad or was it good? She guessed the man might just have not yet needed automation by his side. Really, the only real task that had involved being out of the station had been without a construct, though that had been more due to Jared’s involvement than anything. Cassandra wondered if that man would try the same trick during their next major excursion.

“There isn't any need for that. You can trust me on that,” Jules said, giving a clap on the other construct’s shoulder and lightly pushing it towards Cassandra and the table she stood by. “As of yet, there hasn't been the slightest call for aid, giving you all the free time that you will ever need.”

“... I do not comprehend. My task is to assist Officer Grunwald with his missions and help fulfil the objectives set out by him. If there hasn't yet been a request for me to be activated, why have I have been put online?” the construct asked, clearly not able to understand what was going on. Cassandra could understand that. She couldn't really understand it that well either.

“You got activated by me, your senior due to time spent online and general experiences. Due to this totally official ranking, I am able to give you orders that would help me assist my own tasks in record time,” Jules answered. The two constructs got over to the table, having moved through the rubble on the floor carefully. “Now! Just to be sure. You do have the pre-installed skill-set surrounding how to repair fellow automations, right? Because if you don't, then we’re gonna have to make a call so you can get it.”

“I have been installed with the standard skill-set, which does include how to repair an automation, yes,” the construct answered with a nod, before seemingly shifting its tone over to something more serious. This was surprising since the pile of new scrap clearly had no tone other than seriousness. “However, your attempts to pull rank are not official and are therefore in breach of code. I must inform you that there will be a report about this behaviour, and that-”

“It was a joke! A fun twist of sarcasm between friends. A jab between brothers in arms. You understood that, of course. Even if you don't show that much personality, you should still be able to detect sarcasm, right?”

The newly activated automation was silent for a few seconds, the internal processor apparently having a field day trying to understand just what was happening around it. Cassandra thought about helping by saying something, but… she felt it would be better if she just let it be. Jules was clearly not screwing anything up.

“Your earlier words about ranking were meant to be humorous in nature and not meant as a serious statement?” the construct finally asked.

“Of course!” Jules replied, clearly desperate to not get reported from something as simple as that.

“Then there is no need to report this behaviour,” the construct answered, which caused something of a relieved sigh to come out of the other automation in the room. “However, I believe you are asking for my assistance in doing your task. Is this request done out of laziness, desperation, or a mix of both?”

“... I suppose it’s desperation at this point. My arms are unable to move at the necessary speed while upholding the required precision, leading to the fact that I need another automation to do some of the work. With your unneeded presence around Officer Grunwald, the personality matrix in me found it possible to use the unused resources that are commonly known as you. Was that a good enough reason?”

“It upholds the protocols set up for improvised assistance and is therefore satisfactory,” the automation answered. “According to the records, your current task is to examine the damaged construct in front of us, evaluate the chances of repair, and, if the second objective turns out positive, repair all parts until deemed to be in mint condition. Is this correct?”

“It is indeed, my good friend,” Jules said, looking quite happy with itself. “The evaluation is complete and I have deemed it possible to repair. The damage is mainly in the cranium and will require minor replacements due to this. However, there is also an error in the shut-down protocol in the core of the body. The reasoning for this is unknown and will likely require an extensive search to find. I am putting you on that task. Is that understood?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s start up, shall we?”

And so, the two automations began working in tandem, showcasing an efficiency that Cassandra rarely saw in her human compatriots. The newly introduced automation went over to the heap of items on the floor, taking out one within an instant, and began to use it around the abdominal area of the partly cut-up construct. Cassandra had never actually seen the tool before and was therefore quite curious about its functions.

So… she did what she had done before, and moved closer to the operation, going within the two-meter radius around the table. That was apparently one of the most grievous offences that she could have ever performed.

“Please vacate the immediate area. Your presence may cause an unwanted continuation of the body and be the reason for…” the newly activated construct began, but stopped itself not long after. That caused Jules to again look up from its work, stopping the cutting only a minute or two after starting up again. It looked mildly annoyed from that. “You are not supposed to be down here. As this floor is mainly used for the purpose of automations’ operations, I please ask that you leave this-”

“Don't mind her now. She’s allowed to be here, just as much as we are. Not like the two of us will ever actually use all the space here,” Jules cut in, stopping the confrontation before it began.

“That is understandable. However, the chances of contamination are still-”

“This procedure will not do anything intrusive enough where we have to worry about contamination, therefore making those protocols void. Back to work now. Just let her look as much as she wants,” Jules said with finality to its voice. “I am honestly surprised that you have a personality matrix installed when you talk like that.”

The newly made construct looked over at Jules for a second before going back to work. That action told Cassandra all she needed to know, meanwhile confirming that the construct did indeed know something about personalities.