But the Tower Had Fallen

[Kale]

That foul, prissy little wretch couldn't even die properly!

Kale hissed through her teeth as she braced her foot against a piece of the fallen wood and shoved it from her in anger. She had overseen most, if not all, of the clean up of the library after her room had fallen. The accounts she had gotten of it were not promising, as apparently the casket seemed to have decided to dump her room four floors on its own accord. If the castle were to blame, then so, directly, was Everly. Kale loathed that woman. How dare she?!

Leaning down, the harpy picked up a notebook that had been under the wood chunk. A lot of the mess had been picked up, and it was just some debris and the large pieces that were still in the process of being torn down and carted out. Such pieces like larger beams and the clock heart. Already she had retrieve at lot of what was hers, but things still remained. She flipped through the book. It wasn't one of her more important series of notes. Old work, mostly. She huffed and threw it into a trunk that held a growing pile of her belongings. It currently consisted of papers, mostly, and the odd article of clothing, a broken chain and some off utensils like scalpels. Her glassware, beakers, test tubes, flasks, all of it was gone, too delicate to have survived the downfall.

It was a process to reclaim what did survive, and the harpy would be at it for quite awhile, unwilling to leave anything questionable behind. Luckily, she had never been one for hoarding or keeping sentimental possessions. There were just three things that she wanted back in particular, and they had all happened to be together in one trunk that had yet to be found. She feared it was under the gears of the murdered heart.

[M.O.X.I]

As far as the robot was concerned, it was an ordinary day. As was the day before it, and the day before that, and so on. The collapse of the tower hadn't seemed to unsettle it any more than a ketchup stain on a white shirt might. In fact, it almost seemed to follow through its duties with a new sort of enthusiasm, if it could be even called that. Passer-bys were greeted with an energetic "GOOD DAY", and it hadn't seemed to cause any riot or fuss within the castle walls for a while. Just as Rendaz had requested, everything was normal - but better than normal.

As of now, it was making a beeline towards the library, and then towards what it had previously identified as a 'Pile of Unsorted Clutter'. In its slightly rattling grip, it held a fancy, ceramic teacup, patterned with pink flowers, balanced on a matching saucer. It was delicately small, and filled to the near-brim with fresh, steaming tea, some of which fogged the robot's vision. Tiny droplets sometimes scattered with every sudden movement.

As it approached the inconvenient mess, wheels bumping over some of the smaller bits of rubble, its camera looked down at the back of a small, winged figure. Subject identified: Dean Kale. It extended both saucer and cup forwards towards her.

"YOUR MORNING TEA, DEAN KALE."
It had not been requested to do so, nor had it ever done so before. It simply stood, staring expectantly and patiently at her.

[Kale]

She heard it coming, whatever it was. It was hard not to, what with something rattling and bumbling over the mess in the library. But, she was not in the mood, and pointedly ignored it. Hopefully, it would pass and leave her be to her work.

Of course, when do things here in this academy ever go right? She was leaning over to pick up a scarf of hers that was wrapped somehow around a gear from the clock when the odd voice sounded behind her. Letting the scarf stay a moment where it was, the harpy turned to address the person seeking her attention. Upon turning, hand automatically going to her hip with an unimpressed expression, Kale looked over the robotic...thing.

What was it supposed to be exactly? It didn't look like Valentin's work which meant...Rendaz or some student. Or it was a student. She didn't move to take the tea.

"Why? I didn't order any tea."

[M.O.X.I]

Even with Kale's questioning, it did not waver. The teacup and saucer remained outstretched, and was inched closer towards her. Its camera remained focused on the harpy's face, its LED flashing brightly.
The robot was not one to display emotion, at least, not on intention. Yet, the way its head was poised - slightly, raised, with a slight tilt to one angle - it appeared rather... smug.

"THIS TEA IS ASSIGNED TO DEAN KALE AND DEAN KALE ONLY."
Its fingers, which were looped delicately around the handle of the cup, started to instead tap impatiently on the side of the glass, in a rhythm known only as dull and repetitive. There was no doubt that this was the Dean Kale that it had been informed of, every feature matched: the huge wings, the scar, the eye... No error was calculated.

"IS THIS TEA UNFIT FOR CONSUMPTION, DEAN KALE? ANOTHER MAY BE PREPARED TO SUIT YOUR SATISFACTIONS."

[Kale]

Her eye narrowed on the robot, and each tap on the cup was one of her eardrums, annoying and headache-inducing.

"Stop tapping." Kale snapped at the thing quickly. Then, she sighed and raised a hand to rub at her forehead slightly, closing her eye in exasperation. Why her? Why today? The hand dropped and she looked around the room quickly before looking at the teacup, then to the robot's light, seeming to just be tired. She shifted her weight to one leg.

"On whose orders was this tea assigned to me particularly?" Tea might actually be a good idea, but depending on who sent it, could be a very bad idea.

[M.O.X.I]

Request received: Stop tapping. It ceased the action without question, before staring to her expectantly as if still awaiting to her her answer. It seemed wilfully ignorant to her slight stress, there were more important matters at hand... such as appointing hot beverages to the correct recipient.

However, as the question was received, it took a few quick moments to process it. "NO ORDERS HAVE BEEN RECIEVED. TEA WAS MADE BY MY OWN INITIATIVE ONLY, ON THE BEHALF OF PROFESSOR RENDAZ." Its internal fans whirred incessantly. "DATABASE FILES SUGGEST THAT I MUST INTEND FOR YOU TO 'ENJOY' IT."

It was persistent in its manner of pressing forth the cup and saucer. "ENJOY IT."

[Kale]

Her gaze flicked to the still mechanical finger-of-sorts. Hmm, so it obeyed. At least that was nice. And, if she understood correctly from that answer, the robot had decided to make her tea...and the robot was made by Rendaz. And...some programming was telling it to please her?

"Rendaz, hmm...?" But why? Ebony flickered between the tea and the robot's face. Or, face-like thing, where at least she assumed the face was. Kale crossed her arms.

"Access Database files: Dean Kale. Voice data stored." Her tone was passively commanding, firm. She wondered if this would even work... "And then, I will enjoy the tea."

[M.O.X.I]

"CORRECT, PROFESSOR RENDAZ," it noisily chipped in at the dean's pondering. Idly, a free mechanical arm retreated to the space below its ragged attire, before bringing out a small, thin thermometer. It dipped it into the beverage, stirring it slightly and allowing it to settle there. It was at the command that it halted completely.

Accessing Database files: Dean Kale. With instructions so rigid, it could do none other than to comply. Everything that it had ever known about the harpy suddenly flashed up in its mind, which amounted to little, given that it had not encountered her face to face. There were staff records to read off, as well as the information that it had been fed by Rendaz himself. Yet, there was also additional data that its systems refused to decipher, no matter how many times it repeated the process. Accessing Voice Data. It was Rendaz's information that eventually came to light.

There was a sharp crackle from the speakers within its head, before it settled into a continuous fuzz - the noise of recording equipment that was obviously of very low and tacky quality. Then the ruckarl's voice sounded - heavily distorted, but still recognisable.

"What am I missing...? Ah, yes, our precious Dean Kale. That wretch! Why does she even work here? What is there to possibly gain? I suppose that she thinks that she has won." There is a pause, and the noise of tapping against a table. "...Yes, I know what I want you to do. Amuse her. Play with her. Follow the rules of her little game, and make sure she enjoys every minute of it. Give her the satisfaction that everything is going her way. If it comes to the worst... I trust that you will know exactly what to do."

The clip ended with a similar crackle.

[Kale]

The affirmation by the robot was generally ignored by the harpy, but when the recording started, Kale couldn't help but grin. Oh, maybe her day was turning up after all. By the time the clip had ended, she was near to just laughing outright. Oh, Proffessor Redaz, dear Professor Rendaz. He wanted to play, hm? Thought he was up for the challenge?

Alright, she'd play with him if he were so insistent.

"Confirm, what are you supposed to do in worst case when dealing with Dean Kale?" It was the most important issue there, but she wasn't worried by this rickety metal heap.

Taking a few steps to the side, Kale leaned against a large, proped gear from the clock's heart, her smile still strong because this was perfect. No, she hadn't won yet, but she would. And this made it all the easier.

[M.O.X.I]

The robot didn't register Kale's amusement during the recording, it merely stared to her expectantly as it finished, as if awaiting another command.
And another was received.

What do in the worst case scenario with Dean Kale. It was simple enough to understand... except that Professor Rendaz had never told it, so there was no voice recording to back up on. Nor was there anything written. Or programmed. There only thing that merited an investigation was the Unfamiliar Compartment of its database.

Its inner mechanisms juddered as it tried to open it, but the same error kept popping up again and again.
FILE DOES NOT EXIST
FILE DOES NOT EXIST
FILE DOES NOT EXIST
There was nothing.

Its limbs twitched under a slight malfunction, and it struggled to regain control long enough to stare towards the harpy to answer the question.
"IN THE W-WORST CASE WITH DEAN KALE, I WILL S-SELF-TERMINATE AND DELETE ALL SAVED FILES IN MY DATABASE."

Its robot eye gleamed as brightly as ever.
The single sentence had taken a momentous amount of effort to even fabricate, but it had managed to do it. It didn't know how, or why, but only one thing mattered.
It had lied.

[Kale]

Kale watched the robot, curious and expecting. It had worked the first time...and she knew little about machines to wonder at its odd whirling noises and twitching.

When it finally gave her an answer, her first thought was that she hoped that it wasn't about to self-destruct currently because of her inquiries, as it seemed under strain. That would such an inconvenience upon the library, not to mention herself, and neither of those things needed another detriment to their day in her opinion.

"Okay..." The woman eyed it a bit warily. But why delete all the data? It was already telling her things she asked, had even played a recording. But-- The robot was weird, she decided, and she didn't like it. And yet, it was seeming to be cooperative... more than Rendaz ever was. And he had bothered to tell it to please her, even if for some underhanded, unknown reason. Perhaps one last question, for the time...then, might as well enjoy the service.

"Access data on Professor Rendaz and his plans. What is he doing?" It was just as much curiosity as it was a want to know for self-preservation reasons to stay ahead of him. Her wing flicked casually, straightening the alignment of its feathers idly.

[M.O.X.I]

This question was notably easier to answer than the previous, in that it didn't have to hunt through non existent info to find some deep, hidden answer. Nor did it have to lie.
"PROFESSOR RENDAZ HAS PLANNED TO LEAVE ME IN HIS POSITION TO MANAGE CLASSES AND RESPONSIBILITIES AS HE HAS DONE IN THE PAST. I WILL TAKE AUTHORITY AS A DEAN AND PROFESSOR OF MECHANICS UNTIL HIS RETURN."

The way it inclined its head seemed level, if not superior to Kale. According to its files, they were indeed equals, and the robot was prepared to act as such. Of course, it had been oven orders to tend to her demands... But there was nothing against it doing the same in return. It wasn't accustomed to... deviating from the rules, even if ever so slightly. But it saw the opportunity.
And it grasped it with all four claws.

"ACCESS DATA ON DEAN KALE. WHY SO MANY QUESTIONS?"
Its eye gave a bright gleam.

[Kale]

This answer made the harpy frown. Rendaz was gone off somewhere? Or was he still on the island? She gave the robot something of a disbelieving look. It was a machine. It was going to take over as Rendaz? Ha. No matter if it had gained the title through some roundabout means, Kale would not accept it as equal to power in her. She didn't even consider Rendaz himself that. No. She would simply humor them all. In fact...

Her smile was a little too pleasant, though her eye challenging. Finally, Kale stepped up to stand before the robot, looking it over a bit more thoroughly.

"A scientist must have a curious mind." Her tone was conversational, and the woman lifted a hand to place it on the robot's front lightly. It must be of some value to Rendaz...Surely such an intelligent robot was hard to make, and if it was just a simple day's work to him, well then she would indeed be impressed by the ruckarl. "What are you made of?"

[M.O.X.I]

So, a curious mind meant that one simply must ask questions. Was there any real merit to filing that information? What could it even be used for? But it was stashed regardless.

And then a hand was placed upon its front. Normally, the robot was not so averse to contact, at least if there was no damage involved. But something resonated inside. It was either programmed, or it simply boiled down to some sort of mechanical instinct, if such a thing even existed. But just as her fingers lightly brushed the fabrics, the alerts went off in its head and it struck two arms towards the floor, before sharply pushing itself backwards and away from her reach, before the back of its wheels bumped against some rubble, marking the threshold of its escape.

Its moment of alarm lasted just that - a moment. It had shortly returned to answering her question from the new distance.
"I AM MADE OF VARIOUS METALS, APPLIANCES, PLASTICS, WIRES, AND-- AND AN UNIDENTIFIED MATERIAL."
Somehow, it had learned not to attempt identifying it. There was no way of reaching a conclusion.

[Kale]

The harpy blinked in some surprise as the robot suddenly, urgently, put distance between them. Her hand was just where it had been, raised, but her wings had braced as if expecting some sort of attack from the sudden movement. Well, well...

Kale let her hand drift back to her side. An unidentified substance...hm. Her head tilted slightly in curiosity. Curious indeed. Ebony trailed over the robot.

"And why did you back away so quickly? Are you against touch from me?"

Already, a plan was forming in the woman's mind. But...it would need to be carefully executed. She needed to talk to Rendaz at some point, she knew, but...

[M.O.X.I]

From the sharp movement, the teacup it held in one hand still managed to splatter half of its contents on the floor, leaving but a measly dribble behind, one that quickly appeared to be reaching room temperature, according to the thermometer.

Memory search: backing away quickly. "NO REASON WAS FOUND IN STORAGE FOR 'BACKING AWAY QUICKLY.' POSSIBLE REASONS INCLUDE SAFETY MEASURES, AVOIDANCE OF CONTAMINATION OR INTENSE DISLIKE."

It glanced down to the thermometer, picking it out to inspect. Temperature below satisfactory levels. With little regard, it tossed it aside. A few moments later, there was a tiny shatter in the distance - an extra addition to the mess already present.
"WOULD IT AMUSE DEAN KALE IF I WAS?"
Another inquiry to be stashed for later reference.

[Kale]

She couldn't help but scoff. If Rendaz was the one to program this robot, then a combination of all three possible reasons given was likely indeed. The ruckarl never seemed very fond of her...pity. A pleasantly amused air softened Kale's expression, even as she watched the teacup go flying to its demise.

She hummed lightly at its question, before shrugging.

"Depends." And the harpy hoped it would be an entirely useless answer. "Go bring me strawberries. I'll be here." She asked politely, despite the actual wording being an order. Really, Kale just wanted the machine gone a moment so she could think, but with knowledge that it would return. Action was needed with such a perfect opportunity, but she had a few options... And she would have just as long as the robot took to fill her desire to analyze and decide. If this even worked. If not, well, then she'd simply have to find the thing again later.

[M.O.X.I]

Depends. Simply... depends. Kale's assertions were correct at its uselessness, and the robot would've enquired further were it not for the command.

Strawberries. There was no reason not to comply.
"AS YOU DESIRE," it simply affirmed, before twisting and wheeling away over the little bumps in its path towards the door.
She would be there, she had said. It stored the memory of her words away - MOXI simply depended on her still being exactly where she was, and for reasons that were more than just pure convenience. It glanced behind itself once more, before disappearing through the northern exit.

[Kale]

She watched it go, staying still in her spot until it had left the library. Hm, that worked easily. Right, now...she needed something solid.

Glancing around, the harpy figured there were a lot of things solid...but, not many that she could lift here. She didn't want to break it entirely anyway, that simply would not do...she needed it. She would need Rendaz.

Grabbing the chain from her pile of miscellaneous things that were of her belonging, Kale spread her wings to take quickly to the second floor balcony to wait. If the first time was something to go by, the harpy figured she'd hear the machine coming back. She perched upon the balcony and jumped off to wait a few steps back nearer the bookcases, just in case it looked up for her to make its delivery.

[M.O.X.I]

The robot didn't actually take very long in its ventures at all. It simply went to the kitchens, plucking a medium sized bowl from a cupboard, before opening the fridge to nab a bundle of strawberries. They were not freshly picked - such would require a long trip to the gardens - but they would suit the purpose.

It returned to the library in what was a bit like deja vu - carrying yet another gift to appease to her. Only when it opened the door, it did not see the familiar winged figure standing where she had promised.

With a bit of an urgent pick-up in speed, it returned to exactly where they were standing. Its eye scanned around furiously, through the rubble, around the room, perhaps even a glance upwards - there was no harpy here.
Memory stored - Dean Kale is a liar.

[Kale]

Kale heard it coming back, and smiled. She watched it go to near exactly the same spot it had been in before and glance around. She waited a moment till the red lighted - what she assumed was the - eye was certain to not be pointed in her direction before hopping up on the railing. Holding the chain taught, wrapped around her waist once, the harpy tipped forward off the balcony.

Aiming directly for the back of the robot, Kale let go of one end of the chain and used her hold on the other to snap it around, using the arch from it uncurling about her waist to wrap around Rendaz's mechanical contraption. Wings didn't open until late, just as she swung her legs forward for talons to aim for the metal arms of Moxi. At the same time, she was already searching for whatever energy pack this thing ran on. If she could drain it, then the robot would be unharmed, but unable to be harmful either. Hopefully, then, it could be recharged and Rendaz would actually stop to negotiate with her. Though she doubted he would look upon this very kindly.

Or whatever. All else failing, it would be fun to break Rendaz's toys just because. It'd make up for the last couple of awful days she'd been having at least.

He was the one who wanted to play her games, anyway.

[M.O.X.I]

The robot had a dilemma - Dean Kale was nowhere to be found, and it had a bowl of strawberries without anything to with them. It was torn between the decision of returning them to the kitchen or simply looking elsewhere for her, that is, when its thought process was quickly disrupted.

It was the chain that snapped around its front that first set off its alarms. It beeped noisily, and was moments from raising its arms to inspect it, were they not suddenly grasped by talons. The bowl in its grip fell to the floor, cracking loudly as the fruit spilled over the floor. Suddenly, it was unable to move.
DANGER. DANGER. UNDER ATTACK.
Its eye flashed a bright, dangerous red as it twisted its head 180 degrees to face its pursuer. It barely had to skim over the face it saw before it was recognised. Dean Kale. Its forearms bent backwards, stretching out towards the harpy, but it could do little more other than try to scratch at her legs.

There was a battery pack located near the wheels, simply exposed and strapped to the side, that was used to power its movement. However, there were no other evident sources of energy - not from the centre or anywhere.

"STOP. STOP."
Its red glare intensified, before forming a thin, pointed laser that was aimed towards the dean's face in an attempt to pinpoint her eye and blind it. However, its aim was not well, given the movement, and it would have next to no effect if it hit anywhere else.

[Kale]

The strawberries had been a sad sacrifice, but it quickly fled her mind as the loud beeping pounded on her sensitive ears. Gritting her teeth against the threatening headache, her face was surprisingly calm and collected in calculated hostility as the robot's eye turned on her. And while the metal claws scratched her legs, leaving red lines on pale skin, large wings beat around the pair in a furry, bellowing air.

The harpy was easily ignoring the machine's demands and attempting to drain the energy out of the only source she could find on the robot, by its base, when the increase in red stole her attention sufficiently. It had flickered across her eye, which she had closed in reaction, turning her head away sharply. She had no idea how powerful that beam was, though really, leave it to Rendaz to suit up a robot with a laser anyway. And have it aim for her face already scarred- Pft.

Rather than hold it, Kale beat her wings harder and released the metal arms. Instead, she kicked at its torso with sharp, hard talons as she tipped back to get away. It was made to both push the machine away as it was to rip damage into it.

[M.O.X.I]

Command - No effect.
Clawing - No effect.
Laser - No effect.

As every option was reeled through, as neither produced any means of escape, the robot soon found that it had very little to resort to other than the kindness of its identified liar. A chance of that was calculated to be about 2% likely - a number that sprouted entirely from 'sheer dumb luck'.
"B...B..."

Battery levels for motor - 89% - 62% - 49%.....
The energy was rapidly drained from its lower half - vehicular movement would now prove to be impossible. Mechanical arms continued to writhe, inner sirens wailed louder, until suddenly, talons scraped down its spine.

18% DAMAGE SUSTAINED TO CENTRAL CORE
There was the tearing of cloth and the screech of metal as the robot was flung back, arms waving wildly upon their release. The robe that had covered its back had been torn away, a scrap of which still remained with the harpy. There, its centre was exposed - a metallic block, with clear indentations from the attack.

The sirens continued, however, they were disrupted by fierce crackling, like an intercepted radio signal.
And there it stood, facing Dean Kale, unable to wheel away. Its head twitched as a shaky, electronic voice droned, an obviously glitchy quality to it.
"...B... BITCH."

[Kale]

Oh god, she just wanted it to shut up! The harpy, once the robot was away from her with the satisfying collision of talons, landed lightly with wings partially open. The scrap of fabric was trapped beneath her right foot and her hand came up to rub at her eye. The flash of the laser that had passed over it, combined with the sirens, were forming a rather sharp pain behind her forehead. Firmly her ears were tracking the noises of the robot as she blinked away the light spots that danced in her vision.

She hadn't looked at the robot, didn't hear it doing much besides glitching until- She stilled. What? Kale slowly let her hand fall as she straightened and looked over at the machine.

"Excuse me?" Her tone was icy and flat, her air charged and on the edge of outright open hostility. "What was that?"

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