A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers #2)

Her morning continued much the same way. An oxygen gauge. A heating coil. Some kind of motor (that one had been real good to figure out, all sorts of little bits that spun ’round and ’round and ’round . . .). When the junk tray was full, she carried it to the hatch across the room. She tipped the junk in, and it fell down into the dark. Below, a conveyor belt carried it away to . . . wherever junk went. Away.

‘You are very on-task today, Jane 23,’ one of the Mothers said. ‘Good job.’ Jane 23 felt good to hear that, but not good good, not like she’d felt when the motherboard worked, or when she’d been waiting for Jane 64 to wake up. This was a small kind of good, the kind of good that was only the opposite of the Mothers being angry. Sometimes it was real hard to guess when they’d be angry.





Local folder: downloads > reference > self

File name: Mr Crisp’s Beginner User Manual (All Kit Models)

Chapter 2 – Real Quick Answers To Common Questions Many of the points explained here are covered in greater detail later on. This is simply a quick list to answer the questions I get most often regarding new installations.



– Your body has been given a three-day ‘booster charge’, which will give you the energy needed to start moving (and, of course, to support your core consciousness). By then, your onboard generator will have harvested enough kinetic energy to keep you going. You’ll be able to power yourself by that point. Unless you spend several days completely motionless in bed, you’ll always have enough power.

– You are waterproof! Fun party tricks include sitting at the bottom of a pool, or sticking your head in a globe of water in a zero-g environment. Don’t do this around people you don’t trust, obviously.

– You don’t sweat and you can’t contract diseases, but practising hygiene habits comparable to those of organic sapients provides many benefits. For starters, you need to do it to keep up appearances (you will get dirty!). Most importantly, you may not be able to get sick, but whatever’s on your hand can be passed along to your organic buddies. Ask a friend to teach you about hand washing.

– You can safely ingest food and drink. Your false stomach can store a total of 10.6 kulks of foodstuffs for twelve hours. Beyond that point, bacteria and mould growth is an inevitability, and you don’t want to pose a health hazard to your friends (plus, your breath will smell gnarly). As you don’t have a digestive system, you’ll need to empty your stomach when you get home. Refer to chapter 6, section 7 for instructions.

– STAY AWAY FROM LARGE MAGNETS. Small ones are fine. Industrial strength ones are a problem. Keep this in mind if you plan on spending any time in shipyards or tech factories.

– Your hair, nails, claws, fur, and/or feathers do not grow. You’re welcome. (Note for Aandrisk models only: I recommend spending three days at home twice a standard. Aandrisks commonly take time off during a moult, and no one will question it. While you won’t suffer this problem, bowing out for a few days will keep people from getting curious as to why you haven’t shed your skin.)

– Your strength, speed, and constitution are on par with that of your chosen species.

– Your body can withstand a vacuum, though the cold of open space will begin to negatively affect your skin after an hour. Feel free to enjoy an unsuited spacewalk, but mind the time, and again, don’t do this in sight of people you don’t trust implicitly.

– Your body will give the appearance of aging, and will deactivate at a time concurrent with your chosen species’ expected lifespan. A warning notification will occur one standard before this happens, giving you ample time to decide if you wish to continue life in a new housing.

– Yes, you can have sex! You’ve got all the parts for it, and unless you’re coupling with an expert physician who spends a lot of time looking at your bits under good light (hey, to each their own), no one will be able to tell the difference. But before you get to it, please do plenty of research about healthy sexual relationships and proper consent. Ideally, ask a friend for advice. Similar to the recommendation about hand washing, you should also practise good hygiene and disease prevention practices for the sake of your partner. There’s no guarantee that xyr imubots are up to date.

– If part of your body becomes damaged, send me details via the same contact path you purchased the kit through. I can’t promise that it can be repaired, but I’ll see what I can do.



Though you are welcome to contact me if there are issues with the kit, I ask that any communications be strictly limited to the operation and maintenance of your new body. I will not reply to any messages regarding cultural adjustment, legal trouble, or other social matters. I’m sure you can understand my position on this. Talk to a friend instead.

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pinch: hey, comp techs. this isn’t my area of expertise so i’m hoping you guys can help me out. i need some advice about altering AI protocols. got a new installation i’d like to make adjustments to.

nebbit: good to see you over in our channel, pinch. it’s a pleasure. two questions: what protocols specifically, and what intelligence level?

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