My family was preparing for some big event, and not just my family. A number of rather prominent families had gathered together for the event. One of these families had an elementary school aged daughter and an android, both of which I had to keep occupied and out of the way during the preparations. I was less than thrilled. After all, I had important FIRST Robotics Competition work to do.
At some point, one of the hundreds of adults running around bumped into the android. The two grabbed at one another to maintain their balance. The man moved on after a hurried apology, but the android did not brush the contact off. Its entire attitude changed. It began to talk.
"oh no bro were in this together now you get a fist full of cool kid and youd better be ready for more"
"What's wrong with the android?" the man asked me.
"I don't...hang on. That sounds like someone I know," I mused, examining the robot more closely.
"another flighty broad fallen madly in love with my ironic greatness" the android droned. My eyes widened, and I whipped around to look at the man who had started this. He had a scratched disk design on his red shirt. My suspicions were confirmed.
"Sir, you're wearing a Dave Strider shirt," I pointed out.
"yeah, so?"
"The robot- he started talking like Dave after grabbing your shirt!" I exclaimed. The man did not share my excitement. He hurried off, leaving me to try and figure out how to reverse what had happened to the robot. Helpless, I lay my hand on its shoulder and willed it to go back to normal. It worked.
"Wow, that was so cool!" shouted the little girl that I had almost forgotten about, "we should see if we can do it again!"
We could. It turned out, if the android placed his palm on another person's bare skin, he would assume their exact appearance and mannerisms. If he placed a hand on a symbol of someone, he'd just get the personality as he did with the Dave shirt. I was the only one who could snap him out of his altered state. Unfortunately, the android got a bit excited by all this and decided to wander off and experiment. Tracking down a shape changer is...problematic. Try explaining to a stranger that you have to put your hands on them to see if they're a renegade robot. They are not particularly cooperative. Eventually, the girl and I had to return to the event center to attend whatever the big event was. We took our seat in time to see my former trumpet teacher singing a grandiose solo as part of the opening ceremonies. At least, it was supposed to be a solo. The android came on stage disguised as my teacher. In true "show must go on" spirit, the two sang a lovely duet while they glared at one another. They quit saying the proper words and instead argued with one another to the melody. Imagine the following sung to Pachelbel's canon.
"I am the true Mark Beth!"
"If that were so, why are you always so horribly sharp!"
"That is a lie, I am not sharp!"
I got to the stage and converted the android back to normal before a fistfight broke out. Some time later, I discovered that I could not only will the android out of a disguise, but I could will him into one. I exploited this to make the best darn Eridan you've ever seen for a Homestuck cosplay group.
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