Mech/Stories
While delivering parts to a medical camp, Alk and Nimbus meet Mech, an android doctor. Due to his vow to treat everyone regardless of affiliation, he becomes a target for assassination, so Alk invites him to Starview Village.
Nimbus: That medical camp is around here, right? What's the group called again? Up something?
Alk: The Updaters... Just like the name implies, they've been trying to change society since the Administrator died.
Nimbus: Well, I don't buy it. They're all buddy-buddy with that con artist, right?
Alk: Well... I certainly hope no one like Regis is there...
Android Doctor: Ah! Organic life-forms! Real organic life-forms, in the flesh!
Android Doctor: You're just as Regis described! Remarkable! I can't believe you're real!
Alk: A-are you the doctor of this camp? Regis asked us to bring these parts.
Mech: Ah, pardon me. I am Medic Maintainer, but you may call me Mech.
Mech: But never mind that! My I please inspect your insides?!
Mech: I promise I'll put everything back in its correct position! Please! Just a peek!
Alk: Huh?! Wait, can we please NOT?!
Nimbus: Yeah, there was no way a pal of Regis's wasn't gonna be weird...
Mech: Thank you for your help. With these parts, I can finally give proper treatment to my patients.
Mech: Up until now, I've only been able to administer emergency first aid with junk parts.
Alk: Junk parts? That doesn't sound safe...
Mech: I do not have much choice. If the patient is dysfunctional for too long, they'll forget how to move.
Mech: That being said, it is technically illegal. Ahaha...
Nimbus: And while you're breakin' the law, might as well slice us up like rats too, huh?
Mech: I truly am sorry about before! I was just so excited that it slipped out!
Mech: But surely you can't blame me when your bodies are right in front of me, just waiting to be studied!
Mech: Could I take a sample from your fluid storage devi- I mean, a sample of your blood?
Nimbus: He doesn't seem that sorry.
Alk: W-well, he also doesn't seem like a bad person. He's even treating people free of charg-
Armed Android: Y-y-you! You're the Medic Maintainer, aren't you?
Mech: My apologies, but you must wait your turn for your examination.
Armed Android: I ain't no patient! I'm part of the Updaters, and I'm here to shut you down! Permanently!
Nimbus: Why? He's treating you guys, ain't he? pretty sure that's called an ally.
Armed Android: He ain't no ally! He's been treatin' the Defaulters too! H-he's a traitor!
Mech: I will always treat the injured, regardless of their affiliation.
Mech: ...I'd even treat a headstrong fool like you.
Armed Android: D-d-don't you dare... make fun of meee!
Nimbus: You really a doctor?
Mech: A great doctor's surgical skills can do far more than just treat patients.
Mech: They also don't discriminate when it comes to those they treat.
Armed Android: The-then... treat me.
Mech: Heh... Perhaps I should move you into a body less capable of such ruckus.
Mech: Well, that was quite the ordeal.
Mech: To think I'd become a wanted man and a target of the Updaters... It seems I'll have to go into hiding for a while.
Nimbus: That's a lot for one person to handle, if you ask me. You gonna be okay?
Mech: Who knows? But these things tend to work themselves out.
Alk: Well, why don't you come with us? You'd have to go to another world though.
Mech: C-could I?! Surely there are plenty of organic life-forms there as well, correct?!
Nimbus: ...You know you can't dissect them, right?
Mech: I can't?!
Nimbus: Of course not!
Mech: Well, I suppose I can live with that. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to study organic life-forms, after all...
Mech: We'll set off once I finish examining the rest of the patients!
Mech: Oh my! This is just so... Hehehe.
Mech: So very exciting...
Having read all the medical texts in Starview Village, Mech is referred to a clinic where he can receive a more hands-on education. There he learns about treating organic life-forms through work experiences and debates with the doctor. Afterward, Mech debates cutting his sleeping time for more studies, but Alk and Light stop him and try not to wince at his organic life-form jokes.
Mech: MORE! I must know MORE!
Alk: Huh? Where'd that come from?
Mech: My apologies. My desire for knowledge seems to have affected my volume settings. You see...
Light: To think you would finish all the medical texts we had in Starview Village...
Alk: I'm just glad we could find you a clinic to work with. We'll have to thank Lilie later.
Mech: Indeed. I thought my only option was to ask everyone to be my test sbjects.
Light: G-good thing we found another way!
Mech: I am Mech. I look forward to working with you today.
Doctor: So you're the one who's bothering me during such a busy time of year.
Doctor: Just because I agreed to this doesn't mean I'll go easy on you. I'm gonna work you to your circuits.
Mech: I wouldn't have it any other way!
Nurse: The doctor will see you now.
Doctor: So what seems to be the problem?
Patient: Well... My stomach's been hurting since this morning... but I didn't eat anything bad.
Mech: Excuse me, but wouldn't it be best to open up the patient and confirm the situation directly?
Doctor: Are you an idiot?! You wanna kill your patients?!
Doctor: First, we ask for details, and then we use a stethoscope and our hands to examine from the outside!
Mech: I-I see! So you preform a system log check first! How informative.
Mech: Medical treatment for organic life-forms is substantially different from androids. It's quite confusing...
Mech: But I will not make the same mistake! I shall take these teachings to heart!
Mech: Even if I don't have one. Hehe, organic joke.
Mech: ...I see. I've confirmed inflammation in the nasal cavity and air ducts. It would seem you have a common cold.
Mech: I'll prescribe you some medicine, so be sure to take it and get plenty of rest.
Doctor: Well, I wasn't sure about you in the beginning, but look at you now! Nice work!
Mech: Hehe, but of course. A great doctor is not perfect. They must be willing to learn.
Doctor: I don't know about calling yourself "great", but I agree with what you're saying.
Mech: That being said, there's still so much I don't understand.
Mech: Some of the procedures you use differ from what I read about in medical texts.
Mech: Why is that? To be frank, I find it quite inefficient!
Doctor: What did you say, newbie?! If treatment went exactly as the books say, no one would be suffering!
Mech: I agree with you on that. Machines too have their limits! But I suggest reevaluating your treatment method and...
Light: Hmm... Should we stop them? They are getting quite heated...
Alk: I think this is fine, don't you? They seem to be having fun.
Alk: Well, fun in a way only pros would enjoy...
Nurse: Next patient, please.
Nurse: True pros would be working, not talking.
Mech: Thank you for today. This was a very fruitful experience.
Doctor: For crying out load, I can't believe I spent the whole day looking after you.
Doctor: Still... I'll admit you've got passion. Your stills aren't half bad either. Feel free to come back if you fee like it.
Alk: Isn't that great, Mech? You were able to use your skills on humans too!
Mech: Indeed, but today also showed me how much more there is to the treatment of organic life-forms. I must study more.
Alk: Does that mean you'll be coming here regularly for a while? I can tell the guild.
Mech: A tempting idea, but I'm also interested in the medicine of other world as well!
Mech: Ohhh, there's just so much to learn!
Mech: I will need to stop sleeping to make more time for studying and treating patients!
Light: Wait, isn't sleep necessary for androids?!
Mech: Hehehe, well, I'm sure Regis could help with tha-
Alk: No.
Alk: A great doctor should practice what they preach. You can't treat others if you get sick.
Mech: Very true! In that case... I suppose I'll have to reevaluate my study plan...
Mech: I am a bit heartbroken though, even if I don't have a heart to break! Hehe, another organic joke.
While Mech performs checkups on Shroombo and the others, Regitare asks him to examine the Spirit Tree. As the two of them treat the Spirit Tree under Regitare's guidance, Mech shares the story of his brother, who sacrificed his life for Mech's. Regitare and Mech share a smile as they muse about the innate desire to inherit and pass things on to others.
Mech: Hmm... No pulse...
Mech: No blood or organs either.
Mech: W-wait, are you a mushroom?!
Alk: Yes, I already told you that! Besides, isn't it obvious just by looking?!
Mech: Undead, spirits, and now a mushroom! Everything in this world is so different from the organic life I know.
Mech: And that just makes it all the more interesting! Surely I will learn something new here!
Regitare: Goodness, this lad sure runs hot and cold, don't he?
Alk: Well, he's certainly passionate.
Regitare: Aye, but maybe a wee bit too passionate.
Regitare: Actually, I think I've got the perfect patient for you, lad. Mind coming with me?
Mech: Where's the patient?
Regitare: Ohoho, they're already here, right in front of you... Or should I say below?
Alk: Wait, are you talking about... the Spirit Tree?!
Mech: It may be a mystical entity, but I suppose that doesn't change the fact that it's an organic life-form.
Mech: It can still get sick or injured... And therefore, it still needs a doctor.
Regitare: Exactly. Trees can get sick just like people. And if the Spirit Tree gets sick, so does our world.
Alk: That's right... The first time I was here, the world was a mess because of the Spirit Tree.
Regitare: I've always taken care of the Spirit Tree by myself, but I figured, why not let someone else take a crack at it?
Regitare: Well, doctor? How do you feel about treating an entire world?
Mech: Heh... Ahahaha! Now this is interesting! I would love to!
Mech: But is this really acceptable? I know that arboriculture exists, but that's about the extent of my knowledge!
Regitare: Aye, 'tis fine. I'll be right 'ere sharing me knowledge with you.
Mech: Oh, thank you so much! I will pay very close attention.
Mech: Hmm... All right! How's... this?!
Regitare: ...Aye, 'tis perfect! With this, the Spirit Tree should be back to its spirited self soon.
Regitare: What the- When did it get so dark outside?!
Mech: You're right. It's nearly dawn. Hehe... I was so focused on our treatment that I lost track of time.
Regitare: I'm sorry, lad. I didn't mean to push you so hard,
Mech: Not at all! But I am a bit concerned. Was this really okay?
Mech: The Spirit Tree is vital to your world. Is it truly safe to teach me how to treat it?
Mech: Ah, not that I'm grateful for the opportunity!
Regitare: What're you saying? I just wanted to help your studies, that's all. Besides...
Regitare: You see like you're carrying quite the burden already.
Mech: ...What makes you say that?
Regitare: To treat any and all who are injured... Anybody going to those lengths must have been though a lot.
Mech: ...There used to be another android of the same model as me... I suppose you could call him my twin brother.
Mech: But one day, he and I were caught up in an accident. He...
Regitare: So you've been carrying that around all this time... Or perhaps...
Regitare: Did you take on his will?
Mech: ...In a sense. As he was dying, he passed his own parts on to me.
Mech: By the time I rebooted, he had already ceased to function. Even his memory bytes were gone...
Mech: My brother entrusted me with these parts, so I too wish to leave something behind someday.
Regitare: That's how everyone is. We take something from others, and pass them on to someone else.
Regitare: That goes for you, me... and even those little rascals over there.
Alk: Nngh... Ah! I-I'm so sorry. I feel asleep. Is there anything I can do to help?!
Mech: No worries, we just finished up the Spirit Tree's treatment.
Alk: Mech? Did something happen?
Mech: Hehe, I suppose something did. I realize I've learned a lot...
Mech: Not just today, but up until now as well. And I'm sure I'll learn even more in the days to come.