Arknights story · Operator Records
The Art of Being Everywhere at Once
The process of rebuilding Rhodes Island has forced Closure to wring out every last drop of ingenuity she has, and while she's still hanging on by a thread, that thread is just about ready to snap...
1 scenes, 354 lines
1. Interlude
354 linesDoctor, Amiya, Closure, this plate is yours now.
We've had to rush getting it to you. There's a lot of facilities about the plate that still need repairs. Odds are, it'll be asking a lot of TLC from you—
The industry capacity is a rare luxury in Londinium.
I know. It's just...
Londinium only emerged from the ashes of war not long ago. Given Victoria's current situation, it can't afford to divert so much production into one single plate.
Exactly. Heck, look how much you managed to optimize the plate structure for us. You are lifesavers.
Siege, you've done far, far more than we could ask for already. Thank you. So, so much.
Compared to what Rhodes Island does, it's a drop in the bucket—
Says the Siege of Rhodes Island?
...Fair dos.
Once Rhodes is rebuilt, I'll pop by the Training Room as soon as I can.
I'll get you a top sparring partner. Top of the top.
Haha, deal!
Madam Speaker, we can't afford to dawdle any further, else we won't be in time for the next grand opening...
......
Right then, everyone, see you later—
Madam Speaker, photos, photos!
...*sigh*.
Well... as representative of Londinium, I hereby express my most solemn grief for the losses you have suffered, and my most sincere condolences. May we meet once more upon a reborn Rhodes Island.
Vina extends a hand.
The Doctor and Amiya shoot simultaneous glances at the same woman, who is presently lost in a stupor.
(Closure.)
......
(Hiss) Closure.
Whuh!
As representative of Rhodes Island, I thank Victoria for its support in the Rhodes Island reconstruction efforts, and I look forward to the day we meet again, Vin—
Sorry, Sie—
Madam Speaker Alexandrina.
I told you, I wasn't spacing out, I was busy thinking over how we're gonna allocate the plate's subdivisions.
Besides, isn't Amiya supposed to be the handshaker for stuff like this?
But you're Rhodes Chief Engineer.
But it was a plate transfer ceremony.
But Kal'tsit did leave primary responsibility with you.
There's no need to sigh, Closure. You've already done amazingly, honestly.
Photos can't speak. Who'll know you bungled Vina's name?
Duh, right! I totally forgot it was for a photo—
But you DID look real embarrassed.
...Doctor, for today only, the Rhodes Island Procurement Department will be hiking your quotes by 50%.
Have you no mercy?
......
But my hot water kettle JUST broke...
Haha...
Come to mention, Closure, when we first set out for Victoria from Rim Billiton, you were the one to drum up our spirits again, weren't you?
I mean, I found a little chocolate in the supplies we managed to rescue, and shared it around with whoever was closest. No big deal.
Plus you gave that rousing speech—
Alright, you can stop now—
But it really was a great source of encouragement for us.
Ugh!
Closure.
It's not too late to beg my forgiveness. You add any more fuel to the fire and Procurement's price hikes are gonna be...
It's a tough road ahead.
Huh?
I know it was Kal'tsit's will...
But if the burden's too heavy to shoulder...
...Phew, I thought you were gonna gripe at me again.
Look, she left this to me. The only way for me is forward now. I'm not about to get cold feet—
Closure. Here.
...Booze?
Take a swig, pull yourself together, then look over this. Engineering drew up preliminary spreadsheets for the plate renovations.
This is a lot of spreadsheets!
Sure is. Want a swig?
Pass.
This much is peanuts. If you want, I could draw you up a ream of spreadsheets thiiiiiiis thick.
Respect.
Doc, Amiya, I'm gonna go talk shop with Mechanist. You need anything, come find me, okay?
Closure's become so...
Dependable?
Concerned?
Good at putting on a brave face?
She's always been dependable, you know! It's just...
So you're as concerned as I am...
Right. She has the greatest workload of anyone in Rhodes Island on her shoulders right now.
Doctor, don't you think we should help by shouldering some of that burden?
Everyone heals in their own way.
You mean...?
I'm just making an educated guess.
Help her if you want, how you want, Amiya.
Right, right, right, cool, cool.
Yep, we'll go with that. Call me again if there's any more fuss with the mobility layer. Bye-byeee.
Phew—
Man, it's been ringing off the hook all afternoon. What now...
Yyyello?
—The Snack Network got busted by Hibiscus?! I'll be right there!
Huh? She let us off...? You're telling me Hibiscus, Hibiscus, gave the Snack Network a pass?
...Yeah, that's fair. They work around the clock too these days, they need the energy top-up as much as we do... I forget she's grown. Everyone's grown.
This shipment's already earmarked for keeping our regulars supplied, though. I'll think of a way to cover Medical. Ciao.
Phew... small potatoes, small potatoes...
Hm?
I already know Medical wants in on the snack supply. Visiting me isn't gonna make it happen any faster—
Medical? Snack supply?
(Rubbing temples) Guess you're not here about that, then.
We already agreed, didn't we? Check in with me for anything else, but run Medical's business your own damn self.
I know, but our department's stockpile is in trouble. That includes production of anti-Oripathy medication.
The medical supplies are one thing, but pharmaceutical ingredients are a market commodity...
Got it. No issues with the production equipment, right?
Not in itself. We're just out of ingredients, so nothing's operating.
Lemme see... We can procure this one from Kazimierz, and I'm... pretty sure there's manufacturing for this one at the Duke of Caster's, so we've gotta find a negotiator to run talks with her. This one's... uhh...
Origins for this one... guh, northern Leithanien... that's crazy far! Where's a small supply region somewhere closer... Tara?
Ugh, you're KIDDING me... Hold one sec, Warfarin...
That you, Doc? Perfect, I dunno what you're calling about, but an order of business just came up here that I think has your name on it—
Huh? You already wrote to Na Saoirsí? Nice going, Doc, I owe you one. Is that what you called to tell me?
Sure, sure, sure, we'll have sandworm legs, they'll be on your desk tomorrow.
All solved?
Guess so.
Are you hanging in there?
Hanging in there is my middle name! Anyway, if you're all settled, quit loitering here. I've still got debugging on ZOOT to run. You must be busy at Medical, yeah?
Not as busy as you are.
Don't often hear words like that out of your mouth. What, is Medical hoping for a budget increase?
I'm worried about you. How many hours of sleep a day have you been getting recently?
...Enough to keep me alive.
I'm serious. You've had too much pressure on you lately.
Ugh, jeez, all you do is worry over nothing. Go on, scram.
(Shrug)
*sigh* Seriously...
Four hours is plenty, and I split it up into four micronaps. Besides, I pulled this routine all the time back in Kazdel...
(Yawn) Maybe I'll get an hour's snooze in now.
Lights off—
...Not a good moment, I take it?
Not the worst. What did A6—no, I know your problem kids are on best behavior these days. Aw, man... is it HR?
It is HR, in fact. We received a few resumes that... er, maybe you should get some sleep first. I'll come back in an hour—
No big. Pass 'em here.
Well, this one's a hard pass. Follow up on these two, though, set up face-to-face—
Don't tell me they're already at Reception?
No, not at all. Based on their addresses, you'll only be seeing them in a month at the earliest.
I think we can arrange that.
Then a month and a half it is. Cheers.
Take care of yourself.
I gotta get some...
...sleep?
Damn, no. I need to keep it at four hours a day, and I need it in one-hour chunks. There's gotta be a solution...
Sleep's just one issue, anyway. I can't fall behind on Rhodes Island reconstruction work either. Ugh...
Lemme think... an alarm? No, just an alarm won't cut it. I need something smarter, more comprehensive, more reliable, and it's gotta be something that won't tax our available resources...
Mm-hm... only one thing for it.
Closure?
(Even breathing)
She's asleep...
In that case, I'll just leave Dr. Warfarin's report right...
Detected keyword 'Warfarin'! Detonation imminent—
?!
Deploying thermal shock!
WHOAAAAAAAA! WARFARIN! What's up with Warfarin?!
C-Closure?
(Rubs eyes) Oh, it's you. Go on, what does Medical need?
A shipment of pharmaceutical ingredients arrived from Tara, and they're not up to the same standard as the batch before... but Medical was hesitant to jump the cannon. Take a look...
...I'll head there now.
By the way, what did THRM-EX just...?
Oh, there's been a ton on my plate recently, right? So I took the liberty of 'mobilizing' all the support robots a little.
THRM-EX sits by my side while I'm sleeping now. He's got a new keyword capture unit, so if he detects one, he can wake me up.
With... an explosion?
Potayto potahto, tomayto tomahto. Let's hustle down to Medical, alright?
Nice, nice. I think with this, work on the Training Room's pretty much a wrap. You're gonna put me out of a job at this rate.
Far from it.
Alright, I've gotta head down to—
Hold it.
I know, I'll bug Engineering to deliver you the testing-spec practice targets ASAP. And if it's about ZOOT's reservation system, that's almost done with debugging too. I've been stretched thin the last few days, just hold on a little longer...
No.
Look, I'm only gonna be this real with you because it's you, but I'm drowning in all this work. I'm only getting an hour and a half of sleep a day at this point—do NOT make me hear it!
Calm. I have no intent to beleaguer you.
...*exhale*.
If you require rest, I could deliver you an incantation.
......
I appreciate the sentiment. It's not like I can't sleep at night, I've just got too much on my plate to—
See? Just talking about it summons the damn...
......
Yes? They confiscated a Procurement shipment at the checkpoint? I—
Who is this? The Oripathy meds? I said those were Warfarin's bailiwick... These are for keeping the Reception Room stocked? Uh, okay, that is my turf...
The corner four-person dorm rooms' beds don't fit? You're kidding me, we ordered those to fit—did our supplier pinch pennies on us?
I'm warning you now, I have enough small potatoes as it is, and if it's not major, I WILL hang up! I'm BUSY here!
—ZOOT errored out again?
The young Banshee watches with some concern as the Vampire fishes out four terminals at once and sets about attacking four problems at once in complete disorder, almost as if she's arguing with herself.
Closure—
Don't, don't worry, I like potatoes. This is how it is, people want me all around the clock for stuff.
Castle-3!
Launch auto-recovery mode.
Without waiting for a response to her command, the Vampire dismantles a portion of Castle-3's outer hull, and connects the four terminals...
...as well as three more of her as-of-yet quiet terminals to Castle-3, one by one.
I'll just have Castle-3 sort any simultaneously incoming comms by order of priority...
And anything that's not too important, he can stave off with a quick response, while I deal with the urgent stuff first.
What do you think? Smart, right?
......
Anyway, enough jibber-jabber, I've got ZOOT to attend to! Let's go, Castle-3!
Hey, you're here.
Closure!
*huff*, *pant*, *pant*...
Blaze, Gol... Goldenglow. You sort everything out at the Gododdin branch?
Yup. Just little hiccups. Here's the report.
Cool, you can... put it here.
Closure... are you feeling poorly?
No. I'm good.
But... you've got horrible bags under your eyes. It almost looks like you have eye masks on.
That—okay, I want a haircut next time that'll hide my dark circles, deal?
Just so happens I got the hair salon fixed up, GG. Go see if it suits you. If you've got any complaints, I want them submitted to me in writing.
Alright! Thank you, Closure!
...Way to get li'l Susie out of your hair like that.
Who's getting who out of whose hair?
Okay. Why don't you tell me what Lancet-2's doing stuck to your side?
She... she just likes going on walks with me—
Lovely Ms. Closure, the results of my calculations indicate a: Thirty-seven point nine percent chance you can enter sleep mode in the next ten minutes.
Latest update. Justice Knight is forcibly inviting Operator Chiave to a game of Barrage Fortress in order to delay his travel. The chance you can enter sleep mode has risen to: Fifty one point nought percent.
I recommend you take a brief rest in this period.
There you have it. Excuse me while I go snooze!
PhonoR-0? If it's not urgent, it can wait. I'm gonna take a sec to—
I know. A ten-minute sleep.
Don't bother me right now, then. You want a matte pink livery?
Regrettably for you, such a threat would only work on Mr. Friston-3.
Whose condition you know has been maladious of late, else it would not fall on my shoulders to advise you in your work.
Your workload is only set to increase further. To consult Lancet-2's statistics, your average time spent not working per day is: Fifty-nine minutes.
Then stop camping my sleeping time if you know already. I'm warning you, I don't need Logos to incant at me, and I don't need your—
Lovely Ms. Closure, latest update. Your chance of entering sleep mode in the next twenty-four hours is: One hundred percent.
...Did your system bug?
All communications resolved. No new communications are forecast for the next twenty-four hours.
Once you returned to the Engineering Department, my keyword capture module did not capture any keywords worth waking you up over.
Beep-beep. Operator Chiave lost in a Barrage Fortress duel and resolved to polish his gaming skills. He has now gone to look for Operators Broca and Aosta.
Am I hallucinating? From overwork? Is that what this is?
(Worried gaze)
Well, you still look normal at least. Are they telling the truth, Mr. Friston?
Yes.
I can actually get some sleep?
The obviously exhausted Vampire flops headlong onto a camp bed in the corner.
...losure.
Shaddup... whozzit...?
Closure.
Mom, I told you I'm not coming down from the loft. Leave me alone—
Your Highness?! Why are you here? Don't tell me—
I'm here to laud you for your diligence.
Huh?
That's weird, I've got this vague feeling that's not what you're supposed to say, it'd be more like 'I'm looking for someone who can break the shackles of tradition' or something...
The shackles of tradition? You've already broken them.
H—Have I?
But I... uh, look, I'm just someone who does random crap in my loft. All that Kazdel's Elite 100 stuff, I made it up. Nothing about me screams diligence, haha...
Besides, this is the first time you've ever met me, I...
Is it really?
R—Right, we've known each other for... ages? It's been... forever since I saw you? But...
The Vampire feels her head being softly caressed by a pair of strange yet deeply familiar hands, and she can't help but sniffle.
Now, now. We can reminisce about the olden days later. Right now, I wonder if any amount of praise would be enough to reward all your achievements.
Come. Let's see the fruits of your efforts.
Where are we...?
Surely you haven't forgotten? This is what you strove for, and in the end, fully completed... This is the New Rhodes Island.
Strove... completed... New Rhodes Island...
Right! Yeah, that sounds familiar!
Aha, ahahahahah, work's finally over... it's finally over!
Your Highness, I need to thank you for reminding me. I always felt like I'd be at this for another half a month at least, another half a half without basically any sleep...
This is the playroom you poured your heart into designing. How lengthily you wracked your brains, wanting to remind our operators of times past, yet not so much as to stir their emotions turbid...
How do you... know I...?
This is the mobility layer, one to match that of any nomadic city upon this great land. The sleep you lost, the meals you forewent, to upgrade the plate's propulsion systems...
This... is the Medical Department.
Closure, we've got an issue here...
Don't fret.
This figure of Closure's dream weaves an Arts she's never seen before, and in a blink, the whole plate suddenly shudders a few times, before softly rumbling to life.
Wh-What was that?
Closure has completed all that she can. Now comes my turn to help her a little.
With the help of Arts, all that is here will no longer trouble Closure. All that is left for her to do is nod a few times, pen a few signatures, and push a few buttons.
Let us go, Closure. To the destination of this journey, and the most important of places. The Engineering Department.
Wow... everything is exactly like how I envisioned it. More advanced comms systems, more accessible control logic, and all the footfall circulates around the place just how I like it...
Your Highness, I...
Shouldn't this be a happy occasion? Come, don't shed such tears.
I just... feel like—it was so much struggle—to get to this point...
I don't mean the timeline of this thing, it started... so much earlier, it started when you pushed open my door...
Back then, I never imagined some nonconformist Vampire screwing around in databases would have Her Highness Theresa trusting her with all this responsibility...
Whenever I argued with my folks, it was the way they harped on about 'duty' that made me maddest. What did a Vampire's duty have to do with me?
But you love to build things.
...I do.
It went from weird and wacky terminals in Kazdel, to building Babel, to building Rhodes Island...
Be they data or constructs, your unending passion to build the things you've built has helped more than you can know... and as a matter of course, brought responsibility upon your shoulders.
And never have you shied away.
*sniff*...
Your Highness... oh, erm, I wish you could—and I wish Kal'tsit—could...
Huh? Your Highness... Your Highness, aren't you right here? Why am I... huh?
Let's forget the gloomy talk for now. Come, take a look at your present. A present like no other, for you and you alone.
The chair in the center of the room? That wasn't in my blueprints.
That is the Rhodes Island Chief Engineer's throne.
A—A throne?
From now on, all you need to do is sit atop this throne... and eat chocolate.
Eat chocolate?
If chocolate is not your desire, there are also potato chips here, and candied fruits, and biscuits...
No, Your Highness, I mean... what about my work?
...After so long exhausting yourself, do you truly wish to return to work?
I... ugh...
Well, of course I don't wanna work if I don't have to! But—just sitting here eating chocolate, I feel like... even if witchcraft could solve all my problems, I'd still wanna... ugh...
......
I can't figure out how to word it, but this doesn't seem right. I need to... ugh, I need to...
Then farewell, until we meet again, Closure.
What? You're gonna say goodbye to me just because I don't wanna sit on a throne eating chocolate?!
Don't—
Ah, you're awake.
I...
Warfarin, you did something shady to me, didn't you?! Fess up, what did you make me drink?
Cross my heart and hope to die, she didn't do anything.
I can attest to the same.
Then it was you, Logos! I told you I don't need your incantations—
You went to sleep all by yourself.
...I went to sleep by myself? Me?
Oh, I get it now, all the bots kept pushing me to sleep... Mechanist, what did you do to them?
(Holds up hands defensively) All the info they told you was the truth. Besides, they're your domain. No one on Rhodes Island knows them better than you.
Still, good thing you're awake now. I was almost gonna wager with Logos whether you'd wake up before someone woke you up.
...Apologies.
Alright, alright, all's well that ends well. Let's all get back to our posts now!
In short order, most of the people in Engineering empty out.
I vaguely remember Lancet-2 telling me something about twenty-four hours... How long was I out?
Closure, you slept... exactly twenty-four hours.
You slept a whole day and night without any sign of waking up. That's why we were all gathered here, discussing whether or not to wake you.
A whole day and night?! Oh, crap, I'm so screwed! I can kiss goodbye to sleeping for the whole of next month at this rate—
Not so fast.
You're here too, Doc?
Amiya's been worried sick about you.
I've been worried sick about you.
Everyone's been worried sick about you.
So...?
So, while you were sleeping...
Amiya had us all divvy up your work.
I helped draw up your daily itinerary, too.
I reassigned some of the less critical work for you.
Now you'll get five, six hours a night, minimum.
Once again, thank you. And also, all your chocolate and chips and fruit candy and cookies for the next month are free of charge.
But you can't be Kal'tsit.
Doctor, I don't really wanna get into this right now—
You can inherit her all-consuming sense of mission...
But overwork won't transform you into her.
There are other ways to prove her will lives on in you.
Rebuilding Rhodes Island is a job with a thousand faces. You've suffered more than enough for it, Closure.
I hope, with the Doctor's adjustments, your work schedule can allow you to breathe a little easier.
The Elite Ops are all busy with their own stuff too. You sure allocating my work to them won't be too much trouble?
Beats seeing a repeat of your last couple days.
...Hrmph.
......
Wait.
Since you care so much about me, Doc, mayyyybe I could sleep another eight hours or so...
Closure looks at the Doctor, face brimming with expectation, only to notice a strange shift in the expression concealed beneath the hood, after which...
Why'd the Doc just fall over like a plank?!
The Doctor hasn't... caught a wink of sleep in the last twenty-four hours either.
Blah. Never mind, then.
Besides, seems like things aren't so urgent now. Don't mind me while I goof off a little—
Master Closure, I have three unanswered calls the Doctor was not able to pick up within five minutes. They came respectively from the Engineering, Medical, and Procurement Departments—
AUGH!!!