Coruscant, Lower Market District...
Trini Halrixien, adventurer-archaeologist, peered at the ancient piece of metal and glass she held in her hands, rubbing at the patina to try and make out the faint script stamped into its surface. She squinted, struggling to make out the words in a half-forgotten language.
"See-vee-ar... two-five... one-one... oh? No, zero."
Trini turned to look behind her, holding up the artifact so that it could be seen over her shoulder.
"What is that, a CBell variant?"
Behind the little adventurer was an off-white plastoid box, peering up at her with a single electronic eye. The eye adjusted, but after a moment there was a shake of a cranial turret.
"Ominsignal unicode, actually. If I had to guess, it's off an old J-series probe droid. Came out... oh... 120 years after I was built?"
Trini sighed heavily, and set the corroded part back in the plasboard box she had found it in. Turning to another box, she lifted out an oblong piece of durasteel and plastoid, trailing a few loose wires.
"And this?"
Another whir as ZZ-4A4's photoreceptor adjusted.
"First-gen Ferroprol unit. It would probably work... if it were in the right voltage."
Ears drooping, Trini placed the old component back into the box. The droid rolled up beside her, Zeezee's servos whining audibly as he moved. Turning to the droid, the little Amaran winced at the ungainly, jury-rigged tangle of wires and power modules that spilled out of an open access port, serving at least temporarily in place of a motivator.
"Y'know, I dig this stuff up for a career." Complained Trini, folding her arms as she looked down at the mechanical and electronic components piled in the boxes in front of her. "You'd think I'd be better at identifying it."
Zeezee panned his photoreceptor over the boxes.
"It's not your fault. I mean, you must have some idea of just how many droid manufacturers there are and have been in the Galaxy; I have a computerized database of them and it's not even close to complete."
Trini shook her head, and lifted another component out of the box.
"What's this?"
"T8-series motivator, Duwani Mechanical Products. Pin-out won't fit without more modifications than it's worth."
Trini dropped the part back into the box with a frustrated groan, throwing up her hands and turning away from the boxes.
"Frell! Why did everything Hi-Mech made have to use proprietary connectors?!"
As Trini walked to a different part of the stand, a cloth-and-durasteel awning with a sign that proudly proclaimed "Quality Pre-Owned Droid Parts" in 3 major languages, Zeezee followed behind, servos continuing to whine piteously. Stopping in front of a display of half-gutted astromech hulls, Trini began peering into their open access ports, while Zeezee came to a stop beside her.
"Hi-Mech did everything custom... I guess there were no standards for what they were building back in my day. I am sorry that it makes fixing me such a... production."
Trini sighed, shaking her head, and her hand to flick off a blob of dripping lubricant which had gotten onto it.
"It's not your fault, Zeezee... I mean, I'm kinda impressed you're in as good shape as you are, considering where I found you."
Zeezee looked as thoughtful as a droid could for a moment.
"I suppose that was a testament to my design. Or at least my QC inspector."
He shook his cranial turret briefly.
"Still, I didn't come out of it completely unscathed... you remember what I was like when we first met."
Trini looked over at the droid sadly, and nodded.
"Still haven't managed to recompile your deep memory sectors?"
Zeezee turned to Trini.
"I recall the crash, and what happened afterward... but everything before is just, well, bits and pieces."
Trini sighed, nodding, and wiped her hand on the cloth of the awning to try and get the blob of grease off.
"I wish there was more I could do about that... it must be hard, not quite knowing where you've been..." The Amaran shook her head. "Anyway, I don't think this stand is panning out. Let's move on..."
Amaran and droid departed into the throng of the marketplace.
"See-vee-ar... two-five... one-one... oh? No, zero."
Trini turned to look behind her, holding up the artifact so that it could be seen over her shoulder.
"What is that, a CBell variant?"
Behind the little adventurer was an off-white plastoid box, peering up at her with a single electronic eye. The eye adjusted, but after a moment there was a shake of a cranial turret.
"Ominsignal unicode, actually. If I had to guess, it's off an old J-series probe droid. Came out... oh... 120 years after I was built?"
Trini sighed heavily, and set the corroded part back in the plasboard box she had found it in. Turning to another box, she lifted out an oblong piece of durasteel and plastoid, trailing a few loose wires.
"And this?"
Another whir as ZZ-4A4's photoreceptor adjusted.
"First-gen Ferroprol unit. It would probably work... if it were in the right voltage."
Ears drooping, Trini placed the old component back into the box. The droid rolled up beside her, Zeezee's servos whining audibly as he moved. Turning to the droid, the little Amaran winced at the ungainly, jury-rigged tangle of wires and power modules that spilled out of an open access port, serving at least temporarily in place of a motivator.
"Y'know, I dig this stuff up for a career." Complained Trini, folding her arms as she looked down at the mechanical and electronic components piled in the boxes in front of her. "You'd think I'd be better at identifying it."
Zeezee panned his photoreceptor over the boxes.
"It's not your fault. I mean, you must have some idea of just how many droid manufacturers there are and have been in the Galaxy; I have a computerized database of them and it's not even close to complete."
Trini shook her head, and lifted another component out of the box.
"What's this?"
"T8-series motivator, Duwani Mechanical Products. Pin-out won't fit without more modifications than it's worth."
Trini dropped the part back into the box with a frustrated groan, throwing up her hands and turning away from the boxes.
"Frell! Why did everything Hi-Mech made have to use proprietary connectors?!"
As Trini walked to a different part of the stand, a cloth-and-durasteel awning with a sign that proudly proclaimed "Quality Pre-Owned Droid Parts" in 3 major languages, Zeezee followed behind, servos continuing to whine piteously. Stopping in front of a display of half-gutted astromech hulls, Trini began peering into their open access ports, while Zeezee came to a stop beside her.
"Hi-Mech did everything custom... I guess there were no standards for what they were building back in my day. I am sorry that it makes fixing me such a... production."
Trini sighed, shaking her head, and her hand to flick off a blob of dripping lubricant which had gotten onto it.
"It's not your fault, Zeezee... I mean, I'm kinda impressed you're in as good shape as you are, considering where I found you."
Zeezee looked as thoughtful as a droid could for a moment.
"I suppose that was a testament to my design. Or at least my QC inspector."
He shook his cranial turret briefly.
"Still, I didn't come out of it completely unscathed... you remember what I was like when we first met."
Trini looked over at the droid sadly, and nodded.
"Still haven't managed to recompile your deep memory sectors?"
Zeezee turned to Trini.
"I recall the crash, and what happened afterward... but everything before is just, well, bits and pieces."
Trini sighed, nodding, and wiped her hand on the cloth of the awning to try and get the blob of grease off.
"I wish there was more I could do about that... it must be hard, not quite knowing where you've been..." The Amaran shook her head. "Anyway, I don't think this stand is panning out. Let's move on..."
Amaran and droid departed into the throng of the marketplace.