"Ottooo!" comes Niki's voice. She's wheedling, Leo can tell by now. "Come ooon. I never get to go out without Leo. I wanna go out! Don't you love me?"
Otto is a powerfully built robot, but he has no defense against that kind of attack. Leo sighs. He has to intervene. The newspaper, folded, lands in his chair as he walks toward the robot repair bay.
Pneuma, Niki, and Otto are standing - or parked, in the latter's case - in the bay. The first thing Leo notices is that one of Pneuma's old shells, dating almost to when the group came to New Troy, is prepped in the repair bay's harness.
"What is going on, you three?" he demands.
Niki turns, optics lighting up in hope. Pneuma sighs, and speaks before the younger robot can. "Niki wanted to go out, but as a human. She wanted to transfer her consciousness into one of my old shells, as you see. I'm telling her that it's a bad idea."
Niki slumps, crestfallen. "I just wanted to borrow something. You aren't wearing it, can't you hand it down to me? We're family, and I don't have anything to wear. Please?" She turns to Leo, begging. "Boss? Pleeeeaaase?"
Leo sighs. "The shell is Pneuma's. She gets to decide whether or not you get to use it."
Pneuma rubs her forehead with her hand, looking tired. "It's not a question of permission. Niki doesn't know how to do a safe transference to a new shell. I don't mind as long as she changes the appearance. I don't want a younger me walking the streets doing who-knows-what. But Leo, you need to do the transferal."
Leo nods. "Fine. Just take care of the shell, don't get it dirty, and be home before ten."
Niki jumps up and down excitedly. The wrenches hanging on the wall shake perceptibly. "Thank you thank you thank you!"
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