Continuing from FFM 2025 25: So Much Gossip, this time with some spotlight given to mechs other than QWERTY. Also only 8 words over the limit at the first draft, so lighter to edit. Yay.
Steirdrar tried not to think that he was being led into a trap as he followed QWERTY into one of the more secluded warehouses. There was a gathering of mechs, no organics, already there — including the two courier ‘bots he had taken with him when he had defected. Cou-1 and Cou-2 both chirped greetings the moment they spotted him, their digital faceplates immediately smiling.
Steirdrar could not help smiling back. “Hello. I take it QWERTY has recruited you two to aers project?”
[We have been spying for aer!] Cou-1 told.
[Ae said that since we know how to do espionage, we’d be perfect for what ae has in mind!] Cou-2 explained.
[And because we’re so cute, no one’s gonna be mad at us or even suspect us!] Cou-1 added, their manipulator arms mimicking a bipedal putting their hands on their hips.
Steirdrar nodded, trying to keep his smile from splitting his face. “If the IRS didn’t suspect you, few, if any, here will have a chance against you.”
The two bots chittered in excitement.
“So even battle-hardened organics are no match against the design principles Infini’Tech Labs uses in their mechs,” a Zaltech ZAT-series inventory android Steirdrar had seen but never interacted with commented.
Steirdrar shrugged. “They are adorable.”
Mechs all around them made amused noises in either Mecha or Earth-Common.
“In any case, as you all certainly know, this human here is Steirdrar Urrang, one of our intelligence officers,” QWERTY addressed the group, “and one of the targets of the [unhandled-exception-when-idles’] excessive gossiping. I brought him along to see if he would be interested in joining us in putting them in their place.”
“Having an organic would help,” the lone security mech who Steirdrar did not recognize noted.
“Ohhh, I can already imagine the potential. Some of those [unhandled-exception-when-idles] are so loud when Commander Urrang’s nearby. Like they’re trying to get themselves hurt! Such a fascinating lack of self-preservational instincts!” a grinning Iridiumin STR-series android remarked.
Steirdrar figured the strategist android likely knew it would be a bad idea for him to retaliate violently against the gossipers, so he kept quiet.
“Good to see approval for including him.” QWERTY turned to Steirdrar. “Long story short, we are looking to use the gossipers’ words against them in small dosages.”
Steirdrar had a bad feeling about this. “Which, in practice, means…?”
“We have been recording them and isolated the parts with gossip from the raw data. My plan is for those recordings to gradually end up into the hands of people who will be most displeased to hear these people say such things.” QWERTY smiled. “My idea for you would be both to act as someone who also records them and for you to aid us in finding the people who would be displeased to get proof of the most obscene things that leave the gossipers’ mouths; only a fraction of us have the programming needed to understand organics’ various cultures regarding behavior to the requisite extent, so an organic’s insider knowledge from their experiences of such cultures would be a fantastic addition. We can handle the delivery of the recordings once we have identified the optimal recipients, unless you want to take part in that part of the process as well.”
Steirdrar processed this information for a while. He had a distinct feeling he was being pulled into a game of intrigue, one that he probably should not take part in while on probation. Then again, he could probably hide behind the fact that QWERTY outranked him, perhaps play a bit dumb and claim plausible deniability, if this suddenly blew up on their faces and faceplates.
A part of him was already starting to think about this as an intelligence-gathering operation like the ones he led when in the IRS, ideas about how to go about implementing QWERTY’s vision forming. The familiarity of it was both disconcerting, considering where he was now, and relieving for giving him something he was certain he knew how to do.
“We know there are risks to this,” the same STR-series android spoke up, now solemn. “But be assured that we will protect you from any consequences that may come from this, in case someone realizes this is an organized effort rather than just the occasional ‘mechs are fed up with organics’ nonsense’ incident.”
Steirdrar felt like he was some organic protagonist in a mech rebellion story, pulled into the midst of the rebelling mechs for his usefulness to their cause for his insider knowledge. “Thank you. I would appreciate that, considering that I am on rather thin ice for as long as I’m on probation.”
“I am the leader of this project and by far the highest-ranking of us all. The blame will be assigned to me,” QWERTY announced. “And anyone who tries to retaliate on their own will be dealt with accordingly.”
Steirdrar truly was a protagonist in a mech rebellion story. Or at least he would be, if he agreed to taking part in this. “Does Agent Ket know about this?”
“Not yet. I will inform her once we have made progress, but until then I prefer keeping her as a neutral party to avoid suspicion. She will certainly be interested in joining once we have a proof of concept and make an excellent trump card.”
Steirdrar had a feeling this was a bad idea but, in all honesty, the idea of getting back at the gossipers was tempting. Plus, there was a feeling of excitement in the air that he had not felt in a long time pulling him in. A more active use for the skills he had honed (and spilled countless liters of blood with) over the decades of his service in the military.
Objectively, it was a bad idea, but then again Steirdrar had followed plenty bad ideas during his career. At least this time he was certain there was actual righteousness in what he would be doing.
“I’m in. What do you need me to do first?”
WindySilver 
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