Sticks

Nickname for companion droid S.T.1.X./ST-1X, resembling a grey wolf hybrid. Built by Maytec's sister company, originally owned by Julie Waterman and still in her possession as of Woodgrove becoming First Advisor. Has 25 different attachments and knows 285 different positions. Stole Michael's Discman just to steal it. Has to get Tessa to kill spiders for him.

The only remaining model from the ST-1X range, as the manufacturer did not get the license from the model to create an anatomically correct droid. Besides possessing functioning sexual equipment (which Sticks suggests is jet black), Sticks can scan for physical and emotional distress. Has a recharge socket in his nose, as putting the sockets elsewhere created problems for other droid owners using the sockets for fudge-packing. Designed to not to require oil and to have a pulse to be more "real."

## Days of Future Past

An undisclosed amount of time after Tessa's stint with the CORE as a conscript, she wins **Sticks** from Julie Waterman in a card game, using Tin-Head as an ante.

### E11

While drunk, Tessa ordered Tin-Head to rip apart her captain's car, something that got her assigned to Station E11. While Sticks doesn't mind, as it seems to guarantee Tessa's safety (if not the safety of the scientists who piss her off), Tessa quickly gets tired of Sticks and Tin-Head fighting over the Monopoly car piece.

Onboard E11, Tessa is called to Commander Adams's office, as the Maytec contractors coming to the station are concerned about Tin-Head's presence as well as the fact his programming is more or less intact, as well as Tessa's "relationship" with Sticks. Tessa breaks the news to Tin-Head and Sticks, to predictable complaints. Sticks gets rid of his "Swiss porno" outfit (but doesn't think to replace it).

Four months later, as Maytec arrives with the "prep" ship Wildfire, Tessa finally shuts down Tin-Head. As Tessa leaves to greet the new arrivals, Eric from Comms room notifies her that they are picking up an Anarchist locator signal from the storerooms. Tessa thanks her for the warning and returns to shut off the beacon. By the time Sticks finds her, Tessa still cannot locate the beacon, and Sticks fills her in on the arrivals, mentioning the hot pilot who didn't realise he was synthetic due to his shaded glasses. Tessa says that's nice and after finishing with Tin-Head and ripping Sticks a new recharge socket, she might greet said pilot by breaking her fingers.

### The Wildfire

Months into Maytec's occupancy of E11, Maytec's security team takes over and the CORE staff largely do nothing, even compared to the nothing they were normally assigned due to E11's remoteness. When all of the Maytec ships vanish and the Inglorious materialises in their place, Adams puts the station on red alert. Tessa fails to report for duty as Sticks convinces her to stay put because she is 1. on leave and 2. covered in chocolate pudding. When the Anarchists take a chunk out of the E11, Tessa notices the station shaking, and Sticks jokes "Earth move for you too huh?"

Tessa eventually suits up and rescues Cook as he is about to be killed by an Inlay. Meanwhile, Sticks recovers Tin-Head per Tessa's request, as they are doing a runner from the station. Sticks doesn't appreciate Tin-Head's comments and reassembles him with his head on backwards, refusing to fix it in the interest of time. They try to find the passenger docks but get lost, so Sticks asks Control for help, to Tin-Head's disgust. Control gladly agrees, providing a flirtatious text file in addition to a map of the station's lower decks. Sticks is flattered but points out his "violently jealous and possessive" girlfriend with a large gun collection.

Sticks and Tin-Head finally meet up with Tessa and Cook by following "the trail of destruction and entrails" she had left behind. Tessa notices Tin-Head is assembled badly, and Sticks just begins to explain how he had gotten distracted when he is shot twice through the chest. The damage is reparable, but it leaves Sticks unable to walk. They encounter his shooter, Future Norman Gates, who nearly kills Tessa when Adams blows off half of Gates's head. Safe from further immediate attack, Sticks reassigns his movement functions and struggles to stand, only to be tackled by Tessa.

Given the likely reaction to Gates's assassination, Cook recommends escaping on the Wildfire. Unfortunately, the Oracle foresees their escape and decides to risk a time paradox by locking the Wildfire's docking mechanism and drastically altering their escape trajectory, causing Sticks to freak out. Their only chance is to use the time machine.

## Time-travelling Future (current day)

Sticks travels to the present day with Cook, Adams, Tessa, and Tin-Head on the Wildfire. They are trapped in the "past" as the Wildfire had never been designed for atmospheric travel.

At Christmastime, Sticks tests the fairy lights in the recharge socket in his nose. Tessa asks him why his recharge socket is in his nose, and Sticks reveals early models used to have it in the butt, but these were recalled as it gave fudge-packers electric shocks. Then Tessa comes home early from work and catches Sticks off-guard before he can put away her present. Tessa sees his poor attempt at hiding it and manages to (easily) trick him into telling her it's a necklace.

Tessa is sent on a mission to do some industrial espionage on an undisclosed American facility 6,000 miles from Cook Industries, one supposedly acting as an accounting office. When they lose contact with her, Sticks goes on autopilot and loses control of his actions as though something else possessed him. He rescues an unconscious Tessa, and when she wakes from her coma, she immediately panics. Sticks assures her that he has taken out the Inlay threatening her, but she doesn't believe him. As Sticks tries to prove he did, Tessa notices his injuries and freaks out. Sticks assures her it was only laser burn from the Inlay trying to aim around the reactor on his back. Tessa freaks out even MORE when she realises he used the 220.

As her headache returns, Tessa asks Sticks to recap what happened, which he does through crude drawings. Essentially he went into a blind rage, beat up both Adams and Cook to get access to the Taipan, and flew it to the facility before breaking in. At this point, Sticks criticises Tessa's handiwork with the elevator, and Tessa asks if he's still holding a grudge about the time she tried to fix his leg herself. Sticks continues by recounting how he blasted the Inlay, found "Geek Boy" and "Rambo Wannabe" hiding in the bunker, and Tessa's cold body. Tessa asks how he brought her back to life, but Sticks just starts moaning that he couldn't help, "She was so cold!"

Sticks wakes Tessa after she screams in her sleep, having zonked out from his story. He continues by explaining how he knew she was still alive despite being in the bunker's freezer was from her implants, particularly her mechanical heart that left Michael and David thinking she was dead due to her lack of pulse. While Tessa thawed out, Sticks convinced the other two survivors to come with him and bring everything relevant to the Inlay. (Admittedly only David needed convincing, as Michael has a future technology fetish.) Tessa then asks about her bike, and Sticks says he remembered that, too, although Tessa is still miffed at him for coming after her, as he is irreplaceable.

When Tin-Head is shut down by the Oracle, Sticks reveals that he is not able to interface with Tin-Head's hardware to diagnose the problem, as he uses Maytec hardware while Tin-Head is Anarchist machinery, and the two are specifically designed not to be able to talk to each other.

Due to Nexus Syndrome from Tessa removing his neural net blocks to make him more interesting, Sticks has developed the A.I. closest equivalent of genuine love for Tessa, going so far as to admit to fantasizing about being Tessa's owner rather than the other way around. The order he would give her? To stop working for Cook and Adams.

Later, Michael contacts Tessa through her cochlea implant while she and Sticks ~~are~~were enjoying some R&R. She chews him out for interrupting her when she clearly wanted to be left alone and only calms down when she listens to Michael explain that something is wrong with Tin-Head. Sticks is initially upset that she would give up their limited time together, but he joins her and gives a rough diagnostic of Tin-Head's status. Adams asks if Sticks can connect directly to Tin-Head to get a more detailed analysis, but Sticks explains that Anarchist and Maytec hardware are specifically designed not to be able to interact in that way (the "Steve Jobs" business model). When Tin-Head finally comes to, Tessa hugs him, fussing that she was worried about him.

## Known Sexual Relations

Julie Waterman

Tessa Edwards

* What does Christmas mean to you? Sticks 2 3