#lubedoo

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CC ORIGIN STORY by @lubedoo

Hello! I’ve been following your art for some time and really enjoy it! I especially like the Tails and CC threads and have been mulling just how CC came to be and how she first met Tails, given the brief outlines you’ve published. I scribbled out the first chapter of a fan fiction expanding on CCs origins which I hope you’ll like. Let me know what you think… I can write more if you like it. Hope to see more of Tails and CC soon either way!

Chapter 1: Walter’s Widgets

“No, this won’t work… the gear pitch is misaligned to the functional plane!”

The camera aperture on the small robot’s spindly head focused in and out on the tiny interlocking mechanism as its grouchy furred boss pointed at the offending interface with thin metal pick. Its pincer-like hands reached for the device, but it was quickly snatched away. The robot retreated a few feet on its wheelbase at the sudden movement.

“It has to be at the correct angle or it will bind and fail prematurely!” He looked sternly at the two droids standing in front of him, the second a more squat construction containing a platform and several manipulators. “Assembler, you have the steady table and precision arms. Can’t you work with Gear Placer to match these up?”

Assembler responded in a series of low hums and groan-like noises, while Gear Placer rattled off high-pitched squeals and beeps.

“Wait, whoa… one at a time.” The old woodchuck removed his glasses and grasped the bridge of his nose. “I can understand both of you but not when you talk over each other. Didn’t the interface chips I installed help with translating your machine languages?”

Gear Placer reached a pincer inside an opening in its head and plucked out a small circuit board, which clearly had been overtaxed. The melted wires and burn marks were testament to its overuse and failure. Assembler groaned about its being in a similar condition, but was unable to remove it given its location.

The woodchuck sighed as he examined the ruined electronics. “I suppose that’s what I get for cobbling you all together from different control boards and drivers. I never expected my Widget business to be so complex.”

Walter Woodchuck had built WW Widgets into a local phenomenon. It started as a hobby business, building little devices for himself and his friends in his garage workshop. But word spread about his clever and unique designs, and suddenly customers were sending in requests from as far as Reclusivia. It provided him with a nice retirement income and kept him busy for sure, but he knew he needed help if he was to keep building these devices to his exacting standards.

And Walter was by no means a “people person.” He tried hiring a few Mobian assistants but none lasted very long. He was very particular in how he wanted things done, and few of his hired help was willing (or able) to keep up with his demands. Even his nephew William could only last for short stints in the WW manufacturing area before needing a periodic “sabbatical.”

So Walter decided with the size and scope of his business to move out of the tiny garage and into a “Fabratory” he had built towards the back corner of his property. It was a moderately sized but impressive facility that functioned as a device development lab, a manufacturing floor, a warehouse, and a store front. The store was more of an Automat, with remote payment devices and clear-doored cubbies where his customers could pay for and retrieve their items. It was very rare that any of them met with or even saw Walter… and he liked it that way. There was even a small living space so he could spend as much time as he wanted in his own little world. He would send one of the robots for supplies as needed, and the store owners in town knew Walter was good for payment.

But as with Walter and the outside world, communication among his robots was severely lacking. He built them as the need arose, from Circuit Solderer to Chip Mounter and Metal Stamper to Test Aligner. Their names were childish but functional, as Walter didn’t see the need to personalize his creations, only to have them do their job as they were told. And since they were constructed over time, the parts available to build them varied as did their internal machine languages, resulting in a maddening (to Walter) Production Line of Babel. The robots understood everything Walter told them but little of what the others twittered and beeped. They were still effective in producing wonderful Widgets, but frequently also manufactured a lot of stress for Walter.

Walter turned back to Gear Placer and Assembler, impatiently explaining to each what needed to be fixed on the device they had presented. They both excitedly responded in their own languages and raced off to fix their mistake.

“There has to be an easier way,” the tired woodchuck grumbled. “Maybe if I built another robot, one that could understand all their code and interpret for them… and me…” His voice trailed off as he turned to his drafting table and began drawing up yet another design.

After a few hours of intense thought and technical sketching (and with a few interruptions from the Production floor), he looked at his newest blueprint. “Yes, this should do nicely. I’m sure Oscar has the proper processors, auditory inputs, and servo impellers to make this happen. It will be my most advanced creation yet. I’ll need it to be able to learn, accept and provide feedback, and adapt to our design changes.” His brow furrowed. “This is going to be somewhat expensive, but that latest Widget order from Spagonia should cover the cost. Well worth it.”

He looked over the plans again and leaned back in his chair. Walter crossed his arms, smiled, and relaxed a bit. “Yes, you will be a great help to me… Code Compiler.”

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Evay: Wow, this is amazing! Oh I sincerely hope you do write more! I know I've been neglectful in all of the details of CC's origin. I promise I do have a script written for a comic for her, but I love when you all take the initiative and interpret how you think things went. It's an absolute delight for me 🥰 I really enjoyed this read and I look forward to more. Thank you so much!