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Sandy Cheeks’ terradome was a perfect 78 degrees fahrenheit that was always slightly humid, mostly just enough to keep her fur nice and soft. All of this, of course, didn’t matter to Karen, who only knew that the ground she rolled over was slightly easier than the wet sandy terrain outside of it. At least in the glass dome, she didn’t sink down too much into the grass.
Today was the day she was to try transferring to the walking suit Sandy had designed and created for her. During a Gal Pals night out, Karen had mentioned that moving in the sand was a little uncomfortable due to the wheels. Sandy offered to make her something that she could walk in that didn’t have much of a resistance to their environment.
“It’s right over here, if you wanna take a look at it before we hook you up.” Sandy led the computer around a tree to a table that held a metal exoskeleton. There were two wires leading from the open hatch of the “head” of the model and Karen looked at the rest of it.
During the design phase, Sandy had asked all sorts of questions about what Karen wanted to look like and finally seeing it come together was like a dream come true. Karen's ambulatory design had black, chin length hair and a cute dress that stopped at her knees. The face was still just a blank screen that allowed her to still share her own expressions. It was the perfect blend of who she was now and who she felt she looked like in her own mind.
“Sandy, this is beautiful!” Karen reached a hand out to hold the metal skeleton’s, feeling her wires heat up with excitement.
“Whenever yer ready, we’ll hook you up and transfer ya! Take the time you need though, I know the change can be startling.”
“I’m ready now.” Karen assured the scientist.
“Alrighty then, come closer to the head and I’ll hook ya up.” Sandy bent over and picked up the ends of the cords running from the skeleton’s head. “Do I have yer permission to touch ya?”
“Of course you do.” Karen laughed. Her wheels stopped at the top of the table and she faced away from it. She felt Sandy’s paws lightly graze the back of her screen and she suppressed a shorting circuit. There was something soft in how Sandy was moving her panel aside and fingering around for the right jack. It was beyond anything Karen had felt with Sheldon. She felt the first connection happen and then a second. Sandy pulled her paws away.
“So, what I’m gonna do is plug in the skeleton and whenever yeh’re ready, ya should be able to transfer just like ya do to your mainframe. Sound good?” Sandy went to the feet where a power cord laid and picked it up. She pulled out a portable generator from under the table and waited.
“Let’s do it!” Karen offered a smile, nerves starting to creep in. There was a chance that when she tries to upload herself to the skeleton, something happens and then she’d be reset a couple days back. In all honesty, it’s not pleasant losing a couple days, but there was nothing monumental, so there was no harm, really.
Sandy plugs the power cord into the generator and Karen feels the electricity start coursing its way through the body. It was just a short jump from one screen to another, it was safe.
Karen was scared.
“This is going to sound quite silly, but could you maybe…hold my hand?” She asked the squirrel. Sandy set the generator on the table between the feet and came over to the rolling computer.
“Of course, I get that it’s scary, I mean, why I can’t even consider uploadin’ my conscience to space fer a second. It’s a cool thing you can do.” Sandy’s southern drawl sounds like honey to Karen’s microphone as she takes the robot’s hand in a firm grasp. Karen takes another moment, allowing her circuits to settle and then makes the jump.
She chased the light of electricity through the wires attached to her back panel and pushed forward toward the other side. It wasn’t until she was looking up at sunlight filtering through green leaves did she realize that she had made it. She completed the first transfer to this new body.
“I’m here.” She said aloud, her new voice smoother than the other one. Sandy was at her side in seconds.
“Let's stand ya up and get you oriented with the new system!”
She helped Karen sit up on the table, a hand resting on the small of her back, and she offered her other hand to help the robot get off the table. Upon landing on her feet, Karen noticed that her vision was farther than she had previously. She could see through the glass and far enough into town to see some pedestrians pass by the Chum Bucket. She became aware of her different joints. Her arms were more rigid than she was used to, but she was also able to lift a leg.
“I'm gonna have a couple tests fer ya to make sure everything's running right, but take a couple steps to start. All ya gotta do is lift yer leg at the hip, bend yer knee a lil’ bit and then lean forward” Sandy kept the hand on Karen's back in place and held her other one for balance. Karen followed the directions given to her and wobbled a little bit as she took her first steps.
“Perfect! Let's keep goin’ on it, I wanna make sure ya can walk by yerself.” Sandy unplugged the two cords connecting Karen to her old body and dropped them in the grass.
The two spent the next couple hours teaching Karen the basics of moving as a bipedal being. By the end, Karen was walking on her own, albeit a little wobbly and she had to keep her hands out slightly to keep her balance, but she was doing it.
“Last thing I need ta do is close the panel that those wires were comin’ out of.” Sandy said, patting the table. A soldering iron was sat next to her, starting to get hot. Karen sat down awkwardly on the table.
“Can ya lie on yer stomach? I need the back of yer head.” Sandy laughed. It took a bit of fumbling but Karen managed to get on her stomach and laid her screen flat on the table. Sandy's paws were gentle as they opened the panel.
“Ah shoot.” She heard Sandy mutter. That was never good.
“Ah, I'm sorry Karen, but some wires got moved around in here and I don’ think it'd be safe to leave ‘em as they are. I gotta get my hand in here and move ‘em around. Feel free to go back to the old body if ya want, it should be quick.” Sandy offered and Karen considered it for just a moment.
“If it's a quick fix, I don't mind staying here.” The robot said against the table.
“If yer sure, it might get uncomfortable.” Sandy hesitated.
“I've had Sheldon in my wires before, I'm used to the feeling.” Karen didn't realize how that sounded until after it came out of her mouth and she felt a fizzle behind her eye at the embarrassment. Sandy didn't respond but Karen could feel her shift above her, paws sliding closer to the opening on her head. If Karen could swallow, she imagined she'd be doing it profusely at this moment. The anticipation was always worse than the actual act of her wires being manhandled. Sandy brushed against the first one and Karen's fingers twitched.
“Sorry, I'm tryin’ to be quick abou’ it.” Sandy whispered, close to the robot's sensor in her neck that she felt the exhale. Her hands were gentler than Sheldon's and her movements were more careful, as if afraid she could accidentally pull something out that shouldn't have been pulled on. There was a little bit more of Sandy fingering around in the panel until she pulled back with a sigh.
“There we go. I'm all done, let's close ya up.”
Karen heard the panel latch shut and the soldering iron start up. It was silent as Sandy worked and afterwards, she helped Karen stand up again.
“Well, I hope you enjoy your new body! If anything's ever wrong with it, feel free to come back by and I'll fix ya up.” Sandy waved Karen off and then shut the door of her terradome before leaning against it, breathing heavily. Being inside Karen was something she'd been dreaming of for weeks.