Prelude (Part B) - Fort Ohm, First Morning

As Collie notices that it is a cog that called them to wake up, she jumps out of bed and runs up to Coppertop 5 before it can get away too far. Without any hesitation or coyness, she inspects the machine before even saying a word to the other recruits. She'll have the opportunity to get to know them later.

Vivian wakes up groggily then noticing the glint of a metal form she reaches under her pillow and then curses.
Then seeing Miss Welles run after the thing.

"What are you doing ?" then things get more clear when there are no alarms raised and no harm came to Miss Welles. "Must be a Babbage bot."

Looking around, "Morning Yall."

"Fascinating!", Collie mutters, ignoring the cog's wish to move forward. "Say, would you mind if I took you apart later? Just to see how you're running. I'll definitely put you back together afterwards, don't worry. There's no doubt in my mind you would be just the same as before, possibly even better", she speaks to the machine quickly as she is blocking its way.

Master Calvin
Collie makes sure to remember the name. She will have to talk to him later. It sounds like he might be her key to understanding this strange new Tesla technology that she just has to get her hands on.
She steps aside and gestures for the cog to move past. Then she returns to the others. "Come on, wake up, everybody", she calls out. "Nobody has ever changed the world in their sleep!"
She grabs the pile of clothes she threw on the ground next to her cot the previous evening and heads to the women's washroom to get dressed.

Is already washing up and brought a change of clothes less flashy but definitely stylish.

The sound of voices pulls Roland away from a surprisingly restful slumber. Upon awakening he groggily stretches out and lifts his heavy head off the pillow to greet the day. He immediately notices the source of the voices coming from a rather curious woman and a brassy clad robot gentleman Roland can only assume is one of those European-American service bots they've dubbed "Cogs". Roland has never been entirely uneasy around their kind but is still a little distrustful of the idea.

As his senses are regained from slumber slowly he notices the curious woman attempt to raise everyone from their beds with a wake up cry and head off to the washrooms. With the last bit of awakedness reaching his body he gives one last yawn and stretch and lets out a "GOOOOOOOD MORNIN'!" He cracks the last bit of morning fatigue out of every last joint and says "Time to get this show on the road." He then begins to get ready and unpacks his things from his locker. The first of which is the tiniest orange tabby kitten, tinier still compared to Rolands stature, which he gives a morning snuggle to before it climbs itself onto his shoulder. "Mornin' Oliver." He mutters to the kitten before continuing to prepare for the day.

Doc Murph wakes and takes a leisurely stretch, noting the Cog with a bemused grin. Not sure what I expected, but I'm not surprised the Rangers have a few cogs in the auxiliary. He thinks to himself. He watches Collie run after Coppertop and cocks his head, Looks like at least one of the folks takes after my own heart.

He stands, pulls on trousers over the long underwear he slept in, stretching suspenders over his shoulders before walking after Collie just in time to see Coppertop begging her leave.

"Fascinating machines, aren't they?" He says from behind Collie, waiting for her to turn before holding a hand out in greeting, "Pleased to meet you. Dr. Gregory Murphy, but you can call me Doc Murph. I'm guessing you're as fascinated with Mr. Tesla's technology as I am"

Collie, who now that her initial enthusiasm at the machine that drove her out of bed has died down a bit, suddenly feels the pain in her bad leg again. Luckily for her, she slept in her leg brace, just to be prepared for an emergency in the night. Otherwise, she would have collapsed the second she jumped out of bed.
She shifts her weight to relieve her bad leg and shakes the man's hand. "Nicolette Welles, yes, the daughter of that Nicolas Welles." She says that name as if Murph should know it. "Call me Collie for short. Everyone does."
A smug smile appears on her face. "I'm an engineer. Haven't had a chance to really inspect the Serbian's tech but I bet you, I'll have it figured out in no time!"

Monte looks at the cog with disdain. The life of a trapper is a largely solitary one, and the denizens of the profession often go great lengths of days, weeks ,or even months without seeing a single living soul; an arrangement good for everyone given the trapper's inherent meanness and poor people skills. Stumbling upon a humanoid machine deep in the woods is as unlikely as finding a ten foot tall beaver.

The bulk of Monte's exposure to machines of this nature were encounters with them while in Philadelphia negotiating pelt prices with tight-fisted fur trading company men and then in armed conflict with their larger, nastier cousins, who have now taken over all lands west of the mississippi, and who are currently interfering with his ability to return to his territory to begin profiting from the fine prices he finally negotiated.

Monte dresses and begins walking, hoping to find the mess hall, passing those admiring the machine without a word and giving Coppertop a nasty sneer, hawking a wad of spit at its feet as it passes.

John wakes and rubs the sleep from his eyes. Was that a...? He sighs and gets dressed, heading to the mess hall. Along the way, he takes out a hand-rolled cigarette and strikes a match to ignite it. Arriving at the mess hall, he takes a long drag and enters the facility. Seeing other recruits, he takes an empty seat and continues smoking his cigarette. "Morning, all. John Gregory's my name, up from Nawlins to sign up for the Rangers.

Doc watches Monte pass by and spit at the feet of coppertop, raising a quizzical eyebrow at the rough-hided man's disdain and casting a look at Collie. "Quite pleased to meet you, Collie. I'll admit that while your father's name rings a bell, I'm at a loss to tell you his significance. This Coppertopo fellow, on the other hand might be a bit of a red herring, if you see my point. Mr. Tesla's developed a fantastic technology, inspiring charlatans, counterfits, and pretenders galore. I do believe this Cog may be designed by just such a person. I doubt he's got a single spring of Tesla's design in his entire chassis!"

Doc will wait for Collie's reply before heading to the mess hall and hearing John's introduction.