The Atlas is making the putt-putt-kchhhkk noise that means something's wrong, and Flux is busy grumbling in frustration while examining the jump wires. To be honest, Flux's been grumbling in frustration since Yuri and Rittenhouse discovered their mutual fandom of Star Odyssey and spent all night locked in a heated debate over its ending.

"Ugh," Flux says, rooting through the driveblock with her tentacles. "This is gonna take, like, half a day minimum to fix."

"Anything we can do to help?" Yuri offers. "We can get parts for you, there's a market nearby..."

"To be honest, it'd go faster if you both went to find the object. S'not like all three of us need to get in the skimmer anyway." Flux waves them off, spanner in tentacle.

[We can wait for you. By the way, Yuri, I've been meaning to talk to you about the Star Odyssey remake--]

"Please," Flux says, morphing her jaw so she can grit her teeth harder. "Let me work."

Despite Flux's absence, Yuri and Rittenhouse somehow manage to rent the cheapest waterskimmer available, get it operational, and jury-rig the waterproof scanner to its hull. The coordinates of the object indicate that it's somewhere in the murky, coffee-brown river.

Halfway along the route, the skimmer stops working.

After ten minutes of grappling with the engine, both Yuri and Rittenhouse agree they should probably message Flux.

[fluxxx] what is it? i'm buying parts before the market closes
[yuriL] The skimmer stopped working in the middle of the river
[yuriL] It's an Aquila LX1210P
[fluxxx] do you know how to access the control panel for a factory reset
[yuriL] Is there another way? I don't want to risk bricking it
[fluxxx] ok fine hold on
[fluxxx] most older aquilas have manual mode, dial the power consumption waaaaaay down and it should autoconvert
[fluxxx] probably, anyway. if you tip over sorry in advance
[fluxxx] brb bargaining, the prices here are ridiculous

Yuri cuts the engine's power and turns off most of the skimmer's subsystems, leaving the scanner on. Oars slide out from both sides of the skimmer, and both of them suddenly realise what "manual mode" means.

"Okay," Yuri says, staring at the left oar like it's a large centipede. "I should probably know this, but Rittenhouse--how waterproof are you? You know. Just in case."

[My base model, the Alexandar Systems RH-745, can tolerate sustained immersion in non-reactive liquids, is impact resistant, and also has been proven to be able to withstand hard vacuum for up to twenty minutes.] Rittenhouse pauses. [I'd prefer not to experience any of those today.]

"Let's hope we're good at rowing, then."

After a period of trial-and-error and hastily consulting tutorials on the infoweb, both of them settle into a steady rhythm that doesn't rock the skimmer too much.

"So. What do you think this object will be?"

[It is likely to be something relevant to its immediate environment, with a recording about a related experience. It will likely be similar to the others in the series.]

"Rittenhouse," Yuri says. "I might not have spent five years serving in the army with you, but I spent all of last night listening to your bonkers theories about how Star Odyssey should have ended, and I can tell when you're pretending to be Mr Emotionless Robot Beep Beep Boop. What do you think this object will be?"

[All right. By request, I'll venture into the realm of conjecture. Perhaps a carving of something that was once present in Earth's rivers? The attached vocal recording might be about the speaker traversing across a river, perhaps in a powered vessel.]

"I'm hoping it's got details about Earthian animals--I've been listening to that one about the 'aquarium', and I couldn't even imagine some of that stuff." A pause. "Oh, by the way...I've been meaning to ask you, but isn't there some big antique fair on PX-165 this weekend? Are you missing it for this?"

[Yes, the Annual Multi-System Antiques and Collectors Fair is currently occurring.]

"Oh no, Rittenhouse, I'm so sorry."

[As an expert in antique analysis and evaluation, taking part in this excursion was a logical course of action, allowing me to use my programmed abilities to the fullest. There is no need to apologise for my decision to maximise my utility.]

Yuri takes a deep breath. "Let's put this another way: I really appreciate you coming along on this wacky treasure hunt instead of examining antiques on PX-165. Also, are you interested in going for the immersive remake of Star Odyssey whenever it's out? Think it's released stationside next month or something."

[Spending money on a ticket for first-run immersive cinema is illogical. As a robot, my sensory experience would be significantly limited as compared to other audience members.]

"Okay, that makes sense," Yuri says. "But what would you do if an illogical human bought you a premiere ticket at the fancy cinema, just so she'd have someone to watch Star Odyssey with?"

Rittenhouse's oar stops in the water.

The scanner beeps.