h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Would a claw trimming do?

*extracts claw trimmer from left battle welly*

Sure, Amy, that would be fine.

*Unscrews a small cap under the right wing.*

Just put it in here. By the way, if you want anyone else to be recognised as a friend, just put, um, you know, a piece of them in here.

*puts clipping in the receptacle provided*

Lil, could you provide a... ahem... sample?

*sits down to make a list of other entities from whom she must collect samples*

Has anyone seen Styx recently?

*winces as she pulls a hair from her head, twirls and ties it into a loop and passes it over*

Is there a way for Amy to program that part of it so that she can make it friendly to entities that aren't here?

Unfortunately, no. However, the Gleet Biol-Filter can easily be turned off by anyone who is already recognized by it. All you have to do is push this button here, located dangerously close to the orange button. Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Now, we'll have to show you how some of the new stuff works.

For instance, the Infinite Capacity Saddlebag here looks pretty small, eh? But when you open the flap, you can stretch the opening like this, so that the opening will accept very large objects. You can climb right inside, if you really wanted to.

And this knob here is the control for the snowzar force field. You can set the snowzar from a mere 1 post freeze to full permafrost. Anyone coming in contact with the force field will be frozen for the time corresponding to your setting. Although, since the bot is fairly small, the effects may be just local for large, um, intruders. You know, just a frozen foot or leg rather than the whole creature.

The stinger here can be deployed in a couple of ways. You can set this dial here to various pressure settings. When the pressure on the force field is exceeded, the stinger extends in the direction of where the pressure is being applied. That's the "automatic" setting and is meant to be used with the snowzar force field. The other setting is "manual". When it is on that setting, you control it with this joystick here. Just use the joystick to aim it, and press the joystick button to extend it.

There's the hook you ordered, and the auxillary power system is activate by this switch here on the underbelly.

Now be careful when you take it up for the first time. We've boosted the power and you may be surprised by the response. Don't forget that we want to film you, once you get used to it again.

*Brushes off hands and looks pointedly at his watch. Grins at Lil.*

There, that didn't take too long now, did it?

*Sending some instructions to the Crater's outside security cameras*

That's a lot to take in.

*looks confused*

What happens if I press this orange button?

*presses orange button*

*The DragonFlyBot disappears and a few seconds later reappears on the other side of the room.*

Ooooooo, cool!

Yes, I mean, well...

I wouldn't recommend pressing the orange button. It normally activates experimental systems and the results are unpredictable.

*Nudges Affy*


Did you see that? Where's the schematics for this thing...

Very cool .



May I take it for a flight test now?

*red eyes glow Styx appearing from under table*

Who broke dragonfly? Boffins fix it better?
*jumping on table*
sniff sniff

Styx, don't touch it! It's armed! *looks around* Or is it?

*jumping back*
Wah!
*red eyes glow cautious*

*Pulls out the schematics and looks them over*

Hmmm, that could've been because of the bit of warp coil that we installed in its primary transformer....or maybe the Snowzar Shield became extremely focussed on one point in the space/time continuum, thus causing time to effectively freeze for a moment with only the bot being immune.

Or it's just a bit of freak tunneling. I'm not sure. Amy, it's probably okay for a test drive outside. Just don't mind the outer security cameras. Oh, and remember: smile!

Oh, hey Styx. Nice to see you here. You want Styx to be recognized by the Gleet Bio-Filter?

*jumps down, swings on one of Styx's whiskers and snips off its end*

I put it in here right? *puts whisker into the DragonFLYbot*

Now let's see what she can do.

*head rotating round and round as she watches Amy's aerobatics*

Ooooooooh!

*lands back in the lobby*



Yes, very good. Much nippier than before and she feels much more stable when upsidedown.

Do you take credit cards?

Of course we do. However, that won't be necessary.

*Affy pulls a tape out of a large machine that somewhat resembles a tire labelled "Decoder Ring." He pulls some labels out of a compartment in the Decoder Ring and begins affixing them to the tape*

This video tape will more than pay for it if you'll sign these papers allowing us to use it in future commercials.

*is admiring the unusual hologram on Amy's credit card*

The Formic Bank?

*reads the papers carefully before signing on the dotted line*