I'm putting together a mod to use Mzthlft and Bzuumz. It may never get published, but I can use it.

I added a Dwemer farmhouse near Deep Folk Crossing, that just contains a desk and chair, and an elevator down. The elevator takes you to a small ruin that I cloned from part of Blackreach. Using a resource I found on the Nexus, I added sexbot pods, including one that's fallen over, to an empty room (the original entrance hall, with a wall where the door was) with the idea that Bzuumz is in the one remaining functional one. The majority of the place is blocked off by rubble, so it doesn't need much more done to it, other than a bit of clutter, such as the doors from the other pods in the rubble pile.

I'd also like to put a few pieces of failed bot in the non-functional pods, but that's not easy, as the,automaton 'corpses' lying on shelves in the ruins really are dead automata, and the only parts are the collectable scrap.

I'm now looking for dialog that suits renting Bzuumz from Mzthlft. Bzuumz herself just uses standard follower dialog, so she's no problem. That part is already working in Mzthlft's game.

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Edit: The dialog I need seems to be there. "Let me know if you see anything you like", "Sure thing, it's yours for a day" (no mention of room, so it works for any rental!) and there are a couple more that may not be in all the voices.

I've added a couple of valves, some buttons, and a spear gate. You'll need to power things back up before the door to Bzuumz's pod will open. I'm working on the logic for all that right now. The buttons are a bit complicated, as they have up to four separate scripts in some placements, and I'm still trying to figure out how it all interacts.

The other thing I have to do is freeze Bzuumz in place until you open her pod. Adding a script to her as a quest alias using EnableAI should achieve that. Done!

After looking at the button use by the vanilla game, it turns out that most placements delete the basic scripts and replace with a new one. The controlled item usually has a script that invokes the _Open, and _Close functions for the button covers, and responds to their activation. That allows multiple buttons to operate something like the Oculory, when needed.

I'll just be using three valves to turn on the steam, and then each button opens a pod. Since only one is intact, the others will just let off some steam somewhere.

I revisited this over the weekend as a break from the packaging problems with Conina. I played a little with the pod activation script, but didn't get it finished. Part of the reason is trying to make it a general-purpose one, with this instance providing the properties to link up. That distinction between generic and instance values is tricky, and Bethesda got it wrong most of the time.

I'm also running Bzuumz herself as a player character, restricting her to Dwarven equipment, and her outfit is fixed. To compensate for the limited physical side, I've given her the Absorb Health spells I got from SubRosa and Grits (I combined ideas from multiple mods). She just bought Vlindrel Hall, and became Thane of the Reach.

Now bought Breezehome, too, which means she started the MQ. Probably won't ever climb the 7,000 steps, unless she changes her mind.

I gave up on the idea of making the pod door script generic, and just did it for this case. Found that I had to attach the script to the pod, not the door itself, or the door would open and close with each component activation. I added a gate to the lift upstairs, so you have to make the rental transaction before you can access the lower level. Mzthlft's voice files need a bit of copying work, but she should be able to use existing ones, and not need any new recording. Bzuumz uses only standard follower dialogue.

NPC Bzuumz may need her Combat Style adjusted. She's currently using crUnarmedOnly, which is used by various skooma-addicted road hazards, but may not be sustainable as a follower.

I've given the basic follower mod a few quick starts with Marcel Wave, the Breton, and he's content with her, at low levels anyhow. She may not have the fire-power once the enemies get a bit stronger. I tried getting her to use an offensive spell for ranged, but it seems that NPC's will only switch to a bow if their main is melee. I should make her a pure mage, with spells all the time, and try that option before anything gets released.

I'm trying to decide on a gold value for her services. It needs to be more than renting a room at an inn, but not so high that a starting character can't afford it. With alternative start mods, you could be much closer than Helgen, and there may not be much opportunity before reaching Deep Folk Crossing for collecting gold.

I needed to take a break from ESO Witches Festival, so I did a bit of fiddling with this. I'm adapting some more bits of dwarven bikini armour, so she can cover up (minimally) when she wants to do so. I'm unsure if this will be the PG-rated option at installation, or if I'll add some dialogue, like I did with Conina, to let the player tell her what to wear.

I also would like to find a way to have Mzthlft be an optional companion. I'll have to see what Katria is able to do as a ghost, and see if it gives me ideas. Even if she becomes a non-combat pet, that might be worth doing.

And this is the new, lighter helm. The big, thick crest looked too heavy.

Very nice!

I added some dialogue to let the player tell Bzuumz when to cover up, and now she does. That means I can take screenshots.

Marcel Wave went all the way out to Deep Folk Crossing to fetch her, and took her for a spin.

Marcel discovering her pod
Better lighting

Now I need to package it up, so people can try it. And while I'm doing that, I should probably write up the process. Getting all the parts together for the .bsa file isn't as straightforward as it should be, and the standard process leaves a lot of vital things out.

I also want to use the face I had on my player character version, which was constructed with Racemenu and other mods. Since this is exported as a nif/dds combo it doesn't require any mods to use it. I'll write up that process too, if I remember.

She needs the XPMS skeleton in order to jiggle, and it looks odd if she doesn't, even as a cyborg. That's part of the contrast between the organic and inorganic parts that makes her special.

If anyone would like to beta-test you can download the 0.1 version here (LE-only currently, will convert to SE later).

The usual wiki-style documentation is here..

I usually manage to make some error in the packaging, so look for missing meshes, textures etc. Note that it requires XPMSE skeleton, which probably has requirements of its own (SKSE and FNIS?)

Published as beta on Nexus