Sky peeked out the window of Bugu’s shop when she heard the sound of stomping footsteps coming from the junkyard. Elation filled her when she saw the others had returned, but upon closer inspection, she noticed they had been through the wringer. Kirrik carried Imi in his arms, and the whole group was covered in bruises, scrapes and cuts. They had even managed to bring someone new with them, a towering Kunar whose footsteps were what called her attention to begin with. She turned back toward a napping Nox and Bugu.56Please respect copyright.PENANAsB2hzdVpCG
“They’re here!” She shouted.56Please respect copyright.PENANAURGTvHytdE
Nox’s eyes fluttered open and she rubbed them vigorously. Bugu, on the other hand, jumped from the sudden noise and rolled off of his chair and onto the floor. Nox helped him back up and made her way to the window. 56Please respect copyright.PENANAteMViFiHbf
“They’re looking a little rough,” She commented. “I see they managed to convince Balakus to join them, though.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAIZW9JJDARL
“Is he your contact? The one you mentioned earlier?” Sky inquired. She hadn’t realized how close behind her Nox had gotten. She could smell the faint tinge of spice and oil. 56Please respect copyright.PENANAXdm39SRscU
“Yeah,” Nox confirmed. “I didn’t want to tell you all he was a Kunar before you had a chance to meet him. He’s a great person, just caught up in the wrong side of things.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAXX04Z3j0k2
The group made their way up the stairs and to the door. Kirrik entered first and rushed to the couch to lay Imi down. Diah and Zaius shuffled to the side out of the way, and Balakus struggled to get in.56Please respect copyright.PENANAMkBi98xns9
“What happened?” Sky asked as she dropped down next to Imi. She pooled her energy forward into her hands and crafted the azure waves of her Kanushin. Kirrik put his hand up.56Please respect copyright.PENANAeqFMF1pIKx
“That’s not going to work,” He told her bluntly. “We got ambushed by some members of the Regime. I think one of them may have fried her systems.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAlUjTttCEgs
“Ambushed?” She repeated and looked toward Nox. The latter shrugged her arms in confusion.56Please respect copyright.PENANA32EsZsI1UC
Kirrik looked at Sky with pain and guilt in his eyes. “If you can do anything to help, I’d do anything I could to repay you. Please.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAn3UAFldIml
“Let me look,” She said. Her irises spun and turned red as she switched her vision over to her electronic sensors. She gazed over Imi’s body and kept track of the bursts of energy that fired throughout her. From where she stood, nothing seemed out of place. She moved up and turned Imi’s head.56Please respect copyright.PENANATYqnL0Awnq
“I need you to do me a favor and hold her eyes open,” She instructed Kirrik.56Please respect copyright.PENANAj2JCbzBMkE
He did as she said. “What is this going to do?”56Please respect copyright.PENANAwi80CGFqpu
“I can trace the flow of energy through her body, but there’s no obstruction or destroyed areas. Whatever is causing her trouble is inside her processing unit itself,” Sky answered. “I’m going to have to force my way into her system and unlock things, piece by piece.”56Please respect copyright.PENANACOyY3pEWoG
“Will that hurt her at all?” Zaius asked from behind them. The others all stood closely by. 56Please respect copyright.PENANAyAPpUvIYtJ
“No,” Sky responded. “She’s just not going to like the invasion of privacy.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAmWvk29xnSq
Sky’s eyes locked onto Imi’s and mirrored the neon green color. Both sets of irises spun as Sky forced a connection between her MenXhip and Imi’s central processor.56Please respect copyright.PENANAU8mlelUrmp
The room went black and Sky fell through a portal of darkness into a frozen scene. Imi sat on her knees in the middle of a destroyed lab, head turned toward a man coming through the doorway. The lab seemed blasted apart by some sort of explosion. She moved closer and realized the man was a younger Kirrik.56Please respect copyright.PENANAJEFMkRvO4b
“Imi!” She called out to the frozen android. There was no response. Sky slid past Kirrik and reached a jagged ledge behind him. She looked down and saw the edge of another platform. Her mind ran through the schematics and specs that Imi’s chip had divulged to her back on the Nova. She had a simple, but dangerous, idea and needed to make sure she had preserved all of Imi’s data that she could. Sky took a deep breath and leapt down.
56Please respect copyright.PENANA6uOB3VoXp5
Zaius tapped the side of his arm nervously. Sky had talked often about doing a deep dive on a processor, but never had the opportunity. He questioned if he should have stopped her, or made note of the fact aloud so the others could weigh in.56Please respect copyright.PENANAImYw1riimf
‘What if she gets stuck? Or does something to her own systems?’ He thought.56Please respect copyright.PENANAyMiLcdDNLp
Kirrik held Imi’s eyes open like his own life depended on it. Zaius figured that, in a sense, it did. He couldn’t imagine what he would do if something happened to Diah or Sky. Diah fidgeted with the wristband beside him. Pieces of his shirt were wrapped around her arm in an attempt to tourniquet the gash that Areshia had given her. His thoughts ran through what she had told him about their fight.56Please respect copyright.PENANA6hZqHLYrqV
“Do you really think Areshia is dead?” Zaius whispered to Diah. She scooted closer.56Please respect copyright.PENANAK35XsrFKAB
“I don’t see how anyone survives a fall into a bunch of gnashing machines and survives,” Diah replied. “I don’t think you have to worry. You or Kirrik.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAg31mEygKsL
Zaius grimaced at the image Diah had placed in his mind. Areshia was a horrible person, yet no one deserved to meet the end that she did. He didn’t know if he could feel any relief from her death either. There was always someone ready and waiting to fill the power vacuum. He pointed at Kirrik.56Please respect copyright.PENANAHg7eE4UYWV
“Do you think he’s handling it alright? I’m sure they at least had some good memories together, right?”56Please respect copyright.PENANAZ9cfkmC1Gc
“Zaius,” Diah said firmly. She interlaced her fingers with his and gave his hand a squeeze. “She’s gone, okay? She’s gone.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAqCXM06frzj
Zaius could tell from the stress in her voice to drop the subject. He was sure she had mixed emotions about taking her out, just as he did. He squeezed her hand back to let her know he was there for her. She rested her head on his shoulder.56Please respect copyright.PENANAlNaLFBXb5V
Sky fell back with a heavy gasp, as if she had been holding her breath the entire time. Nox moved quickly to check on her. Kirrik let go of Imi’s eyelids and stretched his fingers.56Please respect copyright.PENANAi3IQZpQMpU
“What did you find?” He questioned.56Please respect copyright.PENANA97rxJYDKkM
Sky breathed in heavily before she responded. “There’s a web of weird Kanutic energy somehow shrouding her. It’s keeping her from processing anything and she’s essentially frozen in there. I dove as far down and through as many layers of her mind as I could, but it’s all the same. Everything in there is already encoded to her MenXhip except for something I found at the very bottom.”56Please respect copyright.PENANARcskm9kS4F
“What’s that?” Kirrik asked in response.56Please respect copyright.PENANAT22nDg2DfU
“Something about an ‘Aether Jump’ project. Do you know anything?”56Please respect copyright.PENANA3fAHH4l0eq
“Never heard of it, honestly.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAKkxXGz06mJ
Sky looked at the others. “Well whatever it was, that energy in her mind copied it and relayed it out. To where, I don’t know.”56Please respect copyright.PENANArSbslqgkVo
Zaius felt relieved that Sky seemed to be doing well. He would have to ask Sky what the experience was like when they had more time. Diah released his hand and stepped forward.56Please respect copyright.PENANA7o4AadIR9K
“Could it have been sent to this?” Diah inquired and lifted the wristband. “If Rhessian was the one that put her under, it makes sense for the information to come back to his wristband, right?”56Please respect copyright.PENANAhHyG036C2C
Sky stood and Diah tossed her the band. 56Please respect copyright.PENANAsoZFgs4s7w
“I told the others that this is the way the Regime communicates,” Balakus added in. “That right there holds a ton of information just waiting to be cracked open.”
Sky gave a sly smile. “Then I know what I need to do.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAcbErDOpXaa
“Everybody, just hold the hell up,” Kirrik bristled. “How does any of this help Imi? How do we get her back?”56Please respect copyright.PENANAlzFGNj0ZXW
Ziaus watched as Sky knelt down to meet Kirrik and put her hand on his shoulder. He could tell Kirrik was frustrated. Sky, however, was an expert in getting people to mellow out. 56Please respect copyright.PENANAQO7NytGLuP
“I know what we need to do to get her back, but I need your approval first,” Sky informed Kirrik. He affirmed and she continued. “We need to purge Imi’s systems. I mean a genuine, full-force purge. If we do that, it should overheat her entire frame and burn out whatever is left of that Kanushin inside of her. After that, we’ll need to reinstall her MenXhip and reset everything. The whole process could take anywhere from an hour to a week. There’s no way of knowing. Honestly, it’s up to her.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAiw4k42lFaI
“Sky, are you able to trigger a purge?” Zaius piped in. He noticed the look of hesitation on her face, as did Kirrik. 56Please respect copyright.PENANAWB0v1d9QvS
“Imi would need to be the one to trigger it. Think of it like a voice lock on a security system. Imi can’t do it and I’m not able to do much past breaking down code and opening doors. So…”56Please respect copyright.PENANAyn7yz6bOrf
She looked up towards Nox.56Please respect copyright.PENANA2N1FjJNma7
“I need someone that can speak to the systems as they were Imi herself.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAKKoFvF0xW2
Nox held up her hands in panic. “You want me to do what?”56Please respect copyright.PENANABypGe4shQ3
Kirrik popped up and stared them both down. “Now hold on a second. You want this sniveling little scrap rat to play around in my best friend’s head?”56Please respect copyright.PENANAUlwlWSozQW
Nox’s face turned scarlet and she moved forward, ready to respond, when Sky stepped between them. She pressed her finger deep into Kirrik’s chest. Zaius prepped himself to step in as well in case things went sideways.56Please respect copyright.PENANAAGsd7SP3nj
“Kirrik Ishlan, you listen and you listen well,” Sky stated in a surprisingly stern tone. Her intense gaze threatened to burn through Kirrik. “I know what I’m talking about, and I’m already asking for a lot. You gave your approval, so sit down, shut up and let your sister help!”56Please respect copyright.PENANAy6abO7V67p
Zaius felt the tension in the air elevate rapidly. He expected Kirrik to lash out, yell, or maybe even throw things around in frustration. Kirrik relaxed his shoulders and ground his teeth instead. “Do what you have to.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAbGiyNkflSo
Bugu chuckled from the couch against the other end of the wall. Zaius had forgotten the old Terric was even there. “Ah, to be young and all that comes with it.”
Sky swiveled around to Nox and held both of her hands up. The mechanic turned a different shade of red. 56Please respect copyright.PENANAwWawalGCEV
“I know you can do it,” Sky reassured her. “Take your time and know that I’m here too.”56Please respect copyright.PENANA4xHaluUBA8
Nox closed her eyes and pursed her lips. When she opened them, her expression shifted from unsure to serious. She knelt next to Imi and placed her hands on Imi’s stomach. Yellow particles coursed out of her palms and trickled over the unconscious android. Kirrik sat down quietly next to both of them and watched.56Please respect copyright.PENANAUOWs8kgjUm
“While she does that, let’s see what we can do about this,” Sky said and held out the wristband. Her eyes changed into a familiar orange. “Just give me a moment to unlock all of these firewalls.”56Please respect copyright.PENANA45bqKNpOyl
Zaius gave Diah a soft smile that she returned and then looked around for Balakus. The Kunar had moved to sit silently by the window. Zaius wasn’t sure how someone so big was able to mask their movement so well. 56Please respect copyright.PENANAYv6unHRVtn
“I don’t know if we ever really said thanks for helping us out,” Zaius noted to Balakus. 56Please respect copyright.PENANAC6IrqgnZWB
The Kunar rolled his shoulders and gestured over to Diah. “You should be thanking her,” He said. “She was right. I can’t let the Regime take control of Atania. There’s too much at stake. Too many lives involved. It all made sense, even if I didn’t want to acknowledge it at the time. How are you holding up over there, Queenslayer?”56Please respect copyright.PENANAZ1VkcjbVzp
Diah stepped in to join the two. “Queenslayer? Where’d you get that from?”56Please respect copyright.PENANAQeWKeSUXvc
“Back in my unit, we used to always give each other nicknames based on the biggest, most brutal thing we’ve taken down. You took out the Queen of the Underside, didn’t you?”56Please respect copyright.PENANAEeZiR6GswP
Diah paused and looked at her arm. “Yeah, but she banged me up a little.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAy4atDdDeSn
Balakus let out a low, slow rumble of a laugh. “You make sure you stay on her good side,” He advised Zaius. “She’s a talker and a fighter. That’s the most deadly combo of them all.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAObFDcjFc6t
Zaius looked at Diah and soaked the moment in. A familiar warmth filled his stomach. Diah met his eyes and Zaius found himself lost inside her captivating gaze once again. 56Please respect copyright.PENANAuMZj2Xi9K2
“She is pretty awesome, isn’t she?”
56Please respect copyright.PENANAoay4o1j7jW
Kirrik tried to quell the anger burning within him. He didn’t understand why he still felt it, if he had to be honest with himself. None of the others had done anything but try to help out, and the one responsible for putting Imi in her current state was wasting away back at the factory. He desperately wanted to put his hand on Imi’s head as a gesture of comfort, but the fear of interfering with Nox’s Kanushin kept him from doing so. 56Please respect copyright.PENANA8NrHHAf2KV
“I’m guessing Bugu took you in too,” Nox said suddenly. Her eyes were still focused on Imi’s body.56Please respect copyright.PENANAyZDrvVvC9z
“Shouldn’t you be quiet and focused on helping her out?” Kirrik growled.56Please respect copyright.PENANAHOfwyAmdbE
“Whatever,” Nox snapped back. “I’m perfectly capable of multitasking. Excuse me for trying to make conversation instead of letting you sit there and stare like a creep.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAbiqNFixFYg
Kirrik opened his mouth to retort, then realized that it wouldn’t get them anywhere. He needed Nox’s help, even if he didn’t care for the loudmouthed brat at the moment. Imi was more important than his own pride. She always was.56Please respect copyright.PENANARXzxZnXs5w
“Bugu took me in when I was around ten,” Kirrik divulged softly. “I lost most of my family in a fire and ended up here in Elontra. The Nova is my father’s old ship.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAYU10WtjeG1
“I don’t care,” Nox seethed. 56Please respect copyright.PENANAUSRsCNf1V3
Nox’s response stung, but Kirrik knew he was in the wrong. “Hey, I’m sorry, alright? I’m just worried about Imi.”56Please respect copyright.PENANA7jiwiVvlkG
“You can be worried. That’s understandable,” Nox replied. “It still doesn’t give you the excuse to be an ass. That said, I accept your apology.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAtaXFk8GigF
‘This kid is really trying to drive me insane, isn’t she?’ Kirrik questioned internally. ‘What did I ever do to deserve this?’56Please respect copyright.PENANAswH5h2rz6t
The image of Areshia quickly overlaid Imi’s body and a different type of pain began to fill Kirrik’s heart. He held back tears. There would be a time to deal with the emotions that she had left him with and a time to mourn. The Ixr had done a lot to him over their time together, but she had done a lot for him as well. Neither one of them were the same people they had been when they first met. He remembered her beautiful smile and the way her bangs would fall in front of her face when they were together. A part of him longed for another moment when he could sweep them away from her face, caress her untattooed red skin and press his lips against hers. Maybe he hadn’t done enough to stop her from falling down the wrong path. Maybe there was never much he could do to begin with. 56Please respect copyright.PENANA7tUwxyQy3T
He studied Imi’s face. Over their time together, she had managed to fill most of the void that Areshia had left on his heart. Whether it was a romantic type of love or a friendly one, he was still unsure. He had his soul crushed once before. He didn’t know if he could open himself up to that possibility again.56Please respect copyright.PENANAPF5VnXiozg
“You would think after a lifetime full of fighting for our lives, I would have learned to stop worrying,” Kirrik told Nox. He didn’t expect her to listen or to care. He just needed a moment to vent. “I know she’s an android. I know that she can be fixed. Her injuries still get to me. Every time. If she was Human, I would’ve lost her a long time ago. Something about that is comforting, in a sense. But I never expected to see her like this. To feel like she might not make it back from this one. I’m the one that’s supposed to be constantly reminded of my own mortality. Not her.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAylkX4nlXlv
“That just means you care,” Nox responded, much to Kirrik’s surprise. She removed her hands and stood up. “Stop looking so sullen. I’ve finished talking to her systems, so her purge should start any moment now. She’s going to get really hot, really fast. After that, if what Sky said is right, we should be able to reboot her and bring her back to her normal self.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAWOUw0wL1Jn
Kirrik looked down at his hands and placed one on Imi’s head. He felt the bristles of her hair rub against the bottom of his arm. It felt right. Being with Imi was the only thing that made sense in his rollercoaster of a life. It was what kept him sane. The heat in her forehead began to increase. Kirrik started to thank Nox, but she had already made her way back to Sky’s side.56Please respect copyright.PENANACzARk9HuLE
The Uvari blinked and looked around at everyone. The wristband beeped twice and projected a holographic screen above itself.56Please respect copyright.PENANAEaLrHwUOvK
“There’s so much on here,” Sky said hurriedly as she swiped through countless files. “Ship schematics, base locations, operation reports. It’s a whole library full of Kunar secrets!”56Please respect copyright.PENANABWBTNATdv3
The wristband beeped again. Sky looked down at it in confusion. It started to smoke in her hand.56Please respect copyright.PENANA3FNY32rumL
“You made sure to remove the emergency retrieval protocol before you opened any files right?” Balakus inquired. 56Please respect copyright.PENANAgFwgSO4DnS
“Wait, what? No. No!” Sky cried out as the wristband melted down into a tar-like ooze across her fingers. She flicked it to the ground and cursed. 56Please respect copyright.PENANA6EVFH0LX17
“The melt can only be triggered manually,” Balakus informed the group. “That means that as soon as you got into that thing, it sent a signal back to the Regime. Everything Rhessian had is theirs now.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAkYwX48qGOD
“Does that signal mark locations?” Diah asked in return. “Can they find us here?”56Please respect copyright.PENANAtMoXIrnjOd
“Most likely not,” Balakus offered. “They wouldn’t care to retrieve a dead body and a melted band. That would mean facing their failures. As long as they have the information, that’s all they need.”56Please respect copyright.PENANArlf7bawjeP
“Everyone, I have to tell you what else I found,” Sky interrupted. She seemed agitated. “The Regime and their Reclaiments are planning on attacking the High Prime!”56Please respect copyright.PENANASeSjTzjMkJ
Diah stuck her hands out and gestured for Sky to calm down. “We know, Sky. Balakus told us about that before we went to the factory. They were shipping out mass units of Zanathum.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAmK8cKNoG1v
“Right, they need the Zanathum to create two fleets worth of ships,” Sky added. “That ensures they don’t have to divert what resources they currently have across two locations.”56Please respect copyright.PENANAY9NcWZBH9p
“Hang on, two locations?” Kirrik asked. “We only know about the High Prime.”56Please respect copyright.PENANARLWZcGia5Z
Sky looked at Kirrik, then panned over to Diah. “So you don’t know about the attack on Vensha?”56Please respect copyright.PENANAdBjNit0Jvg
Diah’s face paled. “What do you mean an attack on Vensha?”
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