Sleepwalker

Unlocked

   "This is ridiculous. Max, let us out," Amber ordered.

   "No can do," the bionic scientist replied without looking away from his holoscreen.

    Amber turned to her team, and they nodded, ready to follow her lead. She crossed her arms. The leader of the Sleepwalkers would not be held back by a half-metal redhead glued to his research.

    "Fine, we'll get out ourselves."

    Max snorted, "Yeah, have fun with that."

    "Are all machines really this difficult?" Diego asked his cousin. Phoenix shrugged.

   "Hey, I'm only half machine," Max countered, finally turning away from the numbers scrolling down his screen.

   The teen smirked. "Could've fooled me. What? Did your human disguise generator stop working halfway through? And there's no way anyone would have that many freckles."

    Max's human eye narrowed, and his still blue mechanical eye whirred slightly. He opened his mouth to argue, but then it morphed into a grin, and he turned back to his screen.

    "Nice try, kid. But you can't bait me that easily. Unlike your friend, my arm can't turn into a cannon at will. And even if it could, I wouldn't waste the energy on you."

    Diego's eyebrows rose in mild respect. "Touche."

   "Still," Phoenix countered, "Aren't you supposed to help us find the stolen mech card? We can't find it if we're all stuck in here."

   "What do you think I've been doing? Nuclear fusion simulations? Please, I've already located your brother's toy," he said, briefly glancing at Amber.

    "Then why aren't we going to get it."

    "Because it's not in card form right now," he replied like it was obvious, "The mech is currently on standby in the Launch's front entrance."

   Cho sat up from her seat on the closest empty table. "Does Ace know it's there?"

   "Undoubtedly, Ms. Tanaka," he answered, "Have some faith in your friend."

   Diego scoffed. "I don't think faith works in this world, Tazzy."

    Max rose an eyebrow at the nickname, but he spoke with a patient tone, "Anything is possible, my friend. I mean, look around." He waved his arms around the room. "Someone designed this entire world without a single holoscreen. Ace was built by someone that remembers the world before. He'll get us there, and then I'll learn about the designer of that world."

   "But no one built that world."

   "Everything comes from something," Max declared resolutely, and an interesting twinkle entered his human eye, "And as the tenth Master Analyst, it my purpose to seek out that something."

    He paused, and the blue in his optic turned red. "But before I can do that, I think we should make sure our friend makes it to his goal."

   "What happened to not letting us out of the room?" Cho asked, though she could guess why he changed his mind, and she smiled.

    "Another thing that is certain," he answered with a grin, "No human, bionic or not, likes being controlled against his will."

   The lab door swished open, and Max led them out of the room.

..........

    Meanwhile, Ace was not having a good day. He kept his eyes locked on Zaman's back as the "doctor" prepared a tray of tools. At the same time, he tested the metal keeping him on the table. He could get out no problem; he just needed to find a way past the suspiciously strong scientist with the effective taser.