We've seen the many journeys of Neas, the Gladiator of Gallifrey, across the Infinite DC. But what about their father, Aznavorian the Tinkerer? What journeys have these men and women led in, around, and outside the lives of Neas? The incarnations of...
Craig bounced back and forth between Skeeta's TARDIS and HAL's "brain room," a red lit area consisting of hundreds of transparent rectangles, each one containing a center of fine-grid wires upon which the information was programmed. Skeeta and Craig each held one end of some jumper cables – or a tool resembling those used on Earth – gripping one alligator clip onto the inner workings of the central console, and the other end onto one of the memory blocks.
After finishing on his end, Craig consulted with Skeeta, "O.K., what next?" But Skeeta didn't respond; instead, he just glared towards one corner of the brain room, deep in thought. Again, Craig beckoned, "Mr. Jenkins?"
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Hearing his name snapped Skeeta out of it. He refocused on Craig, seeing how the boy had been waiting on him. "I'm sorry, son. Lost my head for a second there. What did you ask me?"
"Are you alright?" Craig asked in concern.
"Yeah, I'm good," Skeeta huffed. "I'm just lettin' those two friends of yours get to me." His face twisted in a fury that intimidated Craig more than he already was of this Tinkerer incarnation. "No offense, son, but where do they get off on tellin' me what to do with my own damn ship?!"
Craig trembled and stammered, "M-Maybe they know a little more than you think?"
Skeeta shot Craig a stare that made the 10-year-old stand in attention. "How so?"
"I-I j-just mean that..." Craig struggled to get the words out. Skeeta was far more threatening than either of his parents on a day when he came home with a bad grade. And yet, he respected the Second Tinkerer all the same, because he was a past version of one of his best friends. Swallowing hard and mustering the courage, he told Skeeta, "What if Rania and Mireya were actually your future selves?"
Skeeta glowered. "What?!"
"You asked me earlier who they were and why you couldn't find your future counterpart in the TARDIS we arrived in," Craig recapped. "Well, what if I told you that they are your counterparts?"
Unbeknownst to either of the two, their entire exchange was being observed by Rania from her TARDIS, via a monitor separate from the one where she worked on her hack. She waited patiently for Skeeta to make the connection between his TARDIS and HAL, but this conversation between her distant predecessor and her 10-year-old companion sidetracked the endeavor.
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