Steel Rising

Chapter 31: Offline

*Zap!* *Zap!* *Zap!* "Does it work now?" Asked Tina Persivale while soldering a few connections, which should allow him to at least rotate his neck and an arm.

"The neck works, but the hand is still not working!" Reported the silver skull as he rotated his neck in a clockwise motion.

"Hm... This goes there and that there..." Murmured the six-year-old while thinking out loud and tapping the connections that she had already soldered with her soldering iron. Eventually finding the point of failure she exclaimed happily. "... Ah! This doesn't have a proper connection!"

*Zap!* The little genius soldered the connection before she questioned "What about now?"

"Feels good!..." Exclaimed Percival happily as he swung his left arm. "... One down, three more limbs to go! Good work, shorty!"

"Brrr! I am not a shorty!..." Shouted Tina angrily as she threw her soldering iron onto her workbench and cut its power supply. "... I am just young, that's all!"

"Hey! What are you doing?!..." Insisted the AI-controlled skull, grief-stricken. "...There is still stuff to be done!"

"Yeah, but I'm getting sleepy again!..." the little genius told him as she rubbed her eyes and yawned. "... Auwww!"

And with that, Tina left Persivale behind to take a nap in her bed. Exiting her secret hideout, she called the elevator while cursing her inability to work on projects for an extended amount of time. After all, a six-year-old was still a six-year-old, genius or not.

*Swish!* The elevator doors parted, and she stepped inside, pressing the button for floor 0, aka the bridge.

Having a hard time standing up straight, she watched as the floor numbers changed until eventually, the elevator stopped. *Swish!*

Yet what greeted her was not the comfortable silence of the bridge but the noise of an active construction site with saws cutting wood and steel, hammers striking steel into place, and uncapped wires shooting sparks. Needing a moment to adjust to the noise, Tina was once again wide awake as she watched the three mechanics remodel the entire floor by adding a whole new section of rooms to it.

"Hello, there!..." Ham greeted the little girl as he was the first to spot her at the elevator. "... You must be Tina! Sarah told us that you might be coming around."

"Yes, that's me..." Tina confirmed before she asked curiously. "... What are you working on?"

"Clanker and I are currently hard at work building the new crew quarters..." Answered the friendly mechanic before he pointed at another mechanic sitting on a stool, working on some wires. "... And Main is currently doing the wiring. After all, you would like to have working lights and power outlets in your room, wouldn't you?"

"I guess that would be nice..." Agreed Tina sadly because Sarah and Tellius would surely leave her on Johal VII, with either some family member she had never met or, worse, with the ones that sold her into slavery. "... But I would already be happy with a bed of my own."

Misunderstanding the words of the six-year-old, Ham questioned her, a bit embarrassed. "Ah, yes, about that...Which one was your bedroom? The one to the right of the bridge or the left?"

"The one on the left..." Replied Tina matter-of-factly before she noticed the strangeness of the question itself. "... But why?"

"Phew! Thank the gods almighty as they are!..." Exclaimed Ham, relieved, noticing the girl's piercing gaze. He explained, "... I say this because we've already started with the captain's quarters on the right."

*Boom!* A loud banging sound suddenly reverberated through the air, followed by a man's loud cursing. "Damned!"

"Chief? You all right?" Shouted Ham, concerned for his boss and friend.