Jar of Magic

Girl of the Mask ~ Chapter 2

The next morning, I could clearly tell that the woman had been struggling with something, and some of the pods were damaged. My sensors weren't quite up yet, so I stood and waited before I could move again. I thought of the girl in the pod next to mine. I wondered what had caused the damage. Maybe she tried to move before everything calibrated. Maybe she did the act on purpose, or it was just an animal attacking the battery, and moved the area. The booth did look in quite dismay, so the last idea was a great probability.

"Your awake, good. Your update was completed, then the power was directed to the recharge, I'm afraid the recharge will take longer than usual to day. The power is down, so we will have to run on the generators, don't be afraid, it should be back soon."

What caused the power to go out? A simple animal couldn't do that much damage to the booth. Was it a Droid that caused it? A powerful one at that. The needed energy to cause that much damage to down the power, is close to my own. If I had a breakdown in the middle of the update, then that would explain why the pods had damage, and why the woman was beat. I never thought I could do that much damage, these pods are designed so that if one of the girls had a breakdown, they couldn't escape.

"Miss, how long has the power been out?"

She didn't respond, and I sensed no vital signs. I began to wonder if she was about to be replaced, and had been put into a still-state. My sensors didn't recognise many parts on my body, meaning they had been replaced. I guess I didn't do the damage, but still, who could have? I suspected the girl next to me was a weak Droid, and could barely open the door by herself. I had to wonder, just how she got to this position. She looked pale and sickly. She had a thin face, half was made of gears. She had light hair, almost white. She had little muscle on her lower and upper body. She wore a simple white shirt with a dark blue sweater, and a periwinkle skirt. On her neck was a blue chain, with a jar filed with water that looked like a raging ocean, with waves and crashes onto itself. A rare talent to say the least, blue usually indicated the girl was physically injured as a young child, and should be taken lightly. Treated well in other words. Girls with blue chains are not to be used in battle, yet she felt strong. She must have been working for someone high up. I've been told before that I was one of the strongest Droids. I was never to be given a mission that I could fail.

As I was thinking, I saw a girl in the distance, running and waving her hand, as if she was seeing an old friend. She ran up to the booth, excited, if that was the right term. She was pretty far away, so I could think of an action if this turned to be an enemy. My hand went to my neck, as if to open the jar pre-maturely. It was to be used for missions only, but I had no idea if this girl was a friend or foe. I always jump the gun, and I nearly did this time. The girl was getting closer, and I could tell that she was hurt. She wasn't excited, but 'scared.' She was running from someone, and fast at that. She was waving to signal danger. I had no plan, this girl needed help, but I had no idea what the status of my recharge was. I had to pause it. I still couldn't move my legs, the sensor was not working on the legs, but my arms were fully functional now. I reached my hands out and pushed on the door, hard as I could. I heard an alarm, saying that the process had ended. I had to manually reboot the legs so that the sensor accepted them, and allowed me to move my legs. I started to step out when I saw the girls neck, a red chain hung loosely at her neck, and in a small jar, smaller than a regular jar, was a power I had only ever heard about in a mission report. She was my partner to be for my next mission. She wore a red dress with a black belt and leggings. What made me 'nervous' was that a red chain means that the girl lies and cheats to be able to live. Their only used as spy's. What her jar held made me not trust her at all. In the jar was a red swirling cloud. It moved around and destroyed itself, like it was killing itself over and over again. It was the power of Illness, that killed many years and years ago. It has never been trusted to a girl since.

"Please help!"

She cried as she got closer, she clutched the jar, and continued to wave her hand. I had to move fast. I reached to drop to the floor, and aimed to crawl to the computer nearby. The thing that did not help was that because I could not control the legs, the moved of their own volition, making things even harder to move. It was hard enough to traverse on the ground with odd legs, but with the generators everywhere, that made this very difficult. She was running faster now. As she ran, I crawled to where I could finally reach the desk. She was still far away, so I still had time. I turned on the computer and opened my program. I altered the response and calibration of the legs and arms so that they responded to direct commands. I finished the program and thanked the woman for the parts, and I got up out of the chair, out of the booth, and I ran. I ran until I realized that I needed to hide the Charger area. I set the spell once more so the area was hidden. I set of running again into the crowds of the road to Area of Merchandise. I had to blend into the crowd, and return to the departure point before the job was given to someone else. I tried to walk now, not to save my energy, but to look normal. But this is what led to my capture. The girl caught up with me, and grasped my shoulder, hard. I couldn't break away.

"Why did you leave me? I still need your help."

She curtseyed in front of me, usually, a curtsey from one Droid to another is only used when the one curtseying is lower on the ranking, but the girl was at the same level as me, maybe more, so it was used as a sign of request and need. It is hardly used in this form, but I could see all of the parts that had been damaged, I didn't see them from afar. She had deep gashes on both sides of her face, small cuts and bruises on her arms and legs. Her breathing was short and hasty, indicating broken ribs. One of her arms were in a rap, either major cut, or fractured. This was not an act she put on, this girl was seriously in pain.

"So now you see me? You are the second person to have done so."

"I have not seen you, for I am blind, I felt your presence."

She pointed to her eyes, and when I looked, they were grey, and cloudy. If she was blind, then she must need some serious help. What could've done this much damage?

"Lets go back to the Charger area, would you like some help to get there, Miss?"

"Nidiale, no thank you. If I have made it this far on my own, then I can surely reach the Charger area."

"Alright, follow me."

The problem with walking around in the major city with someone following you is that you are more suspicious than alone. Especially if the person following you is holding your hand, because I am invisible to them, so it looks like the girl is holding air. Humans aren't oblivious to everything, though it seems like they are. Another thing to ponder on our walk to the Charger area. I choose to lead her without running, I figured it would cause more damage to her injuries. I would have preferred that she didn't walk at all, but she wouldn't listen. She insisted that she walked there. It was harder to find the place, since it was moved, and of course, I couldn't move it again.