Squad Tales: Edition II

[PART 2] A Suprise

As she set out into the street, Sawnik was confused to find that her monitors already beeped, signalling some form of crime nearby. "This early in the day? Jeez." She grunted, checking what on earth could be running around causing chaos so soon.

"A.. fake passport, a large amount of metal, ...criminal history, illegal travelling, AND a recent location!" A satisfied grin made its' way onto her face. "It's too easy."

Sawnik cracked her knuckles in anticipation, letting the built in GPS tracking in her suit lead her to the criminal in question. "I better prepare myself for a rough-up!" She said to herself. "This guy sounds like he's gonna be not too happy to find that I, Sawnik, battler of crime, have ratted out this delinquen-" The excited cyborg stopped herself as she noticed she was coming closer and closer to a fairly short girl, reading some kind of tourist pamphlet, a small suitcase at her side. She had a large amount of long, blonde, hair ,and as she drew closer she noticed a wide pair of glasses covering her face.

"Surely not.." She muttered, a look of confusion growing ever more present.

The girl looked over, stuffing the pamphlet into her pocket, a little startled by the sudden presence of the cyborg. She looked up, stepping away a few paces. "Surely not..what?" She felt her shoulders tense, glancing up and down the heavily armoured body and feeling suddenly intimidated.

Sawnik snapped back to her train of thought, coming to her senses again. "Y- you! What do you think you're doing, wandering around with a fake passport, travelling illegally-"

She looked dumbfounded for a second. "Oh, and I'm assuming this rather exquisite piece you are wearing alerted you of that?" The girl circled Sawnik, looking up and down the well-worn battle suit. This made Sawnik more than slightly uncomfortable. 

"L-listen here-" She interrupted.

"That's an awfully nasty gash you have on your side, there." She cut in, an oddly persuasive tone in her voice. Sawnik suddenly lost her enthusiasm of detaining this girl.

"I know someone who can fix it." She folded her arms, glancing up and down the Cyborg a final time.

Sawnik felt all need to stop her from roaming around with a fake passport disappear, and instead seemed oddly hooked to her words. "Y-you do?" She felt herself say, although she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to say that at all.

"Yes, yes, come with me. He's quite adept at dealing with.. your kind." She raised an eyebrow as she spoke.

"You have a name, Cyborg?" She spoke in a gentle tone despite her strong words.

"Sawnik."

"That's an odd name. I wouldn't expect any less from Cyborgs, however." This was meant to be a joke, as she didn't use a harsh tone, although Sawnik didn't really find it all too funny.

"I'm Lydia, but that doesn't mean you can go saying it left right and center, alright?" Sawnik found it pretty amusing how this tiny girl was being so strict, acting as though she had some kind of dominance or control to say this.

"Right. Well in that case, I-" 

"We're here!" Lydia exclaimed. Sawnik found herself being cut off again, and frowned. She was surprised to be in another wide alleyway, lined with small doors. She watched the girl bound up to one of them, and knock sharply several times, in some kind of pattern.

"I hope you can fit through this door, Sawnik." Her English accent added to the sarcasm dripping from her words. Sawnik just laughed quietly, hiding her slight annoyance. When the door finally swung open, she felt Lydia grab her wrist and pull her in. She did indeed have to duck through this small door, feeling her hair brush the door frame.

The door slammed behind them almost automatically with a metallic snap, startling them both. She wasn't entirely sure what she was getting herself into.

They were greeted by an average height man, who sported a shock of very dark curly hair who was busy behind a desk fiddling with some kind of electronic board. He waved, a harsh light illuminating his very tan skin. "Lydiaaa! Can't believe you're already bac-" His mouth gaped open, as he craned his neck to look behind her at the seven foot Cyborg.

Sawnik felt his eyes on her, and she waved awkwardly. 

"Who's this?" He said excitedly.

"See what I mean?" Lydia continued, "He loves people like you. Electronics, that sort of thing." This is Sawnik. You can fix her, can't you, Zone?" She smiled.

"O- of course!" Zone stood, clumsily dropping a few screwdrivers as he was so excited.

"Calm down." Lydia snickered, shaking her head and turning back to Sawnik. "This is Zone," And in a quieter voice she added. "He's really called Jorge. I'm still not all too sure why he likes to be called that. An odd lad, really, but he's nice enough in his own way."

Sawnik just nodded, slowly, as she awkwardly took a seat in the side of the lopsided workshop. It was littered with tools, wires, motors, and had a faint smell of motor oil that was quite pungent. Lydia wandered around to another back room, where she clearly had business of her own in another booth, leaving Zone to do what he needed to repair Sawnik's suit.

Zone was silent, very carefully prying the wires outwards so he could take a look at them. Sawnik felt her neck grow warm, unusually warm, even burning a little. The hotness spread across her cheeks. Was she blushing?  Sawnik hesitantly snapped her face guard to cover her dark crimson cheeks. What was happening? The last time this had happened was when she was still fully human. 

She noticed Zone was looking at her expectantly. Oh, had he just asked something? Sawnik DEFINITELY felt embarrassed now. "S-sorry, what was that?" She cringed at herself for being so caught up in her own thoughts.

"I uhh.. asked if you want me to repaint these chips in your paintwork." Zone smiled in a reassuring way, and she relaxed.

"Yeah, that'd be great."

Sawnik wasn't sure why she felt so strange, it jogged some old memories but she wasn't quite sure of what. She watched zone mix a small pot of metallic blue paint, and shut her eyes, wondering where this would take her.