Paper

Devotion

"Everyone out! Move it, come on!"

It was rather chaotic as people flowed messily out of the building, confusion and fear coming off of them in waves. Voices buzzed lowly as they all dispersed into separate groups, many of them trying to fix their wristbands.

Nina led the others past Sebastian, who was directing everyone outside. It was eerily silent without the usual hum of technology- and getting darker.

"Where's Shuko?" Rhydian asked, looking around them and not seeing the hacker anywhere. Sebastian remained by the open door, his arms crossed and his eyes peering into the blackness of the building. He hadn't come down from the seventh floor with them, but they were expecting him to be somewhat close behind.

"Don't tell me he's still-"

Rhydian stopped, noticing Sebastian relax his stance. There was Shuko, slowly walking through the lobby. His eyes weren't visible in the darkness. He was alone.

"Where's Ace?" Luca asked in a trembling tone, furrowing his eyebrows. It was strange to see one of them without the other.

At first, Luca thought Shuko hadn't heard him when he walked past, heading toward Nina. When he reached her, he dropped his head onto her shoulder before muttering, "Seventh floor." He offered no further explanation.

Nina hugged Shuko. "What happened?" She asked quietly, trying to hide the concern from her voice.

"Help me fix him, Nina. I can't do it on my own." Shuko's body shook as he spoke to the colourblind girl. "Please."

Nina smiled gently and stroked Shuko's yellow and black hair, letting the hacker calm down at his own pace. "Once we get everything in the building working again, we-"

"No, Nina, we have to do it now. I can figure out his systems, I've repaired things with less," Shuko began hastily, moving away from the head of the tech division. His eyes shone pleadingly at her as he waited for a response. 

Nina watched him, uncertainty in her gaze as she took a slight step back from him. She may have been the head of their department, but Shuko was much better at fixing things than she was. Nina didn't feel she was qualified to do anything of the sort, let alone assist with repairing his best friend.

Nina twisted her hands but didn't back up any further. "I-I'm sorry, but there's no way I can do anything unless the building has power again," She stuttered. "He's a cyborg, he'll be alright, it doesn't matter how long he's-" She cut herself off. "Hang on. You never answered my question... what happened to him exactly?"

All eyes turned to Shuko. The hacker began pacing back and forth, ignoring their gazes and running his hands through his hair in agitation. 

"He shut himself down. Which means that all his systems will reboot within the next few hours and if he isn't turned on by the end of the limit, his memories will be gone. He will be gone. He won't be the same without everything he's developed in the past twenty years. We don't have time for this, don't you understand?"

There was silence for several moments as everyone processed Shuko's words. Simply put, if they were to wait too long, Ace could be gone forever. It would be technical death. And there would be no retrieving it.

"I'll help you."

Shuko's pacing paused and he directed his gaze to Reuben.

The ashy-haired 19-year-old looked up to the seventh floor of the Wisdom building. "I can help you. I can get him working for maybe about half an hour by replacing several parts with more traditional ones... but you'll have to get everything up and running with the others during that time. As soon as you finish, you can repair him on your own. I have some basic training with cyborg parts," Reuben explained, briefly brushing his fingers against his pocket.