Logan

Programed

"So, Reeve," I turned to her with a wrench in my hand. "How'd you end up here?"

"Same way you did. The Guard won't let me leave because my expertise in mechanics is 'too great'." She grunted.

"Wow, so being smart sucks ass, huh?"

"Teh, yeah I guess," she lifted a tool box onto the work table next to us and began rummaging through the contents. "It keeps them off my back though. I'm the person that fixes most of their guns and small vehicles. I also help out around the neighborhood."

"Right."

"Scanning complete. Proceed to panel 34xx-67z for further fixes." Chip chirped. 

"Amazing..," Reeve whispered to herself and looked at the red ship, bug-eyed. "He is truly amazing. I wish I could meet whoever built him.." She trailed off for a second before asking, "How do you hide the A.I. system from everyone? Most ships can pick up on the signals they send out."

"Well, we've learned from our past." I shrugged. 

"Wait, you mean you've been caught before? How the hell are you guys still alive!?" Reeve exclaimed. 

"Trial and error my friend," I tossed the wrench on the concrete floor, resulting in some clanking. "Trial and error." I had bright pink oil all over my hands and arms. I went to walk over to the sink but Reeve stopped me. 

"Well, what was it? What blocked the signal?" She put a hand up to my chest and stared at me. I could tell that she was generally curious. Hopefully she wasn't acting. 

"Alright alright," I popped a small door open on the side of Chip's nose. Inside, a small glowing orange dot pulsated. "This, is Hammy. She basically collects all of Chip's signals 24/7, and then releases them when we're in the clear. She's very useful when it comes to heavily guarded areas. She was also expensive as hell." 

"Wow..," she softly gasped and peered at the orange crystal. It was spinning too fast for the mind to see. It looked like it was staying completely still. "She's beautiful. Your whole ship is beautiful."

"Thanks." Chip and I replied in unison. 

"You know, Chip, I'm beginning to think you lied about how damaged you are." I looked through a panel of wires and raised a brow, the pink oil still sticky on my hands. 

"Well, when we crashed, most of my sensors were put offline. I'm not sure if the self-diagnostic program glitched or fell offline."

"Alright..," I moved to my left and opened another small panel. "Oh, a couple wires are out of place. Let me just..," I fused a couple bright red wires to the metal board they were supposed to be sprouting out of. "Okay, try it now." After a few beeps, my earpiece buzzed.

"All clear. Ready to run program." Chip called. 

"Run diagnostics." I commanded the ship. 

"Running.." a rhythm of beeps danced through the garage for a few seconds. "Diagnostic complete! It seems the only fix up we need are a few touch ups on my paint and screws on my panels. All good and ready to go."

I sighed in relief, "Oh thank Hymme."

Reeve whirled her head around and shoved her hand on my mouth. "Dude! What the fuck!?" She screamed at me in a hushed whisper. "You tryna get us killed or something!?" 

I broke free of her grasp and laid a hand on my cheek. "Dude! YOU what the fuck!! That shit hurt!" I hushed screamed back at her. 

"Listen, I know you're new here so I'll let you in on a secret." She looked around the shop and inched closer to me till she was right at my ear. She whispered, "We don't talk about her. These people only worship this being called Mama. From what I've learned, she's the only one allowed to call the shots and has ordered all of her people to kill anyone who says that name."

I looked at her and coughed, the air seemed thinner for some reason. "Yeah, I've heard of her. This girl with huge hair said something about meeting her after I was done healing."

"That's Kismet, one of her kids. Of course, she crashed here like any other being that's not a reptile," Reeve stepped back and whipped her hands with an oil covered towel. "Word 'round here is that Mama gutted all of her memories and filled her head with ones she created."

"No, no way.." My mind rejected the thought of deleting someone's memory. 

"Perill, if she plans on keeping you here for work, she won't do anything to you except give you an A.B.A.T.S." She could tell I was uneasy, I hate people who can read me. 

"What the hell is that?" I looked at her and frowned. 

"A.B.A.T.S stands for Automatic Bomb and Tracking System. You'll basically be a walking bomb," She turned her arm to show me a small black bruise on her inner bicep.  "The surgery doesn't hurt at all, so don't worry about pain. But, if you try to get it out, it sends excruciating pain signals to your brain, but nothing is actually happening to your physical body."

"I reeaalllyyy don't plan on staying that long, Reeve." I pulled my jacket off the stool next to me and flipped it on. 

"You're really gonna try to escape?" She almost laughed. 

"Well," I scoffed, "Duh. Why in the hell would I want to stay here?" I looked at her like she was an ugly cabbage. 

"I won't help you, but I won't report you. I will, however, let you have some fuel."

"Chip! I thought you said we were gall good and ready to go!" I yelled at him in a descending tone. I turned to him and looked into one of his sensors. "Did you lie?" I pointed at him. 

"No, I told the truth!" He defended himself. 

"I'm just giving you some for the road. There aren't many other pit-stops for light years. You're gonna need it. I swear, I'm just trying to be a decent person." Her face drew at the end of her sentence. 

"Right..Okay. Sorry..I'm just so used to getting shit myself. Thanks." I walk up to her and place my hand on her shoulder. "Thanks for helping too. I hope you learned something." I laughed as she smiled. 

"I did."