Chasing Fallen

Chapter 20

I let out a nervous breath.

This was our third try for today and I wasn't really feeling the 'third times a charm' proverb.

I tentatively picked up the remote control for the arm.

I stared at it.

Press the on button, dummy!

I pressed the on button.

Good. At least it actually turned on this time around.

"C'mon, pretty boy! We ain't got all day," this was our MT talking. He stuck with his word and didn't help us at all. All he did was watch us as we worked our butts off, and taunt us when something didn't go as planned. Like the last four hundred and sixty seven times.

Like what Thomas Edison said, I didn't fail four hundred and sixty seven times, I just found four hundred and sixty seven ways that don't work.

Mikey would pretend to help us whenever Mr Fernando came to assess our progress, like the slimy weasel he is.

I glared at him and pressed the left control.

The arm moved right.

At least it moved.

I pressed the down button.

It moved up.

Despite the confusion in instructions, my other group members whooped in excitement. This was the most progress we've had. The problem at the moment was easy to solve.

We could just change the labels on the controller. Problem solved.

I heard Mikey scoff.

"Honestly, what is your problem!" I growled at him.

I turned back to the controller when he didn't reply.

I directed the robot arm to our dummy after getting a hang of the warped controls. When it was now directly on top of the dummy, I pressed the 'hold' button. I has half expecting it to execute the drop function but surprisingly it did as it was commanded.

We all watched in anticipation as it slowly approached the object after detecting where it was and assessing its dimensions so it could determine the best way to pick it up. (We weren't told to do that but we added it into the system for extra cred). Even Blondie, the guy who was insistent on not wanting to be at this camp was leaning forward, waiting to see what would happen.

We all gasped as it clamped itself around the wooden model. I sighed in relief when it didn't crush it.

Once I was sure its grip on the shoe was firm, I directed the hand to the deposit area. I pressed the release button and it dropped the model rather clumsily.

It didn't matter, it worked alright.

We burst into cheers and gave each other high fives and chest bumps, me excluded, of course.

"Congratulations." We stopped cheering and turned to face the guy who'd spoken to us.

It was Easy.

The guys basked in his praises, except for Tristan, who was now across the room.

"What brings you here, McGuire. This is a top secret project. Now that you've seen it we have no choice but to gauge your eyes out." I smirked at him.

Shaggy pulled my sleeve and shook his head a me. Did I say something wrong?

Easy shot up a brow but he looked amused. "We have different projects and this in essence is a competition for the Saks so you don't have to worry much about me copying."

"Hey, Easy." Mikey greeted him but Easy ignored him.

"But seriously, you guys did great. Especially considering that you didn't have the assistance of an MT," cue glare at said mentor, "And you Cameron, I underestimated you. I will be sure to mention you to Mr Fernando for taking lead of your team."

I felt warm. I'd like to say that his praise mattered as much as the kind that came from my teammates but I'd be lying.

I realized I was blushing. I cleared my throat. "Thanks, Easy."

He flipped off my beanie with his index and ruffled my hair. "You are welcome, Sakura."

Wait, is he flirting with me?

Or is he making fun of me?

Is there even a difference these days?

Wait, he watches anime!

A loud bang resounded from the machine. Mikey had grabbed a hold of the 'hand' of the robotic arm.

"Psh! If I had helped them, it would have been so much better. For one, it would actually have fingers instead of two 'grabbers.' This Faggot can't even tell right from left!"

Oh, no he didn't?

Oh, yes he did!

Mikey was pointedly talking about my hair color. Easy noticed too. It doesn't matter though, the boy had exposed himself for being a homophobe to people within the nearest distance. What bothered me most was no one seemed to care. Like he'd just made a normal diss and it was nothing more.

Easy shifted menacingly and without thinking, I placed a hand on his arm to stop him from moving further.

The dark haired boy gave me a questioning look and I shook my head. "My war to fight." I muttered.

I pressed a control in order to move the arm away from the MT so that I could give him a piece of my mind, with our project out of harms way. I however, forgot that the controls were mixed up and the arm moved towards him and smacked him on the face.

Hard.

In shock, I accidentally pressed the grab button and it did as it was commanded, just in the most unconventional way. What did it do? It grabbed a handful of his hair.

"Fuck!" He screamed.

That wasn't supposed to happen.

I turned to look at Pointdexter with wild eyes, "You fix this!" I shoved the controller into his hands. He fumbled about with it until his butter fingers dropped it.

Next thing I knew was Mikey Flynn was being launched into the air. His moment of flight was short lived because the wall decided it would be fun to make a pancake.

I cringed at the impact.

He slid to the floor.

When he landed, he didn't move at all. Everyone in the drawing room was now staring. I tentatively walked over to him and hovered over his limb body. I wasn't a doctor but I could tell his nose was definitely broken. His glasses too.

Yikes!

"I do not know about you but I am pretty sure your project was only supposed to be able to lift small to medium sized objects." Easy spoke breaking the graveyard silence.

__________

I decided to a little small chapter to apologize for not updating yesterday and the day before that.

I know, I'm a bad person.

Anyways that is it for the chapter and fancy that, I wrote this while I was eating pancakes. Yum!

Well homophobia is real. People are entitled to their own opinions and shouldn't be oppressed over them. It's their lives, their choices. People should live however they want and others should just mind their own business.

So have a great day and stay safe lovelies!

Peace out! ✌🏼