Handprints

Chapter 2: Meetings of Chance

Dee had gotten lucky, the arm was able to be fixed fairly quickly. The old mechanic was nice about it too, a lot of mechanics would make their clients feel like idiots for everything that went wrong with their cybernetics, even if it wasn't the clients fault.
"That should do it!" he smiled at Dee as he handed back their arm "it looks like it was just a couple of wires that got crossed."
"Thanks Doc,"
As far as Dee could tell that wasn't his real name but the mechanic wouldn't let anyone call him anything else. He was an old man with close cropped white hair that was more like peach fuzz then actual hair. Dee wasn't sure how old he actually was but had something of an idea since the cybernetic leg he had was positively ancient. Dee wasn't even sure if it was actually cybernetic or not. They had always been too intimidated to ask.
"How much do I owe you?" This was the worst part, Dee didn't exactly have a lot of money at any given moment and repairs could be insanely expensive.
Doc just shook his head "I know there's not a payday till next week. We won't worry about that until then" he promised.
"Are you sure?" they felt bad not paying the old mechanic, he had always been kind to them and helped them out ever since they had started coming here for their repairs.
"Yes, in fact, I refuse to let you pay me until the next pay day" he informed Dee, putting a hand on their shoulder. It was so fatherly a gesture that it almost made Dee burst into tears right there.
"Thank you so much Doc" they managed to say without getting too choked up while also resisting the urge to hug the old man.
"It's no problem, really" he gave Dee a kind smile as he shooed them out of the shop "now go on, you've got better things to do then sit around talking with an old man"
Dee let themself be shooed back out to the street, feeling lighter then they had in a long time thanks to the time spent with Doc. Dee always felt better after talking with the old man.
Dee wasn't watching where they were going, too busy trying to get their glove back onto the metal hand to notice the pair coming towards them. Unfortunately the pair was also too preoccupied with their own conversation to notice Dee before it was too late.
The three ran into each other, Dee and one of the others, a woman about the same age as Dee with olive skin and wearing a long skirt and a jacket with the hood up, both stumbling and falling backwards. The only difference was that the other person didn't actually hit the ground. She was caught by her companion before she could hit the ground unlike Dee who landed quite hard on their tailbone.
"Sorry!" Dee squeaked out, startled by the sudden appearance of the pair.
The girl was pulled back to her feet by her companion before either one said anything, Dee was left with the feeling of being rooted to their spot just waiting for one of the two to say something before they even tried to move.
The other one in the pair was about the same height as Dee but the red-and-pink mohawk the other had would have probably brought the height to over 6 feet. The other one was taller than either Dee or their companion with the hood of their jacket up and a loose skirt trailing to the ground there wasn't much Dee could really make out about their features when it came to the details .They made for an intimidating pair, though that might have just been Dee's desperate singleness rearing its head.
"it's alright," the girl smiled at Dee, she had such a nice smile it made Dee feel warm inside even though they'd never met the girl before.
The three stayed there for a prolonged second all staring at each other before something seemed to break the trance they had all entered so suddenly.
Finally, a car came roaring past the trio startling Dee and breaking the trance as Dee almost fell to the ground once more. The shorter of the two caught them before they could actually fall, offering them support to keep them on their feet.
"T-thanks" Dee stumbled out, brushing off their clothes despite not having actually fallen this time, unable to make eye contact with either of the other two.
"No problem, really" the one who had helped them laughed before taking a step back.
"we should get going" the girl reminded her companion, tugging on her companion's sleeve as she took a step away.
Her companion nodded, not looking away from Dee as the girl pulled them away down the street.
Dee watched the pair walk down the street, before they disappeared into Doc's shop.
It was only once the pair were out of sight that Dee felt like they could move again. Something about the two strangers had just so thoroughly rooted Dee to the spot.
With a mental shake of their head, Dee turned and headed back to their apartment.

By the time that Dee got back to the apartment the sun was beginning to disappear behind the skyline. There would only be a few more hours of daylight left for Dee to work with. As much as they had loved spending time chatting with Doc, it had meant that they hadn't been able to get anything else done for the day.
Dee could feel their footsteps becoming heavier, their mind gloomier. They might as well have walked from a gorgeous sunny day into a wretched rainstorm for how quickly their mood shifted as they entered the apartment building.
Dee was glad to find that the elevator was empty for the ride up to their 5th floor apartment. At least they wouldn't have to worry about making painfully awkward small talk with anyone.
By the time they had shoved open their apartment door, Dee was too tired to do much more than flop face first onto their bed and fall asleep almost immediately. Not even bothering to take off their arm like they usually did at night.
Dee woke up to a nightmare as they scrambled from their bed, desperate to escape. The world was absolute chaos. People were yelling, screaming, crying. Fire and smoke was filling Dee's senses as bullets flew around them. It was as if hell had come to the City and set up shop in Dee's apartment building. Dee was lost in the confusion, unsure where the danger was even coming from. The flames were getting closer, hotter. They heated the metal of their arm until it was like holding a branding iron against their elbow, making it seem like the pain from earlier that day was only a slight discomfort. The pain of the hot metal against Dee's skin is what broke them from their panicked trance finally prompting them to move.
Dee ran from the flames, not sure where they were going other than that it was away from the fire that seemed hungry for the parts of them that the car accident hadn't already taken. It was shocking when Dee stumbled out of the building and into the alley behind the apartments. Dazed and confused, they stumbled down the alley unsure where they were going, just knowing they couldn't stop moving.