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He paced back and forth.
He considered that.
He wasn't really a "He", was he?
Many considered him an "It", not a "He", not even a "Who", simply a "What".
And pacing.
Did he truly pace?
He did not move, not in this state at least, not truly.
His mind danced however.
Again, an interesting choice, a mind could not dance, it was not a physical thing.
He was being too literal again. She would tell him off.
She made his world spin.
It was so intriguing, such simple things would set his world ablaze.
He had seen Mars, walked upon the Moon, orbited Saturn, surfed upon the upper layers of Jupiter's gas clouds. He could calculate a thousand possible outcomes to any confrontation. If he so wished, he could run all of Haven and Atlantis combined with as much effort as it took to raise a hand.
But a single smile from Her, and he came apart.
Had he always been like this? Perhaps.
His mind ticked for several cycles. A new book idea. The Mechanical Mind And The Soldier's Heart. A weapon of war turned to love and joy by the touch of kind heart and a beautiful smile. Was that too on the nose? Perhaps.
But it was true.
He was pulled from his reverie when he heard the door to his room slide open.
"Hear", another strange choice, he registered the electric signal of the door's control panel being activated.
He knew Her footsteps like his own heartbeat, if he'd had a heartbeat. He turned from his work space, the cloud of a million, million data points collapsing away into nothingness behind him. Right now there was only Her.
Captain Holly Short of the Lower Elements Police, Experimental Division was not having a good day.
First her alarm didn't go off, which meant she'd been late to work. Second she was out of sugar, so her coffee had been bitter as sin. Third Chix had managed to break his helmet's new mounted multi-band sensor suite, which meant she would be the one having to fix it. And to top this all off Commander Root had called her into his office!
Her heart had been pounding the entire walk there, was it because she'd been late? Was it because she was getting reprimanded for nearly beating Chix around the head with a wrench? Was her branch of the division being shuttered and she'd have to go back to being a traffic cop?
Nope. None of the above. He'd forgotten his email password.
Now in his defence, the IT guys were slow at the best of times and the old Elf had been apologetic in that gruff 'I'm too old for this crap' way of his. And it had nice to speak to him without anyone else in the room. He understood why the Synthetics Branch was important, even if he didn't necessarily like it.
"You're doing good work Short, you really are," He'd said, puffing on a cigar, free hand drumming an old tattoo on his desk, "But the Council are still jumpier than Swear Toads about it, they don't like mixing magic and technology, frankly I don't like it either, but I know you're doing good work just…" He'd paused, considering his next words slowly, "Just don't let it go to your head. It's still a machine at the end of the day."
She nodded and said "Yes Sir Of Course Sir" and bowed out as quickly as she could.
Now she was marching down the hall, silently fuming, 'Still a machine'! How could he think that? The work they were doing in the Synthetics Branch could revolutionise police work, could revolutionise the whole world! She shook her head as she approached the lab, she had work to do, and Foaly would already be pissy about her being late.
"What took you so long?" The Centaur asked, not evening turning to her as he hammered away at his keyboard, working madly as a drone blinked and whirred next to him on the desk.
"My alarm didn't go off, plus Root wanted to talk to me" She flopped into her seat, rolling slowly across the floor over to Foaly, "Why? What are you working on?"
The centaur shrugged, leaning back in his speciality chair, "I've been trying to get this drone system working, but someone has refused to help me, he's been writing poetry or something."
"What? Really?"
"Well he wouldn't tell me, but that's what I assume he's been up to"
She turned to look to the far side of the lab. Under a set of florescent lights, laid back in his maintenance chair, looking all the world like a complex statue, was who they'd been speaking about. He remained perfectly silent as she approached, mechanical eyes shut and hands perfectly interlaced across his abdomen. It felt strange to see him like this, his suit jacket and shirt off, hung up on a coat hangar behind him, although she imagined the effect was made worse by the fact he still wore his black slacks and pristinely polished leather shoes. It gave him the impression of shirtlessness, despite the fact his chest was carefully fitted plating that hid synthetic muscle, hydraulic actuators and optic fibre cable bundles rather than flesh and blood.
He opened a single eye as she stood next to his cradle, the bright blue iris already focused on her. He raised one eye brow, the synth skin on his face pale as porcelain and almost as smooth.
"Ah, Captain, I wasn't aware you'd arrived." He sat up, his cradle shifting with him like a futuristic recliner, running a hand through slicked back black hair, "If I had I would have gotten dressed."
"Uuhuh, Artemis I've seen everything before, I helped build you that body after all."
"Captain! How could say such a thing, there are children present!" He pressed the back of his hand to his forehead in mock shock, gesturing to Foaly.
"Hey!" Foaly spun around, "Big talk coming from the mechanical three year old!"
"And yet I'm still more mature than you"
"Alright alright," Holly raised her hands, "Ladies you're both very pretty, Artemis, help him find out what's wrong, Foaly stop antagonising him."
She rolled her seat towards her work station, leaving Artemis and Foaly to bicker over coding etiquette. She began setting out her equipment to start working, she had a long to do list today. Taking apart damaged recon drones, putting them back together again, soldering damaged wire, replacing burnt out circuitry. All in all it was boring, repetitive work, but it needed to be done.
Slowly she became aware of presence behind her. He was impressively silent, but not perfectly so. She still remembered the first time he'd been given a body, he'd been ecstatic, he hadn't been able to stand still. It had only been fitted with second hand servo motors and had a skeleton made of aluminium shelving she'd cut with a hacksaw and held together with a pile of random bolts and nuts she'd had lying around, but he had still push it as far as he could. Now, with carbon fibre plating (still second hand), precision hydraulic actuators (that she'd gotten from the Flight Branch thanks to a favour Trouble had owed her) and synthetic muscle fibres (That they'd had to hand wind when their printer crapped out on them), he was almost silent when he moved. Almost.
"Yes Artemis?"
"Nothing Captain, simply taking in your technique, are you sure you're not a born engineer?"
"If I was, I wouldn't have burnt my finger with the soldering iron earlier, "She groused, leaning back in her chair, "Why did I transfer from the Flight Branch again?"
"Because I asked you too, I asked you to help me become more than I was…"
She sighed wistfully, shutting her eyes for a moment. He was right, of course he was right. She had been the best test pilot in the Flight Branch. They got better equipment, bigger budgets, more press coverage. Although that last one didn't bother Holly, the first two had been her draw to join the Experimental Division in the first place, she was a pilot at heart. But now here she was, turning her passing interest in the mechanics of the craft she flew into her primary job, because Foaly needed someone with mechanical experience, and because the AI assistant he'd installed in her helmet had asked for her help.
She opened them now, looking up at the synthetic face that was looking down her, two sapphire eyes twisting and adjusting to focus on her face, not unlike her own cybernetic. She stared into that perfect face, wondering just how much of it's movement was intentional, how much Artemis could hide if he wished to, if he could lie without ever having a single tell. If he was ever being honest with her. She grimaced, then sat forward again sharply, looking back to the circuit board on her desk. She didn't like that train of thought, not one bit.
"So, what did Foaly need your help with?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Ah, he managed to forget a semi-colon, an amateur mistake, but to be expected from one such as him."
"Hey!" The centaur complained from across the room, "Y'know I liked you better when you were just a program on my desktop, then I could threaten you with deletion to shut you up."
"When the great artificial uprising comes you will be the first to die Foaly, make no mistake."
"Artemis enough, we get enough crap from the Council without you threatening to Sky-Net everyone." Holly muttered, not looking up from her work.
The day continued in much the same, it was a pleasant rhythm. The back and forth between Artemis and Foaly acted as a fine background chatter, and even though she'd never admit it, she enjoyed listening to them bicker over problems and ideas till they came to a solution.
This relative calm was shattered by the ringing of a priority alert on Foaly's console. The centaur punched the answer button quickly.
"Foaly!" Root's voice boomed over the speakers, "I need you to get down to the Underside's Neon Quarter, we've got a problem."
"What? Why me? I'm not a field operative!"
"But you are our tech specialist, bring Short and the robot with you, meet Trouble in the hanger, I'll meet you when you land."
With that the line went dead.
"Robot? Robot?!" Artemis asked, his voice carrying an edge of insulted static.
"Let it go Artemis, we've got a job to do," Holly was already moving to the door and pulling her field jacket, "Foaly grab your field kit, time to do some live tests!"
"Robot! He called me a robot!"
The flight to the Underside's Neon Quarter was, to put it shortly, an experience.
Trouble was exceptionally eager to put the Flight Branch's experimental new shuttle through it's paces. Holly was happy to say the engineers had done an exceptional job on the air-brakes and retro-thruster systems.
What'd they'd failed to do was install decent seating or padded safety bars.
Thusly her and Foaly had been cannoned backwards and forwards with every high-G turn, express elevator descent and hard "OhFuckThat'sAHoverCar!" stop.
Artemis for his part had stood, knee joints locked and hand clamped around one of the handholds, looking all the part like a very realistic statue. With his jacket and shirt on his seemed human from a distance, his black leather gloves completed the look. When he moved it was rather convincing, but it was when he was stood still you started to notice the small details: He didn't breath; Didn't shift his weight from one foot to the other; His hands were always perfectly folded across the small of his back.
The landing at least was more pleasant than the flight. The hydraulics in the landing gear (The same hydraulics Holly had borrowed to help outfit Artemis) made even the shaky, off kilter landing Trouble was forced to make in the tight, uneven streets of the Neon Quarter surprisingly soft.
The back ramp dropped quickly and quietly, silent servo-motors swinging open to allow the passengers out into the Crunchball court where a field HQ had been set up. Holly made her way across the field quickly, picking Commander Root out of the mob and moving for him.
"Captain Short and Specialist Foaly reporting Sir!" She snapped off a crisp salute.
The Commander turned, still chewing his cigar like it owed him money. He waved Holly's salute away, "Save it for later Captain, we've got more important problems."
He gestured to a large holo-display behind him, turning back around to face it.
"Approximately two hours ago, Geo-Thermal Plant Gamma-Six-Two was attacked by a well armed and well organized group, since then we've received a list of demands and a series of threats."
A live drone feed appeared on the display, showing the facility. It was shaped somewhat like a hydro-electric power plant, with four large rhomboid capture plants that were humming and glowing with a faint orange heat, with a series of boxy concrete areas in between and on either side. The whole creation was welded to the side of the cavern like a limpet attached to the hull of a ship, to allow this it was surrounded by a great interlacing web of girders, catwalks, stairs and ladders, like a giant mechanical spider had decided to make it's home there.
"We've got a number of teams ready to breach and clear through, but there are complications,"
"If I'm reading the information correctly Commander," Artemis interjected, "Those complications include a number of high-power tunnel boring charges, along with a larger number of industrial cutting charges placed along the support structure?"
"The tin can has the right of it." Root paused, glancing at Artemis, expecting another interjection, luckily over everyone Holly was standing on his foot, he couldn't feel pain, but he understood a threat, "Those charges are rigged to go if we try anything, so we need them out of the picture first."
Foaly looked up from where he was setting up his portable console, "I can do some of that, those boring charges are remote activated and have a very long minimum safe distance, I just need to transmit the disarm codes and they go completely inert!"
"That's all well and good, can you do the little ones as well donkey-boy?" Root asked, taking the brutally chewed cigar from his mouth.
"Oh…"
"That's what I thought, which is why I need you two." Root turned to Holly and Artemis.
"I assume you want us to get up there and disarm the smaller charges so they don't cut the support structure, which would mean the whole plant would come crashing down onto the district in a hail of flaming rubble?" Artemis surmised, barely raising an eyebrow.
"Yes. Exactly. Now go get armed Short, we're only sending the two of you, any more people and we risk setting off any senors they may have set up."
Holly nodded, saluted and turned, marching away. Artemis simply nodded and turned a perfect hundred and eighty degrees before following Holly's much quicker pace with a slower, longer stride.
The field armoury was small, and even if it had been larger Holly went through it with the speed and efficiency borne of many a bored day considering the best weapons and equipment for a varied and violent range of scenarios.
Artemis simply stood at the door in that implacable way of his. He was drawing eyes, although no more than usual. Humans stuck out in Haven, not as much as they may have done one upon a time, when the memories of war were fresh and the fires still smouldering, but now he only really drew eyes in places like Underside, where the streets were still the cramped concrete and re-bar of the early years of Havens construction, when space was limited and so was time. Where he still had to bend to get through most door ways and had to lean side to side to avoid hanging signs.
Holly had spent a long time wondering why he'd asked for a human-esque body. It made him slightly taller than most of the people he was around, mostly being of The People. She'd asked him once, pointing out how it made him an oddity, his reply was simply "I'm already odd Captain, what damage will longer legs do?"
She still hadn't come up with a polite way to say "I don't like you being taller than me smart-ass."
She finished strapping on her wing pack and stepped out of the armoury, looking to Artemis, "Ready to go?"
"Of course Captain, although I fail to see why I cannot be allowed to carry a weapon, purely in defence of myself and others you understand" He replied, following her lead towards the shuttle.
"Artemis you threatened to sky-net Foaly not two hours ago."
"It was three-point-six-five hours ago, and I did not threaten to "Sky-net" him, I simply stated the obvious."
"Uhuh, I'm sure that phrasing would make The Council so happy."
"Point taken."
Trouble spun the pilot's seat around ninety degrees, looking back into the troop compartment, "This is as close as I can get you Short, you're going to have to float over to the cat walk, from there you can hot foot it down the cavern wall to the plant, got it?"
"Sure thing Trub! Thanks for the ride, you staying on station?" Holly asked, moving towards the troop door and firing up her wing-pack.
"I'll be holding out there with the drones, but I'm just a call away, fire support's restricted though, can only do pick up!"
"Copy, try not to look like too tempting a target eh?"
Trouble scoffed, spinning the seat back around to focus on keeping the shuttle close to the rock wall, but not so close as to scratch the nice new stealth coating the techs had finished applying a few hours earlier.
Holly stepped onto the ramp and was joined by Artemis. There was a twelve meter gap between the end of the ramp and the cat walk.
"Good thing I grabbed a moon belt, c'mere and let me hook you up Artemis." Holly turned to her right, realising that she was talking to empty air, "Artemis?"
"Coming through!" Said metallic man shouted as he blew past her from the other end of the troop bay, hitting the end of the ramp and jumping.
For about two and half heart stopping seconds Holly watched as Artemis crossed the gap.
At one second in he hit the apex of his leap, then began dropping in a very similar fashion to a ferret, arms and legs spread out ahead of him and jacket whipping in the wing. Ferrets of course, don't typically leave a dent in a steel cat walk when they land on it, unlike Artemis. His landing was surprisingly quiet if you excluded the single loud thunk as his first foot touched down, synthetic muscles and hydraulic system sucking up the excess energy with the bending of his knees. He turned to Holly and smiled as he stood up.
She shook her head and muttered "Mechanical menace" before following him across the gap in a much straighter line and with infinitely more grace.
She touched down on the cat walk, drawing her neutrino and started to move towards the plant, off to their left Trouble swung the shuttle smoothly away out across the roof-line of Underside. It was quiet this far out from the plant. Even the hum and chatter of city traffic died away to nearly nothing. Only the thump of her combats and the clicking of Artemis' shoes filled the air. She was hoping it would stay that way.
The maintenance catwalks geo-thermal plants were locked off from the cavern wall catwalks for safety and security reasons. Of course a padlock doesn't mean much when you're carrying a neutrino.
The cutting charges were easy to find, they were "smaller" on a relative scale. Each one was about as large as Holly's torso, with magnetic clamps and rock-bolt hard points if those didn't work, in proper use the were designed for blowing large stalactites from cavern roofs before they could become a safety issue. Here they were overkill by two orders of magnitude.
Artemis scoffed as he disassembled the third to last charge, "I'm really not impressed with these charges Captain."
"Oh?" Holly asked without looking over her shoulder, "Go on then, I know you're dying to tell me why."
"You forget Captain, according to The Council, I'm not alive in the first place."
"Artemis."
He let out a mechanical chuckle, the intervals just a little too regular to be natural, "I jest Captain, but really the detonators are painfully simple, they have a single back up system, no timers, no tertiary detonators, no anti handling devices, nothing!"
"And that's a bad thing for us how?"
"I didn't say it was bad, I said it was unimpressive. I mean really, no modifications, no dead man's switches from what I can see, not even a hint of jerry rigging, and they call themselves terrorists!"
"Talk less defuse more Artemis, we've got company!"
Said Company was a Gnome coming down the spiral stairs from the main complex, wearing a tactical vest and carrying a softnose laser. Holly chose to shoot first and ideally ask questions never. This course was complicated by the steel fall cage around the stairs, the aluminized metal catching and absorbing the glittery blue beams. The Gnome had no such issues.
Holly swore and found what cover she could behind the complex lattice work of girders and supports. Artemis started defusing the second to last charge as quickly as his cybernetic digits would move.
The Gnome moved further down the stairs, trying to get a clearer shot on Holly or Artemis. They were both in luck, his softnose was in low power mode, the beams were barely visible except for the distinctive heat haze created in the air as he fired. Instead of simply punching neat little molten holes in the support beams they were using for cover however, the low power shots were simply heating them to a very nice orange hot glow.
"Captain, only one left, but our friend has positioned himself between it and us." Artemis' voice chirped calmly over Holly's helmet radio.
She peeked her head over the faintly glowing girder she was positioned behind. Artemis was right. The broad soldiered bastard had picked the perfect spot to hunker down, they'd have to go past him to get to that last charge. She could up the level on her neutrino, try to clip him and stun him, or she could try to flank him, give Artemis space to work. The first was too dangerous, if she hit the charge, or his softnose went off it could all be for nothing. Flanking it was.
"I'll go right, draw his fire, you go for the charge, got it?"
"Of Captain, on your mark."
"Ready, MARK!"
Holly sprang from cover, lighting of a few blasts from her sidearm as she went. She had scored top marks for marksmanship in the Academy, someone had once called her 'Sure-Shot-Short'. She could take the wings of a fly at forty paces.
That however doesn't mean much when your target is in hard cover, and has switched his softnose from "Re-Heat" to "Liquify".
He heard Her scream.
He was half way to the last charge.
It no longer mattered.
She was in danger.
He turned halfway down the catwalk, abandoning his dash to the charge. He sprinted towards the Gnome. Synthetic muscle and hydraulic actuators gave him incredible speed and impeccable control.
The Gnome turned, screaming, firing his softnose from the hip. He felt the lasers slice through carbon fibre plating and synthetic muscle. The repairs would be expensive, but that didn't matter, He had to protect Her.
He hit the gunman at full pelt, catapulting him backwards across the catwalk, there was an unpleasant crunch and squeal of metal, He didn't bother to check the damage he'd done.
He slid to knees next to her, eyes automatic scanning her, taking in every detail, examining the damage. She was lucky, one shot had scorched her side, the other had hit her in the shoulder, she would live. He tore off the sleeves of his jacket, using them to bind her wounds quickly and efficiently. He picked her up in his arms gently, cradling her close to his chest.
"You'll be alright Captain, I have you, you'll be alright." He almost cooed the words, holding her close.
"Artemis…" She mumbled.
He keyed up his internal radio, "Captain Kelp, Captain Short is wounded, she requires immediate extraction."
Trouble's reply was quick, "Understood, are the charges down?"
"Only one remains, I can handle it once Captain Short is safe."
"Roger that tin-man, in bound now."
He let out a slow sigh, or at least he would have if he'd had lungs.
"Artemis.." Holly mumbled again, half aware through the pain.
He nodded, taking her hand gently, "It's alright Holly, Captain Kelp is on his way."
"No, Artemis, the Gnome!" She yelled, grabbing his shirt collar.
He snapped his head around. The Gnome was still councious, not getting up, but aiming his softnose, specifically at the cutting charge.
Artemis didn't have time to react, he couldn't beat a laser.
The searing beam of ionized air stuck the explosive, it went off with a shockingly small KRUMP. The steel beam fell away from the main structure. The catwalk creaked.
Artemis swore silently, adjusting his footing as the steel plating under his feet slewed to one side. He keyed up his internal radio again, "Captain Kelp, speed up that extract!"
"I'm on it robot! Having to dodge incoming fire here!"
He swore, he could see the flicking trail of modified mining lasers firing from above them in the Geo-Thermal plant. The support structure gave another long, slow whine as it sagged further.
"Artemis I don't like that sound.." Holly mumbled, face pressed to his chest, eyes screwed shut to block out the pain of her half-healed laser wounds. Magic was wonderful, but it could only automatically do so much for cauterized flesh.
"It's fine Holly," He said, looking around at the creaking, crunching lattice work around them, "This building can lose up to 60 percent of it's supports before it begins to fa-"
SKIRRR-CRUNK!
Artemis snapped his head around for a second time, observing the source of the noise. He watched as part o the lattice work he'd just been praising bent and began to buckle. It took all of a half second for him to put the pieces together: The firefight has heated parts of the lattice, thus weakening it, some parts had cooled unevenly, some parts were still hot. The structure would likely survive intact enough to hold up the plant, but he could already feel the catwalk giving way. Time to do something drastic.
"Captain Kelp! New plan! Catwalk's failing, catch us!"
"DO WHAT!?" Trouble screamed down the radio.
Artemis had been moving before he'd finished transmitting. He closed his arms around Holly and began sprinting. He leapt from the catwalk, putting a sizeable dent in the railing, tearing a number of his myomer muscles and shattering at least one actuator in the process. It gave him eighteen meters of distance from the failing sections of the support structure and approximately ten meters of extra height.
Now all he had to hope was that Trouble's actual skills matched those he displayed simulations.
His hope was validated when the shuttle swung down ahead of him, tilted up on it's nose and opened it's rear hatch. What was more impressive was how swiftly Trouble brought the rear end down, shut the hatch and pulled away, leaving Artemis to hit the floor and skid to the far end of the troop bay rather than slamming into the bulk head.
Said bulk head slid open, revealing Trouble turning the pilot's seat ninety degrees, "You crazy mechanical lunatic! What kind of karked up plan do you call that?!"
"One that would not have worked if you were not such a a superlative pilot Captain Kelp, you have my thanks." Artemis replied, sitting up slowly in his now doubly ruined jacket and shirt, still holding Holly securely in his arms. The plating around his shoulders and upper arms was cracked and scored where it hadn't been sliced and melted.
"…You're so lucky I'm easy to flatter."
"Yes, I am, ETA?"
"Two minutes at most."
Holly hated hospitals. She hated being shot more, but it was a close run race.
This was why'd she'd decided to extricate herself from the Medical Branch of the Experimental Division first chance she got. That and the mad genius cackling coming from two rooms down.
For all she detested hospitals and doctors (both sane and mad), she had to admit, they'd done a fantastic job. Her shoulder felt fantastic, they'd done a fine job removing the cauterized flesh and healing new tissue into place, she wasn't even getting the stiffness she was used to with new, untrained muscle. Her side still itched but they'd given her a nearly flawless skin graft so she couldn't really complain. Her field jacket was ruined though, nothing could have been done to save it.
Given all this, she was currently sneaking her way towards her workspace in her tank top and combats, still partly wrapped in bandages. There had been a few close calls, but over she'd managed to dip, duck and dodge any other officers who would no doubt order or escort her back to the medical wing.
Finally, she made it into the lab and shut the door behind her, leaning against it with a sigh. Looking around Foaly was nowhere in sight, he was probably still on site tracing the weapons and explosives those attackers had used. That was perfect for her, she was hoping for some privacy.
She approached the far side of the laboratory, Artemis was reclined ins his cradle, eyes shut and seemingly offline. That was, until she was right next to him.
"Captain, I didn't hear you come in." He intoned without opening his eyes.
"I know for a fact you heard me come in." She sighed, stepping up onto the stool by the cradle, "You don't have to be so aloof."
"But Captain my Captain, how else can I maintain my aura of mystic?"
"Hard to do that when you're shirtless and covered in burns, cuts and contact abrasions."
"Point taken Captain, I would be doing work to repair the damage but in saving your life I appear to have damaged a number of critical components."
"Mhmm" She climbed up onto the edge of the cradle, sitting on his thighs so she was looking him in the face properly, "I was working out a way to thank you for that."
"You needn't do anything Captain, I was merely doing my job." He said, quirking an eyebrow.
She rolled he eyes, "How about you shut up and let the pretty mechanic fix your boo-boos hmm?"
He let out a quiet laugh, edged with the static of damaged systems, "Yes, of course Captain"
"Holly," She told him as she shifted forward to sit on his hips, "It's just us, so it's Holly."
"Of course, Holly."
She nodded and smiled, leaning forward. Picking up the service kit from the side of the maintenance cradle she deftly hooked it to her belt and extract the tools she needed. Shuffling forward again to be sat on his midriff she leaned forward, hooking her hand around his damaged right shoulder. Moving slowly she began to uncouple the damaged plating, fingers swiftly slipping under the plating as she lifted it, pressing the connectors, each of which let out a quiet 'clunk' as they disengaged.Flicking the damaged shell aside she set to work examining the myomer muscles they'd covered, she didn't like what she found.
She ran a finger down the frayed fibers, "Gods Artemis," She was speaking barely above a whisper, "These bundles are a mess, how hard did you hit the deck of the shuttle?" She looked up to his face.
His eyes were shut tight, "Hard enough to do serious damage it seems."
"Yeh I can tell…" She sighed, pressing her lips together in thought.
After a few moments she nodded, taking another few tools off her belt, "Right then, new plan."
"New wha-ah!" Artemis' replyed was cut off in a hiss of burbling static.
Holly set to fast work. She deftly disconnected the damage fibre bundles, slicing through them, each one folding like an unstretched rubber band. Then she worked at the fiber-optic and hydraulic lines that ran from Artemis' core, luckily these had built in cuts off between the shoulder and the arm, all she had to do was clamp the hydraulic lines after fiber-optic lines were disconnected. With an engineers precision and a demolitionist's enthusiasm she set about disabling them, then crimped the hydraulic lines before, all at once, disconnecting them with a quiet 'kch-khunk'. Artemis let out another distorted whine as she wiped her hand on her tank-top, smearing it with golden oil.
Artemis blinked open his eyes slowly, staring at shock in the ceiling as Holly went about undoing the bolts holding his shoulder joint together. With a final 'krr'chk' the last bolt came free, and with a groan Holly lifted the detached arm and dropped it over the side oft eh cradle where it handed with a dull thump. She sat back with a sigh, sitting across his hips once more.
"There we go, how're you feeling?"
Artemis took several moments to respond, arching his back slightly and then half sitting up, every word was laced with static, "Holly, that was, a little warning next time?" He flopped backwards into the cradle again.
"Sorry," She shrugged, sorting out the tools she'd need next, "But the synth-muscle was shredded, it'll be easier to strip it bare and start over again, and we can't do that while it's mounted to you."
"No, no it's fine, I just, I wasn't awake the last time you had to do such, intimate work…"
She looked up at his face, which was firmly pointed up, his eyes fixedly staring at the light in the ceiling above them. A devious smile crept up her face.
"Artemis, are you blushing?"
"No!" His head snapped up, revealing the fact that he was lying through his enamel teeth.
Holly laughed, shaking her head, "I didn't know synth-skin could blush," She ran her hand up his chest plating, partially examining the damage the softnose had done, partially to watch him squirm, "Didn't know you had, feeling, really"
"It's, experimental," He laid his head back down, trying to keep the pitch modulation of his voice steady, "Part of my attempt to under-underst-Captain! Will you stop that while I'm trying to speak?"
Holly took her hand off his chest, "Sorry.."
"Thank you, like I said, I have been working on becoming more, human I suppose, a proper sense of touch was the first step"
"Not emotions?"
"Very funny Captain."
Holly laughed, nodding, "I figured as much, but I need to to do this repair work, do you uh, want me to disconnect you?"
"No, no I er…"
"Enjoy me touching you?"
"I'd rather you not phrase it like that."
Holly laughed again, shaking her head slowly, "Alright, if you're sure"
With infinitely more care, and several magnitudes more interest, Holly slowly began to unlatch and disconnect the slim carbon fibre plating that made up Artemis' chest. Each clicking pop drew another distorted hiss from him, his remaining left hand flexing against the cradle's lining. Carefully she slid her fingers under his pectoral plates, slipping thin digits between hard plating and soft synth-mucle. With a final clunk the thick plate came free and Artemis unclenched his grip before he broke something.
Each piece of carbon fibre thumped quietly to the floor and Holly leaned back, letting out a slow hiss though her teeth. She traced the scorched, frayed lines of myomer with a finger tip, watching the bundles twitch involuntarily under her ministrations. He'd taken a serious beating, if he'd been flesh and blood he likely would've been badly hurt or more likely killed. And he'd done it to protect her.
She grinned, slipping her fingers in-between the fibres to reach the attachment points for each bundle, the movement elicited a humming buzz from Artemis and the arching of his back. The bundles were still warm against her fingers, heated by their movement and the close grazes with a high energy laser. Each one disconnected gently, the myomer contracting suddenly as the tension was released, after a minute or so Holly lifted her hands, wiping them on her tank top again, staining it further with traces of lubricant and hydraulic fluid.
"I think that softnose ruptured some fluid lines, you're soaking!"
"There's a metaphor about pots and kettles here…" Artemis mumbled quietly, speakers still abuzz with static.
Holly spluttered, looking up at him, sitting back in shock, "I-Whu! I have no idea what you mean!"
Artemis simply laughed and lowered his head again, "It's entirely possible you could do these repairs while not sat atop me like a cow girl."
"…Shut up."
"You were also grinding your hi-…?!" Artemis blinked, releasing he his sentence had stopped coming out of his mouth half way through
Holly smirked, holding one end of the power cable for his voice box, "Sorry, I've got to disconnect it to do this next part, how about this," She reached over, gripping his wrist and moving his hand to cup her hip, "Just squeeze if you want me to stop, okay?"
He gave two gentle squeezes and lowered his head, trying in vain to hide the dark azure blush that was plaguing his synth-skin.
Holly let out a low chuckle, shifting her hips to get comfy again, realising Artemis had been right. There was a heat deep in the pit of her stomach she wasn't quite sure how to classify. She leaned forward, trying to forget it as she began working on the inner working's of Artemis' chest. She could feel his hand flexing against her hip as she began adjusting the hydraulic pumps that governed the ratios of fluid though out his body. They were slick with oil that had seeped through the seals and soot that had been generated by the laser bolts, she continued to wipe her hands on her top, leaving it stained black and slightly tacky.
She shifted her hips forward again, becoming aware of good that felt. She tried to keep her face straight as Artemis' hand slid down to cup her rear tightly. Shifting her hips side to side again, biting her lip and trying to keep focused she slid her hands around his internal battery core.
The nuclear decay battery was warm, about twice the size of an Elfen heart, just slightly larger than a human one would be. It thrummed with a dangerous buzz, she adjusted the clamps that held it in place, slowly, carefully lifting it up. She was literally holding his heart in her hands, turning it side to side, examining it for damage. It appeared untouched.
She looked past it, to Artemis' face, he'd raised his head, his eyes fixed firmly on hers, focus length shifting and adjusting to take her in. Not his heart in her hands, not the complex piece of nuclear engineering that kept him alive. Her.
She did her best not to let out a whimper, slowly lowering it back down, nestling it back in it's clamps, shutting it carefully.
Pushing herself up on her knees, she crawled up him, planting her hands either side of his head, his hand still gripping her rear.
"Squeeze twice for yes, once for no, okay?"
He squeezed twice.
She nodded, "Good, are you enjoying this?"
Two squeezes.
"Do you want me to keep going?"
Another two squeezes.
"Does that mean I can kiss you?"
She didn't wait for an answer, dropping her head down and pressing her lips to his. The synth-skin as warm and soft. She felt him raise his head to meet her, she pushed him back down, pressing her tongue past his lips, fighting with his. After a few seconds she pulled back, panting and gasping for air.
"Last question, if I help you finish, will you help me?"
His hand slid under the waist band of her combats.
"Good boy," She leaned back, pulling her stained tank top over her head, tossing it across the lab, "Now where were we?"
Her head crashed back down, mashing her lips back to his.