Private 3 O'Clock Repairs

[Zenric]

Sometimes things went south. Well, Zenric was already mostly machine so he was pretty used to that. But in general, yeah. Things went south. That's why Darkwire had safe houses. Places to chill, relax. Recoup before moving out. Laying low if needed to avoid authorities for a bit. Usually in the seedier places of Denon at that. Places that could be overlooked, or that Corpo Security didn't want to get involved with. Seedier was the right word for this place.

Zenric stumbled in, letting out a sigh as he wandered towards the secret entrance near the back of the seemingly condemned building. A quick click on the right tag and the panel opened. Letting him continue his shamble through. Things had indeed gone south. No worse than usual, but it still sucked having to drag himself here. Soon as he could he plopped down on the couch, took off the helmet he had that kept his face a secret from the Corpos. Tossed that aside and just stared at the ceiling.

Then clicked his tongue. And started blasting some tunes. His cybernetics weren't about to repair themselves. Thankfully they didn't hurt, so it made the whole process soo much easier. Music did too. Head bobbing to the beat he flipped out a screwdriver from his wrist and started getting to work. Dismantling his shattered ankle so he could start repairing and replacing what was broken.

Das

 

[Das]

//: Tags: Zenric
//: Location: DENON...

"Another lovely locale," Das muttered as the maglocks sealed behind her. As far as safehouses go, this one seemed the least 'safe' yet. But it was hidden from CorpSec, under their radar, and likely just the place for her to stock up on spare tech.

Das slid her hood down, freeing her turquoise curls as she entered the main area of the abandoned factory that now served as a crash pad for shadowrunners, low lives, and petty criminals. She made her way toward what looked like a chop shop, hoping to score a nice find, but something more interesting caught her eye. In the common area, sitting on a couch, was... a boy? A droid? It was difficult to tell which label fit him more, considering the vast majority of his body appeared cybernetic. Das watched him curiously as he tinkered with his ankle.

Intrigued, she diverted and made way for the cyborg. She smiled and offered a friendly wave, but he seemed too preoccupied to notice her.

"Looks pretty bad," she said in a raised voice, a humored expression on her face.

"Need a hand?"

 

[Zenric]

He didn't hear a voice at first. The sensors built into his head had him aware someone had approached, but he didn't lower the tunes. Not at first.

"-ed a hand?"

Zenric blinked as he turned off the music in his head, turning his gaze to the girl who'd wandered in. Another shadowrunner? No files, so he figured that'd be a safe bet. That, or some corpo lacky- No, this was a safe house. He flashed a smile before flicking around the screwdriver he'd been using to hand her way. Having another set of hands to help out wasn't the worst thing to happen.

If she was any good at cybernetics at least.

"Sounds good to me. Mind if I play some tunes?" He didn't wait for an answer, instead just playing his music through a speaker in his helmet instead of in his head. Then flicked out another screwdriver to start on another messed up part of his body. His arm, ironically enough.

"Come here often?" Ah, small talk. His greatest bane. How he missed this terrible foe.

 

[Das]

//: Tags: Zenric
//: Location: DENON...

The cyborg turned off the music that blared from his helmet, lending her both a smile and a screwdriver.

"Sounds good to me. Mind if I play some tunes?"

"Oh, no, I don't mi-"

Before Das could really answer, his helmet was blasting music once again. She smiled, shaking her head in amusement as she gripped the tool and knelt beside him. His ankle was certainly worse for wear; Were his foot still flesh and bone, he'd have been better off getting hauled to a hospital. Luckily for the both of them, servos and wiring are far less difficult to repair than muscles and joints.

She began unscrewing one of the damaged plates from his ankle when he spoke over the music that filled the air.

"Come here often?"

"Only when it hits the fan," she replied with a grin. "I assume the same can be said for you?"

Das gritted her teeth as she twisted the final screw loose and began to peel the plate off. Whatever trauma the area received must've lodged the plate into an awkward angle, but she managed to pry it off without too much effort. Underneath, she saw a mess of wiring and servos.

"Ooh, this is gonna be fun!" she thought to herself as she inspected the mechanical structure.

 

[Zenric]

He laughed. And nodded.

"Jobs that don't go to plan are always the most fun. And messiest." His foot had certainly gotten the worst of it. Wasn't often he fell through things. Less so that he fell into machinery that could mangle his cyberntics like his poor foot. But as always he'd gotten out. Bobbing his head some to the beat he continued on his arm. Made sure the systems were right. That the hud built into his eyes was still connected and right.

He raised a brow after a moment, glancing to her.

"You a cyborg too? Or just good with machines?"

Das

 

[Das]

//: Tags: Zenric
//: Location: DENON...

Das smirked, trying not to seem overconfident. She reached into her backpack and withdrew a small metal instrument, working at the servo as she talked.

"Just good with machines," she responded. "Learned it from my dad."

The cyborg really did a number on his ankle. Das tinkered with the servo until she was satisfied, then turned her focus to the mess of wiring that would need to be spliced and soldered to regain functionality. She slipped the tool into her backpack and procured another, a small torch she figured would do the trick. The music playing from Zenric's helmet was loud, but surprisingly easy to work along to. Her head began to bob gently as she stripped back the wire coating and twisted their frayed ends into workable threads of copper.

"How'd you bust your ankle?" she asked before putting the torch in her mouth, holding the tool between her teeth as she positioned a segment wire against the servo.

 

[Zenric]

From her dad huh?

That probably wasn't something to ask about then. Zenric nodded and kept the smile on his face. But yeah, people didn't end up like them if they had only good things to talk about with their own family. Usually. Ah man now he was curious. He opened his mouth, about ready to ask a question himself when she in turn asked her own.

He snickered to himself, shrugging as he pried free what looked like a vibroblade that had gotten locked into his arm. One of the ones built into his body, but the crash had it lodged in all the wrong places.

"Mistimed a jump from a train, actually. Got away, but yeah. Hitting speeders isn't any fun."

Das

 

[Das]

//: Tags: Zenric
//: Location: DENON...

"Mistimed a jump from a train, actually. Got away, but yeah. Hitting speeders isn't any fun."

The girl’s eyes widened at how nonchalant Zenric was about the incident. A miscalculation like that would’ve cost Das her life, but then again, being a cyborg comes with such perks. She delicately held the end of the wire against its proper spot, grabbed the torch, and began to solder it in place.

“That must’ve been scary,” she said, imagining how frightening the fall must have been. It was, at least, unforgettable, judging by the damage he’d done to his ankle.

“I’m, uh… not great with heights.” Her mind flashed to the close call she had after the museum heist, when her speeder was nearly shot down during a chase with some CorpSec agents who were less than enthused by her antics that evening.

She noticed the boy removing a blade from his arm and shook her head, a smirk on her face.

 

[Zenric]

"Scary? Uh, kinda, I guess. It's hard to get too scared though. Not like it hurt or anything." He tossed the blade aside with a shrug before setting the screwdriver between his teeth. And started to manhandle the bent parts within his arm apart with his now free hand to at least expose the wires that had been cut. So that's why his grip was all messed up, huh? Zenric half chuckled as he took the tool out to start tightening some bolts where the wires needed to go.

"What brings you here, anyway? Hiding out from a recent job gone right or wrong or somethin'? You're not hurt, right?"

He blinked, glancing to her as the thought crossed his mind. If he was here because he was hurt, was she?

Das

 

[Das]

//: Tags: Zenric
//: Location: DENON...

"I'm okay," Das said with a reassuring smile. "More okay than you, at least. I'm just looking for some spare parts," she explained as she finished attaching the wires. Satisfied with her work, she set the torch on the floor and moved to the next bit of fractured circuitry.

"I like to make things," she said as she tinkered on Zenric's ankle. "I'm trying to fix up an old slicer my dad left for me. It's some kind of prototype I think, but it's not finished yet - I need a few more bits before I can test it in the field."

Das bit her tongue as she worked, an old habit she picked up from her dad. He had a habit of leaving her with things she couldn't shake away. A blessing and a curse. She snapped a piece into place, looked over the mechanical appendage, and clicked her tongue.

"Done," she said with pride as she brushed her hands together. She looked to Zenric, giving him a kind smile.

 

[Zenric]

He was done pretty quick. Once the obstructions were out of the way his cybernetic enhanced mind was able to run the diagnostic quick enough. Now with both hands he moved to the other messed up part of his body. His leg. He leaned over, not seeming to notice or care how close he was actually getting to her as she focused on his foot. Parts of his leg popped open, where they could. The other parts he pried open to start on the circuitry.

"An old slicer? I could take a look, if you want. Or, well, uh. Not that I'm saying you don't know what you're doing. I uh- I have spare parts, though? I can give you parts." He started to ramble, now more aware of how presumptuous he sounded. His eyes flicked up, the cybernetics as always faintly glowing as they focused. Then he blinked. It took a second before Zenric glanced to his foot and immediately nodded.

"Right! Uh- Yeah! that uh." He wiggled his foot, put some weight on it where he could without getting up. Leg still needed to get fixed. But enough could put some pressure there and see how it worked out. "That's- wow. Yeah that's real nice work. I- Not that I'm surprised. You know what you're doin- I sound like an ass can I restart?" He laughed nervously, rubbing at the back of his head as he leaned back up. People, he really sucked at people.

Das

 

[Das]

//: Tags: Zenric
//: Location: DENON...

Das watched as Zenric examined his leg. She was curious to see just how much of his body was cybernetically enhanced. Most cyborgs had their limitations when it came to replacing their flesh and blood with machinery, and by the looks it, Zenric's threshold was higher than others. He began absentmindedly leaning closer to her, focused on opening the panels on his leg. When he finally noticed she was done, he was already quite close to her. His cybernetic eyes had a faint glow that made Das' cheeks redden.

"An old slicer? I could take a look, if you want. Or, well, uh. Not that I'm saying you don't know what you're doing. I uh- I have spare parts, though? I can give you parts."

Das giggled as he rambled. There was something kind of cute about the way he stumbled over his words.

"Thanks," she said, "but you don't have to do that. Besides, most of the parts I need are really hard to find... and really expensive if I ever do."

Her dad's projects were typically 'experimental' in nature; Half-finished prototypes with missing components that were nearly impossible to track down, or in some cases didn't even exist. There was a never-ending goose chase every time she went into her dad's workshop. Zenric would have a field day if he ever saw the loads of abandoned tech her dad had accumulated.

The boy rotated his foot, testing Das' handiwork.

"That's- wow. Yeah that's real nice work. I- Not that I'm surprised. You know what you're doin- I sound like an ass can I restart?"

She giggled, brushing her turquoise curls out of her face.

"You're not an ass," she said as she gathered up her tools and slipped them into her bag.

"But you do need to be more careful when jumping off of things. I may not be around to patch you up next time."

 

[Zenric]

"I've got a collection. Had to uh, keep upgrading to stay ahead of Corpo, so I just made it a habit to yoink whatever tech they got laying around. Most I just sell if I can't use it, but there are some stuff. And hey, maybe I can keep an eye out for something you might need for one of those projects, yeah?" He flashed an honest grin and raised a thumbs up. Wouldn't get in his way to keep an eye on specialty items at all. Especially since he tended to case a whole room in a couple seconds from the cybernetics anyway.

A grin that turned more embarrassed. "Not an ass. Good. I- Heh, yeah. They say look before ya leap, right? I should uh, be probably better at that shouldn't I?" He snickered as his eyes flashed just a bit to emphasize the joke. He had looked to where he was going to leap, just, not down the road where the speeder came by and clipped him. Sometimes folks just liked to speed.

He got that.

"Hey, I'm Ze- Uh. Z. Yeah, codenames. Darkwire folks call each other codenames, right? .. Call me Z." Was that a thing they did? He rarely interacted with others, and the brief time he did, he couldn't really remember. "You hungry? I- Well I don't eat, but I love cooking. So uh- I mean if it's a dumb idea yeah no problem but I can make ya something and you can tell me how it is?"

Das

 

[Das]

//: Tags: Zenric
//: Location: DENON...

"Oh, uhm..."

When was the last time she'd eaten? Or even drank? At least a day, maybe two. She was so focused on her work, on fixing her slicer, that she had neglected to stop and take care of herself. It was a bad habit. Another one her dad left with her.

"Yeah, I could eat," she said with a nod. She finished putting the tools into her backpack, slung it over her shoulder, and stood up. She brushed off her pants before holding her hand out to help Zenric to his feet. She doubted he actually needed it, being a cyborg and all, but that's what friends were for. Besides, she wanted to be sure his newly repaired ankle and leg were able to handle the weight of his cybernetic body.

"So," she said with a bit of excitement in her voice, "where'd you learn to cook?"

 

[Zenric]

Zenric blinked. But he took the offered hand to pull himself up. Synthflesh was close to the real deal. Let him actually feel things. Kind of. Enough to know her hand was warm. He cleared his throat as he leaned on his foot, choosing to focus on that instead. Yeah. With his fix on the leg and her fix on the ankle he was good as new.

"Oh, uh. Ma n' pa used to run a diner downtown from the Museum. Real nice place, when it was open. I spent a lot of time learning out to cook where I could growing up." Some of his fondest memories. And some of the worst. A sadness crept into his smile, but he was quick to turn away and get into the kitchen to start cooking away. Nothing too fanc- Nah it was. He was pulling out all the stops as he flew through the kitchen with ease. The cybernetics made even cooking easy. Mostly.

He couldn't taste test it.

"So yeah. I just, I love cooking." Zenric didn't want to dwell on it. It was the usual story for people like them. Denon was an unforgiving place. Eggs, meat, mushrooms and onions. A perfectly cooked omelet was set out. And unfortunately bland as all hell. Easy to cook it right, hard to balance the taste.

Still he set it out, smiling wide. "Here!"

 

[Das]

//: Tags: Zenric
//: Location: DENON...

Das' eyes nearly doubled in size when Zenric offered her the tray of food. An omelette, steaming hot and perfectly prepared. It'd been a few days since she'd last eaten properly, but months since she had a hot meal. The fact that it wasn't an MRE or a meal replacement bar was simply amazing. She practically beamed as she took the tray.

"Wow!" she said with a grin. "This looks... well, amazing!" She giggled excitedly. It was almost too wonderful to eat. Almost. She grabbed the fork and cut a piece, but instead of eating the bite herself, she raised it toward Zenric. She knew he couldn't eat it, or at least taste, but it felt wrong to down it all by herself.

"Here," she said with a soft smile, "take the first bite." She raised an eyebrow to curb any protest.

 

[Zenric]

He laughed. Nervously. Zenric honestly couldn't eat. What remained of his body was given nutrition through the cybernetics. No stomach, no digestive system. Usually it'd be an immediate no. He also had never had someone offer him a bite like this. At least, not someone like Emily. He just nodded a little dumbly before leaning forward to take the bite.

And then blinked in surprise before pulling back and glancing off. He even covered his face to discreetly as possible remove the section of egg to get rid of. "It's uh, I don't- heh. Uh. Thanks?" He had no idea what to say otherwise. But eventually he lowered his hand and smiled.

"I hope it's good."

Das