The Disparate One

Chapter 5

Ray stared at the shiny pieces on the table in silence. He darted his eyes to the blueprint then to the toolboxes and cabinets, then back to the table. He glanced at Ony whose eyes were as serious as Oxford when they first met. Ray wanted to make up an excuse, but he remembered what Oxford told him about the rules. He asked Ony regarding the task. Just to be sure he won't be breaking any rules.

"Just build a robot. Oxford told me to make this particular task for you. Why? Ask him," said Ony with his Canadian accent.

"O-oh..." uttered Ray, walking towards the table head down.

Ony nodded before casually heading back to his cubicle, he walked backward to keep an eye on the test subject. Passing the entrance to his space, he found Oxford propped up against the fridge with a soda can in his hand. It was covered with condensation. He sipped and asked.

"So?"

"So?"

Oxford frowned while he tilted his head in the direction of Ray who was walking around the area. Oxford expected his test subject to protest but he heard nothing from his colleague regarding it. He figured the rules must've scared Ray.

He stood aside when Ony walked to the fridge to grab himself a drink, the same one as Oxford's. The can fizzled when Ony sat back to his swivel chair, placing his left leg atop the other. He looked at Ray across the busy catwalk, seeing him picking up pieces and bringing them to the board, probably matching them to the blueprints and manuals.

It reminded Ony of his first day. He did the same thing as Ray was doing. It was the most intense moment of his life. His predecessor watched him put things into pieces for hours, without a single break.

Looking down at his hands, he eyed each scar around it, each of which retained a painful memory of his days with his predecessor.

He recalled the times like when his fingers got squashed by two large neodymium magnets, thankfully the facility willingly repaired it for free. The time when he foolishly aimed the nail gun at his fingertips without turning the switch off. These moments made him smile until he got to the last scar.

The one he got from punching a guard as he got peeled away from his predecessor years ago. That day was as fresh as a newly made sushi. He could still feel the pain throbbing in his left hand. He fought hard--put his life at risk--only to see his predecessor again. But he never found his predecessor until this day.

"Earth to Ony..." Oxford's voice ripped through the horrifying memory.

Ony shook himself out of his thoughts when he looked back at Oxford who was speaking to him. He sipped, feeling the pricks of the spirit.

"D-did you say something?" Ony asked.

Oxford calmly looked down at him, he could tell where Ony's mind wandered again just by looking at his eyes and seeing him admire his scars earlier. He moved towards him and patted Ony's shoulder.

"I'm fine... what were you saying?"

Oxford glanced at Ray for a moment, watching him now connect little pieces from the table. He slid out a piece of paper with something written on it, 'Channel 57'.

Instantly, they simultaneously turned their dials to the next channel where they could speak without Ray listening.

"Do you know anything about microbots?" Oxford asked clearly, returning to his spot to finish his sweating drink.

Ony looked at him curiously. He never expected his colleague to suddenly have an interest in micro-engineering as if transferring themselves to a private channel wasn't already a questioning one.