Factory Reset

Chapter Fourteen: On the Road Again

Everything was somewhat hazy as B-64 regained some semblance to consciousness, like a thick fog obscuring his vision despite having no real octave nerves.

His muscles felt weak and deflated, his entire right leg cramped like hell, and there was the faint sound of mechanical whirring coming from within. Nothing, not a single piece of information showed up on his visors hud, which had never happened before.

His vision slowly, but steadily, grew clearer. He found himself slumped somewhat haphazardly against a tree trunk, several scratches lining the side of his inner thigh. He gripped his hand together, feeling nothing.

And then he began to hear the faint sounds of the wind, sounding far in the distance yet so near that he could feel it. He could hear the faint sounds of voices coming and going, as though someone were waiting for him.

He could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness, feel his hardware and awareness start to gain errors, and in a desperate bid to stay conscious, he sent a Boson charged electronic signal through his entire body, shocking him into full active mode.

His vision snapped from foggy to crystal clear, his hearing perfect and he could feel everything. Every small blade of grass and every small gust of wind brushing against him.

"We can't wait much longer." He heard Mason say. Just by the volume and sound B-64 could tell that he was rather close. Gripping against the stump he was laid against, B-64 pushed himself up into standing with a grunt.

"Finally!" A little voice said, Hannah. From the sound of it, it came from behind him, and B-64 quickly swiveled around.

Mason was standing against the now upright, yet still damaged, car that Mistress Red had damaged. Axel was just underneath it, his tail and legs the only thing visible while he tinkered with the inside of it.

Marissa was waiting beside Mason, a frown etched onto her face as she stared at the ground in quiet contemplation. Hannah quickly rushed towards him, the plip-plop of the sandals suddenly stopping as she effectively tackled his leg with enough force to almost make him stumble backwards.

Mason smiled as he saw that, finding it all together really cute. B-64 looked around awkwardly, not knowing how to truly interact with the child in this situation. Marissa turned her head, grinning broadly.

Mason turned his attention to his friend underneath the car. Axel was adamant that he could repair the surprisingly little damage done to the undercarriage and engine with just the box of tools in the trunk. As it had turned out, his mother had left a red tool box filled with different tools that Mason had no idea what they were called or what they were used for.

B-64 limped over to the rest of them, little Hannah hanging off his metallic hip as he hobbled forward and giggling as she flopped around like a napkin in the wind. He produced a trill that sounded almost like a greeting, but much more avian.

"Hell yeah, finally done!" Axel announced, shimmying his way out from under the dark recesses of the undercarriage. He whooped into the air, holding a wrench up like it was the last savior of the world.

Mason did not understand, nor want to understand, how Axel managed to fix their car with just a few tools, but if it worked, then it worked. Giving a soft smile to B-64, Mason hopped into the vehicle and inserted the key into the ignition.

With a pause for some dramatic effect, Mason turned the key softly. A sputter, the nothing. Mason frowned, turning the key harder than before, and getting it to sputter thrice, before dying.

Axel looked at the car again, a crestfallen look now descending onto him. Just before he started to curse himself, and most likely the world out, he was interrupted by the car suddenly gaining life as the final key turn by Mason sent the engine purring.