"Ma'am, I would like to--" Sy approached the mother of two in their group. He couldn't decide whether it's borrowing or not. The woman seemed to be clingy to the cutting-edge tool in her hand: The iron. The metal itself was the cream of the crop, but it's integrated dispersion of laser was something he sorely needed.
A brief silence ensued.
"I'm Emma Losac," The woman broke the quiet, motioning to her two children and smiling as they came to her view, "This is my daughter Lily, and his brother Chris."
"Sy!" The two children, as if learning to speak, both shouted at the same time. The man himself chuckled. They might had heard Niel shouting his name as they readied the assembly line earlier.
Steeling up his nerves, Sy politely asked, "Mrs. Losac, I would like to borrow your.. uhm - iron."
Emma stifled a chuckle at the way he addressed her while stammering as he pronounced the household device in her hand. She raised the tool and looked at it with care, explaining, "This is the first thing I bought with my own money since I became a mother." A thought made her smile, "I was reluctant to part it with so I carried it here."
Sy felt a deep guilt within. He seemed to have age a century as he wondered why did he even bothered to take away a treasured item.
However, Emma handed over the device, "Take it, please. I didn't know it would be of good use when I brought it."
The young pioneer felt relieved. He didn't saw any hesitation when Emma gave the iron as he didn't felt more obligated to her. She was a beautiful woman. Her sweet smile was pleasing to the eyes. If she flashed it everywhere, she would had countless of followers. He looked to the two children, and had a brief of thought. In his calculation, Emma should be in her late twenties. She probably married at a young age.
"I'm gonna return your iron, ma'am, with an upgrade." He promised and made his leave, right after he ruffled the young boy's hair, and gently pinched the girl's chubby cheek.
On the assembly line, Niel attentively watched Sy. As the younger man came over, he whispered, "I didn't know you dig that way."
"Huh?" Sy turned with a dubious look on his face.
"Emma is from a great family, you know. You have good eyes." Niel added.
Sy returned to tampering with the household device, but attentively listened. He was curious about the woman's background.
"The Losac family has always been one of the leading figures in the Union. A family known for being a political animal."
"What?" Sy glanced at the older man, returning to his memory about how he addressed her earlier. He asked in curiousity, "Is she a single mom or divorced?"
"No. No. She's none of that." Niel inched closer, "She is not the genetic mother of those two kids. In fact, she adopted them from a dead friend."
Sy was embarrassed that he addressed her as 'Mrs. Losac' like she married into that family. 'So that's why her reaction was kinda different.' He thought.
"She seems keen in raising the kids on her own. But with a man as capable as you, she might rethink of having children of her own blood. Their family is already having a dispute about her decision." Niel assumed, caressing his chin.
"I only borrowed her iron!" Sy corrected, waving the device on the older man's face. He then grabbed a tool and started removing the safety measure of the device.
"But if it's up to me, I'd marry you into my family. You're a very handsome man. A genius if I might say. Mina would be a happy woman." Niel was now directly talking on the younger man's ear, "That would seal your fate into sticking on my family."
Sy was getting irritated with Niel blabbering things into his ear. Just as when he thought it was over, the older man returned and started talking again.
"As a man, I know how you feel." Niel had a wise look on his face, "You could cheat a little with Emma. I would allow it. But you know, Mina is my sister. You have to go back to her."
The joke was on as Sy finally smiled. He grabbed a large wrench and threatened to knock the older man unconscious. Smiling at the length in which Niel was willing to go just to make a joke, he retorted, "You talk like that about your sister? Don't worry, she's going to hear about it."
After much consolation, the two had a good laugh and returned to serious work.
The mech facility suddenly came alive, grabbing the attention of the people sheltered within.
Sy finally finished customizing the iron into a laser-torch and made shortwork in dismembering the 25 meters long, light mech's arm before proceeding to the next - astonishing the spectators with the efficiency of his work. Niel was one of the audiences. He thought that the younger man never paused and seemed to skip the step by step procedure - doing them all at once. Such a thing required high intelligence.
With his competitive spirit ignited, Niel also focused on his own work. Although, a bit rusty, and had been away from the production line for a long time, he made a big impression on the crowd by first installing the huge reactor of the mech into the center of the torso.
Two days later, their work slowed down as they reached a slump. Sy needed some time to make the tube and skeletal frame of the arm into a single entity - to protract and retract. On the other hand, Niel grimaced on how to jam all the components into the torso. The reactor and engine were already installed, but the storage, cockpit and other electronics had nowhere to go. The design was sound but building it was always the hard part.
-----
Meanwhile, in the heart of the Union, Pyre Prime, Thales stood at the hallway of the Primary Installation of the Mech's Research Center. It didn't take long before they made an action at his new discovery. However, 2 days was a bit lengthy for their standard. They were already gathering many specialists and the Director herself, asked for his presence.
["A storm has taken the citizens of Logria by surprise. What was thought to be a minor disturbance had turned enormous, enveloping almost half the planet!"]
A woman said with great concern over the news channel. Thales was paying half attention, but when he heard about the planet's name, he immediately turned and watched the projected screen. 'Isn't that Fanick's home-planet?'
["The massive storm generated magnetic interferences and we cannot communicate to the ground. People all around the Union are rioting on the streets. Calamities like this had plagued the desert planet for many decades now. The lack of preventative measures implemented - prompted the people to act. Many had already speculated that the aftermath would be thousands of lives lost again."]
["The Supreme Leader confirmed that a relief force were already on their way. But with the storm raging on, it's impossible to get to the ground. It's also worth mentioning the hydroponic farms of Logria that had ceased to function. Other star systems would surely be affected as their main source of food supply will be cut off."]
"Sir!"
Thales' attention was drawn away from the news as he glanced at a young man nearby who was wearing a white lab coat on top of a white suit.
As the young man guided him into a hover platform, Thales attention was still on the news. He had his difference with Niel, but the man was still an able individual. After the man resigned, causing their downfall, Thales had criticised Niel's decision into returning to a backwater planet to no end. No matter. He had moved past that. He hoped his former colleague would survive, and one day, share another drink - exchanging new discoveries.
The hover platform levitated into a floating facility. When they were on the same level as the facility's ground floor, a bridge extended automatically which they traversed - unperturbed by the long fall.
Inside was a dome-like room. White hover chairs facing a projected screen were placed at the center. Thales was asked to sit on a corner as a few personnel entered - mostly, individuals he knew.
One former colleague stopped to greet him, "Thales.. Thales, my man. You got astonished by an ancient junk and made a big splash, even wasting our precious time."
Thales did not mind the insult. Ducar had always been an asshole even before they graduated in the prestigious mech school of the Union. He carefully watched the man who light-heartedly took a seat before studying the content of the projected screen. At first glance, the man's expression was ridicule, even mockingly glancing at Thales' direction, but as time went on, the man went stiff as a rock.
After a few hours, the men on the center of the room were making the same faces he made when he first assessed the blueprint. 'Fools! A mech specialist should be humble! This should be a good lesson for all of you!'
Thales became increasingly anxious as a few more minutes were consumed. He tapped his finger repeatedly on his hover chair. 'There's no use! They'll come up with nothing! Why are they dragging this out?'
"Thales."
The authoritative voice of a woman boomed across the facility. The man who was called up - recognized the voice. He hurriedly stood up and bowed his head respectfully. He acknowledged, "Director Cia."
Thales raised his head and looked up, seeing a figure standing on a platform hovering 20 meters above ground, surrounded by reinforced window panels. It was a woman with otherworldly appearance. Her eyes, sprinkled by two different colours; green and blue, portrayed her superior genetic modifications.
This woman was the representative of the Green Torch - a vast mech guild encompassing almost all of the lesser factions' mech productions - in the Union.
Thales wondered why they dawdle. He understood that the recent wars with the Atlas Guild had drained the coffer of the Green Torch, but if they delayed longer, other mech guilds will beat them to it. They needed to put a pilot into the Straggler S1-2 so that they could witness all of its functions.
"Patience, Thales." As if reading his mind, Cia calmly stated, tilting her head slightly as she observed the men below. She spoke in a most enchanting voice, "It seems you gentlemen are not able to decipher this piece of technology. You were right Thales. Tech Specialists are the only one that can handle it. I already contacted one of my friends in the Empire of Durn."
"Also," She further added, "A Master Mech Specialist is on his way here."
With that, she turned and crossed a bridge that extended to the exit of the platform - leaving the men below in a state of panic.