Chapter 11 (Lock)

Shit…

Lock could only stare up at the sky as his vision glitch. Trying to move any of his limbs individually, he could sense several circuits and mechanical components have been nearly obliterated into scrap. So when he tries to even budge, it is not even worth going all the way due to the risks of those parts falling off. Yet, in the back of his mind, he could only think about how this is just the way things are. Androids, robots, inorganics…while they were declared as sentient beings who were to be treated like every other being, that could only be official on a document.

The reality is…well, from what Lock ever saw, they are still seen as mere disposables. As of this moment, he thought he could feel what many others went through. However, because of his aging hardware, he doesn't feel 'pain'. Yet, he doesn't seem to mind it. Almost as if he just-

"Here…"

A grunting sound comes out of his mouth just as he felt his body receiving a massive amount of electricity coursing through his circuits and wires. His glitchy vision returns back to normal as he seemingly manages to move his neck a bit to look down to see Mye kneeling in front of him messing a bit with his exposed internals. As with Alex, they're close by dissecting the body of another android with a knife impalement mark to their head. He could already piece together what the two are doing, but the sounds of aggressive fighting close by halted any sort of relaxation. Lock attempts to get up, but the feeling of a gentle and small hand stops him as he looks up to see Mye staring at him with those emotionless eyes. Yet, he could only guess what she was trying to say.

"I-I'm fiene"

As he tries to tell her off, he could feel his voice box nearly giving out. Alex walks over to the two and chuckles as they knelt down next to Mye and hands over a few small extracted parts resembling a new voice box module along with a few other parts that they just dropped to the ground in front of him.

" Doesn't look like you are fine there, boss, you got pretty roughed up, surprised you weren't turned into a pressed sheet of scrap,"

Lock frowns at Alex when he suddenly feels a sudden jolt to his limbs. Looking down without moving his neck, he sees Mye seems to be struggling a bit as she is seemingly trying to restore back from whatever mistake she made. Checking his system's state, he noticed that there was a disconnection to his left arm's functionality. At the same time, his entire right side has come back online alongside with his voice box being functional once again.

"I think I got it from here,"

With his right arm, Lock begins to do the repairs himself. Noticing in the corner of his peripherals that her eyes widen a bit, Mye steps away as he adjusts and reconfigures some of the repairs that were done to him. Though he did notice a few things that were seemingly out of configuration despite not being damaged. Other than that, these wouldn't take long to bring back into functional shape. Lock then hears the sound of a knife being unsheathed causing him to pause a bit and look up to see Alex with a curved knife in a reverse hold. They nod to him before turning towards the direction of the fighting where they can see small debris along with clouds of dust flying into the air. Though from their current position, that is the best visuals they'll be able to get.

"I assume you got it from here, boss?"

Lock nods as he hears the sounds of that reptilian enemy screeching in fury following with the sound of something with a rocket propellant smashing through rocks and metal. Following that noise, he could hear Rynoske yelling a good bit of colorful words following with taunts. Looking up above the destroyed machinery, he can see the crazy bastard throwing several small objects before diving down out of sight. Lock shakes his head a bit as he can't believe how reckless that man is. Turning his head to Alex, he sees that they also seem to have notice Rynoske's little showcase.

"Go, and for the gods sake if you could, make sure Rynoske didn't just outright die there, Tobias, I trust,"

Alex chuckles and gives a casual salute with their free hand.

"Will do boss, though I am sure he is in way better shape than you,"

Without letting him say another word, Alex sprints off, vaulting through the hole in the machinery as they join the fight. Glancing over, Lock realize Mye is still trying to help him. As much as he appreciates the attempt, he feels like she should be doing more than stick around a half-dead machine.

"Mye, go help them,"

Stopping halfway with picking up another part, Mye turns her head to look at him with a small tilt of her head. Staring back at her, he gestures lightly with his head towards the fight which seems to have gotten noisier with Alex joining the chaos.

"Just go help them, they'll need your ability more than ever, I'll be fine,"

Mye seems to be a bit hesitant. Thankfully, she acknowledges his order as Lock watches her put the part to the ground and stands up. Her gaze is still on him though. A few more seconds passed as Lock was debating why she is just standing there and not helping the others. Just as he was about to speak, it seems she beat him to it.

"Thank you…"

She says in a quiet, yet calmingly soft voice before turning around and hurries off to help the others. Lock is left there a bit stunted as a result.

"Thank you?"

He repeated those words to himself. Though he shakes his head and relocates that memory data to the corner of his memory bank. Continuing with his repairs, he finally manages to replace a good bit of the more vital parts from the corpse that was disassembled within a short time than how long Mye was taking. After another few minutes, he is back on his feet and is functioning more or less back to normal. Though he does notice a bit of some locking with his leg, but that doesn't matter.

Taking his pistol in hand, he wobbly makes his way over to the fight. Upon walking around the destroyed machinery, Lock eyes narrow at what is unfolding ahead. Despite outnumbering the Cryptid, the team is somehow still struggling to take him down. Seeing how things are going, he quickly slips through the shadows of the quarry as he makes his way over. While he attempts to get closer to the others, he turns on his comms while also observing the fight that is ensuing. Valuable time is being lost here, so they need to finish now before other complications arise.

"Listen up team, we need to wrap this up quickly, what is everyone's status right now?"

Lock asks as he takes out the magazine from his pistol and takes out another magazine with the top bullet having a purple tip. With a secure click, he racks the pistol ejecting the last bullet out as the new bullet secures itself into the chamber. He grabs the ejected round and pockets it before he brings it to a low ready just as a response comes in.

[Mye and I are just a bit fatigue, boss]

Alex's voice calls out as they could be seen running and throwing a few daggers at the snake-man before diving away just as a tail smashes the ground a couple feet away from where they were last. As with Mye, she could be seen peeking around some sandbags and spraying energy rounds in the general direction of the enemy. Thankfully, friendlies cleared the area, but the snake-man also slips out of the way as the shots absorb into the quarry walls scorching it upon impact.

[I assume you have a plan in mind, Lock?!]

Rynoske calls in as he can be seen swooping down towards the Cryptid with one claw ready to slash while the other hand is gripped into a fist. The attempt was valiant, but it quickly changed into a defensive action as he brought up his arms as a shield just as he barely managed to block a baton from making contact with his head. The force would've sent him crashing into the quarry walls, but Rynoske managed to open his wings enough to decelerate before he swoops around to find another opening.

"It's a rough improvised one, but it'll require us to coordinate with each other, think you guys can do that?"

[Sure thing boss!]

[I'm all for it!]

[ssk, tk!]

[yes…]

Looking down at his hastily repaired leg, he moves it up and down a couple of times to verify its integrity. Confirming it should hold, he brings the pistol up and takes aim.

"Let's see if this works,"

Lock mutters to himself as his finger pulls the trigger.