3 The Search Begins

The soldiers entered the building and began their thorough search of the hardware shop.

 Drawers were yanked out, papers were thrown and strewn across the floors.

 Tools were pulled off the walls and tossed aside carelessly.

 "Check over there!"

 "Have you found anything?"

 "Nope, nothing here!"

 "What about you, got anything?"

 "Nothin."

 They chattered as they searched.

 Clanking and clattering could be heard loudly from outside the shop.

 The General and Colonel stood there, looking satisfied at the sounds of destruction while Iris couldn't help but wince.

 "Scared they'll find something, little girl?" The General said, sneering.

 Iris stared up at him and laughed.

 "Scared? Yes. Find something? No. I've already told you there's nothing to find. I am scared about the huge mess I'm going to have to clean up afterwards. I assume your men aren't going to do it for me."

 The Colonel stepped forward and slapped her hard across the face again.

 She turned her cheek.

 "Do NOT disrespect our General like that!"

 "Tsk. Touchy~ How manly of you to get so hysterical over something a little girl said." She kept her cheek turned, not bothering to look at him.

 "YOU-" The Colonel lifted his hand to strike her again but was stopped by the General.

 "Colonel. Be kind to our…..ahem…..esteemed guest."

 "Sir." Colonel said, bowing his head and taking a step back, his knuckles white as he clenched his fists.

 A bead of sweat trickled down the side of Iris' face as the soldiers moved from the hardware store to the mechanic shop next door.

 The door swung open, giving her a glimpse of the interior of the shop.

 Dust particles were floating in the air, and shelves hung off the wall next to a few fist-shaped holes.

 'Tch. These bastards are causing so much damage. Who knows what they'll do in the mechanic shop.'

 "Hey! Be careful in there! I have machinery for clients that I'm working on!" She called out, although none of them were paying her any mind.

 The more they searched, the more her body tensed.

 Her leg began to bob nervously, causing her to wince in pain from the wound.

 It was a good thing that her injury had alerted her to the unconscious action.

 She stopped immediately, before the General or Colonel had noticed she'd even begun.

 'Dad...you didn't hide the blueprints anywhere in there…..did you?'

 The truth was, she did know about the mechs her father had secretly built, and they did indeed exist.

 She remembered him looking at the blueprints as he worked on the machines, bit by bit, when she was a little girl.

 However, she'd never known what he'd done with them…..his illness had come on so suddenly.

 What she had said, about her knowing the shops like the back of her hand, wasn't a lie. She was almost certain that the blueprints weren't in there.

 Otherwise, she would've found them by now, right?

 Yet, now knowing they were punching holes in the walls was making her extremely uncomfortable.

 She'd never thought there would be a possibility her father would hide top-secret blueprints there.

 Her leg bobbed again, and she hissed at the pain, her coveralls pulling at the wound they had fused with.

 The General glanced over at her, his eyebrow raising.

 "Nervous we'll find something?" He sneered, smirking at her.

 Iris stared up at him, his eyes searched hers as he looked for the answer.

 She knew he was waiting for her to give away something, anything.

 "No. I just require medical attention. Your dear Colonel has SHOT me, a CIVILIAN, in case anyone forgot."

 The General plastered another fake smile on his face as he lifted his hand and snapped his fingers, ushering one of the soldiers over.

 "Get the little lady some medical supplies. I'd hate for something bad to happen to her."

 The soldier nodded and, a few minutes later, brought over a medical kit.

 He gently lifted her coveralls, causing her to wince as they peeled away from the injury, and rolled them up.

 Iris let out a sigh of relief when she saw the bullet had only grazed her.

 As the soldier got to cleaning her wound and bandaging it, she couldn't help but shutter at the thought of an actual gunwound.

 'That hurt so bad I was sure I'd actually been shot. A real one must be terrible….I hope I'm lucky enough to avoid that.'

 She could feel her pulse against the tight bandaging, although the pressure did make the wound feel better.

 After he was done, she wiggled her leg a little to test it out.

 'Not too bad.'

 The group of soldiers exited the mechanic shop, a grim look painted on their faces.

 "Well?" The General asks as Mr. Aviator glasses approached him.

 "Sir. We didn't find anything. It seems to be just a normal shop."

 "Tsk."

 The General clenched his fists before he began to rub his chin in thought.

 Iris sighed in relief, her body relaxing now that she knew they hadn't found anything.

 "Well, it's as I told you. Now….I'll accept that compensation if you don't mind. Oh and why don't we add the costs of clean up as well."

 She held her hand out expectantly as she stood up. She winced and took some pressure off her leg – not realizing it would still hurt when she leaned on it.

 The General turned to face her, a fierce anger in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced with a sparkle of thought.

 "Ah. That's right. You can rebuild them for us. Just because we didn't find the blue prints, doesn't mean that Mr. Sattler left us with nothing. Of course, the key to those mechs is right in front of us."

 Iris' eyes widened in shock.

 "Me?! I'm no engineer! I can't build things. Repair, sure, but build? I've never done it before. You wouldn't want an experienced person to mess with your weapons would you, General?"

 He grabbed her chin, although not as rough as he had before, and smiled as he leaned down to whisper in her ear.

 "Ms. Sattler, we'll just have to find out now won't we?"