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Metropolis Heroes Rising

Chapter 10: Great Minds Think Alike

"Are you sure that you will be okay?"

Kenichi glanced at his partner patiently…for the third time in as many minutes.

"Yes, Kenichi, I will be fine. I promise not to leave the hospital without informing you first, and that I will meet you here when you are done with your duties." She leaned in closer and whispered to him, "And one of our family retrieve you if I am put in any danger."

Tima opened her worn backpack just enough so that Kenichi could see a small, mouse-shaped fire-alarm robot neatly situated in a mesh pocket next to her lunch. It wriggled and silently blinked the bright-red alarm-light on the tip of its nose to reassure the overprotective human that he'd be on watch and would sound the alarm if anything happened to its adoptive mother.

"There is one in your pack as well, should you require assistance. Now you should hurry up before the repair crew becomes impatient."

She kissed him softly on the cheek in parting.

"I still don't think this is a good idea," he mumbled.

"It will be fine, I assure you. We did promise to do this, after all."

Kenichi just shrugged.

"You know…" said Tima mischievously, "I believe you were much more adventurous when we first met."

Kenichi reddened embarrassingly and then pouted, "Yeah, well, I didn't have a family to look after back then, you know."

She kissed him again, "Yes, but please remember that your family will watch after you as well. You need not fear my supervised absence for only a few hours."

"Besides you're not the only one looking out for her," interrupted Atlas as he walked up to the young couple, "I told you that she'd be fine. I know most of the doctors here personally, and they need the help desperately, so they won't do anything to endanger her, you have my word."

Kenichi still wasn't sure just what Atlas' word was worth, but he knew he had little choice but to trust in him and in Tima on this matter. With the other workers beginning to board the cart-train for the work zone, Kenichi had no choice but to relent and give Tima one last kiss, on the lips this time, before hurriedly boarding.

"I'll see you when I get back!" he waved goodbye as some of the other workers gave out good-natured catcalls and whistles at the young lovers.

Tima waved back before Atlas put a hand on her shoulder.

"Sometimes I think he worries too much. Come on, I'll show you to your station."

Today was the first day of their new jobs. In exchange for the generator and supplies that Atlas had provided (and as part of the bargain to keep their underground pro-robot movement a secret), Tima and Kenichi had agreed to help Atlas and his allies' endeavors to improve the quality of life for Metropolis' subterranean residents. Kenichi, who had proven that he had an aptitude in mechanics and electronics, was sent out with the repair crews to fix the infrastructure, while Tima, who was used to patching Kenichi up after whatever hare-brained adventure he found himself in, was conscripted to assist at the local hospital.

"Perhaps it is a trait that the two of you have in common," Tima commented as they walked.

"What?"

"Being overcome by your concern for others. While empathy and kindness are admirable traits, I have noticed that obsession over the welfare of others can sometimes lead to self-destructive tendencies if not handled properly." She gave him a knowing look.

"Hmph, maybe you should take your own advice. Your obsession with that little "side hobby" of yours is likely to lead to destruction if you're not careful."

"I know. It has already resulted in negative physical and psychological effects on Kenichi. That is part of the reason I wanted us to participate in this exchange. My hope is that it will help Kenichi to build trust in others and allay his increasingly negative perceptions of other humans through social interaction, while still helping those in need."

Atlas raised an eyebrow, but still smirked, "That's some pretty fancy psychology-talk there. You must've been schooled pretty well before you ended up down here."

"I learned nearly everything I know from Kenichi. What he did not teach me, I learned through my own means in order to be a better person for him."

Atlas chuckled, "Now who's being obsessed? Anyway, let's hope that you're as good at learning proper medical care as you are at everything else, 'cause we sure do need it."

Atlas brought her to a small collection of tables piled with papers, and even a working computer (which was now something of a rarity in Zone 1). There were several nurses there, all working diligently.

"This is Miss Hoinga, she'll be showing you the ropes. Hoinga, this is Tima."

"Hello Miss Tima, we're glad for any help we can get. Let me show you our filing system and you can start by helping me sort through these papers."

"I'll see you later; I've got some things to take care of." Atlas departed as Tima gave a wave of acknowledgement while listening intently to Hoinga's instructions.

"All right, let's get moving! Everyone report for your crew assignments and locations! Have your papers on hand and if you have any problems say so BEFORE getting your time-stamp!"

Kenichi disembarked the cart-train, one of nearly a half-dozen parked next to an assortment of small vehicles designed to traverse the small, tight spaces of the Metropolis underground. Standing in line next to several hundred other workers, Kenichi tried not to draw too much attention to himself. Though most of the other workers towered over him, there were also a fair number of teenagers and even children younger than him as well. Jobs were scarce, so it was everyone's duty to help support their families, regardless of age.

Kenichi had no idea where he was going to be assigned, but his work papers indicated his skills in mechanics and electronics, and also had a special stamp from Atlas recognizing him as working as a transitional government aide. Just how a lowly workman was supposed to be a government aide was beyond Kenichi, but figured that it had something to do with politics (which he beginning to detest with a vehemence). Atlas had assured him however, that it would allow him to be placed on a work-crew alongside several others that Atlas trusted. Kenichi didn't exactly trust that Atlas wasn't just using this as an excuse to spy on him, but he supposed it was better than the alternative of being assigned with a group of total strangers. He had even seen Bottles standing in line earlier and had managed to briefly wave to him before having to move forward!

Kenichi tried to remain calm, but was truly worried that something would go wrong. Despite his fears, the line went more-or-less smoothly and Kenichi was processed and placed with a work-crew comprised mostly of the same people he had come over with. A half-hour later they were on another cart-train. And a great deal of time after that, they had arrived at their destination; a broken sewage-pump station that led down into Zone 3.

Kenichi sighed.

It was going to be a long…and smelly…day.

"Umph!"

Atlas stared down at the limp and bruised figure that had been tossed in front of him. The man was Caucasian, and appeared to be in his 30's. He had on fine, but casual, clothes…well, that had been fine before he had been ruffed up, anyway.

"Are you sure this is the guy?" Atlas asked Mickey, one of his most trusted "handymen."

"Yeah, it's him. We put a tail on him and caught him talking to the Reds in private. We watched him do it thrice over a week just to be sure."

"And you're sure the tail isn't just stretching to get some extra credits?"

Mickey looked a bit perturbed.

"I WAS the tail!"

Atlas could only raise an eyebrow and flush ever-so-slightly.

"Oh."

Well, that answered that. Atlas may be having some issues trusting people ever since he was betrayed last time, but his right-hand-man Mickey was beyond suspicion…at least as far as anyone could be these days. And since when had he been doing tails? Atlas hadn't even noticed him missing about. He was going to have to keep a closer eye on his friends.

The man that was moaning on the concrete floor before them was suspected (and now apparently confirmed) of being a snitch for the Reds, who were currently the foremost and most powerful of several quasi-state-supported militias vying for power in the political power-struggle taking place on the surface-level. If they backed the right people, and those people gained the majority of power in the new government, then the Reds stood to gain the most from the eventual re-formation of the military and the new state police.

Of course, as the old saying goes, knowledge is power, and the Reds were quickly organizing their intelligence units to infiltrate any and all of the remaining bastions of power left in Metropolis. And Atlas' operation was still one of, if not THE, largest and most well-organized operations in the underground, and thus was a ripe target. They had suspicions about this man ever since he first volunteered his services. (For a brief moment, Atlas' paranoia had also led him to consider whether Kenichi's miraculous re-appearance had also been part of a more nefarious plot, but those concerns were laid to rest when he realized the boy couldn't act nefariously even if his life depended on it.) The man may have been feeding information in exchange for money. After reports of the man disappearing at odd times after being fed false information, Atlas ordered a tail.

For once, his paranoia had proved him right.

"Any idea what he told them?"

"Other than the spam we fed him, not much, I should think. We kept him on the low side of things, just as you ordered. He shouldn't know anything major."

"Not that we even have anything major going on anymore," Atlas huffed.

"Oh, um, well actually, about that…"

Atlas raised his right brow.

"It seems that he was getting kinda close to Sandavol; drinking with him at the pubs and all that. Now, it's not that I don't like Sand-manand all (though he didn't), but sometimes he starts spouting off when he gets hammered. You know, mostly gibberish stuff; ranting. But he was one of the guys that went down when we followed that robot-hugger boy of yours into the tunnels and…" he trailed off with a shrug.

That was all Atlas needed to hear, hard proof or not. He sneered down at the whimpering man.

"Find out what he knows."

"Eh, we already roughed him up. He's pretty much scared himself tight-lipped, even though we found a few hundred credits on him."

"Then un-tighten his lips! I want to know everything he told them, minor or not! Do whatever it takes. We're not going to make any more mistakes."

"All this for a low-level informant? The Reds might not take kindly to us interrogating him, you know? I thought you wanted us to distinguish ourselves from the block gangs? You know, establish ourselves as a real political movement?"

Atlas considered the words for a moment.

"…No, not this time. The militia groups are starting to make their moves. We need to ready, and I don't want to deal with any more surprises than we have to."

Two other men reached forward to grab the informant and drag him off as he pleaded for mercy.

"Hmm, so that's why you had the robot-hugger followed, eh? Keep your friend close, but your enemies closer?"

Atlas was silent for a moment.

"We'll see."

"And make sure that the wrappings are on tight enough to staunch the blood flow. If you're not sure, then wrap it double. We may be low on wrappings, but it's better to use too much the first time, than use too little and have to come back and do it again later."

Tima nodded and watched closely as Hoinga completed her instruction. Though Tima was relatively well-versed in many first-aid procedures (as she was very protective of Kenichi's welfare), she was by no means as experienced or knowledgeable as a full-fledged nurse. She was, however, learning very quickly. So quickly, in fact, that Hoinga was already considering putting her on a regular rotation with minimal supervision, which was almost unheard of for someone on their first day. Tima was very glad to be helping others, but her true ambition was to gain whatever knowledge she could so that she might be able to help Kenichi should the need ever arise, so she paid close attention, and memorized everything.

But despite her concentration, she couldn't help but worry about Kenichi. She had to remind herself that earlier that morning she was the one who had warned both her partner and Atlas about the effects of over-worrying. And Kenichi did need this job. As odd as it sounded, she was certain the extra work would actually help take his mind off things and help him relax more. Plus, he was on a crew with people who had been picked by Atlas as safe, and Atlas had assured her the work wouldn't be exceptionally dangerous. Plus, there was an alarm robot with him should he need help.

What could go wrong?

MMMMM

"Boss, we have a problem!"

Atlas looked up as one of the men assigned to interrogate the mole ran up to him.

Atlas' face hardened.

"What now?"

"Okay, try it now!" Kenichi yelled as he flipped the switch on the sewage pump's control board.

"No good!" shouted Bottles. "The gauges still read off; there must be another clog in the system!"

"I can't hear anything!" confirmed another workman who had his ear pressed up against a section of pipe. "We'll have to run the rotor through it again!"

"It went straight through the last time!" yelled the man over by the rotor/maintenance robot (called a Ro2or-bot, which was a type Kenichi had never seen before). "That means the clog can't be on our end. It must be further up the line."

"The crew assigned to the section ahead of us already gave the all-clear," informed the on-site supervisor. "It has to be on this end."

"Pssh, yeah, like I trust those buncha lazy layabouts to do anything! They probably didn't even check it! If I find out those little-"

And it went on and on. Kenichi sighed in mild frustration. Between the banter and the arguing and the occasional mis-communication, the operation was taking way longer than it needed to. Things were just so much easier and straight-forward when he was just working alongside robots.

He snuck another glance at the squatty, modified, Ro2or-bot, which looked kind of like a cross between an octopus and a flying saucer with wheels. The robot, like all robots allowed on the repair crews, was supposed to be under close supervision, but that didn't stop Kenichi from trying to brainstorm a way to get the robot alone and examine him in private. Just for curiosity's sake. He had never seen one of his type before.

Maybe if he could-...was there someone breathing on his neck?

"GAAACK!"

Kenichi jumped and swung around, frightened to see another workman leaning over where his shoulder was a second ago.

"Will you stop doing that!" Kenichi hissed. That had been the third time this morning this particular man had snuck on him. It was the same one he could've sworn kept glancing across at him during the train-ride here.

The stout man in overalls laughed sheepishly.

"Oh. Sorry if I frightened you. It's just that you're new here, right? I'm Lenny, pleased to meet you."

The man shook Kenichi's hand, even though Kenichi couldn't remember offering it.

"So just what were you staring at over there? The supervisor? The robot?"

"Uhh…"

"So I haven't seen you around here before," he repeated. "What part of the Zone are you from? Or are you one of the new immigrant laborers? Aren't you supposed to be in the official work-camps? You don't look like you're from around here." He leaned in real close and whispered in a conspiratual tone, "Are you one of Atlas' men? You can tell me, Atlas and I go way back."

Kenichi had to take a step back. The man was invading his personal space far more than he found comfortable. He couldn't tell if the man was just being outgoing or if he was one to ignore social customs, but his questions threw Kenichi off-guard and he mumbled out some sort of excuse to get away from the intrusion.

"Hey Lenny, get back on that release valve! We're going to have the robot go in one more time just to be sure the rotor didn't dislodge any debris on its way out!" shouted the on-site supervisor, much to Kenichi's relief.

Lenny put up his hands in an apologetic gesture.

"Ah, right, right, boss! I'll get right on it. Just chatting it up a little, huh?" And he scuttled back up a nearby ladder to the relief valve.

"And be sure to watch that flow line! The last thing we need is a methane leak!"

"Uh, yeah, sure boss!"

Kenichi sighed in relief and kept a wary eye on Lenny as he set about preparing the pump circuit for another go. Kenichi hoped the man was just trying to be overly-friendly, but still, he just couldn't shake the feeling that there was something about him that he didn't like.

"Wow, you're new here, huh? I've never seen you here before, so you must be new. You're very pretty! Are you from around here? You don't look like you're from here. I love your hair! It's soooo shiny! Do you wash it often? You look pretty young. They're still letting you work here even though you're so young? I wish I could work here. I live here anyway, so you think they'd let me work here, but they won't let me! That's sooo unfair, right? I could be a good nurse! Or even a doctor! Are you a nurse, or are you a doctor? Do you know what the difference is? I think the nurses are much more-…."

Tima was taken aback from the seemingly never-ending line of questions coming from the energetic child in front of her.

"Now, now, settle down Zoe," chided Miss Hoinga. "Tima, this is Zoe, one of our more…energetic patients." She gestured down at the excited 7-year-old child, who was practically bouncing off the thin bed. She was quite cute, with rosy cheeks, a button nose, and long brunette hair, wearing long-sleeved pajamas. She was also apparently very excitable.

"So your name's Tima? That's a cool name! What's it mean? Did you name yourself, or did your parents name you that? My name's Zoe, but you already knew that didn't you? I chose it myself! Isn't it a cool name?"

"You…named yourself?" asked Tima, baffled. She had no idea humans could choose their own names.

"Yeah, isn't it cool? I like it 'cause it sounds like it's full of energy and it's unusual. I think unusual names are the ones most likely to bring you good magic!"

"Magic? What is magic?" asked Tima.

"You know, like good luck and stuff! It helps ward off evil spirits! I'm sure it's much better than the name my parents gave me!"

"What did your parents name you?"

"Oh, I dunno," Zoe shrugged. "Probably some dopey name like Sue or Jane or Bethany or Valerie or Nao or Erika or As-Cough! Cough-cough-cough! Hack-cough!"

The young girl suddenly began hacking and couching violently and Tima backed up in alarm as Hoinga moved forward with an inhaler and forced it into the girl's mouth. After a few minutes and several pumps from the inhaler, the girl began to breathe normally, though it was obviously much more painful and strained than before.

"Is that…some type of medical condition?" Tima asked. She was familiar with many ailments from her reading of the medical texts, but she had yet to cover afflictions of the lungs and other, more serious, internal injuries.

"I'm afraid so," replied Hoinga. "It's some type of chronic inflammation of the lungs, though we don't know what type. Whatever it is, it seems a bit more severe than your typical case of asthma, which is common enough down here with the poor air circulation, mold, pollution and dust particles. There are several possibilities, but we just don't have the equipment down here to diagnose it, and so we don't know for sure what type of medication would be best for her treatment. Right now we're giving her a generic anti-inflammatory to help tide her over, but it's a type of leukotriene antagonist. I'd much rather we give her a corticosteroid, but I'm afraid we just don't have enough to spare right now. Of course, her condition would improve markedly if she didn't over-stimulate herself so much," she said while looking pointedly at the recovering girl.

"Ahh, don't be mean like that Hoi-chinga," the girl whispered, while Hoinga's brow ticked at the purposeful mis-pronunciation of her name. "Besides, I have to do something for fun around here, right?"

The girl looked up at Tima in a conspiratual way before whispering, "It's soooo boring here. They never let me out to play 'cause they're afraid I'll puff up like a big balloon and then pop and spray blood and guts everywhere like a piñata! But it would still beat sitting here all day."

"A…piñata?" Tima was learning a whole host of new words today, it seemed.

Zoe giggled, "Ha! You're funny! Even your name sounds funny! T-i-m-a. It sounds something with lima beans in it, huh? Do you like lima beans? I've never tasted them, but I don't think I'd like them. Their name is funny though, so maybe I'd get more good magic if I did eat some! What do you think?"

"Now Zoe, calm down!" admonished Hoinga. "Do you want to have another episode so soon after your last one?"

Zoe huffed, but did stop jumping up and down.

Just when Tima thought things couldn't get any more…energetic, a small ruckus at the entrance of the makeshift hospital caught their attention. A rather large man in a black suit and bowler hat had just shrugged off a nurse who had tried to question him as he rushed towards them. Tima recognized him as Mickey, one of Atlas' men. He ran briskly up to them.

"Miss Tima, I need you to come with me, now!"

"What? Why?" interrupted Hoinga.

"We think your friend Kenichi might be trouble. There's no time to lose, I'll explain on the way."

He didn't look back as he turned around and began racing back out again.

He didn't need to. Tima was right behind him.

"Finally, something interesting!" yelled Zoe.

"Okay, try it now!"

Kenichi nodded and clicked a small switch at the base of the control board. Further along the line, several others did the same, while others began turning control valves in sequence. A small rumbling noise built up in the background, and Kenichi could feel the vibrations through his body.

The supervising team began yelling out pressure numbers along the segments, all of which were sounding within normal range. (If their tone of voice was anything to go by, that is. After all, it wasn't like Kenichi knew a great deal about sewage repairs.) As the technicians continued their checks, Kenichi, out of morbid curiosity (or perhaps slight paranoia) glanced up the ladder beside him to the small platform above, where Lenny was still turning the valve.

…Wait?...Was he supposed to be still turning the valve? None of the others were still turning theirs.

"Uh, Mr., uh, Lenny? Is everything okay?"

Lenny kept on turning the valve, either not hearing, or just ignoring, him.

"Mr. Lenny?!" Kenichi yelled louder.

The rumbling noise in the background increased in intensity. The supervising tech team began yelling something, but it was drowned out. The next thing Kenichi felt was a huge blow to one side, a brief instance of vertigo, and then another, more jolting, pain to his ribs. Kenichi looked up to see that Bottles had tackled him against the ground. What? He was about to shove Bottles off, when his vision when white and his skin felt like it was on fire.

The pipeline had exploded.

MMMMMM

People were shouting. Fires were raging. There were cries of anguish and pain. A group of men were trying desperately to position a steel girder as a lever to lift off some debris, but were pushed back by the flames.

This was the scene that Tima came upon as she raced to find Kenichi.

"Kenichi! KENICHI! Kenichi, where are you?"

She ran around, shouting his name repeatedly, but there was no answer. She hoped desperately that he simply couldn't hear her over the other men's' shouting and the roar of the flames. She ran from person to person to ask if they'd seen him, but they were either too busy or frantic to help, or they didn't know who it was she was searching for. Some didn't even speak the same language as her. She had lost sight of Mickey and Atlas shortly after they had arrived.

She had no idea what to do, other than continue searching. How was she going to find her Kenichi in all of this mess? Was this what Kenichi had felt like as he searched the rubble all those months searching for her? How did he do it all by himself? Wait. He did not do it alone.

Tima found herself standing still, gazing into the flaming debris. Inside of her, something clicked, almost subconsciously. She could feel another presence.

A short moment later (or was it an eternity?) a shrill-sounding siren could be heard over the flames, followed almost immediately by the small form of a mouse-shaped robot, with attached siren, dashing out from under the debris. Tima knelt down and the small robot scurried into her open hand, as a glazed look came over her eyes. No words were spoken. None needed to be.

Tima was unaware that much of the activity around her had ceased as the workers stared at them. Even if she had been aware, she would not have cared.

Then, almost as fast as the strange exchange began, it ended…and Tima and the robot raced forward, followed closely by its counterpart, who had emerged from Tima's knap-sack and had rolled down her back and legs and then followed her.

Atlas, who was finally able to locate Tima when the frantic activity had seemed to come to an eerie standstill in her vicinity, could only watch in horror as the little girl ran straight into the flames before anyone could stop her.

Kenichi had closed his eyes and tried his best to block the sounds from reaching his ears. It wasn't the roar of the flames; that he could handle. It was the screams of pain and the anguish-ridden face of bottles he couldn't face. The man lay trapped on top of him, enduring the full blast of the explosion in order to protect him. Deep down, Kenichi felt immense gratitude and even a little guilt and shame, but right now his predominant thoughts were of empathy and worry for his savior and desperately trying to figure out how to get them both out of this situation.

He didn't even notice the hands on his shoulders until he felt himself being dragged out. He dared to open his eyes.

"T-Tima!"

In that instant, Kenichi felt two things; immense relief at being saved by Tima, wearing a soft smile of concern on her face…and immense horror at the fact that half of the right side of her face was burnt off, with her metallic under-shell clearly showing through. The renewed screams nearby replaced those feelings of horror with even stronger ones. Bottles, unlike Tima, was certainly not fire-resistant!

"Stay here," Tima told him, as if he would do otherwise.

She quickly began pulling the debris off the screaming man with much more strength than a girl her size should have. Kenichi wanted to help, but the heat was still too intense, and he was still recovering. Looking anywhere but towards the source of the screams, he realized that they were in a relatively sheltered cove, where the debris from the blast had smothered much of the flames. If they had been any further from the wall, they would've been incinerated, and any closer and they would have been blasted apart by shrapnel. Kenichi thanked his good fortune that he had landed where he did. It only then fully dawned on him that his good fortune was an over-eager man-no, not just a man, but a friend as well-who had knowingly shoved him out of harm's way. Kenichi hoped dearly that it wasn't at the cost of his own life.

The screams stopped, replaced by heavy sobs and deep pants for breath. Kenichi finally gathered the courage to look over as Tima half-walked and half-dragged Bottles towards him, accompanied by two small fire-alarm robots. Kenichi scrambled over to help, placing him gingerly in a sitting position on the ground. He was very thankful that Bottles was still able to move, and it seemed that most of the damage was done to his back.

He wanted to say something encouraging, something profound in exchange for his brave friend's actions…but in the end could only end up muttering a simple thank you before trying his best to help him through the pain.

It was in the relative silence that followed that he realized there was second set of screams, ones that had been covered by the sound of Bottles and the roar of the flames. Tima and Kenichi looked up at the gapping wall. Lenny was still there, injured and hanging precariously from the half-collapsed platform above.

Tima looked down at Kenichi.

"I can't reach him."

"We have to go for help!"

Tima shook her head, "There's too much debris and the fire is still too large, they will not get here in time."

Kenichi started thinking frantically, all the while trying to ignore Lenny's faint screams and Bottles' heavy breathing.

"There has to be something…" It clicked. "I know! Tima, can…can you go back out there again?" he looked at her with worry.

She nodded, touched by his concern, but knowing that she could withstand the elements better than he, or any human, could.

"W-wait," a weak and pained voice choked out.

Tima and Kenichi were at Bottles' side in an instant.

"Try not to speak. Don't worry, everything will be okay; you just try and rest," Kenichi mumbled comfortingly.

"Sh-she'll need this," Bottles said, ignoring Kenichi's instructions and trying, with much pain, to remove his lengthy brown overcoat, which was singed at the edges and burnt into the skin of his back.

"Ah, what are you doing? Leave that alone!" cried Kenichi.

"But…she'll need it," he emphasized again.

The two looked at him in confusion. He leaned over and touched the side of his face, and then reached over to stroke Tima's exposed, metallic cheek. Shock briefly overtook the couple's expressions as they stared at each other.

He knew.

"Any sign of him?"

"Which one," asked Mickey, standing next to a very serious Atlas, "the boy, the girl, or the man?"

"Any of them!"

"No. They were all here, it's been confirmed, but we can't find them at present. Either they ran off, or were caught in the explosion. There's also anywhere from 7 to 12 others unaccounted for, but we can't get specifics. It's just too chaotic. And now the girl has run off-"

"Any word on the cause?" Atlas interrupted the last sentence tersely.

"Nothing's confirmed yet, and it'll probably be awhile before we know for sure, if we ever know at all. Some of the workers think it might have been some type of methane build-up. There might've been some old un-registered gas pipes nearby that had some left-over fuel; might've exacerbated the problems. The crew supervisor said these types of explosions are happening all the time now. This is actually the third this month alone, but it's the first that it's actu-"

"What is that!" someone shouted.

From out of the flames and smoke, a form appeared, almost ghost-like. As it came closer, the specter turned into the form of a young girl with ash-tinged skin, and a rather large and burnt overcoat covering the right side of her face and body, with a small robot at her side.

"Tima!" shouted Atlas.

The girl snapped to face him, her one visible, uncovered eye staring straight at him with a hint of…something? No, wait. She was staring behind him. Before he could even turn around, Atlas found himself being pushed aside. A robot, the crew's Ro2or-bot, he realized, had rushed past him to stand aside Tima. Then, without word or gesture, Tima rushed back into the flaming debris, the robots hot on her heels.

"Wait! Tima!" Atlas shouted as the work-crew also yelled at the robot to return.

But it was too late.

Kenichi breathed out a sigh of relief as Tima re-appeared, this time with only some slight additional burns, (as she and the fire-bots had thoroughly mapped out the safest way through the flaming debris by now) with the Ro2or-bot by her side. They all looked up at the precariously hanging platform and the screaming worker.

"His arms should reach that high, I just don't know if he's strong enough to hold that much weight," explained Kenichi.

"If we stand underneath him, we can help catch him if he falls," responded Tima.

Kenichi glanced down at Bottles worriedly. He hated the idea of leaving his friend lying there in pain, even if he was just going a few meters away and couldn't really do all that much to help relieve his pain anyway.

As if reading his mind, Bottles urged him, "Go. It's not like…umph…I'll be going anywhere." He chuckled at the last remark, but Kenichi didn't find it very funny, even though he knew Bottles was just trying to put his mind at ease.

Kenichi jumped up to join Tima and the robot underneath the flailing man.

He yelled up, "Lenny! We're going to get you down! Grab the robot's arm! He'll lower you down!"

"W-what? No! Don't! Just get a ladder or something! Get me down! No! Help!"

"We don't have time for that!" yelled Kenichi. "Just grab on! Everything will be fine!"

The Ro2or-bot extended one of its flexible, almost vacuum-hose-like, arm upwards. At the end was a two-pronged attachment that would normally spin at high speeds and cut through obstructions in pipelines. Luckily, Ro2or-bots were know for excellent control and precision, even in a line of work that more often called for brute force. The robot gingerly picked up Lenny by the back of his overcoat to gently lower him down.

Unfortunately, Lenny had other ideas.

"No! Stop! Help!"

The panicked man continued to hold the platform railing in a death grip, refusing to release it. Ro2or-bot was getting impatient, and began yanking harder, causing both Lenny and the platform to shake and groan. Kenichi feared a collapse was imminent.

"Let go!" he yelled.

Unfortunately, again, Lenny finally decided to let go…just as Ro2or-bot yanked hard.

"AAHHHH!"

"Watch ou-uhmmph!"

"Ah-umph!"

Lenny fell right out of Ro2or's grip and on top of the young couple below, who had broken his fall…

"Ack! Shit! The pain! IT HURTS!" he screamed.

More or less.

"Any sign of them?" asked Atlas, again.

"Not yet, but now that the Fire Brigade's here, it'll only be a matter of time before the fire is put out," responded Mickey.

All around the edges of the fire, a mixture of human volunteers and scrounged-up robots (only a few of which were originally designed to fight fires) were working frantically to get the fire under control.

Atlas growled under his throat.

"Grr, if he's done anything to hurt those kids, I'll-"

"Look, over there!" shouted out one of the workers.

Limping out through a cloud of smoke and ash, Kenichi supported the limping form of Bottles, while Tima (still wearing Bottles' overcoat wrapped around her right side) and the Ro2or-bot support the less injured, but more shell-shocked, form of Lenny.

Everyone was silent for a moment, as if in awe of their presence.

The feeling was quickly shattered however-

"GRAB HIM!" -when Atlas yelled out.

Kenichi flinched hard. Obviously Tima's "disguise" hadn't worked and Atlas wasn't taking it well. He would've tried to defend himself, to run, to place himself in front of Tima, but he couldn't drop Bottles for risk of injuring him further, and they were surrounded anyway. He prepared himself to be grabbed and hauled off…

…but after a moment of nothing happening, he cautiously opened his eyes, only to see that two men had taken Lenny off of Tima and Ro2or's hands (and, err, mechanical claws) and were hauling him away! Lenny had apparently come out of his shell-shock when he realized what was happening and began yelling and screaming and trying vainly to struggle. Kenichi's confusion only grew as Atlas approached him and, rather than grab him harshly as Kenichi expected, took position on the other side of Bottles and helped Kenichi carry him over to where an improvised trauma unit was being set up.

As they gently set Bottles down, Kenichi was finally able to ask Atlas what was going on.

"So, he was really a spy all along?"

Atlas nodded, "That's how it appears. He was being paid by one of the new up-and-coming political factions to keep an eye on the happenings down here and report anything of value that they could use to their own advantage."

Kenichi sat cross-legged across from Atlas as the two drank some hot liquid (Kenichi refused to call the flavorless substance tea), with a blanket around his shoulders. (Why they thought he needed a blanket, he hadn't the slightest idea, but accepted it gratefully nonetheless.) His ankle, only slightly sprained from when Lenny had fallen on him, had been bandaged up and he had been told to keep off of it for the time being.

"So, he sabotaged the pipeline to make it explode?"

Atlas shrugged, "It's possible, but we don't think so. Looks like he was less experienced than he made himself out to be, and probably didn't understand what he was doing. Just one idiot mistake and look at all the damage he caused!" Atlas exclaimed and waved his hand around at the destruction. "Then again, I guess you should know better than anyone…you were caught up right in the middle of it."

Kenichi paused for a moment before responding.

"Yeah. And if…if it hadn't been for Bottles…" his voice trailed off as he glanced over several meters to his left, where Bottles was being treated and looked after by Tima, who was supervised by Hoinga from the hospital staff, and…some strange girl in pajamas Kenichi had never seen before?

"They seem to mostly be first-and-second-degree burns, thankfully, and over less than ten percent of his body, mostly on the right side of his upper back, side, chest, and ribcage." Hoinga pointed out the areas to Tima, who was following along with rapt attention. "He's in much better shape than some of the other patients, who already had to be transported to the hospital. I think his injuries, as painful as they must seem to him, are light enough that he shouldn't require emergency treatment. Unfortunately, there are two areas, here and here," she pointed to two small areas, about an inch in diameter that were beginning to blister, "that might develop into third-degree burns and cause tissue scarring. We should keep an eye on them when we next change the bandages. If the blisters begin turning white or fill with puss, we'll have to perform an excision both to the damaged tissue, and to the layer of healthier tissue around them, in order for the area to heal properly and minimize scarring."

Tima nodded in understanding and proceeded to finish applying the bandages to the worst-burnt areas. They didn't have enough bandages in stock to cover all the burns, so only the worst of the second-degree burns were covered to help prevent infection. Luckily, Bottles was so exhausted from his ordeal that he was on the verge of falling asleep, despite the lingering pain, and thus offered little resistance. When she was done Hoinga turned to her.

"Well done young lady. But now that the worst is over, we really should have a look at your own injuries before we head back."

She moved forward to remove the overcoat from Tima's side. Tima, of course, flinched and moved out of her arm's reach. In the commotion after the fire, she was able to secure some bandages to help conceal some of her exposed metal undercoating, but bandages were in short supply, and she didn't want to waste them, so only part of her face was covered. If the head nurse took off the overcoat, her true nature would be revealed.

"Thank you, but I am fine," answered Tima.

Hoinga fixed her with a scowl.

"Now, why don't I be the judge of that, seeing as how I'm the head nurse and all?"

She tried to remove the coat once more, but Tima grabbed onto it stubbornly.

"My injuries are minor. Kenichi will see to them."

"Oi, now, don't be stubborn, I understand if you're a bit shy about showing off your injuries, but I'm a professional, and I really need to take a look at you before-"

"But it's such a beautiful coat! I think it goes great with her eyes!" a voice shouted, seemingly from nowhere.

Zoe, appearing as if from thin air like the magic implied by her name, shoved her way between Hoinga's well-meaning, but persistent, hands and Tima's (formerly Bottles') overcoat. Hoinga looked at her with a cross of mild annoyance, and confusion as to how she could consider the obviously beat-up and burnt coat as "beautiful." Then again, she was running around in pajamas, so she obviously had a…unique…fashion sense.

"Yes, well, she can have it back after I'm done. And just what are you doing here anyway? I thought I told you to stay at the hospital!"

"Awww, but it's sooo boring there, Hoi-chinga!" the girl whined in an overly-dramatic high-pitched voice and mis-pronounced the nurse's name. "All I do is sit around in bed all day! I want to be where the action is! And Tima got to come and she's not that much older than me! She even got to run into the fire! It's not fair!"

The nurse had just about had enough and was going to force the issue, when Kenichi came stumbling forward (despite being told to stay off his leg), and Tima went to support him. Atlas followed closely behind.

"Is there a problem?" Atlas asked at the commotion.

"I simply need to examine her before we head back to the hospital," explained Hoinga as she gestured at the covered face of Tima, while also trying to grab a hold of Zoe.

Atlas looked at the young couple for an explanation. Kenichi had to think quickly or this could get out of hand. After Tima helped him stand up, he ushered Atlas a few feet away to talk privately while Hoinga continued to argue with Tima, who was now adamantly ignoring her requests in an almost fitful manner, while Zoe took it all as game and also began making faces and jumping all around Hoinga and turning her back to the nurse like Tima every time Hoinga tried to get her to stop.

"So, what's the deal with your girlfriend?" asked Atlas in a whisper as the impromptu circus continued in the background.

"She's not my-! Err, j-just forget it." Now Kenichi was the one who was almost pouting, and Atlas, despite the seriousness of the situation, almost burst out laughing. Luckily, it gave Kenichi just enough time to think of an excuse. "Look…you know how Tima always curls her hair so that it frames her cheeks just a little?"

Atlas couldn't honestly say that he had noticed, or particularly cared either, but nodded to Kenichi to continue.

"Well, it's not something that she likes others to know about; in fact, I probably shouldn't tell you, but under the circumstances…"

Atlas gestured for Kenichi to go on and get to the point.

"Well, she kind of has this condition, and she's had it ever since she was born…she's really kind of sensitive about it, and she tries to hide it…"

Atlas sighed and was tempted to pull a face-palm. Even in the middle of all of these serious problems, he was still forced to deal with typical teenage drama? He was their friend, and perhaps, maybe even their caretaker (in the sense that he saw himself as a caretaker of everyone living under the city), but that didn't mean he was their babysitter!

"Look, are you sure you can't just convince her to-"

"Zoe! Stop that! Now Tima, be reasona-OW! Zoe! That's my hair! Let go right this instant young lady!"

"Hey Atlas, come one already! We gotta go!" shouted the cart-train driver, who was getting impatient, as were all the other workers who were ready to go home and get the horrible events of the day out of the minds (preferably by drowning them in bootleg liquor).

Atlas sighed (again).

"Hoinga! Forget it for now! You can check her out at the hospital. Get your stuff and get ready to go! Tima, Kenichi, get Bottles on the train! You there, girl, er, whatever your name is, give the nurse back her shoe! No! Don't touch that! Just get on the train! Mickey, tell the crew supervisor I want to be kept informed about whatever they find out! Let's go already!"

In true form, everyone followed Atlas' orders to the letter (well, maybe Zoe had to be shoved back on the train and then insisted on sitting between Tima and Kenichi despite their protests), and his true skill as a leader (and annoyed guardian) showed through. It was little wonder that he was able to inspire so many people to his cause.

In the ensuing hubbub however, nobody seemed to notice Tima subtly gesturing to the Ro2or-bot, who then attached himself to the back of the train and rolled behind as they began to chug along.

Though the frantic pace slowed down for the duration of the train ride (Zoe's constant squirming aside), it picked up again even more so than before once they arrived at the hospital. With the additional injuries from the explosion, the already crowded hospital was now overflowing. With the staff overwhelmed, and supplies short, Tima was immediately recruited to help out, despite her lack of experience. Zoe went along to assist, if for no reason than the girl now seemed to be as enamored with Tima as a lost puppy would be.

Though Kenichi had virtually no medical experience (with humans, anyway), he still tried his best to help out where he could by carrying supplies and messages around as a courier and cleaning up where he could. Despite the crowd, he eventually stumbled upon Bottles, who was sitting on the floor.

"Sorry, but we don't have any beds available right now," explained a busy male nurse that Kenichi had been able to flag down. "If he's not seriously injured, then we can't spare any room right now."

Kenichi looked around in disdain. Not only was there no room, but the chances of Bottles getting any of the care he needed seemed unlikely, as the doctors and other staff had to devote all their time and resources to the most critically injured. He felt bad. If it weren't for Bottles, he would be the one sitting on the concrete floor in pain…or worse.

Atlas eventually stopped by.

"I know it's not the best of conditions, but overall he's actually really fortunate. Many people were injured much worse than he was."

Kenichi couldn't help but think that he'd be one of those people, if not for the person lying in front of him.

"Anyway, he's lucky to have the hospital staff nearby if he needs anything. Now that your girlfriend is working here, I'm sure he'll be in good hands," he said while clasping a hand on Kenichi's shoulder. Kenichi tried to turn away slightly to hide his blush, but he was caught red-cheeked, so to speak.

Atlas couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Even though he was stressed and tired, the antics of the young couple still managed to bring out the best in him. In times like these, he was desperately thankful for it. Unfortunately, reality called…

"Excuse me, but I have other things that I need to attend to." He turned to leave.

"Wait! What's going to happen to Lenny?"

Atlas paused before turning back to face Kenichi.

"Don't worry about it. We'll take care of it."

"You're not going to hurt him, are you?"

"Hmph, figures. Even after all the damage he caused, you're still concerned about him? You do realize he's the reason your friend is injured, don't you?"

"T-That's no excuse! It may have been an accident! And even if it wasn't, that doesn't give you the right to act like one of those tyrants you're trying to rebel against!"

Atlas shuddered briefly, but Kenichi couldn't tell whether it was out of shame or anger.

"Okay, okay, relax!" He waved his hand down dramatically. "We didn't need to do anything. Lenny confessed everything he knew almost immediately after we took custody of him. Turns out he was even using his real name and identity, so we were able to check up on his story pretty quick. He sang like a bird, and now he'll stay in custody until we can get something worked out. I made sure that he wasn't harmed, and he'll even get three meals a day in the meantime, which is more than most people living down here do, as I'm sure you know. Happy?"

Kenichi still looked annoyed, but nodded. This situation was bad enough without him having to worry about more people getting hurt, even if they were at least partially at fault. Atlas didn't feel the need to mention that it was partly because he expected Kenichi to react this way that he didn't have Lenny roughed up more than necessary. Kenichi and Tima were proving to be one of the few bright spots in his life at this moment, and, though he wouldn't admit it, he found himself going out of way to appease them.

He also didn't feel the need to tell Kenichi that Lenny's partner hadn't been as cooperative, and it took a little more than harsh stares to get him to lead them to Lenny in the first place. After all, he couldn't expect to get out of this without getting his hands a little dirty…well, dirtier…and he knew it would just upset the boy. He had enough on his plate as it was.

But once again, Kenichi proved to be smarter than others sometimes gave him credit for.

"Just how did you find out what he was up to, anyway?"

Atlas shrugged, deciding to play it diplomatically, remembering something Mickey had said to him earlier.

"Let's just say that I like to keep my friends close, but my enemies closer."

He began to walk away again.

"And which one am I?"

He paused.

"I should think that you would've figured that out by now. But ultimately, I guess the answer to that question lies more with you than it does with me."

Atlas left Kenichi with a lot to think about. But surprisingly, the thing that stood out most in his mind at the moment was his comment about Bottles being in good hands with Tima on the hospital staff looking after him.

That gave Kenichi an idea…

Several hours had passed and Kenichi was just about to go out looking for Tima, even though he knew she may still be busy helping other patients. Fortunately, Tima choose just that moment to show up. She carried Bottles' burnt jacket in her arms, and her exposed components were now completely covered by cloth and bandages. She must've covered them when no one was looking.

"They said I required rest and should return for the morning shift," she explained. "It is probably for the best. I don't believe I would be able to hide my "injuries" from them much longer. We should probably "treat" them soon."

Kenichi nodded, and looked aside abashedly.

"I…I'm sorry that you were injured. Thank you for coming after me like that."

Tima was taken aback.

"Of course I came after you! We rely on each other! You do not need to apologize for my injuries. You were not the cause, and it was a sacrifice I was more than willing to make to ensure your safety, Kenichi."

Kenichi blushed and had to fight the urge to hug Tima right in the middle of the very public and crowded hospital, but right now he had some convincing of his own to do.

"Actually Tima, there's something I want to talk to you about."

She nodded inquisitively.

"We rely on each other and look out for one another, right?"

She nodded again. "And the rest of our family as well," she added.

"Exactly! Well, you see, the thing is, earlier, during the middle of everything that happened, I had to rely on Bottles to save me, even though I didn't ask him to. He really came through for me, but he was hurt as a result. And, well, it's just…I don't think this is the right place for him to get better. I know we're busy, and have other things to worry about, but I really owe him for saving me, so I wondering if maybe, we could look after him for a while?"

He looked up at her hopefully.

She smiled quite timidly, and Kenichi was thrown off for a moment.

"Actually…"

From behind her, out stepped the small form of a little girl, Zoe, if he recalled, who was waving shyly while standing next to the Ro2or-bot and the two small fire-alarm robots.

"…I was thinking the same thing."

AN: I know it's been awhile since I updated, and I hope to write more soon. I have the basic plot of the entire story already thought out; it's just finding the effort and time to write it! But I'd still like to thank everyone who's kept up with this story in the meantime! Also, my regular beta-reader, Gear001, has been busy with his own fantastic writing endeavors, so any grammatical or spelling errors in this chapter are mine and mine alone. Damn you Gear001, who am I gonna blame for my inferior writing skills now! (LOL Just Joking!)

Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! Reviews, even ones with constructive criticism, will probably help me write out faster! Thanks!