Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss in any way, shape or form.
1. Collecting Data
Guy studied the small recorder in front of him. The wires all seemed to be going to the correct places, the power base was set, the fans had no trouble spinning, and the input data source seemed to be interpreting correctly. On first glance, it appeared the new invention from Sheridan was working, but according to Jade, it had suddenly died. Frowning, he fiddled with some of the wires, making sure they were properly connected.
"Well?" Jade asked, eyebrows raised as he watched from several feet back.
"I'm not sure," he admitted distractedly, giving up on the wires and carefully removing a drive. "Everything seems fine. It just kind of… gave up? Did it make any noises?"
"Nothing worth noting," Jade said, stepping forward and peering coolly into the machine from beside Guy.
The colonel was very close, their shoulders just barely brushing against each other. Guy found it oddly distracting. It wasn't that it bothered Guy, or he wanted to scramble away. He was simply… aware.
His finger caught on a piece of metal studded with sharp data nodes and he winced as he felt it cut into the skin, resisting the urge to jerk away. Grimacing, he was distracted from the injury by the sight of a small band hidden behind the drive.
"Ah! There it is. A belt just came loose." It only took a moment to snap the tiny belt back in place. Smiling triumphantly, he replaced the drive and the side panel. "There we go. It should work now."
Without a word, Jade reached up and grabbed Guy's hand, inspecting the small red line on the tip of his pointer finger. "Hmm… not too bad," he murmured.
"It's just a papercut," Guy muttered, embarrassed, although he wasn't quite sure why. "Don't worry about it." He tugged lightly at his hand, and was relieved when Jade let go.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow," Jade said, voice businesslike. "I have a list of books for you to pull, as well as a number of reports to organize and file with Peony."
"Tomorrow," Guy nodded, backing towards the door.
Jade finally allowed himself a small smirk as the boy left, pushing up his glasses with his finger as he listened to Guy's hurried footsteps retreating from the military base.