First Day

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Apex leaped from out of the trees, skidding to a stop in front of the cabin. Devola, who'd been chopping firewood on a stump beside the porch's steps, dropped the old axe in her hands and rushed over to him, looking him over for any injuries. He gave her nod and her eyes took on that intense glow. After a thorough examination of him, a sigh of relief slipped free of her, the glow fading.

"Didn't I already tell you that you don't need my permission to scan me, Devola?" He said with a shake of his head.

"I know but..." She trailed off. For one reason or another, others didn't take kindly to the twins suddenly scanning them. Despite the truth of being thrown on the table, the twins were still relatively vague about what it was that caused the other androids to treat them so harshly and he didn't press the matter.

"I know you two just want to make sure I'm okay, so don't worry about it." He assured her. "If you think something's wrong or just want to be sure, do what you think is best." He didn't want her or Popola to start walking on eggshells around him, or worse, treating him in anyway similar to those back at the Resistance Camp. "Alright?"

Devola smiled and nodded, before noticing the wrapped layers of fur beneath his left arm.

"Soap. I didn't really have anything else worth bringing from the cave." He explained as he walked past her. The two had been adamant about him not going there or at least taking one of them with him. He had to remind them that whatever data they had on humans didn't entirely apply to him and he'd already been surviving on his own for quite some time. One trip wasn't going to kill him as long as he didn't do anything stupid.

"What's with the wood?" He asked as she fell in beside him.

"Popola said we should prepare as much as we can for you." He raised an eyebrow but as he stepped into the cabin, the meaning behind her words became clear.

He'd entered the cabins a handful of times to help them move boxes but he noticed the differences quickly. The sizable main room had more candles lit to compensate for the fact that more curtains blocked out sunlight. The once empty fireplace was stocked with wood and Popola was over in the kitchen area, the wood fueled stove running as she stirred a pot.

Like Devola she stopped what she was doing to head over to him. Unlike Devola she took his words to heart, eyes aglow and scanning him before he could give her permission.

"You didn't run into any machines?" She asked, voice full of concern despite his lack of injuries.

"Not a one." He said. The benefits of traveling by tree; the flying machines were few and far between and there was so much foliage to lose them among that they weren't a real danger to him.

"Good, I'm glad." She nodded and after carrying out one more scan just for good measure, she headed back to the stove. "I'm making more of the soup from before. It'll be done soon."

He couldn't help but perk up at the mention of food, the taste of this morning's meal still lingering on his tongue. If living here meant a constant stream of food that he could actually enjoy rather than stuff himself full of just to avoid starvation, he had definitely made the right choice. Though-

Apex looked around at the lamps around the room. "This place doesn't have power?" He asked.

"At some point it did. We've done our best to repair what we could since we started living here but the wiring was so old and neither of us had any need for it." Popola said. "If we had a power source and the right materials, I'm sure we could get the power on again if that is something you want."

Parts huh? That sounded like a visit to the city ruins might be in store for them.

'If I may master, there are plenty of parts just outside.' Navi interjected. 'The machines must hold a significant power source to remain operational for so long without any maintenance. With the twins scanning capabilities my estimations project a fifty percent chance that their parts could be successfully repurposed to create a suitable generator.'

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Right. They hadn't gotten around to clearing out all the machines he'd disabled. Fifty percent wasn't great but it could be worse.

"Do you two have any experience with scrapping the parts of those machines?" He asked, both the twins turning to look his way.

-Route A, No. 010-

As it turned out, they did. Not enough to be confident in his plan but they knew their way around the parts. It'd taken a little convincing to get them to go along with it.

"Pass me a core." Devola asked from below a hunk of rusty dark green machinery they'd been throwing together for the past few hours. Popola kneeled down and rolled a circular metal ball to her sister before standing back up and returning to her work on the wiring running along the side of the contraption. While they got their hands dirty with the more technical work, their eyes aglow the whole time, Apex acted as both muscle and look out.

He sat on top of their truck, his left arm morphed into a black mass and keeping the hefty patchwork of metal in the air while he kept an eye on the forest line around them. Devola and Popola had been shocked to see the abilities he told them about but weren't as bothered by the messy sight as he expected, throwing themselves fully into their work.

Talk about trust. He wasn't so sure he'd want to be in Devola's position but she'd crawled beneath the metal without a second thought, completely confident that he wouldn't drop it.

Because they were friends or because she perceived him as human? He got the feeling that he'd be asking himself that question a lot.

Either way, the last thing he wanted was for them to get hurt, so he banished those thoughts and focused up. He was use to reshaping his limbs and enhancing himself; controlling an entirely new extension of himself was new. Popola checked in on him often, asking if he needed a break but he powered through thanks to the hearty meal she'd prepared for him. Unlike this morning, she anticipated his hunger and made enough for him to be full of energy. He was still hungry but that was to be expected.

Satisfying his stomach might be more difficult than figuring the mystery of humanity's history.

"I'm done up here, Devola." Popola said.

"Then, I'll just twist this and-" The machine hummed to life, overpowering Devola's words. A crimson glow was visible between its metal plating. And sparks of electricity.

"Nrgh!" Apex grunted, gritting his teeth as that electricity sparked, wild arcs striking at the blackened material of his transformed arm and racing up to his shoulder. He'd nearly dropped it right then and there but fought back against his instincts, his hold on the machine faltering only slightly. "Move!"

Devola heeded the order and rolled out from beneath the machinery. The moment she and Popola cleared away from it he dropped it, his tendril receding and shifting back into his arm, parts of its left burnt by the wild energy.

Apex dropped off the truck with a sigh, making sure to steer clear from what would hopefully be their generator in the days to come. If it actually worked a little burnt flesh was a small price to pay for the convenience of electricity.

"Are you okay?" Devola and Popola rushed him, checking him over and sprouting off countless apologies. Right. Maybe it was a small price to him but that's not how they saw it.

"Calm down, you two." He said while raising the arm that had been damaged. The burnt flesh was already regaining its color, the searing pain no more than a minor ache that'd soon be forgotten. "This was my idea in the first place. If someone had to get hurt getting it done, it should be me."

"But you're irreplaceable, Apex." Devola said.

"She's right. You're may be special, we're still wrapping our heads around that, but you shouldn't think like that. We don't want you to get hurt if we can avoid."

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