"Hmmm, what is that? It can't be—can it? Why wouldn't it be... IT'S REUY CITY!" said D-45.
"Finally. Now I can grab the tools I need to fix my core."His core, which contained his data, essentially acted as both his heart and brain.
"I need to grab the data leak prevention tools."
After a long walk, D-45 reached the city—but what greeted him was something he didn't expect.
In every direction he looked, filth surrounded him: trash on the ground, alcoholics, and gang members roaming the streets.The city reeked with such a stench, it felt like you could cut the odor with a knife.
"Am I in the right place?" thought D-45. Before the war, cities didn't look anything like this.
He reasoned that the radiation should have long faded. At the very least, it shouldn't be bad enough to explain why the city was in such a state.
He kept walking, searching for a specific shop he remembered.
The shop had a wooden signboard hanging above the door. On it was the name of the store:
"Logyia," said D-45, standing outside. After staring at the door for a few seconds, he stepped inside.
As the door opened, a small bell attached to it rang. The shop itself was nothing impressive. The front counter faced directly opposite the entrance, and behind it was a door leading to a back room, hidden from view.
To the left of the entrance was the rest of the store, filled with all kinds of mechanical supplies and components.On the far right, all the way in the back, was a car being repaired, positioned in front of a garage door.
"Give me a sec, I'll be right there," called a voice from beneath the floating car.
The vehicle levitated a couple more inches, and a girl rolled out from underneath it on a car creeper.
She was human—a red-haired woman with her hair tied in pigtails.What stood out the most was her right arm—it was robotic.
"What can I do for ya?" she asked.
"Do you have any data leak prevention tools?" asked D-45.
"Ya need a DLP? I got some in the back. Gimme a sec."
Her accent was unfamiliar to D-45—it caught him by surprise.
"What kind do ya need? I've got the M model, the Un model, Ix, and even a C model," she said.
"Do you have a D model?" asked D-45.
"Not in this bunch, but I'm sure I have one in the back. Give me a sec to check."
While waiting for the redheaded mechanic to return with the D model DLP, D-45 decided to explore the shop a little.
There were only two small aisles, and as he browsed them, nothing stood out. He eventually made his way back to the front counter.
The counter itself was unremarkable—some alcohol bottles sat off to the side, along with a few opened scratch tickets.To the left of those tickets was a framed portrait of an old man and a redheaded child—most likely the mechanic and her grandfather.
"Here ya go," said the mechanic as she slammed the DLP onto the counter.
"That'll be 10 Birr," she said.
"6 Birr," said D-45, trying to haggle.
"10 is the final price. No haggling," the mechanic replied firmly.
D-45 really needed that D model, but he didn't have 10 Birr. After taking money off gang members who tried to rob him, and from bandits, he had managed to scrape together only 6 Birr.
"I don't have 10 Birr," he admitted. He could tell just by looking into her eyes that she wasn't going to budge.
"Well, if you don't have 10 Birr, there are other ways you can make up the difference," she said, a mischievous glint in her eye.
D-45 was terrified about what she might suggest. Still, he had no choice—his life depended on that DLP.
The mechanic reached under the counter and tossed something at him.
"A maid outfit?" D-45 was stunned. Her asking him to be her maid was the last thing he expected—but at least it wasn't something worse. He felt oddly relieved.
"This place is hard to clean and take care of all by myself," she explained. "On top of that, I've got repairs to handle and orders to fill. So once in a while, when someone short on cash like you shows up, I put 'em to work cleaning."
D-45 didn't put on the maid outfit; he couldn't take off his clothes—otherwise, he would be caught.The mask he wore was specifically made to hide his face, and the clothes concealed the rest of his robotic body.
But D-45 got to cleaning, with or without the maid outfit.
After two hours of cleaning, D-45 thought to himself, "This place is very dirty and dusty." Even after two hours, he still wasn't done.
Then D-45 heard a bell ring, coming from the door. He looked toward it and saw a bunch of people walk in at once.
"MARIAH!" screamed one of the thug-looking people. "GET YOUR ASS OUT NOW!"
After a couple of seconds of silence, the mechanic came out from the door behind the counter.
"What the hell do ya want?" said the mechanic, who looked pissed off.
"Where is our money, Mariah? We're tired of waiting for that loan we lent out over THREE FUCKING YEARS AGO!" screamed one of the thugs.
"Loan sharks," thought D-45.
"Like I said, I DON'T HAVE IT. If ya want it so bad, go ahead and ask my grandfather where he put y'all's money. He buried it in the backyard if ya wanna know," said Mariah.
"I am done waiting. I'm taking this place as collateral—it's mine now," said the leader of the loan sharks, who had been yelling the entire time.
"Over my dead body, ya brick," said Mariah, before reaching under the counter for a weapon.
Instantly, everyone started firing at each other. Mariah was using a weapon that looked similar to a shotgun. Each time she fired, a cluster of beams came out, killing or injuring one of the loan sharks.
The loan sharks didn't have weapons like that—they only had simple laser beam pistols.
After what felt like forever, one of them managed to shoot Mariah's mechanical arm.As her gun fell, she tried grabbing it but wasn't fast enough. The loan shark leader managed to grab the weapon and aimed it at her face point-blank.
"It's over, Mariah," said the loan shark.
"Go to hell, Rogan," said Mariah.
As Rogan was about to fire the weapon, multiple beams shot at him, piercing through his head and body, instantly killing him.
With shock on their faces, everyone turned to see where the beams came from—and saw D-45.
"Sorry, but I can't let you kill her. She has something I need," said D-45.
Instantly, the loan sharks grabbed their weapons to shoot at D-45. However, Mariah didn't give them the chance—she instantly evaporated the remaining seven loan sharks.
Thanks to their close proximity, she managed to get every one of them. More than one didn't die instantly and suffered for a few seconds before Mariah put them out of their misery.
"Thanks," said Mariah.
"I just need the model," replied D-45.
Mariah went to the room behind the counter. She came back in a couple of seconds and threw it to D-45."Catch," she said.
"Multiple wounds—none fatal," said D-45's scanner.
"You should probably use a first aid kit for that," said D-45 to Mariah.
"I ain't an idiot. I know what to do," said Mariah.
"There is a chance more loan sharks may appear. Are you sure it is safe to stay here?" asked D-45.
"I know this part of town like the back of my hand. Which is why I know Rogan was the last one—so I should be fine," said Mariah.
"Now tell me, why exactly did the famous D-45 come to my shop?" said Mariah.
It came as a shock to D-45. He didn't know what to do.Should I kill her? What if she tells everyone about my location? What if she already did?
Everything pointed to needing to kill Mariah, so D-45 secretly started transforming his arm, ready to strike at any second.