[MythicDusk]

They ignored the sounds outside. They had never found their bunker, and they wouldn't yet. The bunker was too well hidden, the door too sturdy, too dilapidated to be of notice.

They licked their lips and willed their hands to stop shaking, it was making handling the soldering iron a little more difficult. They flexed the few plastic joins of their fingers, shook out the stiffness in their servos of their elbows, shifted to move the wire out of the way of their reach.

After a few more moments, they placed down the soldering iron with a sigh, leaning back on the seat and looking up, seeing the disembodied torsos, arms and legs hanging from the ceiling, the faint, plasticky sheen showing them as robot parts, things to be implanted, to be replaced.

After a moment, they wheeled their seat over to the large bank of computer screens, their eyes flicking over the screens, taking in the stream of information and data. they ran one of their fingers carefully over the deep indent of a scar on their head, lined with LEDs.

They ran their hands carefully down their face after, a sigh heaving from them.

"God I'm tired."

[Mousen]

There was a faint pop, and where there had previously just been dessert wasteland there was now two humans, clinging onto each other for dear life and looking around with trepidation.

"Where are we?" asked one, the male. He wouldn't have looked out of place in a university in the early 20th century. His suit was smart, though he elbows of the suit jacket were patched. He wore a maroon bow-tie and horn-rimmed glasses. His hair and eyes a deep brown.

"When are we?" asked the other. She didn't seem to match her companion at all. Her bright blue eyes gazed out at the lacklustre scenery with wonder, and she shrugged off an oversized cardigan revealing a baseball t-shirt with sleeves rolled up to the elbows and a very short pair of shorts. "Wherever it is, it's warm."

Though, on closer inspection. Not everything was well with them. There was a small bruise on the man's cheek and his glasses were cracked, and his companion's tights were laddered, her knees scuffed and bleeding.

"Future, for both of us. We overshot." He said, fishing out something that looked like a pocket watch from his jacket and opening it. It glowed and opened out into a small round model, symbols twisting round the multitudes of small dials and diagrams.

"Damn," the girl sighed. "And it doesn't look like a good one. Could be good for historical research, though, eh Horatio?"

Horiatio looked around worriedly. "It's dangerous here, Genevieve. This looks... maybe fifty, seventy years into the reign of the Overbody. Look at the buildings on the horizon, you agree?"

"Looks it."

"I suggest we leave."

Genevieve shook her head. "All research is valuable. We're lucky. We've landed far away from the city. Besides, if we're overshooting this badly the devices need re-calibrating."

He looked at her, his eyebrows knitting together as he frowned. "We cannot get caught here, Genevieve."

She pointed over to a dilapidated bunker. "Who's the mechanic here, history boy? Let a girl work and we can hide out in there until it's time for us to skedaddle."

He huffed in defeat. "Hurry."

Genevieve flipped open the control panel by the door, and was surprised to find it in much better condition than she was expecting. Some carefully placed acid allowed her to open up the casing and get in at the mechanisms. It was more complex than she'd been banking on (it turned out this place was full of surprises) and the security had a few interesting twists and turns. "God, I'd love to meet the designer of this system! It's a delight. I'm actually having to work."

"Genevieve."

"Hush now, Mr. Chandlers. I'm enjoying myself." She winked. With a final flourish, she replaced the case and pressed a few keys. "Ta-da!"

The door swung open. Horatio ushered her inside.

[MythicDusk]

They heard the voices outside and their hand crept towardss the rifle they had been working on. Fear thundered through their heart, made them dizzy. When the door opened, they grabbed the rifle and flung themselves behind the old couch, landing badly and bruiding their shoulder.

They grunted as they came back up, peeking over the back with narrowed eyes. Their bunker was well lit, the floor coated in shavings and burns, the plastic body parts hanging above their head making for some grotesque horror show. The shelves packed with components and weapons. There was no mistaking the fact that this person didn't rely on the rules of the Overbody.

They nearly jumped at the three foot high butler bot trundling past on his small wheels, his blank face having been drawn on years ago by a child. Even with the wonky smile and thick mustache, he still managed to look severe. Especially as he tutted gently to himself as he swept the metal shavings from the floor.

Chip turned their attention back to the door, their finger flexing on the triggef or the gun made of spare parts and spit.

They cursed themselves. On the other side of where they were sitting there was a fully functioning handgun.

[Mousen]

As he tugged Genevieve inside the building and shut the door with a clang, Horatio laced their fingers together for a moment. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the top of her knuckles. "Let's not stay long. I'm pretty sure this era is prohibited."

Genevieve nodded. "I do remember you mentioning-" She cut herself off suddenly, pressing herself into the metal wall of the small corridor. "Hush," she whispered.

He gestured with his head to the room at the end of the corridor. She nodded. He'd heard it too. Horatio gestured to their traveller's watches. She made a see-sawing motion with her hand. A decision was reached.

They carefully made their way to the door and pushed it open. "We don't mean any harm!" Horatio called from his position, hidden behind the metal. "Please, we're just lost travellers."

He peeked round the door to see the gun pointed at them, and Genevieve peeked around his shoulder.

"That doesn't look functional. I could probably fix it for you, if you wanted. Oh!" she said, glancing about her, and edging away from the door. "Is this your workshop? Was the door security yours? It was awesome! I managed it okay in the end, but it was tricky. You have such an eye for detail."

"Genevieve!" Horatio hissed, trying to pull her back behind the door, but she didn't budge.

"Please," she said. "We're just passing through. I'm Genevieve, and my friend behind the door is Horatio. We're sorry to have barged in like this, but as you know, it's not particularly safe out there."

[MythicDusk]

The LED's glittered across the scars of Chip's scalp, the shaved head barely beginning to grow bristly hairs again, still leaving thick spaces in the patchwork of scars. They narrowed their eyes at their explanation then huffed loudly, throwing down the useless gun and waving them in.

"Get in and close the door. You sell me out and I'm gonna be so pissed."

"And dead." The butler bot piped up, still sweeping at the floor. Chip nodded thoughtfully.

"And dead."

one of the screens flickered behind them, soundwaves appearing as a distinctly feminine voice echoed from the speakers. "Oh I wish you wouldn't be such a downer, my dear."

Chip rolled their eyes, motioning to the screen to hush.

[Mousen]

Horatio hurried in as they tossed the gun to the side and closed the door. "Thank you," he said.

"We won't sell you out," Genevieve said. "As it happens we're not technically supposed to be here, so, I figure we're even. We won't tell if you won't?"

"How long have you been here, if you don't mind my asking? From my knowledge of this, uh, area I thought there were very few pockets of resistance." Horatio folded his jacket over his arm and rolled up his shirtsleeves. He had a half-healed burn on his forearm and a few nicks and scars, one that looked suspiciously like a graze from a bullet.

"Your mods!" Genevieve exclaimed suddenly. "Sorry. I just. Please let me pick your brain. Are those hydraulics in the joint or am I imagining things? You must be crazy talented."

"Genevieve," Horatio said as a warning. "Maybe we're being rude."

"Sorry! Sorry," she smiled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "If you're willing we could start with your name? But otherwise, like Horatio said, we'll just borrow some space so I can get to work and be out of your hair within a couple of hours."

[MythicDusk]

Chip listened carefully, listened for the telltale signs. When none came and a bullet wasn't between their eyes, they let their shoulders relax.

"Chip. People call me Chip."

They waved them to an open workbench with only a small amount of clutter, before smiling at the mention of their mods. "Yeah. I built them myself. My knees were grinding and I fucked my elbow and some of my finger joints in an accident so I just."

They made a chopping motion with their hand at their arm, just above the eblow before giving a slight shrug. "Easier to spend a night in pain with some medigel and trying to stop my body from rejecting the plastic than it is waiting for a fracture to set and heal."

[Mousen]

"Good to meet you, Chip." They said in unison, then looked between each other.

"Sorry. We've been travelling together waaay too long." Genevieve said, shooting Horatio a look. She frowned as Chip spoke, edging close to them without meaning to. "Are things really that bad in this era? That living with a fracture is more dangerous than a whole joint replacement? What about the rehabilitation time? How did you manage with the surgery?" She looked to the workshop. "I mean, I guess you have reasonably advanced pain meds and you can always program bots... I mean, your replacements look incredible! I'm just sorry there wasn't another way. I mean, I suppose I've had to do a few nasty on-the-go jobs with my eye," she tapped her temple, the tiny flash that followed from her right eye indicating the presence of cybernetics. "But, still."

She turned to her travel partner for a moment. "Horatio, set up your continuum maps and I'll see how fucked your watch is."

"Language, Ms. Bellcastro." Horatio replied idly, settling down at the workstation Chip had cleared for them.

[MythicDusk]

Chip gave a slight smile, flexing one of their arms carefully as they walked to the workbench, to lean on one of the shelves, to continue talking and also to see the intricacies of what the woman - Genevieve - was working on. "If I let my arm and hand heal, it would have been six weeks without any progress. I always need to keep ahead of The Overbody."

The mention of healing times and surgeries made their smile falter, made them hunch their shoudlers slightly. Their mom called it their 'i-dont-want-to-say' pose. It was a pose that prayed that no further questions would be asked.

[Mousen]

Genevieve sat down by Horatio, he put his hand on the small of her back for a moment. "How are your knees?"

He opened up his watch at her request. A spherical display showed various loops and timelines, each intersecting in three dimensional space. It was vastly complex.

She waved him away as he handed her a tiny roll of delicate silver instruments. "Just scuffed from where I fell. Don't fuss." She tapped her temple again, which had no visible effect to anyone else, but must have had for Genevieve because she clicked her tongue slightly. She took out a small hook and another tool that was straight with a flat edge along one side and began to unpick the main body of the device revealing layer upon layer of thin-as-paper complex machinery. She paused, holding one sheaf of metal where it was and flicked through the timelines with her pinkie finger.

"I could teach you how to set bones, if you wanted," she said. "Or Horatio could. He's better at it than me. And um, while we're at it please don't mention this," she nodded with her head towards the tiny watch. "While we're at it. It's strictly classified."

[MythicDusk]

Chip shook their head for a second, chewing on their bottom lip. "Nah I- I don't really have enough bones left to set." They gave a nervous laugh, remembering the blood across the workshop floor. The idea of using bots to help with replacements was one they had never considered.

They felt their joints shift as they moved, deciding to leave them to their work as they moved back to their own desk, hunching over the metal, scarred and dented. Their hands shook too much to begin soldering again. They wondered if they would have to replace their entire hands before long.

[Mousen]

Genevieve and Horatio frowned. Geneieve was all concern, Horatio a little more tempered. She got back to her work, after a moment or two and Horatio seemed content to watch her. They stayed like that a few moments, Genevieve seemed totally absorbed, sticking out her tongue a little in concentration. She swapped to an even finer set of tools to begin carefully adjusting some of the sensors. Occasionally, what appeared to be a tiny blobs of metal would run across her hands or into one of her implements, she would shoo them back into the machine.

Horatio stood up, and arched his back. It clicked a little and he stretched his arms above his head. He took the time to glance around the workshop. It was a little macabre, if he was honest. He didn't like to think of the person in front of them having to replace bits of themself, and experimenting with new parts just in case something else went. How difficult it must be.

He moved closer to Chip, eyeing their work and the shaking of their hands. "Anything I can do?" he asked.

[MythicDusk]

Chip felt surprise rush across their spine at the sound of Horatio's voice. It had been so long since they had heard a sound that wasn't electronic. they just knew their LEDs were flashing.

They tucked their hands under the desk, like a naughty schoolchild being found with a cell phone, trying their best to hide it from the teacher.

"N-no its fine. Doesn't your girlfriend need help?" They inclined their head to where Geneieve was sat, their jaw working for a moment, as if they were shewing over a question before they looked back at their desk, their brow furrowed and their lips pressed into a hard line as they stared at the metal.

[Mousen]

Horatio smiled a little as the LEDs lit up, there was something beautifully expressive about it, but he couldn't help but wonder what injury had caused the opportunity for their implementation. The scars looked very old around there, and Chip didn't seem to be too old themself, a few years younger than himself at most, though it was difficult to say.

"What she's doing is way beyond me, besides, she's only my girlfriend occasionally."

From where she was, Genevieve snorted. "You couldn't handle me alone."

Horatio coughed, obviously desiring to change the subject. "I could hold the sheet metal for you while you solder. I saw you shaking." He tilted his head towards them, pushing his glasses up his nose as they slipped. "I'm a historian by trade, among other things. I wonder, if you don't mind, could you tell me about this place, this time?" He normally took more care to maintain his cover, but they were far enough into the future that Horatio was willing to roll the dice a little. He doubted that Chip was in a position to say anything about them anyway.

[MythicDusk]

They closed their eyes for a moment, letting their pupils rest. Maybe they should install more lights down here. "No, don't worry. I was just- I was just fiddling, really. I don't need to do anything urgent just yet, and the shaking will pass by the time I need to work in earnest."

They turned slowly in their chair, eyeing Horatio up for a moment, their lips pressed into another line, their LEDs flickering before settling on one, slow, throbbing color.

"What do you want to know?"

They motioned to their bunker, to the grotesque display hanging above them. "I'm a mechanic of sorts by trade. Wanted by the Overbody for, well, just about anything you can think of. I try to make peoples lives better, and the Overbody doesn't much like that."