The large workbench finally sees activity after years of dust pile up on the surface. Sound of drilling and screwing dominate the workshop, a bustling atmosphere thought long gone.
"What do humans say? It brings a tear to the eye." Nova says, drumming up the saying. His mind seeing an almost ethereal ghost of Eric in Blake as he fixes his hand. The past surges forth with the overwhelming parallels.
"Alright, servos and motors are working again." Blakes says as his mind sharply focuses on the appendage.
"Plating and casing are back together on your fingers and the wires have been relinked". Blake explains through thorough checking over. Obsessively making sure there's no flaw in sight.
"You should be good to give it a test drive." Blake grins ear to ear. Raising his hand for a thumbs up.
Flicking each individual finger now, the mechanical digits click in the right way. Switching between blade then hand. Nova inorganic eyes soften, satisfied with the repairs.
"Thank you Blake this old body is barely holding together." Nova says gratefully. Brushing off some old dust caked to the back of his arm.
"In the future when I have some money and materials to work with I can try and make you a new body. Probably cost me a lot of sleep in the process." Blake explains, lifting his safety goggles smiling revealing deep dark sags in his eyes.
Parallels keep showing up in the Nova's database. Eric and Blake being two sides of the same coin for him. The continuation of his creators legacy.
"By the way I'm curious what happened to the shy little girl." Nova's says referring to Raven. Photos of the past flood into his mind each image having the pair in it in some way.
"Does she know about this place yet?" Nova says streaming through all of his database in the process.
"No, she has already gone through enough. When she's ready I'll show her dads past". Blakes says as his big brother side, comes out in full bloom now.
"I don't think finding this out would help Raven right now" Blake sighs filled with guilt, imagining the chaos it might bring into their normal lives.
"I want to protect her, Not make her worry about every little thing, she has her own life to focus on, not my own or dads". He says. Past scars make themselves known internally with a dull ache.
"Eric would always give me first hand photos of the outside world". Nova says. Steering the conversation to a different topic.
"He wanted me to experience the world in some real way" Nova recounts. Looking through thousands of the images stored in his database.
"He would always say, I can't take you out of here yet but I can show you my world" Nova says. As flash's of fond memories come through his mind like a film reel.
"He always loaded them up with you two. Every picture normally had you two in them". Novas fondness mixes into his electronic speech
"She was always clinging to your clothes, I think the term is a security blanket for humans". He says as his artificial brain tries to comprehend human behavior's.
"Yeah, Me and Raven always had a support system between us even now." Blake's voice begins to soften with gratitude.
"It's how we coped with the harshness of reality." He says. Flashes of his own torment flood through his mind.
"Interesting, humans are quite the interesting creatures. You always find ways to adapt". Nova says, his inorganic eyes squinting open and shut with a cold analysis.
"I can only emulate that, but one day I hope to find out more about my race and what we could be".
"We lost access to all those photos 4 years back." Blake says bitterly. Lamenting his inability to salvage them.
"You said you had access to those photos. Would you mind parsing a batch for me. I think a trip down memory lane might help Raven through all this stress." Blake says. Nostalgia crawling up into his throat wanting to be recognized.
"Pity, human minds work in an odd way. You lose memories even the most important ones but not in the same way as the media." Nova lets out a mechanical sigh. Dissatisfied with the concept of flesh.
"It gets faded and lost within your subconscious only to resurface in the least expected moments of your life." Nova says his electronic voice clearly emphasizes the differences between them.
"It's an odd way of preservation." Nova says. Struggling with such a foreign inefficient concept.
"Compared to how I operate, it sounds like a disorganized mess." Nova says. An artificial chuckle finds its way into his voice box.
"Everything is uniform and is organized accordingly. Nothing fading, only being preserved". Nova explains, trying to paint a picture to Blake in attempt to share his perspective.
An odd sense of understanding starts to develop between the gaps of life. The two beginning to put themselves in each others shoes. Slowly starting to understand that they aren't that different in terms of sentience.
"You said you went into stasis?" Blake questions, his curiosity lighting up like a beacon.
"It's a story for another time, you have stuff to create and I'll be damned if I get in the way of the return of activity in this place". Nova says, making his stance clear.
"But I'll leave it at this, Eric didn't want me to follow him into the storm that was brewing at the time". Silence replaces all his artificial expressions.
"I regret not being able to act then in every single moment of my return". Nova says, the longing is starting to mess with his coding, rapid restructuring taking place to accommodate his return.
"I'll leave you now Blake. Make Eric proud." A grin surfaces on his metallic face through his sorrow. Inspiring focus at the task at hand for Blake.
"Even if i have this power, i can't reveal it to others. The last thing i need is painting a target on my back. I barely even understand this power fully yet." Blakes thoughts rush through his mind in the moments of the calm moments of engineering.
'Who knows what chaos it will bring, i don't even know what's happening.' Blake chews at his thumbnail as his worries and fears surface in his moment of calm.
'So I'll need to keep up appearances for now, until I'm strong enough to reveal it and stand a chance.'
"Doesn't mean i have to be weak in the process." Blakes internal monologue continues to narrate as images coalesce together forming sketches and ideas for the new iterations of his creations.
"The Keepups need a new model they're barely holding together right now." Flashes of the errors and bugs from the previous version soar into his mind. Specifically the energy load he put them through.
"Why don't I make them into shin high boots? Add a layer of armor on top of the speed with rubber for impact resistance." Blake continues to narrate to himself as the first upgrade starts to piece itself together in his mind.
"The material in the last arm was too bulky and the material didn't mix well with flesh. I'll use more friendly materials this time." Blake continues pulling out more sturdy but compatible metals for the flesh.
"This arm is going to need a lot more features if I'm keeping my powers hidden otherwise i won't stand a chance barehanded." Blake comments to himself already trying to cover up his weaknesses.
"Not like I can show off a new limb made of energy without raising more then a few eyebrows." Blake thinks to himself. Visualizing the uproar it might cause for him and his family.
"Maybe in the future though." He mutters to himself as his inner thoughts start to focus.
After around 4 hours, the basic framing of the new Keepups are made. Checking over the outline of his creation for error.
"Reinforced steel framing, check." He says, brushing his fingers up the framing.
"Circuitry housed and threaded, check." He checks over before clipping off any excess wires or unnecessary circuitry.
"Micro batteries lined, check" Blakes fingers pop the storage compartment for the batteries making sure all are stable and secure in place.
"Rubberized polymers, check." He says, bouncing the heel and toes of the boot into the workbench testing the kinetic absorption.
"Hyper-resistant fuses, check." Blake says, finalizing his inspection making sure each fuse is connected and secured.
"Alright looks like I have the foundation setup." Blake grins satisfied at his work so far.
"Now just to build on that." Blake finishes his check through and gets together the final materials. Putting together the new model at last.
"Hey Nova what time is it?" Blake says before his concept of time unravels entirely.
"4am." Nova chimes through abruptly.
"Awesome still plenty of time left, Raven should still be asleep as well" Hyperfocus starts to take a grip on his mind as sleep falls to the wayside.
Nova's nostalgia starts to get the better of him, the parallels of behavior's between his creator and his son start causing an erratic disturbance in his mind. His expressions struggle to find the right behavior's to display. Causing a mixture to form through his sorrow.
------------------------
"Come on, give him a chance." Pyres fiery passion boils its way into his voice
"He did much more than most would in that situation." Pyre recounts the fight Blake he had with Blake, how his blood boiled in the face of his spirit.
"I want to see what his fire will turn into if he's given another chance. It already had so much promise. It would be a shame to see it get snuffed out so soon.
"Fine but in return you must come back to tutoring. I know you just wanted to help out in the exams but I'll be frank, we need you Pyre. The next generation will struggle as it is." The old woman looks straight into the orange inferno of Pyres eyes.