Grey awoke the next day, not knowing when he fell asleep but feeling far better than he had expected to. A glance at the clock told him it was about mid-day. He guessed that Ren would contact him later in the day, which gave him about six hours.
But for what?
Normally he'd be looking for work or off on a job. Life in the outer ring didn't give many chances for leisure time. Jobs out here didn't pay that well, and there was always something or another draining any savings you managed to make. Grey had an easier time than most. He had no children, no family. Just a studio apartment in a mega building. Life didn't get much cheaper.
In light of it all, he decided to just roll over and go back to sleep.
He thought it was the best choice he'd ever made.
It turned out to be one of the worst choices he'd ever made.
When Ren came knocking on his door Grey was coming out of a nightmare. He relived his time in the Intrepid nest, but in the dream he didn't make it out. How his brain could imagine what it was like to be torn apart and fed to the hatchlings. The disturbing sense of beings eaten but still feeling the pieces of him solving in their stomachs.
His awakening was jarring, but gratefully received.
Having to get out of bed…not so well received.
Grumbling the whole way, Grey made his way to the door. When the door split open Himari's hand shot out, grabbed him by the mouth and pulled it close to her.
"I know I can't stop Ren from doing what he does for his projects. And I thank you for helping him out over the years." Himari's gaze was solid steel, each word poised like a blade against his neck. "But if something happens to my boy on your watch…"
She didn't need to finish the threat. He tried to assure her that he wouldn't let anything happen to Ren. That he'd protect him with his life. But her hand held fast over his mouth. He did his best to nod instead.
"Hello, Grey." Ren appeared at his mother's side, greeting Grey as if the scene in front of him was the most normal thing in the world. Grey envied how aloof the boy could be some days.
Mrs Saito brightened immediately, but didn't remove her hand from Grey's face.
"Are you ready for your trip, Ren?" She kept her eyes locked on Grey and her tone held nothing of its earlier promises. "Remember to thank Grey for his help."
"I will."
Himari turned to look at her youngest, giving a pointed look.
Ren stared back blankly for a few moments before realization hit him. "Oh. Thank you, Mr Grey. For helping with my project."
Himari smiled and finally released her hold on Grey. She was several inches shorter but felt like she towered over him at times. Grey had some doubts that she was fully human.
Agarians could change their size, growing or shrinking by a handful of inches. Or maybe she was part Scelipos, a race who could induce a feeling of fear in others. How she could be so intimidating was another puzzle that he wanted to solve. But asking her if she had extraterrestrial heritage was likely a lethal question.
She hasn't said anything about it for a reason, Grey. Just forget about it.
"Don't stay out too late, boys." Himari gave Grey one last stern look as she left them.
With the looming threat gone, Grey was able to breathe normally again. He likes the Saito family, but each one of them was a handful. Except, perhaps, for Ren's father, though he was often busy with work. How the man survived living with the force of chaos he called a family was beyond Grey's understanding.
Shaking his head, he turned to Ren. "So where are we going, kid?"
Ren simply smiled.
Oh, no.
-----------------
"Does it have to be there?"
"Yes."
"Can't we get it somewhere else?"
"No. Security on the others nearby have increased after prior thefts."
"Thefts that YOU committed, Ren."
"Irrelevant."
A young boy stoically maintaining that this was the only way and a grown man dramatically searching for another path with increasing resignation. Had anyone else been in the railcar with them it would have made an amusing sight.
"Do we really need it?"
"Do you want to reboot your implant?"
Grey paused for a moment. Maybe he could learn to live with the implant with the Vessel's AI offline.
And maybe he could fly.
In the end, he nodded reluctantly.
"Then, yes. We need it. I can't give it enough power to reboot without it taking a century or killing you."
Ren's plan to redesign his electric field generator into a wireless charger for Grey's implant required a significant upgrade. First as foremost was replacing the cable he had fried on his first test run, and getting one of those would be pricey.
If they had planned to buy it.
No, Ren's plan was to steal one from a mega screen. Powering such large electronics required serious juice.
Grey wasn't above theft, not in his line of work, but he was against excessive risk. Ren wanted to lift the cable not just from a mega screen, but from one in the middle ring.
Security would be tighter, not on the screen itself but in the area as a whole. Not to mention that the outer and middle rings were divided by a checkpoint to keep this sort of stuff from happening in the first place.
So it was up to Grey to get them through, and back, without trouble.
At the moment Ren and Grey were on a monorail heading for a checkpoint an hour walk north of their mega building. According to Ren it would be much better not to rip off a screen too close to them. Grey had no desire to argue. Ren made the plan and Grey did his best to make it work.
"Just try not to get us killed, okay, kid?"
"I believe that part of the job is up to you, Grey."
A couple minutes later, the railcar slowed to a smooth stop.
-Approaching security checkpoint, all passengers please disembark for inspection.-
Phase one. The checkpoint.
The car's doors slide open, each one revealing a secu-drone. They all spoke at the same time, their monotone machine voices blending into one.
[Attention passengers, please exit the car for inspection. Disobedience is not authorized.]
The drones one one side stepped away from the doorways, allowing people to leave the car. The other half would remain to shepherd them out and ensure no one tried to stay aboard.
Grey and Ren had their car to themselves, they wouldn't have talked about their plan so loudly otherwise, and we're quickly escorted by one of the secu-drones to the inspection area.
The inspection point was just a high wall with a single holo-gate guarded by a half dozen secu-drones accompanied by three flesh and blood security officers.
Grey and Ren were funneled into a roped off line along with passengers from other cars, before being split off to one of the officers.
Grey's anxiety slowly ramped up as the line moved forward, though it was without a hammering heart. A surprising benefit of the implant that Grey hadn't realized. Maybe it wasn't all bad.
Eventually the duo were at the front of the line and before an officer.
The officer barely looked awake and seemed like he had no real interest in the two.
"Why're you here?" He asked, clearly bored out of his mind.
Grey handed him an ID card, "Business, electrical work."
The officer took the card, "And the kid?"
"My son, training him to take up the job with me."
The officer barely nodded, not really caring who either of them were. He waved the ID card over his wrist mounted computer, "Akira Saito, you're free to pass."
Grey quickly pushed Ren in front of him and made to leave.
"Hey, wait!"
Grey stopped dead, turning back to the officer slowly. The officer simply held out the card Grey had given him.
"Oh. Sorry. Thank you." He accepted the card and shuffled off with his 'son'.
How Ren had learned to change the data in an ID card Grey didn't know. And he wasn't about to start asking him either. Grey was sure the answer wouldn't make him happy.
Ren passed through the holo-gate, which scanned them for illicit material they may be trying to smuggle in. Ren went through without a hassle, but once Grey breached the entrance, yellow lights flashed briefly before shutting off.
"Keep moving!" The guard behind them yelled. "Just electrical equipment!"
Yellow lights indicated potential weapons, which any tool would register as. Red would indicate lethal weapons or illegal material.
The gate into the inner city might have flagged Grey and Ren for searching, but security here was significantly more lax, and Grey's ID already established a reason for the alert. As much as Grey was thankful for their guard's lack of protocol, he was annoyed just as much.
You had one job, and y'all fucked it. A damn disgrace.
Grey continued through the gate and onto the street of the middle ring.
Phase one, complete.