After being faced with the subject of his torture, High Gear vacated the area, appearing in an alleyway miles away from the original location. Upon surfacing, you immediately detransformed his gear riser, converting it into light and being sucked into his bracelet on his left arm. In this form, high gear looked androgynous but was more feminine than masculine in appearance. His hair is long and covers his face, including his eyes, Lucky for him. The professor did provide him with clothing. He was wearing a sleeveless blouse and baggy pants with two arm bands over his forearms, one on the left and one on the right.
High gear: You sure about this?
He looked over his shoulder to the blue feminine Avatar of his transformed cell.
Logic: It was for the best. If we had killed him then and there, we wouldn't have been doing it because we wanted to, but because Motor City wanted us to, and that would be an insult to the professor's memory. At least that's what this guy's grievance says that I picked up online.
A golden avatar appears on his left with a fanatical snarl.
Instinct: Look, the way I see it, we should have just killed him then and there. Then we should have taken out those peeping Toms on the roof as well. Heck, we should have taken out the edit everywhere on that block. All those onlookers who think they were being so casual.
This was the Avatar of the instinctual AI. Unlike the feminine blue AI, which is logical. This AI prefers an avatar of a more masculine build, but still retains the image of the transformed high gear.
They ignored the instinct's tangent and continued their conversation.
High gear: what should we do now?
Logic: I've used some online sources to have the technology in that building move to it. Undisclosed location for us to handle later. That way, that's no longer in Motor City's hands. I'm also using your power to suppress the tracking device they put in your gear. Riser, and that should hold it for a while while we figure out how to remove it. For no,w we should find shelter and...
Logic stopped talking and glanced over the front to them.
Logic: Someone is tracking us.
High gear, looked around.
High gear: Are we in danger?
Logic looked around, trying to pinpoint the exact whereabouts of the tracker.
Logic: they're not dangerous and have already run a bio scan. We don't have any other chips on us as far as I can tell, the trip is fully sealed, so it's not Motor City or best. Guess that someone is tracking our unique biofield.
High deer gets ready to charge up his bracelet to release his gear riser at a moment's notice. Out of the dark. A man in a suit walks up to him. Casually looks down at him. Pulls out his phone from it. What's between the two, and then says.
???: Finally, you show up. I was getting nervous there for a minute. The moment the app unlocked on my phone I knew something badger happened to him. Are you okay?
High gear stared at him in confusion.
Logic looked the man up and down, then her eyes widened.
Logic: It's okay, we can trust him.
High gear: (how do you figure?)
I guess start relaxing a bit knowing that he has a logic stamp of approval.
Logic: Your memories seem to still be encrypted. Some of the information that was imparted to us was a digital signature that the professor used to help us identify friends and enemies somewhere on his person. He's carrying one that signifies an ally.
Instinct: could have killed someone and stolen it.
Logic: impossible. It becomes invalid after death.
???: Let's get out of here. It's not a good look for a grown ass man and a girl around 17 to be hanging out in an alley like this.
The man in the suit started to walk away, but noticed that the kid wasn't following. He then looked back over his shoulder, thought about it for a minute, then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a phone. It was a smartphone with a completely purple color and a gold and light blue streak running parallel to each other and across the opposite side of the phone's back. He then handed the phone to high gear.
They didn't know what it was, but clearly they knew it was a phone. I thought I didn't even know why he was handing it to me. I geared up and looked to logic, who nodded, stating it was safe to touch. He then grabbed the phone and powered it on. He then saw the home screen logic looked around on the phone's apps. There weren't that many, only really three apps. A file app marked will phone app and the photo app. There was also the messenger app, so four technically.
Logic gestured for him to tap the photo app, doing so. There were only two or three pictures on it. The first that appeared was a picture of the guy in the suit and the professor, though they were a bit younger.
The three who looked up at the man in the suit. In curiosity, the man didn't say anything and continued to walk. Understanding you could trust I gear followed along silently.
They walked for hours until they finally reached a shady-looking building on the less popular side of town in Circuit City. On the third floor. They made it into a law firm. The man in the suit sat at the desk and pointed to a seat for us on the opposite side. High gear sat down.
Marin: All right, kid. What's up, name's Marin, or I guess you could call me Uncle Marin, see back in the day. Your dad and yours truly went to college together before he decided to go all wandering scientist on me. He knew I was becoming a lawyer and figured it would be about time to keep in touch, given the nature of being a scientist in the city. You never know when you're going to run afoul of the law.
Marian chuckled to himself, he pulled out a cigarette and started lighting it, trying to get as comfortable as he could. Clearly indicating this is going to be a long story.
Marin: Then one day out of the blue.
He depicted that he was doing his usual lawyer things, whatever that means. When the professor showed up, giving him a worried expression, he went into his office and he immediately insisted on commissioning him to draft up. A will not want to turn away the money Marin agreed, but just as he was getting a pen and paper ready to draft one up. The professor just ripped out a phone. The phone that is now in High Gear's possession.
Professor: Look, I don't have a lot of time. Everything regarding my will is in this phone. Just make sure you get it to my daughter, who will be the sole inheritor of everything I own, including this phone and its contents. The will is saved into a file that only she can open.
Marion looked at the phone, then was preparing to just shrug it off and get rid of the paper when the professor stopped them.
Professor: and also want you to write down a contract indicating that you will be her guardian until she's functioning well enough to operate on her own. I need you to look out for her. Where are some dangerous people that want to do terrible things to her, and I just can't allow it.
Marin tapped his chin in thought.
Marin: If you want me to be her guardian, you should at least let me meet her once so that she knows she can trust me.
The professor shook his head.
Professor: Sorry, but I can't do that. Motor City's got its hands on her. But don't worry. So long as you have this phone. She'll trust you and won't worry about Motor City. When the time is right, I'll make sure she'll make it to you. I will also have a satellite heart monitor installed in my body, and I have an app that monitors it on my phone, with a second app that can track my daughter. The moment I die? It will install itself, and the heart monitor app will uninstall, but I'm home with you. Notice this immediately. Find her before it's too late.
Marian, do you know what to say? I don't like whatever this was. He shouldn't get involved in college. The professor didn't a lot for Henry. He wouldn't even be a lawyer right now if it weren't for him.
Marin: Sure thing, man. But this is a big one. So after I help you with this, there's no more favors left.
The professor smiled, signed the agreement, and was never heard from again.
Hearing this, the ear gear felt his eyes water, but resisted the urge, not wanting to show weakness. He wasn't sure if he was actually in a safe place or not after all.
Marin then pulled out an envelope containing NASA files. They pulled out a few and placed them in front of her, and then started reading from the file.
Marin: All right, so according to this, along with the birth certificate and everything else, and the eyes of the law, your name is Zeta, your mother is a strange and wants nothing to do with you, but is alive. Your father is now illegally seen as dead, and I have to take full guardianship of you.
He then shuffled around the pages to read from something else.
High gear: but none of this is true. We both know I'm an artificially made being, and I don't even know who the female donor was. All of this is clearly fake.
Marin shook his head
Marin: A majority of it is fake, and your father pulled a lot of favors and paid a pretty mint to make sure that it's real enough in the eyes of the law that no one's going to ask questions. Also, the name of your mother is in fact your female donor. Your father always knew who she was from what he told me. He paid her a fortune to ignore the fact that you exist and that the shoes recognized by the law as your mother. Of course, I've tried to follow up with her on this, but she's been out of town for almost 3 years now.
High gear: But I'm not a girl, I'm not a guy, but I'm definitely not a girl.
Marin shifted to another page.
Marin: Yeah, so apparently, during gear development, they did use both male and female genetics to make sure that you are classifiably human embryo for the creation. But for whatever reason, during your development phase, you just didn't develop the parts needed to be recognized as a guy when the professor hired a doctor to provide documentation of your birth to be seen in the eyes of the law. In case anything happened, the doctor had argued that it would be better to just pass you off as the last female. Then write up a whole list of medical conditions to explain why you look like that and lack certain parts.
High gear: But I'm flat.
She said, looking down at her chest. Marin shrugged off the statement.
Marin: zeta. Don't sweat the small stuff; semantics like that aren't really worth considering. And besides, I've seen a few women around your size, nothing to sweat over. We got this, but more importantly.
The next day the two find themselves walking through a school's hallway Marin wearing a different suit than before zeta wearing jeans a new blouse with short sleeves. A tie that striped.
Zeta: So why do I have to wear this?
Marin whispered to her.
Marin: Like I said, we need you to look as closely as possible to what we're selling as you. As a lawyer, I can say with absolute confidence that if people can buy the narrative, they are less likely to question.
Zeta looked at him in confusion and then whispered back.
Zeta: But why did you do this to my hair?
Marin shook his head and continued whispering back.
Marin: I just styled your hair. It's something girls like to do.
Zeta: You literally just grabbed a bunch of my hair and held it back, then. Stuck a bunch of hairpins in it.
Marin: Like I said, styling your hair.
Logic interjected into his statement.
Logic: he's not wrong, but when you consider nuances, he's not right either.
In the principal's office they sat with the principal discussing zada's enrollment.
The principal: young lady, I'm sorry for the loss of your father. He was a great man. Graduated top of the class here. I'm happy to welcome you among our students and believe you will be just as great as he was judging by your test scores.
Using instincts instruction and logics constant correcting zeta gave a strong performance.
Zeta: I just wish he was still here. There was still so much I wanted to learn from him and I wanted to spend more time with him but it was always fleeting.
The principal looked at her in concern. Zaida didn't realize it until it was too late, but tears were starting to come from our eyes, remembering the professor's death and then she had to fight back the rage. She felt towards motor City and top gear for the part they played in his death fearing the sudden return of the voices.
At this point she'll be joining circuit high as a sophomore she still has to contemplate what you'll be doing about the two offending parties and she's not even sure what people actually do at a school besides the dude that she was imparted. What's the point? She already has intellect on a college level.