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"I can have some papers put together, if you need them. Cargo, But I can't give you names." She crosses her arms, something in the set of her eyes says that this is non negotiable. "Some of my friends are quite shy."

Her tattoos, up until now, haven't caught Detlef's eye, but now, they seem rather... Gang related. The patterns geometric, with only a scant few actual images among them. A far cry from the going fashion of swirling organic shapes. Then he spots the image of a cracked void suit helmet, a jawless skull leering from within, peeking from behind the fabric of her vest. A well enough known symbol of lawless types, and pirates both.

Suddenly Detlef felt something encroaching around his stomach. First small, then getting more intensive every second passed. This uncomfortable feeling that one unspecific thing about this entire situation wasn't entirely kosher. The way Sasha was hesitating about giving more info could only mean that she was hiding something. He then grumbled and looked to the side, pretending to be thinking, but in the corner of his eyes, he spotted her tattoos. Admittedly the captain wasn't entirely versed in the different cultures, spending most of his time in space, or sea, as he often put it jokingly. Didn't the pirates who robbed him once have similar ones?
Or maybe she just liked their look, living the life of a hardcore punk who acted tough but in reality was a kind soul...
He had to risk it.

His expression lightened up once more, he grinned, put his thumbs up and said excitedly, "Excellent, then hand over your papers as soon as possible, while I will get right started!"

That sharkish grin flashes again, predatory. "I'll go have something written up." She turns, and walks back towards the loading ramp, stopping at the doorway, and half turning back. "How long will you need to sit in port? I want to be gone as quickly as possible."

He let a small sigh of relief out, forcing himself trying not to expose himself as some desperate merchant who was willing to take everything or else he could give up his ship, his profession, his dreams, basically everything he had worked hard for.
This truly had to be his lucky day, still being hired after failing his previous client. Time to put up his best impression!
"I'll instruct my first mate to build up hammocks, while I'll prepare the cargo hold. Shouldn't take an hour, everything else should depend on the number and size of your cargo."

"An wot do ya' MEAN by tha' RIDICULOUS offa?? I ain't gettin' you some fancy, high-tech dagga' fo THAT proice! Tha's sheer ROBBERY, pal! Tha'sa real fancy knife!"

The anonymous figure on the other side of the communications screen sighed. "Frelio, everybody knows you're desperate for money. Everybody in this whole smuggling business knows that you're the best at your trade too. Honestly you sneak into places that nobody could ever dream of. That's the perk of being from a raced so oppressed as your-"

"Lissen, we dun'need to talk about me past, ay? You can shut yo' mouf whennit comes ta speakin' bout me people. Ya wonna strike a deal, o' wha?"

The anonymous figure was quieted. He was desperate, whoever he was. There was an urgency for the item. A big need.
He composed himself. He thought well about his offer.
"Four-hundred poly-tokens"

"I won' do it fo' less than foive hundred."

"Do you KNOW how much a poly-token is worth?"

"You know hao' much I'mma be riskin' me life fo' this kitchin knife o' yours?"

There was a long pause. It wouldn't be an easy task, that was for sure. The buyer knew that Frelio was the only kind of person to perform such a task.

"Five-hundred poly-tokens. You have my word, you glowing freak."

Frelio smiled and sunk his hand into a bag of his favorite crisps. "Deal, then. I'll be lettin' ye know when I got it."

The communication channel closed. Frelio stuffed his mouth with the salty bits from the bottom of the bag. About time that he had work to do. The Galaxy had been quiet. REAL quiet. Like, too quiet even for a runaway laborer.

Wiping his hands on a rag, he whirled around in the cockpit seat of The Scattercrow, his personal ship of choice and making. It had a long history in this galaxy, passing from rich businessmen, to space-mobsters, to space-empires, to a lowly junk planet. Frelio, of course, had modified it to his liking. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was fast, agile, packed a punch, and stayed off tracking-devices galore. It was everything he had ever wanted. Punching in the coordinates to the planet of Neozolis and powering up the warp drive, Frelio was once again a man on a mission.

"Stinkin' rich guys. Who wants an atomically thin mono-molecular sword-thing when ya' could jus' buy some neato gun and finish it like that fella whatsisface Jones... Sendin' me of all people into danger jus fo fun..."

Punching a neon green button labled "This is the warp button you overdone fish-n'-chips" (and it was honestly a miracle Frelio could find any button in his control panel as ALL of them lit green), and The Scattercrow lurched into hyperspace and then into the skylines of Neozolis.
Then, flipping a switch labled "Disappearin' act", The Scattercrow cloaked itself as it entered the atmosphere and landed, concealed inside of an old smugglers cave. With his ship hidden, his tools prepared, and Frelio himself finally psychologically prepared for the task at hand, he stepped out of the cave and into a Neozolis winter.

"Alright, then. Now I jus' gotta locate me one o' these blades, and quick!"

Neozolis

The smugglers cave has all sorts of things in it that make it a good place for smugglers to come and lay low as well as a platform for smugglers to do business within Neozolis. Elysium was in sleep mode hidden within a small fort of box’s that surrounded the robot. Detecting movement, the A.I came out of sleep mode and slowly raised to see who it was that had arrived.

He saw the ship, parked and glowing boy coming out and into the outside winter. So the Elysium sorta just floated over towards the ship and gave it a quick scan and saw that he was having trouble, he wasn’t surprised since it was a smugglers ship. Instead of breaking the defenses on the ship, he decided to float over towards the boy in the cold.

The bright green light radiated from the A.I as he floated over towards him “I don’t think you are well dressed for this kind of climate” he says in a rather cheery voice. If Frelio turned around, he would see this rounded cube floating as he greeted himself “My name is 232-Elysium, mobile administration A.I” as he gave a cheery laugh as the robotic stared back at the glowing boy.

There were many thoughts that passed through the mind of Frelio upon seeing Elysium hover on over. Perhaps, but not limited to the following:

"Great, this place is already rigged ta' trap me"
"Oooh! This thing glows green!"
"Rats, perhaps sum' otha smuggler left this here ta' deal with me!"
"Ya' know, this fella otta be a GREAT addition to my collection! 'Cause he's green and all..."
"Jeepers, this cube has a real unnervin' laugh n' all..."
"GREEN, GREEN, THE THING GLOWS GREEN FO' CRYIN' ALOUD FRELIO! TAKE 'IM! HE'S YOURS!"

Frelio took a deep breath of cold air. That seemed to get his brain back "online" as he would put it. Things that had that familiar green glow drew him like a moth to industrial-grade-bat-zappers. Glowing green himself, he had a habit of collecting whatever sort of thing matched his own hue. "Cheers, Pal! I'm who they call Frelio! Ya' know where I could get a coat? And while yer at it, ya mind tellin' me how to get to the nearest city? I'm talkin' BIG city. I gotta collect a parcel for a pal. First time here, ya see."

Nuh-Uh. This thing wasn't going to buy it. Frelio had no tact for words. He could only hope this thing wasn't loaded with guns, or even at the worse some sort of electrical taser. The last thing Frelio needed was a visit to some sort of intergalactic police-force. He had a bad record, you see. Running away from his life of forced labor, stealing and pawning off items from across the galaxy, and forgetting to pay for some donuts at a faraway fuel-station (and he hasn't passed by since!). No, Mr. Frelio would certainly be in for it, should he be caught. Maybe he could turn himself in and pay off the donuts if things went south.

“Hello, Frelio, it’s a pleasure to meet you” Elysium said as he bobbed around in happiness. The A.I was certainly enjoying himself as it was sometime that he hadn’t spoke to anyone else. Though his joyfulness ended as he looked around and then back at Frelio. “Clearly you aren’t gonna get a coat out here, plus, are you suffering with radiation poisoning? Since you are glowing green” he asks as got to Frelio’s height and in front of him. “Sadly I do not know this planet, as I snuck onto a smuggler’s ship sometime ago and I was on sleep mode till just now” it said as it shook itself as if to nod no.

“Though I think I can hack into the planet’s network and see what I can do!” He says joyful once again as it rose up for a minute before coming back down. “Hurah! I have access to the network, it doesn’t give me a map, but what is this parcel you are looking for? I understand this is illegal or you wouldn’t have landed in the smugglers cave” he chuckled at the end. “I promise to keep my processor shut for this as long as you let me tag along?” He says as his looks directly into Frelio’s eye.

“I also like to point out that there are a number of big cities on this planet and if you tell what you are looking for, I can bring us close to where it is and zip us back here in a jiffy” he adds on hoping to have this boy’s trust. “Plus within the big city, we can find you a coat and probably medicine for your condition” he hummed as he began to slowly circle Frelio.

"Well, I have no problem whatsoeva that ye be taggin' along, then!"

EXCELLENT! Frelio was in need of a companion. It had been far too long since anyone had really wanted to talk to him as well.

"Right then. I'm lookin' for a real fancy sorta' knife. Buyer said it was'a Mono-Molecular Blade o' sorts. Never even heard o'vit before in me life. Says it's a real sharp dagga' that can cut through jus'about anything." Frelio rustled through a few old crates before finding an old coat to cover himself up a bit. It would be completely necessary to keep him warm... and to cover a few of his bright green patches.

"An' about me green color, pal! Dun worry'bout it. I've always been like this. It's just me defining trait is all. This is how I do my business, ya see?" Frelio smiled. The green glow was what let him pass as a meaningless servant into all sorts of locations. His race was considered one of the lowest among the civilized worlds, so wherever one of his kind was being used as labor, was where he could slip in... and there were Glow'to being employed practically everywhere.

"In fact, I gots a favor to ask ye. I can't just get in by myself into these top-notch places 'cause I'm basically dirt, but you as a fancy robot can be like, me task-manager o' somethin'! We jus' don't separate and ya' need to pretend to be wif me on behalf o' me boss!"

This would probably be Frelio's easiest task ever. Big cities, lots of money, and now an AI to help him out on his quest. ELYSIUM WAS ALSO GREEN, WHAT ELSE DID HE WANT?? He could probably sway him to stay after this mission ended.
"Alright, I'll follow yer lead. You got the tech that'll take us to where we gotta go, and I got me brains with every trick we gotta know. This'll be like a slice o' cake. Real smooth. N' chocolatey too."

"Stop, you old man!"

---

SIRIUS made his way with speed towards the building. Which building? That one. The one with the satellites. Telescopes. Radar. Search. Seek. Please. Must get there.

His elderly frame was still strong enough to leap over obstacles and around tight corners. Blaster shots rang out now from the officers pursuing him, scattering debris and hitting the walls. Were they so incompetent as to not hit one old man? Didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Except her. She mattered. Must find her. Run faster.

Heavy-Armor Drone 15 had slunk into the alleyway, now blocking the only corridor to what SIRIUS wanted. The round HAD15 gleamed a polished black, and proceeded to open up it's four compartments, revealing it's capacity to launch an array of detonator beads.

Zap. SIRIUS's blaster bolt struck HAD15. All power HAD15 once possessed had vanished, it's hover system failed, and it clunked to the ground. The detonator beads scattered, but not a single one went off. All had become duds.

Run faster. Faster. Curse this old body of mine! His brow furrowed as he dashed across a sunset splattered passage and to a locked back door.

Zap. SIRIUS's blaster connected with the keypad. It too lost all signs of life, and the electronic door was forced open. Typical of an electrical fault.

Enter the building. Zap. The heavy metal door slammed to the ground.

Sirius searched the halls for the room. What room? The room where you can see into space. Deep space. All of it. As much as you need. Here was a room. It promised to scan the sectors of space. For her.

Zap. No identification required. Door open. Frantically enter. Mind racing, body aching.

Please.

Please let this be it.

Please let me find her.

SIRIUS overrode the system. In truth, they were much less capable compared to things he had seen in his lifetime. His withered body trembled in anticipation. Skeletal fingers striking each key. I must know. I need to know.

The power of a deep space search loaded right at his fingertips. It took a while. What will you be searching for? It asked. Her, he replied in his mind. Stroke of keys, beating heart. Anxious. Let me know.

The results appeared bright and clear. Old eyes watered as they scanned the scene. Water became a trickle, a trickle became tears. This was the fifteenth planet, the fifteenth station. Out of fifteen, not one could find her.

The old man sank to his knees and beat his fist against the controls, against the floor, and lastly, against his chest. It was no good. Nothing worked out. Crying in agony. Crying in pain. She was gone. His purpose meaningless, his beard soaked in tears. It took a moment to collect himself, scattered as the drops he sent to the floor. He could finally think straight again.

"She's not here." He whispered to himself. "She's not anywhere in the whole galaxy. I don't know what else I can do. I've done all that I can."

SIRIUS pulled himself to his knees, leaning on the wall for support. His breathing tore through his ragged lungs, letting him know he was still alive. As he steadied himself, he heard the sound of lasers echoing through the hallway. They were tearing the door down.

Zap. The search system he had so dearly wanted minutes before was now useless. He holstered his blaster and walked away.

"Best get going." He mumbled.

---

"THIS IS POLICE! SHOW YOURSELF AT ONCE!" Shouted an officer down the hallway.

No answer.

Officer 40 walked in behind him. He scowled down the hallways of the deepspace research center. This old man was a troublesome one for sure. Managing to take down a drone was one thing (certainly a felony too), but disarming a high-security keypad and also disabling a door with no programming whatsoever? It didn't make sense.

"Check every room". Officer 40 barked to his men. "I want that man apprehended. I want a background check on him, I want to interrogate him, and I most certainly want that blaster."

Officer 40 and his crew scoured the building for even a hair from the old man's beard, but nothing turned up. The only clue to his whereabouts? Trails of dust that had sullied the once polished and pristine floor. The particles crumbled as they were stepped on, giving off a soft crunch as they lead the team towards the main observation room. The door here was wide open, also rendered useless. With a wave of his hand, Officer 40 signaled a swarming of the room. Policemen entered in, but the room was empty, and the most advanced machine in the building was desecrated.

"This too?!" Officer 40 shouted in a rage. He refused to believe it. "Open it up." He commanded one of his men. "See if any of the internal components are salvageable."

Within minutes, Officer 40 was able to get a peek inside the computer once prized for it's search capacities. Everything had been fried. Wires, circuit boards, wireless technologies, advanced computation devices, holo-cards... all had expired.

Frelio slunk quietly around Neozolis as to evade all detection. There were sirens blaring everywhere, police officers left and right. Something was afoot for sure. Taking long routes and quick strides, Frelio was moving along at a decent speed in the backstreets of the city. The light was still bright enough that his characteristic glow didn't attract any attention. He was so focused on getting through the city, his mind wandered to the blade he would soon be picking up and the poly-tokens he would be collecting. Finally, he could pay for some good food-

Crunch! Frelio hopped backwards. Looking down at the ground at the detonator bead he had stepped on.
"Good word! Almos' gave me a heart attack!" He exclaimed, hopping backwards. Shaking off fight-or-flight in regards to the explosive, he examined the bead closer.

"Musta been a dud... Not erryday ya see sumthin' so lucky as that! Heheh!" He chuckled to himself as he checked his surroundings. "... Good heavens wha' happened 'ere?!"

A HAD unit lay dead on the ground, detonator beads scattered everywhere alongside debris from missed laser fire. Frelio tip toed around the many beads and over to a safer stretch of the alleyway. He analyzed the scene, perplexed. "Hmmm, per'aps thas' why they're afta tha fello... 'Ee's got sum serious nerve iffe can take out a fine piece o' work like this!" His scrapping instincts kicking in and in search to make a few extra tokens, Frelio began picking apart the drone, with hopes of finding rare materials that could make him a bit extra...

"Hm? Hmmm?! The circuitry o' this flick is completely fried!"

A bony hand reached out from the shadows and grabbed Frelio, pulling him into hiding. The glint of glasses and the sight of aging hair greeted the green, glowing bounty seeker. It was as if a dark skeleton had pulled him into his grave. The old man held a surprisingly tight grip on Frelio, with strength that did not seem proportional to his appeared age, and though his breathing was heavy, he managed to have snuck up from behind without a sound.

"Shhhh" SIRIUS whispered. "Don't waste your time with that. It's done for and will never work again." There was no time to be fooling around with an armored drone that he, or anyone had taken down. Quick action was required.

"Now I know this is a bit abrupt, but could you do me a favor?" He breathed in heavily as the sound of sirens and alarms would get louder and softer again, combing the area.

Frelio did not appreciate being grabbed in the least, much less by any walking zombie this man appeared to be.

"Blimey!" Frelio thought to himself. "Is... Is this tha man all them police blokes'r after?! Sum corpse ofva man?!" An expression of mild shock and disgust plastered itself onto Frelio's face as the wrinkles on the old man started becoming familiar to him and a generally unpleasing detail. Of course he couldn't help this man! It's not that he wouldn't help, but by GOLLY how could he help this odd soul?!

"Lissen, Pal! I dunno what the police'r after ye for, but I ain't messin' around with tha' likes of you! I gots me a task at hand, aight? I gots five hundred poly-tokens on a fancy dagger that be hidin' in this city, alright? I..."

Hold up. Something tickled the natural sense of money-making inside him.

"Hey, you did this, didn't ye? You sacked this armored drone, eh? You probably have somefin REAL costly on yer person right now, aye?"

SIRIUS grinned, letting go of his hold on Frelio.

"Heh... you're clever. Yeah, I did that. I have the tech right here." He patted a holster strapped to his side, the handle showing beneath tattered rags. "Made it myself. Impressive, hm?"

There were no sirens. It was an unnerving attempt to lull him into security. Dirty trick. Making you think the search was over yet they're still looking for you... Luckily these cops didn't decide to double back-track. He still had some time.

"Five hundred Poly-Tokens, eh? Quite a deal for someone like you. I get it. I used to be the kind of person who worked for whatever scraps they could find. Those days are over now."

Sirius looked Frelio dead in the face. Staring him down, analyzing him, almost peering into his very soul. Money was what he was after, hm? If he wanted to avoid getting stuck in a cell, he'd have to strike up a major deal.

"There's an agency of dark rulers that want me dead or alive, a government group that wants to interrogate me more than anything, several companies that want me wiped off the face of the planet, and alongside my body, they all want this blaster of mine in the best condition anyone can get it to them." SIRIUS patted the holstered blaster carefully. A slight grin grew beneath his unruly beard. "You know, they do want it for free, but the total bounty on my head? Five MILLION Poly-tokens. I'll let you turn me in for the cash too! Just promise me one thing."

SIRIUS leaned in close and with urgency and agitation plaguing his voice, he spoke barely audibly: "Only on the conditions you help me find someone. We have a deal? You help me find this person, you can take me in and exchange me for cold hard cash at whatever organization you want."

Five million?! Issat what I thought I heard? Five with SIX zeros followin' it?! Fer this old man?! Dead o' alive?!

Frelio's mind became entangled in the thoughts of things he could be buying for FIVE MILLION Poly-Tokens right now. For turning over an old man and a shoddy blaster?! It made him reel with excitement. Yes, yes, yes! This could be his big break! Five-Hundred was NOTHING compared to the five million this grandpa was worth!

Still, it was a rough bargain. Help this man not only escape the police here, but find somebody specific in this ugly galaxy? Who knows how long that could take. Still, millions! Millions of poly-tokens!

There were sirens and lights approaching now. The hum of drones was also audible now. They were after him, alright.

"Alright." Frelio smiled. "If yer so serious aboot findin' this person hidin' out there, I can't do a thing aboot it... But what's stoppin' me from turnin ya in to the coppa's right now?"

An excellent catch. He wheezed, grinning underneath a scraggy beard.

"Turn me in now? Not only will you get absolutely nothing, but you will probably get arrested yourself. Don't act like you're also a wanted criminal. I've seen your face plenty of times."

Behind the two, police officers turned the corner. Their brief shock at finally finding the man quickly turned into drawn weapons, shouts, and communication devices blaring orders.

"There he is!" They yelled. "Don't fire unless you KNOW you can disable that man! Do it without killing him and you'll get a bonus, you hear?!"

SIRIUS turned to face Frelio. Adrenaline beginning to circulate through his frame, the old man turned to the glowing bandit.

Blaster bolts fired from down the alleyway and drones began filing out from nooks and crannies in the complex city's infrastructure.

"I wus just aboot to suggest tha same thing! Run for it!" Frelio shouted, grabbing the old man by the rags. "I haves a ship, an I'll lead ya to it, if ye can keep up!" The chase was on. With impressive speed, he ditched the officers as fast as he could.

Tracing back the path he came towards The Scattercrow, Frelio nimbly swept around curves and corners, over trash and stationed multicycles. The police fell behind, but the occasional shot would peeyang and ricochet off of the walls. Losing these losers was easy! Ugh, if only the man he was dragging around with him didn't have two left feet!! Every now and then he'd have to pause, frantically jogging in place as the old man probably tripped over nothing.

"Hurry up, Gramps! We gotta get outta here befo-"

From a corner up ahead, the Heavily Armored drones sped out, almost ramming into an adjacent wall. The dark spheres rocketed towards the pair, compartments opening up.

"Ehh... 'Scuse me. I wus jus' leavin'!"

Detonator beads were flung into the air. Some bounced off the surrounding walls, exploding on impact and creating basketball sized holes. Frelio frantically looked between the drones and his chance at five million Poly-Tokens. Why couldn't his escape be easy?!

Before the old man could even touch the blaster at his side, Frelio had started running the other way, almost dragging the old man by a grimy scarf. Bo-Bo-Bo-Bo-BOOM!! Detonator beads sent debris flying everywhere. A cloud of dust and loud noise ensued, followed by the humming of the drones in hot pursuit. A mark II unit bumped through the others, popping a short range rocket out of it's underside and priming it for launch.

In front of Frelio, police officers entered the city stretch where the pair were running.
"Oh ho! We've got you now! HANDS UP THIS INSTANT!"

"Sorry, mates! Got places ta finish n' things ta go!" Frelio whimpered, grabbing a hunk of garbage and lobbing it at the police officers. Several scrambled out of the way to avoid getting hit, creating a small opening in their formation. "Make way, Bozos!" Frelio shouted at them ducking and weaving.

"Hey! Apprehend him! Don't let him get awaaaaAAAAAAAY?!?!"

Panic! The Mark II fired it's rocket at the duo of escapees and into the crowd of police officers. Knocking some into walls, smacking some in the face with debris, and adding to the overall confusion of the whole scene. As the dust rose, Frelio and SIRIUS had escaped from the midst of the police force. Drones whizzed about, confused as to where the targets went and why police had been struck.

Up ahead, Frelio had taken to a main road. Still dragging the old man with him as fast as he could, there was a secret passage that could lead them back to the Smuggler's cave. The cold air blasted them. He hadn't felt the wind at all in the alleyways since the buildings were so tall. The winter air of Neozolis stung his lungs. Just a bit more!

The streets had been evacuated for the police search, so thank goodness there was nobody around to stop them. Over a small barrier wall, down the stairs, into a dried up canal and...

SMASH!! A daunting figure fell from a bridge above and landed smack-dab in their path. A blocky and formidable canal-patrol robot stood in their way. It's white coat oxidized from constant exposure to water, shoddy flotation devices on it's side, a bit of graffiti and replaced parts made this robot look like it belonged in a biker gang rather than saving people who fell into the canal.

It was over. No use in trying to run around this wall of a brute. Nowhere to run behind them. Frelio and his promised future cash were all about to go six feet under a canal already several feet below the city.

Zap.

SIRIUS, hunched over, one hand on his knee, the other holding his blaster into the air, wheezed as the gargantuan robot collapsed and fell with a thud into the stones of the dry canal. His old lungs couldn't hold in enough air to allow him to even speak, much less have kept up with Frelio. His neck ached from the constant tugging on his scarf and his throat was stinging from the intake of the cold winter air.

"I'm... I'm getting... much... much too old for this..." He wheezed with a harsh rasp. SIRIUS shakily holstered his blaster.

Old! Old didn't even begin to describe it! He was older than the robot that had tried to block their path! Older than the infrastructure of this planet! He would have ranted "back in my day" had it not been for his shortness of breath. The icy winter air, as he inhaled it more and more deeply, only made his innards more agitated.

The coast guard robot was dead, at least. He had but a moment's rest before the sirens began to ring out again.

"You... whatever your name is..."

He looked towards Frelio, knees weak but eyes intense with determination to live.

"Just... get us out of here. I don't care where we go, for crying out loud... we just need to go. Got it?"

He stumbled forward, longing for the sweet release of a seat of any kind. Internally he felt like he would die, but mentally, he knew that wouldn't happen.

The old man had finally managed to pull out his blaster, and the impending doom at the hand of a robot was no longer an issue. Frelio simply stood there with eyes wide and mouth agape at the spectacle. What technology was THAT?! With a single shot he neutralized a robot that was meant to withstand strong currents and water damage of all kinds! The once massive and fully-operational canal-guard robot, which had weathered who knows how many storms and battles, was now a conglomerate of useless metal at the bottom of the canal. It's entire existence was now a waste. Ironically, for a robot that had saved so many, there was no saving him from an old man and his tool.

He gulped nervously at the thought of the old man using that weapon on him! And yet, there the elderly cretin was, hobbling forward without direction.

"Ah, roight then, Gramps. Lemme direct ye towards me craft, see..." He took the old man by the arm to support him as they slunk into a sewer grate without detection. To think that there was a bounty so high on this guy's head, and nobody had caught him until Frelio? The heck was this guy made of? Frelio didn't say a word throughout the whole journey in the sewers. Arriving at the smuggler's cave, he found The Scattercrow was still there, peacefully awaiting him. A news broadcast on an old view-monitor inside the cave relayed news real time.


"Alroit, Gramps." Frelio grumbled. "Thas' our que ta get outta here. Hop on, an' if ye can't hop... walk."

Frelio waited for SIRIUS to board, and once he was secure onboard The Scattercrow, Frelio toggled the cloaking device, bringing the thrusters up to speed, and securely leaving both the smuggler's cave and the atmosphere of Neozolis. Looking behind him, he had barely avoided the growing number of industrial barriercraft positioning themselves throughout the atmosphere of Neozolis, effectively putting the planet on lockdown. Nobody would be getting in or getting out for a while.

"An ta' think that I forgot to get that bloke his dagga... No good tryin' now, I guess."

Silently as it could, The Scattercrow launched into hyperspace and disappeared.

It was a smaller ship, big enough for the smuggler himself and maybe a few companions. Finding an unoccupied room after stumbling through whatever living quarters Frelio had on board, SIRIUS found a bed lodged in the corner of junk this strange being had collected. Without even a formal sentence explaining as to where he was going, SIRIUS went to bed.

The bed itself wasn't even very soft, he was just grateful for a place to rest his bones. He ached from head to toe, inside and out. There were no words, yet the escape the two had just undergone was incredible. He would have to formally thank the stranger once he was fully rested. He was in no condition to do anything now but crash and burn.

The sound and feel of a ship entering hyperspace was all he needed to know he was going to rest securely. No more police chases for a while. No more running. All he needed now was to continue his search.

He kicked off his boots onto the floor to not get the sheets covered in dust, though he had already done just that with the rest of his rags. He didn't even bother pulling any sheets or blankets over his body. Slowly, he tried to forget about his aches and just rest. To sleep... to dream.

And halfway between being awake and deep sleep, the last strands of mental activity were awaiting his reunion with her.

"Wherever you are." He thought. "I'll find you. I'll fix everything. Things will go back to the way they should be."

The Scattercrow now far, far away from anything he ever knew, SIRIUS fell asleep peacefully for the first time in a long time.

No nightmares. No hiding.

Finally, a good rest for a man on the run.