Day 9

Continued from yesterday. It wasn't exactly going anywhere fast, but I thought I might see where it takes me. That, and I'm too tired to think of anything new. ^_^

***

Mertel might have had fancies of "doing what he loved" and "getting off this rock," but look what that had got him. Nothing but disappointment.

Nia shifted the pack on her shoulder and turned to leave. She found herself face to face with metal rimmed eyes, and she yelped in surprise. The eyes turned towards her and she realized they were lenses. A questioning series of beeps made her smile in relief.

"Hello, little one. Who do you belong to?"

It was a spherical droid, hovering off the ground at eye level. His metal casing gleamed brightly, but his eyes were strangely dark. It moved hesitantly through the air, nearly running into her head before backing off.

"Oh, you poor thing! Is is your optical sensors? They don't look like they're working properly."

He beeped in affirmative.

"Do you mind?" She reached out a hand and was rewarded with friendly chatter. "Here, let me take a look."

Carefully Nia grabbed hold of him and looked for the access panel. "Hold on," she said, reaching for her pack as she sat down on the ground, legs crossed comfortably. Out of the pack she took a cloth roll, which she opened to reveal her tools. She let her hand hover over them for a moment before picking a screwdriver of the right size.

"There we go. Now, for the access panel—" Once it was unscrewed, she gently lifted the curved metal panel and peered inside. "There you are; it's just a loose connection. I can connect it easily enough, but you'll have to power down, I'm afraid. It wouldn't be very safe, otherwise."

The droid, which had stayed quiet throughout the process, chirped and then turned itself off. Nia reconnected the wire, and was replacing the panel when her concentration was interrupted.

"Just what do you think you're doing with my droid?"

Nia looked up into the face of a middle aged man, whose current expression, complete with red-faced indignation, could only be described as irate.

"I'm—I'm so sorry, sir! Here!" She thrust the droid into his hands and stood, ready to flee. "I didn't do nothing to it, sir." Maybe if he thought her slow, maybe he'd let her go.

He glanced suspiciously at her for a moment before inspecting the droid. He pressed the hidden power button, and it hummed to life, beeping cheerfully. The man's eyebrows rose, and he turned his gaze back to Nia. He was looking at her much more closely now, and his calculating gaze was making her nervous.

"You fixed it."

"I dunno what you're talking 'bout, sir. I didn't do nothing." Nia scuffed her foot in the dirt and looked at the ground, twisting her hands in her skirts.

"That won't fool me, girl. How much do you charge normally? I won't pay more because you're pretending to be slow."

"Pay?" The word was out of her mouth before she could stop it, and Nia cursed herself. If the man wanted to pay her, let him. He didn't have to know she would have fixed the droid for free.

***

[Edit: Continued here.]