Mechanical Minds

Seeing Eye to Eye

 Takeoff had gone smoothly, with Meta taking his place as the navigator and Susie being relegated to her room. It had to have been at least several hours since their chat in the infirmary, and Susie was still cringing from how badly she'd managed to mess up such a perfect opportunity to grow closer to him. The poor guy had stalked off with a wad of tissue wedged beneath his helm to catch the stream of tears from his now raw and red eye after he'd led her to her room.

"Well done, Susie. You finally get him to hate you less, and then you give him a corneal abrasion," she groaned, folding her arms and resting her head atop them. The cool desk soothed her burning cheeks somewhat, and the rumbling of the Halberd's engines lulled her into a near sleep. The quiet series of knocks at the door went unnoticed.

"Susie?" She sat up quickly, jolted out of her stupor. She turned to see Meta peeking in, leaning through the half-open door. He was standing beyond the edge of the light cast by the lamp on Susie's desk, eyes glowing softly in the gloom.

"Oh, hey," she said, straightening her posture. Meta stepped fully into the room, allowing the door to softly shut behind him. He stood there for a few moments before speaking.

"How are your injuries treating you?" he asked.

"I'm sore, but I'll live," she responded, tugging at her collar subconsciously. Hints of deep purple bruising poked out above it. "How are yours? Is your eye alright?"

"I have endured far worse. Though I must express that I find your recent concern for my wellbeing rather strange," Meta said, tilting his head. Susie stiffened, her ears taking on a rosy hue.

"Look, I really don't have any reason to hate you. I mean, I enslaved you and had every intention of annihilating your entire planet and instead of murdering me on sight you allowed me to stay at your...base? House?"

"I suppose base is an apt description."

"Right. You let me stay at your base. This may sound odd coming from me of all people but, you've got a good heart. You're a lot like Pinky in that respect," she finished.

"I am merely better at concealing the more disagreeable aspects of myself. Where Kirby acts from pure altruism, I simply follow a self-imposed moral code. There are still truly reprehensible things that lurk in my mind," Meta said, looking away as a hint of green flashed deep within his eyes.

"Listen, what I'm trying to say is that I think you're an alright guy and I care that you were injured, ok? No need for philosophy," Susie said, holding up her hands. Meta mulled this over, tilting his head again. It was an endearing little gesture that served to further redden Susie's ears.

"You are correct, excuse that bit of melodrama. And while complete forgiveness for the mechanization incident is still a ways off, I confess that I find you to be adequate company as well. You handled my possession brilliantly, and I find no fault with the first aid you administered," he said, turning his head back to Susie. Her face felt like it was on fire now.

"Um, thanks," she said lamely.

"Due to this, I have decided to allow you free reign of the base. I see no reason to continue treating you like a prisoner," Meta continued, looking expectantly at Susie. She looked at him with wide eyes before smiling.

"Thank you, Meta Knight," she chirped, her usual confident air returning to her.

"Also, if you are tired of wearing the same clothing you may speak with Sailor Dee. She creates and maintains most of our uniforms," Meta added, bowing slightly to acknowledge her gratitude.

"Ah, excellent! No more washing clothes every day!" she said. Meta nodded, eyes glowing slightly brighter. Susie guessed that he was smiling beneath his helmet.

"Your skillset could prove immensely valuable. I hope that you continue to prove trustworthy,"

"About that, have you considered scaling down the Haltmann cannon replicas? I looked over the blue prints on the holo-screens and it seems like we may not need Pitchnium to focus down the beam if the cannon itself is smaller," Susie said, eyes bright and focused as she pulled up the diagram with her notes on the single holo-screen she was allowed to keep. She handed it to Meta who gently took it and began rapidly reading through the measurements and notes. Susie watched silently, tracing the sweeping movements of his eyes. He seemed to take on a more natural posture when totally focused on something, leaving Susie to wonder if his stiff and proper way of holding himself was forced.

"The measurements corroborate your theory. However, there is no certainty that it will behave exactly as the measurements predict," he muttered, holding a finger to the portion of his helm that covered his chin.

"Guess we have to test it," Susie said, shrugging. Meta sighed.

"Should the substitute material fail, the device will explode and spray plasma into the immediate area. It will be a rather high risk experiment."

"I mean, we can use a testing chamber," Susie offered.

"Oh, our testing range is more than adequate. The damage will simply be expensive and time-consuming to repair. Though I am inclined to believe that the potential payoff outweighs the risk," Meta explained.

"If possible, I would love to see this testing range," Susie said, clapping her hands together in anticipation.

"You may once we land. In the meantime, I have a request for you."

"Hm? What is it?"

"I have one final holo-screen that requires decryption. There is no way to begin work on the revised cannon whilst aboard the Halberd after all, and I am curious as to its contents." Meta slipped a hand into his cape and retrieved the item from the void within.

"Sure, I've got nothing else to do for now anyway," she said, taking the screen and setting it carefully on her desk. Meta nodded, shifting his cape back behind him.

"Thank you for your assistance. I must return to the control room now; there will be an announcement as soon as disembarkment is possible."

"Alright, I should have this done by then," Susie mumbled, already engrossed in her task. Meta nodded again, and was out the door with a swish of his cape. Susie hummed to herself as she continued her work, tapping rapid code into the device. Finally a familiar logo popped up along with a loading bar. She took the brief moment while the files loaded to daydream about working alongside Meta. While the technology and tools available would be nowhere near what the Access Ark had offered, she was certain that she could overcome that setback with wit. And she had the added bonus of working alongside another sentient and highly intelligent being as opposed to the robots she'd utilized at Haltmann Works. Maybe Susie would have a chance to impress him again? Perhaps she could even save him from some horrifying workshop accident and have him fall into her arms, looking up at her with grateful eyes as he swooned over her razor wit and amazing reflexes...

Susie blinked as she realized she'd been staring at the fully loaded screen for the past several minutes and tapped it, embarrassed at her own thoughts. She froze as the title of the file collection popped up, color draining from her cheeks. It was right there, plain as day, written in the blocky utilitarian font of the Haltmann Works Company.

"Memories of Susanna."