Imperium

Chapter 6: Just Ask

"...I might be able to help, if you want."

Colin would have jumped at the sudden voice disrupting the silence, but he's far too exhausted and out of it to provide more of a reaction than just lifting his head and looking over towards the voice to see Edith standing a good distance away with her head low and her whole body tense and small. She's struggling to keep her eyes on him, repeatedly turning her gaze to the ground and fidgeting anxiously.

Slung over her shoulder is a black bag that looks to be filled with something he can't see from here, but the bag looks like she must have found it somewhere in the warehouse.

Colin also realizes how difficult it is to keep eye contact with her, but he's strangely grateful for his exhaustion making it a little easier. "Help? How? You don't know how to fix an old SRL," he says, his voice slightly wavering as he tries to find the right tone to fit both how he's feeling and the atmosphere between them.

He doesn't feel mad anymore, but he wouldn't say he's exactly happy with her either. But the timid look on her face right now makes it easier for him to lighten up a bit.

Edith lightly clears her throat. "No, but... Regan does. And... I'm linked with your mind, remember? So... I can see your memories of the times when he fixed you..." she says in a small voice, still having a hard time looking him in the eyes.

Colin raises a brow and examines her. "Can you focus the memories to that extent?" he asks.

She nods shyly. "I can... I've been trying to teach myself how... And," she brings the bag out in front of her and holds it up, "I founds some spare parts and tools, so... If you want..." she lowers the bag to her side and briefly glances at him out of the corner of her eye.

Colin looks away from the bag and to her again. She's shaking but trying to hide it, same with her teary eyes. He can tell by her demeanor that this is about more than just his injuries, but that much is obvious.

Seeing her like this, Colin's resistance dwindles and his eyes soften. He wants things to go back to normal, so to do that he can't be stubborn about refusing her help. Then he would be nothing more than a bitter hypocrite, which isn't who he is.

He slowly nods with a sigh, motioning her over. "Okay... If you're sure you know what you're doing," he says and repositions himself to sit with his legs crossed and his back facing a crate against the wall.

Edith anxiously makes her way over and sits down on the crate, setting the bag on the ground beside it. She says nothing as she expectantly waits in the looming anxiety between them.

He quizzically glances back at her and sees her patient gaze, then realizing what she's waiting for and he clears his throat as he turns forward again. He sighs and starts unbuttoning his shirt. He pulls it off and sets it aside, trying to sit motionless in the uncomfortable silence.

Edith reaches into the bag and pulls out a pocketknife. She returns her focus to his back, seeing the deep gashes with flickering blue and green lights from the damaged circuits. Colin's body seems a bit different from CLive's when he was still an older model. This is Alain's body, so she supposes he was just built physically different since his mind was created for the sole purpose of living as a machine, not a person with a soul as the other SRL out of Unity were. Alain was never allowed to have a life of his own.

She shakes the thought aside to focus on the wounds. Whatever the case, at least it seems that blood isn't as much of an issue as it would be with a normal SRL. There is still a bit of blood, but not enough to be a cause for concern. She momentarily wonders where the blood even comes from seeing as he doesn't have any arteries or veins or a biological heart.