Royals & Wretches

Chicks Dig Giant Robots

I leaned against the wall space next to the entrance as it closed silently. "I hear there's an entire team working on your mech. The VIP designer and engineer is apparently a genius."

"Cassius is in a class of his own that's for sure. He's got Markoff pulling out his hair at the roots," He chuckled. "He's a little eccentric... Amiri has mentioned unwanted tinkering to his mech."

"That's one way to piss off a mech pilot."

Mika turned to face me but examined the command chair as he spoke, "With Cass it's always an improvement. Infuriatingly so. It's only a matter of time before he gets his hands on Nox here."

"Over my dead body." I bristled. He finally slid his gaze over to me, blinking blue, red, green and yellow cast back in his eyes. He crossed his arms and was leaning back against the edge of the console. A sly smile played on his cherry lips.

"I hope I'm there to see you eat your words. Now, are we going up?" He tried and failed to hide the excitement in his voice. Mika watched as I took my time coming over to the command chair and sat down. I habitually attached the electrodes to my temples and the metal spine attached to my vertebrae before settling in.

Mika was still leaning against the console trying to appear nonchalant. The switches I needed were right behind him. There was a sizable passenger seat near the door leading to the living quarters, which he made no move to go for. I reached out and hooked one of my fingers into the pocket of his lilac and silver embroidered jacket. He didn't resist at all as I drew him towards me and pulled him into my lap. His arms easily wound around my neck, both of his long legs draped languidly over the armrests, blocking more switches and buttons, albeit less important controls. I smiled down at him.

"Comfortable? Your Highness?" He was arranged on top of me in the same position he'd been seated on the throne all those years ago.

"Very." He responded by mischievously squirming on my lap, stimulating his 'seat'. I did my best to ignore him and get the mech up and running but he did not make it easy. As I flipped switches, pressed buttons and turned dials, he did his damned to distract me. He pulled at the collar of my shirt so that he could run his fingertips ticklishly along my neck and jaw. He rested his head lightly on my left shoulder as the mech hummed to life around us.

Mikaela

The Mechatronic Research and Development Center, otherwise known as 'Murdock' was located in deep space. Very few individuals knew its location and it constantly moved in a random orbit, making it extremely hard to track. The enormous facility looked not unlike a city, a large transparent, multi-layered bubble enveloped the entire structure, providing a livable atmosphere and keeping out space debris. It was easily the size of three moons, oval in shape and completely man-made, Murdock was a culmination of the empire's knowledge and development. It was also extremely confidential, not many were able to even know of its existence, staff had to adhere to an extremely strict NDA and were ferried to the city everyday on windowless shuttles.

Kyros docked Nox in one of the many bunkers available below a large set of buildings known as the 'Royal Workshop' where my mech was currently being built. Despite such a grand name, there was hardly any staff to speak of, not even an attendant came to see if Kyros needed anything done for Nox. It wasn't unusual in the slightest. Only those with the highest level of clearance were even allowed in the building. A sparse number of guards diligently stood before doors they would probably never enter.

I already knew my way around, I grabbed Kyros' arm and pulled him along as I snaked through the dizzying architecture. The maze-like design was intended to confuse intruders should anyone try to make an attempt to steal research.