Circuit and Patches led Sights into Sala's office.
Sights gave a silent shudder at the decrease in temperature, "This is Sala Te's office all right." He tried to joke.
Sala Te worked at one of the monitors. She turned in her seat, spying the group, "Ah, the defective batch. It's good to see you all..." She laid eyes on Sights' visorless face and placed a hand over her mouth. She promptly arose from her desk and moved over to Surge Squadron, getting on her knees.
Although Kaminoans rarely showed emotion, it was clear that Sala had concern in her eyes, "Null? Where is your visor?"
"Here, Madam Sala Te..." Patches mumbled, looking down as he gently pulled the snapped visor into view.
Sala reached out and took the visor from Patches, "What happened to it? How did it break?" She asked.
Patches looked at his brothers and their faces of stone-like fear, then back at Sala. "It was an accident... We don't know how it broke."
Sala studied their faces with an unbelieving expression. She could sense that something was off, but she remained quiet. "I see..."
"AZ-83 made my visor, so he can fix it... Can't he?" Sights asked her, "Can he get to work on making a replacement now?"
"Yeah, Sala Te. Can he? We want Sights back." Patches reinforced, putting his arm around Sights.
Sala smiled a little, then fell back into her neutral expression, "He cannot make anything today. He has a full shift of child deliveries until o'nineteen hours."
Sights frowned, "Oh... I get it... That's okay. I can either stay here or go back to our barracks while I wait for a new visor."
Sala stood, "AZI-83 did, however, make something yesterday... It's another gift for you... Sights..."
"Another gift?" Sights smiled.
Sala Te walked over to a shelf where an object wrapped in cloth sat. "Indeed." She carefully removed the item and brought it over to the curious bunch of cadets.
"What is it, Madam Sala Te? What is it?" Adrenaline asked excitedly, trying to push his way to the front to get a good view.
Sala Te looked at the object, running her thumb over the protective covering. "The official visor."
Circuit gasped, "Wait- Official visor? Then what was...?"
Sala Te cut him off, "That visor was merely a prototype just to last Sights a short period of time, so he can assimilate into your ranks... However, it seems like the visor we have now was completed at the perfect time."
"I'm getting a new visor!" Sights exclaimed happily, "Oh, thank you Madam Sala Te! Tell AZ-83 he's the best droid ever!"
Sala laughed, "Of course. I'll tell him." She pushed the visor onto Sights' face and synced it to the chip implanted the day prior.
Sights gave a happy cheer when he saw again. He hugged Sala tightly.
Surge Squadron looked stunned as they saw Sights embrace the Kaminoan scientist.
"Is that permitted...?" Vis whispered, "To hug a Kaminoan superior...?"
Sala chuckled, "I do not mind, CT-2367. Helping Sights opened my eyes to see that my profession shouldn't be strictly based on clone creation and management, but also on being there for you all as well. Many Kaminoans, I included, tend to forget that you are still people despite being replications of DNA. You nine are special, and I have taken you all under my wing."
Circuit smiled, "That is really cool, Madam Sala Te. Thank you for everything."
Sala gave a gentle nod, "Of course. In time, I hope to know each of you personally. Until then, do your best in your training. Work hard and you will be the troopers I know you are capable of becoming."
Sights ran over to his brothers, hugging them.
This moment, combined with Sights' happiness, touched each of the cadets on a personal level.
Vision then frowned, "I regret having to ruin this tender time, but what will happen if..." He stopped himself for a moment, trying to reword. "...if another accident occurs?"
"This visor is more durable. It has been made from a mix of steels and small amounts of chromium. That will keep 'accidents' from happening again." Sala hummed.
Vision smiled, "Therefore, he's pretty much guaranteed to have that visor for a long time. Chromium is a very sustainable metal."
Sala nodded, "Indeed. Well- you should be off to breakfast. Make haste, all of you."
Adrenaline gasped and tried to bolt out, but Zs caught him by the back of his collar, "Oh, no you don't."
Sights laughed softly, "I am hungry! Let's go eat!"
"You're the boss, Sights!" Circuit smiled, "Let's head out, brothers! Breakfast time... Attempt two..."
The brothers shared a chuckle before thanking Sala as a group and leaving.
As the door closed, Sala realized that she had forgotten to tell Circuit that she needed to see him in his free hour to conduct that experiment. 'Oh well...' She thought, 'I will tell Lafa to escort Circuit back to my lab for testing after the lunchhour.'
Meanwhile, Talon and his squad were eating in the cafeteria.
Talon conversed with his squad as if the incident that happened minutes prior had never occurred. He looked at Owl Eyes, who poked at his food with his fork, "Hey, Owly? What's wrong, brother? You haven't touched your biscuit and grain meal... You love when we have this for breakfast."
Owl released his fork after a harder jab, letting it clatter onto the tabletop, "I'm not hungry... I lost my appetite."
"Lost your appetite?" One of his other squadmates repeated, "Owly- breakfast is one of the most important meals in the day- not only are you skipping it, but you are also skipping out on your favorite foods. Something's up. Why have you lost your appetite?"
Owl closed his eyes and slouched in his seat, "I'm thinking, Geo... I'm thinking about what happened with the defectives..."
Talon's gentle expression hardened, "Forget them! They had it coming, Owly. They are the enemy, remember?"
Owl opened his eyes again and pulled himself up, straightening his posture, "Look- what happened back there weighs heavy on my conscience... What you did hurt that cadet, Sights, more than any word or physical harm could do... I- I think you went too far."
Talon looked shocked that his close brother was speaking out against him. He took a sip of water and half-slammed the cup on the table, "Subtle forgot his place yesterday... An eye for an eye, Owly... It's all for leveling the playing field and giving us a chance. We need this."
"But at what cost?!" Owl Eyes replied, "You're willing to inflict pain on a fellow squad... And for what?! Just so we are more noticeable? That is twisted, Talon and you know it is!" He returned, standing up and placing his hands on the table.
Talon's brothers fell silent, watching the tense exchange between Talon and Owl Eyes.
Talon's eye twitched, "All I am doing is for us, Owly... US. If you want to be ungrateful for my efforts, then so be it!"
Owl Eyes glared, "There are other ways of helping us succeed out here than tearing the defectives down. Maybe if you studied more instead of 'obsessing' over the defectives, who you so desperately want to top, we would actually make our mark in this program by scoring well!"
Talon slammed his fist down, "What are you saying, Owl Eyes?!"
"I'm saying, we all saw that grade you got yesterday and that's why you chewed Patches out." Owl replied, "You know what? I want some time to clear my head before class starts. I'm going to walk around by myself!" He told Talon, leaving his seat and storming out of the mess hall, leaving his tray of untouched food behind,
"Owly! Get back here!" Talon called after him.
"He's not gonna listen." Geo replied, sliding Owl's tray of food into his spot and moving his already finished one out of the way, "You apparently hit a nerve with him. He's gonna be all distant until he decides to listen to ya." He began to eat Owl Eyes' food.
Talon sat in silence, beginning to pick at the remains of his food as Owl had recently done. He zoned out on the tray, losing his appetite and focus after his brother had said all that he did.