"Hmm. You're saying I saved this cat. Not just him, but you too? And you came from 50 years in the future?"
"I can prove it." Rebecca showed him a recent photo of her, Happy, and a much older Weisz. "See."
"What the hell?! My hair's thinning like crazy!"
"Why are you saying that like it's my fault?"
Weisz rests his chin on the back of his hand. "With a story like that, well, forgive me if I don't take your word for it. At the very least, what I will believe is that you're not working with Sibir."
"We could really use your help in getting back to our original timeline, Professor." Happy said to him.
"We've already gone over this, I'm not a professor!" He strictly said as he crossed his arms.
"When will you become one?" "Hurry up and get older." Happy and Rebecca begged with their hands clasped together.
"Hell no!"
"Oh yeah, Sibir said you stole money from him or something." Shiki asked him.
"Is it inside that?" I nod to the case on the counter.
The blonde man quickly switches to defensive mode. "That's none of your business."
"Excuse me, if I recall correctly, Sibir just tried to kill us over that thing! So it's as much our business as it is yours!" I glare at him.
"But stealing is bad." Shiki said with a sly tone. "Though in Granbell, where I'm originally from, we actually have a class called Thief. They steal people's belongings so..." He kept going but was overshadowed by Rebecca's question. "So, who are those guys exactly?"
Weisz looked away as he answered, "Not your problem. Don't stick your noses into stuff anymore. That goes double if you really did come from the future." He warned and stood up. "You'll go and mess up the timeline. Just go back to the future."
"Yeah, that's the plan." I groan.
"But how are we supposed to do that?" Rebecca looks up at him.
"How should I know?" He smirked at our inconvenience. I rolled my eyes. 'Gosh this guy is useless.'
He went to pick up his case but it was gone. "The case! Where's the case?!" He panicked looking over the counter and around the room.
Shiki laughed from his upside down position on the ceiling, looking at Weisz mischievously as he held the case close to his chest. "That's right, I changed my job and became a thief."
"Not really how it works, Shiki." I chuckled at him.
"Bastard." Weisz grimaced at him.
"So, what's inside this thing? Ah-" He screamed and fell to the ground. It looked like his Ether Gear was cut off.
"What? I lost my powers for a moment." He sat up and rubbed his head.
The case slid out of his hand and began to open on its own. Steam released and we all looked in curiosity, waiting to see what's inside.
A tiny android appeared before us, "Awe," I smiled and moved closer to the cute bot. "I would kindly ask that you treat me far more delicately, Master." The android said. I noticed that this bot looked like she had no life, she looked empty inside.
"What the hell is that?" Weisz stared in shock.
The android looked side to side, "I am unable to locate Master in my sights."
"First a giant robot, now a tiny one." Shiki sweatdropped.
"To be more precise, I am an anti-mech android. I am called E.M. Pino." She introduced herself and bowed. "Please address me as Pino."
"Of, course, Pino." I bent down to her height and smiled at her. 'I can't believe an android with a model like hers was made 50 years into the past'
Weisz looked confused, "So, it wasn't money?"
"You mean you stole from Sibir and you didn't even know what you took?" I squint my eyes, looking over at him. He didn't answer and just shared the same look of shock Rebecca, Shiki, and Happy had. "Idiot," I shook my head at him.
Suddenly, the electricity went out and the lights shut off in the bar. "Apologies. It is a side-effect of my EMP."
Shiki tried to comprehend, "That's electro...?"
"Magnetic pulse." Rebecca finished. "It causes electronic devices to shut down temporarily. Now I get it. That's why Shiki's Ether Gear was disabled." She froze in realization, "Wait, it disables...No! Happy!" She panicked, looking at his still figure.
The electricity crackled back on. "Please, do not worry yourselves. The effects of my power only lasts for a few seconds."
Happy beamed up and waved around, alarmed. "What just happened? I don't remember! Did I blackout?! Did I suddenly stop working?!"
"Thank goodness." Rebecca exhaled in relief.
Weisz's eyes almost popped out of his head, "The cat's a robot!"
"Pino, you have an amazing power. What do you say to the idea of becoming friends?"
"Shiki, you really need to stop with that." Rebecca tiredly said.
Pino looked down, "Become a friend? Searching definition of the term." She paused and closed her eyes in thought. The conditions do not appear to be completely satisfied. But I accept."
"Aw, can we be friends too, Pino?" I happily asked.
"Not you too, (Y/N)."
"I accept your request as well."
"Hooray!" Shiki and I cheered. "You can still be...my side-friend." Shiki whispered to Weisz. "Who said anything about us being friends?!"
"Moving on," Weisz bent down beside me, "what's the deal with this thing, anyway? I was positive this case was filled with money."
"Well, I guess this makes more sense. Sibir seems to be into all that tech stuff." I pointed out.
"Hang on. You were planning on stealing money from those guys?" Rebecca asked from behind us.
"You got a problem with that?"
Weisz picked up Pino by her head. "Hey, what are you doing?" I asked him. "I wonder. Is this thing worth a whole lot on the market or something?"
"Pino's not a thing. Put her down." I ordered him. He gently placed her back down and she spoke, "I am a personal belonging that was especially designed and built by my master. Therefore, I do not possess an inherent market price. I was taken out of sleep mode because I had detected the sound of my master's voice."
"Master? You talking about that punk Sibir?" Weisz frowned.
"Cross-referencing." She paused and her eyes staticed. I heard a beeping and whirring noise come from her and then, her body started to shake. "Retrieving file. Restoring damaged memory. Update: Sibir is new master. Adhering to master's wishes, required. Master Sibir's order, absolute." Her voice was laced with fear
"What's happening? Is she malfunctioning or something?" I look at her with worried eyes.
Pino held her head and cried, "Master Sibir is too terrifying to defy. Master Sibir's orders are absolute. Radioing itinerary." Before anyone could do anything, she took off.
"Hey!" Shiki called out to her. "Pino!" I yelled her name.
Weisz stood up holding his chin and placed a hand on his hip. "I have this sneaking suspicion. Is it possible Sibir was planning on using that EMP to make a whole lot of cash?"
"How would he do that?" Rebecca asked.
"Probably by hacking and stealing from a bank." I shrugged. Rebecca knotted her brows at me, "Or...so I would assume." I nervously said.
Weisz smiled at the idea, "I'd be happy to put it to the test! Looks like luck is on my side!" He took off after the little bot.
I grimaced at the man, "Was your Professor Weisz that pathetic, Happy?"
"Nope!"
"Sorry to eavesdrop," the previous waitress walked up to us, "but I can't help but overhear you talking about Sibir. I'd suggest you sleep with one eye open. Those bandits aren't just some rowdy kids playing cops and robbers. You won't be leaving this town alive if they end up catching up to you."
"Professor–I mean, Weisz is a regular here, isn't he? Do you know anything about him?" The waitress leaned back on the counter, "Only that the sorry bum used to work pretty closely with Sibir. But he crawled his way out recently. Couldn't tell you any more than that, though."
"What do you know? The Professor used to be a bandit when he was younger."
"I always thought there was something different about him." Rebecca said with her hands on her hips.
🤎
After talking to the waitress, we took our troubles outside. The chaos from earlier had died down, the streets were pretty calm. We walked aimlessly through town discussing what to do next.
"So, what do we do now?" Shiki asked, walking beside me.
"Head back to the Aqua Wing is my suggestion. Then...we take off and figure things out from there. It's no good if we stay here, anyway."
"I have to check the status of the Aqua Wing first. Then, we'll head to Blue Garden and report our findings." Rebecca said.
The last thing I need is to be a part of some report. This is a huge discovery and will cause attention. I'll have to leave them when we get off this planet.
"You're really okay with leaving the Professor and Pino behind?"
"Of course not." I looked down as I thought about Pino's scared face.
Rebecca looked back at us as, "We've been over this. We're in the past. We can't get involved any more than we already have."
"Oh man, but I was able to make a new friend. Just not with the Professor."
I turned to Shiki with a look of sympathy, but froze when I saw a familiar briefcase in his hand. "Wait, is that his briefcase?" He shrugged and answered, "Yeah, I took it. Not just that. This." He held up a B-cube. "It was also in the case."
"You can't just take that!" Rebecca chastised him. Shiki confidently held up the case and B-cube, "I told you, I changed my job to thief."
I squint at the device in his hand, "Let me see that, Shiki." I messed around with the thing until a screen popped up. It was Sibir and that bird he's so attached to.
"Do a dance for me." "Payo, Payo."
"That's Sibir." I pointed out, "This video is from a week ago."
"I told you to dance, you piece of junk. I'm the one who took you off the streets."
Then, it showed Pino. She was on her knees, looking so sad as she stared down. "I do not possess the proper functions to accomplish such a request. I'm merely an anti-mech android."
Sibir roughly picked her up, "Don't give me that. I want to watch a metal doll dance!" My blood was starting to boil. How could someone treat another so cruelly?
"No, please, put me down." "I guess if you can't dance, you don't need this leg, huh?" He punished her by pulling her leg off. "Do not pull it, please, do not do this."
I flinched when it came off. Her cries for it to stop broke my heart.
Pino whimpered, "Left leg has been damaged." "Aw, that's too bad!" Sibir and his goons laughed at her.
Pino wiped her tears, "Restoring system alterations to normal."
"Who's your master? Answer me."
"My master...My master is–"
"Me! That's who!" He screamed in her face. "Now delete all your memories of your previous master."
"I cannot bring myself to do that. Those memories are precious to me. Forgive my disobedience." She pleaded.
"I'm not gonna say this again." He leaned closer, trying to intimidate her. "Go into your memory banks and delete your memories."
"I can not."
"You. Grab her and delete them."
"Yes, sir." his subordinate said. The man held a look of amusement when he lifted her up.
"No, stop, do not delete them! Someone, anybody, help me!"
"That's awful." Rebecca gasped. Pino's cries were ignored, instead she was laughed at as her memories were deleted with her control.
"They're all gone. Memories of my master. As well as my left leg." She looked down where her leg used to be. New tears were coming out of her, "All I want...is to...return to my previous master..."
"I'll make sure you find him!" Shiki said. I shut off the video and wiped away my tears. "Same here."
"Shiki! (Y/N)!"
"Don't try to stop me. Nothing else matters to me right now. Not when my friend is crying." Shiki said.
The discarded case began to open and Rebecca bent down to it. "I'm not going to stop you. I can't forgive him either. Besides, look at this. The case has a record of the last maintenance check this model received." She clicked a button and the timestamp for it popped up.
I moved to where she was crouched, "X492..." I read.
Happy understood, "That's our timeline...But...That would mean Pino's an android from this timeline's future...?"
"I knew it had to be wrong, her model was too recent. I've stolen plenty of parts like hers before so 50 years couldn't have been..." (Y/N) paused, noticing the look of confusion on Rebecca's face. "...I mean like...I've taken parts like that from scrap shops..." she attempted to cover up.
Rebecca slowly nodded at her, "She came here to this timeline just like us. And if Sibir is planning on using her for some devious purpose, we can't stay on the sidelines anymore."
"And that would mean, Sibir is already messing up the past." Happy frowned.
"We have to put a stop to him." Rebecca stood up.
"We will." I stood up as well.
"We'll stop Sibir and save Pino." Shiki declared.