Val leaned back into the couch. Scott didn't like the idea of having something he couldn't sell, but Jaden had bought a couch so they could sit somewhere that wasn't hard, uncomfortable, and covered in dust. And Jaden had threatened Scott with his life if he tried to sell it.
Val, Krell, and Krone were all sitting on the couch, placing bets on how long the water would take to boil for Scott's coffee. There was nothing better to do while Scott and Flare hovered over them, trying to fix them up.
Jaden was watching with amusement, chilling on a stool he had recently purchased for himself. He had grown sick of sitting on spiderwebs and dust bunnies.
"Thirty more seconds," Krone guessed, staring intently at the coffee machine sitting on the counter.
"A minute and a half," Krell guessed.
"Forty six seconds," Val stated. Forty six seconds later, the blue light flicked on, and Krell and Krone moaned.
"How are you doing that?" Krell complained, "Can you see the water or something? It's so unfair!"
Scott, who had been working on Krell's leg, popped up, "There's a timer on the side that says," he flicked his hand towards the coffee machine, "Val's the only one who can see it from her position."
"CHEATER!" Krell gasped, and Val smirked smugly.
"I knew it," Krone declared triumphantly, "No one is lucky enough to guess it nine times in a row!"
Val only smiled at them, then leaned back in the chair. Now their only game was gone, so she looked over at Flare, who was fiddling with her missing arm as it laid on the table in front of them.
"How's it going?"
"Slow, but not too much needs to be replaced," Flare said, slipping a pair of visors over her eyes to examine it closer, "It'll be done tomorrow for reattachment if I stay up all night."
"Would you?"
Flare looked up at her, lifting her visors again, "Hell yeah. Who do you think you're talking to, some amateur?"
Val smiled, "Thank you."
"Can I have the computer?" Krone complained, letting his head drop back onto the sofa, "I'm bored."
"This is what you get for letting yourself get hurt," Jaden smirked, but Fleck dropped the computer into Krone's lap, "There you go!"
"Fleck, this is supposed to be a punishment," Jaden frowned at the bot, who beamed.
"Why? The only reason you're not hurt is 'cuz you were to slow to keep up with the fight."
Jaden grated his teeth together.
"He saved my butt in the end though," Val commented, and he looked satisfied. She rolled her eyes at his pettiness, but she rested her chin on the pillow in her lap, "So what's the plan now?"
"Well, Scott picked up a bit of info while you were gone," Flare spoke up, giving Scott an uncertain look, "Something that might change the plan."
"What?" Jaden demanded, and Val saw Krell pale slightly as he looked to Scott. He knew what they were talking about.
"Well, while I was working on Fleck's hand when I spilled coffee on my hand. It kinda really scorched the flesh, so I bandaged it until the stinging stopped. But while it was bandaged, I couldn't work on the hand, so I decided to look further into the whole 'decapitation killer' ordeal."
"And?" Jaden leaned against the counter, crossing his arms expectantly.
"I found pictures and witness reports. I know who's doing it," Scott handed him a pile of papers, shoving them into his hands roughly as if disgusted by them.
Jaden blinked slowly as he shuffled through the papers in his hands, "No way..."
Val snatched the papers from him, flipping through the pages of witness reports. They all seemed to say the same thing- tall man, blond hair, eyes white and glowing like tiny stars. Dark skin and a lanky but muscular figure. She found a picture amongst the chaos, though it was only a silhouette. Even so, she recognized the confident way the shoulders were raised, the lifted head, and the hair style- short on one side and long on the other.
"Zin 705," she crumpled the papers in her one hand and tossed the ball to the floor angrily, "Why would he be decapitating- oh. Please tell me it's not because what I'm thinking."
"The decapitations began yesterday, right after we blew up the hospital," Flare sighed wearily, brushing a purple strand of hair back from her eyes as she set her wrench on the arm of the couch, "And Zin's doing them for the EE."
"They've already found a new way to collect their brain pieces," Krell whispered in horror, "Only this time they have to kill a lot more because they don't know who's compatible until they're dead."
"What have we done?" Fleck looked horrified, sitting down hard on the arm of the couch.
Jaden scowled, a deep hatred lighting his eyes, "We can't change what we've done. We need to go with the flow, so now we stop Zin."
"Why? So they can come up with an even more gruesome way to kill people?" Val stood up abruptly, anger flashing in her golden eyes, "We should stop dancing around the problem and take it out at the source!"
"And how would you propose we do that?" Jaden snapped, "Run into their HQ and take down as many people as possible before they wipe us and reuse us for their conquest to rule the world?"
"That's a stupid plan."
"That's my point!"
"I say we go after Crewel," Val smashed her fists together, "She's their lead brain grafter. If she dies, they won't have any experts on the matter."
"Wait a sec," Jaden pulled back, "You're just looking for an excuse to settle your score with Crewel, aren't you? Don't drag us into your suicidal death missions!"
"This isn't about Crewel!" Val bristled, her hand clenching into a fist, "It's about stopping the EE. Isn't that what you all want?"
"Killing one person won't stop a company that's been around for decades," Krone commented, but he received a violent glare from both of them as they snapped, "Stay out of this!"
"Look, Val," Jaden took a breath to calm himself, his lip curling slightly to reveal his pointed teeth, "I don't want a fight here. But killing Crewel won't solve anything more than a personal grudge."
"Scott," Val said stiffly, her force gaze not leaving Jaden's face, "Finish my arm pronto, okay? As soon as I'm fixed, I'm going to stop this mess myself."
"Er, yes, ma'am." Scott turned to face the arm, scooping up the wrench to continue his work.
"Fine. Go by yourself, get yourself killed." Jaden snorted, crossing his arms and flopping down onto the couch, "See if any of us care."
"A-actually, I care," Krell spoke up, looking up to Val, "I'd go with you, but my leg's not ready yet. So to help instead, I'll volunteer to stay broken longer so they can focus on fixing you."
Val glanced down at Krell with a surprised look on her face. She suddenly felt warm at the small smile on his face. She rested a hand on his arm, pulling him to his feet so she could give him a hug, "I owe you one, Krell," she rested her hand on the back of his head, weaving her fingers through his black hair, "You're like a brother to me, did you know that?"
"I always thought I was more like a very-confused intern," he attempted to joke, and she cracked a smile, stepping back. He toppled over onto the floor, and she suddenly remembered his leg was damaged. After apologizing profusely, she helped him sit down on the couch again.
"Flare pretty much repaired most of the damage," Scott piped up, taking a sip of burning hot coffee that made him wheeze, "So I'll just have to attach it."
"Going alone is suicide," Flare cautioned Val as she sat on Jaden's stool so Scott could begin reattaching her arm. "Jaden's right. This will be the last thing you do."
"It may be. But as long as they exist, this puppet has strings," Val winced as the nerve lines were reinstated in her arm as Scott began hooking the wires together. "And I won't be truly free until those strings are cut."