"Ratchet come down here. I want to show you something!"
Ratchet looked up from the current machine he was tinkering with, ears perking up at the call. It was none other than General Alister Azimuth.
The Lombax called back, "I'm Coming!"
He picked himself up from the ground, dusting off his knees in the process. The two have been sharing the same place for a while. Ratchet decided to stay with Alister mainly because he felt a father-son relationship with the man, since his parents weren't there to take care of him, but he never outright stated that to the man. He simply said that he wanted to keep an eye on him incase he did something illegal. Clank could see that lie from a mile away, but didn't say anything, and was more than happy to go wherever Ratchet wanted.
Stretching out his limbs, he wondered what Alister wanted to show him as he ascended upstairs from the garage.
'Wonder what it could be; Ooo maybe it's a new weapon, like an upgraded Groovitron! Or-or maybe some new rocket boots that are faster than the speed sound! Or maybe...'
Ratchet's mind ran a mile a minute as the possibilities of the outcome were endless. He reached his destination and saw Alister's back, holding something in his hand. The young lombax looked over Alister's shoulder, trying to sneak a peak, but no use. Whatever the older lombax had with him, he covered it in both of his hands.
"I'm here. What is it?" Ratchet asked, trying not to sound too interested. Yeah Right.
Alister turned to look at Ratchet and smiled softly at him, before stretching out his palm to show the boy the item. A silver ball with a green dot in the middle.
"COOL! What is it?" Ratchet asked confused and just a bit disappointed. He was thinking it would be something mind-blowingly awesome, but instead…this thing.
"Touch it." Alister inquired.
Ratchet looked at the man with a confused look, but proceeded to do as instructed. He looked closer at the ball and touched the shiny object, wondering what this would do, and then it suddenly morphed into an animal. Ratchet jumped and let out a peep, making Alister chuckle at the sight.
It turned into a silver and neon green robot gecko. Smaller than the palm of your hand, and it seemed to mirror as much curiosity as the boy's.
"His name is Dregg." The white lombax said proudly. "It's a robotic tool to help with navigation and morphs into any creature. It also has a lie detector setting."
Ratchet looked at it with curious eyes, just wondering about the possibilities. The gecko narrowed it eyes and scurried up Alister's shoulder, still giving the lombax a death stare. Ratchet smirked at the creature-robot hybrid.
"I don't think it likes me very much." He said crossing his arms.
"Nonsense, it just hasn't got used to your presence. You two just to spend more time together." The general inquired confidently as he pet the creature on his head. The thing just cooed at the contact.
"General, why would you need that thing, you can navigate through the galaxies blindfolded." No really, he's seen him do it. Awesome piloting skills.
"That's just though space. It's good to know where you're going when you're trekking through unfamiliar territory on a planet. Besides, it's good to have some company around when completing missions."
Ratchet just nodded understandingly, knowing that if he went on a mission alone without Clank, he'd be pretty lonely. And bored. And lose track easily. Alister's logic seemed fitting, but something in his mind nagged him. The general didn't have to be alone. All Alister had to do was ask and Ratchet would have gone with him to his missions. He didn't have to buy an artificial - whatever it was – to accompany him. Ratchet felt himself getting just the slightest bit upset at the thought, too engrossed in it to notice Alister was leaving.
"I'll be back soon. Have to make a trip down to the Milky Way galaxy. Not a very pretty place. Got some great natural resources though." Alister said as he made his way to the door. Ratchet looked on towards the door until it shut closed, muttering a simple 'See ya'. Taking note that Azimuth still didn't bother to ask if he wanted to go.
"Oh wait, I forgot, he has a new pal." Ratchet said begrudgedly. With that said, he walked down towards the garage, intent on finishing his project. On his way, he kept wondering why that statement was bugging him.
Some company…
Brows furrowed, tail twirling in thought, he knelt down to grab a wrench and got back to working on his project. Fixing a stubborn screw, his mind just wouldn't let it go.
'Why is that bugging me so much? It hasn't bugged me before. It's probably because I didn't realize he was lonely. I would be too without Clank. That doesn't make it right though. He still should've asked. Now he has to take that dumb electronic gizmo with him. Tsk, mentor stealer.'
The golden lombax just shook his head, trying to forget about it. Not happening so easily though. Why was he feeling hate for such a small creature? Why did Alister's comment keep unsettling him? There's gotta be someone who knows why he feels…resentment. Then he got an idea.
"Clank! He can help me." Ratchet exclaimed happily. He put away his tools back in their right-ish places, and made his way towards Clank's room, hoping the robot would have an answer.