_transmission 8_

"im_sorry_that_im_late" a familiar robotic voice hummed causing the white haired girl to slowly lift her eyelids, blinking into the harsh California morning light. She sat slumped against the wall of the old phone booth, her arms folded around her knees, hugging them to her chest.

"Casper?" she asked letting her eyes adjust to the bright light and straightening out, placing her hands in the sand behind her and extending her legs. The small ghost shaped robot with thin spidery metal legs came into focus in front of her, its large round optical lenses looking at her apologetically.

"im_sorry_that_i_am_late_im_so_glad_you_waited_i_hope_you_did_not_have_to_wait_too_long_what_happened_to_your_arm_were_you_sh-" the little robot rambled before the white haired girl pulled him into a hug, muffling his speaker.

"I was so worried about you Casper!" the white haired girl exclaimed, waking up a little bit more, then releasing Casper from her grip and looking him over, "What took you so long to get here? And where's the rucksack?"

"you_were_in_possession_of_the_rucksack_when_we_parted_ways" Casper replied, ignoring the first question.

"No, you had it!" the white haired girl insisted defensively, "Casper I can't believe you lost our rucksack! All of our provisions were in there! Everything we own was in that thing!"

Casper stared at her for a moment with his wide optical lenses as if he were bewildered at the possibility that he could be responsible for losing anything.

"i_didnt_lose_the_rucksack_you_were_the_last_to_have_it" he replied slowly and clearly, "you_lost_it"

The white haired girl suddenly remembered that Casper was right and that she had had the rucksack on her back when the two had parted. But at what point did she lose it?

She made a frustrated noise and half-heartedly flung a handful of sand at Casper before resignedly changing the subject, "So what took you so long to get here then? Did you meet a hot robot chick on the way or something?"

"no" Casper replied simply.

The white haired girl waited, but Casper didn't say anything else.

"Then… what?" she asked at a loss for reasons it would've taken the ghost bot all night to get to Zone 12 from Zone 14.

Casper hesitated.

"i_do_not_think_i_should_tell_you_i_do_not_want_you_to_be_worried" Casper said finally, as the white haired girl stood up and brushed the sand off of the back of her worn and frayed shorts, "i_am_fine_now"

"Casper, what happened?" she asked, a look of concern suddenly emerging on her face as she stared down at the little robot.

Casper hesitated again.

"as_i_was_traveling_through_the_zones_someone_removed_my_battery_but_they_were_behind_me_and_i_could_not_see_who_it_was" he admitted finally, causing the white haired girl's pale eyes to widen and her mouth to fall open slightly.

"And then what happened?" she asked in horror, bending down to pick up the ghost bot and hold it protectively in her arms, concern weighing heavy in her brow.

"i_do_not_know" Casper said plainly, "but_when_my_power_returned_i_was_in_zone_4_and_no_one_was_there"

Zone 4 was known to be completely barren, devoid of anything but endless stretches of bare desert. The white haired girl knit her eyebrows together before gently placing Casper back onto the ground, "That's weird."

Casper made a gesture with his thin robotic spider limbs that somewhat resembled a shrug.

"i_am_fine_my_battery_power_has_been_replenished_to_full_and_my_systems_are_operating_normally" he stated, before adding guiltily, "but_i_no_longer_have_the_plasma_fluid"

"God dammit," the white haired girl muttered at the reminder of her vital need for more plasma fluid, but then the first part of what Casper said registered in her brain and she turned to face him with an odd look on her face, "If they just wanted the plasma fluid, why would they replenish your battery power?"

"i_do_not_know_but_now_that_i_have_a_brand_new_battery_we_do_not_need_to_find_another_one_for_at_least_a_week" Casper reassured her, before pausing and lowering his volume slightly, "as_for_your_plasma_fluid_i_estimate_we_have_about_twelve_hours"

The white haired girl rested her hand on the side of the old phone booth and nodded solemnly, looking off at something in the distance rather than meeting Casper's worried robotic gaze.

"Okay," the white haired girl spoke after a long silence, "Let's go."

_end transmission_