The two sirens left Erick alone in the control room. He went back upstairs and finished transferring the contents from his pack to his locker. He was left holding a single item - a computer chip. Erick made his way back to the control room, and found an appropriate port to insert the chip into. A holographic keyboard and file list appeared on the surface of the table where he stood. He scrolled through the list, and selected three files with the names of Atlas, Hermes, and Athena. His fingers moved quickly as he typed in a few brief commands. Moments later, the loading progress bar popped up.
"That's done" He spoke out loud, "I guess I may as well go and help out with the engines." And he left the room, letting the computer finish its task.
Erick was on his way to Scooters garage when he ran into Doctor Zed.
"Hey! Glad you're doin okay. I was just bringing ya some Instahealth vials to help with yer blood regeneration; it will give your energy a boost too." The doctor held out two vials.
"Thanks Doc" Erick said as he took the vials.
"Best you take one now, and the second in a couple of hours. Should fix ya up good" Zed smiled at the younger man before turning back towards his clinic. Erick looked down at the two vials in his hand. He stuffed one into his pocket, and popped the plastic safety cap off the other. He jammed the needle into his arm, and ignored the slight sting as the red liquid entered his system. With that done, he tossed away the empty vial and continued onto the garage. When he arrived, the place appeared empty. After a quick surveyance of the area, Erick noticed an open hatch in the floor, on the eastern side of the room. As he walked closer to investigate, he heard the sound of someone welding. He dropped down into the small, dark passageway, ducking under the low clearance, and making his way towards the light. The passageway finally opened up to a bigger room. In the center, was a huge piece of old looking machinery, he assumed this was Sanctuary's engine. As he glanced around the room, he noticed the other red haired girl who had been bunked in with the sirens. She was sitting at a cluttered workbench, welding up a small component of some sort. She stopped what she was doing, and lifted her goggles to her forehead as she looked in Erick's direction. As Erick saw her piercing emerald eyes, he immediately fell in love even though the memory of the last girl stung his memory.
"It's about time you woke up" She said cheerily.
"Yeah, I feel well rested." He said as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. The girl stood, and wiped her face with the back of her hand, leaving a blackened smudge across her cheek.
"I'm Gaige by the way" She introduced herself, offering her mechanical arm for a handshake. Erick shook her hand, only to have it squeezed tightly in a bone crushing grip.
"Ow, damn!" Gaige quickly let go and Erick recoiled his hand.
"I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to do that!" She apologized quickly.
"You're fine" He chuckled awkwardly, massaging his sore hand "Lets try the other" He shook Gaige's human hand, and introduced himself. "I'm Erick. Is there anything I can help you with down here?" He offered. He diverted his eyes quickly when the Mechromancer noticed him staring at her mechanical limb again.
"Er, if you can find Scooter in the back room, I'm sure he has work for you" Gaige pointed in the direction.
"Alright, I'll head there" Erick could feel the girls gaze boring into his back as he left the room, and he was sure he heard her sigh.
As he made his way to the back room, he passed Maya. The siren groaned in frustration as she wrestled with some tangled wiring. He found only one door that led to what he assumed would be the back room. Scooter was indeed inside, but fast asleep in his chair, feet propped up on a desk. It wasn't until Erick got closer, that he noticed the dirty magazine, opened to a centerfold, lying across the mechanics lap. A swift kick to the chair and Scooter jumped up in alarm. As the magazine fell to the floor, Erick was relieved to see that his pants were buttoned.
"Oh, hey! Sorry bout that, I was just resting my eyes." Scooter yawned and stretched "Whatchu need, man?"
"Gaige said you would have work for me?"
"Yeah" Scooter moved towards a workbench, and referred to a smudged map. "Down this passageway here, and to the left, is an even bigger room, ya see?" The mechanicic waved a greasy finger over the map as he gave Erick the directions "In the middle is a big-ass tower, with a sa-phere, scha-phere, round thing on top! Whatever it you call it, it scares the hell outta me. So what I want you to do is take this here Flux Capacitor and plug it into the electrical panel on the wall over yonder. Then, you need to calibrate the power to 1.21 Gigiwatts." Erick took the capacitor Scooter offered him, and set off, following the directions to the larger chamber. When he arrived, he easily recognized the tower which was similar to one of his high school projects. A Tesla Coil; or at least Pandora's version of one. He found the electrical panel easy enough, and plugged in the capacitor. Calibrating the power only took him a moment and before he flicked the switch, he noticed the secondary coil had some loose wiring. To avoid further damage, he carefully removed the wire and rewrapped it. After spending about ten hours (including an awkward lunch-break spent with Gaige, who couldn't seem to stop her inquisitive staring) the secondary coil was repaired. He pulled the lever that activated the power and stood back admiring his handiwork. The room filled with the low hum of electrical current surging through the Tesla Coil.
"I could do with a recharge." Erick said out loud.
He moved closer to the Tesla coil, extending his arm towards it. An arc of lightning reached out and grabbed his extended limb. He welcomed the familiar embrace of electricity pulsing through his body, as if he were being embraced by an old friend. When he let go of the arc, he turned to find Lilith watching him.
"How long have you been standing there?" He asked nervously.
"Long enough, but we'll talk later." The siren diverted the conversation with another question; Erick could tell she had other more important things on her mind. "You hungry?"
"Yeah sure" He shrugged, following Lilith to the surface.