10. UTROM INGENUITY
The dawn came quickly. A cool breeze stirred Donatello awake, and he drowsily turned towards the pale green light. The hut, he immediately noticed, was laced with the smoke from the fireplace and the smell of food and he shivered, reaching for a blanket that wasn't there. But despite the chill, and for the first time since the disappearance of Leonardo over year earlier, Donatello found that he had slept deeply. Outside, he could hear Leonardo running through some training exercises - a thud of earth, the singing of a blade in the air. Typical.
Uncannily sensing that his brother was awake, Leonardo finished his routine and made his way back inside. With a quick, single movement, the swords were slotted back into their sheaths. He hovered momentarily in the doorway, ensuring his brother was awake.
"You're up. Have something to eat. The sooner we get moving the better." Leonardo indicated at the mashed roots flecked with shelled bivalves.
Donatello rolled to his feet with a yawn, before picking cautiously at the bowl with chopsticks.
"Hm, it certainly looks interesting."
"It's not so bad once you get used to it."
The expression on Donatello's face after he had sampled it said otherwise.
"Tastes nutritious." he said, trying to quietly grind the traces of dirt between his molars.
"I'll give you the recipe, sometime."
Leonardo shot a glance at the broken locater beacon, his objective written all over his face.
Donatello gave an apologetic shrug, "I'm still working on it. We might be holed up here another day, at least. And that's before I figure out how to get an alternate power supply."
"Maybe we could construct some kind of makeshift battery? There are dozens of salt ponds further east."
"Yeah. I thought of something along those lines, but Utrom technology is powerful. I'm not sure we can generate the amount of energy we need to run this thing." He held the two fragments of the beacon in his hand and frowned, "Wait, I think I recall something the professor was once telling to me about."
Donatello walked over to the fireplace where Leonardo had left a bowl of water simmering for their tea. He held the pieces over the steam and brought the parts closer together. Suddenly threadlike tendrils began to protrude from the damaged sections, whipping around like blind threads before connecting. They watched in amazement as they began to to knit together. fusing rapidly, and leaving a faintly metallic odor behind.
"Look!"
Leonardo leaned in, astonished.
"That is something, alright."
Donatello's voice quickened with excitement, "I remember now: he was describing the inbuilt immunity of their bio-mechanical equipment. They were designed on a nano-particle level to heal themselves. And I think it works even faster in a humid environment."
Leonardo's brow shot up, "So we make a sauna, we've got a ticket home."
"Yeah!" Donatello said grinning, "It might take a while to completely regenerate, though - this cut's a doozy."
Leonardo looked abashed, "Listen, Don. I'm sorry about-"
"Forget it." he said, cutting off the apology, "It's ancient history."
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