I'm coming too!
M-O! EVE scolded him, It's going to be dangerous! You have a life too!
I don't care! I want to go with you! M-O argued, I want to help!
Mom. Let him come. Willow stepped into the shuttle, If he gets lost, Nos or Fletcher can find him.
EVE wanted to argue further, but Wil did have a point. M-O could take care of himself well enough, and it's not like the people of V-GR's planet were malicious.
She huffed, Fine.
Woohoo! M-O jumped into their space craft.
EVE was completely done as she looked to the crowd outside, "Anyone else?"
WALL-E, EVE, Willow, M-O, Aya, Leah, Rio, Rose, Ruby, NOS-4-A2, Fletcher, and Darwin.
All of the above set off in the shuttle. EVE typed away on the control panel, pouring commands into the computer as they zipped through space. EVE slowed once they'd reached their destination, catching the planet's orbit.
"Okay..." EVE stabilized their current path, "Nos?"
"Hm? Yes?"
"You can break that barrier." EVE explained, "You don't even have to go feral. Just break it."
"Is it really that simple?" Willow questioned.
"They have no knowledge of energy vampires." EVE replied, "It won't be hard at all, but that doesn't mean we should drop our guard! Stay on high-alert, everyone!"
She was right. It really didn't take much to break through once Nos got close to the giant energy shield.
EVE steered the shuttle to the ground, keeping level with the horizon as she landed atop one of the smaller buildings.
"Okay. You guys know what to do." EVE said, "Spread out in groups of two. Look for any signs of V-Gr. Go!"
Willow traveled with M-O, who was always constantly shifting his eyes around as people past by. Some of them smiled as they went, but it didn't help M-O's obvious nervousness.
M-O, are you okay? Willow lifted him by his blue backpack.
He scrubbed his screen furiously, There's something in the air! My sensor keeps telling me it's a foreign contaminant! Why!? It's clouding up my vision!
I'm sorry. Willow carried him in one arm, not knowing what else to say.
"Ah!"
Willow stumbled backwards, "Oh Jeez! I'm sorry!"
She had run into a woman. Her skin was snow white and her hair was blonde. She also had icy blue eyes that shone like diamonds, and she seemed a fair bit older than the other aliens bustling about, with subtle wrinkles in her skin like laugh lines.
She frowned in distress, "I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!"
"No, it's alright." Willow saw M-O cower behind her, "Are you in a hurry?"
"No, I just wasn't paying attention...my only son is missing, and my husband left...don't worry about it, it's not your problem..."
"Wait..." Willow wondered, "Who's your son?"
"M-my son?" she seemed taken aback by the question, "Wh-why do you want to know?"
"Because I'm looking for someone too. Someone named V-Gr."
"You know my son!?" the woman seemed horrified by that, "How!? Why!?"
"I love him." Willow said seriously, "That's why. Come on, M-O."
Huh? Oh, right.
The woman didn't follow them, but Willow did notice she wasn't moving. She seemed saddened by something, though Wil could only imagine what.
I thought his parents hated him... she thought to herself...
"What are you doing here, bucket?
Willow froze at the sound of the gruff voice; A muscular man with jet black skin, "You got any tokans?"
Willow shrunk, "N-no..."
"Eh. Figures. Com'ere."
"Whoa!" Willow dodged his swiping hands as she scooped up M-O, "Gotta go fast!"
"Get back here!"
She ducked into an alleyway, covering M-O's screen to hide his bright eyes from their pursuer. This scared M-O on a huge level, but he could barely see anyway and Willow was his friend. She was being gentle too, so he forced himself to hold still until the chaser lost them. Willow slowly relaxed.
You okay, M-O?
U-um...y-y-yeah... M-O shuttered as he tried to clear his blurred vision (unsuccessfully).
I'm so sorry, M-O... Willow hugged him close, Where did he come from? We need to get out of here...
Something caught Willow's ear as she was turning to leave; a whimper. She spun around. Behind a broken pile of synthetic bricks was a huddled metal figure, with burning red eyes.
It was...!
"V-Gr!" Willow shook his shoulder, "V-Gr, is that really you!? What happened to you!?"
V-GR looked at her with overflowing hope, "Wil...ow...? No, no...that's impossible..."
"It's me!" Willow placed her hand on his cheek, "I'm really here! I came back for you!"
"W-Willow?" V-GR took her head in his hands, which were cold and clammy, "Oh, Willow...it's really you..."
"Sh...come here..." Willow gave him a one-armed side hug, since she was still holding M-O in her other arm.
"You...you're here..." he breathed, "I've been losing my mind...I kept thinking I saw you, but then you disappeared..."
"Shhh..." she replied, feeling warm in his arms, "It's okay...I'm here now...let's go..."
"Go? G-go where?"
Willow took his hand, "Home."
He seemed confused, "Home...?"
"Yeah, come on." Willow gently yanked on his arm, trying to get him to stand, "Get up! I can't carry you!"
He couldn't seem to get up.
Willow commed her mother, "Mom? I found him."
"You did?" EVE's voice warbled a bit over the call, "Where are you?"
"I don't know. I lost track of where I was going."
"That's okay. I can get Fletcher to sniff you out. Don't move!" she hung up.
Willow turned her attention back to V-GR, "What happened? Why are you hiding out here?"
"Scrap..." he rested his arms in his lap, "I've been chased mercilessly by gangs who are trying to rob me of my parts. On your planet, it would be called the black market."
"They sell parts on a black market?"
"Yeah, and it's quite profitable for those at the bottom of society, mostly those with black skin or people who are attracted to the same gender."
"That's horrible! Why!?"
"Found 'em!" Fletcher appeared just then with EVE.
"There you are!" EVE took M-O from Willow, M-O? Are you okay?
It's so dirty... M-O scrubbed his face vigorously, It's too dirty!
I'm sorry, M-O...
"Come here, Buddy." Fletcher lifted V-GR onto his shoulders, "Ack! Could you tone your thoughts down a little bit please?"
"Let's hurry." EVE said, "Something sinister is going on around here. I don't like it."