31 Days of Sonic Prompt 12: Machinery.
Dimensional Gizmos are the Same
Marine prided herself on her leadership skills. She boldly led her crew through the high seas, braving rough waters and winds. While her crewmates panicked, she stood at the wheel, shouting orders and maneuvering her vessel from cannon fire. Captain Whisker and Johnny loathed her, the feeling purely mutual, and Marine knew they were no match for her seafaring mastery.
Though, if she had an area that needed work, it was her building skills. She could fix and patch up her ship, but recalibrating scanners and electrical doohickeys had Marine scratching her head. She often met with members of the Coconut Crew for help, but her current conundrum left her thoroughly confused.
The device was a Sol Emerald scanner, given to her by Blaze if the emeralds ever scattered. In her early morning weariness, she had dropped the triangular compass. The screen splintered, leaving behind a spider web of cracks. Despite Marine's frantic fiddling with a screwdriver, she couldn't fix what she had broken and turned to the one boy she trusted with mechanisms.
"You gotta help me, Tails!" she cried, pacing next to his work desk where he sat. "It was a dumb mistake, I swear!"
Tails hummed to himself as he examined the scanner. He swiped his finger across the screen, bringing up a settings page. As he carefully pressed his thumb on the cracks, Marine rounded to his side, leaning onto his chair, whispering to know if he could fix it.
"Well, I think you're in luck. I'll take off the screen and see if there's anything wrong inside, but you should be fine. It appears to be a purely superficial issue," Tails explained. "This should only take a few minutes."
Marine beamed and threw her arms up. "Aw, strewth! Thanks a bunch, Tails! You're a real one!"
He chuckled and reached for his drawers. He collected a small screwdriver and a thin screen that seemed to fit. Returning to the device, he held it above the scanner, measuring the dimensions and nodding to himself when it was a match.
"Say, how'd you have an exact copy? Seems pretty coincidental to me," she remarked, itching behind her ear.
He chuckled. "Trust me. I have to fix phones and communicators all the time, so I keep these screens on hand." He sighed and turned the scanner sideways. "You wouldn't believe how often Knuckles presses down too hard on the screen."
Marine snickered and crossed her arms. "Well, at least I broke mine only once. Shows I'm a better, uh-" She furrowed her brows, tongue-tied, but she quickly brightened. "-better electronic device caretaker! Yeah, that's right!"
Tails shared a smile with her before resuming his work. Marine rocked on her heels and wrapped her arms behind her back. She whistled, filling the silence as Tails removed the first tiny screw. But when Tails looked at her, screwdriver lifted up, she promptly zipped her lips and flicked her gaze toward the interior of Tails' workshop.
It was surprisingly cluttered. Airplane parts piled in one corner of the room. On the adjacent table, many tools caught Marine's eye. She recognized hammers and power drills, but she couldn't understand his contraptions. Approaching the desk, she grabbed what seemed to be a tablet trapped within yellow rubber. It reminded her of the Sol Emerald scanner, but she couldn't make sense of it, such as how to turn it on.
While Tails worked, she poked at the screen. It remained dark as if obstinate to her curiosity. Frowning, Marine poked it, but she couldn't find any button or switch to turn it on. She pivoted on her heels, Tails diligently working, and Marine noticed a small indent perfect for a thumbprint.
"Oi, Tails, what's this thing? You got a Chaos Emerald scanner, too?" she asked, skipping over to him.
"Sure do," Tails said, carefully removing the cracked screen, "but it's more than that. It has loads of functions that I programmed." He turned in his seat, tossing the screen in the wastebasket under his desk. "In fact, it can even translate alien languages. Sonic and I were saving these aliens called the Wisps, and we met a Wisp named Yacker. While he spoke, we - Marine."
She stopped poking the thumbprint at his deadpan tone. "Yeah?"
Tails sighed. "You have to hold it down to turn it on."
Marine grinned and did just that. The screen flashed a brilliant verdant green, detailing a plethora of schematics and word vomit. It was too much for her mind to handle, and she held it out, scrutinizing the various blinking white dots. It was like the Sol Emerald scanner in how it searched for the missing gems, but the array of other maps and numbers scrolling down the sides had her groaning.
"How do you understand any of this? There's so much info flying all around! Left and right and up and down!" she exclaimed, dragging her finger across the screen.
"For the untrained eye, you're right," Tails said, "but if you know what you're doing, then it's easy. Let me fix your scanner, and I'll show you after."
Marine shrugged, giving Tails her full attention. She gently placed his gadget on his desk, not wanting a repeat of her morning. Tails fitted the new screen in place, carefully pressing down to make it stick. Gathering the screws, he re-inserted them. Marine was surprised he kept track of them, considering they were just barely thicker than a piece of fur.
Tails flicked a switch on the side, and it turned on without a single error. Marine squealed, bouncing in place. She threw her arms around his shoulders, nearly breaking his bones with the intensity of her embrace. Tails yelped, but he managed to return her hug with a meager one.
"Bonza, Tails! Thanks a bunch! I knew I could count on you!" she cried, practically pulling him out of his seat.
He snickered. "Aw, no sweat. I'm always happy to help." He wriggled out of Marine's grasp and held up his prized tablet. "Now, Blaze gave you a nice scanner, but let me show you what a real innovator can do."
And as Tails launched into his mechanical explanation, Marine listened with rapt interest. She might have had her great qualities, but listening to an expert in his element, especially one who was a good friend, had her grinning from ear to ear.
