You have to throw in the towel. There was only so much you could accomplish mostly asleep and at two in the morning. Staying at the office late to fix a few banners for the upcoming reopening of the museum sounded like a great idea at first. Oh I'll just work out a few kinks and get them sent to the printers, you had told your coworkers... six hours ago, probably more at this point. You don't think anyone would've anticipated the power failure, the loss of files, the meteorite that crashed into the neighboring junkyard (that, thinking about it, probably caused the power failure in the first place), and your distinct lack of caffeine shutting you down 110%. Your father HAD told you to get a Keurig machine for your desk. Brad had left an hour or so ago so you were alone.
Your sleepy mental ramblings were interrupted by a call to your cell. Tiredly shifting your eyes across your desk, you're shaken awake by reading the caller id. Why the hell was your father calling you so late? It wasn't surprising that he's up, per say, just that he's calling you. He's usually in his astronomer lab anyway at this time.
You pick up your cell and answer the call, groggily getting out a "Hey pops" before getting blasted by a, "Did you see it? The so called meteorite?"
"Dad it's two in the morning and I've been in the office all night. Couldn't have seen it even if I wanted to. It landed somewhere nearby and knocked the damn power out though".
"Son this is huge. It wasn't a meteorite, I caught a glimpse before it started to heat up on reentry. Looked manmade, almost something like a structure. It had a flight pattern unlike anything I've seen before. It was almost as if it was being pulled by something astronomically powerful as it entered our stratosphere."
"It crashed into the junkyard nearby and last time I checked, there's nothing 'astronomically powerful' in there. You sure it wasn't just an odd crash?"
"I think it's DLWN. 18's satellite, son. That's the only explanation I can think of, from where it came from in space to why it was pulled to land into a certain spot. Can you see why I'm so excited now? It's been years-"
As your father excitedly rambled on, you found yourself lost in thought. The third generation had mostly been lost to time, at least the original constructs. Only three of the eight were recovered, salvaged, or reprogrammed. The rest gone presumably forever due to the extenuating circumstances surrounding that war. If what your father assumed was true, this could potentially be a stunning discovery and opportunity for the museum. Little was left behind of the DLWN generation and every tidbit, even pieces of a derelict magnetic generator space satellite, hits hard for recounting history.
"-being credited for such a discovery would be huge for your career! Son, are you there? Hello? Earth to Saturn?"
Oh yeah, he was still talking. You kinda spaced out for a minute there.
"Yeah dad, I'm here. Zoned out for a second, it's pretty late. I'll check it out in the morning once I've gotten some sleep. I usually tag along with Brad anyway when he's doing maintenance so I'm sure I could persuade him to search the 'ruins'."
"You sure you and Brad aren't-"
Getting a little flushed, you cut him off. He always teased you about Brad although you'd argue that they were closer than anything you could accomplish. Your dad, Brad, and his father always were thick as thieves. Now you're just doing whatever you can to follow in their footsteps. Although instead of being a part of history, you're just maintaining it. It's the thought that counts.
"Pops he's my best friend. Besides, can you imagine what it would be like dating a Light? Listening to y'all talk when everyone is together is more than enough as it is. I doubt I could handle much more talk about the 'robots of the future' without considering my future with a second story window"
That got a good laugh out of him, giving you a pleased smile. Age hasn't seemed to have slowed him down much.
"Anyway dad, I gotta go. It's late. Thanks for keeping me updated!"
"Of course, my little planet. Love you! Just remember who to credit when you're rewarded for such a discover"
There he goes with that planet stuff again. You can hear the shit-eating grin on his end.
"Love you too, now go to sleep...ya geezer"
And with that, it was over. More importantly, the news had you more awake than any amount of caffeine. You knew you told your dad you'd be waiting until the next day, but your heart was pounding. The crashsite was SO close and no one would be investigating until the morning...which was only four hours away. Supposedly. Although a quick glance at the clock changed that estimate from comfortable to tight. Two and a half hours before six and you knew damn well that the salvage teams were fast. The only saving grace was that the scrapyard was museum property so they had to wait until everything was officially open.
Shutting your laptop lid and pulling on a coat, you bolt through the door and down the stairs; your thoughts running faster than you down the hallways. Every second can't be wasted. It was almost as if a switch was flipped and you were running on all cylinders. If only you could be this productive normally. You leave the back door unlocked, you'll probably be back anyway with whatever you find. If you find something. Please find something.
Working your way across the parking garage to the staff entrance of the junkyard, you try to calm yourself. Slowing your gait as you survey the lot. No point in working yourself up in case it's truly nothing. Right? But if that was the case, what caused the power outage? And just like that, you were back to running.
As you approached the door, you notice something odd. The door was rattling inwards almost as if something was pulling on the metal frame. You can hear the keys on your belt jingling so whatever the hell is behind the door and in the scrapyard is alarmingly magnetic. All it takes is a slight jiggle of the door handle and it bursts inwards, revealing a smoldering wreck of...a satellite. It's actually here, and from the sounds of it, it's still generating power. A step forward through the door frame immediately fries your smartwatch. You leave your phone behind in your hat as you trudge forward.
You couldn't bother the effort to steady your heart or your thoughts. This was it, this was the biggest discovery of your career. The places this could take you, the additions to recorded history this could provide. It's almost too perfect.
The scrapyard is by no means tiny, by any standards, but it's seemingly dwarfed by the amount of wreckage that collided into it. The damage to the side of the parking garage neighboring the lot is minimal but noticeable. It must've had one hell of a reentry given the mass. It's definitely derelict though, you notice as you step and push your way through the twisted maze of space tech. Walls, flooring, and ceiling are strewn about from the collision and the sound of a magnetic generator thrumming, albeit struggling greatly, echoes ahead of you. Seems the only truly intact piece of the satellite is one of the generator rooms. Appropriate
You pry off a piece of sheet metal as you step into the hallway. No lights except from the beams of moonlight beaming through holes in the celling. And that's when you notice it. As you're pushing your way further and further into the structure, you spot a faint glimmer of red dangling from the only operational generator in the room.
Pulling up your flashlight, you shine the light over to the generator...only to drop it in surprise. A cracked and heavily damaged chestpiece is stuck to the generator by a few comically oversized shurikens, along with what you first thought was a body. In a complete loss for words you quickly grab your light and shine it higher. A destroyed mouthpiece and helmet reveal the visage of...Magnet Man? Holy shit. t.
Sliding down the wall behind you, you take the moment to collect your breathing...and your sanity. The wreckage itself would've been fine, an operational generator was superb, but by the looks of it you found the original chassis of DLWN. 18.
You get yourself up and check out the robotic body pinned to the generator. All limbs are present, albeit in poor condition. You can see the wiring peaking out of the destroyed chestpiece and his mouthpiece is a lost cause. The skintone underneath it puts you on edge slightly for reasons you can't quite place yet. His ai chip unit and head wiring modules on both sides of the head are amazingly intact. The rest of the damage is negligible at best.
You can work with this. Finding the power panel for the generator, you shut it off and make your way to the exit dragging the very heavy robot behind you. This was going to make for one hell of an opening piece.
