"Good Morning." Lloyd didn't sound cheerful, and given the circumstances, neither Nya nor Jay could blame him. Cole and Kai had already left for Ninjago City.

"Have you seen Mikka?" Lloyd asked when he sat down at the breakfast table. "She hasn't come back all night."

Nya put her spoon down. Her face clearly showed what kind of reply she was going to give. The bodies of their nindroid friends were lying lifeless at the hangar, two huge wild animals roamed the surroundings of the monastery, and someone, probably with the support of a whole gang of thieves, was collecting one piece of the dragon gem after the other. There were certainly more pressing issues than a missing kitten.

"Lloyd, really," she began, and it sounded as annoyed as she looked.

Jay put a hand on her arm and gave her a pleading look. She swallowed and dropped her gaze.

"Yeah. I know." Nya looked at Lloyd again. "I'm sorry. We don't know where she is." Her tone had softened. "But I do think she's old enough to spend the night outside. She's certainly found a sheltered spot. We're gonna keep our eyes open when we go out, ok?"

Lloyd nodded. "Thanks. I already went for a walk this morning, but I promised my mother and my uncle to find a particular scroll in the library that might tell us more about the dragon gem and how it works. I need to find it before I go to the museum in the afternoon to take over from Cole."

They continued to eat in silence. Jay couldn't prevent his thoughts from wandering to the workbench with the two nindroids. The sudden lump in his throat made it difficult to swallow his toast.

Don't, he scolded himself. Use the power of positive thinking.

They were ninja, after all; they had found the fangblades and the tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master, they would also find two missing power cores and CPUs. It couldn't be that hard. As soon as they had retrieved them, they would just reinstall those parts in the two nindroid bodies. Jay forced himself to concentrate on the technical details before the thought of Zane's and Pixal's current state could distract him again. Nya would insert the CPUs first, and then they would probably need an external power source and a large cable to jump start the cores, and then ...

He could clearly see the scene before his inner eye, Zane's power core attached to a heavy cable, but it wasn't the scene he had wanted to imagine. Zane's face was contorted with pain, he was bending over, groaning, because that cable was not there to resuscitate him, quite the contrary: Zane was powering Unagami's portal, the very portal that had allowed Jay to return to Ninjago from Prime Empire. It almost destroyed the nindroid in the process. Jay saw Pixal panicking while she tried – and failed – to disconnect Zane; together, she and Jay had eventually managed to pull the cable out, but Jay would never forget that look on her face.

That shocked, horror-stricken look.

Much later, Pixal mentioned in passing that Milton Dyer had doubted her ability to experience emotions. She said it with a little laugh, but Jay knew how hurtful it must have been.

On that day, they had been able to save Zane. This time ... there was no power core to save anymore. It was simply gone. Taken away by some villain with mad robotic skills who hadn't left a single clue as to their identity. Taken away to power who-knew-what. Together with Pixal's core, and the CPUs of both nindroids. The situation was hopeless.

Jay only wished that none of the two had been forced to watch the other being shut down and taken apart.

He knew exactly how that would have felt. He had witnessed the White Ninja being destroyed by the Overlord, had watched Cole falling into the darkness and Lloyd remaining lifeless far too long after the defeat of the Oni. And he had held Nya in his arms when she died in an alternate timeline.

He couldn't really cope with these thoughts right now.

"Jay?"

Nya gave him a concerned glance as he choked on the last bite of toast. He must have completely forgotten to chew and swallow.

"Excuse me," he mumbled, hastily wiping his mouth. He got up to put his plate in the kitchen sink and left the room with an apologizing "see you around."

Nya found him half an hour later on the courtyard. He had set up a few training dummies and directed short, controlled bolts of lightning at them, hitting them very precisely on their metal parts in a pattern only he understood. The task required his full concentration. One slip-up, and a dummy might splinter. He wouldn't let his focus waver.

Nya watched him for a moment without joining him; if she had taken out her frustration on the dummies, they would have been unrecognizable within minutes. Instead, she decided to do a series of push-ups, squats, sit-ups, then push-ups again. After a sprint twice around the courtyard, she came to a halt next to Jay, slightly out of breath. He hit the last dummy in the center and turned towards her.

There was a brief silence. She hugged him quietly.

"Feeling a bit better?"

"Hmm."

They put the dummies away together.

"You're coming back inside?" Jay asked, fiddling with the last chain.

There was no reply.

He straightened himself and turned to Nya, only to find her staring over the courtyard with a peculiar expression on her face. Jay looked in the same direction and froze.

The griffin.

It must have flown noiselessly over the wall with its large owl wings while the two ninja had been busy tidying up. Now it sat there, close to the door that led inside, and barred their way.

"Do you think there's a chance that it's afraid of water?" Nya asked, tentatively holding out her hands. Her voice quivered only slightly.

"Or lightning?" Jay raised his hands as well. "Let's try. On one, two ... wait!" He got hold of Nya's arm. The griffin's ears twitched nervously, and now Nya saw it, too: something gray and furry dangled from its beak.

"Oh, no," she groaned. "Lloyd's kitten."

"Yeah, that's not quite what we meant when we said we'd keep our eyes open and bring her back inside," Jay said. He couldn't stop himself, the words just tumbled out of his mouth. If he just kept talking, he would be able to keep the panic at bay that threatened to well up inside him; it was the best strategy he knew, even though the others found it weird. "It looks like she's still alive, so we need a better plan. I don't know, perhaps we can somehow distract the griffin. Lloyd would never forgive us if he got his cat back drenched in water and shocked by ..."

"Could you stop talking for a moment and focus on that ... creature?" Nya remarked nervously. "Because it's now moving towards us."

"I can see that, Nya. And I am focusing. Someone once told me that by talking to animals, you can gain their trust. Calm them down, you know. No idea if this works for a griffin, but ... hey, did you notice?" Jay pointed at the griffin's side where a dark, sticky liquid had stained the thick fur.

"It must have been injured by the dragon. It's limping. It ... it seems to be in pain."

"No reason to come here and eat Lloyd's pet," Nya hissed.

She made a step towards the griffin, trying to find a way to attack it from a different angle, but she wasn't quick enough. The griffin let out an annoyed screech and easily kept her at bay with its large wing. Nya stumbled backwards and struggled to keep her balance. She was surprised. There had been no aggressiveness in the large animal's movement, it had simply shoved her out of the way, gently but firmly. It didn't seem interested in confronting her at all. Instead, it turned its attention to Jay. Almost hypnotized by the large, green eyes, Jay stood motionless. And then, the griffin lay down in front of him and put its prey down. The cat remained scared stiff between the large paws that held her.

"That's ... that's a good griffin," Jay stammered. "Now ... let her go. Let the kitty go."

The griffin tilted its head to the side and blinked. It didn't release the cat, but pushed her closer towards Jay.

"You ... you want me to come and get it? Is that a trap or what? No, you're not a human." Jay laughed nervously. "You're just bringing this kitty home, and you want Jay to pick her up?"

Did the griffin really give him a nod? Jay felt he was imagining things again, but then, the dragon had been very real, too. At any rate, there was no time to ponder this now.

Closely watched by the astonished Nya, Jay moved towards the griffin and went down on one knee so that he was close enough to touch the cat. The griffin nodded at him again. Only when Jay held the cat firmly with both hands, the griffin withdrew its paw. Large green eyes looked at Jay, and at the cat, and at Jay again.

And Jay could suddenly feel it. First, he thought it was simply the consequence of his previous, rather intense training session. His fingers tingled, the cat's fur seemed to sizzle, and he could hardly contain the sparks that wanted to fly from his hands. Yes, a cat's fur could become staticky, but this wasn't normal. Not to this extent.

Jay tentatively stroked the cat. It was the first time he held her; after Cole and Kai had banished her from the living room, she had been with Lloyd most of the time. She seemed to relax a bit under his hands, but somehow, her body felt unusual. Of course she probably had a shock and her pulse must be racing, but this didn't explain the electricity Jay felt running through the limbs of the animal.

He ruffled her fur a bit and gasped when he noticed a small bald patch on her chest. The griffin had plucked out a few tufts of hair, and below, there was ...

... not the skin of a normal cat.

To be exact, there was, under a protective cover, a miniature control panel and clearly visible circuitry.

"Nya!" Jay exclaimed. "Where did Mikka come from again?"

Nya approached him, her eyes still on the griffin. "She was one of the stray cats walking in and out of the house of the mineral collector. Why do you ask?"

"I think the griffin just showed us something very important." He gave Nya a meaningful glance. "This cat is a robot. And I'll eat my game controller if it's mere coincidence that a robotic animal with camera eyes lurked around the place where one of the dragon gem pieces was stolen."

Jay held the cat up for Nya to see.

"That's ... I can't believe it." Nya stared at the exposed chest panel of the kitten in amazement. "I have to apologize, Jay. Your strategy of talking to the griffin seems to have worked."

She looked at the griffin, who sat up and watched them with an air of satisfaction. "Well done. You're a clever animal."

The griffin let out a pleased hoot.

"Do you think we should shut the kitten down?" It wasn't entirely clear whether Nya had asked Jay or the griffin, but the griffin gave a very clear nod.

Jay glanced up. "Yeah, I'm deactivating her temporarily until we've examined her more closely. Lloyd will understand."

He pushed himself up again. The griffin sat still in front of them. Jay thoughtfully gazed at the sticky, blackened fur on the griffin's left side.

"Shouldn't we perhaps try and treat this wound?" he asked in a low voice.

Nya nodded. "I'd like to. But do you think it would keep still? I don't want to imagine what happens if we accidentally hurt it ..."

As they still deliberated how to avoid this problem, the griffin suddenly pricked up its ears and looked up at the roof of the monastery. Without warning, it began to flap its wings and retreated backwards. It struggled to take off; the injury seemed to greatly impair its agility. Jay and Nya turned their heads to see what had scared it so much and noticed the dragon sitting on the roof. He bared his teeth and threatened to lunge himself at the other animal any moment.

"No!" Jay shouted. "Stupid lizard. Leave it alone, it's helped us!"

But the griffin didn't wait to find out whether the dragon would listen to the Master of Lightning. With another forceful flap, it jumped up, soared into the air and quickly disappeared in the winter sky.


Zane was nonplussed by the behavior of the griffin. From the moment it had appeared in the vicinity of the monastery, he had sensed that it must be a robot, equipped with artificial intelligence. There could be no doubt as to where it came from – only one person in Ninjago was able to create such masterpieces combining immaculate craftsmanship with technical perfection.

But Joan had left the peninsula around the same time as Zane, and she needed the ninja for her revenge. She wouldn't want Lloyd to be attacked. Hence, there was only one explanation for those robotic animals suddenly showing up at the monastery: Joan's plan hadn't quite worked out. She had probably not been able to free every single one of her animals, and the real mastermind behind the dragon gem plot, the former agent of King Vangelis, must somehow have taken control of some of them; first the cat, which could be nothing else than a spy, and then the griffin.

This morning, however, Zane had witnessed an interaction that left him puzzled. He would have intervened immediately if the griffin had threatened to harm Nya or Jay in any way. Instead, the creature had managed what Zane had failed to achieve: it had drawn Jay's attention to the robotic nature of the cat and prompted him to deactivate the pet.

Why, Zane mused, would it do this if they were both controlled by the same person?

The griffin seemed to act strangely independent. Come to think of it: wasn't it odd that it had not returned to the peninsula over night to have the damage repaired that Zane had done? The griffin was weakened, Zane could clearly see it. Why should its master take the risk of confronting the ninja with a defective weapon?

The whole affair was mysterious, and Zane was bent on finding out more about the creature. He patrolled the area all day. Nothing happened except for Lloyd leaving the monastery and heading for Ninjago City. It was not before the time when the ninja would usually lock the courtyard that the griffin cautiously approached the monastery again. It was on its guard, and as soon as it spotted the dragon, it gave a frightened screech and took off.

This time, Zane followed it promptly. They both knew that he was at an advantage. Due to the injury, the griffin had no chance to outrace him, and after a short flight, it landed on a cliff next to a small ledge. It crouched, panting heavily, and flattened its lynx ears. With its wings spread menacingly and all muscles tensed, the griffin was desperate to defend itself, and Zane touched down at a safe distance. He didn't want to hurt it further if he could help it, but he wanted to find out why it was here and what its intentions were. If necessary, he would wait all night for the animal to calm down and let him come closer.

After a few minutes, the griffin folded its wings, but Zane realized that it was due to exhaustion rather than relaxation. When he made still no attempt to attack, the griffin slowly retreated backwards and slumped down under the ledge without dropping its gaze. Large, attentive eyes continued to observe the dragon.

Zane felt a pang of guilt. The griffin was an AI like himself, and judging from its behavior, it was sufficiently advanced to feel fear and pain just like him.

It felt pain because he, Zane, had injured it.

He had injured her.

For some reason, Zane suddenly knew that the griffin was a female.

She had pricked up her ears, and her short tail twitched whenever he moved. He had cornered her, but she was still able to fight and would do so the moment he approached her. Zane sighed internally. They had reached an awkward stalemate situation.

What would Pixal have done now?

He missed her. Everything was easier when she was on a mission with him and they could talk their next steps through together.

Zane felt the griffin's eyes still resting on him and glanced up. She had green eyes. Greener than the eyes of an owl. Greener than the eyes of a lynx, too. It was a very familiar green.

He froze mid-movement.

It was hardly possible. But then, considering everything he knew and especially what he did not know, it wasn't impossible, either. He wasn't the only one who had his mind transferred from one body to another before.

He had found Pixal.

The realization that Joan had betrayed him hit Zane like a punch in the guts. She had not only taken Pixal's body away, she had managed to trick Zane into attacking the other droid! He could have damaged the griffin so badly that nobody would ever have been able to salvage Pixal's core and CPU, he could even have deactivated her permanently. In either case, he would have been responsible for the death of his love. Cyrus' daughter.

What an excellent way of taking revenge on the director of Borg Industries, Zane thought bitter. Having his dearest creation finished off by the nindroid he had come to esteem so highly that he had approved of him being her companion! What a cruel manner of showing Borg the use of a system for speech-independent communication between AIs – and the fatal consequences of a lack thereof.

It made Zane feel physically sick. He stomped his foot and roared furiously, his breath covering a nearby rock with an inch-thick layer of ice. If he ever got the chance, he would hold the young engineer accountable for what she had done to him and the ones he loved!

The griffin watched his rage with fearful eyes, and when Zane caught her glance, he calmed down immediately. Pixal was injured, but she wasn't in a critical condition. Together, they must be able to find a way of repairing her and informing the ninja of the imminent danger to their country.

He made a step towards the griffin and automatically spread his wings, wanting nothing more than to hug her and pull her close, but the effect was very different from what he had intended. With a terrified screech, she scrambled to her feet and retreated to the edge of the cliff, almost losing her balance. Flapping her wings, she managed to steady herself, but her eyes betrayed fear.

Zane had forgotten how frightening he looked.

He immediately folded his wings and tried to call her name, but the only sound that left his dragon throat was a low grumble. It did nothing to calm her.

This was far more difficult than Zane had expected. With a deep sigh, he stepped back to wait patiently until she would recover herself and lay down again. He looked about, noticing that it was close to nightfall. She would need a safe, sheltered place to rest, and at least he could help her with that. Slowly, taking care not to frighten her again, he used his icy breath to freeze the plants hanging down from the ledge, creating a wall that would protect the room under the ledge from the wind. The griffin watched him attentively.

When the ice cave was finished, Zane returned to his previous position several yards away from the griffin. She glanced at the entrance of the cave, and then stared at him again for another minute. Her tail twitched nervously. Eventually, she pushed herself up and limped inside the cave. Zane was relieved. She would be safe for the night, but there was still the wound that had to be treated.

Zane let several minutes pass before he cautiously approached the entrance of the cave. Peering into the dim light, he could see that the griffin had settled down at the far end of the shelter. She had stretched out her legs and looked tired, but more relaxed than he had seen her all day. Perhaps she would let him enter and check on her injury?

Since he couldn't communicate verbally, there was only one way to find out. He kept his wings close to his body in order to look as little intimidating as possible. Then, he started to move towards her, very slowly, inch by inch. She observed him closely and flicked her tail from one side to the other, unable to back off further. Her feathers bristled a bit, but she showed no signs of open aggression. Eventually, he was so close that he could have touched her if he craned his neck a little.

Her ears twitched – adorable lynx ears with little tufts of hair at the tip. It made him smile in spite of everything. He plucked up courage. The griffin held her wing close to her side, covering the injury, and Zane very gently tried to shove the wing away with his snout. If he had looked up, he would have been warned by the sudden flicker in her eyes, but as it was, she managed to take him by surprise. With a cry of pain, she dealt him a forceful blow with her paw. She didn't use her claws, but it hurt nevertheless, and she knew how to take advantage of the situation. With surprising agility, she threw herself at him and swiftly flipped him on his back, pinning him down with her full weight. Ouch! His wings were uncomfortably folded beneath him and his legs helplessly thrashed around; this was an awkward position for a dragon.

He managed to restrain the urge to fight back and defend himself; her sharp beak was dangerously close to his face, but he mustn't let the situation escalate further. Forcing himself to keep still, he lay back on the ground. The griffin stared into his eyes for another moment. Then, she let go and retreated to the wall again, making sure there was as much room between them as possible.

Zane rolled over, disheartened and frustrated. There was nothing he could do if she continued to reject him like that. Her distrust hurt more than anything she could have done with her claws.

He tucked his legs under and draped his tail around himself. He would stay with her nevertheless, if she didn't chase him out of the cave entirely. He would watch over her and make sure nothing bad happened to her. He would keep the wind out and see to that the cave remained tolerably warm. But he'd never thought he could feel so lonely at her side.

Resignedly closing his eyes, Zane decided to try and get some rest. It would be a long night.

He tried not to think of the scent of Pixal's hair when he buried his face in her silver ponytail.

He tried not to think of the look of her facial circuits glowing softly in the darkness when he caressed her cheeks.

He tried not to think of the feeling of her fingers intertwining with his and pulling his arm around her.

He tried not to think of the sound of her voice when she sleepily murmured his name.

Needless to say that he failed.