Zane waved to Jay as he climbed onto the moped with Pixal who gave Zane a bored stare before puttering off. He was a little uneasy due to the last situation, but the assurring nod Jay had given him was enough to calm his nerves. Now for the bigger question, what to do?

He reasoned with his surroundings. Everything loved being coated in dust, even though the walls were meant to keep a lot of it out, the wind always kicked it around and in. The walls could be washed, or the car, or a good clean-down of the camper wouldn't hurt, the sign outside could be rewired again(this time with more duct tape) or the piles could be better organized than they were. Edna had walked out of the metallic door carrying a washer and a bucket of laundry. "Zane! Be a dear and get some water from the pump, would you?" She called.

Zane listened to her ramble on about all sorts of stories that seemed to slide together despite the obvious changes of subject and time period. He didn't mind, he loved hearing stories no matter who was telling them. Wringing out one of Jay's coats on the washer, he clothes-pinned it up neatly next to the towels and washcloths, marveling at its deep blue that shimmered in the daylight. Indeed, Jay had a lot of articles of clothing that were blue- it was his favorite colour after all- but too much blue on one person is a little straining. What a coat like that needed was a scarf…. A scarf...

He waved to the cashier on his way out of the corner shop, hearing the bell gently ring against the door behind him. He carried the box firmly in his hands, a hop to his step as he waved his way through the alleyways. Somewhere between his past experiences and how Cole reacted to him he reasoned that people around would still recognize him despite the 20 or so year gap between his reemergence, and that he should be a little more cautious by day. He stopped to look at himself in a busted barbershop mirror besides a dumpster, he looked no different from the day he woke up, or the days he performed, or the day that he had his flesh taken away- maybe a little shinier? Zane pulled at the hem of his faded shirt, the other hand jingling the leftover change from the money Edna had given him in his pocket.

The droid found himself looking at various suits and bowties, his fantasies had dragged him away again, a scenario where he would approach the ginger with an elaborate box in hand, flower in mouth and suit fluttering blissfully in the wind. 'Jay, Come with me Jay, tonight we are one with the stars. Move slowly with me, let us savor our break in time.' he would say, to which Jay would agree and the two would dance into the night. The thought would have carried on if the price tag didn't tear it to shreds. Maybe a thrift store would be a better place to start?

This was a mistake. He stood in front of the mirror, striking a pose wearing a faux fur coat and a feather-hat, 3 pairs of sunglasses hanging across his face and another one upside down atop the hat. He pursed his lips, sticking a leg out and running his hand down the golden 'MC Hammer' pants. He cat-walked out of the dressing room, keeping his lips pursed as he clicked his heels down the aisle. A snort let loose; Zane glanced up across the room towards a teen who stood there, mouth agape as a younger girl standing next to him held her mouth, trying to hold in a laugh. He raised his leg up again over the coat rack for her to see which broke the air-gates. She tried her hardest to muffle the laugh, snorting and wheezing. He walked over to the two, waving as an introduction before pulling off the feather hat and bowing.
"Sorry, we didn't mean to stare," The teen started, noticing the silvery skin, "I know you don't get much of a say, but what you're wearing is ridiculous."
"Kai, I don't think anyone would tell him to wear that." She smiled, to which Zane nodded and pointed to himself.
"We should probably go before its owner comes back, don't want what happened last time to happen again." Nya waved as the two walked away, the droid waving back. What happened last time? He wondered just how many droids exsist and where? The only other one he saw recently was Pixal, maybe that was the one he was referring to? He wandered around the store, putting back the articles of clothing he put on in their respectful spots, save for the T-shirt with 'I 3 boyfriend' poorly sharpied in dyslexic letters, he liked that one.

"Kai, you can't be buying stuff just for me, you need a coat too, winter is coming," Zane overheard the conversation from an aisle over.

"You need it more than I do, I don't get cold as easily remember?"
"But kai.." Zane crouched down and peeked his head around the corner, noticing Nya pulling around for the price tag, "Do we even have enough?" Kai pulled the change out from his pocket, counting the various coins.
"We have enough, and some left over for lunch even." she gave him a stern look, the two staring at each other long and hard. "Nya," Kai started before she sighed and gave in. Zane silently trailed after the two towards the front counter, grabbing another coat off the rack before getting in line behind them. He stuffed a good sum of money into one of the pockets before slapping it down atop the other. "Hey-" Kai was cut off when Zane put the T-shirt on top. The clerk rung up the total to which the droid payed for in full, letting Kai and Nya keep the change.

"We could have payed for it ourselves, he didn't have to do that."

"And what's wrong with a little help?" Zane heard the two arguing as he slipped away, a smile planted on his face.

-o-o-

The pawn shop was spotless, every inch of neglected cleaning had been taken care of thanks to the small droid, he was proud of himself. Scrubbing away some grime from a vase, he pattered his way to the back room to rinse out the rag and wash bucket. Ronin had his feet propped up on a desk, filing through various papers and record books when Echo stood at his attention.
"All done?" Ronin flipped through a folder.
"Yessir, everything has been washed and what was faded has been polished." Echo smiled.
"Hmm…. I got a few questions for ya kid, Come have a seat." Ronin slapped the desk invitingly. The small droid jumped and pushed himself onto the rough surface, eyeballing the various articles and clippings spread about. "Julien. What can you tell me about him?" he had rolled back to a machine, clicking a button down as the wheels in the case began to roll.
"Doctor Julien was an engineer, he worked on all sorts of various cars, electronics-" Ronin rolled his hand over and over, nodding.
"Everyone knows that, he worked with a team and was the founder of Julien Enterprises. I want to know about him, like who he was, and how he acted."

Echo reeled, closing his eyes and thinking, "Father was always busy with something, but he always had time for me. He loved me very much, I would help him clean and play music when he was working- he liked that very much. He had lots of ideas- he even built me an older brother to play with when he was away. I even have a picture- here." Echo pulled at one of the boxy speakers on his shoulder, lifting it and digging his fingers into the opening. He flicked a picture between his fingers letting Ronin grab it. "My brother is the one on the left, and I'm on the right, and dad's in the middle." Dareth had floated his way over, peeking over the thief's shoulder. He couldn't help but feel that he recognized Dr Julien, but from where? The name and the company had been something unfamiliar to him, but the face seemed uncanny. Ronin's attention, however, had turned to the taller being on the left. Was that his brother? He looked human, not a machine as many posters displayed him to be- were the two the same? "His name is Zane." Ronin nodded while digging through a folder for the iconic picture. He set the two side by side, examining the features and body type, posture, facial expression. They seemed to be about the same, save for the skin and coloring.
"What was the last time you saw your dad?"

"Last time I saw him he gave me a hug and told me goodnight before I went to bed. When I woke up he was gone and the lights were off. My brother was gone too, and the whole place was dusty so I cleaned it all with soap and water. Then you took me here, and I did the same thing."
"So he turned you off and you suddenly woke up…." He sat back, sighing and thinking while spinning around in his chair. That all made sense- it explains why he didn't give any details about the music, or anything sketchy with the doctor. Although… "Wait, where did you get the soap and water? I didn't see a sink or any pipes in that room." Silence. Echo stared at him, eyes wide as if he broke something he wasn't supposed to touch in the first place.
"I got the soap and water from outside of the room."
Ronin narrowed his eyes, "Where outside?"
"The same way you came down." the small droid stared, his eyes fidgeting.