"Try not to break anything, okay?" Brian sighed as his brother jumped up and down in front of the door.
"I never break stuff!" Timmy frowned indignantly, only to wither a bit under Brian's frown. "Usually. Sometimes."
Brian just gave a worried look as he pressed the door indicator.
After a few moments, the door opened and the pair were greeted by a large, quadruped omnic. Its chassis was mostly a cream color, with green highlights, and its faceplate was an orange color. With a click, her eyes shifted to look like an upward pointing arrow, giving off the impression it was smiling.
"Good day," she said. Her voice was clearly feminine. "Would you happen to be Tim, and his guardian, Brian?"
"Yeah!" Timmy hopped up and down now. "You're Orisa!"
"This is true," Orisa nodded as she stepped back from the entrance. "Please come in. Efi is excited to meet you."
"She is?!" Timmy exclaimed, rushing into the building.
"I am!" a young girl laughed, drawing the pair of boy's attention. The eleven year old girl stood in the doorway to what seemed to lead to her work space. Her elbows stuck out, as her hands sat on her hips, her feet shoulder width apart. On her face was a huge grin. "I understand you reached orbit?"
"Yeah!" Timmy nodded as he waved his right hand. "Blew up the launch pad I built, made a small crater on the roof of our apartment building and broke my wrist though!"
Efi giggled as she backed into her shop, waving him in. "C'mon! Rocketry isn't really my thing, but I have some stuff you can advise me on!"
"Really!?" Timmy ran after the girl, leaving Brian and Orisa standing in the front entry hall.
"Well," Brian blinked. "This is probably going to go terribly."
"Is that so?" Orisa tilted her head slightly.
"Heh," Brian shook his head as he put his hands in the pocket of his hoodie. "A pair of adolescent geniuses looking into rockets?"
"Ah! I see!" Orisa laughed. "You make a good point." The omnic stepped back and motioned to the door the pair of had run through. "If you would like to come in, I can make tea. Or coffee, if you prefer."
Brian smiled as he walked into Efi's work...warehouse? There wasn't really a good description for the place. It was large, certainly, materials, parts and books were strewn about the place. Around the edges stood tables, all of them covered in this project or that one, all of them in random levels of completion. In one of the corners, in an 'L' shaped desk, stood a small bank of computers, while a series of monitors were hung from the walls, or even ceiling.
Of to one side, by one of the work tables, Efi sat in a computer chair that seemed too large for the girl. She was nodding enthusiastically as Timmy told her something that involved a lot of arm waving.
"Do you have a preference?' Orisa laughed quietly, bringing Brian out of his reverie.
"Ah, sorry," he apologized, scratching the back of his head. "Tea would be nice, thanks."
"Of course, Efi has been trying to teach me more about interacting with others, socially, so this will be good practice for me," Orisa spoke as she led Brian to a small area that seemed to be kept clean. In it, there stood a round table of warm brown wood, with a blue table cloth. Beside it sat two comfortable looking chairs.
Pausing, Orisa turned to look back at Brian. "Not that you are practice. Though...I suppose you are. But not in that way." Orisa seemed to make herself flustered.
"It's fine," Brian chuckled. "I'm not exactly the best at social stuff either. And for the record, you are better at it than I am, and I'm, technically, older than you."
Orisa's eyes returned to the arrow shape. "I appreciate your words. I am, as you say, technically a year old as of last month."
"Well, happy belated birthday," Brian smiled. He liked this omnic. She was pleasant to talk with.
"Ah, yes, thank you!" Orisa's body language shifted, as she looked down, her right front leg twisted at the ground slightly, giving off an embarrassed air. But then, seemingly catching herself, Orisa coughed. "Anyway, come and sit, I will make tea."
A few minutes later, Brian sat sipping his tea as he looked around the building again, marveling at the equipment allowed to an eleven year old girl. "Hey, Orisa...I have a question for you…" Brian turner to the omnic.
Orisa had sat herself on what appeared to me a small, almost table object. It cradled the long centaur-like lower body, bringing her down, closer to the height of a seated human. Well, except for Brian. But he was short for his age anyway.
For her part, Orisa seemed to have been watching him. It was the kind of thing that, normally, would have made him uncomfortable. But for some reason, Orisa didn't. Part of him wondered if it was because she was an omnic. Though probably not. There were two omnics in his class at school, and their attention made him as uncomfortable as the girls did. At least they don't make fun of me…
"Brian?" Orisa said again, a note of slight concern in her voice.
"Oh, sorry," Brian shook his head. "Sorry, mind wandered."
"I was a bit concerned about how you might feel toward omnics," She shifted uncomfortably. "When your brother won the contest, we were given a copy of your history."
For a moment Brian looked at her uncomprehendingly, before it hit him. "Oh, because of my father's work." Brian made a sour face as he sighed and set his tea cup down. "I'm not going to blame all omnics for the actions of a few terrorists. I got hurt. I'm better now."
Orisa looked at him for another moment, her eyes shifting through various settings before going to the smile. "You had a question?"
With a smile of his own, Brian nodded. "I was wondering how you kept your little demon in check."
"I'm not sure what you mean," Orisa tilted her head slightly. It was kinda cute.
"Oh, keeping mine alive gets difficult at times," Brian sighed before there was the sound of a small explosion.
Turning, with mild alarm, the pair of guardians saw Efi leaning back in her chair, both hands over her mouth as she fought to contain laughter. Timmy was jumping up and down slightly with both his arms in the air.
From the tabletop between them, a small pillar of white smoke rose from the table as a cracking sound echoed from the rafters.
"I...think I understand what you mean," Orisa's sigh mirrored Brian's.
Standing in the main doorway of the building, Efi grinned at Timmy and Brian. "I had fun!" she said loudly and she handed Timmy a small card. "Here, it's my number. Give me a call sometime and we can do this again!"
"Really?!" Timmy practically vibrated. "That's so awesome!"
"Orisa keeps saying I need to hang out with people my age anyway," the girl rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, Brian tells me the same thing," Timmy gave a sour look.
"I look forward to seeing you again, Brian," Orisa ignored the children and held out a hand.
Taking it with a small shake, Brian smiled. "You as well Orisa. Feel free to give me a call if you need advice dealing with a suicidal munchkin."
Orisa's eye became arrows again. "I will," she said cheerfully.