Chapter III: Research of Old

After he returned to the TARDIS, Saltrall kept searching and eventually found he managed to find a map which showed him where Republic City was. He landed a few miles north in a park and cloaked his TARDIS as a large tree, making sure no one was around before stepping out into the park. He sighed at the mark on his ship, now a large patch where there was no bark, and rubbed it softly before making his way towards the city proper.

He decided he would have to ask for directions, since many people get uncomfortable around a strange person waving around a magical glowing stick through the air, and he had no money to buy a map, and he decided that it was too early for him to be getting arrested.

With a sigh he set forth. When he actually reached the city he was amazed at how modern it looked, in a very steampunk kind of way. There were cars, airships, and a bunch of other machines that he thought he'd only see online. He eventually reached a park along the edge of the bay and he stopped to sit down on a bench. He tried to think about where to find the library, however he saw a passerby and stood, deciding to ask for directions.

"Excuse me, ma'am, I'm not from here, can you tell me how to get to the Republic Library?" He asked, tapping the lady's arm, causing her to turn around.

He was initially taken aback at how beautiful she looked. She had dark, raven black hair and light green eyes. She was a couple inches shorter than him, but also taller than Korra, he figured she was about 5'10-5'11.

"Of course, it's right over-" She started to say as she pointed towards the city, dragging him from his thoughts.

Before she could finish, a shady person walked by and suddenly grabbed her purse, pushed her down and started to run away.

"Hey!" She shouted, falling into Saltrall, "that was my purse!"

"Don't worry, I got this," Saltrall said. He made sure she was alright before he started to run after the thief.

"You really... don't... have to," She said, but he was already in pursuit of the thief, so she walked quickly, trying to catch up to him.

He looked behind him as they crested a hill to make sure she was out of eyesight before he stopped, pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver, and zapped the thief's leg, causing him to fall with a cry.

Saltrall, put his Sonic away and walked up to him.

"Petty crime doesn't pay you know," he said seriously while crouching down and picking up the purse the thief dropped.

"What did you do to my leg?" The thief asked, terrified, as he tried to move his leg but failed.

"Oh, don't worry, you'll be fine, just a little nerve paralysis, completely harmless," Saltrall replied before standing, he quietly pulled out his Sonic and fixed his leg.

"Now get out of here before I decide to call the cops."

The thief got up quickly and half-ran, half-limped away without a second glance and Saltrall smiled, feeling content at his recovery, and he turned around, twirling his Sonic between his fingers. He froze as soon as he finished turning, however, when he saw the woman standing behind him, watching him with a look of amazement in her eyes. He stopped twirling his Sonic and looked at it before looking back at her a few times.

"Um... I can explain," he said, quickly putting his Sonic behind his back and looking away nervously.

"Wow, how did you do that?" She asked walking up to him, "can I see that tool of yours?"

"Um, yeah, I guess," he said, cautiously holding it out for her, "just be really careful with it."

"Wow, I've never seen anything like this!" She exclaimed, admiring it and looking at it from all angles, "how does it work?"

"Well, uh, it's a very special tool," Saltrall began, trying to make it sound as un-alien as he possibly could, "you just press the button and point it at something, it can do just about anything you need it to, it can unlock doors, be used to scan resources in metal or other various tasks, but it doesn't work on wood." He furrowed his eyebrows, taking a mental note, "I should really fix that."

"Wow..." she looked starstruck, "would you mind if I take this and study it, I want to see if this can be mass produced,"

His eyes widened and he quickly took it from her.

"Um, sorry, I kind of need it," he replied, "also, it's basically one of a kind, very hush-hush, and I keep it's secrets very close to my heart."now I do believe you need to show me to the library."

She visibly deflated and slouched a little when he said that, so he quickly cleared his throat and put the Sonic away.

"Now I do believe you need to show me to the library," he said, trying to end the awkward conversation as quickly as possible.

"Oh right, sorry, come one, let's go," she replied, shaking her head and straightening up and they made their way to car, "my name's Asami, by the way. Asami Sato, what's yours?"

"Saltrallosimozonyith, but you can call me Saltrall,"

"Wow, that's quite a name," She said, chuckling awkwardly, clearly caught off-guard by his foreign name, "Are you from around here?"

"Nope, not even close," He replied matter-of-factly with a hint of a smirk. He always found people's reactions to his name amusing.

"Interesting," she said, walking as if in a daze as she thought about what he meant.

They reached her car and they drove in silence until they the Republic City Library, a towering building full of books on almost anything. She pulled over and parked so he could get out.

"Thanks for the ride, Asami," Saltrall said with a smile as he got out of the car.

"No problem, Saltrall, and thank you for getting my purse back for me," she said, smiling softly before seemingly remembering something.

"Oh, right, before I forget," she searched her purse and pulled out a business card and handed it to him, "call me sometime, if you get the chance," she said with a wink before starting the car and speeding off.

Saltrall blushed a little at her flirting and let out a low whistle when he saw the ornate card. Along the top was written Future Ind. and beneath that as written Asami Sato, with a phone number and address.

He smiled and put the card in his sweatshirt pocket with his Sonic and looked up at the building. He always loved libraries, big or small, but this rivaled even the Gallifreyian archives in size. He kept smiling as he climbed the steps and entered the massive structure.