Shell Shock

Writers: Denny and Leila
Rating: PG-RG
Warnings: Ratchet/Azimuth. Violence.
Disclaimer: We value our lives too much to even dare think about claiming Ratchet and Alister as our own. We borrow them for an RP, so don't worry. [Put the Wargroks back into your cage!]
Summary: Everyone's nightmare is to wake up in a cold, dark place without a clue where one is. Sadly, that's what's happened to us. What's even better, we have monsters and weird encounters to endure as well. And then there's them…
Lucky, right? If I ever get out of here, I will need some therapy sessions.

Chapter 2

-

Sleep slowed his movements as he woke up to a soft pressure in his neck. Tilting his head to the side, he felt the surface yield – a cloth, maybe a blanket or even a pillow. The thought made Ratchet almost snort. As if these existed underground in moist, unpleasant caverns.

Nuzzling into the surface his face was lying on, Ratchet took a deep breath. Leather, desert heat and sand, a tinge of sweat which was just enough to tickle his nose instead of being unpleasant with the other smells. The warmth covered the entire of his left face, his neck and surrounded him from there on down to his feet.

Every thought moved sluggish, only half-breaching the surface before it dissolved or transformed into something else.

Azimuth was still sleeping as it seemed. His arms were loosely around Ratchet's torso as he was protecting him that way.

Ears twitching, Ratchet's brow furrowed. There had been something before he fell asleep, something that slipped away like a small Zyphoid, but much more dangerous. His hands fisted into cloth as he tried to grab the thought and squirmed as anxiety rose - dull at the edges, but ominous, dark in the haze.

When Ratchet's hand dug into his clothes, the elder frowned. For a moment he remained as such before his eyes snapped open and he grabbed his wrench right beside him, only realizing that it had been Ratchet who had woken him up.

The surface moved and jostled Ratchet, at least enough to make him realize that he was awake. Owlishly blinking, two shades of brown greeted the young Lombax. What... where? The weight across his shoulders eased, then shoved under his arm and lifted him to settle him more comfortable against- whom actually? Looking up, he met Azimuth's frown and instantly relaxed. Behind the taller Lombax, tubes greeted him from the ceiling. Rust speckled all over the metal, rendering it slightly similar to a kind of rush in the dim light. Some of the tubes were broken, sharp edges cutting into the air. With a breath – Alister not blocking the rest anymore – he smelled stale and rather humid air as well as earth and dust.

"You seemed to have had an unpleasant dream." The elder remarked, turning Ratchet so that he faced the other Lombax. He smirked faintly. "Have you slept well, despite that?"

"Not really, I was sorta between awake and sleeping, like floating and your head is full of molasses. Still unpleasant because I couldn't make sense of anything." Only now the younger noticed he was resting against the elder. It made him wonder when he started getting so much physical contact with others. He wanted anything but complain or mention it to show his awkwardness, though - it was nice after all.

Turning his neck and feeling his face, the pressure behind his forehead had vanished and the world stayed clear and sharp. "I think so. I feel much better than before - no headache, no dizziness, despite the hell of a flight we had."

"Well, that's a good thing." Azimuth smiled and leant back against the wall, watching the younger Lombax silently. After a moment, he sighed in relief. "Well. I'm glad that your headache vanished. I was really worried."

Ratchet ears perked. Azimuth worried? He had to admit, the elder had shown regularly worry for him since his almost-fall down the tube, from checking him for a dubious illness - Ratchet shivered - to protecting him from that two-headed beast. But Azimuth appeared to be the type of acting on his worry silently instead of telling it.

The elder raised an eyebrow over Ratchet's reaction, slightly tilting his head. "Did I say something odd?"

"No, absolutely not." Shaking his head, Ratchet grinned sheepishly back. "I just remembered how you protected me when the shockwave knocked us down. The speed and the rolling on the ground really got to me that I felt like I was gonna die, but it would have been much worse if I had hit the ground." He stopped, chewing on his bottom lip as he considered how he should voice what he wanted to say.

Azimuth apparently noticed, as he smiled at him as if to encourage his words. "It's just... I'm used by now to solo missions or rather having only Clank with me. He has just as often saved my life as I have saved his. It has become natural between us and we've always been mostly on our own - so it kind of feels strange every time to have another person with me, 'cause... I guess I'm not used to anyone beside Clank helping me."

"Hm." A smirk hushed over the elder's lips. "Well, then there's something you'll have to get used to." He lifted his hand slightly as if he was about to touch Ratchet's head, but then refrained from doing so. "Because there are other people who would help you whenever you're in trouble."

"I noticed," the Lombax drawled. "Like with every of my other friends I've met. You remember, whom you dubbed as 'interesting'?" Ratchet grinned at the elder.

"... Oh no, don't remind me of them!" Alister pulled his palm over his face, only to hide an amused grin. "And there I was, just about to forget the insanity that they embody."

Ratchet waved his hand dismissively. "Sanity is overrated. Okay, not quite, some stuff appears even too weird for me in this universe and I've seen a LOT of it. Speaking of that, if you dislike insanity, then you shouldn't have stayed with me - it's worse when Clank and I are together, but ALL the people we attract are somehow weird." He grinned again, but he had one brow raised at the elder, a mischievous quirk mirroring the one of his mouth's corners.

"Wonderful. The first Lombax I meet in decades and it turns out to be one with a tendency to insanity." Raising his hands theatrically, Azimuth's voice could barely hide the sarcasm. "Not that I mind. It makes the journey with that Lombax much more interesting." After a short pause the elder added something. "... After all, I'm not the sanest person that has ever existed either."

"Well, in comparision you're quite normal, though you can't beat Clank. Sometimes I think he's the only sane one around, though as I said, each of us attracts our own share of weirdness. By the way-" Shifting around on the ground, his gaze traveled down the shaft whose visible path ended in what looked like a twist. "Any idea where we are now?"

"I have just as much information about this place as yesterday." Azimuth shrugged. "But I would suspect that we are close to a facility where such large pipes were needed." Closing his eyes, he leant against the wall. "If we go on, I am sure that we will be able to enter the facility itself."

The silence stretched on. Ratchet was still shifting and the elder crooked an eye open at him, noting the slightly drooped position of his ears. "Is something wrong?" he inquired - was the young one maybe yet still affected by the concussion?

Ratchet turned his head around both sides the shaft for several seconds before he answered, keeping his gaze on both endings. "I'm unsure but I have the feeling we're being watched. Probably only a bit of paranoia - and the need for a good workout, combined with the question if I can even handle standing up by now, so I'm torn between these two." He hesitated for a moment. "Would you mind supporting me?"

For a moment, Azimuth was surprised, startled even at the question of the younger - but then his expression changed to a smiling one. "You wouldn't have had to ask." He stood up, one arm under Ratchet's, and helped the younger one back to his feet.

No swaying? Check. The world staying still instead of tilting and jumping like he was in a rollercoaster? Check. Coordination?
Ratchet materialized his wrench. Lowering his hand, he threw the tool with the upwards motion and a twist of his wrist in the air where it twirled several times vertically around it itself. Ratchet caught the handle, grinning and ears perking. Coordination checked.

"... Hm." The elder crossed his arms. "Show-off." Smiling, he walked past the younger, giving Ratchet a sign to follow him. "Since you're in such a good condition, we can go on now, right?"

Putting his wrench back in the manifestator as the elder walked past him, he caught up to his side. "Did you try to contact Perihelion?"

"I couldn't reach her." Azimuth frowned. "I suppose she's too far away. Either that or she has one of her moods again." His gaze wandered to Ratchet. "How about you? Have you already tried contacting Aphelion?"

"'Moods'?" Shaking his head, Ratchet decided not to question any further. "The same with me, only receiving static. You think it could also be the stone around us blocking their signals?"
They reached the end of the hallway, turning left around the corner. The ceiling rose higher but stayed visible. It was impossible to say from where the light originated.

"Maybe. But I wouldn't say that this is the main reason." Azimuth noticed that their surroundings changed, wondering what that could mean. Were they close to a spot from which they could enter the facility?

"Why is that?" A sound reached his ears. At first Ratchet thought it was the echo of their boots being carried through the shaft, but it was too steady and monotone and it grew louder the further they walked. It thumped and rumbled, like they were walking to the earth's growling belly.

Alister would have answered if there hadn't been that sound. Stopping, his gaze hasted from one side to the other, realizing that the sound was heading towards them.

The elder's ears perked as he thought of the sound as familiar. What was it though? He couldn't put his finger on it. Perhaps… Boots? No. He doubted it, seeing how there was no reason…

A loud, clear voice reached his ears from the the same direction the alleged sound of boots was coming. Azimuth frowned. So there were other life forms here?

He concentrated on the voice, trying to understand. What language was it speaking? If he hadn't known better, he would have believed that there were only tones, not words uttered. The steady sound of synchronized steps did not make it easier…

Wait. Loud voices? Heavy boots? Synchronized steps?

The elder growled. This was not good. Absolutely not. So there were indeed guards situated in this facility, meaning that there was something peculiar within - but this wasn't important right now. What should they do?

Blast it! The young Lombax had his knees bent lightly and leant forward; baring his teeth, he had a fist at his side, ready to call his wrench. The golden tail swung back and forth rapidly, revealing his attitude.

Alister's gaze rested on Ratchet's slightly tensed up body, an eyebrow raised. Placing one hand on the younger one's shoulder, he shook his head and pointed at the fist. It would be smarter to hide for now. With that conveyed in his gaze, he looked for a hideout and pulled Ratchet back into the direction from which they had come.

Ratchet forced a slow breath in and out, then followed the hand around his arm, running after the elder. Back then he would have attacked any enemies in such a situation, and only Clank had been able to call him back to his senses. But, as he had learned last year, forced to be his own voice of reason, retreat was sometimes the better option.

The shaft had no side alleys or doors to rooms to hide in - the only place left to look was at the ceiling which they hadn't payed much attention to before.

"Blasted..." Azimuth looked up. Why, there was a mess of pipes and cables up there, but one could fly into it and hide within. ... But from what he saw there wasn't much space for hiding provided.

Well, some space was still better than nothing.

Turning around to Ratchet, he pointed at the younger one's hoverboots, then made a movement upwards. As soon as he did, his hoverboots were ignited and he rushed through the small opening between the pipes. Then, as soon as he was up there, he got into the space between pipe and metal ceiling, only big enough for him to kneel in. To his displeasure, it was also about just narrow enough for him even from the sides - that would mean that Ratchet needed to stay beneath him while hiding. He didn't care, though - they had more important things than comfort zones to worry about.

With a swift wave of his hand he gave Ratchet the sign to get up there as well - and quickly too. The sound of the metal clashing against metal grew louder with every moment the younger one didn't react.

At Azimuth's sign, he kicked on his own hoverboots. The ion coils began lifting him slowly up, but all of a sudden they spluttered. Ratchet tried in vain to get higher - at least could keep his balance as the hoverboots sent his feet into different directions because of the irregular power feed. In the end the ion coils died and the younger Lombax fell back to the ground.

The guards raised their voices in this moment - maybe they had heard him land on the ground, maybe it was out of a different reason. The sound of heavy steps came closer and closer to Ratchet and Azimuth's position.

Wonderful. Just what they needed.

Azimuth growled, quickly getting down to Ratchet once more and wrapping his arm around Ratchet's waist tightly. The guards were approaching, he could even see some lights nearing them - and so he ignited his hoverboots, rushing back up between the pipes and returning to his hideout with Ratchet beneath him. Just in time - there was a flash of light hitting the spot where they had been standing a moment ago, followed by odd, blurry shapes. For what the general could perceive, their eyes had been gleaming, indicating that they might be robots - yet at the same time, their inconsistent shell suggested otherwise. Besides that, something really surprised him. The stream of guards wasn't ending; so many of them yet it sounded like far less. Curious, he leant down a little, careful not to press Ratchet any more than necessary.

Ratchet had jerked, but otherwise kept quiet as the general laid him down. Crawling a bit forward on his belly, he looked down as well; it distracted him from the odd position and that Azimuth hovered on all fours over him to have room. He felt the other's much bigger body, presence and heat pressing on him even though they only touched at their legs.

Weird beings were beneath them, not even half as noisy as one would expect from such a huge group of guards. Not only that, but also the fact Azimuth couldn't perceive their definite form made him feel unsettled. His fingers curled around the edge of the platform as he watched the last of the beings pass by, the sound of the boots growing distant. The elder remained in his position, still not trusting the sudden silence. What if they came back? Should they advance now? They didn't have even half of their weaponry anymore, only their wrenches and some bombs. Perhaps Ratchet had a gun of some sort, but that would be it - and with such a scarce arsenal, they couldn't even dream of taking on all of these guards.
Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Even as the last guards passed by one by one, it was impossible to tell what forms they had. Before, Ratchet had believed it to be a visual illusion from the speed and the mass of these beings running, thus blurring into each other.
That was definitely NOT the case. Their bodies changed like... purplish gas slowly diffusing, but compressed in a solid state. With each second, no, less, forms shifted sometimes in larger scale, sometimes only in centicubits.

Azimuth had lowered his head a bit more to get a better view on the path, his cheek now slightly brushing the other's. Would it be safe now to proceed? Perhaps he should ask Ratchet what he thought of their situation.

... Speaking of situation. Fur tickled him, not his, but Ratchet's. More than that, he could feel the presence of the other really close to him - the heat, the lithe and thin shape of his body beneath his.

For a moment, the elder's thoughts were scattered. His gaze dashed from one side to another as his throat had an odd, dry sensation to it. What was this? Swallowing silently, he tried to focus on their situation once more.
"... Ratchet." He hushed into the other's ear lowly, afraid that someone other than him could hear him. "Do you think we should proceed now?"

Ratchet hadn't noticed Azimuth was now directly next to him, too engrossed in watching the guards. When the other spoke now directly into his ear, his heart skipped , but not out of surprise. Shock was more like it - whispering, Azimuth's voice had fallen in pitch and it quivered slightly in melody. He sounded like a wholly different person. To this, warm breath washed with the other's words over his ears. He hadn't known it was possible that such little heat could pass through the fur there, but apparently it did - and the skin underneath reacted sensitively to the half-touch.

"I have no idea." Thanks the stars, his voice sounded normal. "We can't stay here forever, we need to get out." Definitely. Azimuth's presence - so big, broad and the heat he emitted - made Ratchet increasingly nervous. It was simply too narrow to be comfortable. "Besides, we need to get some supplies and water. I don't think you collected some water back in the caves?"

"... No. How could I have?" The elder replied idly, more concentrated on the slight yet present tension Ratchet had built up. Probably this situation made him nervous, if not uncomfortable; Azimuth realized that.

He slowly distanced himself from Ratchet's body, just enough to give the younger one some space to crawl out, only keeping his head close to the other's ear. "You go first - but be careful."

Sighing a breath of relief to have more room again, Ratchet shoved his legs forward, slowly slipping down until only his hands hanging onto the edge kept him in the air. When he let go, he somersaulted one time to slow down. He landed with the slightest of noise on the floor, instantly pressing himself again the wall, looking left and right down the corridor. The Constructo Pistol materialized in his hand before he waved up to the other Lombax.

A moment later Alister appeared beside him, kneeling on the ground. As soon as he got up, his gaze rested on Ratchet's Constructo Pistol. How many shots did he have? Readying his wrench, he pointed into the direction from which the guards had come.
"Let's go there. If there are guards, there must be water and food as well."

Ratchet hoped so. "These... things, I don't know if they were organic or robots. What if they don't have anything edible for us?" He felt the other tense next to him, though he felt sure it started with his comment about the guards, not the supplies. So Azimuth was also weirded out by them. No wonder, actually. Whatever race the guards came from, they broke with everything what Ratchet had ever seen. Slowly he stepped forward, inching the way to more unknown territory behind the next turn.

Azimuth followed the other silently, his gaze wandering from one side to the other. He did not like this place, the dangers, and the uncertainty of what awaited them. The fact that they didn't know anything about their abductors and were scarcely armed didn't help him either. Slowly his grip around his wrench tightened as he did not want to be surprised by any enemy. His ears perked, eager to pick up every noise there was. What should he expect of this situation?

The elder stopped as they reached a parting of the ways. One of them was illuminated by a dark blue light, the other had a red shimmer to it. Azimuth sneered. Wonderful. Now which way to go?

Ratchet scratched his head. Apart from the different lighting, the two corridors looked exactly the same. One maybe descended, the other ascended or both of them lead either way - it was impossible to tell without the fitting equipment. 50/50 chance it would lead to hell or to safety - at least for some time. A voice in his mind suspiciously logically sounding like Clank noted, with his usual luck the chance was of 90% that both paths would go 100% to hell. So Ratchet did the only logical thing himself. Resorting back to an ancient, efficient progress thousands had used before him to choose between two available and equally 'right' looking options.
"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe..."

Azimuth, first startled, stared at Ratchet with an unbelieving glare. No... No. It couldn't be that that Lombax really resorted to using this childish, old way of choice, could it?

"... What?"
As Azimuth crossed his arms over his chest, Ratchet scratched his head again. "You can't be serious," Azimuth groaned, tempted to pull his palm over his face. "You are putting our fate into the hands of this, childish... little... game?"

"Do you have a better idea?" Ratchet mirrored his mentor's stance. "We can do some symbolic evaluation on the light, if you're in that sort of thing, but it doesn't tell us which way to take. Both ways look absolutely the same. Both are equally "right" and "wrong" so discussing about it is silly. With my way, we at least get a fast decision instead of agonizing over the 'what ifs'."

"But... But..." Azimuth was struggling for the right words, massaging his temples. "This... This is just too simple to choose the way. I mean..." An aggravated growl escaped him as he just couldn't find a reasonable argument against it. "Fine. FINE. Choose the way. I'll go with your decision."

A grin cracked the corners of Ratchet's mouth up. The elder apparently had to admit that either way was as good as the other. He contemplated to say the rhyme aloud again just to aggravate the elder a bit more, but he choose to be merciful and pointed with his finger alternatingly between the two paths with each silent syllable.

When the finger finally pointed to the blue corridor, Azimuth gave a sigh mixed with relief that the silliness was over. Evident annoyance in his voice, he agreed with Ratchet. "Let's get going." The elder growled under a unbelieving shake of his head, heading into the dark blue corridor. His eyes narrowed as the faint illumination made it fairly hard to perceive something - yet at the same time, he didn't want to light up any more torches either. What if there were more guards? The torch would give them away immediately.

The low humming of machines reached his ears. As it seemed it came from the walls, probably the machinery behind it. So they were closing in to the more recent part of the facility?

Golden ears twitched and moved forwards, backwards as the hum came from everywhere now. It surrounded the two Lombaxes like a glass shaft of noise, hidden behind the walls littered now with pipes. At some points where the pipes bent steam streamed out from the seams and both of them stayed in the middle of the corridor to have their ears safe from the hot gas and being burnt.

"Seems like we're closing in to the facility now." Azimuth kept on walking, his wrench in his hand right behind him. Where were they going now though?

Slowly the blue right was mixed with a purple tone which originated from several small blink displays, all showing the efficiency and stati of the machines - and when they arrived in front of a large metal door, all around them was purple. Even Ratchet.

"What now?" The whisper was nearly lost in the humming. Ratchet didn't know why he spoke so lowly, but the door gave him the chills. Light casting large shadows from the pipes on the door, creating bulges and dents where none were, the surface pulsed with the blinking lights like the insides of an alien creature. The idea of touching it repulsed the Lombax, not to speak of the high possibility that the door was rigged with an alarm.

He showed Alister his old decoder, but the other shook his head.

"... I don't think that this device will bring us into this facility. I mean... Just look around you." His wrench was slued towards the walls. "I can't say that there is a spot from which we can infiltrate the system, yet to speak of the possibility that the machines here are much more advanced than from where we started." His glare rested on the door as if he wanted to burn a hole right through. It was then he noticed a little peep-hole in the metal door for whichever reason. Should he look through? He didn't know.

Ratchet took the decision for him. Approaching the door, though warily, he was careful not to touch it as he stood a bit on his toes, one eye closed as he slowly brought his other to the hole.
To this point, his eyes had adapted and accustomed to the purple lightning around he only unconsciously acknowledged it like he would usually a blue sky. So he nearly fell into the blue lightning on the other side. It was only when two hands gripped on his shoulders hard enough to hurt that he noticed they were holding from falling against the door.

"Ratchet!" Azimuth called out as he kept the other on his feet. "Are you all right?" What had happened? Did he see something alienating? Steadying the other, the elder gently maneuvered both of them away from the hole.

Turning slowly around in Azimuth's hold, he tried opening his eyes. Shards of blue clashed and tumbled with lines and circles over the elder's face. "No," he shook his head. "I mean, I'm fine. Just someone changed drastically the 'interior' on the other side in terms of color - was like looking into a blue sun, kinda."

"A blue sun?" His surprised gaze wandered from Ratchet to the door, piercing it as if it would enable him to look through. Then he turned his attention back to the younger, the frown over his eyes deepening a little before he let go of one of his shoulders. "... I wonder if it was someone or something."

"Maybe it's just like here, the displays just having another color and shade." Ah, great, the light show finally stopped. Resolutely Ratchet ignored the last spots dancing over his view like to the Groovitron, and instead he imitated Azimuth glaring at the door as if it was at fault. It could very well be that there was a laboratory on the other side or maybe an electric energy core which would explain what he had seen. He shared his idea with the other.

"Laboratory?" Alister repeated, tipping against his chin. "That could well be. ... I wonder what they research." He paused as he thought over the possibilities. "... Maybe they build weapons in there, or something with which we could defend ourselves against guards. Hm…" Slowly stepping away from Ratchet and towards the door, he stared at his wrench.

"... You said that the light behind there is blue, right?" He muttered lowly. "And that that blinded you for a second, no?" His eyes narrowed as his wrench slowly charged up, first glowing in a faint, dark blue tone and then suddenly brightening up to a nearly piercing aquatic neon light. With that, the elder hoped to adjust himself so much to whatever light source was behind the door that he could look through the hole. As soon as he was certain that this was the case, he blinked for a moment and then turned his attention to the small window and looked through.
What he saw were several machines, devices and displays, flashing in a bluish tone. Pipes all over the walls, all leading to a specific common point, probably the center of the next room - but the elder could not see anything concrete that could brighten up to a point where it was comparable to a blue sun.

"Mmh, the light is unusually bright but I can't imagine anything inside blinding you that much." He put a hand to his chin, rubbing it pensively. "Did you see a concrete shape or was it just like a plain wall?"

Ratchet didn't have to think. "Definitely an orb. I said sun but actually it was an orb on which surface spikes erupted and vanished." Now that he thought about it - that couldn't have been an energy core. As much as so much energy was compressed in them, it leaked off more in arches and bows or sometimes a lightning bolt. At least when it was properly contained; Ratchet would be crisped in less than a nanosecond after he would see a not properly contained.

"I see." Azimuth nodded idly while he still thought over their next steps. It would probably be both foolish and necessary to continue - for one foolish as they were scarcely armed, for the other necessary since they needed to follow a lead. Right now, that was the only lead they had.

With a sigh as he caught on Azimuth's thoughts, Ratchet rubbed the back of his neck. "It would kinda beat the point if we track now back, as we could run in the second corridor into just another such door. Besides, I really don't want to deal with the guards if we run into them. My Constructo Pistol is full, but these guys could survive more than one shot and in such a narrow space I can't aim properly anyway. The same goes for the energy charge of your wrench. They will overwhelm us."

Suddenly, the young Lombax' shoulders fell and he asked with a tentative voice, "I... I kinda thought about how we even got to this place, starting in these cave we woke up. We both were knocked out and I know I saw our attackers. But the thing is I can't even remember what they looked like. Even directly after I woke up, when they came into my mind they stayed blurry and fuzzy though one of them nearly shoved their face into mine. At first I thought it was because of my concussion. Now I wonder... Do you think they were the guards we saw earlier? Or can you remember clearly how they looked?"

"... I can't." Azimuth looked aside as he realized that his memories were just as foggy as they had been the day before - even sleep hadn't helped a bit. "... So it would be reasonable to assume that they are our abductors, or at least subordinates of the one who abducted us."

It was then the elder looked at Ratchet and realized his posture, the tentative tone of his voice and lowered head. For a moment, the elder just stared at him, struggling with himself not to pat the younger one on his head. His throat turned dry, as it already had that day for a similar reason. Why was it that this Lombax awoke such a reaction? What reason was there?
... Whatever. He had to concentrate on other things for now. "At some point we will find out. And this time, whatever they did to overwhelm us will not work out."

Why did Azimuth stare at him? Was it something he had said... Oh. One of Azimuth's arms was half-risen, the wrist turned upwards to Ratchet, and the younger saw the soft emotions in the other's amber eyes. Instantly, Ratchet's posture straightened and he flashed the General a broad, if forced, smile. "You're right. With the two of us to kick butt, we're gonna knock them right into the ground." He felt the eagerness he voiced with his words, he really did. He also felt touched the elder cared for him so much he would want to comfort him again, maybe even unconsciously - just, slowly he gained the feeling that… That he was weak.

Ah. So the younger one was all right after all. Relieved, Alister was about to sigh in a satisfied way when he noticed a faint, but still apparent notion on Ratchet's face that struck him as odd. It seemed almost as if he was forcing himself to laugh... And the smile, it didn't reach his eyes, did it? But why? Why would Ratchet fake something like this? Was he actually still in bad shape? Suddenly truth hit him like a slap.

It wasn't he didn't feel well or anything; it wasn't even because he didn't want to worry him -
It was because he felt like Azimuth was belittling him.

So that's how it is, huh? The elder thought to himself. Instead of helping my worry actually hurt him. ... Perhaps it's better if I stop this then.

"Indeed." Azimuth smiled back, not even a bit less forced than Ratchet, but still a smile. Then he turned around, his fingers scraping over the surface of the door until they rested around the door handle. "Are you ready to roll?"

Flinching in expectation of an alarm when none came, Ratchet manifested his Constructo Pistol. "Yeah, let's kick butt." This time the smile was real, as grim as it was when it appeared. In return, Azimuth's own twitched to a natural grin - and he pushed the handle down, the door opening inwards into the room.

The blue light was quite a change from the purple tone around them. Azimuth narrowed his eyes as he slowly entered the new room, his wrench already charged for an instant attack. Odd, beside the low humming of the machines there was no sound.

This more and more gained the atmosphere of one of those cheap B-horror holo-movies. A deserted facility which wasn't so deserted and instead crowded with shapeless or shifting guards; a long corridor which pulsed in a creepy color coming from the displays of ominous machines; finally a room which seemed to be an empty laboratory. Stress on 'seemed'.

"... Now the only thing that's missing is an armada of amoeba hunting us. Then it would be perfect." The elder muttered sarcastically when they walked down the corridor until they reached a round room connected to it. Several orbs were glowing slightly, nearly pulsating. With each pulse the light grew stronger. Perhaps they were building up energy?

Quickly Ratchet laid a hand over his muzzle, the snort escaping anyway though. "Are you sure you're not meaning Amoeboids? I didn't know they've also come to Polaris."

"... Of course. It's Amoeboids, not Amoeba. I mix up these two sometimes." Azimuth sighed. "... You encounter them here. Occasionally, but still. I know that they started appearing when Doctor Nefarious came to Polaris." He rubbed his chin lightly. "Makes me wonder if he invented them."

"... You're kidding me." Oookay, that was getting creepy now. "Because, yes, he invented them but released them in Solana. They somehow spread to different planets even without his influence – but another galaxy? Either Nefarious has shipped them in or- they got here on their own."
Ugh.

"... Wonderful." Azimuth buried his face in his free hand, groaning lowly. "Nefarious keeps making problems even when he isn't trying. I bet he would enjoy this if he knew about that." He walked along the round wall, watching the blue spheres pulsating with more and more intensity.

"You're telling me." Ratchet followed the white Lombax, but stayed closer to the middle of the room. Maybe he imagined it only - he felt a subtle electric charge frizzling through his fur like an itch.

What were these spheres for? Azimuth couldn't really think of any good use for it. His gaze wandered up along the wall pipes as they were leading upwards and connected at the steep within a needle. Odd. What was that for? According to Ratchet there had been a blue flash with brightness close to a sun, probably an indication for a huge discharge of energy.

...

Oh no.