A/N: Ah, yes. Zero likes his game, no? Quite short, I know. But next chapter will be somewhat longer. This idea just wouldn't leave me...
Chapter 3: Priorities revealed
Douglas sighed and ran a hand over his forehead. He had seen thousands of mangled reploids throughout his time as a mechanic, and he had a far better understanding of the anatomy of any single reploid within the HQ than even Lifesavor – and yet, he had never pictured he would see a situation such as this.
It was, actually, pretty impressive, he could not help but conclude and leaned in again to study the phenomena closer. He had no idea how the joints of the jaw had been stretched so much, nor how the synthetic skin had avoided being torn, but he did know that he could fix it again. His biggest problem lay in the request from said reploid…
"I'm sorry, Zero. But I can't save your game," the green mechanic finally stated with a sigh and stood back up.
A strangled sound escaped the red Commander, somehow making its way around the small handheld device that had been shoved into his mouth by a group of angry females, and he grabbed the small pad and pen that Douglas had managed to dig up.
scribblescribblescribble
"Yes, I'm sure," the mechanic sighed after reading what had been written. "The only other way would be to dissemble your entire face in order to get it out, and even then, I couldn't assure it would still be functional."
scribblescribbleSCRIBBLE
"Zero… I would literally have to cut my way in through your neck, torch the entire side of your cheek and lift half your skull from your jaw to do it. And I can't even assure you that I would be able to put YOU back together after that!"
scribblescribble...the red reploid thoughtfully tapped the end of the pen against his chin for a moment. scribble?
"Well… Yes, there is a chance that I CAN put you back together after that operation, and yes, there's a chance that your game would still be intact after that."
With a satisfied nod, Zero placed the pad down on the bench again, crossed his arms and straightened his spine as he waited for Douglas to commence the surgery.
"You know, it WOULD be a lot easier if I just removed it with a crowbar," the mechanic sighed, but found his welding torch and began working…