Chapter Three: Clu

The user stood, trembling in a quiet Rinzler's arms. Of course she would easily escape, but she would be caught again. It truly wasn't worth it. She gripped Rinzler's arm, which she noted was quite muscular. If he was human, she would surely be cutting off circulation. He rumbled quietly in the silence when she backed into him. She looked at him curiously before muttering an apology. Rinzler really didn't care too much about it anyway. It wasn't as if she had hurt or irritated him. It was just unexpected. He turned away to look at the door, awaiting the moment that his master would return.

Her penetrating gaze scanned his body carefully, taking in everything from the circuits on his knees to his helmet. Curiously, she outstretched a hand, touching a circuit on his arm. He shuddered at the feeling that spread through him. He pushed her hand away quickly, stopping it from escalating further.

"No." He murmured quietly. She looked away and focused on the room around her, trying to hide the blush on her cheeks.

"Sorry." She apologized again, resuming her gaze around the room. It had a direct view over the arena, just above Rinzler's platform. The lights in the ship were a bright amber-yellow colour. The only furniture was a couch and table next to the giant glass window. It was not actually that interesting at all to the user.

The door beside her open and the fear spread through her again. The man of her nightmares stepped out with a large smirk upon his face. She whimpered, backing into Rinzler. He released her arm, allowing her room move, but she stood frozen in front of his chest.

"Well, well, well. A user. How Interesting." His voice was sickly sweet as he circled her like lion would it's prey. He found it quite interesting that she chose to stay in such close proximity to Rinzler. Most would jump out of a building to get away from him. Then again, most of them wouldn't be able to defeat him.

The user shuddered under Clu's gaze, brushing another of Rinzler's circuits. He snarled quietly, backing away from her to stand in the corner of the room. Her pupils nearly dilated in pure fear. "Sit down." Clu told her. She immediately sat on the couch. Something told her he wouldn't take no as an answer. Clu's gaze focused on Rinzler and the user could tell he was fuming. A fake smile was plastered on his face as he walked towards him. Rinzler attempted to back away but bumped straight into the wall behind him. The purring turned to more of a whimper. Clu raised his disc angrily. "How did you; a perfect program get beaten by a user? A female user I might add." He sneered. Rinzler stood frozen against the wall, afraid of him just as the user had been. Clu struck him, knocking him to the floor and putting a large hole in his helmet, most likely scarring his face. He let out a pained cry and slumped down on the wall as pixels spilled out of his helmet and onto the floor. The user watched in horror as Clu went to strike him again.

"No!" She shouted, before she could stop the words from falling out of her mouth. Clu turned to her with a questioning gaze. "Please don't hurt him." She pleaded, although she wasn't sure why. The man had tried to kill her in the arena, but then again it was because he had to. Programming was a powerful thing. The user walked forward and knelt by the spluttering program. Clu chuckled.

"Well, if Rinzler takes your fancy then fine, you fix him." He smirked and walked away, shutting the door with a buzz behind him. The user flushed a violent red colour and extended a hand to touch Rinzler's shoulder, carefully avoiding any circuits there. He looked up at her through his damage helmet and groaned up at her. There was little she could do.

"I need you to take your helmet off. Please. Or I won't be able to fix you." She said softly. He shook his head stubbornly. Orders were orders; he was not to ever remove his helmet. "Please." She pleaded. He sighed and pulled back the helmet, pieces of glass falling to the floor. She gasped. His face was familiar, but she couldn't quite place a name. He had short dark hair and bright blue eyes. They flickered closed as he let out another groan. The only thing was that he had a large cut stretching from his eyes to his lip, seeping blue liquid. Clu had nearly derezzed him. 'Damn he's attractive.' She thought and then flushed again, moving his head forward from the wall. Pixels fell down to the floor. She frowned and pulled his disc off, putting his head gently back against the wall. He grasped her arm tightly.

"Please. Hurry." He croaked, eyes glazed over in pain. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it again and nodded solemnly. She put up the holographic image on the disc and fixed the damage code without any problems. There was a file there that caught her eye, but she ignored it. Rinzler would know she was looking. She reattached the disc and watched with relief as the damaged pixels repaired themselves. Rinzler nodded his thanks, a grimace still upon his face "Why?" He asked huskily. The user smiled at him.

"You don't deserve to die." She whispered in response. Of course she didn't truly know why she saved him. It had felt right at the time. He nodded again, closing his eyes. The user lay next to him on her side. Soon she could hear Rinzler purr loudly. Almost as if he was snoring. She grinned and fell asleep next to him.

-

A door opening roused the user from sleep. The sleep had only been for an hour, tops anyway. She noticed an arm across her chest and followed it to find Rinzler snuggled into her side, purring like a kitten. She wasn't entirely sure how to react however, so she lay back down, staring at his sleeping face. A cough drew her attention and she looked up to see Clu with an amused expression plastered on his face. She flushed and turned away as Rinzler began to wake. He hesitantly moved his arm and sat up awkwardly, putting his helmet back over his head. Clu chuckled at the awkward pair. It was all too amusing.

"Interesting." He smirked, walking around the room. The user shrunk under his gaze.

"Can you please not stare at me?" She protested weakly. His smirk grew and he chuckled again.

"Oh? Do I make you uncomfortable?" He questioned, enjoying seeing her flinch. She nodded slowly. He gave her a toothy grin and continued walking around the room. "Jarvis!" He shouted suddenly. The user jumped. A thin bald man came rushing into the room and bowed to Clu. "Show the user to her room." He ordered. Jarvis walked towards her and hauled her off the floor. She shrugged his hand off her arm and walked out of the room before letting him go in front of her to show her the way. He showed her into her room.

"These are your private quarters. And if you need anything, just call for me." He smirked suggestively and she shuddered in disgust at the double meaning behind the sentence. He walked out of the room, locking the door behind him. The user sighed and sat on the bed. Damn it was going to be a long night.