CHAPTER TWO

Yha I'm not too fond of using first person for stories… but I thought it was about time I got some practice. So that's part of the reason it might be a little iffy wording wise.

Sorry it took so long, But here is is! I chose to continue it.

I was a little disappointed that I couldn't watch his hands as he worked on me since he had my head tilted up so he could get at my voice box. It was always weird when he worked on a part of me without removing it since I could feel everything that was done even though it didn't hurt.

"There almost done… this system is surprisingly complicated…"

He was about to connect the last two pieces when someone opened the curtain, taking his attention from Hakuba.

"Hello Kuroba-kun, good job like always." The person said, and Hakuba recognized the voice to be the manager of the parlor. "It's so nice of you to help fix up these guys, and I'm sure they appreciated it!"

Kaito laughed. "It's no trouble at all, I enjoy working with mechanics and a little spare cash always helps."

Hakuba could hear the manager as he slowly walked around to stand beside the magician, and out of the corner of his eye he could see that he was smiling.

"It's still really appreciated, and I'm actually here to ask you a favor. You see our Night guard recently quit…"

Hakuba swore he felt his circuits freeze, he knew where this was going but he didn't want to believe it. The manager knew what happened to guards at night, was he really going to get Kaito killed? The magician helped them and saved money, surely he wouldn't kill someone who helped improve this place… even if he didn't care about human life he cared about business.

"I was wondering if you were willing to take his place for a few nights, at least until we found a replacement." He gestured to the side and chuckled a little. "We need someone to watch this place, and I'd be happy to double the normal pay for you."

Please say no, please say no.

"I'd be happy to help." He said. "When would you need me?"

Oh no…

~SNTM~

He felt the need to shout, to beg him to reconsider and not throw his life away. He would have too, not caring if it led him to being dismantled the boy didn't deserve such a fate! However his voice wasn't quite fixed and he was disconnected from his body so that in case of an error he wouldn't thrash and hurt him.

They went on for what felt like the most excruciating and drawn out hour he'd ever been on for, talking about whether or not a uniform would be necessary and other such things until the manager left to do other things.

"This is great." Kaito said, turning back to Hakuba. He could hear the smile in the other's voice. "I really could use the extra money, and to get it without sacrificing something else is perfect."

A click and a pleased hum and Hakuba felt his voicebox connect again for the first time in years. It whirred loudly and was still heavily damaged, but it was active, and that was an improvement.

"Hey I could put some of that extra cash into you pal." Kaito laughed. "You guys are the reason I'm getting it after all, and you need it. This voice box looks like someone crushed it in their fist… You might need a whole new one with damage like this…"

It had been crushed in a fist… Namely Gin's fist when he'd tried to warn one of the past guards to shut their door. He'd just reached into him, grabbed it and crushed it with the ease of the older kids crushing a Styrofoam cup.

"It should still sorta work though." He continued, putting it back where it belonged and fixing Hakuba's head so it was facing him again. "Now what was the command to activate it again…"

He routed through a yellowed manual, snapping it shut when he found what he was looking for.

"Here it is!" He cleared his throat and with no little enthusiasm said, "Detective Saguru! What on earth are you doing here?"

He had permission to speak now, but only with one of several lines. What was the best one to try and get across a warning?

"I c-c-came to do my job. This SHHH -viously… work of a serial killer, and not a-ahh case for a - like y-you."

His voice was scratchy, skipping parts and impossible to understand at points. Still he kept trying, pushing the limits of the rules as far as he could and hoping that he wouldn't lose his voice again over it.

"K-Kuroba K-kun."

The magician's grin slipped, replaced by a curious look when the animatronic said his name.

"You are n-no - here, this SHHH my job. You are be-better off-ff returning home. Sa-safer there."

He was hoping it would scare him off, or at least unnerve him enough so that he would think twice. However Kaito just laughed and returned his eyes to the manual.

"It said it recognized voices and faces since he had the old programming, but I didn't expect that he'd been active long enough to know mine! This is amazing technology." He paused scanning the page and grinned. "You guys are left to wander at night, so I could possibly hang out with you all night and test your programming. This will be so much fun!"

Hakuba felt his heart drop, it didn't work. All it did was make him more eager to stay and more likely to wander from the safe room.

An alarm went off and the magician began putting things away.

He was leaving...and there was nothing Hakuba could do to stop him from coming back the same night.

He had failed to save him while he had a chance.

~SNTM~

"Don't beat yourself up about it."

They had less than an hour until the night shift started and Hakuba was still upset he couldn't do anything. Coan was beginning to get annoyed with him, but he couldn't help it.

'He's a good person. He doesn't deserve to die, and I couldn't stop him….I should've done more.'

"What and get yourself completely dismantled? We need to get this place shut down so we can save more than just one person…" His voice softened, and he sighed. "I'm not happy about this either, but if we are beat there is nothing left stopping the others. We need to keep fighting as long as we can, and that means living."

Hakuba couldn't even think of a response, and he just sighed.

"He's smart...right? So he should be fine for one night. They're always easiest on the guards first night."

He was right, he was only going to be there for one night so he should be fine.

As if they knew what he was thinking he heard the others head towards his corner. Laughing and talking loudly before they pulled open the curtain.

"Did the little Detective hear the news?" Chianti said. "Your mechanic will be spending some time with us!"

Bourbon smiled, and nodded. "How nice that we finally get to tell him how we feel about you getting all the attention. You're not the only one who needs maintenance."

They both laughed again.

"Since he's only here for one night, we'll have to make sure it's a special one."

"No going easy on this one. We simply just don't have the time."

No,no no no no….

They left laughing even harder, sure to give him looks that clearly said 'You can't stop us'.

And he feared that they were right.