The next day Ronaldo had Lars down at the wharf again. He was stood in the water up to his waist staring over at Ronaldo who tinkered on the dock.
"What am I looking for again?" he called spitting out his snorkel and moving his goggles up to his forehead.
"Anything mysterious!" Ronaldo called back. Lars sighed and prepared to dive down again. So far he'd dredged up a few more pieces of the 'hull' and few small circular things with little peg-legs. In Lars' opinion a bunch of junk. Ronaldo was over the moon excited though.

He surfaced again with a gasp. He swam another small piece of the hull over to Ronaldo. This piece looked a lot more like some kind of technology. It seemed to have chips and circuits.
"I thought you'd like this one." he said holding it above the water and paddling with his free hand. Ronaldo did indeed he plucked it from his grasp as soon as he was close enough. "This stuff is all great. Thanks Lars!" he said arranging the pieces in the sun.
"I don't get why you didn't just pick a bunch of this stuff up before Mayor Dewey had it cleaned. You kno when it was all over the beach." Lars said treading water.
"I did." Ronaldo said scrubbing some algae off a piece. "But it was all inconclusive. You've found some really good clues." he picked up the circular object. "This has just got to be some kind of Robonoid." he said.
"Well, I think it's dead." Lars said sarcastically, as the robonoid's little legs hung limp.
"I'm going to put them in a bag of rice. It worked for my cellphone."
"The one you dropped in the deep fryer?" Lars asked intrigued.
"No. That one got fried." Ronaldo sighed. Lars rolled his eyes.
"I don't even know why I bother to help you."
"Because Sadie gives you the day off when it's to help me." Ronaldo stated matter of fact.
Lars grumbled. Sadie totally did give him the day off to help Ronaldo. It was a lot more fun than working at the Big Donut, but he wasn't going to admit that. Instead he splashed Ronaldo.
"Hey!" the larger man called, salt water matting down his bouncy curls.
"I'm not going to stoop to your level." Ronaldo called trying to sound dignified.
"Stoop to this." Lars splashed him again.
"Lars my discoveries are getting wet." he warned him. The other man stuck out his tongue.
"Splash me one more time and you're in for it." Lars did it again. "That's it!" called Ronaldo. He quickly unbuttoned his shirt and kicked off his sandals. "You're done!" he said jumping off the dock. Lars couldn't believe he actually went in. He barely had time to start swimming before Ronaldo was on him. He grabbed his fleeing foot. Lars spun around and tried to kick out of his grip, as Ronaldo started splashing him.
"Gah! Quit it!" Lars yelled floundering. "I got some in my mouth. I hope you're happy...Ah. It's so salty." he spat. He dived down, not one to like the taste of his own medicine. Ronaldo was laughing in good humour. He let Lars go and treaded water serenely. It was a nice day for swimming. He saw Lars pass near him going deeper.

Suddenly he felt like he was in Jaws. He swam quickly towards the shallower water worried what Lars had planned. Ronaldo yelped when he felt something grab his ankle. Until he realized it was Lars. He tried to pull him under, but Ronaldo was much larger. He continued swimming for the shallow water careful not to kick the little man attached to his foot. Lars surfaced as the water got shallow.

"No fair!" he called to the smiling Ronaldo.
"It was plenty fair."
"No it wasn't. You're so much bigger." he tried to snark.
"You're right I am." Ronaldo said lunging and grabbing Lars around the middle. He was all flailing limbs and as slick as an eel but he held tight. Eventually he was cradling him like a baby. He walked further out into the water.
"Ronnie." Lars said pleadingly. There was no reply. Once they were out deep enough he tossed him into the sea.
Lars came up sputtering and thrashing. But to Ronaldo's surprise he was also laughing.
"You're stronger than you look." he said as he kicked out and floated on his back, Ronaldo followed suit. The both floated in the sun for a while, occasionally giving each other a light splash.

"Will you come up to the Lighthouse later? I need your help."
"Hmm?" Lars said, his eyes closed and basking in the sun. "Oh ya...sure." he floated placidly.

Lars went out diving a few more times. Eschewing the metal pieces and dredging up the ones that seemed to look like some sort of technology. They had a good pile of circuit boards by the time it was late afternoon. The sun was sinking low and the tide was coming in. They finished up packing their pieces into the wagon Ronaldo had brought. The rest Lars shoved in a duffel bag and hefted it onto his shoulder.

When they had everything out at the Lighthouse the place looked just like the ship had exploded there. Ronaldo had his robonoids in a big bag of rice, and the circuits spread out on the desk and floor. The hull pieces were cobbled together in the corner. Lars' task was to spread these things out while Ronaldo took his soldering gun to the circuits.

Once Lars was finished he didn't go seek any extra duties. Instead he turned on the television and flopped down on the couch. He was still shirtless and in his damp swim trunks. Ronaldo was busy working but felt his attention shifting with the television on. He turned his head to see what Lars was watching.

"Oh, man. Is that Soul Blaster?"
"Yep."
"Oh man. Kyosuke is so cool."
"Ya. He's badass."
"Lars! You like Soul Blaster?" Ronaldo gushed, leaving his circuit to sit beside his friend.
"I watch it sometimes." Lars said indifferently.
"Oh this is a good episode too."
"Shh. Don't ruin it."

The circuit buzzed lightly behind the two boys. A red light blinked in the top corner and a few of the robonoids began to shift about in their rice bag. Of course, Kyosuke was soul blasting and the events going on behind them were ultimately ignored.