Slyder and Jackie were carefully using their time to start building Digit's new "shell". They had spent, what would seem to be many days, constructing a new layout and shaping titanium plates into following shapes according to their blueprints. Scraps were put off to the side for later usage as the couple worked together and layout the pieces to predict if it would be good fit for Digit.
"You think it's gonna work Jacks?'" Slyder asked as he stared at the plates. Jackie wiped her forehead.
"It better." Jackie said with a bitten tongue. Why would Slyder ask her of all people? She wasn't a mechanic. Maybe...he's doubting himself?
"I mean, it will." Jackie corrected herself. "You're the best mechanic around here Sly'. You could probably fix evil robots if you got a hold of one."
Sly smiled, "Maybe." As he got up he examined Digit on the carpenter's table.
"Jackie, there's something I have to do...and...it's not easy for me to say this." Slyder threw his gloves aside pacing the floor. He walked over to the table where he had simple memoirs of his father; a blurred image of him as a kid with his dad, a hairclip, and cracked steam punk goggles. He first picked up the picture, staring deep as he was filled with a nostalgic but hurtful past. How the great moments were all too sweet but so short when it came down to his dad's disappearance. He shut his eyes tightly.
"Slyder?" Jackie checked. He lifted his head and turned to her.
"I need to do some delicate operations with Digit. And I have to do them alone." Slyder said.
Jackie flinched, "Is there a problem with me being here?"
Slyder walked up to her holding her hands, "Never. Never ever. Just, try and understand that this is going to be big. Bigger than I would imagine. This is as probably as far as my father has ever gotten to his works...tomorrow's the sixth anniversary."
Jackie looked at Slyder right in the eyes when she realize what he meant. He probably was planning this since the day they decided to do this. But this was becoming more of a fulfilling dream for Slyder than for them all; to fix Digit.
"My father's last goal was to bring an AI back to life. He failed multiple times, and his last project was abandoned. I don't even know where it is. But this can be my...no...our project. It might sound crazy, but my father might help me carry out this."
"You're going to isolate yourself from us until you fix Digit?" Jackie averted her glance down to the ground. Slyder lifted her chin.
"Only for a little while." He smiled. "Trust me. It would be doing me a favor if you explain it to the rest as smooth as possible.
Slyder embraced his girlfriend in his harden arms that were wrapped around her waist and back. Jackie buried her face in the crook of her neck.
"Just don't be like Matt." She told him.
"I won't." Slyder promised as he tilt his head and kissed Jackie full on the lips; making her grip onto his red thermal jacket.
/
Matt drove the ship down to the unrecognized blue territory. He parked between two snowed mountains; aware that it was snowing as well. Matt shut all engines off and sat back in the seat.
"So I'm guessing we're going to be looking around for some clues to anything here?" Inez asked as she pulled a spare coat from the back. She gave Matt a green one.
"Yep. Anything from journals, posters,...confidential documents that sorta stuff." Matt said zipping up. He kept on the foil pants for the fact that he was too lazy to slip them off. Inez stood the same remembering she didn't have any other appropriate pants to wear for the freezing weather; finding the foil pants qualified as thermal as well.
"One hour." Inez timed. "That shouldn't be too long. We need to head back to the garage soon and check up on Jackie and Slyder."
"Also because we don't want to run into Hacker." Matt agreed bitterly. "Let's go."
The two teenagers hopped out the ship and landed in snow that measured probably 2 inches. Inez checked north and east, as Matt looked south and west.
"There's got to be people still here. Hacker has them held up or we just keep missing them." Matt squinted. He spotted a gray building, pulling his watch up. He opened the 3D holographic map and saw the basic layout of the region. Mountains, hills, and a few buildings. Along with several blue dots.
"Woah!" Matt blinked furiously as he steadied his glance at the moving blue dots in the factory. "'Nez do you see this?"
Inez eyes lit up, "Civilians? We're not alone!"
They would have cheered, but remembering of the very little to no way of being sure they were allies. They were to stay below surface until they had drawn suspicion for Hacker; who knows what the civilians might do if they saw them here.
"Let's be cautious." Matt reminded her. "Remember; stay low."
"Right." As the two made their way towards the factory in the near distance.