Re-upload, as there was a copy/paste mistake. I hope the chapter is all right! Do let me know if there are issues.

This was once again beta-read by the amazing Cant_Catch_Rabbit! Second to last chapter, now.


The station of the rest stop totally filled the window as a loud clang filled the ship.

"Docking complete," Ruko droned.

Luka pulled on her jacket, patting the pockets to make sure everything was there. "You'll be all right here?" she asked Miku.

"I'll be fine," the tealette replied from the bed, the blanket wrapped around her legs. "I will make sure nothing untoward happens to Ruko."

"Great. I'll just get fuel and maybe some other supplies if I find anything," Luka said. "I shouldn't be super long."

"Wonderful."

"You sure you don't want to come?"

Miku smiled, but the scavenger could see in her eyes that she was going to insist on staying, whether she liked it or not. "This is a brief errand, and I'm afraid I would only keep us here for longer. We need to continue our travels as soon as possible."

"There's not that much to see."

Miku didn't reply; lingering safety concerns, especially related to Miku's arm, went unspoken between them. Luka nodded, checked her pockets again, then opened the door.

"I should be less than an hour," she muttered when the hiss died down. "If you need to leave for whatever reason, just pretend you belong. People don't care enough really to squint at your arm."

"Very well. I'll be here!"

Luka hesitated a brief moment, her hand already on the doorframe. She could hear the bustling of the station already, and a stray announcement she couldn't quite decipher. Fresh air floated into the ship.

Without warning, she turned away from the doorway, approaching the bed instead. Miku blinked in surprise, but her question died in her throat when the scavenger kissed her.

"I'll be right back," Luka whispered. She had meant for it to be a quick kiss goodbye, but the hand in her hair was already making her linger on for a little longer than anticipated.

"I'll be here," Miku whispered back. "Stay safe."

"You too."

Luka kissed her again, doing her best to exercise restraint, before stepping out the ship, waving goodbye as the door slid closed.

Once again, for the first time in several cycles, she was alone. What was new, though, was that she was already starting to feel lonely.

First things first: they needed fuel if they ever hoped to reach Terranova. She approached the terminal at the center of the dock, waited in line, then paid for gas for her ship.

Then she turned towards the rest of the station.

Random little stations were more or less everywhere in space. The bulk of them were en-route between major cities, but many floated on the outskirts, catering to those who dared venture outside the civilized galaxy. There were few sentient residents; most tasks were automated, and the only employees there oversaw maintenance and order. The only other living beings aboard the station were weary travelers in search of quality sleep in a firm bed on more solid ground than could be found on the typical space ship. Sadly, such stations were far removed from any real planet. There was no use for a day/night cycle, so even if the galactic time was displayed, the light never fluctuated. And the whole station was barely more than an overgrown ship itself; only the fact that it was orbiting a faraway star categorized it as a station instead of a cruiser. Disk-like in shape, ships of all sizes could dock on the outside, and in the middle there were shops and stores with essentials. There usually was an internet cafe, for those who needed to check up on the latest possible news before leaving, or returning to, civilization, curled up with a warm drink and the illusion of solid ground. But even that felt fake. The local gravity field was reliable and steady, but there was just something about walking on an actual hunk of rock that felt different.

She walked toward the center of the station, looking at the store fronts. There were almost no branded products in any establishment; all things sold were low-price and probably of average quality. There were no designer clothes or high-end exploration tools, no pawn shops and no repair services, but there was a market with huge supplies of long-term rations, basic communication tools, clothing, and bathroom essentials.

One of these stores caught her eye; she stopped in front of an electronics store, then slowly headed in. The wad of bills in her pocket had grown significantly lighter after having purchased a whole tank's worth of fuel, but she hoped she could find something of use. Sure enough, after walking up and down the rows of backup batteries, replacement cables, kitchen supplies, electric razors, vacuums, she found a basic multi-purpose, long-distance radio. Even though the price was surprisingly low, she picked up the box and looked at the specifics. After a moment's consideration, she tucked it under her arm, and kept walking. Further up, she found memory cards of all kinds. After further browsing, she picked up a couple cheaper ones, then headed for the terminal.

Goods purchased, she resumed her walk. A few storefronts down, she found a place that sold clothing. She hesitated a bit longer there, but did give in, walking up and down the aisles. She was no fashion expert, but she was sure she could select something wearable for her companion.

Luka sighed, holding up a shirt. After a bit more thought, she took her microphone and attached it to her collar.

"Ruko?"

"Yes?"

She put down the shirt. "Can you ask Miku what her clothing sizes are? And her shoe size?"

"I can."

Ruko stayed silent for longer than Luka anticipated, but she had to remember that they had to communicate out loud. After a few seconds, the AI had her answer, and Luka moved on to yet another aisle.

"I have another question," she whispered, spotting a bright sweater out of the corner of her eyes. "But could you keep this from Miku?"

"I could. However, as she is second in command, I am required to inform her if a secret conversation takes place."

"It's not..." Luka trailed off. "Fine. It's all right."

"What is your query?"

"I was wondering if you had footage," she started, letting her voice drop when someone passed by. She busied herself with looking at a sweater before throwing it over her arm and moving away from the busier parts of the store. "Footage of when the pirates shot me."

"Of course," Ruko said. "Would you like me to prepare the film for viewing upon your return?"

Luka considered it, eyeing the fancier hair ties. "I'll be visiting the cafe soon. Could you send it to a terminal there?"

"Of course."

"Great. I'll let you know when I get there."

Despite the conversation ending Luka only slowed down her pace, carefully considering every piece of clothing before making up her mind. Even when it was obvious that a shirt would be too big or too small, she would stare at it for a long while, pretending to make up her mind.

Still, it felt like it was all too soon when she approached the store's terminal, purchasing a small wardrobe of clothing and accessories along with a pair of shoes. Once that was bought and bagged, she had almost nothing left in her pocket.

It would be just enough for a drink.

With slow steps, she went towards the station's internet cafe. It was bustling, possibly because this was the only cafe on the relatively small station. She had to wait in line for her drink, she had to wait for it to be made, watching the machine work with subdued impatience, and she had to wait even longer for one of the many terminals there to be freed.

"Ok Ruko, I'm logging in," she whispered into her microphone, entering her info to the terminal.

"Sending."

After a second, three files popped up on the screen. Luka made sure that the audio was connected to her implant before opening a video, only to see that this footage had been taken from the top of the ship; the angle was impractical, almost nauseating, so she closed that video and clicked on another.

This one was from the front of the ship; she couldn't see much of anything. But she heard the clanging of boxes as they were pushed into the pressure chamber, then into the ship itself. She vaguely remembered Miku had been singing at that moment, except her song didn't pierce the void of space. Then, Ruko announced the presence of pirates, and the pirate ship came into view, the slick bullet-shape cutting through space with startling agility.

She stopped the video when the first shots fired, the flashes blinding.

Luka took a deep breath, leaning against the terminal with both hands. Then, she opened the third video.

This one was taken from inside the pressure chamber. She could see Miku work, dressed in Luka's clothes, ridiculously baggy around her form. And she saw herself, in the distance, deep in the freighter, as she pushed box after box of spice towards the android. Miku worked deftly, managing the boxes with care. She disappeared out of sight only long enough to push the crates into the ship proper, before returning to the pressure chamber to get the rest of the crates Luka had prepared.

There was no audio in this video, but Luka could see the moment Ruko announced the pirates' presence. She saw how her posture stiffened, her hand on her gun, how they started desperately moving the spice into the ship. A crate exploded, sending powder everywhere.

Miku was reaching out towards her, and Luka was firing back, her laser far too bright in the darkness of the freighter.

Luka flinched when she saw it happen; her torso looked like it exploded, her blood clouding around her within a second, the drops forming thick globules that mixed with the spice. Just like that, she went limp.

She felt her heart beating in her throat when she saw Miku kick out of the pressure chamber. She immediately grabbed her unconscious form, and Luka saw her fist ball around the opening in her suit. The android whirled around, surprisingly agile in the weightlessness of space, and that was when the pirate ship almost eclipsed it all. Surely thinking that Luka had been alone, it had approached, far, far too close for comfort. The pirate ship was large, easily twice the size of Ruko. It approached far too close, far too fast. Miku barely kicked out of the way in time, dragging Luka's limp body with her as she returned to the relative safety of the pressure chamber. Blood had splattered on her skin and hair, but only some; most of it had been carried far away by the momentum of the shot.

Just when Ruko started pulling away from the conflict, the side of the pirate ship opened. A small army exited it, all suited up not just for space, but for battle, sporting armored plates, helmets, bandoliers with extra ammo. They were armed to the teeth, deadly, and all guns were pointed right at the android.

Left hand still firmly wrapped around her suit, Miku's right arm opened, the bright teal light swallowing it all.

Luka paused the video.

She knew how the story ended. Seeing how many they were, how close, she knew exactly how the bloodbath would play out, how the tealette's face would end up being covered in gore, the ship destroyed single-handedly, the wreckage left to drift forever through space.

Sudden nausea overwhelmed her.

There was no doubt that Miku could defend her. That she would defend her, without question. This was less than a day since they had first met and the tealette had dispatched a small pirate army without even flinching.

Luka breathed, gulped, closed the video, logged out, and walked away from the terminal.

It was so easy to forget, sometimes, that Miku was so deadly. That she was ready to be deadly if need be.

Only if need be.

Miku was a uniter, first and foremost. Yet the first thing Luka had her do upon waking is steal spice and kill. And she was about to continue to ask that of her for the next few decades to come.

What were a couple of decades in the vast sands of infinity?

Luka returned to the ship, eyes downcast. The door opened as she approached. Before even stepping into the pressure chamber, she saw Miku lying in bed, wrapped in the blanket, eyes already on her.

She was smiling.

"I am fully refueled," Ruko announced as the door closed behind her. "Ready to depart whenever you wish."

"Perfect," Luka said, shrugging off the bags. "How were things here?"

"Quiet," Miku said. Aside from keeping her eyes on the scavenger, she didn't move. "How was the trip?"

Luka opened the box of the communication device she had purchased. "Productive."

"I hear you also had a chat with Ruko?"

"Not really. I just wanted to see some old footage," Luka mumbled. She turned the radio around in her hands once, twice, finding no screws. With a huff, she took out a hammer and strategically smashed one side.

The cheap casing broke without further resistance.

"I just wanted to look at a few things," she explained, prying the device open.

"Very well."

Luka swallowed thickly, anticipating more questions that didn't come. In silence, she took apart the cheap toy, not caring if she snapped a few cables. Miku stayed in bed, watching her work.

The woman gradually relaxed, finding comfort in her task. When she found what she was looking for, she held it up, examined it closely.

"Could you come here for a second?"

"Of course."

Miku stood, clad in her second-hand tailored clothes, and approached the workbench with a soft smile.

"What did you find?"

"This might be able to replace your communications unit," Luka explained, showing it to her. "You think you'll be able to work with this?"

The android accepted the chip, looked at it far more closely than Luka ever could. Her eyes zeroed in on the tiniest of details, surely seeing more than the human could ever comprehend.

"I'm not entirely sure," Miku admitted. "There are analogous parts, so I'm sure I can be made compatible, but as it is, it will not fit in the port I have."

"Could I try to make it compatible?"

Miku nodded, handed her the chip, then pulled the shirt up over her head. Briefly, before her back opened up to reveal the ports there, Luka was graced with the sight of her perfectly smooth skin, so inviting to the touch. Even after the panels opened, Luka bit back the temptation to run her hand across the surface, to wrap an arm around her midriff.

There was still so much they hadn't yet explored.

The woman cleared her throat, examined the old chip, then started gently prying the old shards out, narrating her actions as she did them, occasionally stopping to ask for permission, to make sure it didn't hurt.

"I was wondering," Luka asked at one point, after the necessary notes had been written and her plan had been drafted. "How perfect are your memories exactly?"

"How so?"

"When I remember things, I forget exactly what was said, most of the details. Intense moments make for vivid memories, but only selectively. I can remember that I saved you from Dex, but for the life of me I won't be able to tell you what I was wearing that day. It's...messy. How is it for you?"

"It depends," Miku said after some thought. "My every waking moment is stored down to minute detail. If I wish to recall information, however, it is easiest to bring up the picture only, or perhaps the relevant audio. But I do have the power to revisit moments if I ever choose to."

"Revisit?"

"My memories are so complete that I could close my eyes and re-experience what I have already lived. All the input and output would be repeated; I would be seeing what I saw, hearing what I heard, thinking what I thought and feeling what I felt, in real-time. This does mean complete detachment from reality."

"Sounds almost like dreaming..."

"It is a real moment, though. It is also simulated, so I would not move around as I might have in the moment of the memory. Also, no matter how many times I would do this, the integrity of the memory will not falter and no details will change. I cannot alter memories; they will always be identical to what I experienced the moment I recorded them."

"Right."

"There is little reason to do that, however. Mostly, I sift through the audio files to recover information. Pictures, as well. Why do you ask?"

"I was just thinking back to some of our first conversations," Luka muttered, doing her best to keep her hands still as she attached wires from the new chip to the old socket.

Miku replied, perfectly still, "Ah. Are you hoping to recall something specific?"

"Not really. I was just thinking how weird it is; we met relatively recently, but that day feels like it was forever ago."

"Much has occurred." Miku chuckled. "I remember that you could not talk to me without your helmet, at first. You were talking in Common, which I had never heard of."

"Yeah..."

"You were very polite."

Luka paused. "Was I?"

"Yes. Though I did not understand at the moment, revisiting the audio later proved that you were clearly doing your best to communicate that you needed to put your helmet on before the conversation could continue. And I just kept talking!" Miku said, the smile audible.

"To be honest, I was a little scared of you," Luka said. "You were the very last thing that I was expecting. But you proved to be harmless rather quickly."

"I suppose so; it appears your manners dropped alongside your fear," Miku teased.

"Maybe." Luka cleared her throat, clipped on yet another wire. "I was afraid. But what did you feel?"

"I was overjoyed. Hopeful," the tealette said. "There was sadness when all my friends failed to respond to my call, and when you told me that I was all alone."

Luka paused. "I'm sorry."

"But then you had told me that you would find an audience for me, and I was once again overjoyed," she went on. "Though, I am afraid that might have been an unintended lie; your translator may have been responsible for that. Careful analysis of the audio proves that there was some difficulty in communicating specific points and nuances."

"...Right. I don't remember what I said, but..."

"It's all right. I have found happiness regardless," Miku said, turning her head to glance at her from the corner of her eye.

Luka nodded, eyes downcast. The chip had been attached to the port; it wasn't the most elegant work, but it looked as though it would hold.

"I think I'm done."

"Let me check." Miku stayed quiet for a moment, before smiling, saying, "Yes, this works!"

The woman let out a sigh of relief. "Thank the stars."

"This one is far more powerful than my old unit," she said. "I can transmit data so much faster than before!"

"Now we can communicate at optimal speeds," Ruko droned.

"Fantastic."

"Thank you, Luka," the android said, the panels to her back closing.

"No problem."

The android stood, holding up her shirt, but Luka stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Wait."

"What is it?"

After taking a second, she sifted through the bag again. "I also bought some extra storage, in case you need it. I remembered that sometimes you have to re-compress all your memories, so I figured I might at least give you more space to work with. If this fits at all, at least."

Miku once again accepted the memory cards, looking at them closely, the shirt-half forgotten in her grasp. "Ah, it would seem that this technology has stayed very similar, all these years. I could work with this."

"Where is your memory located?"

"In my head."

Luka frowned. "In..."

"I can open my skull, if need be," Miku whispered, her voice subdued. The fist around her shirt tightened. "It is unpleasant, however. It may not be nice to look at, either."

"...Do you still have some storage space left?"

"Quite a bit. Enough for another year or two. I will need to see how far I can compress all this new data I have gathered, since you woke me."

Luka frowned. "How similar is this to what you have?"

"Near identical. The card itself is smaller, and may need a casing to make sure it fits the slot snugly, but the connection is compatible with what I have."

"How big is the slot?"

Miku put her shirt back on as she told the woman the details. Once again, Luka took meticulous notes, before looking at the spare materials she had, selecting a piece of non-magnetic, heat-resistant material, and patiently cutting, then sanding it down to size.

"You were right, this was a productive stop," Miku commented, watching the scavenger fit the memory card into the casing. "I'm getting all sorts of upgrades."

"Well, it's quick to do," she muttered. "Like this you're a little closer to functional, even without your arm."

"I do suppose time is of the essence, when it comes to making me functional."

"Well yeah. Can't have you walking around falling apart the way you are."

"And I can hardly protect you efficiently in this state, either."

The tealette's words pulled a frown onto Luka's features. "I guess."

"With the extra memory, I can also help Ruko remember vital information, like trade routes, important connections, and so on."

The scavenger nodded. "Yeah. More memory is always useful."

Finally, the card popped snugly into the casing.

"Ok, this is done. Where..."

Miku once again turned her back to the scavenger, untying her hair. There were no visible seams between her teal locks, only at the nape of her neck, so when Luka saw a panel start to lift up from there, she wasn't too surprised. When the android's scalp split into two, parting the waterfall of hair, she almost jumped.

To her surprise, most of the contents of her skull was hidden under yet more panels and layers. There were some lights, some smearing of color, markings that betrayed that she was made of recycled parts. It made sense, though Luka was relieved; she didn't have to glare at her very brain.

"Do you see it?"

The woman jumped, standing to get a better view. "Not... Not really."

Miku pointed, and there, above her right ear, she saw a few open slots. "You can insert it there."

Luka gulped but did just so, delicately pushing the card in. "This okay?"

"That's fine." After a pause, she chuckled. "Oh, wow! That is... That is so much space!"

"There you have it," she muttered, taking a step back. "Alright, close up. I don't want to accidentally fry your brain or anything."

Miku laughed but obliged, her parts disappearing under a sea of teal. "I hope that wasn't too jarring."

"Jarring? After seeing your arm open up a thousand times, seeing you hold your own foot? That almost made it okay," Luka admitted, helping her with her hair. "But it was your brain. It's who you are and everything. Dex was going to claw his way in there. And you just—"

"I trust you, though," Miku said with an easy smile. "With my arm, my foot, and even my brain, yes. I know you won't ever intentionally risk breaking me. Not in a million years."

Luka nodded, considering her words carefully. "I guess not."


"This doesn't hurt?"

Miku shook her head. "No."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure!"

Luka took a second to breathe, making sure her feet wouldn't slip, leaning against the workbench. Before her, the android's right upper arm was fixed to the bench with a press, ensuring it would remain absolutely motionless. Miku, on her knees so that her shoulder would be level with the table surface, watched with apprehension as the scavenger prepared to quite literally shove the barrel back into her arm.

"It should click right into place," Luka said, for probably the twelfth time that day; they had been anticipating this moment for hours. "But the material is pretty stiff..."

"I know," Miku whispered, though her voice was far more nervous than impatient. "I won't move; push as hard as you can."

"You're sure?"

"Yes!" the tealette groaned, the fingers of her free arm gripping the edge of the table. "Just do it already!"

Luka breathed again, lining up the barrel with its socket, deep in the complex of Miku's elbow. In that point of her arm, it was mostly a tangle of support struts and metal bars, but she had cleared the way, even removing a few to make sure the barrel could be replaced.

It had to happen right then; she figured that she wouldn't make any other progress until the barrel was back. Too much of the structure depended on its presence. Plus, if she had to watch the limb flop around one more time...

"Okay, on the count of three," she whispered, the barrel firmly gripped in the largest pair of pliers she had. A little whisper reminded her that it might hurt the android, even if just for a second. "One... Two..."

Without counting the last number, she pushed the barrel forward as hard as she could. True to her word, Miku didn't budge. Her knuckles didn't whiten at the strain, while Luka leaned in with all her might. A low groan emerged from the tealette as they pushed for one second, then two...

Finally, with a deep, metallic thud, the barrel snapped into its socket.

"There we have it!" the scavenger declared, sagging to the floor. "Is it all right?"

Miku didn't reply right away, opening the press with her free hand. Luka rose to her feet to help the android's arm out of the clutches of the press; it was still a mangled mess. Getting struts stuck in clothing was practically guaranteed. The barrel didn't sway or shift in the socket though, standing resolute in the mass of metal.

"I think it's fixed," Miku said after a moment, a hint of relief obvious in her voice. "The other components will have to be reattached to make it functional, but at least it is back where it belongs."

"Finally!" Luka said with a laugh. "Alright, that's progress!"

The android made a few test swings with her limb; nothing fell out, even if the loose struts rattled. Nothing unexpected, all told. Luka watched her carefully, studying her expression, trying to figure out what she was thinking. It was a bit odd; after the memory update, Luka had given her all her new clothes and accessories, and with them she looked, once again, like any other human female. With new anti-gravity hair ties, clothes of her size and shoes to match, it was strange to see metal emerging from the limb of a seemingly normal person.

"Did it hurt?"

"Only briefly," Miku told her, still blinking at her arm. "There are some areas where I cannot turn off my pain sensors. It was a quick moment, though. It couldn't be helped. So don't worry."

After swallowing the grain of guilt, Luka was more than satisfied. "Alright. I can finally make some progress putting your arm back together again, for real," she said, taking a seat at the workbench.

"I can probably walk you through much of the process now," Miku said, resting her forearm on the table as she had so many times already. With almost two cycles of daily work on the limb behind them, sitting together at the workbench was just another part of routine. "I can even share the blueprint with Ruko, so they might display it for you."

"Great! Do that, so we can make sure your arm can at least become a hand again," Luka said, gathering the struts she had painstakingly removed.

Miku, however, frowned. "I suppose. But it might be most useful to make the gun functional first, no?"

The scavenger almost didn't realize what she had said. "What do you mean?"

"Fixing the gun itself won't take very long. Perhaps a rotation or two," Miku said. "It is, as I told Kaito so long ago, designed to be easy to repair and maintain. There are few parts and all are sturdy. Just a few hours of work and it will be as good as new."

"But we're arriving in Terranova tomorrow," Luka said. "I'd rather you have a hand than a gun."

"I suppose that's a good point," the android said with a slight frown.

"You can't exactly go walking around like this," the scavenger went on, arranging the struts so she could better visualize which went where. The blueprint appeared on the wall above the workbench a second later, and it was quick to see that she was on the right track.

"A bag or cast could hide it for the time being," the tealette tried. "We won't be staying for very long, after all."

At that, Luka paused. "How so?"

"We are visiting to give Meiko an update, no? Then it's straight back to work," Miku said.

"We can hang around for a little."

"Would Meiko allow that?"

"Sure. Since my last visit, she told me I can stay for longer."

"Would she allow me to stay?"

"Of course."

The android stayed silent for a moment. "I didn't know."

"It's fine. I didn't tell you."

"Do you want to stay?"

Luka, who had just picked up a strut and a screwdriver, let her hands rest on the table again. "Maybe for a bit, yeah. We've been soaring through space for cycles on end, and before that I was running myself ragged. I could use a few days on solid ground." When Miku didn't reply, she asked, "Don't you?"

"I figured we might make as much progress as possible in order to make Aya habitable. The sooner, the better."

"It's..." Luka released the tools. "I mean, you're right. But there's no real hurry."

Miku frowned at her broken arm. "My gun will be more useful to us both in the long run."

"Useful, maybe," the scavenger conceded. "But you're not a weapon."

"I need to keep you safe somehow. This will help."

"Having two hands helps, too."

"That is true. But..." Miku only scowled. "I want to help."

Luka watched her think for a moment, before returning her attention to the exposed limb in front of her. Now that the barrel was back, and with the blueprint to help, she could better see how the puzzle fit together, though it might still take a while before she could put it all back where it belonged and make it collapse nicely. Fixing the gun first could certainly take less time. Perhaps it would even be wise; without the support structure fixed, she had easier access to those parts.

"It would scare Meiko and the kids, though," she muttered weakly. "Seeing your gun in a still image on the news was bad enough."

"If we hide it, then they will surely accept that it is nothing more than collateral damage from my abduction."

"Sure." Luka picked up the strut and turned it around in her hands, double-checking the orientation. "But they might prefer to hear that your gun is the broken thing; not your normal hand."

The android remained conflicted.

"You know you're not just a tool to me," Luka whispered.

"I know I'm not. You have been too sweet to me for me to even believe that for a second," the tealette replied, her voice just as hushed. "However, I want to protect you. Keep you safe. This is what saved your life from the pirates, back when we first met. Without my gun, you would have surely perished."

"Right."

"I would feel better if I could protect you."

Luka fidgeted, putting the strut back down. "How about..."

"Hm?"

"How about this? I fix your hand first, we'll hang around Terranova for a bit. I'll show you the zoo and the botanical gardens. And when we get back to work, we'll only go after safe targets, at least until your gun is fixed?"

Miku mulled it over; Luka stared so hard she could almost see her think, the cogs whirling somewhere behind her opal apertures.

"You wouldn't mind wasting so much time on Terranova?"

"Not at all," Luka said. "I wouldn't mind a little break before we get started again. Recharge for a bit, you know?" When the android still didn't look convinced, she added, "And, I'll be honest, I'm a bit selfish, and I would really prefer if you could hold me with both hands."

At that, Miku smiled. The sight made Luka's heart skip a beat, and she could only smile in return. "I'll give in to that."

"Plus, I can only really give you new experiences, can't I?" Luka went on, her voice a little weaker despite her smile. "So please. Let me show you Terranova while we're there. Before we jump headfirst into danger again."

"Promise we'll play it safe until I can protect you?"

"Promise."

"Very well, then," Miku conceded. "This might take longer, though. I might not be fully functional before we reach Terranova."

"It'll take all the time it needs," Luka said, finally putting the strut back in its place. "And not a second less."

Miku watched her work, her eyes so full of love Luka swore her heart might burst. The scavenger, though, hid her lingering worries behind her mask of concentration.