Welcome to Gaia! ::

Skye smiled in thanks.

"Soon," she answered. "I'm graduating in a month." She was glad that this girl was able to fix it. Explaining to her professors that her notebook wasn't working anymore was getting really tiring. Everyone stared at her strangely when she entered class with only pencil and paper.

"My name is Skye," she said, sticking her hand out toward the pink-haired girl, nodding towards the man. "Pleased to meet you."

She wondered briefly whether she had startled him when she entered the store.

A popping noise broke through the room. She raised her head calmly at the sudden noise and glanced towards the doorway. Seconds passed, and she tried to breathe quieter. It was disturbing hearing gunshots so close by.

The screams of many people did not comfort her much. She raised her eyebrows in a questioning sort of look and turned towards the girl and then towards the stranger who appeared in the doorway, asking if they were ok. He seemed friendly.

"Yes," Skye nodded,hoisting her guitar case back onto her shoulders. Without being aware of it, she had dropped it on the ground. "Thank you."

Pierce turned on the Navi pad and let it boot up and update his current position. As it came on he pulled out the card that the Guy at the hotel had given him. He pulled it out and read the location. He entered the location into the device, he then noticed something, the read Daren and Robyn Gizmo. That's why it seemed so familiar! But there probably could have been hundreds of "Robyn"s in the city for all he knew. He looked at the pink haired girl, she definitely bore some resemblance the guy who must have been Daren.

He opened his mouth to ask her when suddenly gunshots rang from outside. Pierce tensed and shoved the card back into his pocket. No way! Those stupid robots must be out there. He turned to tell the other two girls that they should all probably get out of here, however he stopped short when Robyn hefted a fancy looking pistol. He was slightly intimidated by the professional why she held it. Then, the door opened and a man in something resembling a law-enforcement uniform walked in. "You guys okay in here?" He asked. He then gave a sly wink at the two young women. Pierce relaxed. He had half-expected the sadistic robots to burst through the doorway and pepper them all with rounds. He was starting to get just a little paranoid he realized, he shut off his Navi pad and stuck it back into his pack. He still was bothered by the fact that he had not payed for the service and he definitely meant to.

"I left you like 50 messages the other day. Still haven't received a call back." Jake replied as he shifted his weapon just a tad, eyeing Pierce just a little.
He was new.
Jake Defi could tell.

When you worked, fought, lived, and ate in the same city you sort of developed an invisible bond with every living and non-living being in the city. That you've seen them somewhere before, or you've bumped into some of the service bots.
Service Bots looked the same. They all looked the same, there were no differences to them except their serial code, which also turned out to be their identification "name". But even that became familiar.
BR34591889 was the Service Bot in the west sector of the city.
DH95509143 was the Service Bot in the Lower class regions of the city.
PD80896782 was the Service Bot who helped out the Police Department 24/7.
Things like that.

So one look at Pierce and he immediately found himself wanting more. The fact that someone knew was in a shop near the crime scene? It was either coincidence or suspicious.
Most of the time it was the former more than the latter.

Now Skye, he's seen before. Playing music and all. His duties took him almost everywhere. Finding time to flirt with her was...hard, but for the most part he usually just watched from afar before being called away.
Maybe he had his chance now?

A question was directed at him. It came from the owner of the Robotics Shop they were all currently in. Jake rubbed the back of his neck, and looked at Janessa Sutherland. Cute girl...in fact, there was never a shortage of cute girls in Megalopolis. Too bad nearly a quarter of them saw through his acts of flirtatious luring and turned him down flat out.
"Never if we don't actually investigate and n** this problem in the butt. Or you can help me protest to the higher ups on giving me 500 well-armed, well-trained men with up-to-date weapons. THEN we'll have the city cleared of eggs in a few days. Another week and we'll be at the core of this problem and putting an end to it." It was the answer he always gave them.
There was really nothing he could do about it. "At least we Cops are doing something about it, instead of creating some stupid...Secure living zone and hiding behind that."

Skye put her hand gently on Robyn's arm. She hated when people argued about pointless matters such as this. It was such a waste of breath.

"I'm glad you guys aren't out fighting the eggs." She said. She didn't know who Darren was, but he seemed to be someone especially important to her. "If everyone did that, the casualties would be enormous. We already have enough people dying as it is."

"That being said," She turned to the man in the doorway. "Insulting people is not the most tactful manner of entry. If there is anything we could help with, I'm sure we would all be willing to oblige."

"Yeah, right!" Robyn shouted after him. "You know perfectly well that nothing happens with Daren's say so, and no one here is stupid enough to go out looking for Eggs... that is, except for you," she added with a smug grin. "And besides, it's not you they're looking for. It's me."
She looked at the robot in the corner where Jake had dumped them and frowned, walking over. These seemed new, like they had just been made. It seemed like the Heralds were making technological advances as they spoke.
s**t... she thought, going back behind the counter. s**t, s**t, s**t...l

--
Finally! Daren thought as the end of his shift drew near. I feel like my arms have grown into this damn counter...
Grabbing his cellphone from the desk drawer, he put on his jacket and headed fro the clocking-out machine. Right on time, as always, and Robyn was probably over at Sutherland Robotics or something, talking to Ness. Flipping open his phone, he began dialing the all too familiar numbers.
"Yeah, it's me," he replied once Robyn had answered. "Yeah... uh huh, I figured, it was all over the news... what?? Jake?? You're kidding... ugh, again? Robyn, why can't you ever just walk away from a fight when it's over your head... well then, if he insulted me then maybe you should let me take care of that, ever consider that?... Alright, I'll be there in a few. See ya."
Sighing, he pocketed the phone and began walking down the streets, the orange of the sunset lighting up the skyline as he headed over to the west side of the city. Robyn, the most pig-headed girl in Mega.

Skye collapsed on the bench next to Pierce.

"I hate arguments like this," She sighed, propping her guitar up next to her. They were such a waste of time and nothing ever came out of them. If that man wasn't an officer, she would punch him in the face. Why did he just randomly come in and start accusing people? It was the most nonsensical thing to do ever. She twisted the strap of her guitar case around her fingers, fighting the urge to do so. They were so loud.

"Sorry," she said turning to the man besides her. "I didn't catch your name. I'm Skye, but you probably knew that. So what's New London like? I truly hope it is more peaceful than it is here."

"That sounds like a nice place." Skye paused for a moment. "I've never really been anywhere before, pretty much lived here my whole life. But one day, I'd like to go there and see it. The eggs... I hear stories about them but this time is the first time they've attacked so close." She wondered what Robyn meant when she said that they were after her. Why would the eggs be after her? Seeing how she argued freely with an officer, she wondered if Robyn was really only a girl who ran a store and fixed things. Something seemed strange. Perhaps Pierce also was part this. Skye was confused.

Regardless, it was awkward listening to the two of them argue. She tried to continue talking to Pierce, but conversations were not her strongest point. "Are you currently living around here?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Congrats on your graduation." Skye answered.

"The guitar?" She asked, when he gestured towards the instrument. "Yeah sometimes. I usually sing though but I can play other instruments if necessary. Our guitarist was out with a fever today so I had to take his place." There was a lull in the conversation. Pierce seemed easily distracted, constantly looking around the room as if for something to jump off of.

"Let me guess... you parkour?" Skye asked hesitantly.