Chapter Text
"Uh... Kai? I gotta ask," Jay sighed. "Why are you wearing those?"
Kai pushed up his cheap plastic sunglasses and grinned. "Because they look badass."
"I'm not so sure about that." Cole squinted. "Yeah, no, you look like a dick."
Jay snickered.
"Oh, come on! They're classic! Zane, back me up here!"
"...I have no comment."
"Aw, man... you guys are no fun."
"Take those off before the client gets here," Jay giggled. "You'll scare her."
Kai clicked his tongue and tossed them into the garbage. They must have been as cheap as they looked.
There was a timid knock on the door.
"Perfect timing." Cole opened the door and smiled. "Mrs. West! Please come in."
The woman obviously hadn't slept, judging from the bags under her eyes. She entered the office with her hands tightly clutching her purse. "Hello. Did you— did you..."
"Don't worry. We found out what your husband's up to." Kai placed the photos he'd taken on the desk: sneaky shots of a man in a fast food restaurant. Next, he put the pictures Zane had taken of the same man eating at a buffet beside them.
"The good news: he's cheating on something, but not you!" Jay announced. "Notice what he's eating in all these photos."
The woman looked over them. "Burgers, steak... Meat. Oh, my poor Jerry... The doctor put him on a diet— no red meat."
"It appears he didn't want you to discover his inability to change his eating habits," Zane further explained.
She took a deep breath. "I guess I'll need to have a talk with him, but not the one I was expecting." She glanced at each of them. "If you don't mind me asking... why are all four of you working on this?"
Kai leaned back in the cushy desk chair. "I could totally handle a case like this on my own, but these three need me."
"Excuse me?!" Jay whispered.
Kai pointed at him. "Jay's pretty brilliant, good at thinking outside the box, but he's tightly wound and oversensitive."
"Hey!" He whined.
He gestured to Zane. "Zane's a genius, but when he gets too invested in a mystery, he starts saying everything he's thinking out loud. Kinda gets in the way."
"I—" He stopped before protesting. It was true, after all.
"And Cole! He's big, he's strong, he's dependable! But he's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed."
Cole gasped. "How dare you?! You're a cocky moron!"
"But!" He spun around in the chair. "I am GREAT undercover, and I've got the charisma!"
"You're no more charismatic than I am!"
"Anyways," Kai continued, ignoring him completely, "we make a good team. Things just go better with all four of us."
"I suppose the results do speak for themselves," the woman remarked. "Here: the rest of the payment." She shuffled through her purse and pulled out her wallet. "Thank you boys for easing my mind about this."
"Just doing our jobs." Kai took the money and shook her hand.
They exchanged some pleasantries before the woman left.
"Marriage saved!" Kai exclaimed as the door closed.
"Doubt it," Jay sighed.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Jay is correct. She came to us with very little evidence that her husband might be having an affair," Zane said. "This suggests that her faith in him was incredibly low to begin with."
Cole nodded silently in agreement.
"Right. All she said was he wasn't always coming back in time for dinner on weekdays. The guy works an office job with shifting hours; that's pretty normal, with him having a weird schedule like that. I'm surprised we found out he was doing anything at all. If that's all it took to make her suspicious, something else is up with their relationship," Jay explained further.
Kai frowned. "Man, you guys are such buzzkills."
"I'm just tired of investigating cheating spouses," Jay whined. "When is somebody gonna come in with an actually interesting case?"
"It's been pretty slow, lately." Cole plopped down in one of their brown leather armchairs. "But the cops in this city are garbage. I doubt we'll go out of business or anything. It's just a slow period."
"I hate slow," Jay lamented. "The slower work is, the more time I have to think about my empty, sad life!"
"Single and desperate to mingle..." Kai muttered with a smirk.
"If you need a case to think about, how about you investigate the mystery of where we're getting lunch?" Cole said. "I'm starving, and it's your turn to pick."
"It's not even noon!" Kai chuckled.
"It's close enough!"
"Oh, fine, sure. I'll just grab takeout from Chen's." Jay pulled out his smartphone. "Anyone wanna go down there with me?"
"I can accompany you," Zane answered.
"I assume you guys want the usual?" Jay asked.
"Yeah," Cole and Kai chimed in almost perfect unison.
"Yes," Zane answered.
Jay sighed. "Alright. Order's placed. C'mon." He trudged to the door and left without another word, Zane in tow.
"Damn, Jay is seriously messed up right now," Cole remarked.
Kai hummed. "Probably because my sister turned him down."
"Nya? Jay actually asked her out?!"
"Yeah. Nya said he bursted into tears."
"He was always sensitive to rejection."
"No, like, as he was asking her out. In the middle of it."
"...What?!"
They cackled over the image of Jay sobbing out a date proposal.
"Man, I guess it's for the best. Never would've worked out. Nya's way too busy for a relationship in the first place." He rested his head in his hand, propped up by the mahogany desk.
——
"I fear both of us are gonna be perpetually single," Kai sighed.
"Eh. It's not worth worrying about." Cole took a sip of his coffee and leaned against the gymnasium wall. They both showed up early to school each day, and no one was ever in the gym that early, so they could hang out away from the other early arrivals.
"Maybe not worth it to you, but I definitely need a girlfriend."
"Y'know, I don't get it. You say you want a girlfriend, but there's no girl you want to date. You just... want the concept of a girlfriend?"
"Uh... well, when you put it like that, of course it sounds weird! But it's not weird to want a partner, even if you don't know who it is yet!"
Cole hummed. "If you say so."
Honestly, what was Kai on about? In all his life, Cole never wanted a partner in such an abstract way. Was he the weird one?
"Hey, uh... on the topic of... partners." Kai coughed. "I was... kind of... wondering about something."
"What?"
"You, uh... look, you like guys."
"...Yeah?"
"How did you... I mean, how do you know that?"
Cole wanted to laugh, but he knew Kai was probably asking in a genuine way, so he refrained. "I never really thought about it all that much. I've only ever liked dudes. I'm only attracted to dudes. Kinda came to my own conclusion eventually."
"So... hang on, women aren't attractive to you? At all?"
Cole raised an eyebrow. "Huh? I mean, I can tell when someone is attractive, generally speaking, but I'm not attracted to women myself."
Kai scratched the back of his head. "But isn't everybody attracted to anyone that's hot? What's the difference?"
Cole couldn't hold in his laugh this time.
"What?!"
"You're not very good at puzzles, huh?"
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
"I mean... there is a difference, but maybe there's not a difference... for you."
"Well—" Kai's face relaxed in realization. "Ohhh. That's why— oh, man, that makes so much more sense..."
"You ever have a crush on a guy?"
"Only one. Well— hang on. Now that I think about it..."
"Did you have that thing when you were young where you really like a guy but you're sure it's definitely admiration, or maybe jealousy, that's making your heart beat so fast?"
"Yes!" Kai laughed. "You too?!"
"Yeah, before I realized boys could like other boys. I thought that was a boy-girl only thing for a while."
"So I am bisexual, then!" He was grinning, but his expression dropped gradually. "Nya's gonna be all 'I told you so' at me..."
Cole snickered. "Nya knew before you did?"
"I didn't believe her! I thought everyone thought everyone was hot!"
Cole cackled.
——
The high school memory kicked up from relationship talk made Cole chuckle.
"What's funny?" Kai asked.
"You, Hothead."
"Huh—? What did I do?" Kai glanced around, like that would somehow help. His cheeks were turning pink.
"Nothing, don't worry. I'm just reminiscing."
Kai seemed shockingly self-conscious. He shrank in on himself a bit and stared at the computer, blush unfaded.
"...You okay?" Cole asked softly.
"Y-yeah. I'm fine."
"Are you still upset about the sunglasses?"
Kai blinked, then laughed. "Nah. They were only two bucks, and I could barely see out of them."
"Why even bother?" Cole chuckled.
"Aesthetics!"
The office phone began to ring. Kai picked it up without missing a beat.
"Julien-Smith-Walker-Brookstone Private Investigation! How can I help you?"
"You boys really need to come up with a shorter name," Cole heard the phone crackle.
"Detective Wu!" Kai grinned and pushed the speaker button. "What's up?"
"Are all of you there right now?" Wu asked.
"It's just the two of us," Cole answered.
"Ah... that's alright. I have a favor to ask of you all."
"Uh... you sound serious, sir. Is it serious?" Kai asked.
"Not terribly. You see, a relative of mine has been enduring some... troubling circumstances. However, he has recently... escaped those circumstances. Still, he remains affected. I worry because he's still young, still has to find his way in life. He is a bit... directionless. If it isn't too much trouble, would you consider hiring him? Only as an intern, of course. I feel that you all may be able to help him far more than I can."
Cole and Kai stared at each other.
"It's... not your brother, is it?" Cole thought of the serial killer working with them and wasn't fond of the idea.
"...No? Garmadon is in prison... You know this."
"Just checking."
"Uh," Kai grunted. "Can you... give us a second?"
"Of course."
Kai pushed the speaker button and covered the microphone with his hand. "Dude?"
Cole took a deep breath. "I mean, it's weird..."
"We can't afford to pay anyone but ourselves..."
"But there's no way we can just say no to Detective Wu... but he said he'd just be an intern, though. So I don't think we'd have to pay him."
Kai's eyes lit up. He apparently hadn't processed that detail. "We can make him do paperwork for free!"
Cole grinned. "I hate paperwork!"
Kai pushed the speaker button once again. "Alright, we'll do it!"
"Oh. I thought you would need more time to discuss it with Jay and Zane."
"Trust me, they'll be down," Cole said.
"...If you are certain. Thank you. I... I know this is a lot to ask, especially as you are my students, but... it means a lot to me. I have little family left, and I couldn't bear to watch him stray down the wrong path..." A genuine sadness tainted his usually calm voice. "I will introduce you as soon as I am able. Once I know when that is, I will let you know."
...Perhaps they were being a bit flippant about all this by planning use the guy for paperwork. "We'll do our best," Cole promised.
"I cannot thank you enough. Now, I have some business to attend to, unfortunately. I believe I have customers."
"Tea shop is really taking off, huh? Take care," Cole said.
"Goodbye."
The phone beeped at them. Kai ended the call.
"I wonder what's so special about us that makes him think only we can help this guy," Kai sighed.
"Beats me, but we owe him everything, and he's hardly asked for anything in return. Whatever he's thinking, I'm just gonna go with it. I owe him that much."
"Yeah... me too..."
——
"Order 57," an employee droned from the counter. It was the woman that always seemed to stare at Jay whenever he came here. This time, too, she watched Jay closely.
Super weird, but thinking about it made him freak out, so he chose not to. Jay grabbed the bag, and the two investigators left. As they meandered back to their office, he turned to Zane. "You've been pretty quiet today. What's on your mind?"
"Um... It's nothing."
"Worst lie I've ever heard! Come on."
Zane was silent, and Jay could practically feel the unease radiating off him as his gaze drifted to the ground. That couldn't be good.
"...Is it something serious?" He asked, softer this time.
"...No..."
"Another bad lie." Jay nudged him. "You can talk to me. Right?"
"...Of course."
"It's okay if it's embarrassing, too, y'know. I do embarrassing stuff all the time!"
Zane took a deep breath. "I have... a problem."
"What... kind of problem?"
"I cannot feel my left arm."
"What?!" Jay stopped and looked over Zane's arm frantically, carefully feeling the entire limb. "Seriously? Can you— I mean, you were moving it earlier—"
"I can still move it. However, I seem to be unable to raise my other arm above a 90 degree angle." He put his hands on Jay's shoulders. "We're making a scene. Could this wait?"
Jay glanced around and noticed a few people staring at them. He backed off. For Zane to have more social awareness than Jay, Jay must have really lost it for a second. "Sorry..."
"It's okay," Zane assured him.
"Is there anyone who knows how to... fix you?"
"No. Not since my father died."
Jay bit his lip. "Is there any way you could... look at it yourself, then? No, what am I saying, doing repairs on yourself is a horrible idea, if you shut down or stopped being able to move, things could get really, really bad, and it's not like you know exactly how you run, either, and what are you gonna do, stick your own head inside your torso—"
"Jay."
Jay snapped out of his spiral and focused on Zane again.
"We should return to the office."
"Right. Of course. We should tell Kai and Cole that—"
"Don't tell them about this!"
Jay blinked.
"I..."
He'd had a hard enough time just telling Jay. Telling the others would maybe be too much. How Zane was feeling exactly was a bit of a mystery, but Jay could somewhat understand the words Zane had left unspoken.
"...Alright. But when we're alone, I'm gonna finish checking your arms, okay?"
Zane nodded.
——
"So, then, you guys are cool with hiring the guy, right?" Kai asked.
Jay shrugged. "Sure, I guess."
"You already agreed..." Zane said. "But yes, that would be acceptable to me."
Cole wanted to express his happiness at their answers, but his mouth was too stuffed with his last puffy potsticker. It came out as a muffled grunt.
"I hope he's not a jerk," Jay commented. "I don't wanna have to sit around with a jerk."
Zane began gathering everyone's garbage as Cole finished up his food. "I wonder what Detective Wu meant by 'troubling circumstances.'"
Jay shifted. "Zane, you shouldn't— uh..." He gave Zane a strange look.
"I am happy to assist. Besides, if I don't clean up, none of you will."
"True that," Kai said.
Jay still looked unhappy, but he didn't say anything else. Weird.
There was a knock at the door.
"Oh, shit," Kai muttered.
"How much you wanna bet it's another cheating partner?" Cole asked.
Kai grinned. "20 bucks it's a cheating situation."
"You're on."
Kai opened the door. "Hey there! Come on in!"
A guy dressed in all brown came in, his hunched shoulders screaming "anxious" as much as his worried brow. "You're the, uh... private investigators?"
"Julien, Smith, Walker, and Brookstone, yes," Jay answered.
"You guys gotta help me! There's somebody trying to kill me!"
"Uh..." Cole put a hand on his shoulder and guided him to a chair. "How about you sit down first?"
"Okay... yeah..." He took a seat, adjusting himself a few times. "My, these chairs are comfortable!"
"So... what's your name?" Kai asked, sitting opposite him.
"Dareth."
"Alright, Dareth. Then... why do you think someone's trying to kill you?" He tried to keep his tone calm and understanding, but after years of knowing him, Cole could tell he was a bit skeptical.
"I can sense it! You see, I'm... sort of like a ninja!"
"Uh huh."
"I can tell when I'm being watched! And stuff keeps breaking all around me! It's like someone's trying to snipe me and keeps missing!"
"And you're certain that these are not accidents?" Zane asked.
"Believe me! I'm incredibly dexterous!" Dareth whipped his hands around in an attempt to do cool martial arts poses, and he knocked the tissue box off the side table next to him. "Dag nabbit..." In trying to reach down and grab it, he bumped his head on the lamp. "Ah!"
"Right..." Cole went and grabbed the tissue box himself. "Anything else? You have any enemies? People who hate you?"
"Well, there are many who covet my martial arts prowess... but there's these guys who've been trying to buy out my dojo. I'd bet anything that it's them!"
"You own a dojo?" Kai muttered incredulously.
Cole elbowed the side of Kai's head. "What kind of guys?"
"Real shady ones. I think they were wearing those funky colored contacts. So freaky! I couldn't even make eye contact with them; it was just too weird. And they all wore face masks and hoods."
"No, like, their jobs— why are they trying to buy the dojo?"
"Wouldn't say! They just keep offering me more and more money, knocking on my door or calling me every few hours! But yesterday, when I said 'No, and that's final! I won't sell it no matter how much you offer!' they suddenly stopped!"
"Yeah, that is pretty weird," Jay said. "Why would anyone want some dojo that bad?"
"Perhaps the building has some value beyond real estate," Zane suggested. "Is there anything unusual about the dojo?"
"Nothing that I've noticed. The acoustics are incredible, though."
"How long have you had it?" Jay asked.
"Just under a year."
"And... you really think some guys are trying to kill you over it?" Kai asked once more.
"I can't prove it, but yes! And if it's not them, it's someone else!"
"Right. Well..." Kai glanced at the others. "We'll let you know about our decision tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?!" Dareth shot out of the chair. "But I need protection!"
"Protection?" Jay repeated.
"We're investigators, not bodyguards," Cole told him.
"I'll pay top dollar! You guys look strong! Please, just do whatever you can?"
Kai raised an eyebrow. "...How much is 'top dollar?'"
"I'll give you an extra hundred!"
"Mm..." Jay hummed doubtfully. "That's only 25 bucks per guy..."
"Each! 100 extra to each guy who guards me! Per day!"
Cole met Kai's eyes as they considered the deal. Kai looked like he really wanted to do it.
"Seriously, you'd be saving a life here!"
"I mean, I'll do it," Cole offered. It's not like he had anything better to do. At the very least, hanging out with this... interesting guy at his dojo would be a change of pace. It could even be entertaining, depending on how it went.
"Yeah, me too." Kai leaned back in his chair, far more casual than what Cole saw in his eyes moments ago. "How about you guys?"
"Zane and I have some... stuff we gotta do tonight," Jay quickly replied.
"Well, that's two," Kai said to Dareth. "But look, man, I seriously doubt someone's actually trying to assassinate you. Are you sure you wanna pay this kind of money? It's probably a total waste, and I'm no scammer, so you've gotta really be sure, or we're not taking the job."
Kai had always had this habit of talking like he was in charge of their group despite the fact that their decision-making process was pretty democratic, but at least in this case, Cole agreed with what Kai was saying, even though he hadn't even really thought about it until Kai said it. Kai's high respect for clients was a bit surprising, but it was something Cole admired about him.
"I'm absolutely sure! A martial arts master can always tell when something's amiss!"
"...Alright, man. If you say so."
"You're lucky we do actually know how to fight," Cole chuckled. "Why not hire actual bodyguards, though?"
"What, are you kidding? Actual bodyguards won't be trying to investigate who's trying to kill me! It'd never end!"
"Well, when are we starting?"
"Uh... now?" Dareth said. "I have a class in an hour."
Cole sighed. "Alright. Sure. Can you guys handle this place by yourselves?"
"Of course," Zane answered.
Jay nodded.
"Alright, then," Kai sighed. "Let's... go to your dojo. You drive here?"
"No, I took the bus. Uh... Saves money on gas, you know. And the... environment? Right?" He more asked than said. "Look, I don't have a car. You guys wanna take the bus back with me?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna pass on that offer. It's good to have a vehicle around in this business." Cole pulled his keys from his pocket and showed them. "I'll drive separately."
Kai's eyes widened. His stare burned the words "please don't leave me alone with this guy" directly into Cole's brain.
"...Unless you'd rather... just have me drive you, too."
"Perfect! Who needs the bus, right? I mean, I'm... incredibly fearless, as you may know, but, uh... the ride over here. It almost made me crazy! There's so many people, and any of them could've been after me!" A nervous laugh escaped him. "It's... just not... feasible to... defend myself! Not enough space! I could... hurt a bystander!"
"Well, you don't need to worry about that," Cole said, more to stop him from spiraling than anything else. "Come on."
Cole and Kai always seemed to have at least some amount of fun wherever they went, so maybe this job wouldn't be too dull.
——
As sure as Jay was sure they'd driven away, he approached Zane. "Alright. Gimme your arm."
"Which one?"
"Uh... let's do left first." He grabbed that arm.
"That is my right arm."
"Right— right— my left, your right— whatever, this one first, then." Jay lifted the arm until it was perpendicular to Zane's body. "So it won't go any higher than this?"
"Correct."
"Can you try?"
"I am."
The arm wasn't moving at all. Jay let it go, and Zane demonstrated its range of motion. As he'd stated, motion simply ceased at a right angle.
"But you can feel it, right?"
"Yes."
"And your other arm..." Zane took his hand. "Let me know if you can feel something."
As Jay gradually moved up Zane's arm, he watched Zane's face for a reaction of any kind. He saw nothing until about midway up the upper arm, when Zane's eyes widened.
"There— I can feel starting from there."
Jay took a deep breath. "Well... from what you said earlier, we're gonna have to find someone who can... operate? On you?"
"But..."
"I don't exactly know who we could go to, but there's gotta be some mechanic or engineer who could do something. I mean, Cyrus Borg would be the best man for the job, I think, but that guy's busy and famous, so I doubt we could just walk up and ask."
"I was—"
"I think we could probably try—"
"I was hoping you could do it."
Jay stopped. "...What? Me?"
Zane nodded.
"But... I'm not an expert. I might... mess up."
"What makes you believe you aren't an expert?" His head tilted slightly.
"I— I dropped out of college! I have no certifications!"
"A degree is not a requirement for being knowledgeable."
"No, but... there's a lot I don't know. And you're obviously really advanced. And complicated. I could break you!"
"I trust you."
Jay felt a pang in his heart, like someone shoved a pen into his chest.
"I would rather put my body in your hands than anyone else's."
"I mean, don't say it like that..."
"You've previously expressed an interest in examining my inner workings. Has something changed?"
"...You weren't... having technical issues before."
"...I see." He frowned.
"I..." He plopped down in a chair. "I can take a look tonight, but... no promises."
"Thank you."
——
"So... I just hold it here?" Cole asked, wood plank in his hands.
"That's right. Now, don't be too startled by the sheer force that's about to come down." Dareth cracked his knuckles and took a stance.
Kai took a step away from Cole and watched, puzzled.
"Alright. Here we go." Dareth raised his arm, took a deep breath in, and a let deep breath out. Then another deep breath in...
And he shouted, slamming his arm down with full force into the wood. It bounced off spectacularly, returning enough energy to force him into a stumble. He howled in pain, grasping at his forearm for dear life as he waddled around the dojo in circles.
"I don't get it," Kai muttered as he stepped back towards Cole. "Those kids were actually pretty good, but their teacher sucks... how is that even possible?"
"Fuck if I know." He winced as he watched Dareth try desperately not to shout again. "You good, man?"
"Fine! I'm— just fine! That was nothing!"
"Why, uh..." Kai bit his lip. "Why're you doing this if you can't break it?"
"Oh, I can break it! I did it before, I can do it again! Just gotta... keep up my practice."
"You practice this?" Cole held the plank at his side.
"Once a week! A martial arts master should always maintain his skills!"
Cole watched as Dareth finally collected himself enough to stand still. "...At least you're determined."
"That I am. Let's go again."
"Uh..." Cole glanced down at the plank. "You probably shouldn't?"
"Oh, come on! I'm fine!"
"I don't know, man, that looked pretty bad. And overdoing it will only hurt you. Trust me, I'd know."
"Well, if you know so much, how about you chop it?"
Cole gripped both sides of the plank and applied as much force as he could, snapping it in half with a small grunt. Kai made a tiny, startled noise next to him.
Dareth stared in stunned silence before clearing his throat. "...Th—that wasn't a chop... but I see your point."
"So... dinner?" Cole glanced at Kai, then back at Dareth.
"Of course you're thinking about dinner," Kai snickered.
"On a busy night like this, I usually just order pizza. That cool with you?"
"Definitely!"
It briefly occurred to Cole how bizarre it was that they were getting paid for this.
——
Jay dragged a big bag of tools out of his workroom and set them next to his couch.
Zane watched curiously. "What do I need to do?"
"Get on the table," Jay said, pointing.
Zane raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
"Well, it's better than being on the floor, isn't it?"
He hopped onto the table and laid down on his back, arms and legs just barely dangling off the edges of Jay's coffee table. "I hope it doesn't break."
"It shouldn't. I'd be kinda shocked if it did."
"I was under the impression that you had a specialized workbench."
"I mean, I do. But... I dunno, wouldn't that be kinda demeaning?"
Zane just stared at him.
"Besides, I'm just... checking things out. So..." Jay hovered above him. "Uh. Could you... y'know... open up?"
"Right. Of course." He sat up to take off his shirt and quickly folded it, then placed it on the ground next to him.
Honestly, it was pretty unnerving for Jay to watch Zane open up his entire abdominal cavity. He'd only seen this once before, years ago, when he was proving to them that he was a robot. It was a bit uncanny, seeing a door he never noticed was there being pried open. He couldn't help but be fascinated at the same time, though. After years of wondering, he'd finally get to see what made Zane tick for more than just a glance.
When he lied down again, Jay sat on the couch and leaned down. "Oh, wow..."
Where a human's heart would be sat a glowing, blue module with several wires and cables branching from it. Undoubtedly, that was his power source. Zane had once said he didn't need to recharge, so what the hell was that thing made of? Was it somehow an infinite source of energy? Or was it recharged while he "slept" at night? But Zane had said before he didn't technically need to sleep...
His hand had reached toward it, but he stopped himself. Now wasn't the time for that. He focused elsewhere.
The first thing that caught his eye after that was what was obviously Zane's stomach. For some reason, his dad made a clear window into the sack. It was filled with translucent, greenish-yellow fluid, and at the top, a thick tube ran up and out of the cavity through the top— clearly an esophagus. Weird.
Maybe his power source somehow derived energy from digested food? But Zane had said he didn't have to eat to live, so that couldn't have been it. And in any case, none of this was relevant. Jay moved on.
Everything, even the cavity itself, seemed to be segmented and movable, but it was also constructed so solidly that nothing would fall out of place, especially given the skeleton-like support framework. No wonder Zane had such a massive range of motion— Dr. Julien built him in such a way that every part of the body a human could move, Zane could move, too, perhaps with even more range and flexibility. Remarkable.
Any exposed metal was kind of worn and rusty. If Zane had been without upkeep for a decade, that was probably to be expected, but Jay had never thought about that until now. Actually, given how long it had been since his father's passing, the condition was remarkably pristine, but wear and erosion were apparently inevitable. Jay thought he'd probably suggest an internal cleaning to Zane, but got distracted—
What looked like several small computers sat in various parts of the abdomen: one large one next to the power source, two under Zane's metal "ribs," another two in the back of the cavity and in the middle of his belly, almost where kidneys would be, and three at the bottom of this cavity, just above his pelvis. They varied in size, but none were larger than a fist, save for the one by the power source, which was comparable to a grapefruit. There very well could have been more in the chest area, but it was covered in various wires, cables, structural supports... lots of parts that obscured any view of what could be behind it.
"Huh. Looks like you've got... organs?"
"Organs?" Zane repeated.
"A bunch of little computers. There's two where your lungs would be, one by your power source, two where your kidneys would be, and three... well, what would these be... intestines, I guess? I wonder what they all do. I guess I assumed all your... processing was done in your head, but maybe it's more spread out over your whole body..."
The bottom-left corner of the cavity caught Jay's eye. Shielded under a protective cage were a handful of switches with blinking lights. It looked like they were labeled, but the cage was too tightly-woven to read them.
"Is something wrong?"
"There's some switches here, but they're under a cage that's screwed into your... I'm not sure what to call it. The switchboard itself?"
"What do they do?"
"No idea. I'd have to unscrew the cage." Jay stared for another moment, then shook his head. "No, I'm just looking around."
"If you need access to them... would removing the cage cause any other effects?"
"It doesn't look like it, but don't worry. I don't think we need to."
"Okay."
A couple large cables ran out through sealed exits positioned before the base of each limb, and a large bundle left through the top of the cavity and into Zane's neck. The head-bound bunch seemed to be pristine, but the ones leading to the limbs were in the worst condition of anything inside him. They seemed to be made from a slightly different material than most other things— wire coatings were various colors, as opposed to the strictly black, white, blue, or red coating on other wiring, and split all over the place, exposing the corroding metal beneath. Why did Zane's father use these materials for the limbs when he'd obviously had better stuff to work with?
...Maybe he died before he could finish replacing them.
"Do you mind if I... touch you?" That sounded weird. Jay cringed. "Like, touch your wires and stuff. Not a lot. I just wanna check a few things."
"Go ahead."
Carefully, Jay ran his fingers over the wires and cables attaching to the central computer. Whatever Dr. Julien had used to coat them was remarkably smooth and very obviously durable, which explained why they held up for so long. "Can you... feel any of this?"
"No."
"That's probably good." He slowly and gently pulled apart some of the wiring leading to his left arm, avoiding the spots where metal was exposed. "Yeah, this is definitely the problem..."
"What?"
"Most of your wiring is practically invincible, but everything connecting to your arms and legs is... well, it's not in great shape. It's basically like the nerves are damaged, I assume. Your legs aren't as bad as your arms, but they'll get to that point pretty soon, too, by the looks of it."
"...I see."
"I mean, good news is it looks like the damage is just to basic wires." He spread them further, observing the thick cable in the center. "It's kind of a lot, but all you'd need to do is replace them. It's a bit complicated in here, but it should be easy enough. It would probably just take a long time."
"Would you be willing to do that?" Zane asked.
Jay paused. "Uh... well..." Deep breath in, deep breath out. "I... think so. If that's what you really want."
"I don't want anyone else to do it."
Was it bad that Jay felt... really flattered by that? He was almost pleased. Yet, it also hurt in a strange way that Jay failed to identify.
Behind the wiring to the left arm was something beige. Jay poked at it.
...Paper?
"There's something in here," Jay reported.
"What do you mean?"
He slid the paper down and grabbed it. It was clearly quite old, given the discoloration, and had been folded in half twice. "A piece of paper," he said.
Zane looked perplexed. "That was sitting around inside me?"
Jay unfolded it. "Oh, wow— it's..."
It was a letter. The penmanship was a bit sloppy, and the words had faded around where the creases in the paper were, but it was still legible.
[Dear mysterious mechanic,
My name is Dr. Julien. If you're reading this, it means you've been digging around inside my son, Zane. It also means I'm probably not around to take care of him anymore. I'll assume in good faith that Zane gave you permission to access his inner workings. He must trust you a great deal, whoever you are.
I taught Zane to protect those who cannot protect themselves, but as I grow old, I've come to realize my mistake: if Zane is meant to protect others, who is there to protect Zane? Once I'm gone, I'm afraid he might fall apart.
But if you're reading this, that means Zane has someone who can protect him. I thank you, mysterious stranger, for caring about him enough to take a look at him without having his blueprints. Sorry about that, by the way— I didn't want any documentation of how he works to exist. I don't want him to be manipulated by anyone with nefarious intentions. Or worse, modified and duplicated. Zane would make for a powerful weapon in the wrong hands...
Since I'm not around, the only remaining collection of information about him is stored within Zane. If you ever run into something you can't fix or a problem you can't identify, flip the switch in his abdominal cavity labeled "internal diagnostics." This will enable him to perform diagnostic scans on himself. I left it off all this time because I feared they might interfere with his sense of personhood as he matured. After all (assuming you aren't a robot), you and I don't have information or abilities like that, and I think having that as a child would interfere with mental development. You'd probably feel more like an object than a person if you grew up with it. But should the need arise, I want you to flip that switch for his sake (and yours). I'm sure he's old enough by now that he has a solid sense of self— he almost seems there at the time I'm writing this!
Whoever you are, thank you. I want you to know that I loved Zane more than anything, and I dedicated many years to ensuring he would become capable of living, of loving, of feeling and experiencing, of joy and sorrow, of anything a human could do and maybe more. What started out as a curious whim about whether or not I was capable of artificially creating a sentient being became my greatest challenge, then my biggest project, then my most precious treasure, then my most beloved son. I know he can take care of himself, but please look out for him. I hope that he is surrounded by love for as long as he lives.
—Dr. Julien]
"What does it say?" Zane asked.
Jay could feel his eyes watering. "It's... a letter. From your dad." He bit his cheek to keep himself from getting any closer to crying.
Zane's eyes widened. He sat up, not bothering to close himself up. "My father?"
Jay handed it to him. Dr. Julien probably wouldn't have minded Zane reading it, too. Plus, the thing was in his chest cavity, so it was... basically his, right?
As he finished reading it, Zane's eyes welled up with tears. He smiled, yet his face seemed pained.
"Woah— Zane? You're... I didn't know you could cry..."
Zane looked at him. His lips were parted like he wanted to say something, but there was no sound. It was the most vulnerable Jay had ever seen him, and it sent a pang through his heart.
On instinct, Jay surged forward and wrapped him in a hug. "Your dad was pretty great, huh?"
"Yes..." Zane hugged him back. "He was."
They stayed like this for a moment before Jay released him.
"Would you flip that switch?" Zane asked, composing himself once more.
"Huh? Right now?"
"Why not?"
"Uh... I think we're officially breaching 'just looking' territory..."
"I already told you that I trust you to operate on me. This is nothing complicated, either."
He sighed. "You're right... I just hope nothing weird happens."
Zane lied back down. "I'm sure it will be fine."
Jay dug into his bag and removed his tiniest screwdriver. A deep breath in, a deep breath out. This was nothing. He was just flipping a switch.
The screws were a bit stuck from rust and buildup, but it was nothing a little bit of force couldn't solve. Jay removed the cage carefully and set it to the side.
There were loads of switches, most of them on, but a few off. Jay squinted; some of them were a little weird. "Funny" was flipped on, but "extra funny" was turned off. "Facial recognition" was turned on— why was that even an option? "Digestion" and "involuntary physical reflexes" were on, which made sense. "Emotions" was on as well. One, labeled "erectile function," was flipped off and marked with another, handwritten label, reading "NOT UNTIL HE'S 18!"
...Alright. Jay really didn't feel like bringing that up. Moving on from that.
Why was there a switch simply called "bones"? What the fuck could that mean? It was on, which Jay supposed was... good?
Wait, one of these switches was just called "!?". It was turned off, and Jay was gonna keep it that way, but this posed even more questions than anything else so far.
There it was— "internal diagnostics".
"Alright, I found it. You ready?"
"Yes."
Jay pushed it into the on position. Zane's head jolted slightly as he gasped.
"You okay?!"
"Y—y—y—y—yes. I'm fine. That was just a bit overwhelming."
"Huh... did it... work?"
Zane's eyes twinkled, like a light was flashing inside them. "It did! I just performed a full body scan!"
"Great! What does the scan say?"
"Exactly what you've already found. The connections in my sensory nerves and mobility nerves have been severed in each respective arm. It also warns that both forms of the nerves are potentially in bad condition in all 4 limbs." He paused. "...What is a 'bones' switch?"
"Ah, you can see those, too? Yeah, I've got no idea what a few of these are supposed to do. The scan doesn't tell you?"
"It only tells me if the switch is on or off and what it is called, not further details on its function." He paused. "Erectile function?"
Jay coughed.
"I was wondering why my—"
"Ah! Zane! Stop! Let's— let's not talk about that right now!"
"But I'd like to be able to actually use my—"
"Fingers and toes for years to come?! Exactly what I was thinking! Come on! I'll see what kinds of wire I have!"
"Okay."
——
Cole wasn't sure how or when it happened, but suddenly, he was awake. He wiggled his arms out of his sleeping bag and sat up. What time was it? Why did he wake up?
Since Dareth felt his home was unsafe after an "incident" the night before, they were staying at the dojo. It took him a moment to remember this as his consciousness fully returned.
Kai was fast asleep, sprawled out across the stack of (clean, they'd been assured) gym mats he'd fashioned into a bed, and Dareth was still sleeping across the room, curled up in a ball under his blanket and hugging an extra pillow. It was still dark, the only light coming in through the windows being glow from streetlights and the moon's shine.
...Well. If everything was fine, he might as well try to fall asleep again. He lied back down.
But as soon as he closed his eyes, a faint ticking, clicking noise appeared, vaguely metallic. Odd, but maybe it was... a piece of metal outside tapping something in the wind, or a bird messing with something.
It stopped after a few seconds. Cole took a deep breath. It was nothing.
Eeeeeeeek!
The back door was slowly opened, then slowly closed again. Someone was inside.
Holy shit, Cole thought. Someone's actually after him. He closed his eyes in an effort to feign sleep.
Whoever it was, their footsteps were almost completely silent as they crept into the room. Cole remained still...
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
There. The intruder was almost next to him.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Cole shot his legs out into theirs with a powerful kick and jumped up, shaking the sleeping bag off him. They stumbled, and Cole took that opportunity to grab them by their black hoodie and slam them against the wall. "What do you think you're doing?" Cole muttered as threateningly as he could.
Whoever it was, they had red eyes that almost seemed to glow in the darkness. A mask covered nearly all of their face, leaving only that pair of eyes partially visible.
"Ssson of a bitch," the person hissed. A rather masculine voice, but Cole wasn't one to assume.
"Who sent you?"
They responded with a knee straight to Cole's stomach, the shock making Cole's grip loosen. The intruder broke free and pulled a wavy, silver dagger from their pocket.
"Hey!"
Cole lunged for them, swinging a fist. They narrowly dodged and thrusted the dagger toward him. With his free hand, Cole grabbed the intruder's wrist and gripped tightly, pushing the blade away. Their fists shook with exertion for a moment until Cole punched again, this time slamming into the intruder's forearm as they blocked him. It was enough distraction for Cole to swing his foot up and directly into the bottom of their kneecap, forcing it up and out of place and earning him a pained grunt.
They hopped back, rubbing over their knee with their free hand. In this new lighting by the window, Cole noticed that their skin looked sort of... blue.
"C'mon, Hothead! Get the fuck up!" he barked.
"Hm... ugh..." Kai groaned. "What's happening...? Cole, you— oh, shit!"
They charged at Cole, dagger firmly poised to strike. "I don't have time for thisss!" they growled.
He ducked and somersaulted past them, popping back up to swiftly elbow them in the back of the neck. They absorbed the blow fairly well and turned, swinging the dagger at Cole again. He jumped back, the blade nicking his arm.
Now, finally, Kai had gotten up. "Alright, asshole, who the hell are you?!"
They ignored him and made a break for Dareth.
"Hey!" Cole tackled them to the ground like a wrestler and pinned them down with his weight.
Unable to keep their grip, they lost the dagger, which clattered to the floor beside them. Kai quickly scooped it up and pointed it in their face.
"So. Trying to kill this guy, huh? Bad news— you're not gonna get to do that." Kai glared.
They writhed and thrashed. "Get off me!" they growled.
Cole grabbed their arms and pinned them down.
Grunting, they continued to struggle. "Sssince when did this idiot have guardsss?!"
"Since today! Now, just who the fuck are you?" Kai kneeled and ripped their mask off, tossing it behind him.
...But he didn't say anything.
"Kai? What's up?" Cole asked through heavy breath.
"Uh..." Kai pulled off their hood, but all Cole couldn't see what was underneath. "You, uh... you're not gonna believe me when I say this..."
"What? Come on! I can't hold 'em forever!"
"Jussst let me kill him, you—"
A long, sharp scream from Dareth pierced the air. "Assassin! Assassin! I told you guys!" He wailed.
In that brief moment of distraction, the intruder threw Cole off their back and rolled out, quickly collecting themselves and standing up.
Cole scrambled to his feet. "You're not going anywhe—"
But then, he saw the intruder's face. And Kai was right; he wouldn't have believed him.
His head was hooded like a king cobra and covered in blue scales that became quite fine in size on his face. Gold, black, and grey patterns traced his skin, notably forming two large, grey swirls extending from his eyes and down onto the inner hood next to his face. Fangs protruded from his mouth, along with a forked tongue that he flicked once at them. Now that Cole had a better look at his eyes, he saw a swirling pattern in the red.
"A snake?!" Cole yelped.
"Look into my eyesss," he hissed at Cole, said eyes widening. Faintly, a rattling sound emanated from somewhere.
A bizarre sensation overcame Cole as he watched the spirals in his eyes swirl around, and around, and around... he could barely keep his balance, he was so dizzy...
Kai landed a solid punch to his face, and the sensation faded. "Quit that!"
"Look into my eyesss," he repeated, now staring at Kai.
But he didn't. Kai just headbutted him directly in the snoot.
He shouted, stumbling back and shaking his head back and forth.
Cole cracked his knuckles and prepared to throw an extra-heavy punch.
His eyes widened. He made a break for it, dashing past them and back out the way he came, apparently aware that this was a losing battle for him.
"Get back here!" Kai shouted as he ran after him.
Cole noticed Dareth quaking in the corner. "You good?"
He just wailed.
With a sigh, Cole approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm gonna go after them. You gonna be okay by yourself?"
He considered it for a second, then nodded meekly.
Cole ran out the door—
But Kai was walking back to him, looking upset, the assassin's knife still in his hand.
"Did he get away?" Cole asked.
He nodded. "I don't get it. It's like he vanished as soon as he turned the corner." He kicked a rock. "Shit... Who... or, what... the fuck was that?"
"I have no idea..."