JR14’s red-and-gold body gleamed in the reflective light of the hallway as he zipped toward her in a zigzag pattern before settling on her left shoulder. “Suggestion: I am open to giving you further instructions if this concept is confusing for you.”
“Not today, widget-wonder.” She grimaced. “Instead, why don’t you make yourself useful and point me to the Nexus Core so I can put a bee in their bonnet?”
“Antonia.”
If Toni wasn’t mistaken, the spider-bot’s tone was brimming with impatience.Lookie there, the little droid was finally loosening up.
“Again, with an insect reference.” His iridescent wings fluttered out before retracting. “Information: aboard this inter-dimensional vessel, there are no organic…”
She sighed.Damn,Azazel had to have the patience of a saint to deal with this little guy.Good thing JR14 was as cute as a… well, bug.“Please desist this unnecessary line of conversation, JR14. It is imperative we complete our assignment to disrupt the Nexus Core.”See, she could talk all nerd-like with the best of them when she put her mind to it.
“Affirmative,” the bot answered. “Directions: Proceed forward, and I will instruct you when to change course.”
When the piercing alarm continued to wail, she put her hands over her ears. “I don’t suppose you can do something about that stupid alarm, could you?”
The suit she wore heated at the neck before spreading down her arms. A sense of serene quiet filled her. It took a moment before she realized the annoying sound had stopped. Breathing a sigh of relief, she shook her hands to rid them of the tickling sensation, as if they’d fallen asleep. “Thanks, JR14.”
“Clarification,” JR14 said from her shoulder. “I did not rectify the alarm system of the Krystalii ship. Opinion: Concentrate on the mission. Investigate the reason for the silence at a more opportune time.”
Well, he had a point. With a frown, Toni pulled the dampening rig from her waist and clutched it in a tight grip. She had a sneaking suspicion that her suit had something to do with modifying the sound. But JR14 was right. Now wasn’t the time to figure it out.
Sprinting down the low-lit corridor, she let the hum of the Krystalii ship, vibrating through the soles of her boots, calm her. Each step she took created a light echo in the hollow hallway that looked like it was made of a fusion of crystal and metal.
JR14 shifted, and his claws gripped her shoulder to keep steady. His iridescent wings flicked open for a moment before snapping shut again. “Left turn ahead. Then proceed twenty meters to the bulkhead entrance,” he instructed, his voice crisp and precise.
Toni nodded, panting. “Got it, bug-brain.”
“Correction: I am JR14. That identifier is neither accurate nor amusing. As I have already stated, I am not an organic construct.”
She chuckled despite the knot of tension tightening in her insides. “Brother, you need to work on your sense of humor.”
“Humor is inefficient.”
Ha!She’d argue that if there were time, but she had arrived where she was supposed to be. As she got close, the doorway hissed open. Peeking inside, she verified all was clear. At least as far as she could tell. She slid inside, and the door whooshed closed behind her.
“Think there’s a lock on this thing to keep everyone out?” She glanced at the door, then at JR14.
His bulbous head looked up at her, and a low glow of soft blue in his round eyes shifted to a brick red.
“Information not available.” JR14 responded.
Damn. Oh, well. Nothing to do about that. She’d work with what she had.
Ahead of her, the Nexus Core chamber stretched in an intricate web of glowing conduits and crystalline spires that pulsed with blue-and-violet energy. It was eerily beautiful, like standing inside a living geode.
“Okay, where do I put this thing?” Toni lifted the dampening rig for the bot to see.
“Proceed to the central column. Rotate the device counterclockwise and align the magnetic clamps with the primary conductor rods. Failure to align will cause immediate electrocution.”
Toni swallowed hard. “Yeah, good. No pressure.”
Taking another careful look around, she took cautious steps towards the core. Clutching the dampening rig in a sweaty grip, she aligned it as the bot instructed. Her heart pounded when sparks danced and flickered along the conduits.
JR14 lifted off her shoulder to hover beside her, his claws flexing.
Dang bot acted as if he was nervous or something.
Toni held on to the dampening rig then positioned it until it clicked. Yeah, it stuck!
