Passage

The large workbench finally sees activity after years of dust pile up on the surface. Sound of drilling and screwing dominate the workshop, a bustling atmosphere thought long gone.

"What do humans say"?

"it brings a tear to the eye". Nova says seeing Eric in Blake as he fixes his hand. The past surges forth with the overwhelming parallels.

"Alright, servos and motors are working again". Blakes says as his mind sharply focuses on the appendage.

"Plating and casing are back together on your fingers and the wires have been relinked". He says checking over obsessively making sure there's no flaw in sight.

"You should be good to give it a test drive" Blake says grinning ear to ear.

Flicking each individual finger now, the mechanical digits click in the right way. Switching between blade then hand. Nova is satisfied with the repairs.

"Thank you Blake this old body is barely holding together" Nova says brushing off some old dust caked to the back of his arm.

"In the future when I have some money and materials to work with I can try and make you a new body. Probably cost me a lot of sleep in the process" Blake says, lifting his safety goggles smiling.

Parallels keep showing up in the Nova's database. Eric and Blake being two sides of the same coin for him. The continuation of his creators legacy.

"By the way I'm curious what happened to the shy little girl". Nova's says as photos of the past flood into his mind each image having the pair in it in some way.

"Does she know about this place yet"? Nova says through the streams of data.

"No, she has already gone through enough. When she's ready I'll show her dads past". Blakes says as his big brother side, comes out in full bloom now.

"I don't think finding this out would help her right now" He says imagining the chaos it might bring into their normal lives.

"I want to protect her and not make her worry about every little thing, she has her own life to focus on, not my own or dads". He says as the past and the scars it left on her make themselves known internally.

"Eric would always give me first hand photos of the outside world". Nova says steering away the conversation.

"He wanted me to experience the world in some real way" Looking through thousands of the images stored.

"He would always say, I can't take you out of here yet but I can show you my world" Nova says.

"He always loaded them up with you two. Every picture normally had you two in them". Novas fondness mixes into his electronic speech

"She was always clinging to your clothes, I think the term is a security blanket for humans". He says as his artificial brain tries to comprehend human behavior's.

"Yeah we always had a support system between us even now" Blake's voice begins to fill with gratitude.

"It's how we humans cope with the harshness of reality" He says as the flashes of his torment flood through.

"Interesting, humans are quite the interesting creatures. You always find ways to adapt".

"I can only emulate that, but one day I hope to find out more about my race and what we could be".

"We lost access to all those photos 4 years back" Blake says the bitter memory tormenting him.

"You said you had access to those photos. Would you mind parsing a batch for me. I think a trip down memory lane might help Raven through all this stress". Blake says consideration of his sister taking priority.

"Pity, human minds work in an odd way. You lose memories even the most important ones but not in the same way as the media.

"It gets faded and lost within your subconscious only to resurface in the least expected moments of your life". Nova says his electronic voice clearly emphasizes the differences between them.

"It's an odd way of preservation".

"Compared to how I operate, it sounds like a disorganized mess. Nova says through an artificial chuckle that finds its way into his voice box.

"Everything is uniform and is organized accordingly. Nothing fading, only being preserved". Nova says, trying to show Blake a portion of his perspective.

An odd sense of understanding starts to develop between the gaps of life. Blake begins putting himself in Nova's shoes, starting to understand that they aren't that different in terms of sentience.

"You said you went into stasis"

"It's a story for another time, you have stuff to create and I'll be damned if I get in the way of the return of activity in this place". Nova says, making his stance clear.

"But I'll leave it at this, Eric didn't want me to follow him into the storm that was brewing at the time". Silence replaces all his artificial expressions.

"I regret not being able to act then in every single moment of my return". Nova says, the longing is starting to mess with his coding, rapid restructuring taking place to accommodate his return.

"I'll leave you now Blake. Make Eric proud" A grin surfaces through his sorrow.

The task at hand starts to come into focus for Blake. ''Even if i have this power, i can't reveal it to others''.

''Who knows what chaos it will bring, i don't even know what's happening to me myself'' Frenzied thoughts shoot throughout his neurons.

''So I'll need to keep up appearances for now, until I'm strong enough to reveal it''

''Doesn't mean i have to be weak in the process'' His internal monologue goes on rapid fire as images coalesce together forming sketches and ideas for the new iterations of his creations.

''The keepups need a new model they're barely holding together right now'' flashes of the strain he had to put them under soar into his mind. Specifically the energy dump he gave them

, Why don't I make them into boots added layer of armor on top of the speed. Rubber for impact resistance'' The first upgrade starts to piece itself together in Blake's mind

''Next to the arm, It was too bulky and the material didn't mix well with flesh. I'll use more friendly materials this time.''

''This arm is going to need a lot more features if I'm keeping my powers hidden otherwise i won't stand a chance barehanded''

''Not like I can show off a new bio limb to mankind'' Visualizing the uproar it would cause for the world.

"Maybe in the future though" He mutters to himself as his inner thoughts start to focus.

After around 4 hours, the basic framing of the new Keepups are made. Checking over the outline of his creation for error.

"Reinforced steel framing, check"

"Circuitry housed and threaded, check"

"Micro batteries lined, check"

"Rubberised polymers, check"

"Hyper-resistant fuses, check"

"Alright looks like I have the foundation setup"

"Now just to build on that" Blake finishes his check through and gets together the final materials. Putting together the new model at last.

"Hey nova what time is it" Blake says before his concept of time unravels entirely.

"4am" Nova chimes through abruptly.

"Awesome still plenty of time left, Raven should still be asleep as well" Hyperfocus starts to take a grip on his mind as sleep falls to the wayside.

Nova's nostalgia starts to get the better of him, the parallels of behavior's between his creator and his son start causing an erratic disturbance in his mind. His expressions struggle to find the right behavior's to display. Causing a mixture to form through his sorrow.

"Come on, give him a chance". A fiery passion boils its way into his voice

"He did much more than most would in that situation". Adamance sears its way into his tone

"I want to see what his fire will turn into if he's given another chance. It already had so much promise"

"Fine but in return you must come back to tutoring. I know you just wanted to help out in the exams but i'll be frank, we need you Pyre. The next generation will struggle as it is" The old woman looks straight into pyres eyes making sure he understands.