A few seconds later
October, Year 483
Auro, Capital City
North

"Braek. That was something!"

Rhea Lee jumped out of the Auto when it reappeared in an empty street and spun around in a rubber burning drift, the end of her lab coat fluttering as she twirled and landed on the pavement of bitumen, cement and GL-aze.

She laughed and brought her hands to her hair, running her fingers through the wild strands in an attempt to make it look somewhat decent. She couldn't imagine what speed they had been moving at and at the same time she couldn't imagine that they had moved at all.

"Dawn, you have to build one these for me."

"We just stopped being enemies." The professor climbed out of her car and stretched, smoothing down her rumbled shirt. She walked to her sister while playing with the car key in her hand. "Don't push your luck."

Rhea Lee let out a dry laugh, deciding to change the subject. She looked around appreciatively. The air was clean without a hint of milky white.

"I'm surprised you managed to keep the fog out of the capital too."

"Well, the capital is as important as Mount Roya." Dawn pointed at the shimmering blue sky, the glittering atmosphere having more to do with technology than the warm weather. "I got my best people on it. . . But the tech isn't perfect, there are leaks in the shield sometimes and those are rarely accounted for."

As she spoke she held up two gas masks. They were transparent and paper thin, meant to fit only over the nose and mouth.

"Better safe than sorry." Dawn put one on and took in a deep breath. It flushed with her skin perfectly and would have been unnoticeable if it didn't dome her mouth when she spoke.

"I'll pass on that." Rhea Lee waived the offer and tapped on her own jaw. "I've got one of my own, and it's much better than anything you could ever make."

Dawn snorted but tossed the extra mask into the car. "Just because you are a Nobil, doesn't mean you're special."

"I am special." The doctor grinned and spread out her arms proudly. "I have telekinesis, electrokinesis and teleportation, among other abilities."

"Oh yes." Her sister rolled her eyes and let out a light cough. "You just love moving things around—including yourself and your enormous ego."

"You are just jealous." Rhea Lee sniggered, then turned her gaze to the circle of abandoned buildings around them.

"Jealous of the predecessor of a shelved typewriter?" Dawn asked sarcastically, very much in the mood to argue. "Yeah, right."

"At least I'm not a rotting meat bag." Rhea Lee shot back with a cold glare.

They glared at each other for a full minute, unmoving until Dawn frowned and suddenly turned her head in the direction of the Auto. The panels on the car's frame visibly shook, vibrating to an unknown frequency as it's headlights flickered rapidly in a silent warning. She shifted her gaze to the trembling pebbles on the ground. Her lips parted slightly as she looked up at the rapidly blinking shields.

"Damn it." Only an idiot wouldn't know what that meant.

"We're blasted," her hands shook and she felt her soul leave her then return to throw her a slap. "We are so blasted."

"Is that what I think it is?" Rhea Lee stumbled back, fear present in her eyes. The sound of grinding metal and the soft but familiar purr of a revving FCM engine flitted past her ears. "No way."

There could only be one reason that an Auto would vibrate without it's shield's being attacked—when the molecules in the air vibrated at it's natural frequency.

On it's own the phenomenon wasn't anything to worry about, but it also meant that another closeby vibrating shield was forcing the resonance, and the only thing large enough to do affect both the Auto and the shields above the Capital was a fortified combat-ready machine—F. C. M for short. It was a gigantic piloted robot whose production height always started at no less than twenty feet.

"It's an FCM!" Dawn sunk her hands into her hair and stared off into the distance, nothing seemed amiss but she could already taste the mix of steel and wasted tax money in the air. "We have to move or we'll be caught and killed. Not specifically in that order."

"He sent a mech." Rhea Lee glared at the darkening sky—the manifestation of impending doom brought by the FCM and malfunctioning shields. "A freaking mech!"

"Let's go, Lee." The professor tugged on her sister's arm while trying to regain her own composure. "It'll be here soon."

"Oh," Rhea Lee said, almost dazed as the earth itself started to shake.

"Okay, okay." Exhaling as she worked to calm her heart, Dawn ran hurriedly to Auto and dived into it's glove compartment, searching furiously and tossing documents into the air until she finally held something above her.

"Found it!"

"A comb?" Rhea Lee asked incredulously as she stared down at the red comb in her sister's hand.

"A magic comb." Dawn hastily corrected then began running it through her hair as she sprinted towards the alley behind her, squeezing into the crack between two buildings.

"Hurry up." She called out quietly and motioned for her sister to follow her.

Rhea Lee raised a brow but still jogged after Dawn. They both crouched down in the space between the abandoned stores. "What's the plan?"

"This," Dawn pointed a pink key fob at the Auto and the car's black sheen transformed into a hot pink, with the words 'Bubblebee Bumble' now pasted across it's doors.

At that moment a large foot coated in a shimmering sheen of silver slammed down next to the Auto, seeming like the hand—or in this case foot—of a descending god. It almost flipped over the armor-plated car.

The other leg soon followed and in it's wake was an earthquake that would have turned this section of the city to rubble if not for the individual shields that secured each building and it's foundation.

As the two siblings cautiously peered out of their little corner of safety, the golden robot's massive frame finally came into view.

"Surrender now, or face immediate termination."

Dawn and Rhea Lee held their breaths at usual warning, the string of monotone shattering what had seemed like an eternity of silence.

"You have the right to implicate yourself by speaking." A robotic chuckle followed after the sentence and Dawn expression soured.

"That guy is sort of an ass." Rhea Lee snorted quietly but still moved back to hide more of herself.

"Sort of?" Dawn scoffed but never stopped combing her hair.

"What in blazes are you doing?" The doctor turned to her sister only to be shocked into silence when her eyes raked over Dawn's face. "Your hair. . ."

"Yeah?" Dawn raised a delicate looking brow the shade of orchid pink.

"It's pink."

"Yeah."

Rhea Lee reached two fingers under Dawn's chin and held up her face. The professor's once pale lips were now a pouty pair of glistening pink, her dark eyes and hair had turned the same color.

"The magic comb?" The doctor asked in disbelief as she pulled her hand away and looked at her glittering fingertips in disgust. She hurriedly wiped the sparkles on her coat and shuddered.

"Yes." Dawn replied in a quiet, sultry tone as she pursed her lips then smacked them together. A puff of mist appeared between the mask and face face as she sucked in a deep breath then pulled the air filter off her glowing features.

"A voice changer and makeup kit in one?" Rhea Lee asked again, her brows creased in thought. "How is that even possible?"

"Welcome to the 26th century, Darling." Flipping her fluffy mane of pink hair to one side, Dawn stood up slowly and watched the FCM scan the areas around them.

"We can't stay here, the scanners will pick us up soon." Being a Nobil, Rhea Lee could interfere with FCM scans for some time, she herself being machine.

"Can you cloak me, even if it's just for a while?"

"Okay, I'll try."

"Alright then," Dawn let out a quiet sigh. "On my signal?"

Rhea Lee nodded.

"Bubblebee Bumble, cloth design one." The professor held up her comb and spoke a command.

"Access denied, required password needed." The comb beeped loudly then shut off.

Rhea Lee winced and glared at her sister. "What are you doing? I haven't cloaked us yet!" She half yelled while whispering.

"I know." Dawn shot her a warning glance then turned back to the comb. "Bumble squash."

"Password accepted, access granted. Clothing process initiated," the girlish voice started again.

"How the hell do you have the password?"

"I own it." Dawn said simply. Her stained long-sleeved shirt and black pinafore dress transformed into a champagne pink jumpsuit complete with pink shoes, white socks and a bow in her hair.

Rhea Lee blinked once, then blinked again. Realization hit her faster than her mind acknowledged that Dawn had just run out off the alley and towards the FCM. "Don't tell me that you own Bubblebee Bumble!"

"Just cloak yourself." Dawn yelled back, now within the FCM's scanning range as she held up her arms and glared at the sky-high machine.

"Hey! You piece of scrap metal!" She shouted. "You almost wrecked my ride!"

Rhea Lee paled and held back a panicked scream. She resisted the urge to dash out and grab her sister since it would be pointless. "What the hell?"

If this was Dawn's plan then there was no way they were getting out unnoticed.

†

Aw, Dawn is decked out in pink and facing a twenty feet (almost 6 metre tall) robot! How exciting.

What's Bubblebee Bumble, and why is Rhea Lee so surprised that Dawn possibly owns it?

Alright! How do you think Dawn is going to get out of this situation?

Thank you for reading. Please vote (I'm watching you!).
And if you haven't voted on previous chapters, do so now!

Why? Well, I have FCMs on you, so why not?

Comment too and tell me what you think. I'm trying to show the contrast between all the chapters before this and how life was like without the fog.

A change of clothes with the snap of two fingers, and teleportation. Giant robots and shields that prevent natural disasters.

Welcome to the 26th century.

Question of the Chapter

If this is the current situation in the capital (at least a glimpse of it) then were Esau and Edythe living in poverty?