Heinz's hands were smeared with oil and a little bit of grease, while his hair, also, was drenched and matted to his scalp with the two substances. Heinz picked up a grease smeared HoloPad. He skimmed over the building instructions for his nearly completed project. He scrolled down through the instructions until he was looking at the next step.

FUSER IGNITION NEEDED

Heinz threw the HoloPad back onto the worktable, and sat on a stool. He intertwined his dirty fingers into his matted hair and blew a breath. An aching ate away at his muscles.

A tapping danced across the wood on Heinz's workshop door. Heinz groaned within himself. His eyes skirted over to some security camera footage. Soal was in clear view, but another figure was obscured in the corner of the camera's view. Whatever, Heinz thought, it's just Soal.

Heinz got to his feet and quickly covered his project with a large tarp. Then, with a few taps on the HoloPad screen, removed evidence of what the project truly was.

"DataCal," he called out, "disengage the locks and let our guest, or guests, enter."

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There was a sharp, metallic ring, and a hiss of disengaging pressure locks. The door then swung wide open.

A heavy scent of metal, oil, and grease wafted out of the room. Lumina cupped a protective hand over her nose and mouth.

Soal moved swiftly, seemingly counting and measuring her steps, when walking inside. Lumina followed, but was less graceful. Her feet hammered the floor, and her legs were unstable with the growing flame flickering inside her.

Heinz's usual silver hair was matted to his skull with a mix of dark splotches. From the smells lingering within the room, Lumina guessed it was a possibility of either oil, grease, or both. His white shirt was also splotched with the liquid variety.

Wiping his hands on a soiled rag, Heinz gave one of his million dollar smiles even though it lacked the proper Heinz-Trattle-attire. "Hullo Soal, Lumina." Then his smile faded. Realization settled in.

And...

Heinz dropped the dirty rag and jumped onto the table as if he was a sissy who'd just seen a rat scuttling across the floor.

Lumina managed to watch Soal out of the corner of her eye. Soal raised a questioning eyebrow at the Heinz's childish reaction. "What's up Heinz?" she asked. "Did you spot a mouse?"

Heinz guffawed, getting down from where he sat. "Nonsense! I... just -" He glanced at Lumina. His arms spread wide open as if to welcome her with an embrace. "Lumina!"

Lumina crossed her arms as if to shield herself form Heinz and his awkwardness. "Heinz," she acknowledged.

Heinz's hand went to the back of his head. His fingers sifted through his plaster matted hair. "The last I heard, you were in limbo, Lumina. I wasn't expecting you to come out of it so soon."

A smirk spread over Lumina's face. "Neither did the doctors."

"I'm sure." Heinz scratched. Lumina keyed in on it. "You - um... Congratulations on getting Ground 2 back and repairing the Earth. I was wrong to doubt, originally, one of N.A.S.A's greatest coding technicians."

Yeah right, Lumina thought. Her insides shriveled at her comment You are not one of the greatest technicians Lumina. No. Stop exalting yourself. It's not right.

"Hey! Lumina," Heinz called, snapping his fingers in front of her face.

Lumina shook her head. "Wha - what?" she barked.

Heinz shifted, his left foot reversed, and his hands rose up at the side of his head, palms flat. "Are... Are you alright?"

Lumina directed her eyes to the floor. A hand slid down her face, a palm cupped her chin. Sweat beaded upon her brow. "Sorry. Just... I'm just frustrated."

Soal glanced at Lumina. Her right eyebrow arched as if she were warning Lumina to be careful where she stepped.

Lumina ignored.

Lumina stepped around Heinz. Muscles taut, body stiff, Heinz shifted unsteadily in his spot. "You know what really irks me, Heinz?" Lumina's hand grazed the HoloPad on Heinz's worktable. Heinz's body straightened. It became even more rigid. Lumina deftly picked up the HoloPad. She thumbed the power button, hacked his password, and started the command prompt. Her fingers swept over the encoded HoloBoard.

In second's, a databite was revealed to her. She tapped it, and up popped a very detailed, fifty-page diagram with step-by-step instructions. Lumina's brows furrowed at the name Hera's Destruction, and her muscles began to tremble with the growing anger inside of her.

Lumina turned around.

Heinz's eyes had grown wild. His body was coiled like a spring. Lumina's eyes dropped down to his feet. The heel of his boot was cushioned by the spine of Soal's back. Her arms were tugged back by Heinz's large, grease and oil splattered, hands.

"Don't take one step towards that tarp, Hera, or she'll be immobile."

Lumina put the HoloPad down. Her hand's shifted behind her back. "You know. It irks me how some people are two faced and lie about who they truly are, and feel towards a person."

Heinz spat on the floor just inches away from Soal's face.

"Ew!" Soal commented. A pain pressed into her spinal cord and she shut up.

Heinz grinned an evil grin. "You really think that I thought you were my friend?"

"Yeah... Well. Maybe." Lumina's hands became fists. "What were all those texts, letters, and E-mails warning me about Soal, then?"

"Merely an invitation to watch Ground 2's destruction , along with becoming my prisoner. I thought Soal would give me her daughter as a gift, and you would grace me with your technical expertise, even if a good amount of pressure was need. Basically, I would force you to do my dirty work, just like Soal did to me.

Insane in the membrane. Going insane. Got no brain, Lumina's thoughts sang. A snicker escaped her.

"What's so funny?" Heinz snapped.

Lumina's face contorted into a form of angry glee. Her fingers curled around a flat, boxy object. Her thumb traced over the metal tongs that jutted out like dull tipped cat fangs. With three swift steps, Lumina pounced at Heinz. her knee connected with his cheek. Heinz released Soal, and his boot toppled off her as he crashed to the floor. Lumina dug the taser's tongs into his back, her feet holding down his hands. "You know, you could've helped us. What we need right now is someone to help us get the Earth back to normal, not another Soal Si bent on destruction, or ruling half of Earth."

"Never! Not while you're a leader or considered a hero!" Heinz shrilled.

"I'm neither of those, and you're such a fool for thinking that," Lumina spat. Lumina clicked the taser's trigger.

Heinz shrieked, and was out.