Several hours into the night, Nym managed to finish journalling the damage done to the Android and sat back on her heels slightly, looking it over.

She silently mused how to fix it. Then she reached back and snagged one of the toolboxes on the floor, pulling out two screwdrivers. She leaned forward to look over the Android closer, searching for screws or seams.

Years of putting things together had taught her that almost anything had some method of coming apart.

She found a thin seam dotted with screws along the side and pushed the arm aside, tilting it up into the light. I'm gonna need a flathead. She picked up the appropriate screwdriver and made sure it would fit down the hole. Then she got to work.

Thirty minutes and thirty screws later, she removed the front panel, discovering a diagram and explanation of Android anatomy posted on the inside. A smile crept over her face as she set it aside in the light, scanning the information with her finger. Her eyes flickered between the android and the diagram, assessing the damage. 

"First off, we've gotta fix that nasty dent in your head," she mumbled to the Android as she moved to sit behind its head.

Carefully scooping up the Android's head, she glanced at the schematic. A panel showed opening on the back of the head, leading to the circuit boards that controlled movement, memory, and other essential functions.

Nym felt along the back of the curved surface until she found a small thin crack and dug her nail into it. A soft pop came from inside the androids head and the panel swung open. Nym smiled to herself as she picked the head up higher to see inside.

Even in the dim light, she clearly saw the four circuits the diagram showed. One of them shuddered, teetering dangerously close to falling into her lap. She caught it with her finger and pressed it back into the slot, before expectantly looking at the Android's face.

Nothing. No light, nothing at all.

Nym sighed heavily. "Why can't you just come on already?" she groaned. Ducking her head down, she tried to get another look at the schematic. 

"It's...no...t-the ai-irrr...."

Nym jumped, barely managing to catch the Android's head again as she realized it had emitted the slurred dying words. She forced herself to settle back down, taking a deep breath as her heart pounded in her ears. The circuit boards wavered from the movement, so she pressed her hand against them all to keep them in place. 

"...Hello?" she asked, wondering if it could hear her. Another pause ensued, but this time a response came faster, though it did nothing to clear her confusion.

"Wro-ong...e-err-ror...poison d-de-etect-teddd..."

Nym swallowed hard, the Android's electronic moaning and cryptic mumbling causing her stomach to flip nervously. She heard it start up again and jerked out the circuit that she'd replaced moments before, praying that worked. 

Silence ensued. 

Nym gripped the circuit in her trembling fingers, laying down the Android's head slowly and scooting back a foot as she picked up her journal. She pressed it to her chest, pulling her knees close to her body. "Maybe this wasn't a good idea..." she thought.

The Android didn't seem to want to harm her, but she didn't know what it kept talking about. Could it hurt her? Would it?

She glanced around, noticing how dark the world around her had become. She couldn't see a thing beyond the dim circle of light in the carport. Nym shuddered, aware of the terrifying cold creeping up around her.

Rising to her feet quickly, she shoved the circuit in her pocket and clutched the journal close. Heading straight for the door, she fled from the eerie atmosphere into the airlock, hastily changing out of her air tank. Once the doors hissed open to the inside, she crossed the hall and mounted the steps. She found her way to Kirsi's room, discovering her friend fast asleep and snoring softly.

Sighing a little as she closed the door, Nym paused to catch her breath. Suddenly aware of how hard she'd been breathing, deja vu washed over her. She felt as if she'd been experiencing different levels of panic all day and couldn't escape.

She forced herself to move, though. I'm safe here. I'm fine. The android can't go anywhere. It's broken. It can't hurt me, she soothed herself in her head as she silently settled down on the mattress Kirsi had left for her. She adjusted to set her journal by the mattress before curling onto her side, dragging the thin blanket over her body. 

Her eyes roamed the dark bedroom. She remembered that just one night before she'd gone to bed just as disturbed from the accident at work. She'd woken up the next day without a brother. A chill ran down her spine as tears forced their way into her eyes, and Nym hid her face in the pillow.

It's okay. I'm okay. I'm...I'm not okay...

Her lip trembled as tears soaked the pillow, but she kept herself from making a sound. The weight of the day crushed down on her back heavier than a full air tank. She hated it, every second of it. 

"Nym...beware the...faceless creatures....beware..."

The voice spiraled into the sound of gasping and screaming. His hands still gripped her shirt, now grey and cold. His breath ice against her skin.

Her hands pressed down on his empty chest as she tried to force air into his lungs, but he wasn't suffocating, because he was already gone. Still, he screamed warnings at her, "Beware the faceless creatures!"

Nym gasped, tearing off her mask and pressing it to his face.

He convulsed and dropped limp, hitting the ground with a metallic clang. Cormac was gone. The android lay draped across her lap, her oxygen mask pressed to its faceplate.

Reeling back, Nym knocked it over, scrambling away, panting. Her breath felt hot. The air around her became musty and heavy, pressing around her.

The android lay still, then slowly began to rise to its feet. It pressed itself up on its remaining arm, it's legs whirring erratically as it came to life. Slowly the limbs straightened and stiffened as it stood before her a metal corpse.

Staring at her as it stood there.

She saw herself huddled in the corner, shaking, the image reflected in the pristine featureless faceplate.

Cormac's cold hand gripped her shirt, his eyes suddenly pleading in his last moments.

"Beware the faceless creatures..."

Nym woke the next morning to the sunlight filtering through the window. As she rolled to her back, she discovered herself drenched in sweat, clutching her pillow to her chest. For a moment she lay there, staring at the ceiling. 

Where was Cormac? Where were her parents? Was this even her room?

Slowly the haze sorted itself out and memory flooded over her. She bit her lip hard to keep from crying. Turning onto her other side, she pressed the pillow tighter against her stomach, hiding her face in it. The knot in her throat didn't loosen but she managed to fight it down with long deep breaths. 

Nym forced herself back into a state of calm, then let go of the pillow. She sat up, rubbing her face lightly as she remembered the dream. It was bits and pieces, like a hazy childhood memory, but she could remember Cormac's words. She could see his face, but that was all. Everything else was a blur.

Still taking deep breaths to keep herself calm, she looked up at the bright window, trying to put dark thoughts out of her mind.

Then Kirsi's alarm rang.

Nym jumped, putting a hand to her chest. "Goodness," she whispered and shifted to get up, tossing the blankets to the end of the bed. She walked over to the edge of Kirsi's bed, finding her friend sleeping soundly through the alarm.

Since it was a Saturday, Nym simply decided to turn it off and retrieve her journal. She slipped on her shoes, remembering the Android downstairs. Now that it was light outside, she felt safer about working on it. She found the circuit still in her pocket and intentionally left it upstairs, not intending to replace it until she was sure the Android was fully working. She wanted to ensure it wouldn't just drone cryptic stuttering messages.

Starting down the steps as quiet as she could, Nym slipped through the airlock into her tank. Then she headed outside and found the Android exactly where she'd left it the night before. Hesitantly she moved over towards it again. It looked rather peaceful now, and far less menacing, but there was something about it that didn't sit right with her.

She pushed the feeling aside and forced herself to sit down, looking it over. Picking up the front panel with the diagram, she set it against her leg again, taking deep breaths as she made herself get back to work. 

The majority of the damage appeared to be around the head and the broken arm. She couldn't exactly fix the arm, but she managed to twist the wires together and tuck them into the shoulder so they wouldn't be dangling out.

The dent wasn't something she could fix either, but she still ensured the circuit board remained in their proper places, minus one. She was thankful that only a few of them ended up chipped and hoped they wouldn't hinder the Android from coming on. She didn't have any way to replace or fix them, but she could hope.

Once everything was back to as best the condition she could put it in, she went upstairs, found Kirsi still snoring, and retrieved the last circuit. She looked at it quietly and frowned a little. What would happen when she put it in? Would it come on? If it did, could she truly predict what would happen? 

Guess I'll just have to find out, she thought and stuffed it in her pocket as she headed back outside again. Kneeling down she popped open the panel on the back of its head and stuck the circuit back into its place, then closed the panel.

There was a moment of nothing as she laid it's head down, then a low whirr sounded from the Android and it lifted it's head slowly. For a moment it looked around before directing it's eyeless gaze toward her.

"Hello...?" Nym asked, standing up a little bit and moving back a few inches.

The android rose carefully onto its one arm, looking down before returning it's gaze to her.

Nym realized that beyond this one android's strange mutterings, she'd never spoken to any of them properly before. She'd waved, and seen them on the streets, but never engaged in conversation.

The android rose to a sitting position before it answered her. "Hello. State your identification, please."

"My name?" Nym asked, unaware she had any other "identification" to be stated.

"Affirmative."

"My name is Nym Seaver." She moved closer. It looked rather harmless. In fact, it looked a little lost the way it sat there, head cocked slightly to one side as it spoke to her. Could it be confused? 

"Nym Seaver," it repeated, her name sounding gravelly coming from the Android's vocabulary. "No data recorded. State location?"

"Kirsi Brooks home," Nym answered and knelt down beside it. "Do you know where you are?"

"Unable to recall," it stated. "Location not recognized. Coordinates?"

"I don't have any," Nym told it.

For a moment it just sat there, looking down. She assumed it was thinking, or processing considering it wasn't human.

Is it connected to some database? A mapping system? Or does it have information stored?

"State my purpose in this place," it finally said, looking back up at her.

Nym noticed her reflection in its featureless faceplate and a sense of uneasiness washed over her. It faded quickly as she answered. "You were broken, I brought you here to repair you. Do you know how you ended up in that state?"

"What state?"

"Who or what damaged you?" Nym reworded the question, and the Android went silent again before answering.

"There was an attack. Multiple attackers...description..." it hesitated, then looked away from her. It appeared to hang its head, putting one hand to its forehead like a person in shock. "Description, units 236712 and 659022," it shook its head. "Memory corrupted, please replace memory core."

Nym bit her lower lip. "I, uh, don't have another memory core. I guess you'd have to go into a real repair shop for that. You were attacked by the other androids? Why?"

The Android's head slowly lifted and it put its arm on the ground to steady itself. "Memory corrupted...the air, poison, error...Memory corrupted. Please replace the core."

Nym got up and popped the panel on the back of its head, pulling out the memory core chip and replacing it again. A chunk was missing from the corner, but she had no replacement. Regardless, that appeared to fix it for the moment.

The android fell silent and looked back up after she restored the core to the right slot. 

"Better?" she asked.

"Core replaced," it reported.

Nym just laughed to herself and shook her head. It seemed rather friendly, if not confused. It reminded her of a lost kid, the poor thing didn't seem to know what to do.

"Can I call you 02?" she asked after it fell silent and began looking around in. Its head turned back up to look at her.

"My identification is--"

"I know your "identification". I'm asking if I can call you 02. It's like a shortened identification. A nickname."

"Nickname," it repeated, pausing. Then it lowered its head in a short nod. "Nickname accepted."

Nym smiled and then looked back at the door, remembering Kirsi. Her smile grew. "Perfect. Now, stay right here, because there's someone I think you want to meet."