Sorry it took a while! chapters may be a bit slower for the coming days as I prepare to start college again, but soon pick up after that, so I will be sure to get some writing in when I am free! I will continue to keep you all updated on my conversations page about any progress or hang-ups!

I really hope you all enjoy this chapter!

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[Ratchet]

It was quiet the next day.

Ratchet slept longer than usual, only dragging himself out of bed when he really needed to get up. He went to brush his teeth lazily before staring at himself in the mirror. He found himself looking at every stripe, every detail. He looked at the way his mouth was set, an obvious frown that seemed to drain out all the potential cheerfulness that was usually present. His fur looked pale, as if he was getting sick. His ears were downcast and shaky. All in all, he looked depressed.

He stared into his own eyes in the mirror.

Exactly how much of him was left after the whole incident that got him here in the first place?

Who was he really....?

Was he even himself....?

He sighed sadly. Perhaps he would never know at this point. There was nothing to go after. No family or friends to find that will welcome him with open arms and say 'Hey! We missed you!' and give him a hug and reassure him that he was finally home.

But the universe seemed to like pulling a rug out from underneath his feet most of the time. If he was honest with himself, he already assumed that he had no one out there to begin with, considering that no one came to claim him in the first place. But learning that his assumption was correct?

It really hurt...

He leaned down to splash his face with cold water before drying it off with a towel, heading downstairs quietly. The house was quiet, a small silver plate wrapped in plastic laid upon the countertop and Kaden and Phoebe were nowhere to be seen. Maybe they were both working? Even so, Ratchet couldn't find it in himself to care about anything today, it didn't matter. He was coping with this new information that he received that could shatter all his hopes of having a real family...

It would be tough to get over.

He slowly swallowed his food, staring down at the plate in thought. Maybe he should-

*Knock*Knock*

His right ear perked up as he heard the sound coming from the front door. He grunted, dropping his fork before he started walking towards the door. He started reminding himself that it was probably a bad idea to answer the door when he didn't know who was behind it and-

Oh look he was opening it anyways-

He paused when he saw who was on the other side. A small, sad smile on his face.

"Hello Alister, I don't know where Kaden and Phoebe are but...you want to come in?" He asked awkwardly. Alister nodded, "Good morning Ratchet. Kaden and Phoebe must be around-" he stepped inside, "-you just woke up?"

"Not too long ago...I kind of missed breakfast."

Alister hummed, pulling out his communicator. "Kaden is just finishing up in the garage. How about you go and finish breakfast while I talk with him, hm?"

Ratchet raised a brow but said nothing. He walked away as Alister set his Omniwrench by the door. The conversation felt a bit off, but he shook his head. Maybe he was just being weird after that whole situation he went through. He went back to eating quietly, watching as Kaden exited the garage, not seeing him at the table until he was about to exit the kitchen. The man's eyes widened,

"Ratchet! Good morning! You were so quiet I almost didn't see you there." he laughed. But Ratchet just shook his head. "It's okay."

Ratchet winced at his tone, but said nothing. Finally exiting the kitchen when Ratchet took another bite of his food. He figured the man was giving him space, which he wanted. He didn't feel like having any emotional conversations today anyways.

A while later, he finished his meal. He cleaned the dishes and finished just as Kaden and Alister walked in. Ratchet turned to them and just smiled sadly. "I'll go get Phoebe in the garden. You two wait here, okay?"

They both nodded. Watching the man leave silently. Alister went to sit across from Ratchet.

"So, I heard you were called to the council yesterday. How have you been?" he questioned, folding his hands upon the table. ratchet had to repress a groan, "I'm guessing you heard it from Kaden." he almost growled. Why did Kaden have to be such a blabbermouth?

"It didn't go great at all." He confessed, "I'm glad they told me about what they found. But it was like an interrogation. The Council is hiding something from me."

Alister sighed, "Ratchet, I understand how you feel. The Council is just doing what's best for you."

Ratchet hissed, "What is best for me? I understand that telling me this information was important, but did they really have to treat me like I was some sort of criminal!?". It was a good point. He knew that he was right. Why couldn't Alister see that?

Alister grunted, "It was standard procedure. Surely you could understand that?"

Ratchet hissed under his breath, "No I can't." was all he said. Alister straightened up, "You will once you regain your memories."

"How do you know that?" Ratchet asked, "I'm not naïve. Just because I will regain my memories, it does not mean everything I know now will be erased."

Alister hummed thoughtfully, "But Ratchet, how do you know that you are really yourself right now?"

Ratchet looked at the man, startled. Then he glared. He stood up from the table, pushing the chair out in the process. "I know who I am, General." He spat quietly, "I am not just some Council puppet like you. Maybe one day you will realize how wrong you are." he paused, watching as the man sat calmly, "Because what I witnessed in that room yesterday was anything but fine."

It was silent for a moment,

"If you realized how much it affected me, we wouldn't be having this conversation. It's you who doesn't understand anything."

At that, Ratchet left the table and exited the kitchen, grabbing his boots by the door and getting ready to head out. But before he could exit, Alister called from the kitchen...

"Take care of yourself, Ratchet."

He froze before he even laid a hand on the door handle, eyes widening as he felt a cold shiver run down his spine. He shook it off, finally grasping the handle and shutting the door quickly. Once he was outside, he pulled out his communicator.

He had to talk to Oliver about this one.

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

"No way! They did that to you?" Oliver asked, surprised. They were sitting in Oliver's garage, chatting next to one of the many boxes in the garage that contained various spare parts that Oliver wanted to sort through. For what he wanted them for, Ratchet did not know the answer. He still enjoyed chatting with him though.

"But...what did they tell you?" he asked apprehensively, "Y-You don't have to tell me if you want but..." he trailed off, "I'm here to talk." Ratchet analyzed him for a moment. Silently debating if he should tell his friend or not. Then again, what was the harm in doing so?

Ratchet sighed in defeat, finally caving, "They said that they found out some information about me..." He said hesitantly, "To sum it up, Ollie. I have no family out there at all. Nothing to tie me to anything." he coughed twice, covering it with his arm...

"We should just call off this whole investigation thing anyways..."

His friend paused, looking down at the random parts in his hand, then back up at Ratchet. His brows were furrowed, "I'm sorry to hear that but...What do you mean!? You want to stop searching for answers?"

"There are no answers to be found!" Ratchet interjected, "I came here with nothing! I don't have to remember anything. What is the-"

"No, you can't say that! The Ratchet I know would never say that." Oliver corrected him. "Let me ask you, do you believe in The Council?"

Ratchet faltered, "Well...It does make sense if you think about it." It did. It made perfect sense. No one claimed to know him in the entire galaxy. What more would there be?

"We started this whole investigation stuff because of The Council. We started this whole thing because of your memories! Don't you want to remember it? Or do you want to give up like a coward?" He challenged.

Ratchet took the bait,

"Actually...No, I don't!" Ratchet said. I just...I guess The whole thing with The Council just...threw me off. But-' he sighed thoughtfully, "I guess you're right."

Oliver smiled,

"Now this is the Ratchet I always knew was there!"

....

and for some reason...that statement made Ratchet feel proud.

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

About an hour later, Oliver gathered what seemed to be random parts and held them up to Ratchet. "Well, I've got what I need. What do you say about heading up to my room and-"

"Hello, you two!"

The two boys jumped, startled by the new voice that entered the garage. Oliver glared at his older brother, "Arthur, what are you doing here?"

Arthur chuckled, scratching at the back of his neck, "What? I can't check up on my little brother from time to time?"

Oliver stayed silent. Arthur sighed, turning to Ratchet, "Hello ratchet, how are you doing?"

"Ah- Uhm...I'm doing okay!" He replied.

There was an awkward moment of silence before Oliver cleared his throat. "Well, Ratchet and I are going to go up to my room and-"

"Actually, Mom said no guests today. She wanted to talk to both of us. I'm sure you could see Ratchet tomorrow?"

Oliver glared at his brother, suppressing a growl, "I guess so..." he turned to Ratchet, "I'll text you later." and with that, he was gone.

Ratchet was left alone in the garage with Arthur, both standing there in silence before Ratchet went to excuse himself. "I guess I'll be going th-"

"Actually, why don't you take a walk with me? I'd like to get to know my little brother's best friend more, yeah?"

Ratchet looked at Arthur suspiciously, stopping in his stride as he looked at him for a moment. "Okay, I guess I'll come with you."

Arthur nodded, closing the garage door as they left and walking in the direction of the town square. They walked in silence for a bit, Ratchet becoming more and more tense as time went on, "So, I heard about your meeting with The Council. Did you find out anything interesting?"

Ratchet paused, "Not really...Who told you about my meeting?"

Arthur laughed slowly, "Ah..it's just circulating around the city."

Ratchet narrowed his eyes. Could Oliver have possibly told him....?

"But I'm sad to see that you learned nothing valuable. I can't imagine what it would feel like to lose my memories." Arthur grimaced, "I guess you can only try..."

Ratchet nodded quietly, entering the city square, which was crowded. Lombaxes of all shapes and sizes entering and exiting stores faster than Ratchet could blink. He turned to Arthur, who laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Now, what I wanted to tell you is this..." he started, "My brother is very important to me. While I wasn't in his life for a while, I still care for him deeply."

He stared right into Ratchet's eyes, "I don't know what you are doing with him, but he has been acting different lately. I just don't want him going down the wrong path, y'know?"

Ratchet smirked, "Really now? And what is that supposed to mean?

Arthur still stared at him in disdain, "Keep your plans away from my brother. If he gets in trouble because of your interference, it will be your fault that he is caught in the crossfire."

Ratchet watched as he turned, "Well, I guess I'll see you later."

Ratchet stayed silent. Staring at Arthurs's back as he left, eventually being swallowed by the crowds of people around him.

He was alone, wasn't he?

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He didn't go home after that.

To be honest, he was pretty pissed off at everyone right now. He couldn't find it in himself to be bothered and deal with people at the moment. He had his own things to worry about.

He had 6 months to figure all this out, after all. He better make the most of it. He has already been here for a while without memories, and it kept eating away at him. Now he had a deadline.

Remember or...lose the life he made.

Which is why he had to at least try.

He looked down at his communicator, looking over his contacts and staring at that one, mysterious name on his list.

Cordero

His finger hovered over the contact, hesitating before pressing it, opening up a messaging box. He typed out a message.

Ratchet : Who is this?

He received no response for a while...

He waited some more, giving up and throwing the phone on the table as he sat back to rub his eyes. He was practically grasping at straws at this point. It felt like he hit a dead end. He grunted in frustration. He only had very few people on his side, with a minimal amount of support.

He was still determined to beat the odds, however.

He was startled out of his head when someone else sat across from him. He glanced at the newcomer. Alice.

"I knew I'd see you again! It's been a while!"

"It's been 2 days."

"Well, whatever. You mood killer. Here I am helping you and you just can't show me common decency? Shame..." she smirked, pushing up her round glasses. "I have been doing some more research while you were gone. And I have to say-"

"You found something?"

"-I found nothing!"

Ratchet paused, looking at her incredulously, "Oh. Thanks for sharing...I guess."

The girl chuckled, tapping her chin. "However, I have noticed that the Librarians have been keeping a tighter lock on the book storage rooms..." she whispered, "Perhaps there is something of interest in there!"

Ratchet groaned, "I recently met you and you assume that I am up for some petty thievery?"

"Yes."

...

"That's fair." Ratchet muttered, "I'm not really trying to bring attention onto myself, though. Gotta keep it down..."

Alice nodded silently, "That's understandable. I don't know how I would feel if I was in your situation..." she huffed. "Look I want to help you, but we don't know each other that well yet. I'll keep my promise on finding you some information if you do me a little favor..." she whispered. Ratchet squinted in confusion, leaning forward, curiosity peaked, "A favor? What kind of favor are we talking about?"

The girl paused, thinking for a moment. "The books you want are the same exact ones that I want access to. You have to understand my curiosity!" she almost whined, "Mrs. Able is the head bookkeeper. She is basically like my boss. But, this old lady loves to talk about her books! She's written some!" Alice pulls out her shoulder bag and presents an old, worn book.

"A...romance novel?"

Alice cringed, "Yeah...exactly." she paused for a moment, "Mrs. Able is constantly behind the desk. The spare keys to the room we want to get into are always on her waist." she explained, "Now, guess where Mrs. Able's secret hidden collection of unreleased romantic novels are?"

Ratchet raised a brow, "In the secret room we want to get into?"

"Bingo! That's it! That is how we will get in!" she cheered, "I came up with that myself, thank you very much!"

"Yeah, uh-huh." Ratchet huffed, "Have you ever thought about there being security cameras?"

The girl paused. Ratchet sighed, "That's what I thought." and the two lapsed into silence.

"I have an idea." He started, "You're like...he assistant, right? You clean and do all that? Put books back?" Alice nodded, "Well, if I were to express interest in her books, and ask about her being a popular author. She may just ask you to get the books, right?"

Alice perked up, "Yeah! That could work." She tapped her chin, "Mrs. Able loves me as her assistant, and she always asks me to do things for her. This could work, if we pull it off right." she tapped her chin, "Give me a few days to look over the cams and see where they are. I will text you my findings when I have all my information!" she said.

Ratchet nodded silently, swallowing thickly. He really did want his answers, but was this the right way to do it?

Probably not, but whoever called him a sane, law-abiding citizen?

"Got it. What do you want these books for anyways."

Alice just chuckled, "That's for me to know, and for you to never find out!" She jumped up, putting the book back in her shoulder bag, waving goodbye quickly before turning away. He watched her go and disappear behind the many rows of bookshelves.

What an odd girl...

He shook his head, figuring that he should be heading out soon. There was nothing else for him to do anyways. There were no books that would give him valuable information, and there was no one to keep him company. There was no point.

He left the place with a new plan in mind, wondering how he was going to pull such a thing off...

or if it's even worth it in the first place.

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He sighed as he walked the streets aimlessly, weaving through the crowds with ease.

He didn't have much prize bolts left after these past few weeks, but he bought himself a smoothie anyways. He did not feel like going back home just yet, and he figured he could do some sightseeing while he was at it. He coughed into his elbow as he looked for a place to sit...

He ended up sitting on a bench near a hoverboard park, watching as other teens his age tried to balance on their boards, some more successful than others. He winced as one of them fell on their ass...

Ouch...

He paused once he heard his communicator ping. He pulled it out with one hand, reading the screen.

*[New Message!]*

Cordero : You should already know by my contact name. I would like to speak with you.

Ratchet immediately looked around, making sure no one was looking over his shoulder

Ratchet : That doesn't explain how your name got on my phone...

Cordero : Just hear me out

Cordero : I know about your situation.

Cordero : I am offering my help. You don't have to accept of course.

Ratchet growled under his breath...

Ratchet : You think I'd just trust you? I don't even know you.

He waited for a response

Cordero : You don't have to.

Cordero : But you don't have many options, do you?

Ratchet looked around once more, before turning back to his communicator. He didn't have many options now that he thought about it. Most of the people in his corner didn't know what he was really up to when it came to his memories.

He sighed...

Ratchet : You are right.

Ratchet : But why exactly do you want to help me?

He waited for a response

...

He didn't get one

He sighed in frustration, pocketing his communicator before standing up to throw his smoothie in the trash. Before he walked away, however, he was tapped gently on his right shoulder. He turned quickly, coming face to face with,

"Cian! It's nice to see you again!" he said, surprised as he watched the man smile down at him. "It's been a while, Ratchet. How's the leg?" Cian asked kindly. Ratchet looked down at his leg, "It's way better now. I practically don't feel it at all, anymore."

The man nodded, "That's good." he looked back over to the hoverboard park, "If my girls were to turn and see you now they'd positively faint. You inspired them to take on the hobby of hoverboarding, y'know?"

Ratchet looked over the skate park, watching as two identical girls tried to get back up on their hoverboards, "Their names are Ivy and Vivian, they really admire you." he whispered so only Ratchet could hear. However, he looked closer at the teen, "You alright? You seem a bit pale, kid."

Now that the man mentions it, Ratchet has been feeling off since yesterday. He wasn't sure if it had anything to do with the shock of what he heard, or if it was something else, but his stomach started churning more and more as the time passed. He chuckled anxiously, "I'm fine. Today is just an off day.." He said. The man looked at him skeptically, "If you say so, kid." he huffed, "Anyways, I'd get out of here before you have two girls following you around. Wouldn't want you to deal with their fangirling all day, right?"

Ratchet chuckled nervously, "No, sir!" he waved the man goodbye, before turning to head home.

"And Ratchet?"

He turned to the man who seemed to look at him worriedly, "Got some rest, yeah?"

Ratchet just nodded his head, turning back around and heading home. He furrowed his brows,

What did Cian even mean?

He felt fine though (kind of)? And his head definitely didn't hurt (it was starting to..) and everything seemed fine.

Maybe Cian was just worried after what happened at the hoverboard race a while ago. Yes! That had to be it

He stopped to look around his surroundings...

What was the way home again?

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[Kaden]

Kaden sat alone at the dinner table, waiting for Ratchet to get home.

It was already 35 minutes after sunset and the kid has yet to return. He groaned. First Alister told him about the little spat he had with Ratchet, and now Ratchet is going against the rules and staying out late. He would have to have a bit of a talk with him about what happened today.

He was getting more and more irritated (and worried) as time went on. Phoebe went to sleep a while ago, and he was alone waiting this out. His left ear perked up when he heard the door open quietly. He immediately stood up to exit the kitchen, watching as Ratchet slowly slipped his books off. The boy stopped when he saw Kaden, who crossed his arms. "Well, look who finally decided to show up." He analyzed the kit, "Where have you been?"

Ratchet looked up to him, taking a while to formulate his answer, only to just say, "Out."

Kaden scoffed, "Well, I know that. What took you so long to get home?" he asked, waiting for Ratchet to respond,

"I-I couldn't find the way home."

Kaden sighed, "Ratchet, I don't like it when you lie. You've been here for months. Don't tell me you just forgot..." he scrutinized the kit, "Are you drunk!?" he asked incredulously as Ratchet seemed to almost sway, but Ratchet just shook his head. "No, I'm just tired."

Well, that checked out. Kaden couldn't smell any alcohol on him anyways. But still...

"You still didn't explain why you were out so late."

Ratchet finally sighed in frustration, "I told you."

"No, you didn't." Kaden said sternly.

They stood in silence. Ratchet just yawned, looking down at his feet. Kaden just shook his head, "On top of that, Alister told me about what you said to him earlier. I thought you knew better than to-"

Ratchet cut him off with a low hiss, "What are you, my dad!?"

Kaden reeled back, but Ratchet kept going, "Alister had no idea what happened to me yesterday, and he had no right to tell me how to feel!" he exclaimed, "You don't know how insensitive he was because you weren't there just-" He bought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, "I'm sorry, can we talk about this tomorrow? I'm not feeling well. You can lecture me tomorrow just..." he sighed, "Wait." He covered up a cough with his arm, looking up at the man, a pleading look on his face.

Kaden stared at the kid in surprise, still shocked by what he said beforehand. He was...saddened by what he said.

"O-okay, then. We'll talk in the morning..." was all he had to offer. Watching as Ratchet nodded and silently walked up the stairs to the spare room and shut the door quietly. Kaden composed himself, breathing in deeply.

Maybe his assumptions yesterday were correct...

Something was wrong. Something was going on....

.

.

.

He needed to think.

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[Ratchet]

He lay in bed, head pounding as the cold air seemed to bite him from outside the blankets.

He couldn't sleep. He only started feeling more and more unwell as the time went on. Was he coming down with a cold? That has to be it. It has been getting colder lately...

He coughed into the frigid air, sitting up as he rubbed at his throat. He picked up his communicator lazily, trying to read it even though the bright light stings his eyes. He looked as he got a notification from a few minutes ago.

*[New Message!]*

Cordero : Listen, I NEED you to listen.

Cordero : How I am contacting you doesn't matter.

Cordero : I will contact you tomorrow around noon. Wait for my call. We need to speak.

Ratchet sighed in defeat. Maybe he should give this person a chance. See what this mysterious individual had to tell him...

Ratchet : Alright, you win.

Ratchet : I will wait for your call.

There was no response for a minute...

Cordero : Good.

Ratchet closed his messaging app, turning off the blinding screen as it just made his headache worse. He had to be sure to wake up early enough to hear this stupid lecture from Kaden and wait for the call.

He groaned in frustration, setting an alarm on his communicator before dropping it next to his pillow.

He hoped to just get even a bit of sleep before then...

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[Clank]

It's been a few days since XR was shut down. Since then, one more prototype was thrown into the storage closet.

He could make things quicker now, since he has figured it out the first time. The problem was getting the emotions and reactions correct. After XR, everything he tried seemed to have failed. The prototype he just discarded wouldn't turn on at all...

Why did the universe make things so hard for him?

He sighed, walking out of his workspace and into the main room of the clock. His assistant, Sigmund, seemed to be quieter as well. While Clank found this a bit odd, he came to like the silence nowadays. Even so, he walked up to his fellow bot, "Hello Sigmund."

"H-Hello Sir!" Sigmund replied enthusiastically, "How is your project going?" he asked hesitantly.

Clank shook his head, optics dimming, "Unfortunately, the inner components seemed to fail with this prototype" he said, "I will have to start again soon."

Sigmund winced, but decided to go along with it anyway, "T-That's the spirit, S-sir!"

He watched as Clank turned and walked out of the main room, heading towards the ships. He was probably going to get more materials...

"Thank you, Sigmund."

And that was that. The small bot disappeared from sight as he walked farther and farther away. Sigmund looked down sadly.

"This is wrong, S-sir..." he muttered, "B-But I will do the right thing!"

Sigmund turned, moving over a beam from the ceiling that came down a while ago after the incident. He reached down to pick up the one thing that he found intact a week or so ago.

Ratchet's wrench.

He held it close and zoomed down the hall to the storage closets, stopping at one, intimidating door. He reached out to turn the knob slowly. Inside laid XR, still propped up against the wall, now with Clank's discarded prototype's head laying upon XR's lap. It was carelessly thrown in there...

And Sigmund was the one to do it.

He sighed once more, going forward to reach down and move the prototype away. He then turned to XR,

"H-Hello, XR..." he started, "I can sense you're almost awake. I haven't told Sir Clank, t-though."

He was met with silence, as he expected.

He then laid Ratchet's wrench down next to XR, "S-Sir Clank isn't doing the right thing, XR. I think you know that already..."

He paused,

"B-But I think you can do the right thing, XR."

Sigmund waited a moment, before turning and shutting the door quietly. Hopefully, Clank wouldn't walk in and see Ratchet's wrench just laying there...that wouldn't be good.

But there...inside the room...

XR's fingers twitched against the floor.

"I will, Sigmund."

...was said, but not spoken out loud.

.

.

.

"I will."

...

"Just Wait."

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

So, Oliver seems to be up to something, there's a new plan in the works, and Ratchet seems to have a mysterious illness...what do you think will happen next?

You know the line : "Take care of yourself, Ratchet." (That I put in the prologue and this chapter) are Alister's last words before his death. It's kind of sad in a way when I use this line but ey, gotta sprinkle some pain in there somewhere 😊

There are about one or two other lines as well...can you spot them?

Anyways, I'll see you guys next time. Take care of yourselves! :)