Zane inspected his companion. It had been a wreck, but it was now fixed... sort of. Since he had crushed its skull, it had required a fair amount of repair to both its internal workings and external housing. Having been crafted hastily by Jay, its once sleek head was now clunky where faceted sheets of metal had been riveted and soldered together.

Zane gave the work a last inspection and turned to Jay 'It will have to do'.

Jay gave his head a startled shake 'that's it? No thank you, good job pal?'

'Granted, you are no Dr Julien, so I should not have hoped for more. I apologise'

'That's a very backward apology...' Jay muttered to himself.

'Why talk under your breath when you must know I can hear you?' Zane said as he continued examining the mechanical bird.

'Well, for effect really... you might start catching on that actually you're pretty rude sometimes'

Zane stood straight his attention taken away from the bird 'am I? I don't mean to be' he replied.

Jay sighed 'I know you don't buddy... I'm just incredibly needy' he said with a joking shrug.

'Well, if the problem is yours, then it is good you have been able to accept this' Zane put a hand on Jays shoulder, nodded and gave him a serious look 'Shall we give her a test flight?

Jay rolled his eyes 'sure'. He knew that trying to make Zane understand social niceties was a lost cause.

Zane powered the bird up from the control on his gauntlet. It also housed a screen that allowed the team to see what the bird was viewing at any given time. This wasn't necessary for Zane, who connected with the creation on a different level, but should he be out of action for whatever reason, any member of the team would be able to link with and control the bird from the gauntlet.

The birds' eyes glowed red and its body grew. It's many moving parts and hydraulic joints expanded and flexed as it unfurled its wings.

'Whoa, it looks pretty badass now!' Jay exclaimed 'I think its new look is fearsome'

'Hmm' Zane considered this 'yes, it does look different. Good. I think I like it after all. Thank you Jay... How very unexpected'

Jay slapped his forehead 'so close! One day Zane, you will compliment me and not then cruelly negate it in your next breath!'

'I doubt it' Zane said and the great bird hopped onto his shoulder.

'WHAT?' Jay said, incredulous.

As he headed for the door, Zane whispered under his breath 'because I do it on purpose'.

'What? What was that? Don't you go muttering under your breath, when you know full well I don't have nindroid hearing capabilities... Its just Unfair' He shouted after Zane 'UNFAIR!'

Zane glanced back and Jay saw the smile on his face 'now he's laughing at me... why do I put up with this? I don't have to put up with this you know?' He exclaimed loudly, following Zane outside.

Joining Zane in the temple's garden, Jay asked grumpily 'where shall we send her for the test then?'

'Well, she has the coordinates for the Shadow Settlement; they were restored when we reconfigured her. It will be worth scoping the place out, we need to work out our approach if we plan to get Kai back' Jay acknowledged this as a good idea, all thoughts of Zane picking on him dispersed at the thought of Kai being held prisoner at the settlement.

'So what now?' Jay asked.

'Perhaps you could ask Cole and Nya to meet us in the control room for tea and surveillance? We still have only partial system function, but I can link up with my friend here and we can all view her vision on a larger screen. What kind of tea would you like?'

'Surprise me' Jay said as he watched a silent exchange between the two creations. Zane released the bird, its great wings creating a fair amount of wind as it pushed off of his shoulder. Jay watched it soar and then drop out of sight below the edge of the floating island and continued on his way to find Nya and Cole.

Jay found Nya in the infirmary, at the Shadow Ninja's bedside with Pixal and Misako. He stood outside the window and pressed the intercom to hear their conversation.

'...I don't want to have to use that again on her, its not really for human use' Pixal was saying to Nya 'but she was a danger to herself and me'.

'We need information from her and quickly. Kai could be in serious trouble and she'll have all kinds of answers for us regarding the prison break in' Nya replied.

Misako answered 'When the tranquiliser starts to wear off, we'll keep her under a light anaesthetic and reduce the dose until she is lucid. Until she understands her predicament and that she is in no danger, she will just try and flee and that helps no one'

Jay knocked at the window and Nya left to see him 'what happened?' he asked her.

'She came around, panicked and tried to leave, dragging the drips and monitors with her. When Pixal came to stop her, she attempted to attack her'

'Really? Is Pixal ok' Jay asked, worried.

Nya gave a small laugh 'yes. Pixal's fine. The girl was so drowsy and disoriented that she just ended up on the floor herself, tangled in wires... but y'know, still not great. Anyway, what you got for me?'

'Zane's companion is airborne and he's sent it to the settlement. He wants us for a surveillance tea party' Jay chuckled.

'How very Zane. Come on lets grab Cole on the way. He's in the kitchen'

'What? It's Thursday? Oh no, it's his turn to make dinner' Jay said, a sorry look coming over his face 'Ugh. You don't think we could persuade Zane to get the bird to pick up a take out for us do you?'

'I seriously doubt it. You know how he takes everyone's chores seriously...'

'Us eating Coles offering is a chore in itself'

'Tell me about it, but Zane believes it's important to support Coles efforts' Nya gave Jay a sorry look and shrugged her shoulders 'so...'

'Sooo... We just dice with death by food poisoning on a weekly basis, in the hope it will help Cole improve?'

'I guess so' they arrived at the kitchen and Nya pushed the door 'Just... be nice Jay' she asked as they entered. Jay immediately pulled a face as the cooking smells hit his nostrils 'Hi Cole!' She said in a slightly too chirpy voice and tried to look as enthusiastic as possible.

Cole slammed the pan he was holding down, having burned his hand. It proceeded to tip and spill its watery contents all over the surface, over the edge and into the various draws that had been left haphazardly open 'Noooo!' Effin fuuuu... shit, crap... he flustered around for a cloth to soak it up but found they were all in the sink filled with water. He stopped trying to save the disaster and stood and watched it instead, a defeated look on his face.

'You alright there dude?' Jay asked.

Cole took a deep breath and turned to them 'I hate cooking' he said.

'Believe me, we hate you cooking too' Jay replied.

Nya swept her hands in the direction of the mess and drew the lumpy water into a fluid form and deposited it in the sink. She went over to Cole and hugged his defeated shoulders 'it'll just need a little wipe down...' she said quietly.

'Thanks' Cole mumbled 'please tell me you've come to take me away from all this?' he said hopefully.

Jay replied happily 'we've come to take you away from all this!'

'Thank the masters... lets go' he yanked off his apron and threw it on the floor 'where we goin'?' Cole stomped out of the kitchen with Jay hurrying after him.

Nya sighed and turned off the gas 'I swear he's a danger to us all!'

The three friends entered the Control Room, Zane turned from the screen and control panel and welcomed them 'perfect timing my friends. The tea has been brewing for just the right amount of time' he clapped his hands together 'who would like to pour? Cole?'

Cole scratched his messy hair 'not really man, no'

'Ok, I will pour then'

Nya pulled a chair out and led the extremely grumpy Cole to sit down. Jay took the first cup from Zane and placed it in Coles' hands 'There ya go buddy. You just have a nice relax' he said.

As he continued to pour, Zane watched them fuss over Cole out of the corner of his eye 'everything ok?' he asked.

'Allll good, my man, all good!' Jay said chirpily 'Do you have a clear link up?'

'I certainly do, I just need to re-route the signal to this screen' he passed the cup just poured to Nya and turned back to what he was doing. Adjusting a couple of wires and typing at the keyboard, the screen flickered to life. An aerial view of suburban sprawl was clear as day on the screen 'Could you zoom in to our target please' Zane asked, but he spoke only for his teammates benefit, the companion did not need a voice command and had already registered Zane's wishes before he had finished his sentence. It was easier to see the settlement now. Amongst the maze of structures the boundary of an extensive group of buildings could be discerned. Zane pointed it out to them 'Here, you can see how the majority of buildings look like individual homes, but they are actually linked. These courtyards belong to a whole settlement, not individual structures. There are multiple entrance gates, situated around a staggered perimeter and even within the boundary itself, which leads me to believe that this settlement was created by joining multiple properties'

'It's a warren!' Cole exclaimed 'Have you been able to tell how they are using it? Are they using one entrance or all of them and for what purpose? And the buildings? Can you tell what is happening in any of them? Is there any form of pattern in its use that will help us understand it?'

'Not as yet' Zane replied 'I've really only now understood the full scope of the settlement. It won't take me long to deduce some facts from it'

'Can we zoom in?' Jay asked 'There's some activity at that southern gate' the bird was already adjusting its lenses as Zane registered Jay's question 'That's so awesome' Jay chuckled as the bird flicked between ranges and the Southern Gate grew into focus on the screen.

'Oh... my... life!' Nya exclaimed. She pushed forward and stabbed her finger at the screen... 'That's Skylor!'