Neon leads us down a string of dark alleyways, signalling with her hands as to when to stop, go and keep low. I want to talk to Party, but it's apparent that we have to keep utterly silent. Instead i clutch my gun in my hand, keeping my finger on the trigger.

We're travelling deeper and deeper into the city's slums. And even though BL/ind don't care for the poor people living rough out in these parts, they will still have some control over the area. Any dracs could easily turn up at any point without having to travel far.

"Get back!" She hisses suddenly, gesturing for us all to hide. We dive behind the dumpsters, me and Party behind the one nearest to the alley's entrance. His arm goes around my shoulders as he pulls me right up behind the bin so we're completely out of sight. Neon is still standing, casually picking at her nails when the drac approaches her. Luckily he's alone, and his gun is still in it's holster. Obviously he doesn't see Neon as any sort of threat.

"Identification" He snaps at her like she's some sort of piece of garbage.

"Sort number 1326-876" she says, looking up at him. I can't see her face but i can see from her posture that she isn't giving away any emotion. I think back to her words, having not realised before that these droids were registered like barcodes.

"Why are you out here?"

"Looking for work" She lies quickly, telling me that she's use to have to do this often. I wonder what exactly constitute's as work for the droids. It can't be anything very glamorous or they would get humans to do the job.

The drac pauses for a moment, looking her up and down.

"In future all dracs should report to either Better Living Industries manual labour centre or to the nearest motel to wait for any clients. Are you aware of this or are your batteries running low?" His tone is dark, cold and almost patronising. Neon flinches a little at the word 'battery', it obviously hits some sort of nerve within her.

"My batteries are just fine" She snaps back a little too fiercely. The drac quickly grabs her arm and twist it back to an unnatural angle. I go to shout in horror but Party's hand covers my mouth, stopping me. He shakes his head, telling me to keep silent before nodding back to where Neon hasn't even flinched.

The drac looks along her arm, and i quickly realise that he must be checking something - maybe a serial number or her batteries. He must find it because he drops her arm again and abruptly walks away without another word.

Neon sighs and turns back to us, signalling that it's okay to come out. Party releases his grip on my mouth and pulls me up after him.

"We're almost there' he mutters before Neon hushes him, leading us around one last corner before we are faced with a rickety ladder running up the side of a building. I can see that it leads up to a balcony of sorts. Well, it's more of a jutting edge than a balcony, but i can see a door that must lead to Neon's home.

"We go up one at a time" Neon orders "First Party, then Kobra, then Jet, then Spark and Ghoul and me will bring up the rear. Any more than one at once would be way too risky - it would draw unnecessary attention to us all."

"Are Bolt and Silver already up there?" Kobra asks as Party starts up the ladder, climbing like a monkey.

"Bolt is out trying to get work, she sends her regards. Sliver's up there though, she was tidying up the place whilst i came to fetch you lot" Neon turned to me as Kobra started to climb "miss out the second step, it's dodgy."

"Okay" I nod as Jet begins to climb. She turns to Ghoul then, showing me that now is not the time to have a proper conversation. I turn and stare up at the ladder, waiting under Jet has safely climbed over the last step before i begin. I take me time so no to slip on the small bars, going at an even pace. It's higher than i thought, and i make myself keep looking up instead of down at the ground beneath me, as i know i'll probably feel sick if i do.

"Hey" Party grins when i reach the top, leaning over and placing a hand under my arm as i crawl over the top onto the small platform. He hauls me to my feet, making sure i don't stumble backwards or slip in the process. "Let's get inside so you can meet Silver. It's safe to talk in there" he pulls me through the door into an odd little place.

I guess the correct term would probably be some sort of flat. We enter into a living type area, which seems to also double as a bedroom. In fact it seems to be the only room in the place, obviously the droids don't need the use of bathrooms or kitchen's. There's a coffee table with a few maps laid out in the centre of the room, with a few chairs surrounding it. In one corner is a stack of mattresses, blankets and pillows. Obviously they still need to sleep though.

There's a sink and mirror in one corner of the room, and a few cabinets around it. Plus there's a whole load of items littered about the place, but i have no idea what most of them are. Most of the walls are covered in pretty materials, like a patchwork wallpaper of what looks like was once scarves draped everywhere, giving it a comforting feeling. I'm willing to bet it also block out the sounds as well, keeping it a safe place.

A female droid who must be Sliver stands in the centre of the room, wearing a similar boots, gloves and dress as Neon. Her hair however, is a silver colour and to her shoulders, as opposed to Neon's platinum blonde bob. And when i say silver i don't mean grey - i mean metallic silver than practically shines even though she isn't in the sunlight. Her eyes are a lighter shade of purple than Neon's, but still beautiful.

"Hey" She smiles "this must be Spark."

"Yeah" I find myself getting a little nervous, which is absurd after everything i've been through. Probably because now that Neon and Ghoul have also walked in, slamming the door behind them, i'm in a room with two stunning droids. Who i know absolutely nothing about.

"How much did you tell her about us?" Neon asks, taking a seat down on one of the chairs. Everyone else around me sits down too, so i copy them and take a seat on one of the mattresses, right between Kobra and Ghoul.

"Not a lot" Jet turns to me "Anyway, we haven't even done proper introductions yet. Silver, Neon, this is Spark. She saved Party's life and now they're an item" I resist the urge to roll my eyes at how simple he makes the whole thing sound.

"Nice to meet you" i smile instead. I brush my hands through my hair, feeling a little self conscious at how messy it must be compared to their hair, which doesn't have a single glossy strand out of place.

"Likewise" Neon gives me a quick smile in return before going back to her serious expression. I have a feeling she doesn't have much time for petty introductions. It's obvious that she's impatient and just want's to get on with the task at hand "anyway, you're here for her bike right? The one you left behind last time you were here?"

"That's the one" Ghoul gives a short nod, avoiding eye contact with me at the mention of my beloved vehicle, knowing i still hold him responsible "it was my fault she had to leave it, so we're helping her get it back."

"Sure you don't want to have a crack at taking down Korse whilst you're at it?" Silver jokes, but i can tell there's an edge of seriousness to her voice. They're obviously all tired of Better Living's reign over the city and are eager for the killjoys to take them down once and for all. If only it was that simple. Oh how i'd love to be able to fulfil her joke one day, and take down those bastards once and for all.

"You know we would if we had the numbers" Party sighs, running a hand through his hair "How's your battery holding up?"

"Not so good" Silver sighs "I keep getting weaker. I haven't been able to do any sort of manual labour jobs in the tips so i've tried it out on the streets for the past few weeks, but even that's getting too much now."

"I hate to think of you doing that. Are you sure you wouldn't be able to make the journey out to our base?" Party frowns "Because i'm sure we could find a way to get you hooked up to some sort of power once you were there."

"I know you would, but i'm not designed to last long outside of these city walls. We have to fight this war from the inside, it's just the way of things" she see's me looking confused and only then seems to remember that i don't know much about the droids "you haven't heard much about us at all, have you?"

"No not really" i scratch at my ankle for lack of anything better to look at, feeling embarrassed that i'm so new to this. Normally i'm the know-it-all who's one step ahead of everyone else, so this is a new side to myself.

"You can do the honours" Neon says to Silver before standing up "whilst me and Party here plan out exactly where this bike is and then how we're going to get to it without getting noticed."

"Sure. We should try and do some sort of supply run whilst we have these guy's help though" Silver nods "I mean it's not like i'm well enough to be able to go out like that anymore, and i don't like it when you go on your own trying to steal power."

"We'd be happy to help you there" Party nods, moving closer to the map.

"Come on" Silver smiles to me "you must all be hungry, and i need someone to help we prepare the food i got for you guys."

"You didn't need to do that Sil" Party gives her an eye roll.

"Of course i did. Just because we don't eat doesn't mean you have to go hungry" she takes me by the hand and leads me behind one of the curtains. I'm instantly surprised at how human and warm her hand is - you would never know just by the feel of her that she wasn't completely human. I'm intrigued by her to say the least, at how she can have emotions and rebel against the same people who created her so fearlessly. That's why i'm so eager to help her with this food - i want to know more without being rude, and it looks like she's about to give me the answer's i'm so desperate for.

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