I can't say it's any easier working with a healing pinky. It cracks like the screws do trying to secure them back into the engine. At least my finger knows how to stay in place. I slid halfway inside the machine to make sure those bolts kept the hatch from falling off.

After the third try, I get them scrolling in with ease. The wind then becomes my greatest enemy, kicking dirt into my eyes and shaking the machine. However, it does help me notice a small detail in the corner of them.

Two windows glare down upon me into the backyard. One of them is illuminating the same green light I've seen earlier while the other is more of a purple LED light. I swear squinting my eyes, I could see shadows appearing near them. The purple one has a more obvious one while the other window is trying to hide it. Their shadows serve as only a temporary distraction from what I should have seen coming.

I saw her beady little eyes watching me from her room when Luana escorted me down those stairs. She now hides behind her twins' masterpiece, giggling to herself most likely thinking I haven't seen her yet. To her credit, I don't know how long she has been there. Thankfully, neither Lana has fully mastered the art of jump scaring me, unlike both Lincolns.

"Having fun their little one?" I yell out down to her, cutting her giggles down to atoms.

"Oh, come on. You ruined the fun," She yells back. Her words might have said one thing, though from what I see. The smile never leaves her face.

"Maybe next time they're kiddo." I chuckle at her while going back down to her level. Her eyes never leave me for a second the whole way down which seem to glimmer in her twin's shine. "So, tell me what brings you out here."

"Well...I know you don't want me to touch your things, but I have to ask you. Can I please be your assistant?"

How many times will I have to fight to say no to her? Probably hundreds more times until I stand a chance. Though taking a glance behind me, there's still a handful of work needed to stabilize this machine.

Combine that with Lana's puppy dog eyes giving themselves a workout, it feels impossible no matter what type of thought process I put into it. With that in mind, I nudge my head back and forth almost three times, then give her the answer she was looking for.

"Fine, we can work on the exhaust."

She yelps out a little yay as she dives for the toolbox that I left below the machine's legs. Her head almost hit the platform above at the rate her legs were hopping. Still, she beats me to it. Already placing wrenches and screwdrivers separately in the small grass. I smile and lay my back flat on the dirt as the wind has the grass tickle my backside.

Grabbing the wretch Lana chose for me, her eyes watch entangled to me unscrewing the motor mount to reveal a mountain of circuits and gears. Lana laughs when what I hope was charcoal falls deliberately right into my pores from some of the gears.

Sometimes I like to think my Lisa is more like her siblings than she cares to admit. Either way, I grab her maze of blueprints and get to work on fixing her "practical joke."

To pass the time, I ask Lana questions about her life, but mainly about her life in this reality. A past reality that many of my brothers would only share stories with me around scouting campfires. They all died for someone to get to this place and when I first woke up, it didn't take me long to see why.

Oh boy, the excitement never leaves her voice as she tells me about the four major towns that light up the sky like stars, the endless fields of bright green grass and trees that surround this place, and all the advancements her mother is making as a scientist to improve the well-being of the valley.

I ask her to go into more detail about these advancements. I almost go in shock once she mentions the phrase,

magic surrounds this place.

That's a Covenant-cited phrase. They always used to say that in interviews and news reports. That moto got them digging too deep and look where it got them. Either dead or with their loved ones dead. I don't want to believe any of the Foliums were associated with the Covenant but hearing what Lincoln said about the matter, It's only a matter of time before confirmation hits me dead in the face.

Even sadder, Lana doesn't fully understand the weight that phrase holds upon so many people. It isn't her fault, she's still a kid, believing what her mother says is a mere fairy tale. Maybe at one point, it was.

Luckily, they haven't been peeping too much in the unknown yet, thanks to the trees and grass still having their color. I only hope it can remain that way.

I try asking more though she doesn't know much beyond that. I should've expected that answer. Curious, I switch the subject by asking a question that's been on my mind for quite some time.

"So, is that why you like working with machines and welding? To make a difference like your mother.

"Hmm, I suppose", she says, lifting the hat from her head, and putting it into her palms to let her twin-braided hair stretch in the wind. " I can say it was more of my dad." I watch the then glow in her eyes, slowly fade behind a gloomy grey cloud. I make sure to have my wrench at its slowest as she continues.

"You see, me and my dad would always do this type of stuff together. At one point I found it so much fun, I would ask him every time I saw a tool in his hand." Her voice dims lower as she looks inside her cap. "This cap was the last thing he gave me. He would always say, Lana, you can't be a mechanic without a trusty cap."

Now my wrench fully stops in the middle of a gear. I can hear her trying to hold back a cloud from running down her snotty nose. Now I know why my Lana barely takes off that cap. I want to shed a tear for both, but she looks at me now with the hat still in her tiny hands. Before I can say anything to possibly cheer her up; she beats me to it.

"You know, you kinda remind me of him", she says over her snot.

"Do I now?" I try saying it in a voice to put a smile on her face. I succeeded almost instantly.

"Hehe yeah. He would be fixing things like this with blueprints in hand and whatnot. He was really good."

"Well, Lana you have ways to go before you're able to master things like me or your father could.

I finish saying that as my right arm falls, overarching the gear twisting it completely off. Oil spills over me like a fountain of blood from a sliced-off hand.

Lana begins to laugh even harder when something makes a poof on the inside. The clouds lifted from her as if her mind had completely forgotten about such trauma. If I needed to do such things again to keep her smiling. My left arm is already prepared. However, a string of curiosity starts to flood my way.

"You knew that would happen, didn't you?"

Her eyes swiftly turn themselves anywhere but towards me. Her feet twist themselves in the grass while trying to hold back a cheeky smile.

"Maybe," she replies with a childish tone.

I softly chuckle to myself and look back toward the blueprints. An idea starts pushing to the forefront of my mind. My eyes slowly look at Lana who is waiting for my next move most eagerly.

"Oh darn, it seems I can't properly read this. To tongue and cheek for my liking." Admittedly I could have put on a stage act but whatever I needed to do; it did the trick. Her legs start to shake like a snake's tail rising from the sand. "Say, Lana, do you want to give it a shot?"

"Really?" she asks, looking like a spring ready to explode.

"Sure, just be careful and make sure you put your cap on."

Her candle-lit eyes explode into flames as she puts her cap back on, making sure it's on backward; of course, then darting for the wrench and sliding into my spot. I almost don't have time to slide out as she rushes in.

All with a hypotonic smile, she reads the blueprints and starts doing my job. She even started doing stuff that I didn't fully know how to do myself. I ask her how she does it, thankfully, she seems delighted to show me.

She then starts asking me questions about my life claiming she answered mine, so I must answer hers. I don't argue as I clean the oil from my face with a rag, especially since they are straightforward with the lie in mind. However, some were more honest than I care to admit, mainly when she brought up my family.

I don't remember my mother or father, only the voices I would hear in my dreams claiming as such. Strangely, trying to remember anything before The Great Terror is a struggle. Even stranger is that I don't even know why.

The closest thing I can remember is what everyone from my time remembers, people's screams being carried along by the wind with the earth-screeching howlers of the ghouls by a fire. I don't tell her that part. Still, she pats me on my metal shoulder, assuming that I'm in the same boat as her family, floating down a river of tears. In a way, she isn't wrong.

Besides that, I continue to answer many more simple ones. How I feel bad for Lincoln since I never gave him the same treatment when it comes to questions. Granted if he didn't know too much already, then maybe I would spare him one or two. In no time, she finishes her task with a glistening smile. It isn't sparking new, but a few touches from me will make it better than new.

I return a smile and press her hat against her hair, something I would do to my Lana whenever she successfully finishes a project. She giggles just like mine does afterward. However, the look in her eyes reeks of dissatisfaction. I look up towards the platform that still rests above me holding the neglected hatch bolt that I haven't finished yet.

Turning to her level I ask, "Say Lana have you ever screwed in a hatch bolt circuit before?"

Her head shakes from side to side rapidly with excitement pouring out from her eyes. She rushes out from underneath, while I take my time pulling myself out. The way she watches me, I bet she thinks I'm an old man. I crack my back, mainly the part that has the burn and lash marks. I guess 18 is the new 30, after all, because the popping sound makes me feel young again.

I point to the hatch bolt and explain the needed work she needs to do. She brings up a valid point of reaching it since it was at my level, and she barely reaches my waist. I pause and then tell her to hop on my shoulders. She hesitates for a moment but ultimately rests her tiny legs against my neck like a father giving their daughter a piggyback ride.

I make sure to hold her legs tight as the wind begins tugging at her hard. She uses the screwdriver to turn the tiny bolts attached to the outside while her other hand keeps the bigger one in place. She does ask me a few times if she is doing it right. I assure her already deep down knowing the outcome.

While she works, I can't help but sense a few pairs of eyes shooting glares at me. I have a feeling they're coming from the two rooms that stare down above us.

Oh Lincoln, I thought to myself. If I did what I'm doing now, maybe he would be here showing Lana this and not be stared down upon like a hawk by his sisters.

After guiding Lana through the winding aspects, she has it looking new again. She yells out that we did it with the utmost glee, and we exchange smiles and high-fives. To my dismay, the wind seems to have other plans.

It blows at its strongest, and with a blink of an eye, it takes Lana's cap into its arms. She only realizes this when she pats her head to feel her blonde hair.

She begins panicking as my eyes are fixated on the criminal and the hat blowing past the front gate. I can't stop looking even when Lana tells me to put her down thinking she might have a chance to get it back herself. I know she's not fast enough, but maybe I might be.

I look at Lana whose tears almost fall upon my nose and then tell her to

"Hold on tight."

She understands quickly as her fingers wrap around my neck. I rush past the gate to see it still driving in the wind along the streets. Whoever may be watching me from the Folium household, I hope they understand why I'm taking Lana out for a while. And that I won't let anything happen to her. I swear it silently under my breath making it to the streets.