“I’LL need to take off your mask for a minute, just while I clean the cuts on your face.” She gave him a serious look as she nodded and the doors were sealed. Without their masks they would choke on the polluted air.

“Go ahead Cece.” Shishi popped up behind her, jerking his head at Dada. Cece took off the green mask and placed it on a table next to her. She wiped the dirt from his grazes with antiseptic, tweezing out a splinter from his cheek, pulling down her own orange mask as she breathed the clean ventilation.

“Don’t be a baby.” She chided him as he groaned.

Moving down to his hands she wiped those as well, this time wrapping gauze over his palm and knuckles. His were only grazed and bruised, though the purples blots were hard to see under his black skin. She cleaned the rest of his wounds and bound his feet to keep dirt from getting into his cuts again.

“All done!” She beamed at the two as she placed Dada’s and her own mask back on and nodded for the doors to be opened again.

The boys grunted in thanks and headed out, moving into the workshop.

A head and two striped arms sat on the large white table in the centre that was also filled with assorted wires and tools. The head had only two holes where the ears would be and a crank between them. The body slumped in a sitting position next to the table. To one side of the room, a Matoki with a white face and yellow mask was fiddling with different machines. Two identical metallic blocks sat side by side, one purring and the other clattering loudly. The Matoki shut off the clattering block before opening a door on the side and delving into the device.

“Joko! How’s everything coming along?” Joko bumped his head inside the machine and pulled himself out, scowling at Dada for his interruption.

“The plate for the chain in the second generator got bent when someone had a tantrum over his robot,” he rolled his eyes at Shishi who shrugged, “and now I’ve got to make a new one.” Joko moved over to a pile over assorted metal pieces and sheets with the other two following him. “The rotor will also need to be replaced since it’s a bit old.” He shook his head at the thought of the deteriorating parts. “But they’ll both be ready in time.”

Clapping him on the back in turns, both times making him jump, Shishi and Dada left him to it.

After they’d left him, Joko scolded Shishi and Dada under his breath. He mumbled on as he worked on the generators until another clap on the shoulder made him jump again.

“Yah! Shish-” Joko stopped when he turned to see the Commander and immediately he stood at attention.

“Calm down Joko. No need for that.” The yellow masked Matoki scolded Shishi again in his head for getting him into trouble. “I have the last piece for you.”

“The rotor?” Tats gave him a puzzled look but shook his head. He pulled out a silver orb that had several markings covering the shiny surface. Joko gasped and wiped his hands before reaching out. He held the orb carefully and the commander nodded, leaving without another word.

Joko continued to stare at it like it was candy.

“Oh and Joko?” The Matoki looked up as the commander peeked around the door and placed a finger to his lips. Joko mirrored him and nodded.

Turning back to the orb, he studied it closely and realised why this had to be the last piece. It wasn’t something they’d had before and would ever have again. As he pondered how the commander had found it, he pushed a small pink button underneath a desk against the South wall. From the desk, with a quiet whoosh sound, a clear container appeared. He placed the orb inside and the magnetic field held it in place so that it would not touch the sides of the container. He pressed the button again and with another quiet whoosh, the container disappeared.

Joko sighed and moved over to the table in the centre. He picked up several tools and moved back to the generators, all thoughts directed to the orb and how it got here.