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Genos slowly rebooted to the sound of dull thumping. He tried to open his eyes, but both physical and electric fatigue prevented him from doing much of anything. If he wants to see his surroundings, he'd have to wait for his reboot to fully awake him.

Dun dun dun dun dun dun

This isn't the first time he's been semi-conscious, he still didn't enjoy it, whether he can control it or not. Dr. Kuseno had attempted to get give Genos a kind of vent for his frustrations by showing him how to meditate, but all that thinking time did was help him devise, or theorize what to do next to get stronger or find that damned cyborg.

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Genos felt some nerves in his face turn on, just enough to purse his lips. The constant thumping wasn't helping the situation either. At least there was silence when he had practiced with the doctor.

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Fortunately, Genos wouldn't have to wait much longer for his curiosity to be sated. His eyes slowly fluttered open, just enough to see the inside of his pod and a few dim colors just outside the glass. He tried and failed to move his neck, then attempting, and once again failing, to open his eyelids any larger than they already were. For the moment, he was stuck rotating his optics with a gap smaller than an inch to see through.

Dun dun dun dun dun dun

'Ah, so that's what the thumping is.' Genos thought as his eyes fell upon the periodically vibrating cylinder of metal a few feet away from him. It was painted a dim olive green and was held up on a few small supports. Several lights glowed and dulled in sync with the thumping.

Genos opened his eyes wider and allowed them to scan the machinery in front of him. 'A combustion engine? Out here?' He questioned as to why the thing that kept thumping was all the way out in space. 'Wait, where am I?' He finally realized the bigger picture around him.

As he got more control of his body, Genos was able to observe the surrounding area better. What he saw didn't answer any of his questions. A dull, green storage unit. Boxes towered near him alongside other loose junk and random miscellaneous items.

Genos felt the mechanical limbs pull off of him and the platform he sat on pushed him forward. Genos felt one last shock flow through his body as he cocked one of his arms back. Genos ran a self-diagnostic whilst testing out some of the servos in his upper body. He heard a few clicks before it seemed that his body had fully recovered from the fight with Sun Spire.

Genos pressed a few buttons and initiated the unlock sequence to allow him to leave his pod and examine the area around him better. Who knows where he is, but he'll never find out by merely sitting in one spot.

Stepping out of the pod, having to catch himself as he warmed up his leg servos. The moment he focused on the sounds around him, he learned that the pod had dampened the sound from the engine. Now that he's exited the pod, he could barely hear himself think.

Genos quickly found the closest door and left whatever room he was in. The engine room, he'd guess. The one door shut behind him, the sound from the room instantly muting the roaring engine.

Looking around at the olive green interior, he appeared to be at the end of a corridor. Three doors, two on either side of the corridor and one at the other end. Genos made his way to the left side door.

Standing in front of it, it opened in response to his presence. Splitting in two and one half going to the floor and ceiling of the frame. Peering inside, it seemed to be some kind of bay. The floor looked like stairs, he assumed it would split apart into a ramp. More importantly, he saw a window. Without needing to enter the room, he could see the dark void of space on the other side of the wall.

He turned to the door at the end of the corridor. If what he saw meant anything, not only was he in space but the vessel he was on was moving. That must mean that there's a pilot. It would only make sense to put the cockpit at the opposite end of the engine. 'That's how most vessels are at least, he thought as the image of his own pod came into his mind.

Walking towards it, he could feel his sensors flare to life. The ones that recognized organic life, that is. He prepped his arm cannon as he got closer. So far, all extra-terrestrial life has been hostile.

He lowered his stance and prowled towards the door. His current discharge is just enough to blast through steel. Not very much for what he usually utilizes. He hardened his facial expression as he stopped in front of the door.

The moment it opened, he whipped his arm forward and let out his charged shot. He was just a few inches off from hitting the pilot. Instead, his shot tore through what looked to be the controls. At the same time he shot the controls, he heard a high pitch yelp before he felt something hit him in the cheek.

He made to turn towards it but was stopped by a sudden electrical charge surging throughout his body. He felt his body go limp as his systems were forced back into sleep mode. Whatever just shot him had enough electrical power to put his body back to sleep.

His body clattered onto the floor, his head landing against the doorframe, awkwardly propping his head up. He could see, move his eyes even, but he couldn't move. Not even the AI's in his head seemed to respond.

As he lay there on the floor someone stepped in front of him. He noticed their boots as they landed in front of him. He attempted to look up, but he was only able to see up the person's armored knees.

"Oh no." He heard a high-pitched voice say. His audio receptors are still numb so we couldn't tell exactly where it came from. But if he had to guess, it'd be the person prodding his scalp with a stick.

"Are you dead?" She-he assumed it was a she-inquired, the light jabbing at his unresponsive body becoming more rapid."Say nothing if you're dead." He would've told her to go away if he could, it seemed that his voice box and mouth were unresponsive as well. She finally stopped poking him, silence befalling the ship save for the muted thudding of the engine.

"Oh no, he's dead." He watched as the pair of boots walked away from him. "I killed someone." She began to ramble. "I-I didn't mean to kill them! It was just so fast-and-and, the gun was supposed to only stun them! It's not my fault they couldn't handle a few volts, right?" She passed. "I can't say that in front of a judge! I'd be put away forever! I can be arrested and put in a prison station with all those bad guys! I'm supposed to help people from those bad guys!" They walked further and further away, Genos slowly getting the full figure of whoever was rambling, who was also the person that shot him.

Now that he thinks about it, they were also the person that kidnapped him.

"What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?" They were fully within his vision now. Black combat boots with a navy blue jumpsuit with combat armor on all their joints. A vest seemed to encompass their torso and gloves hid their hands. He was unable to see their face, their back turned towards him, allowing him to see the entirety of their short orange hair.

Finally, she spun around and let Genos see her features. Her eyes were a hot pink and they were wide with worry, pupils shrunk and creases formed around their face as stress was displayed across their face. He squinted with contempt as he took in all her features. Including her olive-green skin and tentacle mouth.

It also seemed that when she spun, she too got a good look at Genos's face. His very much alive face. "Hoh my god! You're alive!" She shouted in surprise, jumping at the realization of how she had rambled on for no reason alongside how she was plotting to hide the evidence. "Why didn't you say anything?" She said, walking up to his unmoving body.

The moment she stepped behind Genos, she fell silent. He had to assume she finally saw the smoldering hole he shot into the controls. "You... you almost killed me!" She shouted, much more aggravated now.

Genos felt his body be lifted and placed against a wall. He then watched as the alien girl placed some kind of metal ring around his body. She pulled some kind of small pin from the ring and it lit up a bright teal. Genos felt some kind of force pushing off of his entire torso the moment it turned on.

'Some kind of binding? Magnetic based, maybe?' Genos thought, his mind roaming into how useful it could be in the hands of Dr.Kuseno. He brought his thoughts back to the present as the alien stood in front of him.

"You're under arrest... whoever you are." She pointed at Genos, he in turn simply glared at her. Genos wanted to grin seeing as she slowly lost resolve and her stance shook and shattered as she stood up straight and looked away from his face.

Despite her obvious nervousness, she still tried to interact with him. "How did you even get on my ship?" She looked back to Genos, staring at his forehead to avoid the look in his eyes. A minute of silence caused her to sigh and give up talking to him directly.

"You're not gonna say anything, will you?" The question was rhetorical, but she still hoped that he'd say something. As she stared at his forehead, she also began examining his pale blonde hair from a distance.

She remembered that hair though. "You're that guy from the pod!" She glanced at him and then at the destroyed controls. The same kind of damage on the Sun Spire fleet. "You're the guy that took down Sun Spire?!" She shouted, pointing at Genos.

Genos had noted her somewhat childish behavior, it had confused him. Never had he ever seen a monster like this. Of course, he would be a fool to let his guard down. Although he couldn't even bring his guard up at the moment.

She kept staring in his general direction. Her concern swiftly changed when she heard electrical sizzling behind her. She walked to a panel beside the controls and began typing away. Since the manual controls were broken, then she'd have to use the auto-pilot.

The ship sped up and turned as she plotted a course to the nearest planet. After doing that, she looked back to Genos. This time she noticed something she should've noticed before. Her assailant's arms weren't some kind of mechanical suit, they were cybernetics. She then took out her stun gun.

Now it made a bit more sense as to why he was limp, yet conscious. 'I probably destroyed his cognitive... whatever he has that lets him move. Whoops.' She went to sit down in the cockpit, letting the room fall into silence as they traveled towards wherever they were going.

As time passed, Genos felt himself get more control over his body. His face in particular. He stopped glaring at the alien to focus on controlling his jaw. When he was certain that his control was at 100%, he began to question his captor.

"Who are you?" His voice visibly surprised his captor as she quite literally jumped at the sound of his voice. Off her seat and onto the floor even. He watched as she quickly got her feet, brushing dirt off her shoulders.

"Y-You can talk now?" She asked him, still a little shocked at the break of silence.

"My silence was temporary, thanks to you." He spat the last word, verbalizing exactly how he felt about her.

Ignoring how spiteful he sounded, she answered. "Officer Penny of the Intergalactic Defense Force!" She saluted, she didn't want to salute, but being forced to do so for superiors drilled the action into her mind. She quickly broke her salute the moment she realized what she was doing.

'Intergalactic Defense Force?' Genos thought. He hadn't thought about there being some kind of galactic government, but if there were pirates of varying species, then there must be some kind of group for the people they rob to feel safe. He put his thoughts away and asked another question. "Where are we going?"

This time, she didn't jump when he spoke. "Just some local planet so I can repair what you did to my controls!" She said, her tone taking a frustrated tinge at the end of her sentence. Genos didn't react, the same expression plastered on his face.

Penny sat down on a crate off to the side, sighing when she made contact with it. She could feel a headache coming. "Why did you even attack anyway? You took down Sun Spire! I thought you were a good guy!"

"Why would that be?" He asked. He silently hoped that his paralysis would dissipate soon, talking to it may buy him some more time.

She stared at him. "You fought pirates! Why wouldn't I?" She leaned back, kicking her legs as she rested her head against the wall. "With so many crooks rampaging around the galaxy, anyone that fights them seems like a good guy." Her voice became quieter

Genos ignored the last thing she said. He decided to answer truthfully. Not like it would matter when he either escapes or kills her. " Every extraterrestrial entity I have encountered has done nothing but try to kill me. I had assumed that would be the trend."

She seemed to pause when he said that. She stared at nothing in particular as she thought deeply about what he had said. "You've never been off-world before? What's with you calling people an 'extraterrestrial entity'?" She asked before crossing her arms. "Unless..."

A spark of realization hit Penny as she figured out why Genos was so hostile. "You're not part of-" She stopped as she felt the ship shake, Genos reacted with wariness as his eyes darted around trying to find the source of the sudden turbulence.

Through the glass of the cockpit, they could see a planet. Its atmosphere held thick patches of clouds and its surface was a mixture of grey, green, and red. Alongside the planet's geography, small lights flickered every now and then, small communities maybe. Genos could see a few specks flying across the surface or exiting the atmosphere and flying past them.

He watched as the ship pierced through the clouds with bits of frost and water trickling on the glass. Beneath the clouds, they could see a small settlement. 25-30 buildings spread across a large grassy patch. The ship descended towards one of the buildings. It had an ovular border and no roof, and if Genos was seeing correctly, tons of machines sat inactive against the walls.

The ship shook as it landed, whatever suspension the craft had attempting to absorb the shock. Moments later Penny walked out of the cockpit towards a ramp that had just been set down. Genos watched from through the glass as Penny walked towards some kind of robot or droid.

It was rather lanky and appeared to have some kind of pack on its back. It had a beige color and a skeleton-like build, with some parts having an opening in the middle. Its head was crescent-shaped and its eyes didn't look like any mechanical optics he's ever seen, they were more like holes with a slit in the middle.

He saw the two talking, but he couldn't hear past the hull of the ship. Not long after he could see the droid walk away and someone else talk to Penny. They looked like a-

'...A human?' Genos thought to himself. He just watched a normal human male walk up to his captor. He didn't look fazed at all by Penny's squidlike features. Genos was questioning whether he was seeing something or if they were disguised, but his sensors were classifying him as a human.

It must be the glass stopping his more intense sensors from getting a better scan, he thought. He reasoned this to himself, but his sensors haven't had any problems so far. The only possible explanation is also one of the most impossible explanations. That he was simply just human.

In his thoughts, he failed to notice how the droid had entered the cockpit with a rolling platform. For cargo, he assumed. He tried to turn his head towards the droid but was instead only able to stare at the far most sides of his vision.

"Let's get you up." He heard the droid say in its high-pitched robotic voice. He felt something grip his armpits and pull, but it clearly wasn't enough if the pained grunting and lack of movement meant anything. After three seconds of the droid groaning and shifting position, he heard it sigh. "You're a lot heavier than you look, and I don't even have weight sensors! Sorry about this."

Genos questioned what the droid was about to do, sorely wanting to spin around and tear the head off of the thing. He felt the platform poke his side twice, the first to move it and the second to check it. Next, he watched the machine walk in front of him and then to his other side. It got low and put both of its hands onto Genos's shoulder and arm. He heard more grunts as it began pushing again. Genos felt his body shift a little bit before the droid changed stance and successfully nudged him onto the platform. After that, it wasn't long until he could see the interior of the ship go past him as he was rolled outside.

The moment he made it out of the ship he could feel the chilly breeze and warm sun against his skin. It was a soothing cold alongside a comfortable warmth. The sky was bright blue and the clouds danced across it. It felt calming, almost enough for him to forget his situation.

Perhaps if he could move and wasn't staring at the ankles of three humanoids he could rest. Though that may be wishful thinking.

"So what're you gonna do with it?" He heard a male voice call out. Obviously that of that guy.

He saw a pair of combat boots turn to face him. "I don't know actually. Probably just drop him off at the nearest G.D.F station." He heard her say. She was promptly met with a sad chuckle.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but the nearest station would be back the way you came or the capital and you're not gonna make it to either without a working ship." He said. Genos thought himself lucky that there were none of these G.D.F stations nearby. That would buy him some time to escape.

"The controls are broken, I can just use the auto-pilot to get there," Penny said, seeing no reason to wait with a possibly dangerous-she hoped not-criminal in her care. The droid reacted to that statement by letting out some kind of mechanical shiver.

"Use the auto-pilot? The auto-pilot is nearly completely reliant on the systems in the control board." Genos felt some feeling returned to his neck and one of his knees. He looked up to watch the three talk before the droid continued. "You practically have no control board anymore. You're lucky the auto-pilot didn't slam you into the ground spinning!" It exclaimed.

Genos watched Penny's pupils shrink a little and her eyelids open some more. The droid walked over to a box, starting to rummage around for something. "Luckily for you, we can afford a magnetic controller and a parking droid." It turned back to them holding a small buzz saw. "Say hi Wheat." It said before walking towards the ship. Genos could pick up someone saying hello with an accent, but he couldn't spot them.

"Buzz over there is right. You're lucky you came to our shop, wouldn't want my next parts delivery coming from a crash site." The man's eyes seemed to unfocus as he got quieter. "We've had enough crashes." Both Penny and Genos were curious to know exactly what he meant, but with Genos being held prisoner and Penny being a bit more out-going.

"What do you mean by crashes?" She was met by a sorrowful and nervous face. He looked as if he were about to answer when they heard the same accented voice call out to them.