Lazarus drops to his wheel bearing legs, arms back to make the flatbed, the workers start loading in, slapping and pushing until full. He turns and drives into the forge as it pulls closed after him, machinery collapsing into a house and solidifying.
Tiptoeing over the sleeping bodies ...
Nocturne - "Shh ... I'm a metallurgist ..."
Past the house, a pile of vats, she grabs one.
Nocturne - "... ions trapped in layers ... pots stirred in dreams ..."
She tiptoes back past the sleepers, vat in her arms ...
______
The sun rises to the rooster ...
The forge reopens, house expanding open to machinery, while Lazarus drives from the cave within, carrying the workers.
Workers unload, grabbing vats and carrying them to place, the last worker left shrugging without a vat, hit upside the head with a flying wrench.
______________
Teacher's voice - "Wake up !"
Nocturne wakes up in the motel suddenly to loud banging on the door, three times.
Nocturne - "! What !?"
Apex - From the other side of the door, "Hi. You took a vat from the forge. We need that back."
Nocturne - Goggles on, stirring the vat to the sound of Galaga, "I'm not done with it. Also. No I didn't ! ... What ?!"
The door crashes open to an empty motel room. Apex rushes with troops looking around.
Nocturne - Running along the clotheslines, stirring the vat, "Everything's made of electricity. That's important."
An EMP explodes in the motel, launching the soldiers through the walls. Motel tenants hang out the windows yelling at her ...
Nocturne - Running and jumping to other lines, still stirring, "Sorry !", disappearing into the busy marketplace.
The market guards, on stilts looking over the crowd, spot her above and signal to each other down the way.
Nocturne - Holding a blowtorch over the mix, heating it, spoon in her teeth, muffled, "But did you know there are different kinds of electricity ?"
Lazarus drives into the alley beneath her as the workers prepare weapons.
Nocturne - Tossing a grenade behind her and taking the spoon out of her mouth, "Nope ! You didn't."
______
In class ~
Nocturne - "So how many kinds ?"
Teacher - Looking in the distance and smiling, "Infinity ..."
Nocturne - "So how do I know which one ?"
Teacher - A furrowed brow, raising the bamboo, "You .."
He strikes the table.
__
Nocturne - Toes extended in a leap, spoon in the air, vat under the arm, workers exploding in all directions behind her, "Do !"
__
He slams the table again.
__
Nocturne - Pirouetting to another line over reaching stilt guards and flailing workers, "Your !"
__
He slams again.
__
Nocturne - Cartwheeling across the sky over mayhem into the nearby trees, "! Research !"
______
Teacher - Slamming the table, "Wake up !"
Nocturne - Jolting awake from her head on the desk, "What !?"
______________
Nocturne sits in Ms Grainne's office, goggles on, Mario.
Ms Grainne stares over a pen held with both hands.
A ticking clock.
Goggles with the sound of Mario jumping.
Ms Grainne - "So ..."
Nocturne - "You know What !?"
__
Outside the office the gather listening classmates cover their ears and groan at the sound of the censor beep (the tone used is to be the same as the ear ringing sound after a gunshot)
______________
Teacher stands next to Ms Grainne, arms crossed and looking 'very disappointed', the pen stabbed deep into the desk's surface.
Nocturne - "I'm just saying that if you expel me it's like locking me out. That makes the rest of the universe like an inside out cage. There's like one law !" She lifts her goggles, looking very 'educational', "No. Cages." She returns the goggles and leans back, "You're under arrest."
The sounds of Mario ...
The teacher's eyes go wide, he stares to the side ...
Ms Grainne - Staring a moment, "That is, the most ..."
Teacher - Holding up a halting hand, "Wait !"
Ms Grainne - Head in hands, "Oh my god ..."
______
Nocturne sits in class wearing a big dumb hat which says "I pissed off Ms Grainne", her head being bopped side to side by mocking classmates from ancient to infant, teeth gritted.
In the food hall ...
On the walk home ...
The next morning they wait outside her (damaged) motel for her and continue ...
In class while a calendar flips through as though the passing of years ...
...
one
....
week
...
later
....
week
...
later
...
Walking home ... people bopping her head ... the hat pops off and falls in the ground. Silence and hesitating hands ... she shoots the hat with a pistol and spins around to the empty streets.
She holsters and turns for the motel door.
Apex - Coming out from the alley, "I can't believe you just came back here. Have you ... just been 'coming back here' ? This whole time ?"
Nocturne - "I can't believe you just didn't 'stake this place out'."
Apex - "You have been. Look. We're not ... can we just have the pot back ?"
Nocturne - "Sure ! Done with it !" She walks to the alley and reaches into the pile of trash bags to his horror. Returns and hands it to him. "Ev-id-ence."
Apex - "I ... whatever. Thank you."
Up the stairs she opens the door and lands on the couch to a puff of dust.
Nemesis - From the corner, "So !"
Nocturne - "fuck."
Nemesis - "Yes. Now. What are you ?"
Nocturne - Droning "... i'm a dangerous entity ..."
Nemesis - "But not to whom ?"
Nocturne - "... but not even a little bit to you ..."
Nemesis - "Not even a little bit. I will break your Game-Brick girl. Now what happens if you get kicked out of Sanctuary again ?"
Nocturne - "... they'll find me and put me back in my tube ..."
Nemesis - "Yes they will. And it will break my heart. It really actually will. So why am I here ?"
Nocturne - "... because I'm thinking about doing something bad and the universal forces pulled you here again ..."
Nemesis - "Universal Forces Nocturne. What does that mean ?"
Nocturne - "... it's probably really bad and i just don't know it yet ..."
Nemesis - "Do you ? Know it now ?"
Nocturne - "... now I know ..."
Nemesis stares at her a moment and leaves.
Nix - Crouched on the dresser, "There goes half the battle ... wanna do something bad ?"
__
Nemesis exits the motel, Apex waiting. She looks at him shaking her head, walking.
Apex - "Oh I know. I know." He follows with the pot.
__
Nocturne - "Yes ! I need to break into the impound yard to steal the anarchist robot and also kill Apollo."
Nix - "Apollo ? Fuck that guy ... why ?"
Nocturne - "Contract. Also fuck that guy. He's got bad history."
Nix - "How much how bad ?"
Nocturne - "Enough to fix the robot, repair all the gear and maybe even dream a little. Bad enough to know we're doing the right thing. And he's off world. No law."
She curls into the couch to sleep while Nix climbs over the back to sleep over her.
Nix - "My favorites." She closes her eyes.
Nocturne - "mphn ..." Sleep.
____
She holds bolt cutters at the fence outside the impound yard, leaning in when a Zippo sounds a glow. She smiles ...
Nocturne - "hi ..."
Doe's arm slides around her waist from behind, he puts a cigarette to her mouth. She inhales still holding the cutters poised, leaning back.
Doe - "whatcha doin' ?"
Nocturne - "nothin' ..."
Smoke curls over her shoulder.
Doe - "nothin' to do with the mission ?"
Nocturne - Curling in happy, still holding the cutters, "it's got everything to do with the mission ..."
She cuts. The chain falls. The cigarette goes to her mouth as she lowers her arms, his other arm moves around her waist as he kisses her ear.
Doe - "i don't believe you." He holds her close.
Nocturne - Cigarette in her mouth, "do you have to ?"
Doe - Her smoke across his face, "not even a little bit."
She smiles opening her eyes alone as the gate swings open. Taking a drag and flipping the cigarette behind, she enters.
__
('Swimming' by Pain Teens)
A window breaks in the old guard house. Three guards look down at the grenade, the smoke pours out.
"Oh fu ..."
__
The man lay in the round hut, grown over with green and roses.
The peaked roof turns slowly beneath closed eyes motionless. The walls are filled with tendrils from outside overgrowth, falling down to root at the dirt floor. Shelves grown over, a few baubles, a few old toys and a stuffed bear.
__
The guard bots play cards, the window breaks.
"Oh fu ..."
__
Nocturne dances in the junkyard masked through the billowing smoke, electricity in the mist. A simple ballet, spinning advanced to kicks through the smoke, softened to a graceful dance with the tone of threat and an occasional death stroke imagined.
Her sword through vapors, another smoke grenade tossed behind.
__
A procession marches from the temple in the tree with flowers.
The ceiling turns slowly as Nocturne spins, letting the ribbons unravel from her arms, ends weighted.
__
The rose procession walks the wooden path, a worn limb.
Along have been tied for generations the branches into structures an arches. As they descend further, the structures relax into nature, leading to the open field before the tree.
__
A weighted ribbon wraps the pole atop the cement structure past the wreckage, followed by the other.
Nocturne ravels herself in the ribbon dancing, around her and over her arms, she dances horizontally, pulling up the wall.
__
The procession lay their roses at the hut, itself having been vined over, tied aside to leave the door.
__
Nocturne checks the triangulation on the tracking receiver and lay small explosives in a circle,
~ they lay roses.
~ she turns laying explosives.
~ the ceiling turns.
She stands in the center and pushes the detonator, falling in on the slab on fours, she looks at the darked out robot.
__
The procession returns for the temple.
______________
A view flickers on, static ...
Nocturne - Reaching in with tools under the chin, "Hi !"
Sparks and a flicker out. The sound of struck metal, the view blips on clear.
Nocturne - Standing over the slumped bot, "Hi."
The eyes twitch.
Nocturne - "I disconnected your body so you wouldn't flip me off or kill me."
An eye twitches aggressively.
Nocturne - "You're ... trying to flip me off, aren't you."
The eye stops, it stares.
Nocturne - "Understood. But they're going to melt you into scrap, and so I was wondering if instead of that you'd agree to help me and I break you out right now."
It stares.
Nocturne - "Your face works, by the way. You can talk. You just can't flip me off or kill me."
Bot - "I guess talking just didn't occur to me then."
Nocturne - "Awesome ... you're a total asshole. This is gonna work."
Bot - "Is it ?"
Nocturne - "Or you'll get melted into scrap ! Unless you mean you would agree to help me and then not ... in which case I would absolutely have to kill you, and you shouldn't doubt my ability to do that if I were you. But it would be sad."
The bot raises a brow.
Nocturne - "And then I'll just have to do it with remote control but what the fuck man !? Dead or alive you can help me or not but I'm bustin' you out either way."
Bot - "With what ?"
Nocturne - "With ... a swagger and a hand grenade ... ?"
The bot stares, then starts to crack into low laughter ...
Nocturne - "Gotcha ! With killing an asshole god. More like getting to him actually. You've got convertible parts. You're a decommissioned cruiser core in a retirement bod. Total antique and Bad - Ass." Smiling, "I know you ..."
Bot - Gives her a look, "You mean to make me fly again ?"
Nocturne - "I mean to go collect a down payment on the kill from our benefactors. Junkers. They're way old school. When they see you, they''ll know it's getting done. And then ... we fly into space, my dear."
Bot - "A space ... ship ... you can do this ?"
Nocturne - "You just saw my technical skills."
The bot stares. It flips her off and gets up looming over.
Bot - "All my gear's backed, lady. Thirty second reboot. But I did reboot so let's get the hell out of here."
__
Leaving through the smoke ... he looks around while she walks casually, Space Invaders game sounds ...
Bot - "What did you do here ?"
Nocturne - "Nothing ... wasn't actually that hard ... ! Fuck !"
Bot - Twitching ready and looking around, "What ?!"
Space Invaders death sounds ...
Nocturne - "Hm ? Oh. It's nothing. I just died again."