(Bug Comic) This follows "A Piece of Metal" After a stop back at his ship, 22-301 goes out again to look for his co-pilot, and discovers him a few blocks away, holding off a giant bug with a street sign. 22-301 shoots the bug. The conversation that followed (in Anglo-Spanish, Jorge Avila's first language, though he speaks some Aer), went like this: 22-301: "Are you finished here? I'm ready to go." Avila looks at 22-301 with disbelief. "No, a couple more rounds and I would have had him. What took you so long?" 22-301 frowns. "It is very smoky and hard to follow your scent." Avila pokes at his collar. "You couldn't track me by my collar?" 22-301 is scanning the street for more bugs, his attention half on Avila. "Your collar has been turned off for the past hour. Don't you ever look at it?" Avila drops the sign and pulls on his collar. It's turned off, but still shut. 22-301 picks up the sign and admires it. "This is perfect.I knew you would find something suitable." While Avila tries to comprehend that an Aer has actually praised him, 22-301 says something even more astonishing: "I'll show you how to get it off when we get back to the ship." He puts the end of the sign post on the ground and limps away a few steps, using the sign as a cane, then stops to look back at Avila, who is still standing, mouth open, by the dead bug. "We need to go, I only have 48 rounds left." Avila collects his wits and starts walking. "What happened to your knee? You'd better not be bleeding or we're both in trouble*." 22-301 shrugs and shoots a large shield bug trying to cross the street towards them. "Just a bruise. I hit it on a metal bar." -------------------------------------- *Bleeding--for two reasons. Bugs get very interested in anything bleeding. Also the older versions of the Aer, the 100 series and the 200 series, often didn't have clotting genes and needed a Mer to provide that service on the spot, either with a pre-drawn supply of blood or with any sharp object handy. Avila doesn't have his kit with him. 22-301 is from the 300 series, so it might not matter. The 300's had some improvements. -------------------------------- kobaltween is going to tease me about the flat composition of this one ;) Predatron made the sign, Valea's Beach Hair from Daz on Avila.