(Bug Comic) (This follows "The Minder is Indisposed" Down at the marina below Gresham, 22-301 and Nyelah had picked out a boat with a motor and a full fuel tank. (22-301 made Nyelah back it out of the slip and made sure she knew how to read basic channel markings, so she wouldn't run aground.) Then 22-301 reached into the a bag, pulled out an enormous collar* and handed it to Nyelah. "Take this to a person who knows living machines. It has the codes to many doors, and maps of everywhere my first co-pilot went. It may be of use." All Avila knew about 22-301's first co-pilot was his name, and that he'd been with 22-301 since 22-301 was first loaded onto a ship, still bleeding and groggy from pilot training. "What happened to Hidalgo?" 22-301 was dividing the contents of the deli bag into two piles. "He reached across the weapons console to hand me a bottle of water, and the Minder struck him in the face. He died that night." Avila said something he never thought he would to an Aer. "I'm sorry." 22-301 had finished sorting. He frowned and moved one of the cat food packets to Nyelah's pile. "It is the Azali who will be sorry." He said a phrase in Aer: "First I will pull off the wings, and then the legs." He looked up at Avila "Are you ready to go?" Avila paused. He looked at the boat. He looked back up at the ship. He knew nothing about humans. He *did* know that to get Hidalgo's collar, 22-301 had to have help from other Mer. "No, I think I'll help you pull off some wings and legs." And that was the first time Avila had ever seen 22-301 smile. And this is where we leave 22-301 and Avila to their own adventures, though you'll see bits of their story in the Ellesburg War museum. You can also see that 22-301 is no fan of humanity-- he just had an axe to grind and the skills and opportunity to indulge it. (The Azali later decided that the whole 300 series was a failure, but never had a chance to act on that decision.) ---------------------------------- *Hidalgo had a lot of Brazilian Giant Otter in him, and was big enough to make even the Minder nervous, if a robot can be nervous. The boat is an anachronistic Jensen-built Cal 20, and since it's drawn from memory, I know the rigging isn't right. And next time I have to do rigging, it's not going to be across anything else. Avila's hair is from Daz, Beach Hair, most of the other stuff is painted, though 22-301's uniform is copied from Shaft71's Dominus set. The electrical box is from predatron's City Streets from Daz, too.