"Lavil is dead...?" Aural asked. "That... really happened, didn't it?"

Shock didn't need to respond.

The two walked down the calm city streets without another soul nearby, as the crisp nighttime breeze danced around them.

"Fuck...." Aural tossed her head back. "Man... he didn't need to die!"

Shock drew a long breath. "From what I understand, I got knocked out. When I woke up, Trivo and Nōne were the only ones alive. Lavil was in pieces. Like... everywhere. And of all people, apparently Trivo killed Magnus. With just one arm."

"Geez... wait, do you think Trivo's repairs finished?"

"I know her repairs finished. How else would she have defeated that monster when it kicked our asses?"

"Wow... that's... wow."

"She doesn't have a place to go now that Lavil's gone, so I'm letting her stay at my place."

"Ahh... glad I'll get to see her, but..."

"Yeah." Shock sighed. "Don't care what I thought of him. Lavil deserved better."

"No argument there. Damn... and what about Nōne?"

Shock huffed. "He told me his mission was complete and he didn't come home with us. Past that, I know nothing."

"Hrrm. Don't know if I ever liked that guy."

Shock's house was in sight at the end of the street they walked down.

"Fuck," Shock suddenly exclaimed, "did I lock Trivo out earlier?" She started going through her pockets for her keys.

"Oh no."

"She was going to meet Lacuna by herself this morning. I can't imagine she wouldn't be back by now." She squinted and leaned forward, trying to assess her front door in the distance. "Oh fuck, there she is."

Trivo was sitting on the ground just beside Shock's front door. As they walked closer, they could see that she was looking down, twiddling her thumbs.

"Hey. Trivo!" Shock waved to her.

"Can she see us?"

Trivo looked up. Not a second later, she jumped to her feet and ran towards them.

"Oh, yep, she can see us."

"Aural!" Trivo yelled out. "Aural!!"

Aural put on her best smile. She ran ahead of Shock, meeting Trivo in the middle of the street.

Trivo tackled Aural, nearly sending her to the ground. She managed to keep her footing just in time, and she held Trivo in a big squeeze.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh," Trivo kept repeating, "you're okay... you're alive..."

"What? You thought some huge monster could keep me down?" Aural boasted.

"Guess not!" Trivo beamed.

Shock caught up and stood next to them, smiling at their reunion. "I'm so sorry, Trivo. I didn't mean to lock you out! I... kind of spaced out this morning. My bad." Shock looked uncharacteristically bashful.

"It's okay! I'm just glad you're both here, and you're okay, and..."

Shock patted Trivo's shoulder. "Let's get inside."

"Yes, yes, let's."

The three walked back to Shock's house. Trivo had a chipper bounce in her step, completely failing to contain her elation. At the front door, Shock got out her keys and opened it up.

"Sorry again, Trivo." She opened the door to let her friends enter first.

~~~

Shock cracked open a violet packet from a nearby cabinet and quickly drank the contents. "Ahh."

Trivo and Aural were on the living room couch, chatting away.

"Trivo! You're a free robot now, right?" Aural asked.

"Yes, but... it cost me my best friend..."

"Ah... right..." Aural's enthusiasm died down. "Sorry..."

"It's okay. I, well... I am happy that I'm free, but, it's just..."

Aural leaned over and wrapped an arm around her.

"Thanks..."

"Trivo." Shock walked up to the back of the couch. "Lavil said something a few days ago. When he was telling us he wasn't afraid of death, he mentioned he wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. Well, standing up to and taking out your "owner,"" she air-quoted, "to me, it sounds like he got his wish.

I don't think he'd want you to be sad that he's gone. He lived life to the fullest and passed on heroically."

"Thanks, Shock. It's... still just so hard. He did everything for me. Comforted me when I was sad, gave me places to stay, promised me the world..." Trivo almost sounded like she was about to cry. "Lavil was such a different person to me... he was so understanding... and he was all I had... how can I ever replace him?"

Shock leaned down against the back of the couch, between Trivo and Aural. "You're right. And, it's normal to grieve. For what it's worth, you have us now."

"Thank you," Trivo sniffled.

"Is there anything we can do to take your mind off things?" Aural asked.

"Mmh. I don't know..."

"What about a walk to my place?" Aural suggested. "I definitely need to check back on my home after all this. It's been, what, almost a week since I've been there?"

"Is... is that okay with you, Shock?" Trivo asked.

"No need to ask for permission. I wouldn't mind joining you, but I have to get to bed afterwards."

"The more, the merrier," Aural said as she stood up. "Wanna go now?"

"Sure," Shock replied.

"I just need a minute, if that's okay," Trivo mumbled.

"Of course. You need a bit of space?"

"It's okay. Well, mmh... maybe, I-I guess. Just a minute or two?"

"Not a problem. We'll wait on the front porch."

"Thank you..."

"C'mon, Aural." Shock beckoned her over, already walking back to the front door. Aural followed her out, leaving Trivo sitting on the couch.

Shock gently shut the door. "Poor thing," she whispered.

"Yeah..." Aural sighed as she sat down on the edge of the porch.

Shock leaned up against the wall. "I've seen a lot of grief in my time. It's never easy. But, at the very least, there's a silver lining to it. Magnus is gone."

"Yeah, there's that." Aural restlessly bounced her leg up and down. "Hey, Shock, what do you think's going to happen to the underground?"

Shock tilted her head. "Elaborate."

"Well, what's going to happen to all those bots? Now that Historical, o-or, Magnus is gone, there's a tiny bit of a power vacuum down there, right?"

"I suppose so. But given that almost nobody knows about it, and almost everyone down there is corrupt beyond reason, I get the feeling we don't have to worry about some new overlord rising up. Although..." she paused, "Trivo said she got there via the Siphon Yard. There have to be some TV-heads over there who know about it if it leads there. I don't know; these are just guesses.

But I don't want to get involved in that shit any more than I already have. I'll leave it up to the next set of heroes."

"Neither do I, but, I gotta say... I don't think I'd trade away the experience for anything."

Shock looked up to the sky. "I'd probably agree with you in time. I just want to get this shit past me right now."

"Yeah? Guess I wouldn't mind some R&R myself."

A few quiet moments later, Trivo opened the door and stepped out. "Okay, I'm ready to go."

"To home!" Aural cheered.

~~~

"Nobody's up there," Shock informed the group with a smile.

"Heh, yeah, I'd fucking hope not," Aural said.

The three robots stepped up to the top of the tower's main staircase, and Aural led the way around the topmost balcony towards her apartment.

"Aw man. I forgot my door was broken." Aural grabbed the unhinged door and lifted it to the side. Once inside, she stood with her hands on her hips, surveying the room. "At least it doesn't look like anyone got in here."

"That's good," Trivo agreed, walking past Aural, looking at all the musical paraphernalia arranged around the room. "Wow... this is cool."

"Oh yeah, Trivo, I gotta tell you something," Aural began.

"Yes?"

"I heard from Shock that you don't have a place to go. I know she already offered, but you're also welcome to come here anytime you'd like. I know it's not much, but consider this your home too."

"A-ah... thank you... thank you both so much!"

"You're safe now. And we'll do what we can to help you heal."

"Th-thank you... so much..." Trivo almost began sobbing, wrapping her arm around Aural, pressing her face against Aural's chest.

Aural embraced Trivo with one arm. "To think it all started right here, when I got your e-mail."

"This is where you read my panicked message, isn't it?"

"Yep." Aural stepped over to her computer and took a seat on the chair. "Shock and I came back up here after I fled from Tangent. I noticed I'd received an anonymous e-mail, and the timing was too peculiar for me to ignore it."

"To think that this might've never happened if you didn't check that e-mail..."

"Mmm! I think some things happen for a reason. I can't explain it, but sometimes things seem a little too perfect, you know?"

"Maybe you're right..."

"All right you two, it's about time I got some sleep," Shock spoke up. "Will you both be fine for the night?"

"Oh yeah, I'll be good," Aural replied.

"I think I'll be okay." Trivo answered.

"Great. Well, you two take care. You know where to find me. I'm a call or an e-mail away."

"You bet. And, uh, heheh. Shock." A grin lit up on Aural's face. "Thanks for saving my life. And giving me this sick new body, to boot."

"You're very welcome. Anything for a friend. That extends to you too, Trivo, okay? If you need anything, drop me a line. My bark is way worse than my bite," she said with a smile.

Trivo giggled. "Thanks... bye for now, Shock."

Aural gave Shock double finger-guns. "See ya!"

"Bye for now." With those parting words, she walked across the balcony and made her way down the tower's staircase.

"Hey, I should still have my songs," Aural said. "Yeah! I do." A few seconds later, a quiet, ambient soundscape emanated from the speakers on her chest and shoulders, complimenting the distant view of the twilit desert through the balcony window. Gentle piano melodies and synth pads gradually began playing from Aural's speakers, forming a relaxing musical piece.

"Want to go enjoy the view for a bit?" Aural asked.

"Okay."

The two stepped outside onto the balcony. Aural leaned over and rested her arms against the railing, while Trivo stood beside her with a few fingers cupping her chin.

"Heh. This is where I jumped. Tangent barged in, so I leapt straight off this balcony. Landed in the sand below. All that broke was my leg. I got pretty damn lucky, I think."

"I'm sorry you ended up getting dragged into this mess."

"Ha, no no! Like I told Shock earlier, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. Doing concerts is fun and all, but this was a once in a lifetime adventure."

The two sat in silence for several minutes, enjoying the soft sounds Aural played. "Hmm."

"Something on your mind?" Trivo asked.

"Yeah. I... don't know if I should say it, though."

"How come...?"

"It just feels insensitive. To you."

"Ah?" Trivo suddenly looked nervous.

"Well... it's about Historical."

"Ohh..."

Aural looked over at Trivo. "I'm thinking about what he said. That whole speech he gave us when we walked into his room."

"He talked to you? What did he say...?"

"I can't remember everything... he said so much. There was this thing called the Catastrophe Manipulator, and he talked about how he had some terrible being inside him. I didn't believe him when he said it. I guess I didn't really know what he meant."

"Ah... I've heard of the Manipulator from his friends before. I don't know anything about it, though."

"Well... I just... I don't know. I - mmh. I think I feel bad that he's dead. I'm just thinking about... well, remember a few days ago when I went to get cleaned up at the showers?"

"Yes?"

"Historical was there. That's when I got attacked by Tangent and we had to escape together. I don't know if he, like, controlled Tangent or told him to come get me, but the bottom line is... Historical saved my life that day. We were getting chased by Tan, and we flew off these grated metal walkways, like a million feet above the desert below. I would've died if he hadn't have held on to me. I... I guess I feel a bit betrayed by him, after all that."

Aural paused to see if Trivo had anything to add.

"I think I know what you mean," she said particularly quietly. "Historical was weird. He would call himself Magnus every other day, and sometimes he'd be a jerk, but sometimes nice."

"It makes sense, I guess. He really had some split personality monster inside him."

They both sat in thought for a few long moments.

Aural leaned back and rested her head against the wall. "I'm sorry. Maybe we should talk about something else?"

"Yes, please..."

"So... this visor is pretty fucking sick, huh?"

"Oh, yes! It's very spooky." Trivo giggled.

"Like I told Shock when I was being fixed, this is the best thing I ever thought of. You thought my discography was my magnum opus? No, it's this visor. I look like some kind of robot demon now!"

Trivo snickered some more. "And your arms are different too!"

"Ohh, yes." Aural held her arms up, rotating them around to show off her new robotic tattoos. "Wild, right?"

"They're really cool..."

"Maybe I should rebrand a bit. Hear me out: Aural Demonaton."

"Whoa, that's scary."

"But a cool stage name, right?"

"I think so!"

Aural put her hands behind her head. "Oh. Shit. I still owe Decker 850 for repairing my leg! And I gotta explain my sudden absence to my fans. Aiee... I'll deal it up tomorrow. I'm too excited to be alive to let the future concern me right now."

"Oh," Trivo began, suddenly changing her tone, "that reminds me."

"Hm?"

"Lacuna told me something before I left. Apparently the crashed ship she's in has long range communications, and she... she apparently got a message from humanity, and she wanted me to relay it to you and Shock."

"What?!" Aural exclaimed.

"Um, well... she told me they said..." Trivo hesitated. "They said "the experiment is over. We are on our way.""

"The... humans...? Are on their way?"

"According to Lacuna, yes."