Chapter 3: Shiny Things
“Can you annoy Death?"

New Baltimare was not a normal 'town', much like how South Bay was a mall turned into a town. New Baltimare was actually just three buildings surrounded by a wall to keep wastelanders at bay. I stood there looking up at the intact remains of a once lavish hotel, its exterior was marred by the elements and time. The building-sized sign above the front door read 'Quilted Ritz', which was an odd name. Below it, some pony had painted a new sign saying 'Baltimare Ritz'.

I glanced over my shoulder at the building across the street. The building was once purple with a star on it, but it had faded to an almost pinkish coloring and the top floor had collapsed. Part of the name ‘Purple Star Hotel’ had partially fallen off long ago, but was still quite legible. Below the center of the star was a grimy yellow door with ponies standing in front of it.

Letting out a deep sigh, I looked at the Ritz’s double doors. They were perfectly intact, which contrasted greatly with the Purple Star. No guards greeted me, and neither did I see any holes for turret defenses. So, I took a deep breath and opened one of the doors with magic.

As I stepped inside the door, I let out a quiet gasp. Gold appeared to line the red carpet leading up to a brightly colored wooden desk. It looked new. Even the walls looked brand new, but, as my eyes adjusted to the warm light of candles, I saw why they weren't using spark battery lights. The carpet was slightly moldy, a few dirt splotches were scattered every so often on the walls. The room was spacious and branched out from there. A door with a sign labeled 'Elevator' was close to the desk, a door leading east was barricaded shut, and the only other door looked like it had seen better days.

A slightly cute stallion in a neatly pressed red uniform and cap stood to my left just inside the door, his gaze locked on me. I glanced around the room again, finally noticing a few others.

There was a pale blue unicorn sitting in a plush chair was reading some paper, a lit cigar shoved in his mouth. Across from him sat another unicorn, also in a fancy chair, who was staring at a checkers board. It appeared, to me, like they were using caps and bits as playing pieces.

On the other side of the room stood a pretty light orange mare in a charcoal grey uniform, her mane neatly done to give a pony a full view of her face. She stood behind a receptionist’s desk with a smile plastered on her face, which looked completely fake. "Welcome to the Baltimare Ritz, where all your dreams can come true." she said with a light airy voice.

"I'm looking for Doctor Gauze," I replied without hesitation, gently adjusting my saddlebags and knife sheath with magic. "How do I get there?"

She pointed a hoof at the elevator, her smile never fading. "Quite a lot of ponies make that mistake. Just hit that up arrow there and then the fourth button from the bottom."

I looked to the elevator, tilting my head. "Wait. That works?"

"Yep! We meticulously maintain it. Haven't had an accident in a month!" The relieved and happy tone of her voice caused me to look at her and tilt my head the other way.

"Accident?" My eyebrow raised up as I picked a hoof up off the ground.

She laughed as she shifted her weight around her hooves. "That was... an accident! Not to worry because everything is all fixed now." she nodded, gulping. I glanced at the pony to my left, noticing he was still staring at me.

"Are there stairs?" I asked him. As much as I would hate to take them due to my joints, I would much rather do that than a two hundred year old death trap.

"No stairs, sorry." And with that, the stallion took my safety and flushed it down the proverbial toilet. Then again... It is the wasteland and everypony has a gun. I shook my head to clear the thoughts from my brain. He said something else, but I did not pay attention, because I headed over to the elevator and hit the button.

The door let out a quiet squeal almost instantly and I found myself staring at... myself. The mare staring back at me looked like death decided to cuddle for the night. My eyes looked sunken in with dark bags hung below them, and dirty matted fur covered my face. As I slowly pulled my grimy fuzzy hat off, I turned my head side to side, looking to see if my failing mane made me uglier. As I did so, the doors began to close, so I stuck my left hoof out to hold them open. That was when I saw the multiple needle marks again, one welling up and looking purple.

Letting out a deep sigh, I shut my eyes and whispered to myself as I pulled the fuzzy hat on, "You've been given a third chance. Make it count because Death has to be pissed off."

I stepped into the elevator and turned around, slapping the button for the third floor with my hoof. Slowly, the doors closed with their squeal. I suddenly felt my stomach jump as the car moved upward. Rusty squeals and scraps drew my attention to the lighted tiles acting as the elevator's ceiling. One was worn around the edges with scratches near the mirror. Probably the one they used for maintenance.

Which gave me an idea. I glanced at the panel with all of the numbers and pushed the dark red Emergency Stop button at the bottom. The elevator instantly responded by stopping with a faint lurch as the inside went pitch black.

Then, a faint green light illuminated the darkness as my horn glowed softly. I looked up at the panel again. However, the doors squealed as they were pushed open and a pony said, "Alright, let's see what..." His voice trailed off as light illuminated the mirror to my left.

I turned to my right, noticing that only half the door could be accessed, and smiled. "Thank the Goddess you came so quickly!" I exclaimed to the confused pony without hesitation, my voice sounding half-relieved and half-'scared'. "I just don't know what went wrong! One second I was admiring myself in the mirror, and the next it went black!"

The pony wore dirty blue and yellow utility barding pulled straight from a stable, the number replaced with an R. In his forehooves was a long pry bar with various tools hanging in pockets. An active Pipbuck on his right foreleg with the light function nearly overpowered my horn's glow, so I dropped the spell. "Howdy, ma'am." He set his pry bar down and crawled through the gap. "What was all that?"

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. They were quite quick to respond to the elevator stopping. Seeing as it is their only means of travelling between floors, it does not take a scientist to figure out why. As I looked up at the ceiling again, I thought it might be for the best that I was interrupted. It is better that I think the elevator is in perfect shape, rather than see a horrific bailing wire and duct tape fix. If that was how they fixed the ele-

"Aha!" The stallion shouted, breaking me from my evil thoughts. I looked down at him and saw he had his Pipbuck light near the elevator buttons. "Looks like ya bumped into the stop button when you were admiring yourself."

I decided to tilt my head and play dumb. "I'm sorry. The what button?"

"This one right here." He flipped it, causing the elevator to be filled with a bright yellow light as the doors shut. The car lurched upwards again, then quickly stopped as the doors squealed open. "I should probably remove that button in case somepony does that again," he mumbled to himself as he pulled out some screwdrivers and wire cutters. Then turned to me. “You look like you need a doctor.”

“That’s where I’m heading.” I flashed him my best and completely fake thank you smile on my way out of the elevator. But quickly stopped when I noticed a bag of what looked caps on his side. They were just sitting there exposed to the air, and the stallion was busy with the buttons, so I quickly snatched the bag of caps with magic and trotted off. He did not even react.

A yellow box with three pink butterflies stood halfway down the hallway. Even those who cannot read knew that symbol as the greatest thing in the wasteland, a Ministry of Peace medical box. The attached door was painted a bright yellow with the three pink butterflies on it, as if it couldn't be more obvious.

I glanced around, noticing a few ponies remained in the hallway. Most likely a few guards. A quick check of the bag told me that there was only about forty-five caps in total. I opened the MoP door and stepped inside.

A short sterile hallway filled with an odd smell greeted me. Beyond it, I could see that they had knocked down half the wall to connect two rooms, and then tried to cover it up with curtains. The floor was white, the walls were white. And so was the ceiling. It reminded me too much of a hospital, and of my leg.

"Hello? Anypony here?" I called out to anypony as I stepped through the hallway.

Slowly spinning around, I took in the room. The curtain wall took up the right side, while the wall immediately to my left and rear held heavily worn seating. More curtains at the far wall drew my attention. Pulling them aside showed a boarded up window, causing me to frown.

That's when I smelled it. A repugnant sickly sweet smell like rotting flesh.

"Yes?" a pony asked in a slightly deep, but non-raspy voice. As I turned around around to face it, a light brown non-ghoulish pony in a lab coat stood there staring at me. The pony had no mane, only light brown fur on top of her head and a dark yellow tail that almost touched the floor. As my gaze drifted to her earrings, I noted they were made with small bird feathers dangling from some kind of abstract loop. "Hello, do you need help?"

Her words broke me from my daze and I blinked a couple of times. Slowly, I sat down and held my forehead with a hoof.. "Yeah. I'm dying. I need RadAway, now."

"You must be that unicorn I was told about." The pony's voice was almost like a mare's but deeper. "I am Nurse Sawblade." I cocked an eyebrow at the confusing name for a nurse, but merely nodded. "Doctor Gauze is..." she looked back towards the curtains for a second, then looked at me and smiled. "Busy with a patient. Surgery. I am authorized to sell things."

As I sat there, I rubbed my forehead with a hoof. Sawblade was an odd looking pony. One I couldn't figure out. When I looked at her again, I found myself staring at her strange earrings. "Do you have RadAway? I can pay with caps."

She nodded. "I do have RadAway for sale, but you need more than that. It looks as if you have been touched by..." Sawblade slowly looked around the room before speaking in a hushed whisper, "Nightmare Moon."

I scratched the back of my head, frowning deeply. "I... Nightmare Moon? Sawblade. Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna are dead. They-"

"They steal your dreams!" she exclaimed in a hushed whisper. "They live on in the dreamworld. Nightmare relishes in the torment of your worst fears as Luna guides the dark one towards you."

"Look." I stomped my hoof down and glared at the light brown pony. "I came here to buy stuff. I have caps. You have medical supplies. Let's make a deal and talk about dead, but not dead, Goddesses later."

After a moment, she set her hoof down and stood up, nodding slowly. "Agreed."

*** ***

"And that is that," Sawblade stepped away from my right foreleg. She deemed the original waiting room to be an adequate area to be worked on. I stared down at the bandage wrapped around my left foreleg. Sawblade was holding a vial filled with a mixture of purple and orange, giving it an odd grayish color. "You should feel some effects soon after drinking the vial."

I took the vial in my magic, looked over to my bags on the floor, the grey alicorn sized cloak covering them like a blanket, and nodded slowly. "How much is this going to cost?"

"Forty caps," she replied..

I tossed her the whole bag of caps without hesitation. She caught it and smiled. "Fine. How about I pay you later for more supplies? Call it an I owe you thing," Oddly enough, a unicorn stallion in a slightly bloody lab coat was standing behind her. She didn't see him as her back was to him.

"I'll speak with Doctor Gauze," replied Sawblade. She turned around to go, and quickly jumped back, letting out a yelp of surprise.

"Are you alright?" He asked in a deep voice and tilted his head, I rolled my eyes at her reaction, opened the potion and started to slowly drink it.

She quickly stood tall, recomposing herself with a faint nod. "Y-yes. I did not expect you right there. It seems this is the unicorn you told me about. I was about to ask her where she found so much radiation." Sawblade rapidly nodded. Her tail lightly flicked back and forth.

"What's her name?" Doctor Gauze asked Sawblade, who most likely stared at him with a dumb expression, because he looked to me after a few seconds. "Got a name?"

I nodded and set the half-drank vial to the side. "Lilium. I'm with Lasso Overcart's caravan."

Doctor Gauze glanced at Sawblade as she walked into the other room, then looked to me. "Lilium, where did you find so much radiation?"

I glanced down at my left foreleg where the bandage was. "Why do you want to know?"

"So I can warn my other patients to avoid that area." I let out a quiet yawn. "Well?"

I shrugged "I looked for the dirtiest water I could, and the areas with small hot-spots. I don't quite remember the exact locations."

Actually, I knew where they were, but I did not feel like telling him. Doctor Gauze, for his part, stared at me without so much as a change from his normal expression, but he must have been internally facehoofing. Silence slowly fell between us and I could hear Sawblade muttering something from the other room. I glanced over at the curtains. They were pulled back to reveal a room set up with beds everywhere. Only one of which was occupied by a sleeping pony. Sawblade was sitting at a desk with items and a mixing bowl.

"So you're purposely trying to kill yourself?" Doctor Gauze asked after a few more moments of silence. I shook my head. "Then why? That's the only reason I can see for a pony to seek out radiation."

I looked to the unicorn again and frowned. "Look, I only had forty caps and your town guards are thieves. They took my pistol as payment for two days inside town. What kind of corrupt place is this?"

He ran a hoof through his ugly mane. "It's because you're an outsider. And outsiders have loads of caps."

"I don't," I growled, narrowing my eyes. "Why would I need caps when I don't need food and can shoot lightning from my horn? There's nothing for me to buy!"

Then Sawblade piped in before he could say anything. "Doctor Gauze?" He turned his head to look over his shoulder at her. "Is this potion supposed to bubble like this?"

"No. Pour that down the drain and try again."

A look at the nearly empty vial sitting next to me me was an annoying reminder that I needed more caps.

"Now then, Lilium." Gauze's voice drew my attention back to him before I could say what I was thinking. "I'll make you a deal. You trade in that syringe holder, do a little job for me, and I'll give you a few bags of RadAway. Plus a few caps."

The syringe holder floated up encased in my magic and I stared at it for a long while, as I thought over his offer. It could be useful if I had to keep Med-X close by, or a couple other things, but I had no other uses for it than that. "What's the job? I only really know basic field survival stuff, so I can't help if it's medicine."

He frowned, but nodded. "What do you know of alicorns?"

"What makes you think I do?"

"Because you hang around them all the time."

I shrugged. As I took a last drink of the vial, strawberry and orange contents assaulted my taste buds on the way by. I gently floated the empty vial to him and smiled. "I know as much as regular ponies; greens have shields and telepathy, blues go invisible, and purples teleport."

"What is their anatomy like?"

"Like a unicorn with wings. Next stupid question?"

He frowned and looked down as his pen moved across the clipboard. "How do they counter everything? When one dies it seems like they all know how it died and act accordingly."

"They do," I growled. There was no way I was going to tell him that his assumption was now false.

He nodded slowly. "And why are there only three main color hues? Can the others learn the abilities of a different color?"

"Because the Goddess wished for her children to be unique in their own way. Sneaky unicorns became pretty blues, strong willed unicorns became greens and the rest became purples. At least that is my interpretation of how she thinks." I slowly looked up to the ceiling and smiled. "She is a good Goddess, but quiet lately. As for learning new abilities... A spell is a spell, is a spell. I do not know any more than that."

He set the pen down and nodded. "Alright." Gauze stood up, put the clipboard away and held his hoof out. I did not take it, which made him frown. "You should get some rest. That potion should work, but it'll work faster if you sleep."

I picked up my stuff in my magic and slowly stood up. "May I use a bed?"

He nodded.

***===***===***

I looked out across the city beyond my simple rooftop abode. Rain poured down in a torrent of fury as thunder roared overhead, rumbling deep into my bones. Still, despite the abysmal weather, the city was quite active. Lights dotted nearly every floor on every building around me.

I leaned forward to get a good look at the ground far, far, below me. Street lamps illuminated the road and a few ant sized ponies as they walked along the sidewalk. Leaning back again, I unfolded my wings and stared up at the thunderstorm. The city lights of Baltimare reflected off the clouds, giving them a nice orange hue.

"Why is it alicorns and pegasi have to sleep in the highest point they can find?" a stallion asked from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder at the pink and yellow earth pony in black barding. He stood leaning against an air conditioning vent. A black umbrella protected his body and face from the rain. I frowned because I did not have an umbrella. Only a corrugated panel propped up by metal poles. Which was partially inadequate.

"Bucky." I smiled at him, half-closing my eyes. I folded my wings, so they did not get wet should any rain splash into my shack. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. Then looked up as thunder roared overhead again. As it echoed off into the distance, the pink stallion looked at me. "Just came here to check on you. Been missing lately."

"I was just thinking about something." I turned around to face the annoying stallion. He had yet to move from his spot. "We are so high up that We have a nice view."

He smiled a little and nodded. "I noticed... So what do you say, hm? Newlyweds and all that?"

I looked to my left where the wooden wall of my shack stood. The ripper known as Hyde was placed on it like a trophy, as was a pair of ten millimeter pistols. A bed made of just blankets took up most of the floor room while a tiny book shelf consisting of five books took up the rest. Slowly, I looked to Bucky and smiled. "Possibly."

He smiled even more. Bucky hobbled over, keeping the umbrella gripped around his foreleg until he was under the corrugated roof. Lightning flashed for a few seconds, illuminating his face and the surrounding area in a pale light. He leaned forward and shut his eyes as thunder immediately roared overhead.

As he tossed the umbrella to the side, I leaned forward to kiss him, but stopped midway when something occurred to me. "You're dead," I told him flatly.

He opened his eyes, the smile slowly fading to a frown as his ears folded back. "What...? How can you say such a thing?"

"Because I chopped your head off in the tunnels on Oakwood." I waved my hoof at a nearby building. "This city is not real either. Cities such as this burned two hundred years ago."

"Or are we in the far future and what you think happened, was only a dream?"

"Don't fuck with Us," We said as We pushed the stallion back. "What is going on? Tell Us or We will kill you again."

Bucky growled at me as a snarl crossed his face. The bright white tips of fangs barely poked out from under his lips, causing my eyes to widen slightly in shock. He charged at me before I could say something. I jumped to my side as he closed the gap. As I landed on my forehoof, I tried to use my momentum to spin and kick the pink stallion in the side, but I was too slow. He turned towards me and I felt his full earth pony weight slam into my chest, sending the both of us flying over the edge of the building.

My wings unfolded uselessly at the same time Bucky wrapped his forelegs around me. "I will have your memories!" he shouted as we began falling towards the ground below.

I swung my head forward, cracking my forehead against his, and causing white to fill my vision for a second. My wings started flapping as I spun us around, but the stallion kept dragging us towards the ground. My forehoof came up, connecting with the underside of his jaw and sending his head back. I brought the hoof down again. The force of the blow reverberated through my leg and into the spine.

It had the right effect as the pink stallion let go. He slipped off, falling silently towards the ground. "Bucky!" I shouted. My eyes widened as I dashed towards the falling stallion, grabbing hold of his foreleg with both of mine.

As I flattened out my wings, instantly causing our fall to stop, Bucky looked up at me and opened his eyes. He grinned as fire quickly surrounded his body. When it was over, I stared at a perfect copy of myself. Her perfect forest green fur mixed in with her overly long and flowing grey-green mane. My eyes widened even further as she spread a set of large wings mimicking mine.

"You and I need to have a chat," the thing shouted as thunder rumbled off the windows around us.

***===***===***

My eyes snapped open as I awoke from my nap. It was oddly dark, the only illumination coming from faint lights that appeared from the ceiling. I covered my face with a forehoof and shut my eyes again as the odd dream quickly faded to the recesses of my mind.

Despite the annoyingly hard bed beneath me, I wished to feel me feathers against my sides again. Somepony had played me for a fool. Yet... When I had talked with Dead Hoof in our tent, he had displayed no malice, so perhaps he had thought the drink was merely alcohol. Which meant I must find that long eared earth pony Dead hoof had mentioned.

Long eared earth pony meant mule. A mule who carried a lot of supplies is what Dead Hoof had said. He should not be hard to find at all. When I do... I'll throttle the fucker until he gives up the cure. If there was one.

I let out a content sigh, a small smile slowly creeping across my muzzle as the black friendly abyss of sleep called me back. But, before I could fall asleep again, I felt a strange feeling as the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Slowly, I opened my eyes, laying my hoof next to my side.

As I looked to my right, I spotted an odd pony standing there staring at me behind a set of bars. He was, at one time, a pale-white coated unicorn with an equally pale-yellow mane, but no more. His flesh and coat were wrinkled as if he had been set out in the sun like a raisin, and his mane was nearly pure silver. The barding he wore was quite simple, consisting of chainmail and thick cloth. A double barreled sawed-off shotgun was resting firmly in a quick draw holster at his side. I noticed a solid white hat adorning his head with a gold star in the center. There was even a gold star printed onto his shoulder pad.

His purple eyes glared at me like I had done something wrong.

It was then, that I noticed the room was not as it should have been. I slowly sat up and looked around. A bar covered window adorned the wall immediately to my right, while the wall directly ahead was covered in bars. The entire room glowed softly from a light in the ceiling. I could not find any furnishings beyond the bed, and neither could I find my bag of equipment.

I looked to the strange stallion. "Where is my stuff?" I asked quietly.

“Given to the town,” he replied in a voice that sounded like it came from far, far, away.

“Why?” I frowned.

“You committed a crime against New Baltimare and her mechanic. Your week-long sentence is to be carried out henceforth.”

I rolled my eyes. Sliding off the bed proved to be easier than expected. As I landed on the floor with a quiet thump, I noticed I was not chained and a quick check of my neck and horn revealed nothing strapped to them. I smiled, slowly strutting towards the bars with an exaggerated swing in my step. The stallion’s gaze left my eyes for the faintest of seconds.

I stopped near the bars, an idea coming to my mind. Slowly, I leaned forward and stretched my forelegs out as I let out a loud yawn. It felt nice to not have creaking joints or pain in my jaw. Whatever they had given me must have cleared up the problem. The stallion watched me the whole time. I stood up again with a smile. “He should keep his caps hidden and not in a bag on his side. Can you let me out?”

“No,” he replied, his old face changing back to boring guard mode.

The stallion walked off, leaving me alone in my cell of boringness. I tilted my head to the side, turning my ears towards my left and waited for the other door to shut. When I heard the metallic click of a lock closing, I quickly went over to the cell door and began feeling the lock with my hoof.

It felt like cold rusty metal, which caused me to frown. Slowly, I used my magic to feel the lock's insides to see if I could unlock it without a key. However, all I managed to do was make the tumblers click over and over without any real progress.

The room was filled with my loud groan as I pushed myself away from the bars and stomped my forehooves down. My heartbeat quickened, then dropped back down to normal levels. I attempted, and failed, to flex my wings, which would have had ruffled feathers on them. With a deep sigh, I shook my head and began pacing around the room.

The walls looked like shit, the floor was ugly stone, and the rusty bars were just standing there like an annoying wall saying “hello, my name is Rusty Bar. Ha! You can’t pick me.”

I stopped my pacing and stared at the bars. The jailer can’t be daft enough to think a unicorn can’t pick a lock, can he? Well… I can’t.

My ears slowly drooped. Then they perked up and swiveled forward when I remembered that I can pick a lock. If you consider smashing to be picking.

Taking a deep breath, I lowered my head and thought of smashing the bars with my skull, but I'm not that thick headed.

But, before I could turn around to kick the bars, the door at the far end of the hallway opened, causing me to stand up straight again as the sheriff walked in. He was followed by a slightly tall green alicorn with a flowing mane and a familiar cutie mark.

Clockwork looked over at me, her eyes slowly narrowing as I felt her presence begin to fill my mind. It quickly vanished, leaving me to tilt my head. The annoying sheriff stopped near my cell door and looked at Clockwork. "Is this her?" he asked with a slight grumble in his voice.

Clockwork tore her eyes from me and looked at the stallion, giving a firm nod. "Yes," she said with her mouth. "This is her. Why is she behind these bars?"

"She was caught pickpocketing for caps," he replied, receiving no reaction from Clockwork. The alicorn merely stared at him with her bored looking expression and yawned quietly. "Her fine is two hundred caps or a week in jail."

"You stole all my stuff!" I replied, nearly shouting. They looked at me, but I stood tall like an alicorn and tried to look down at the stallion. "Give it back!"

The stallion shook his head. "Impossible."

"Why?" Clockwork asked in a monotone voice before yawning again. I tilted my head at this and wondered why she was, as she did not look at all tired.

The stallion replied, again, that all of my stuff had been given to the town because thieves need to learn the error of their ways. A most stupid thing in my opinion, as a bad thief only gets caught... Which I must be a bad one because I got caught.

"Shock? Where are we?" a familiar mare's voice asked from behind me. Slowly, I started turning my head to look at who it came from, but a noise drew my attention forward again.
Both Clockwork and the stallion were looking at me while the stallion's horn was glowing. A matching glow surrounded a ring with a few keys as they floated into the lock and turned, opening the jail cell.

Sheriff Dickhead took a few steps back, glancing at Clockwork and saying, "Fine, she's in your care now. But I'm not buying anything from you again."

Clockwork gave him a nod before looking at me and frowning. My ears folded back slightly, yet I did not know why they did. I quickly turned them forward and gave her a nod. Pausing for a moment, I glanced at the sheriff and turned my nose up as I trotted torward Clockwork.

Her presence quickly barged its way into my mind, but I ignored it until I was out of the cell. Then she was given my attention again. "What?" I asked, tilting my head. "You expect me to not steal easy to grab caps?"

"I expected more... restraint," she replied, her mouth unmoving and her voice echoing in my head. Her brows moved closer together for a split second before her ears turned towards the noisy sheriff locking the cell door again. "We will speak of this later."

And what of my equipment? I thought to myself knowing she would hear it.

"Consider them lost causes."

My eyes widened slightly, then narrowed to fine slits. Lost causes? No! Absolutely not! My journal is precious to me. There are memories in there!

The sheriff cleared his throat, drawing my gaze away from Clockwork's to his grumpy old face. "I got work to do if the two of you are done staring at each other," he grumbled.

"We were just leaving," Clockwork said softly, and nodding. She slowly looked at me, I turned my head to look at her when I noticed the movement. "Right?"

"Right." I nodded. "We're leaving."

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25% to next level.

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