The tall Exo stood in the glow of a monitor. He was a Humanoid robot, coated in vivid red, an array of antennae glowing over the top of his head, creating a colorful halo in the dark of his shop’s back office. His mismatched optics, gold and blue, darted across the screen he studied intently. The glow of the screen turned the gear emblem over his face a pale blue and the red of his coating to blood.
Modi-5 turned away from the monitor at the sound of a soft click. He knew who it should be, but his hand rested on his Better Devils in case it was someone else.
A dark blue Exo male appeared as he was expected, and Modi-5 relaxed his hand, returning his attention to the screen. The newcomer stepped beside Modi-5, peering over his shoulder. The light turned him black, the goldenrod stripe to his brow ending between his gold optics shining a light green.
“Whatcha got, Modi?”
“I got a notification that the Unicorn has been crossing into the South sector,”
“Really?” Sam-9 said, with interest, then spotted the blip on the screen, “Been coming into these sectors a lot lately, eh?”
“Must be looking for something,” Modi-5 said, chuckling.
“Anyone else and I’d never believe the Unicorn could be found, muchless tracked,” Sam-9 admired, “Nobody out there like you, Modi.”
“You about to ask me out, Sam?”
“Don’t flatter yourself. You don’t have the equipment.”
“Sure I do!” Modi-5 joked, “About two crates of it in storage and one in the back!”
Sam-9 ignored his friend’s humor.
“You sure that’s the Unicorn though?”
“99.99%, Sammy my boy,” Modi-5 said, self-assured, “But we’ll find out when the trail leads here, won’t we?”
A voice, coated in the static of long range comms grumbled, “This had better be good, Modi.”
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“Ah, my generous investor!” Modi-5 replied, signaling Sam-9 to be quiet, “Glad you’re up!”
“I am now,” the voice growled, “Are you alone?”
Modi-5 looked at his monitor at the question, then gave a thumbs-up to Sam-9.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Modi-5 replied, “You know how jealous I get.”
“Save your asshattery for your clientele. I’m assuming you have information on my target?”
“I sure do! Been crossing in and out of the South sector all day, probably going to show up here in the next few days, judging by the routes being used.”
“Excellent,” the voice said, tone strangely pleasured, “Keep me updated. Oh, and Modi?”
“Yeah?”
“Whatever you do... Do not have sex with the target.”
Modi-5 and Sam-9 exchanged a look of surprise. They didn’t know the Unicorn was a woman.
“That cute, huh?”
“She belongs to me, Modi,” the voice snarled, “This is my prize. If you lay a hand on her, I’ll sell you out to the Deus Anti Machina, and I’ll pay them to keep your Ghost alive.”
Modi-5 stared at Sam-9 in terror, and his friend shared the sentiment but remained carefully silent.
“Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, sir, absolutely transparent.”
“Good.”
The signal went dead.
“Modi,” Sam-9 said, “What have we done?”
Modi-5 stared at the blip on his screen.
“I don’t know.”
A pause fell between them.
“Look, Sam,” Modi-5 said, looking his friend in the eye, “We know how the Cavalier is. But maybe... maybe she deserves this...”
Sam-9 crossed his arms, not convinced.
“I dunno. He’s always rubbed me the wrong way. But, to talk about a woman like that—“
“Sam, you’re not just old fashioned, you’re ancient fashioned, literally.”
“I’ve got more chivalry than an asshole who calls himself a cavalier... Modi, I don’t give a shit.”
Modi-5 had no argument to that.
“Geeze, I mean. Okay.”
Sam-9 shook his head. “I’m sorry, Modi—“
“Don’t be,” Modi-5 said, “I don’t want this.”
Sam-9 uncrossed his arms.
“What do we do?”
“Well I sure as hell don’t want to give some poor girl to the Cavalier on a silver platter for nothing.”
“What are you going to tell the Cavalier?”
Modi-5 rubbed his temples.
“Nothing.”
Sam-9 grabbed Modi-5 by the collar, pulling him to his face, lifting him from the ground.
“You’re not going to die, or worse, for some bitch we don’t even know!”
“Nothing, yet.” Modi-5’s voice cracked, as though he couldn’t breathe.
Sam-9 rolled his optics at his friend’s melodrama, knowing full well that, being Exos, breathing wasn’t something either of them could really do; muchless choke. The big Exo set him down and released his grasp anyway.
“Alright!” Modi-5 shouted, rubbing his neck with a hand, “Here’s what’s going to happen.”
Sam-9 crossed his arms again, glaring at Modi-5.
“She comes here and I test her. We decide after I meet her what to do. Together.”
Sam-9 grunted, satisfied,“Alright.”