Before the Gearmaster could utter another word, Orion was out of the warehouse and soaring through the air on the back of the Clockwork. This was the first time since his first flight with the machine that he could see a significant amount of the ground below him, and although he would have been eager to go sightseeing, there were more pressing matters at hand.

It took about two hours to make it around the Golem Mountains and to the upper half of the Housing District. Along the way, a stray cloudship made note of them, but otherwise had no chance to enact anything, as they were gone too fast. Still, Syndra’s men were likely to be on high alert when they arrived.

He couldn’t really tell where his actual apartment was from this high in the air, but before he could voice anything out loud, the Clockwork began its descent, dropping them in completely unfamiliar territory.

Territory that was, at that moment, being turned over by a squad of goons evicting large swaths of people from their apartment building. The Clockwork charged up on the unsuspecting men, and before they had any time to react meaningfully, they were tumbling across the ground. Orion stepped down off of the Clockwork and approached the crowd.

“People of Carmsborough,” he said, his voice shaking a little. He had to be the hero. He had to be the one who sought this through. That’s what everyone thought. That’s what everyone told him. “I’m not going to let Syndra bully us any longer.”

There were some positive murmurs that traveled through the crowd. It was enough to motivate him to continue. “He seeks to disrupt us and displace us. He wants to have complete control over us all. Not only that, but he’s lying to the rest of the world about it, and seeks a hostile advance against all of Europe. Can you guess who he’s going to use as his army?”

The positive murmurs were turning sour. “We need to fight back against these men. We need to fight back against Syndra. We won’t let him take our homes from us. Our lives from us.”

A few hollers filled the crowd, and some people went over to the goons, who were slowly trying to get up, and wrenched their weapons away. Orion didn’t stay long enough to find out what was going to happen to them, because he had a very specific group he had to intervene with.

It took three more groups and three more calls to action, believing in his statement and himself just a little more each time, before the Clockwork finally brought him to an area he recognized. In fact, they ran down a block and zipped past the diner where Orion had gone the morning of the coup.

He was in an uncharacteristically good mood. Maybe it was the repeated successes of the morning. Maybe it was the jog they were on. Or maybe it was the fact that as they stomped by another group of soldiers, rather than stopping to take care of them, the Clockwork simply stuck an arm out and mowed them all over. Whatever it was, he felt alive. Powerful. Confident.

And then he saw it. A blockade was being formed around his apartment building. Large numbers of men were waiting for their arrival, and all the people that had been inside were being forced out. He couldn’t tell where his sister and dad were in the crowd, if they were even out of the building yet, but he knew that the careless running around was over.

This was twenty armed men surrounding almost a hundred people. He doubted if the Clockwork could handle this in a way to keep both him and the civilians safe. What was the play?

The Clockwork continued his pace, adding to the urgency that was building in Orion’s mind, until they were about fifteen meters out. He came to a stop nearly three meters from their fortifications.

Orion briefly peeked his head over the machine’s shoulder. He could see one of the men shaking.

“All of you who work for Syndra, I have a deal for you. You leave the Housing District and never come back, or the Clockwork pounds you to dust against the cobblestone.”

A few of them looked like they seriously considered the option, but one of their superiors barked for them to hold ground. Now they had a strategy: take out the superiors, and the rest would likely crumble.

“You have three seconds to comply,” Orion said, but the Clockwork had another idea. He plunged into the thick of the fortifications, sending one man flying. His gun skidded to the foot of a person in the crowd, who did a double-take before picking it up and opening fire at the guards. Now being attacked from two angles, the men were much easier to pick off, and like the places before, a few of the civilians retrieved the guns and held the remaining conscious guards at bay.

Orion hopped off of the Clockwork, and a path in the crowd cleared out for him, until his eyes locked with his dad’s. He ran fast at him, and they collided with a grunt.

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Their hug lasted a significantly long time until his dad let go. Tears were in both of their eyes.

“Are you guys alright?” Orion asked, also opting to give his sister a hug. To his surprise, she accepted.

“We’re a little shaken, but yeah,” his dad said. “Not hurt. They’ve been harassing us nonstop since you left. I didn’t believe it had happened, at first, when you called. Maybe I was in shock or denial. But the moment they crashed our door down, I realized just what we were in for. What you were in for.”

“I’m alright,” he said. “A little shaken, too.”

“Is it true? About you and…”

“Rami?”

“Was that his name?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry to hear.”

“I’ve been told he’s recovering. That he’ll be alright, so long as they don’t come back for him. And as long as his parents don’t do anything worse to him.”

“Well, that’s good, I think. So then you’re…”

“Gay.”

“Yes.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve had my suspicions for a while now, but that’s not just something to bring up randomly. Especially if you weren’t.”

“How did you know? I didn’t even know. We’ve got so much catching up to do, but right now—”

“Right now, you need to get to safety, Orion. I don’t know how much you’ve heard the past few days, but Syndra is serious in trying to get you. In trying to kill you. He’s likely sent a bunch of men and some airships this way right now.”

“I know. I just needed—I needed to help. I needed to do this.”

“And what is this, Orion?”

“Save you. Save Carmsborough. I need to save Carmsborough.”

The surrounding crowd was listening in on every word, and although most of them were completely on board, there was also some yelling. Many people blamed their plights on him, saying that if he’d turned himself in, none of this would be happening.

And he thought maybe they were right. But it was too late. The cat was out of the bag, and Orion was going to finish what Syndra started. There was also some homophobia being slung around, but it was a lot quieter, and a few arguments were starting because of it.

“We’ll figure it all out and discuss it later,” his dad said, grabbing Sam’s hand. “We have to go.”

“Why don’t you come with me?”

“Something tells me we’ll all be safer if we’re not together for the moment.”

“What do you mean?”

His dad leaned in close. “I’ve secured us some spots in a secret location. I will keep your sister safe there until all of this is over. Until you’ve done it.”

“But I need you, Dad.”

“I know. And I need you. But I won’t be of any use to you. I’m not a fighter. You aren’t, either. You got that from me, I’m afraid. But you need to channel your mom’s energy now. And you need to do it without worrying whether or not we’re safe. We will be. Go out there and stop this man from destroying our country.”

With that, his dad took Sam and walked down the street cautiously, leaving the group of people from the apartment. They were more than capable of dealing with the goons themselves, and Orion had no way of handling that, so it was up to them again.

-◦=[ ]=◦-

There were plenty of people to help in Carmsborough, but with the two most important to him now out of harm’s way, Orion had decided to fly back to his base for some much-needed sleep, seeing as the two hours he was running on wasn’t nearly enough for what had transpired. He didn’t look forward to what was waiting for him in his dreams, but that was the lesser of the two evils.

The Gearmaster barely paid him any attention as he walked by and plopped down onto one of the mattresses, which the Clockwork had flipped onto the slightly cleaner side. Sleep came quick and lasted for much longer than he expected.

When he woke, the Gearmaster was asleep, and the night was still young, according to the moon peering in through a hole in the ceiling. He hoped he would eventually readjust to a reasonable sleep schedule, but for the moment, he enjoyed the opportunity for some alone time.

Well, almost alone. He glanced up at the Clockwork, who was hovering silently over the floor, moving back and forth in front of the main doorway. He got up from the bed and approached the Clockwork, who joined him outside. Without a word, Orion hooked his hand on one of the handles, and they soared up to the roof.

At first, Orion sat silently next to the Clockwork, who stood still, staring at the night sky. There wasn’t much noise apart from the occasional car in the distance, but he didn’t expect any less. If what he’d learned so far about Syndra’s reign in Carmsborough was true, then things were tightening, and wouldn’t stop until the two of them brought an end to it. Until then, people would suffer under curfew and be at risk of being removed from their homes.

The Clockwork whirred as a light streaked across the sky. It drew Orion’s attention as well, and as the light disappeared beyond the horizon, he sat thinking about his role. In Carmsborough, in the world. Their role in the universe.

And, above all, the Clockwork’s role. He was there to help Orion. If what the homeless girl and the Gearmaster said was true, then the Clockwork was a machine waiting to be tamed. To be respected. And after the day they’d had, Orion was finally understanding what that meant.

It was far from perfect. It had failed him multiple times, in fact. But it was trying, and it was learning, and it was his responsibility to make sure it reached that point. The chip would help, but that wasn’t the point, he suspected. The point was that he had to be the one to drive that change.

And for once, he was feeling like maybe that was going to be possible.

They stayed on the roof for a bit longer before Orion had the Clockwork bring them back down to ground level. There were some more things he wanted to test with his steambot, and while the night was still young, he had all the time in the world to explore it.

“Alright, you,” he said, once they’d reached the ground. “Let’s grab a bite to eat first, and then we’ll figure out whatever the Gearmaster meant when he said you have a sarcasm detector. How’s that sound?”

The Clockwork whirred again. He couldn’t tell if he was just making it up, but this whir sounded happy.