Maya: Alright, mock my cooking skills all you want, but just leave my inventions out of it. 

 Emit: Do you really have to use your family as guinea pigs? 

 Maya: Don’t be silly, you boys will eat anything. Besides, this is a brand new recipe, chili- whoa! 

 The food synthesiser splashed her right in the face with some water.

Maya: Okay, so it needs some fixing but the food is fine.

After Rex had left the room, Emit woke Sierra up and they all got washed up and made their way downstairs for some food. 

 Soren: Hey guys, you’re just in time! Mom is making is all some well deserved dinner. 

 Emit: Mom, not the food synthesiser again? I never thought I’d say this but that thing makes worse food than you!

The sound of someone clearing their throat filled the room and Rex’s eyes immediately shot open. Someone was in the room!

Awkwardly, he got up from the bed to face whoever it was, to see Emit standing there, looking rather annoyed with his hand on his hip.

Rex: Eh… It really isn’t what it looks like…

Emit: Not another word.

Rex’s mind was telling him to gently snake his arm from under her and quietly leave the room before she woke up, but for some reason he couldn’t bring himself to do any of that and just stayed where he was.

He closed his eyes one last time before getting ready to move away. Why did it make him feel so calm, having her in his arms like this? It was like he could breathe easier because he was sure that she was safe… until a very unwelcomed sound rudely interrupted his thought.

A couple of hours later Rex sleepily opened his eyes. He was laying on a soft surface, holding something warm in his arms. Sierra was still sleeping and breathing softly against him.

He didn’t remember falling asleep like this. Heck, he didn’t remember falling asleep at all, but he knew that this might be an awkward position if Sierra decided to wake up.

Soren sighed heavily, he knew his wife was right. The crime rate was basically zero on account of the punishment for any little thing being years, if not a lifetime, in prison.

Soren: Maybe we could run to the wastelands and hide amongst the traders.

Maya: They’ll come looking. I’m afraid they’ll even take the kids, especially Sierra, god knows what they’ll do to her. But if they already have us, they may leave the kids alone.

Soren: So we turn ourselves in.

Soren: It was our research. We developed those prototypes, maybe we can convince them that it was all in the name of science.

Maya: You know that the council owns every invention we make. We signed a very specific contract about that. Our only opltion is to try to hide any evidence of us ever taking the blueprints from the database last night.

Soren: That’s not possible. They have trained guards monitoring the access to that database 24/7, they most likely already know.

Maya: Then we have to tell the kids. You know the zero tollerance the council has towards crime, especially by people working closely with them.

Soren and Maya waited for Emit to go inside and clean himself up before they started the discussion that was weghing on both of them.

Maya: Did you tell him?

Soren: No. I didn’t want him to worry. They deserve some rest after this ordeal. Besides, maybe nothing will happen.

Maya: How is that even a possibility? We used restricted government research without permission. We stole it, Soren!

After a while Sierra’s shaking became a little less violent and Rex thought he could her her mumbeling something.

Sierra: Gon- gone like m-my arm…

Rex: Sia? I know it’s rough, but you’re strong. You’ll get used to your new arm in no time and-

Sierra: It doesn’t matter, I can handle that. But E-e-em…. Emit didn’t just have his arm in the light… He- he’s…

Rex: Oh no, Sia, did you think…? Emit came back. He’s totally fine!

Sierra: Really?

Rex: Really.

Rex:Ehh… Sorry… I just- yeah, I’ll just shut up now.

Rex felt like a total idiot. He was supposed to help her, to be supporting her and for some reason he could barely talk to her without rambling nervously.

Suddenly Sierra started to cry and soon she was bawling uncontrollably. Rex didn’t trust himself to open his mouth again so he did the only other thing that he could think of.

He pulled her towards him and wrapped both of his arms around her. She slumped against his shoulder and continued sobbing.

He helped her to sit up and when she saw her arm, she panicked.

Sierra: No. No no no-

Rex: Eh.. It’s okay, Sia, don’t worry. You’re okay now. You’re safe and patched up…

Sierra: Patched up? My arm is gone, I’m broke.

Rex: You’re not broken, you just got a new arm, an upgraded one even…

Rex soon realized the flaw in his dry attempt at lightening the mood.

Rex: Not that you needed upgrading, I mean, -what I mean is that, that’s a great arm right there, -not that yours wasn’t perfect before, just… You’re still perfect-

Sierra: Rex! 

Rex shot up from his chair and stared at the girl as if she was a snowflake in the middle of july. He felt he had to be careful, like she would  break like glass if he talked too loud. So he spoke as softly as he could while he observed her intently, waiting for her reaction.

Rex: Heeeey…. you. How are you feeling?

Sierra: My arm… I remember… The light, it was burning, killing me… the pain. It’s gone. Was it all a bad dream?

She tried to get up and Rex rushed to her side,

Rex: Easy now, easy…