Inside The Waiting Room, Mark found Scarlet and Fran, her new assistant. While the attention of the patrons was on the group of girls performing at the karaoke stage, Scarlet and Fran were planning the event on one of the corner tables. They were brainstorming the dynamics of the activity.
As Mark got closer to the table, Scarlet was talking to Fran. "The moment Steve comes up with the list, a randomizer will pick ten different names, selecting the winners. I will assist Mark at the event, and you, Fran, will be working the special effects from backstage."
Greeting them both, Mark joins the brainstorming. They started to discuss the allocation of personnel. Steve, Alex, and Scarlet will stand behind Mark at the stage, Fran will be incharge of the special effects and lighting. However, other areas need to be addressed.
They were at an impasse. They needed more people to successfully execute their plans. Mark, hearing their predicament, came up with an Idea to acquire more personnel. This would also determine if he could crack the female market with Melly's new mech. The young man decided to offer a Nova Star copy to the women who accepted the position, along with the salary paid in vouchers.
He spoke to the women about his Idea. "Scarlet, why not offer a copy of the new mech, the Nova Star, to entice girls to join?
Scarlet thought for a moment, and she seemed to be confused. "What mech are you talking about, Guardian?"
Mark showed her an image of the Nova Star. Both Scarlet and Fran were enticed by the machine. With a shy voice, Fran talked to Mark. "Can I have a copy as well?"
Again, Mark found her voice to be familiar; however, he could not place it. Perhaps it was someone from the institute, or an old neighbour from Miller Hills, but he could not place the voice. Ignoring this feeling, he answered the question. "Yes fran, I will give you one as well."
Scarlet was still confused. "Guardian, this is not the mech I saw before. When did you find the time to design this?"
Mark used his half-truths method. This was his favorite way of evading the truth. "This mech was easy. The specs, materials, and parameters were almost identical to the McCain Reaper. It was a matter of substitution." He conveniently left out the ordeal with the engine and the resizing of some parts.
Scarlet collected her thoughts for a moment. In the end, she decided to ask for a mech as well. "I would like a copy of this mech. Can I have one?" The well-endowed waifu presented a sad expression with misty eyes.
Mark looked at her with suspicion. He appears to have identified the origin of Melly's new antics. "I will give you one as well, but you must promise to stop teaching Melly manipulation techniques."
Scarlet projected an expression of innocence. "I don't know what you mean. I never taught Melly anything." After this statement, she laughed a bit awkwardly."
Mark threw a knowing look at the well-endowed waifu. "Yeah Right. Anyway, let's see if we can find more helpers for the event. I want to get this done and start with the testing. Also, we need to add the Nova Star to the event."
They spent a few hours talking with the female patrons of the place. By the third hour, they had found only one more. The three of them were about to giveup when Mark was approached by a group of 4 female players.
These girls were the quartet of players who had taken a liking to perform in The Waiting Room's Karaoke stage. After they heard of the new Mech, the girls decided to approach Mark and ask about the machine.
Once Mark showed them the mech, the girls were enticed to agree. However, they added one condition. The four girls wanted personalized paint jobs for each of their mechs, as well as their logos displayed on their machines.
Mark saw no problem in these demands. With Alex's artistic skills, it would be a walk in the park. The young man decided to sign them in the spot. With the group plus the one girl recruited before, they managed to add five more helpers for the event.
Since they were pressed for time, Mark decided to leave the introductions for later. He instructed the girls to go assist Scarlet and prepare for the upcoming event. Mark looked at the time in his VR menu. It was close to 1:30 pm. He was planning on logging out around 3:00 pm to go meet with his grandfather and Jack.
In the meantime, the young man moves to the Repairs Control room. He wanted to check on Steve and see if he had compiled the list. Going down the Stairs and into the hangar, he was met with the familiar ambience of the place. Mechs were being worked on, and mech geeks roamed about the place, drooling at the sight of the machines being repaired.
As he entered the room, he found Steve working the controls. Alex was by his side. At the moment, she was using a paint suite to design a paint job for a mech. With precise strokes, she painted with passion, as if nothing else existed at the moment.
Mark gazed at the process with amazement. "Your artistic sense is wonderful. I'm always amazed by the paintjobs you create."
A text bubble popped next to her blue helmet. "Thank you."
After her response, an uncomfortable silence followed. Mark noticed that Alex was concentrating on her work, so he decided to inquire about Steve's task. "Steve, how goes the list of names?"
The loud-mouthed teen answers while managing the repair droids. "It's done, Marksman. I added the clients of the paint shop as well. its a very long list. We have been getting a lot of people lately." With a few hand gestures, Steve sent the file to Mark using the VR system menu.
Mark was not surprised by this; While he acted nonchalantly, Steve had always been a reliable person. This was one of the reasons their friendship endured. Mark decided to show them the new mech. He was hesitant at first, but having used the new design to entice girls to work for him, they were bound to learn about it.
With a hesitant tone, Mark announced his new design. Steve, Alex, I have a new design. I put it together at Melly's request. Do you want to see it?"
Steve had a numb expression. The loud-mouthed teenager was no longer surprised by Mark's design speed. "One of these days, you are going to have to tell me how you are doing this."
Mark laughs awkwardly. "It was not hard with this mech; it's basically a female version of the McCain Reaper. All I did was a small resizing and other minor changes. I even used the same actuators from the McCain Reaper." He then sends the information using the VR menu.
Steve and Alex both left their tasks for a moment to check the specs. Alex was impressed by the elegance of the mech. Her artistic inspiration soared, and in a few minutes, she had a rough sketch for a paint job. For some reason, she imagines the mech with wings. It looked majestic.
Steve, for his part, analyzed the design. Most of it was, as Mark said, replaced parts. However, he noticed the combination of alloys instantly. Mark had not mentioned these, but since he used them on his previous designs, Steve did not complain.
Nevertheless, his previous experience dealing with mechs using the same solutions taught him that this was going to be a problem. The loudmouth teen expressed his opinion. "This mech will suffer a lot from the joints." His eyes deviated to the engine output.
Being a popular model for the first pilot level, Steve had previous experience with the Beam Star. The loudmouth teen noticed the increased output. As he checked the engine. He noticed the new component immediately. Steve frowned. He was annoyed by the lack of trust Mark was showing. "Well, I guess that installing a new engine is now a minor change." The sarcasm in his voice was evident.
Mark understood his friend. However, his secrets were dangerous. He tried to reassure his friend as best as he could. "Steve, please don't be angry. I know that you feel frustrated, but there are reasons I keep things to myself."
Steve looked a bit deflated. "I understand, Mark, if you can't trust me, that is ok."
This was a misunderstanding. Mark tried his best to clear things up without giving anything away. "Steve, I would trust you with my life. You and Alex are like family to me. If I don't tell you some things, it's not because of trust, but rather to keep you safe."
The loud-mouth teen sensed the sincerity in his friend's words. Steve remained silent. He did not admit it, but Mark's words made him feel better, and his expression relaxed. However, instead of talking to his friend, Steve felt he was talking to an older man. It was the same feeling he got while speaking to his father or an uncle.
Alex remained silent throughout the conversation. In her mind, however, the teen was filled with worry. What kind of secrets did Mark have that could be dangerous? Was his life in danger? Reflexively, she grabs Mark's arm with both hands. A text bubble popped out, "Are you OK?"
Mark taps her helmet. "Don't worry, Alex, I'm OK." He tried to reassure her, but the teen still worries. "Anyway, let's see if we can clear the workshop before 3:00 pm. I have a meeting with my grandfather."
The three of them worked inside the control room. Steve manipulated the repair droids, Mark produced the necessary parts with the 3D printer, and Alex painted mechs left and right. By the time the alarm rang, they had cleared the entire list.
Mark was getting ready to flash out. Before leaving, the young man addresses his friends. "Remember to take a break. By the way, we found more helpers for Scarlet. If you want, go meet with them at The Waiting Room."
Flashing out of A.M.S., Mark found himself in his room again. He stood from the bed and placed the VR headset on its charger. As he was grabbing his denim jacket from the closet, his eyes drifted to the map function at the corner of his view. The young man noticed the red arrows around the area of the building.
The arrows were forming a circular perimeter around 200 meters away from the Droid Boutique. However, Mark's map function could show an area with a 720-meter radius around him. As he tapped one of the arrows, information about the person was shown. He quickly spotted the affiliation, The Blazing Hand.
Without delay, he grabbed his com-pad and called his grandfather. Bart answered the phone. "Hey Mark, I'm heading to the Surplus shop now. Are you already there?"
Mark walks to the window of his room and looks out. He was not able to spot the ones watching him. "No, I'm still at the Droid Boutique. There are members of the Blazing Hand surrounding the building. I think they are here for me."
Bart's voice came through the comm-pad; a mixture of anger and worry could be heard in his voice. "Can you see them?"
Mark kept looking through the window. He was not spotting the gang members. "No, not exactly, although I know where they are."
Bart takes a deep breath, and he starts thinking about the reasons why the gang members were there. "If they have not attacked already, it means they want to take you alive. The gang members are probably waiting for you to come out so they can grab you. They must want answers about the destroyed weapons."
Mark leaves the side of the window. He had to do something. Knowing that the gang members were that close, he feared for Melly's and Rachel's safety. "What do you think we should do, Grandpa?"
Bart thinks for a few moments. "Why don't we set an ambush for them?"
Intrigued by his Grandfather's proposal, Mark inquires about the plan. "That is not a bad Idea. What do you have in mind, Grandpa?"
The man relates his idea to his grandson. "I will call Jack, and we will then set up an ambush point. You will then lead them into the area and spring the trap."
Mark inspects the map function. He spots a good location in an alleyway behind some stores to the north. "I see a good spot for an ambush to the north. It's a narrow alleyway that we can use to negate their numerical advantage."
Bart was grinning in anticipation. "I will talk to Jack about it. Stay put until we are ready. I will call to let you know."
As the call ended, Mark went to check on Melly. The girl was lying in her bed, blissfully unaware of the things happening around her. Having confirmed Melly's state, he went down to the Droid Boutique to check on Rachel.
As the elevator Door opened, Mark saw his mother manipulating the production line to put together a Mimi Droid. It was the first time he saw the droid model in real life. Besides that, three little droids buzzed about the area, sweeping the floor. The droids were Warren Sweepers. His mother had spent the day putting them together with the materials she found lying around in the underground workshop.
The woman spotted Mark as he came into the workshop. With a smiling face, she addresses her son. "Hello Mark, these are your droids. What do you think?"
The young man looks at the droids. "I never had plans to sell the sweeper. I just designed them to gain the experience. Do you think they would sell?"
Rachel tossed a knowing look at her son. Mark was not aware of the potential of his droid. The woman tinkers with the consoles while talking to her son. "Are you kidding? I already leased the production license to four different boutiques. People are fascinated by the efficiency and simplicity of the cleaning droid." The assembly line released a humming sound while putting together the droid, and they discussed the success of the Warren Sweeper.
Mark was surprised by this. He never expected that a design he put together just for the TP would have any form of success. "You don't say. Since it was so basic, I thought it would not be popular."
Wile mark was talking to his mother, he kept an eye on the map function. The red arrows were not moving. It was as Bart said. They were lying in wait; perhaps they wanted to avoid the surveillance equipment and the hired guards.
Rachel kept the conversation going. "I'm actually building the second Mimi droid now. I need a minimum of three copies to submit the design and get a patent." The woman skillfully manipulated the fabrication equipment while pointing to the corner of the room. There, Mark saw the first real-world copy of his droid design.
Observing the droid in detail, he notices minor mistakes in the fabrication. It was to be expected. After all, Rachel had a prolonged hiatus from the world of robotics. Yet, apart from these minor details, the droid was of good quality.
After a few minutes, Mark's comm-pad rings with a call. The young man excuses himself. "I'm sorry, Mom, it's a call from grandpa, I have to take it."
He leaves the area and answers Bart's call. "Hey, Grandpa whats up?"
Barts voicecame from the other side. Jack and I are in position. This is what you are going to do..."