The ship broke through the surface of the Pacific Ocean, just as the explosives detonated in the dome. Whisk set a coarse back to the city; Whisk wasn’t exactly impressed with what Alec did in Sladan, but it got the job done. Alec’s machine body wasn’t asleep; his mind however was quite busy. Back at the city, the man who had been at Alecs awakening was having a dream of his own. It went something like this: Spencer and his wife had been in the wastelands for three days, attempting to reach out to those living in the wilderness. So far, they hadn’t seen or met anyone form the barren place from which they had made camp. “Well,” Spencer began to say to his wife. “Jennifer, we’ve enough supplies to last us a week. We can stay out here longer if we have to; you know I can keep us alive.” “Spencer,” Jennifer responded. “Maybe we should try another zone. This one is quite empty; we should try another.” “No,” Spencer replied. “I feel His Will is for us to be here. I will go the stream to fetch us some fresh water, maybe someone will be there.” Spencer walked down to the stream that he went to get fresh water from every morning. Spencer had been leaving food down near some rocks; it had been disappearing every time he returned. He had been hoping someone might turn up soon. Spencer walked the short distance down a small hill to the stream; it wasn’t very far from there camp on the grassy plain. They had camped across from one of many surrounding ship graveyards, thinking that there may be some people living among the wreckage. Spencer was kneeling, getting water, when he saw a reflection in the water; a reflection of a boy. Spencer looked up to see a boy looking at him; a little girl about the same age stood next to the boy, they stood other side of the stream. They both had dirt on their faces and hands and were wearing old, worn-out clothing. Spencer signaled for them to come over to him, but they just stood there. Spencer took a piece of food from a satchel, a bagel, and held it up to show them. The girl spoke to the boy, whispering in his ear. The boy looked at Spencer and then at the girl; he shook his head in agreement to whatever she had said. Soon, they were standing in the camp of Spencer and his wife. “Told, you,” Spencer said with a grin, as he walked into the camp. Jennifer noticed the little girl first, taking note of what looked like burn scaring on her arms. She noticed the boy had a nasty looking scare on his neck, like claw marks. Neither of the children spoke at first, they just ate what was offered to them. Eventually though, Spencer began to ask them questions “So,” Spencer said to the children, as they ate. “What are your names?” The boy stopped eating to respond. “Alec,” The boy responded. “And this is Joan, my twin sister.” “Are there any others out here?” Jennifer asked. “No,” Responded Alec “They were all taken, that’s all I will say.” “Are you going to leave us?” Joan asked, tears in her eyes. “No,” Spencer said “You’ll return with us to the city. We are going to adopt you two.” Jennifer looked surprised, but a smile came across her face as Joan ran over and wrapped her arms tightly around Jennifer’s waist. “How old are you two?” Jennifer asked. “Seven,” Alec responded. “But I was born first, by a minute and a half.” Spencer smiled, listening to Alec take pride in the fact that he was older. “When do we leave?” Asked Alec, in a somewhat anxious tone. “Tomorrow,” Responded Spencer with a smile. After the children finished eating, they slept in Spencer and Jennifer’s ship for the night, excited about the next day. [i][b]End Spencer’s dream, back to Alec.[/b][/i] Alec woke up as Whisk guided them into a private dock, one that only Whisk and privileged others new about. Whisk told Alec that he (Whisk) would turn the bounty in, so Alec could remain low. Whisk gave Alec some credits, so that he could spend it on whatever he wanted, till he got his bounty money. “Hey, man,” A voice with a very hillbilly like accent rang out as Whisk and Alec got out of the ship. “Y’all know you can’t go deep sea adventurin’ in the big blue with this,” The man noticed Alec, suddenly very alarmed. “Oh, snaaap! You one of them cyborg, robot, do-hicky bounty hunters I’m always hearin' about? Well, if you’re here for Whisk, you ought to know….” The man grabbed a large wrench a wheeled it like a sword. “You’ll never take’m out of here without going through me!” The man exclaimed all this while swinging around the wrench. He was covered in grease and had blue coveralls on; he also had a ball cap on that read: “Get some!” Alec drew his handgun, pointing it at Pheln. Pheln stopped swinging the wrench when he saw Whisk and Jk-Bx. They talked briefly, looking at Alec (who had since holstered his sidearm). Pheln looked at Alec, giving him the “I’m watching you” hand signal. “Alright,” Pheln said, walking towards Alec. “Hello there, names Pheln, sorry for the wild interdiction.” Pheln held his hand out, for Alec to shake it, but Alec just stood there. “That’s alright,” Pheln said. “Any who, I’m going to be your new, personal mechanic. Bam just blew your mind didn’t I?” Alec looked at Whisk; Jk-Bx was nowhere to be seen or heard. Alec walked over to Whisk said he had some business to attend to; so he left the hanger and started to walk to Bleaker Street. Alec hadn’t walked four blocks before he heard some people arguing. “I found her,” Yelled a man. “She is mine!” “No,” Yelled a second man. Both men stood in front of a crashed ship in an empty, vacant lot. Alec saw a small pair of feet under the wing of the ship. Alec walked over to see what was up. “Hey,” the first man said, looking at Alec approaching them. “What do you want, tin man? Butt out!” The second man swung a club at Alec, only to have Alec take it from him and break his leg with it. The first man got scarred and ran away. Alec knocked the second man out, so he’d quit screaming about his broken leg. Alec knelt down to look under the wing, where he saw a young girl with blue eyes and brown hair, a dirty face, and a torn up dress. She was quite young, about four or five Alec guessed. Alec reached out his hand. “Don’t be afraid,” Alec said in the best calm voice he could. “I won’t hurt you and I will not let anyone else hurt you either.” The young girl hesitated at first, but slowly reached out and took Alecs artificial hand; the censers in Alec’s suit indicated that her hands were quite cold. Alec helped her out from under the wing; he noticed that her feet were quite dirty, covered in soars, and the nails were all broken and bleeding. Alec asked if she had a home, but she said she didn’t know. Alec said he would take her somewhere safe, somewhere she could call home. Alec picked the girl up and carried her; she was quite light from not eating well. Alec had carried her eight more blocks when a man approached him. “Buy the girl from you,” The man offered. “She’s not for sale,” Alec responded. “Come, o-“The man started to say, being cut off as Alec buried his fist in the man’s stomach, rupturing his intestines. Luckily, the girl had fallen asleep before Alec had punched the man; her head lay on Alec’s chest plate on a pillow made from an old coat. Alec continued to walk until he got to Bleaker Street, then, he located Reverend Spencer’s orphanage. The orphanage was an old cathedral that had been built a long time ago, before the Last City. The ladies and men at the gate of the orphanage refused to let Alec in, until they were called off by Spencer. Alec walked to Spencer’s office, still carrying the girl. “Come in, come in,” Spencer invited Alec. Spencer took the girl and handed her to a nurse who was standing outside the door. Then he turned his attention to Alec. “Well,” Spencer started. “How have you been?” “Busy,” Alec responded. “How are things here?” “Worse than when you were here at your age,” Spencer responded. “Little girls keep disappearing all over the slums, money is scarce, food is hard to come by, etc.” Alec got out the credits Whisk gave him; they were worth about fifty-thousand credits. “Here,” Alec “These are for you, I’ll have more soon.” “I can’t take all your money, Alec,” Spencer said. “Sir,” Alec responded. “Please.” “Alright,” Spencer said in return. “But take these.” Spencer handed Alec a bracelet with the words “Daddy” embossed into it and some dog tags. “Your daughter Alashia made this for you when she was four and these dog tags belonged to your wife” Spencer informed Alec. Alec bound the bracelet around his right wrist and placed the tags in an empty clip holder on his belt. Spencer sat down in a chair; Alec turned his back to leave. “Alec, wait” Spencer spoke as Alec almost left. “If you can’t stay now, when shall I see you again?” Alec looked at Spencer sitting in the chair; he looked a lot older than he should. “When it’s the right time,” Alec Responded. “I left a number with the credits, call me if you ever need me or Whisk.” As Alec turned to leave, a small girl, about three, stood at Alecs feet, looking up at him. She was holding a teddy bear and was wearing an old blue dress. Her hair was blonde and her eyes were hazel. Alec knelt and lifted his mask, revealing his face to the child. Alec hadn’t noticed, but he had a cut on his artificial face. “Hurt,” The little girl said, pointing at Alecs face. “I make better.” The little girl kissed her hand then patted Alec on the face, where the wound was; then the girl walked away. Alec and Spencer said their goodbyes and left the orphanage. As Alec was leaving, Jk-Bx was going in; carrying Stahlls mask. Alec thought it was good, they needed a little entertainment. Alec began the long walk back to Whisks place, about twelve blocks of walking or jogging. End Chapter six