Techie’s eyes widen and he grins. “Oh, I knew it! You look so much like h-him! Like me!” He starts forward like he’s going to hug her but freezes and thinks better of it.
“I think General Hux is m-my twin. He has to be! A-and I’m going to go where he is, so w-we can be a f-family again.”
She gasped “ your my long lost uncle Clan Techie! I know where he is !” Said the 5 year old little girl “ he’s on the finalizer but in order to get on the finalizer you need to be first order personal ”
There’s warmth all throughout his chest; finally, his own family! “We can w-worry about that once we g-get off this fu- erm, horrible planet.”
Instead of a hug, he gives her an awkward pat on the head. “And the c-clone thing? You can explain l-later, when we’re safe for sure. Meanwhile, w-what can I call you besides Adeline? Any nicknames or s-something?”
She looked at the floor “ father insults my name he calves me Aden a boys name I’m a girl ” she sniffed
He grimaces and violently backs himself up into the cot’s metal edge. “Shi- Ah, ow! S-sorry, sorry, Adeline it is!”
At that moment, the woman returns and offers Adeline a cute flowered dress and little sunhat. “They might still be a bit big, but it’s the best I can do on such short notice.”
She turns to Techie and quips, “You’ll need a haircut and some dye too, if you plan on getting away from those thugs.” Another analyzing look at his eyes and she laughs, “Long bangs, maybe!”
Techie breathes a sigh of relief. “Thank you, m-ma’am. I’m Techie.” He goes to offer his sweaty hand in a handshake but she cuts him off and says, not unkindly, “It’s better of you don’t know my name. Safer for me just in case, you know. Please understand.”
He gives her a strange look but otherwise stays silent.
“ grandfather Brendol Hux gives me that look ” she shuddered in fear
“Oh! Adeline, that wasn’t for y-you-” Techie is abruptly cut off as the woman pulls out scissors and gestures for him to sit down on the cot. Somewhat reluctantly, he complies.
For about fifteen minutes there’s nothing but the sounds of snipping as she tames his unruly fiery hair into something smooth and shorter. Once she’s done his hair reaches up to his neck and is shaved close to his skin, except for the long forehead fringe that covers his “MALE” tattoo and casts a shadow over his eyes.
She smiles at Adeline. “What do you think, little one? Doesn’t your daddy look handsome?”
“ he looks nice but he’s not my father he’s my uncle ”
The woman flushed with embarrassment and began to dye his hair a chestnut brown. She made quick work of it, then gestured to Adeline. “Should I dye her hair too?”
Techie thought about it and shrugged. “I d-don’t think it’s necessary. They didn’t see h-her like they saw me.”
“ I love my ginger hair ma’am bt thank you for the offer ”
Techie gave a little snort of amusement. The old woman grinned to herself and said, “Alright then, dear! Now, you two can stay the night here and I’ll have breakfast ready in the morning. But after that you must go on your way.”
Techie stopped combing his fingers through his hair and asked, “Aren’t you w-worried about the people l-looking for me?”
Her eyes hardened, fists clenched. “They know better than to come into my restaurant.” With that she was gone.
After a long silence, Techie said nervously, “W-well…she’s nice. Weird, b-but nice.”
She looked away “ I can’t go back to the finalizer” she said
“Why not?” Techie asked softly, and placed his hand comfortingly on her shoulder.
She shifted letting his hand fall “ I don’t want to talk about it ”
His tentative smile fell as well. “O-okay. But I think life on the Finalizer will be real n-nice, ‘cuz, see, I have here,” he pulls a dog-eared, folded up poster out of his previous pants’ pocket, “Look! This is General Hux, our f-family.”
He unfolds the poster and shows it to Adeline. Large, vibrant words proclaim “The First Order Helps All” with General Hux in the center, extending his hand for all to take, a serene but firm smile on his handsome face.
“He’s a g-good guy, okay? Hux can help us. M-maybe he’s been lookin’ for his family for a l-long time. So that’s why I’m going to find h-him no matter what.”
As Techie speaks, hope dawns in his robotic eyes like a little sparkle. He truly believes what he’s saying.
She looked down and whispered “ you don’t know him like I do he’s a bad man ” she said
Whatever half-smile he’d managed to keep up fades completely, and with a cry of despair he covers his face with his thin, bony fingers. “I n-need t-to believe he’s a g-good guy, o-okay! H-hux is m-my last hope. W-who else’ll want m-me? I’m just a fu- F-FREAK! I-if my own brother doesn’t w-want me, t-then I’m s-screwed!”
Shaking hard from impossible-to-shed tears, Techie takes gasping, sobbing breaths and he curls in on himself, pulling himself up against the corner of the cot. His eyes make strange clanking and whirring noises as they provide artificial tears that can’t quite fall. He makes a truly pathetic sight to see.
She looked at him “ he talked highly of you he named one of my brothers after you he will want you not me ”
He peels his hands from his face and stares at her in awe. With a quiet huff he says,”I-I’m not gonna leave you b-behind, Adeline. S-So if Hux w-wants me, he’d b-better want you too.” The poster goes into his front shirt pocket, and he pats it twice.
Techie rubs his eyes and wipes the flecks of errant rust on his pants. A sigh. “I need t-to sleep. T-today has been… stressful.” He lies down carefully on the right end of the cot nearest the wall. “You should c-change and get to sleep. I left you s-some space h-here, see?” He gestures to the space next to him.
“ I’m used to the floor ” she said laying down
Sadness flickers over his features but he quickly steels his expression, just like life with MaMa taught him. “I am too,” he confesses, more to himself than her, staring up at the ceiling. “N-nobody should have to get used to that,” he whispers.
Slowly, his eyes shutter shut.
She remained awake till she fell asleep
During the night, Techie dreams horrible things; Hux with a blaster aimed at his head, “The First Order Helps All, brother.” Adeline melting away into a puddle of snow, leaving her little gray dress soaking wet and her blue-green eyes floating, staring mournfully up at him. There’s a flash of strawberry icecream until MaMa scoops it out of his skull and suddenly he bolts up, it’s morning, he hasn’t rested at all.
She was already up cleaned and had her hair down “ we should get going ”
With a low groan he eases himself off the cot, back aching and head swimming. “I’m up,” he says, nonsensically. That hadn’t had anything to do with what Adeline said.
After blinking slow a few times Techie’s befuddled mind kicks into gear and he feels the adrenaline of his constant fear flow into him once again, now alert.
“M-morning.”
She nodded her head
They left the secret room side by side. Techie squinted against the sudden influx of bright white light from the kitchen and spotted a huge plate on the countertop, stacked high with thick cuts of meat, steamed vegetables, and had two glasses of ice-cold lemonade next to it.
Without needing any invitation, Techie threw his malnourished self towards the plate and shoveled broccoli into his mouth as his stomach cried out in happiness.
He’d completely forgotten anything but food existed!
She ate silently thinking about her family would they accept her and her uncle?
Techie lets out a loud, contented sigh and wipes food off his face with a paper he’d found nearby. Techie happens a glance at his napkin before he throws it into a steel garbage can, and gasps. Frantically, he straightens it out and his eyes roam the surface. The old woman had left them a note, and he’d covered it in food!
“ what’s wrong? ” she asked urgently
“Adeline, c-can you read? M-my eyes are- they’re- uh, clicking a-and I can’t-” Techie huffs, frustrated, while his bionic pupils twitch and whirr uncontrollably. “Sometimes I j-just lose c-control of them,” he sighs, and hands Adeline the note.
“ I barely can read ”
“A-alright,” Techie says aloud, then adds under his breath, “If I c-can just get these s-shitty eyes to w-work…!”
A few minutes of scrubbing at them with the back of his hands work wonders (at least for now), and Techie reads out for Adeline:
“Friends- Eat as much as you want, don’t hold back! I’ve done everything in my power to help you two get away from whatever demons your past held, and I’ll continue to support you in building your new lives however I can. Take whatever will be of use to you (within reason, of course). Finally, there are a few hundred credits hidden in the flower vase. Take care, and good luck!”
“ Father send me to instruction for a few months “
Techie folds the note and puts it in his pocket along with the poster of Hux. Absentmindedly, he pats it twice before lowering his hand.
“He sent you to reading c-classes?”
she nodded her head
“I h-hope whatever you l-learned will come in h-handy. You know my eyes a-aren’t so good, so one d-day, if we’re in a pinch I need y-you to try, okay Adeline?”
Techie quickly located the credits and tucked them away, feeling guilty despite himself. He didn’t deserve this kidness from anyone. The things he’d done under MaMa’s order, the things they’d done to him…
No, he definitely didn’t deserve this. But Adeline did, so he kept quiet and packed away some of the longer-lasting food into a lunchbox that he’d found in one of the cabinets. Once he swung the long strap over his shoulder, he took one last look around for anything useful.
He spotted some wire bag-ties and, remembering his lost figurine friends, took a few. “C-c’mon Addie. We can’t stay l-long.”
She followed him
Once out in the open world, Techie’s tremors intensified. But if he looked out of place they’d be easily found. Gangmembers sniff each other out like dogs. He took a deep breath and tried to be the opposite of himself; standing tall, confident, assured. Holding Adeline’s hand like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“We need to get as far as possible before we do anything else,” he ground out, words slow and heavy from the effort of taming his stutter. “Any transports nearby? We have enough money, I t-think.”
He winced at his tiny slip up and glanced around, uneasy.
TechieHux 