Factory

"What happens now?" Factory asked, sitting on the couch.

"I suppose now we'll start over somewhere else," Max answered. "We can pack up our things and head to another part of the city. The bar is pretty much unrecoverable and even if we did repair it I doubt anyone would want to hang around here after that fiasco."

"It's that simple?" Factory questioned.

"Well, by city she means planet," Misty clarified. "Remember that this planet is almost entirely one city."

"Oh, okay," Factory tried to understand. "Won't there be authorities or somebody coming after all of this conflict?"

"I wouldn't imagine so," Max thought aloud. "But even if they do, they won't ever know we were involved."

Walking towards door that separated the bar kitchen and their home, she revealed a hidden panel that housed a small keypad. With a few button presses a large iron door slid into place, cutting off the bar.

"Even if we're still here they'll never get to us," Max smiled.

"Um…" Factory tried to say.

"If you're wondering about all the guns and the security, you can thank Max for having an extremely paranoid older sister complex," Misty explained.

"Misty was always like family to me and I wanted to make sure she was safe," Max said. "And now I have you to look after too, Factory. I won't let anything happen to my two little sisters. My two touchy, feely sisters. That and I really like guns."

A warm feeling of safety enveloped Factory as she sat and looked upon her new family. She was the happiest she could ever remember being. For the next hour or so the girls gathered everything in the house that they needed to take with them on their move. Factory almost had nothing to take of her own so she helped as much as she could by putting things in the back of a large flying cargo truck that was hovering outside the home at the garage.

Ultimately, the girls didn't pack much more than their clothes and the arsenal, but paid special care to place Factory's backpack in a box of its own. Max had expressed that she wanted to move out as quick as possible and that a lot of the things they were leaving behind could easily be replaced. After quickly discussing their plan and deciding who would drive what, the girls left their old bar home and started on the new chapter in their life together.

Factory had wanted to sit in the truck with Misty and get to know her further if she could, but was instead sitting with Max in the nice flying car that had been sitting in the garage, unbeknownst to Factory. The car was incredibly comfortable with soft massage chairs, ambient lighting, and lots of other things Factory couldn't begin to wrap her head around. The car was very pretty looking with its piercing angles and shiny red finish and was just another piece of evidence adding to how prosperous the girls must have been, although Factory didn't really know that difference between a cheap car and an expensive one.

The girls quickly rose up from the darkness of the lower city levels and into the busy bright lights above. The traffic was numerous and the people were too many to count, but all of it was so distracting and interesting that Factory couldn't help but stare in wonder as they passed it by on their journey. Rivers of flying cars between gigantic towers of business and p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, connecting walkways completely full of humans and other creatures she couldn't identify, and all of it bathed in a rainbow of neon lights.

"So, Factory," Max started, attempting to get her attention. "How are you? Are you all right after taking that drug? You feeling okay?"

"Yes, I feel all right," Factory replied.

"Good. Can you tell me more about what you mentioned before? How everything seemed to slow down?"

"Oh, well… whenever I wanted to take a look at the mechsuit or the soldiers that were shooting at us, everything seemed to slow down, as if they couldn't move as fast as I could."

"Interesting," Max pondered aloud.

"Do you know what's going on?"

"I have an idea," Max answered. "See, I did some digging a while back about the drugs whenever we met, and I think I remember some weird info about it that was labeled as just rumor and speculation, but now that you're saying that things were slowing down they seem more legitimate."

"What was the info?"

"Apparently, this drug you took is really hardcore stuff. It doesn't just get you high while you take it. It rewrites your chemical structure in order to make you into something else. The slowed down perception you experienced must be what was rewritten."

Factory wasn't sure what to say. She felt as if she had made a grave mistake and suddenly wanted to cry.

"Do you think you could do it on command? Like, can you see things slowed down right now?"

Holding back her tears, Factory looked at the traffic and the towers whizzing by. She tried and tried but couldn't figure out how to do it, only accidentally causing unpleasant pressure in her head.

"No," Factory said.

"Hmm, maybe it's a danger thing," Max said. "I'm also curious about what else it may have rewritten. For example, you broke a man's arm like a twig. And you also became a perfect shot. It's all very curious."

"I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't be," Max assured her. "It's just something that happened and we won't let it happened again. We'll just stash your backpack in a gun safe or something where you can't get it. Wish you would have let me leave it behind, but you did have a good argument."

"I'm sure if we figure out how to tinker with it we may find some clues about my clouded past. Maybe there's parts inside with a company name or something like that."

"It's a good idea, don't get me wrong. I just thought it was weird that you wanted to hold onto something that you say you hate and fear."