Flora: Teslic Scrap

Story by ReynartWrites on SoFurry

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Foreword: Second part of thing for GlitchedPuppet's birthday

Summary: Lily and Neon decide to take a break from working on an unsolvable case. With Neon's sister in tow, they decide to go out looking for scrap to sell in the Teslic Yard. At an abandoned medical facility they find something that will take them by surprise.

Characters and world belong to GlitchedPuppet at Forbiddenflora.com


Teslic Yard. A place full of strange technology and happenings where creatures made of machinery and biological tissue mixed in impossible manners. In this frequency, there were many portions of the Yard that were in ruins. Labs that had been established by herself and others in different frequencies were nothing more than hollow shells that contained scrap to be plucked apart, and certain rare items that revealed vast amounts of knowledge that could shake the foundation of the world. At the moment, finding that knowledge could wait. She had been working on trying to crack open a door sealed by strange technology for too long and had lost far too much time and sleep over it. Neon needed a break and her partner Lily had been there to open her eyes to it. A bit of fresh air and a dive in some trash to find interesting and weird things to pawn off and use for her own devices would be the perfect distraction, especially since her little sister was coming along. She just hoped that Krypto would warm up to Lily and that this distraction would actually work.

At the moment, Neon and Lily were in their room at the safehouse preparing for their outing. It was better to be safe than sorry, and so the stripe goat slipped into her protective jacket. The long sleeved jacket would keep her safe from any blows and certain toxins from the creatures in the yard and the same with the pink pants she slipped into. Over her shoulder, she slung a pack with plenty of things that could help them out along with enough room to carry whatever they might find. At her belt, she had a variety of weaponry that would serve as ample defense should anything come at her. When she turned to Lily, the feline was outfitting herself with eyes closed.

There were few times where she saw Lily without a booming smile, and this was one of those moments. The feline slipped on fingerless gloves that crackled with electricity when she stretched her paw. Her own protective vest was much lighter than her own jacket and slipped over a tight shirt made to let her move as freely as she desired, her shorts of a similar design and make. Every little motion, while she got dressed, seemed like some sort of meditation, even as she buckled her belt and stretched down to get her boots on it felt like she was watching Lily do yoga. Breathe in, breathe out, arms limbs relaxed, eyes shut and a deep focus hidden beneath the surface.

When Lily finished, she clapped her paws together and that big smile returned as she opened her eyes and chirped, "Right! So we ready? Can't say I'm used to doing this type of thing."

Neon cleared her throat, "I guess you are pretty new to this, at least, in this frequency. Anyway, it should be like any other outing you've been on. Possibility of dangerous creatures showing up, finding weird things buried beneath rubble and hidden inside of places we aren't supposed to go." She then turned her head, "I guess, the only difference is that I'll be tagging along for once, and well, so will my sister."

The stripe goat winced as Lily put an arm around her neck to bring her in cheek to cheek, "I think I can get behind that. If anything big and bad shows up that we can't run away from, I'll knock it senseless, or blat it in the chin with that cool blaster thing you gave me."

Neon grumbled, "Please don't say 'blat it in the chin.' That sounds dumb."

Lily grinned, "And what, you're so cool with your nerd tech and jacket?"

Her cheeks burned and she huffed, "Yes I am. Why would I be anything else but cool outfitted in this tech?"

Lily gave her a soft kiss on the head, "A cute nerd goat decked out in some danger nerd gear."

A further burn colored her cheeks but she sucked in a deep breath to try and retaliate, "Y-yeah, whatever, at least I'm not some hot cat in grunge biker gear."

Lily let go of her head and she was allowed to straight and dust herself off, but the feline circled to her front with a fat grin, one gloved paw against her cheek, "So you think I'm hot huh? Got a real thing for women in leather?"

Neon tried to search through her scrambled head for an answer or retort, but she was becoming increasingly flustered and all that came out of her mouth was, "I...Uh, no...Just."

Before she knew it, her back hit the wall and Lily slammed a fist against the wall next to her head, nose to nose now as the feline purred, "If we weren't about to go out I'd test these little gloves on your cute tail end. Don't think I can't see you eying these things and eying me in all this leather."

In a small voice, Neon muttered, "I'm not...I'm really not looking at the gloves like that, I just, I just think you look good, but I uh."

Flustered beyond words, the stripe goat's eyes grew wide as Lily caught her mouth with her own in a heated kiss. A single paw came up to brush against her cheek and she felt the danger of the latent static sticking against her fur and she bristled against it, her entire body shuddering as Lily dipped her tongue against Neon's. Her paws latched onto Lily's side where she squeezed onto the feline's shirt to try and get some grip as her mind filled up with a heated fog that kept getting thicker by the second. It was when Lily pressed close and just when she felt the feline's crotch pressing down on her knee both of them heard the sound of the door buzzing and her compact ringing.

They pulled apart with heated breaths and Neon scrambled to fetch the compact from her pack. When she answered, it was a video feed of Krypto staring at them with one quirked yellow eye and the orange one squinting. The junkrat huffed at them, "Hey! I'm here you dorks. Open the door and let me in or I'll bust it myself! I'm not gonna let you abandon me after you promised-" She then paused for a brief second and narrowed her eyes, sharp black ears twitching, "Why are you all flustered?"

Neon had some sort of smart response ready, but Lily bumped in with her cheek against Neon's, "Hey lil' sis'! We were sucking face for a bit! We'll open the door in a second. Leftover breakfast if you want some."

Krypto's own white furred face flushed red beneath the surface, her eyes widening while she squeaked, "I already ate and I didn't need to know what you idiots do in your spare time! Just. Hurry up!"

The feed disappeared and the call hung up. Neon gave Lily a dry look with half-lidded eyes and a small frown, "Really?"

Lily chuckled, "Figured it would get her off your back faster to just tell the truth."

Neon sighed, "Guess that's true." She then smiled, "I mean...It was kind of funny too wasn't it?"

Lily grinned, "Yeah! Did you see her blush? She looks just like you when she's being an embarrassed nerd."

A similar red blossomed beneath the fur of her own cheeks and she snorted, "Shut up. We've got a door to answer."

Stuffing the compact in her pack she walked away before Lily could say anything else that might worsen the condition of her cheeks, and the heat burning inside of her. There was plenty of time to cool off as she walked the halls of the facility with Lily. Sliding metal doors rose and parted for them as they moved from the rooms to the front of the building. A panel was suspended in the air next to a door that led to the outside where she was sure her sister was waiting and fuming as usual. Neon stepped before it and tapped down the code to open the door and there in all her furious glory stood her sister with her own microcat floating by her head. Bit was the name of that microcat and it actually had a cat's body made of yellow metal and a flat metal cap obscuring where the eyes would be with one glowing orb at the center. It was the first thing to enter and it circled around both Neon and Chip.

"Found the copycat and the copycat! What's my prize?" Mewled the rather irritating microcat.

Krypto herself stood a bit shorter than Neon with dark grey-furred body and blockchain tail twitching from side to side. Rodent features masked most of the scrapgoat inside of her, but there was still something distinct that Neon saw that always reminded her of herself in some ways. Her arms were crossed with yellow claw-tipped digits tapping against skin beneath the fur, "Gee, I don't know Bit. Maybe we could, iunno, post some embarrassing pictures online later of Neon's epic failures during this little trip, or her fat butt on her own profile after hacking it"

Lily giggled but Neon felt flustered for a second and huffed, "Good to see you too Krypto. Can you call off your microcat? With all that fluttering it's going to strike me with that pickaxe tail at any point."

Krypto shrugged, "Eh, take five Bit, we can bug her some more later. Right now we all need to get going. I got a golem outside that can wreck anything that stands in our way, and well, do some heavy lifting too. Figured none of you idiots would think of that."

Neon had a haughty retort ready, but Lily stepped forward and smiled big, "Thanks, Krytpo. You sure you don't wanna come inside for something to eat? I can make something fresh if you're into it."

Again Krypto's cheeks flushed color beneath the fur and she scowled, "No. I'm fine. Anyway, uh, where are we even going."

Rolling her eyes, Neon produced her compact and held it out for all to see as the screen lit up with a map of the region, "There are a few buildings around here that I haven't bothered raiding because they seemed small time, and by small time, I mean they didn't have anything I would consider mind-boggling. Even saying that I've had some weird readings from each telling me that there is still active tech inside of them. That's what the weaponry is for, if we run into any security we can handle it easily and if we find anything toxic then we can get out of there in a snap. We just have to hope that it isn't anything weird or corrupted."

Lily grinned, "Well! If it is something weird or corrupted and it threatens my goat and rat then I'll be happy to beat it into grime. I could use the work out anyway."

Neon cleared her throat, "We're hoping that we won't find any danger."

Lily sighed, "That's no fun." She then chuckled, "But I guess you're right."

Krypto's eyes were narrowed as she spoke, "Hmph, even if there was any danger then I wouldn't need her to watch my back, or you. I can do it on my own, but you two would be lost without me so I'd be a horrible sister just letting Neon go off into some creepy buildings with a violent weirdo."

Lily put a paw over her own mouth and stifled laughter instead of getting insulted, much to her credit. Neon then sighed, "Right. Well, it is time we move out. Chip and Bit will work together to help scout and scan areas ahead of us. Lily has good eyes and can spot any danger close to us and Krypto." Her sister's eyes seemed to light up for a second, but was quickly buried as she kept her arms crossed, still, Neon smiled and continued, "I need you to crack open any tough doors we run into." And just to make sure her sister didn't get too big of a head, "I mean, I could do it myself, but you need something to do on this little trip squirt."

With that said and before Krypto could retort she walked past the short junkrat and ruffled her hair on the way which caused her to grumble before falling in line with her, Lily taking the rear. Neon took her first few steps outside as if she hadn't seen the sun for years. She had an arm on her forehead shielding her eyes from the glare of the daytime sun. With a deep breath, she took in the sights of the outside world around the Teslic Yard and found herself growing excited to explore and to discover again without the mystery of the door haunting her. This would be good. Surely it would.

With her sister and lover in tow, she walked through the Teslic Yard while taking great care. Chip and Bit went ahead as planned and scanned the surrounding area for any dangerous wildlife or odd disturbances. No matter how peaceful it seemed, the Teslic Yard was a dangerous place. There was more than just the strange creatures native to the area. Machinery rose from the ground surrounded and mixed with plant life and there was little way to tell on sight whether or not those protrusions were safe to stand around, or if the bulbs on the flowers would open up and spray you with some sort of noxious sludge, or worse. The surrounding area wasn't too dangerous comparatively. It was one of the reasons why she chose this lab as a sort of safe house. Despite that, there was always the chance that something was waiting for its chance to bite down.

For the most part, mutated locals of the Teslic Yard left her alone and only ever watched from afar, most of the time. There were some that were more dangerous than others, and that was fine so long as they never came near her. If anything did decide to get too close, Neon always had a quick way to escape from situations or defend herself in the yard. There was always a reason to be alert, always a reason to keep her eyes wandering and sharp, and of course even more so now. Neon had looked for scrap with her sister before, but it always unnerved her. The possibility of losing her sister on the spot was always terrifying. It didn't matter that her sister had an extra life, there was always the chance that she could lose both lives in one fell swoop. Even just seeing her die once would probably break her heart. Thinking about that, she looked toward Lily whose eyes were scanning the distance, a big smile on her face as usual, and a pang of guilt running through her own chest.

The frequency shift had robbed Lily of her child. Perhaps, she shouldn't have felt this way, but the guilt was gnawing at her. It wasn't her fault that Lily's child was gone, and yet, at the moment she wasn't doing anything to try and fix the situation, to help Lily. At that moment, her mind started wandering back to the door deeper in the Yard that had stumped her. There were secrets hidden behind that door that could help find Jupet, that could help find out what happened to them, and yet, here she was being useless as ever. Back in their old rooms, they had found nothing, no clues, no nothing and it frustrated her to no end, and now they were at another impasse and it was all due to her own stupidity.

Back in the real world, a loud and shrill voice slapped her in the back of the mind, "Hey! Neon! Are we going the right way?"

Neon blinked and looked toward her sides to see that Lily was looking at her with a little concern, and Krypto was looking at her with a bit of the usual irritation. She was glad for the interruption of her trip into her own thoughts and sighed with a small smile, "We should be on the right way if we keep following Chip."

Krypto huffed, "Guess you made a good copy of my design, but what I don't get still is who you trusted to pop your soul into it. I could have done it no problem and I don't see who else you would even trust, or who else could even do it!" Krypto then put fists on her hips, "So who? Who did you ask to put a bit of your soul in your copycat."

Neon cleared her throat, "It is complicated and maybe I'll explain it to you someday, but for now I think we should just focus on scrapping."

"C'mon! That's not an excuse! Complicated. Is it an ex? Some rando' that you paid? It took near blackmail to get you to tell me who this cat is over here and you won't even tell me this!?"

Neon winced, "None of those Krypto, I'll tell you eventually, just, take my word for it that I don't really wanna talk about it right now."

There were visible pistons firing off in the junkrat's gaze, but she gnashed her fangs and stomped the ground before huffing, "Fine! I'll hold you to that and if you don't then you'll find your butt plastered all over the net, or something worse, I don't even know."

Lily chuckled, "Can I see those pictures of her butt? Maybe we can swap and I can get you some more blackmail."

Krypto's cheeks flushed beneath the fur and she squeaked, "I don't need your help interloper. I don't know who you are, but Neon trusts you enough to keep you around so I guess that means you're worth something. That being said, shut up about my sister's butt."

Lily beamed, "Sure! Wanna keep going on this little trip then instead of hangin' around doing nothing?"

The short junkrat blinked before crossing her arms and turning away to follow the two microcats floating in the distance. Neon stepped to Lily and mumbled, "Thanks...But please don't share pictures of my butt with my sister."

Lily muttered back, "No trouble...She's a handful, but I really like and care for her. There are two things she reminds me of that are dear to me."

Before she could broach that, Lily walked ahead. Neon followed soon after with a small frown. Obviously, one of the things that Krypto could remind her of was well, Neon herself, but the other thing. It had to be Jupet, her child. Neon's sister was part necropossum after all, just like Lily's kid. She wondered if that meant she had some sort of inborn connection to Krypto, some sort of desire to bond and protect as she did with Jupet. It was strange to think about, and it deserved a good conversation, but for now, she kept walking focused on their oncoming destination.

Without much trouble, they arrived at where they wanted to be. The building was a white pale white obelisk jutting out of the ground against a sea of grey metal surrounding it. It was weird to think that this had been one of the facilities that Neon and Lily had used in a separate frequency to study whatever it was they had been researching. It was largely a mystery as to what they discovered in these labs and much of the data inside of Chip that had survived the frequency shift had been locked behind several layers of protection.

Neon stepped to the door, putting a paw on the metal surface while looking over at the control panel nearby, "Hm, Chip, what are the readings looking like?"

The microcat buzzed a bit before producing an answer, "BZZT, HIGH LEVELS OF ACTIVITY WITHIN, ELECTRICAL AND SOME BIOLOGICAL ELEMENTS. CAUTION IS ADVISED."

Krypto tilted her head, "Why does your microcat talk like that anyway? It sounds like...Like a cartoon robot or something."

Neon groaned, "That wasn't my doing...That was the one who handled the ah, soul business. They decided to mess with Chip's design either to bother me or just because they wanted to help in their own way."

Her sister snorted, "Huh, well, I guess I can get that. Messing with you is always fun. Anyway, outta my way and I'll crack open this door in no time. Whatever is inside is probably dangerous, but nothing we can't handle. My golem will be on standby."

Neon hadn't really noticed the puppet, but now that she was looking she could see that it was a hulking body of some sort of species she wasn't sure of. Whether it was undead or of Krypto's own creation, or both, she couldn't be sure of. It certainly looked dangerous and strong enough to protect them from anything that might be a potential threat, but it also looked rather pretty damn menacing to be around. Lily herself didn't seem bothered by it and was standing next to it a few feet away from the door with a big smile on her face.

Counter to that smile on Lily's face, her own features were scrunched up while she looked at the door and stepped back and away from it. If there was anything dangerous at the door, then she was sure that Chip would have told them. It was still stressful to think that there were things inside of there that could harm them, and maybe just a little bit exciting.

Krypto stood at the console tapping away at the display with quick digits. She squinted her eyes for a moment before calling her microcat over. With a flick, she pulled a wire from Bit's side and connected it to the console. It wasn't even a few minutes before she was grinning and pulling the wire out with a little flourish just as the door slid open, "Ahah, easy! A console with a code to crack just takes a little time. Nothing fancy or amazing so there can't be anything too good in here, but I bet if we find some weird tech we'll get some value out of it or a new toy for you to play with." She then snorted, "I call dibs on anything not worth salvaging but still cool."

Neon was about to retort with something heated, but Lily came up behind Krypto and put a paw on her head, "Hey! Good job on the door. If we find something really badass we can leave it in your capable claws right?"

Krypto's eyes grew wide and her fur seemed to frizz just a bit as she swatted Lily's wrist away, "Yes! Yes, you can leave anything to me and don't touch me. I don't know where those things have been, we don't know each other."

Lily laughed, "No worries! I've got gloves on! Anyway. Step back."

Krypto frowned and crossed her arms, "Why should I?"

"I'm taking point."

The stubborn junkrat snorted, "And why should I let you take point?"

Lily leaned down so they were both at eye level and without letting that smile fade away she replied in a dark tone, "Because I'm the one with the fastest reflexes here. If something dangerous pops up and attacks me, I can get out of the way faster enough, but if something were to come out at you fast enough then you might not make it in time...I won't have your blood on my claws and I wouldn't want to see my lover, your sister, cry soooo...Step aside please." Krypto seemed to grow quiet with that and she slowly sidled to the side while Lily took a step at the doorway, "Hey! Bit, Chip, I need you two to keep doing scans, but since it looks dark in here I'm going to need one of you to search for lights while the other works as lights."

Chip chimed in, "BZZT AFFIRMATIVE."

Bit was next to answer without question, "On it! That's what the headlight is for, boss!"

Lily then looked over toward Neon, "Hey, Neon, I need you to keep scanning the area just in case some new reading pops up okay?"

Neon nodded and pulled her compact out to make the necessary adjustments, "Right."

Krypto huffed, "And me?"

The feline looked down at Krypto with her smile growing to a sneer, "You? You're right next to me, shorty. You and your golem that is. If something big and nasty comes at me, I need you to take that golem of yours and use it to smash it in the chin if I can't handle it, okay?"

Krypto seemed genuinely perturbed by being trusted with someone's life so readily and so eagerly. She looked at her golem before looking at Lily and without any snark muttered, "Fine, got it."

Once Lily had established her rule over the group, she motioned for Bit to come over. The yellow microcat came flying over without qualms and the light on its head already activated. A bright flash entered the open doorway to part the sea of dark while Lily motioned again for Chip this time. Chip obeyed and entered the building to search for a light switch as instructed while Lily soon followed. Krypto and her golem stepped in after and then Neon took the back with her compact out, set to follow the energy readings in the ruined building.

Neon's first few steps into the building were taken with care as she looked around. The light on Bit's helmet created a sphere around the group where they could all see the sterile tiles lined with dust and bits of rubble. There were a few open doorways waiting for them, but other than that, nothing but an eerie silence.

Chip floated Near the front and buzzed, "BZZT I CANNOT SEEM TO FIND ANY TRACES OF ELECTRICITY IN THIS PLACE. STRANGE READINGS OF ENERGY ARE STILL COMING FROM DEEPER INSIDE THOUGH."

Lily rubbed her chin, "We're in the dark then...Neon, can you tell us which doorway is most likely to get us where the readings are?"

Neon frowned and looked at her compact, "Yeah...But I'm not really sure what I'm getting here. If the building doesn't have any electricity in it, then that can only mean that biological element has it and I don't think we wanna meet some sort of electrical monster."

Krypto chimed in, "So we should look anywhere else other than the readings right?"

In Bit's light, Lily's eyes seemed to reflect some sort of curiosity as she looked around and muttered, "I guess...You aren't wrong. Neon, point us in what direction not to go to."

Neon checked the reading again and looked back up, "Doorway ahead of us."

Lily look at the doorway and stepped up to it, "Hmm, all right. Let's head a different way then. You and Krypto can take the left and I'll take the right. Bit and Chip will serve as our lights. C'mon Chip."

Neon frowned and on instinct said, "Lily, I expect you'll keep to the plan right?"

The feline at this point was walking to her destination, but she looked over her shoulder and gave a thumbs up, "Wouldn't dream of deviating."

She then walked away without another word. Neon watched as Chip's light disappeared off into the distance and she frowned. Concern rolled through her, but a tugging at her arm distracted her, "C'mon, let's get going and find something before that stupid cat."

Neon gave in and followed Krypto and her golem through the doorway. Their path led down a hall with other doorways that were open and waiting for them to look through. There was no electricity in the building and so she supposed they should have been thankful that the front door had worked. A bubbling caution brewing in her stomach told her to be concerned about the fact that all of these doors were open despite there being no electricity, but she pushed the thought at the back of her mind and kept walking. Deeper within they found rusted surgical and lab equipment that told Neon that this place had perhaps been some sort of medical facility, or it had been used to experiment on biological creatures. It fascinated her when she came upon a scientific journal on mutation and corruption. She knew that Krypto had called dibs, but she slipped the piece into her bag and continued searching. There were computers that seemed to be intact along with a variety of medical tools that lacked rust. They could surely get something out of most of the things in here. Before gathering any of it, though, regrouping would be best.

Krypto had been quiet the entire time, but when she turned to her Krypto spoke while pretending to thumb through a book that had been on a shelf near her, "I can kind of see why you like the cat. She seems nice. Way too nice. Bet this was supposed to be some sort of date for you two that I'm ruining huh? Well, too bad. I don't really care if I'm messing up your plans. I just don't want to be left behind."

Neon smiled a bit, "Wouldn't dream of it...But it was Lily's idea to bring you along really. I just wanted to bring you back something cool."

Krypto huffed, "So your girlfriend wants to spend more time with me than you want to spend with me?"

Neon stepped over and a put a paw on her head, to which for once she said nothing at all, "Nah, Lily's just more considerate than I am. She thinks about people she cares about, and she wants to care about you partially because you're my sister and I care about you."

The junkrat kept pretending to read through the book and when she was done with it she slowly shut it before sliding it back into the shelf. She cleared her throat, "Right, whatever. We've found a lot of stuff here, so I guess we should find Lily or whatever so we can decide what to take now and head out. See if she found anything too, bet she found nothing though."

Neon was about to say something but was interrupted by a beeping on her compact. She blinked and looked down to see that the single biological reading she had discovered had split off into many. Her eyes were wide as she noticed that the readings were converging on the path Lily had taken. Krypto perhaps could see the fear and concern in her eyes and she spurred Neon on by grabbing her paw and pulling her into the hall. Both Neon and Krypto ran with Bit shining its light above them and the golem trailing behind, a desperation thumping in her heart.

It didn't take long for them to return to the building's entrance and rush through the doorway that Lily had gone through. If the creature could detect them then it, of course, would have gone after the one who had singled themselves out. Did Lily plan it that way or had Lily not know and was now in the clutches of the creature?

The way Lily had gone was full of observation rooms covered by glass. At the far end of the hall, she heard glass shattering and the sound of metal scraping on the walls. Neon rushed ahead of Krypto and her golem rounding the corner to see that one of the observation rooms had been cracked open, glass scattered across the floor. The broken glass was covered in some sort of viscous liquid, but Neon ignored it in order to rush inside.

Lily stood at the far side of the room, her chest rising and falling quickly, and her eyes narrowed and watching something intently. The feline had most certainly not planned for this and did not look that way either. She had a blaster held in paw and was firing off shot after shot at a creature with a single eye near the top. Massive arms jutted out of a body made out of slime and metal. It shook and vibrated as it absorbed the blasts from the gun she had given Lily. It raised on giant arm and threw a fist at Lily along with its entire body. If it had been her, she would have been caught by such a massive attack, but the feline was fast enough to dart out of the way.

Neon fumbled with the belt remembering that she had something that would have helped with this type of thing. Her nervous digits at her belt must have made too much noise because the as the creature recovered it reformed and shot a blast of electricity at her. Neon yelped and moved out of the way. Her own dodge had been much less graceful than Lily's and it put her on her rear scrambling to try and get up. She was panicking and it was inhibiting her ability to do anything. Again she reached at her belt as the creature began to twist and slide toward her.

It was at this point that Krypto's golem entered the room leaping at the creature made of metal and slime. The amalgamation writhed and began to spark as the golem struck the creature. Krypto entered the room yelling, "Neon! Lily! Let's get the hell out of here! Fuck this place, fuck whatever is in there, let's just split!"

Lily moved over to where Lily and Neon were, "That golem of yours isn't going to hold that thing forever."

Chip suddenly blurted in the middle of their conversation, "BZZT! EVASIVE ACTION!"

Neon looked up and the group ducked just as Krypto's golem was sent flying back outside. With eyes wide, Neon went back to fishing through her belt. The creature was still reeling from the encounter with the golem and it was about to bear down on them when Neon chucked a glowing sphere at the mass of slime and machinery. The sound of pressurized air exiting the orb filled the room and a blue gas sprayed the creature. It recoiled from the gas and flail about as its body slowly began to crystallize.

When the monster's body was entirely frozen, Lily, Neon, and Krypto looked at one another before all sighing. As Krypto suggested, they had taken minimal objects from the facility before getting the hell out of there and sealing the door behind them. They kept on moving even when they got outside preferring to talk underneath the safety of the safehouse and when they got back to the safe house all three of them were panting and sweating, leaning against the wall near the door, Chip and Bit floating overhead as Lily started to laugh.

Krypto scowled, "What the hell are you laughing about?! I lost a golem! And we nearly lost you too!"

Lily giggled, "I'm sorry, I just...I just need to let out how freaked out I am somehow. And I never thought you'd be saving my tail."

Neon sighed, eyes closed as she caught her breath, "Yeah. Krypto you did great, and uh, I think I could use a good scream or something."

The junkrat fumed and crossed her arms before grumbling as she pressed her head to the wall, "I think I'm going to have nightmares about that stupid thing, whatever it was. What was that Neon?"

Neon frowned and remembered the book in her pack, "I think...I can figure that out another time. For now, let's get inside and I don't know, relax."

Relax had been an understatement. They had crashed almost upon entering. Lily still had her smile, but it was small and her body was drooping. What equipment they had they took off and left it in the workshop before going to grab a bite to eat together in the kitchen. They ate quietly and even Krypto seemed drained of energy. Neon didn't even want to mention the document she had collected from the lab. After their meal, they took turns showering. Krypto was still being unusually quiet and had retreated to the room where Lily and Neon found her lying on one of the beds with her eyes closed, a light snore coming off of her. Both feline and stripe goat smiled before tucking the tired junkrat in. They then headed to the other bed to lie together beneath the sheets.

While they nestled together, Lily muttered, "Sorry things got so hectic."

Neon, who was already without sleep, could barely mumble her response, "No trouble...Sorry, I can't find anything. I'm so sorry I can't do what needs to be done to find them, to make this right."

Lily kissed her head softly, "You're here...That's how you make this right."

With that said, both Neon and Lily fell asleep nestled together. Soon the two were out cold with their dreams clear of anything except perhaps a few stray thoughts of one another. Both were too tired from worrying, from thinking too hard, and now they were able to rest. While they slept like rocks, though, Krypto had crawled out of bed. She looked around before taking her own compact from the table where Chip and Bit were set to sleep and she moved quietly to take a picture of Neon and Lily.

She posted the picture to her private account and typed out the message along with it, 'Sister and her new girlfriend. I was gonna kill her totally if she turned out to be even more of a loser than my sister, but...She's really cool. Had to save her life today, but she's nice, nice enough. If she ever breaks my sister's heart, I'd hear her out before breaking her in two."

She then flicked her compact off and set it back on the table. For a moment, she looked at the bed she had been occupying before biting her bottom lip. Krypto then stepped to the side of Neon's before crawling under the covers to nestle herself between the two. Lily stirred and opened one eye, but only smiled and put an arm around Krypto. The junkrat pretended to not notice with her cheeks flushing red and she shut her eyes to sleep with her sister and her sister's cool girlfriend.