Chapter 235 45.2 Meanwhile?

SHEN

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"Will this work? Or will this work?"

Flitting through the stalls, Shen found herself immersed in the realm of futuristic tools and doodads on her quest to find the right stuff to dismantle that Marquean doohickey that they found inside that Vermes. Already, her mind was ablaze with what she could do with that spherical device, even if she didn't really know what it did yet in the first place.

"Oh! Maybe this?!" Shen excitedly asked herself as she hefted what seemed to be some kind of wrench. "It won't replace [Fixit], but it looks like I can use dis on other things!"

"Can you just buy something, kid?"

Shen ignored the guy heckling her for a while now as she continued her window shopping spree. In truth, she hasn't spent the one Chip she had with her yet. Instead, her time had been spent solely on looking and gawking at the cool tools she could possibly use. A part of her still had that thrifty way of thinking she developed while she was with Shizu, but it was all melting away with the more tools she saw being sold at pretty decent prices.

"How much for dis?" Shen asked, pointing at the random chisel she picked up.

"Half a Chip, kid," the store owner sighed. "Are you gonna buy it?"

"Not yet," Shen quickly denied. "I think there's more here dat I can buy."

The mechanic heard the man groan at her decision, to which she promptly ignored as she continued browsing his wares. Her own excitement aside, she probably had to finish up here and get back to Shizu.

"What do I need then..."

Thinking back, the device was spherical in shape... Her wrench would probably serve multiple purposes for her, so the only thing she probably needed was something that could pierce through the metal and something that could hold it in place while she did it. She could ask Shizu to hold it in her hands while she worked though... That would probably do, what with the older lady being a hundred times stronger than her in magnitude... Yeah...

"I'll take da chisel," Shen nodded.

"Finally!"

As if he was in a hurry, the shop owner practically swiped the chisel off her hands. He then passed it over some kind of red light before then handing it back to her.

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"That'll be half a Chip, kid." Gladly, Shen handed over the money, the man giving her half a Chip in change before promptly shooing her away. "Now go. You're scaring off the customers."

Shen shrugged as she left. She didn't get what he meant by that last part, but it wasn't like she was planning on staying there for long anyway. She still had a job to do, and Shizu was probably getting bored waiting for her by the administrative building.

Walking across the city, Shen found herself looking around as she played with the new chisel she had in her hands. She still couldn't get around the fact that the entire city itself looked like it was made of glass and metal. All around her, buildings higher than probably the Imperial palace itself jutted out to the sky, piercing through the darkness as their light illuminated the usually dark environment of the world. In fact, she was pretty sure that she hadn't really seen any sort of normal darkness ever since they entered the city.

'Weird,' she inwardly thought to herself. 'Having light all the time kind of feels wrong...'

Slowly but surely, Shen blinked as she understood exactly what Shizu was screaming about earlier. This entire city did feel unnatural. Even her 'repair sense,' as she had started calling it, constantly pinged at the back of her head with every little thing she passed. It was as if everything needed repairs. That beneath all of the sheen and sparkle, the internal structures still had something wrong with them.

'Or maybe I'm just feeling things,' she shrugged.

Returning to the administrative building, Shen made a beeline towards one of the numerous benches scattered out by the sides of the building itself. Shizu did say that they were going to meet here, so maybe she was sitting on one of them right now?

"Shizu?"

Before long, the mechanic found herself circling around the building, passing by every single bench that she could find in search of her partner. But with every pass that she made, the more annoyed she was starting to feel. Because as much as she tried to finding her, the Princess just wasn't there.

"Shizu?!"

Thinking quickly, she turned to call Shizu out towards one of the nearby alleyways. She did notice her going into one of them before she left. Maybe she was still in one of them?

"Shizu?!" she called out once more as she looked into one of the alleyways. "Are you there?!"

Again, she repeated the same method she did with the benches. Shen dutifully looked at every nook and cranny around her, making sure that she wouldn't miss any of her bases before she slowly let her anger simmer. But again, it was no use.

Shizu just wasn't there.

"Shizu?!" she yelled out in the open, her patience wearing thin. "Where are ya?!"

Seconds passed. Then a minute... Unfortunately, the only things that went back to her were weird stares and awkward silence as she stood in front of the administrative building looking like a fool. Her grip on her chisel tightening, Shen finally let herself explode, her anger boiling over as she frantically looked around.

"Shizu?! Where in da world are ya?!" she angrily shouted, her accent slipping out with every word. "I thot we were supposed ta meet here?!"

Her heart hammering in her chest, Shen couldn't control herself as she stomped her feet on the ground. Despite being a teenager, she knew she still looked like a child, and she allowed herself to act like a child as she pouted and groaned at her current situation.

"Ugh! Where?! Why!?"

"Kid."

Shen turned to the random passerby with an angry growl, her lips pursed as she saw the slightly concerned look on the random woman's face. Almost immediately, the smoke wafting off the woman made the mechanic cough, the foul smell of burning tar almost making her wish she'd just go away.

"Are you lost?" the concerned Marquean asked, her right hand holding onto the small burning stick as she squinted at her. "You're looking for someone?"

"What's it to ya?" Shen immediately answered, her hand already moving to cover her nose from the offending smoke. "And what's dat burning smell? It smells awful."

"Oh, this?" the old lady raised an eyebrow as she gestured at the offending item. "This is a cigar. It helps me relax."

Shen coughed a little bit more even as she took in what the woman said. Seriously? That offending-smelling thing helped her relax?! From the lady's froggy voice alone, it certainly didn't sound like she was relaxed.

"I-It sure doesn't smell like it does," Shen bluntly pointed out, waving her other hand in front of her to disperse the smoke. "I'm still stressed."

"It's not exactly for kids, kid," the woman scoffed before placing the cigar back in her mouth and taking in a deep breath. Shen could only watch in growing curiosity as the stick seemed to deplete itself, its burning embers traveling closer to the lady's mouth before she finally took it out. "Besides, this thing isn't healthy."

As if having an epiphany, the mechanic's repair sense kicked in. She blinked at the black-haired woman in front of her as her senses practically screamed at her to try and heal her.

Still, she wasn't stupid enough to expose herself like that. So instead, she asked, "Then why still do it?"

The older lady shook her head, taking in another breath of the stick before she replied. "Like I said, it helps me relax," she shrugged. "Anyway, want me to get you to lost and found? I'm sure the authorities can help you find whoever it is you're looking for."

"W-Wait... No thanks!" Shen quickly blurted out, having suddenly been reminded of her current situation. "I can find Shizu on my own."

"Are you sure, kid? Centrax is a big city," the lady tiredly pointed out. "I know I would-"

"I'll be fine," Shen insisted. "And I'm not a kid, lady. I'm fifteen."

"I see..." the smoking lady drawled out. "Don't let me keep you then."

Giving the random Marquean lady a nod, Shen returned to her search. Shizu probably hadn't gone that far. And even if she did, she'd probably still find her so long as she could meet up with Lady Guidance again, which meant that she had to go to the nearby woods.

"Shizu?!" she called out as she began running towards her destination. "Where are ya?!"

With her head having somewhat cooled, she should probably thank that old lady for talking to her. It might've wasted some of her time, but at least it let her get a grip on herself. And maybe she should try that cigar one time. Despite it smelling like burning trash, it still somehow made that lady look cool and mature.

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