Fear the Repair (Dale)

With Gus' call to the psychologist, Dr. Klein would provide Gus with directions to the recommended Mekor Gen labs and repair station. From the doctor's office, Dale would only need to turn the corner to see the large collection of metal warehouse-shaped building that held a mere fraction of the tools and resources held by the original city tech district. Entering through the automatic doors, Dale would meet with one of the receptionists waiting in the lobby of the building.

The building itself was fairly aesthetically simple; walls of windows peered out to the streets outside the lobby as the marble white floors squeaked under Dale's movements. The walls were painted a light blue with a metallic shine to the steel panelling for fortification, and the doors behind the office showed greased mechanics passing by scientific types wearing more semi-formal attire as the sounds of Sparks and whirs echoed through the hall.

"Hello, sir. Welcome to Mekor Gen. Do you have a scheduled repair? Just input your ID on the panel or present your ID card. ...Okay, Dale, you'll just head through those doors to block B2."

As Dale would be offered a wheelchair for transport as through the doorway into the true labs, labels for each repair station hanging in neon lettering over each block, he could see other humans with mechanical body part smiling and conversing with the other workers as repairs were being made. Large tanks between blocks bubbled with glowing blue liquid of some kind as mechanical arms moving along the ceiling moved boxes of materials and closed or opened valves from the large tanks.

Once the B2 block was beside Dale, he could likely make out the face of Milton sitting in the adjacent block as a pipe attached to his pure metal torso slowly pumped in some of the glowing blue liquid. There was another person sitting and talking with him, a girl with long pink hair and thinner arms and legs than a normal human. The repairman in Dale's block, a man wearing jeans and a stained red tee, called him in.

"'Ey, Dale. Hop up on the table and lay on yer stomach for me, okay? So, ya need a repair to yer legs, huh? Got original schematics on ya?"

In some ways, the problem was the same as usual...Dale was unfamiliar with things, and had no idea what was going on. The difference here was that this lack of knowledge was potentially a lot more dangerous.
As Dale stumbled his way through, refusing the wheelchair as he shot paranoid looks to the staff, he maintained a hold on Chip that he refused to end. The bright look...it wasn't quite those old white walls, and there certainly wasn't that flow of energy along them, but it still brought back bad memories.
The actual main body of the lab looked...different and yet the same. It was filled with unfamiliar sights, and far too many people.
He didn't like it.

Dale pauses a moment before he follows the directions given, Chip staying by and watching unusually closely. If anything happened, Chip could get Enkidu, and he had that axe...it was some security.
His leg was in a state. It was easy to see inside it given the massive bite that seemed to have been taken out of it, and a number of extra bite marks only mangled it further.
Dale spoke in a slow, guarded tone. "I don't think I have...'schematics'..."

While Dale entered the room as instructed, the repairman kept an eye on the little dog following them but otherwise left it untouched. Patting the table so Dale could lay down, he would shift Dale's pants if needed to get a good look at the massive bite taken out of his leg. With an impressed whistle, Dale would feel him feel around the gash and remove any pieces too small or shattered to leave attached for repairs with the tools set on the counter beside him.

"Man, something really took a mean bite outta ya, Dale? I think I can eyeball some of the pieces you're missing, but if you know you're missing a whole chunk of something from your leg here, better to lemme know now before we close it up. Let's see... ligament bracers, support rod could use a touch-up... alright, parts should be here in a bit. We got a TV in case you wanna watch anything while you're getting repa- oh, hey NLP. What brings you here?"

Sure enough, as the mechanic was entering the requested parts into the wall panel, Milton was now waiting at the entryway to the room, the other girl taking his seat in the room and watching from the window panel nervously. Keeping his distance from Chip, Milton's expression was less cheerful and kind than the first time they talked as he walked over and took a spot leaning against the wall in front of Dale.

"I hear some suspiciously paranoid guy wandered in in need of a repair and I see Mr. Blackwood over in the other room. Said I should go talk to him, see what's giving him trouble. But considering how this went last time, I didn't think I was going to get much of an answer. So, Blackwood, what brings you to the most terrifying Mekor Gen labs? Something attack you, or did your jumping mechanism just give way after an accidental fall?"

"What's a..." Dale's question is cut off rather shortly as...NLP, apparently, makes their appearance. His eyes follow the cyborg as he walks around the room, very much keeping a close eye on him. There's a pause as he notes the shift in attitude, and for a moment, nothing happens.
For all he acted quite normally before, Chip is staring rather intently at Milton as well.
Eventually, Dale breaks the silence. "A...thing. Ate my leg. Looked like people...but it wasn't. Not like other things here too. Monster." With a moment's thought, he decides not to say more. It...might change its mind if he got people after it.
"...didn't know where I could get fixed. You said this place fixed robots. All I had."

Milton didn't seem to take being called "NLP" that well as he glared at the repairman before conversing with Dale. From what he described, a humanlike monster attacked him, leaving his leg in the terrible condition that somehow convinced him to take a chance on the labs he was so fearful of earlier. Sounded like the types of monsters Grubby had discussed with him earlier. If these monsters weren't on Permanence, then where would these be lurking to elude Milton this long? While the girl waved from the window to get Milton and Dale's attention, Milton nodded to her and continued conversation as the parts descended from the ceiling via the mechanical arm now entering the room.

"Some humanoid monster ate your leg? Sounds like something a rogue I know ran into once. Where did you come across this creature? Were there any more of them? I may actually need to find this little monster nest you're talking about and take care of them once the whole Permanence business is over. As for you, Benni, the name's Milton. Not NLP. Milton. Got it?"

Dale shakes his head. Maybe, just as long as he was careful what he said..."It...it looked just like a normal person...big person, but like a normal person. Walked. Talked. Acted like it. Then it wasn't. Turned into...that. Even bigger. Stronger. It...felt like it wasn't real, like nothing could hurt it."
"Don't!"
"Enkidu! It'll hurt me if you do!"
"...I know." He shook it off, and focused his attention back on Milton. "It...did that. It ate. Then it stopped. Let me go. Talked to me, let me leave. Said it didn't want to hurt me...I don't get it."

So this person Dale ran into what appeared like an average human of greater stature than himself but grew into a larger creature that seemed to delve into some kind of uncanny human-like monster that could manage to tear through his leg with little issue. But as Dale recounted his tale of the beast, something seemed to be distracting him. The mechanic that was just welding in the bracers into his leg stopped working for a second and gave Dale a confused look followed by a nervous glance towards Milton. Talking to someone that wasn't there didn't help his image as a potentially mentally unstable person. Yet Milton didn't seem as judgmental as he raised an eyebrow in interest.

"Who's he talking to? Dunno if he has a transmission running in his head, but I might have to call the doc if-"

"A moment, Benni. Can you please step outside for a second? I want to talk with him in private."

As Benni took his time to leave the room, Milton closed the door behind him as a light ring of purple smoke formed around his feet, the faint outline of a skeleton-like creature forming from Milton's shadow peeking out from behind him.

"Dale, I know this is going to sound odd, but who is Enkidu? Is it an imaginary friend of yours or... a guardian spirit?"

Dale watches nervously as the other person leaves the room.
He notices the smoke, and the shape lurking in it, and it sets his instincts alight.
Chip barks...no, roars, as the earth seems to kick up around him, display shifting from arcs of light to inhuman eyes.
None of this, sound and sight, is anything that should come from the little dog-bot.

Nothing has happened. Yet.

Dale speaks, nervously. "I...don't know what those words mean."

Milton grumbled under his breath at just how little Dale was actually understanding him. On one hand, being able to educate another person on his ever-growing pool of knowledge felt great to his confidence in his records, but with someone who can barely understand half the words coming out of his mouth, he'd have to take the lesson pretty slow from here on out and expect plenty of questions for every answer he gives.

"Persona. Does that word sound familiar to you? From what I can understand, people are capable of bringing out a power centered in their minds. For whatever reason, this power is tied to a concept of Ego. I don't fully understand it myself, but it feels like a link to your inner self. Innermost thoughts, fears, dreams, your inner personality itself... this Persona seems to be a reflection of these things. Perhaps it would be easier to show. Phobetor, come on out."


"Is your dog okay? He's starting to act up."

Dale seems to show recognition at the word. "It...does..." He listens to the rest of the explanation, this one of words he knows (mostly) being used in ways he's unfamiliar with.
And then, Phobetor is summoned.
The roar that Chip makes in response is much louder, both powerful and primal as it cuts through the air. From the sudden whirling earth comes forth a cracked shape of clay both beast and man, matching Phobetor's stature as it steps forward with a grin that's all too sharp and toothy. "We need no gods here, let alone one of nightmares. Petty, spiteful things, and ones that have given me and my friends enough trouble already."
Standing by Dale, he places Chip on Dale's back. With the point of comparison, the little dog's eyes look just like Enkidu's. The hulking creature of cracked clay looks over at Milton. "Enkidu. Faithful companion to the king of heroes."
Dale looks between all that have gathered in the room, save the dog on his back. "That's what Chip was doing." While not comfortable, he seems more secure in Enkidu's presence.

Finally, Dale was starting to put the dots together and already had an understanding of the power he possessed. Perhaps with more users to discuss with, Milton could understand the reason he was chosen to possess this type of power to command a supposed god of nightmares. Why Phobetor? What about this cackling specter could relate to Milton? He'd have to learn more about this Phobetor later.

As soon as Phobetor came out, both user and Persona were now watching the violently roaring bot dog create fissures in the floor, dirt rising from the cracks as a beastly human figure formed from the clumping mound of dirt. Phobetor didn't seem to fazed by the appearance of this clay king of heroes, choosing instead to hold his chin with his pointer finger and thumb with his staff resting under his other arm. Milton meanwhile seemed awestruck for a moment, his senses collecting all the data he could translate as Phobetor took the commentary about his presence offending him in some way with an unseen wily grin.

"Sssshhh... it is not your place to decide where I am needed. I was called from the expanse of the unconscious to stand as Milton's defender, and thus I came. Petty? Spiteful? Such commentary is hardly appropriate, do you not agree, young one?"

"Y-yeah, I have to agree. Phobetor doesn't seem like the kind to be petty with his position. But it is good to know you have this power as well. I can see why you defend that Chip of yours so closely; being the source of your triggering function does make him vital. Now then, about this place you visited... I was wondering if you would allow me to come with. There is strength in numbers, after all... assuming you can trust me anymore. How does that sound?"

Enkidu scoffs loudly, teeth bared as his sculpted musculature ripples as if it were living flesh. "I know the gods well, and despite what many think of them, they are no things worth worship." He turns his gaze to Milton eyes boring into him. "Make no mistake. Even without me in existence, that dog would and does hold more value to him than even himself. And I don't blame him. It's hard to find someone you can trust without question."

It was...strange. Enkidu was him...and yet, as he saw, not him. There was so much he didn't understand...but this was how things were.
"Enkidu..." Dale paused. "Stop. For now."
The flick of his eyes to the others in the room was unnecessary. They were the same, and so he understood. Enkidu nods and folds his arms, standing over Dale.
There's another small silence as Dale gathers himself. "It won't be there. It's not from there. Dressed like it came from...higher. Outside the 'Slums'."

Phobetor and Milton alike were finding Enkidu a curiosity worth talking to as the ghostly specter hovered over to stare Enkidu face to face as Phobetor's hissing voice continued to interact with the muscular beast before him.

"To say that there are no things worth worship is a truly sad statement. Humans will find something to worship to feel a foundation at their feet. Gods are but one of the subjects that humans may cling to to find their way in life. Is there nothing you can find such beauty in that would be earning of your praises?"

"That'll be enough for now, Phobetor. You can continue your discussion while Dale is in better condition. Either way, where the beast came from is not my concern; I'm saying that the place you went to encounter this creature... I want to come with. If there are such creatures residing on Junction as there are on Permanence, then we need to ensure the safety of the citizens. But I don't want to take up all your time. Benni's probably getting impatient. Ready to finish repairs?"

"What is sad is that you assume only the gods could possibly be worthy of worship." A deep, rumbling growl emanates from Chip and Enkidu. "In my time, I knew one being truly worthy, and you could not ever be as he was."
Enkidu glares down Phobetor, beastman railing against the so called 'god' before him. Dale...seems less openly hostile, but not so comfortable all the same.
He really just wanted his leg fixed.
"Re-?"
"Your leg, Dale."
"Oh." Dale nods. "I want my leg fixed. Soon as possible."

"...Then there is nothing more I can tell you that you will listen to. Farewell."

With one final nod towards Dale and Enkidu, Phobetor returned to his place over Milton and descended into his shadow once more as the smoking ring faded away under Milton's feet. With a quick instruction to Dale to dismiss his Persona, Milton shifted the movable furniture in the area to cover the hole until he could fix it, inviting Benni back in to finish. There were a few people gathered outside the room awaiting how Milton's discussion had gone with the suspicious visitor, one among them being the girl from earlier. Milton waved them off insisting that everything had been resolved as Benni returned to his repairwork, finishing the job in a mere 20 minutes with a final layer of sealant closing his leg back up.

"Aight, that's one leg patched up and back to normal. Should have the original structure based on what was left of your leg. It'll probably feel odd to walk on for a bit, but give it time and it'll feel like nothing happened to it at all. Go ahead, stand on up and test it out. What'll ya be paying with today, bud?"