I - The Hurt That Bonds Us All:

Humming a chipper melody, the woman cradled her lover, using her lap as a pillow, playing with his spiky silk like hair as a mother would to a child. It was a small cabin, located in the forest regions of Spider Miles, during the Winter, many a family would migrate to neighbouring islands for the Winters, as Spider Miles temperatures most years were nearly uninhabitable for most the infrastructure in the town areas, wooden homes with no defence against the North's brutal frigid weather. "No matter how many years pass, my mind still manages to float back here." Shuu, the white hair lover revealed himself to comforter. "Are you fond of this memory?" the woman asked, her face almost masked by the painful compass of the man's memory. "Even your face has become foreign to me now. I guess I am losing my mind, partially. I've always been eccentric." Shuu rambled to himself, closing his eyes basking in the comforting feeling of the woman's hands running through his sliver, easily mistaken for snow white hair. Opening eyes, almost as a child would, facing his fears of the darkness, her face assembled, much like the pieces of a puzzle was but the difference is, no hands built the puzzle, it was like a television set chiming in, almost real-time. "I am. Fond that is? This was about four years ago... It was the first time we made love." Shuu stated. "Are you still that much of a helpless romantic?" the woman's hands paused brushing his hair, it was the beginning to the worst of this mental trip. Shuu shut his eyes tightly, "I know where this is going. I'll open my eyes and your face will be covered in blood. I'll wake up, breathing heavily, no, I'll suppress it since Jessica is in the room. Meaning, I have the quill under the table to stab myself in the leg. I'll tease her like usual. Life will go on. I know all of this but I can't seem to come to grips... Why are you still haunting me?" Shuu rambled on, tears now filling his eyes. Facing his fear once again, his lover's blood covered face stated at him, smiling almost effortlessly, as if she wasn't in pain, as he found her that day, which seemed to be only a week, no mere days ago. "Why do you think I'm haunting you?" the woman commented.

Jumping up in a cold sweat, Shuu's left hand, covered under the table stabbed the quill in his right leg almost instantly, suppressing the jolting motion and his usual panic. It was fine on everyday but Tuesday's, that was when Jessica, his widow's sister would come to clean the room. "Aww Jeez." Alexis commented, walking into the scrapyard hanger which Shuu usually would crash in. Treading carefully, not to step on either one of his failed toys or discarded take-out wooden crates, the assistant snuck up behind Shuu attempting to lift the blanket from off the neighbouring couch to place it over his hunched position. "How many times do I have to tell you Alexis? Shut the door when your coming in." Shuu said, mumbling as his eyes were still firmly shut, to indicate a deep sleep. The moment the man begun to speak, the assistant was startled, slipping onto the floor, covering herself with the blanket. Opening his left eye, closest to the commotion, while the right oculus stayed adamantly shut, the engineer peered over at his assistant's current position sprawled out on his floor. "Oh... Pink today... are those laced? You newly weds sure know how to live it up" Shuu commented. Closing her legs almost instantly, sitting up into a kneeling position, the woman pulled down her skirt and with a blushed expression shouted, "PERVERT!" at the top of her lungs.

Getting up from the desk, now fully awake from the bothersome commotion, clothed only into two articles of clothing, his vertically blue and white striped boxers and black and silver appellate jacket, the scientist spread his elongated white wings, which perfectly fitted through the jacket, outward, flapping a few times to give them what little warmth movement could in this weather. "You're the one who tried to sneak up on me half-naked. I'm going to tell your husband about our affair." Shuu sticking out his tongue playfully. Several right hooks later, the scientist clothed himself in a black sweat pants, zipping up his jacket via it's silver zipper and bowing down before the assistant with one large goofy on cranium. Lifting up his head from the ground, "Sorry. I took my joke too far." Shuu said, smirking slightly. Puffing out her cheeks, "Once you understand... somethings you just don't joke about! Idiot! Pervert! Lecherous Boss!" the woman continuously shoved insults into the guilty professor's emotional chest.

Scratching his head, the man returned to his feet, now towering over his 5'6 assistant, "Enough playing around, I guess it's time to get back to work. Today is the day isn't it?" Shuu stated. "Mhm. Your invention goes on the market today? Nervous?" Alexis inquired. "O-O-Of course not!" Shuu proclaimed, flapping his wings in a disjointed fashion and dwindling his thumbs. "Eh.... He's so obvious." Alexis thought, unimpressed with her bosses blatant lie.

Sitting up, scrambling around the hanger for the remainder of his clothes, the Scrapyard engineer collected a long black satin pants, black rubber work boots, a white undershirt, his usual black jacket with the silver appellate and his wedding ring on his placed on his wedded finger. Shuffling his hand through his hair, Shuu used the motion to jolt some energy in his body, still feeling lifeless and depressed from the nightmare of prior nights. The black pants did well to suck up the blood from the puncture, Shuu walked over to Jessica, flicking her on her forehead, as her eyes were forced shut to accommodate his assembly of clothes for his semi-naked vessel. It'd become routine, over the years and she knew the drill, "I keep telling you, it's not the invention but the blueprints... And it's just a concept model anyway... Only if I can get enough merchant's to back it... I'm barely making ends meat to afford living in this bunker... and then food." Shuu stated, yawning mid-way in his sentence. Puffing out her cheeks, "I told you to come and live with me and Leo-" Jessica almost nearly yelled, only to be met with a single finger over her lips. Sprouting his wings, the man hovered off the ground, flying in reverse out of the bunker, dashing towards the skies. As the clear blue skies became his backdrop, the full view of Spider Miles came into scope.

Spiralling upwards, Shuu's face embraced the stream of morning dew air with grace, only to be dried out from the lack of moisture in the atmosphere. Continuously flapping to maintain flight, the scientist gently glided further and further away from his bunker towards the Scrapyard's main factory. Landing, one of the workers shouted, "Shuu!" an older gentleman who welcomed the middle aged man with a firm slap on his back, which caused him to trip a bit. "Ah... Morning... Tengu." Shuu said, slightly flustered. Placing his face directly in front of Shuu's, about one inch separating their noses, Shuu could smell the morning coffee and residual breakfast goodies in his beard or on his breath, location, unknown but this was way much a violation of his personal space. "Your eyes have bags under them again. You didn't sleep last night huh? Excited about your blueprints being put before the merchant's guild huh? Mhm must be, bwhahaha!" the man declared obnoxiously. Pressing his pistol against the man's crotch, "Again... Too close as always, Tengu." Shuu commented, stepping backwards inch by inch, creating distance. Sheathing his 'empty' pistol in it's holster, "Bwhahaha... Good one. You and those guns of yours! If you actually used to put bullets in those I'd think you didn't like me!" Tengu shouted, laughing obnoxiously once again. "Ah... Really? Bullets... Of course not." Shuu said, most definitely sarcastically but Tengu's head was as hard as a hammer, it was nearly impossible for him to pick up on social cues.

"Oh! Meet me during the lunch break! I got the information you've been asking about... that." Tengu said ominously, walking off.

Transitioning, lunch time at the Scrapyard was a big event for even the most mundane of living patterns. The workers would head out into the city, purchase from local merchants and hawkers just to keep the circulation of funds within the community, it was truly an economical model. However, this lunch time, Shuu and Tengu sat at the centre most table in the cafeteria, discussing the information Shuu had requested. "Alright. You asked me, what was the biggest problem Spider Miles currently suffers from?" Tengu regurgitated Shu's question. "At first, that was such a vague question, I almost didn't even know where to begin but as someone whose lived almost forty years on Spider Miles... It's biggest problem is simple. All of the junk yard factories are competing for the salvaging of limited resources. Before, Spider Miles used to be a big dumping site for excess metals and trash from islands in the area. Toxins... Chemicals... If it was dangerous they'd dump it on Spider Miles. That's when the boom of factories came to the island. However, that was when more metallic trash was being dumped on the island, currently, the increase in trash among the rubble is making it difficult for scavengers to bring back as much metal. Our Junkyard owns 80% of the Scrapyard and Dump Sites on the island and if Mr.Jenkins manages to finish his next couple of company deals, he'll have a monopoly but if you ask me, a monopoly is a bad idea, do you know why Shuu?" Tengu inquired.

"The bigger the model, the more room for slip ups and revenue. I get it... with the more increase in trash, we risk things such as water contamination or a disease outbreak." Shuu responded. "Correct boy-o!" Tengu exclaimed, extending his hand and ruffling the middle age man's head of hair. Shuu simply death glared the older gentleman to retreat his hand. "Meaning my model for the Congo Bot was correct... It'll be easier to mask my plot now." Shuu thought. Rising from the table, "Hmm. I can't afford to be sitting around here. I'm going into the city to grab some supplies for tonights build." Shuu commented, leaving change on the table for the meal Tengu had paid for. Launching off into the sky, flapping his wings vigorously, spinning mid-flight, the winged engineer advanced towards the marketing district. "I'll need to get my hand on some fluorides..." Shuu thought as he flew towards the city. From above, the market hustle and bustle below made the humans of the Blues look like mere ants from his height. However, the cogs of fate we're about to churn, revealing the pieces Shuu would need to cement his long-term goal.

Flashback to about three years, Shuu was rock bottom. Drinking his sorrows in Sake and living in his bunker alone, the loss of his wife broke his mind and it was at this time, he'd began to plot. "Heh... Living is so fickle. All I can think about is... killing them all." Shuu murmured to himself in his bunker ominously. "However, I have a much better plan for these seas... I'm going to build an empire." Shuu grinned.