Aboard the Argos, in a mobile-knight operation area set up specially for the Avid, maintenance engineers bustled around urgently.
The Avid had returned in one piece, but noticeable fractures ran all through its armor. It had considerable internal damage as well; even its frame—which was composed of rare metals—had suffered the equivalent of a complex fracture.
The chief engineer clutched his head at the severity of the damage. “What do you even have to do to break the Avid this badly?!”
The other engineers were equally perplexed.
“It seems clear that it was a pretty intense fight. From the data, though, it looks like Lord Liam’s own piloting was to blame.”
“How the hell did he do damage that’ll take years to regenerate, even with a Machine Heart?”
“We’ll have to send the Avid back to the manufacturer for repairs, won’t we?”
The maintenance engineers had practically given up on fixing the badly damaged craft. They’d apparently decided that the best course of action would be to leave the Avid’s repairs to the Seventh Weapons Factory.
Unseen by the engineers, a translucent dog appeared beside the damaged craft’s head and licked at it, as if in appreciation of the Avid’s hard work. Then the dog seemed to sigh, exasperated with its former owner.
Liam had said that the new mobile knights were wedding gifts from Calvin, and that he would give them to Ellen and his sister apprentices. At that, even the dog had felt sorry for Rosetta. Still, despite all that, the dog wagged its tail gleefully. It was happy, because Liam had overcome yet another aspect of his past.