[center][url=https://fontmeme.com/fonts/sudegnak-no3-font/][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/171031/b10c648088433cf11935ff0b1b0a4ef8.png[/img][/url][/center][hr][h3][color=magenta]Chapter 1[/color][/h3][color=darkgray][sub][i]January 12 2079[/i][/sub][/color]

Varya jerked up from under the console checking her tablet and the errors quieted. One more irritable pull of a wire, she yanked it free. Brushing away a stray hair from her forehead with the back of her hand. Varya put the tablet down then moved out of the cockpit. Stepping up to Artem squinting at what was under the hood. “[color=B56A7B]What are you smirking at, Dzagoev? Run out of smoke breaks?[/color]” She said pointedly poking his chest pocket the crinkle of the empty packet evident. She finally flashed a crooked toothy smile herself, amused. 

“[color=B56A7B]We’ve both got our work cut out for us today, I’m elevating the work order up a tier so Boss man knows.[/color]” She said reaching forward and wiggling the chip set free of the navigator box. They were hot to the touch and she winced fanning them about. Examining the fried piece of tech. “[color=B56A7B]Fuck, these are in bad shape. I can salvage what data I can and just install new chips. Which is minimal compared to installing a brand new navigator box.[/color]” She commented turning them over in her hand looking up to Artem. “[color=B56A7B]I’d be here all night trying to salvage all the data stored in there just to get the onboard systems back up to functionality.[/color]”

“[color=B56A7B]So... thanks for not wasting time and staying calm.[/color]” She said with firm sincerity, making eye contact. A pause hung after she said her thanks, then her expression dropped back down to something rather deadpan once again. “[color=B56A7B]I sincerely hope that the tattoos you got were because they looked scary versus the amount of people you killed with a spoon or some shit.[/color]”

“[color=b56a7b]I think that would max out my capacity for stupid for the day.[/color]”

And so, they worked. It took the better part of the day for both of them to do their respective areas. Even breaking for lunch and eating together. Varya considered her snarky remarks to be on the gentle side, but if she were pressed to admit that was...largely a subjective point. He returned the same level of banter, poking fun at her in a similar way she did to him. They drifted between bouts and comfortable quiet with the radio droning on. When the work was finally complete the hour closed in on pick up time.

They tidied up. Buffing fingerprints from the hood, rubbing away the watermarks on the wings. Neatly tucking wires away, returning all idling screens to their original settings. Whatever evidence they had of having touched the vehicle was removed ready for the client to resume.

Oleg came to check in, doing a final once over and grunting his approval signing off on the work order as complete. “Good job handling the unexpected repairs, keeping cost to a minimum for the client. That’s what I like about the pair of you. Don’t need me to hold your hand, you figure things out for yourselves.”

Varya smiled a small smile, “[color=b56a7b]Thanks, boss.[/color]”

He turned next to Artem, “Sharp eye on that engine. Others would have passed that up and let it go for another few months only to get worse, then cashing in on a pricier repair. Thanks for being honest.” He fished out of his pocket a fresh pack of smokes, the same brand Artem liked. “If I catch you smoking these inside I will drown you in grunt work for a week, ya hear me?”

He laughed at Artem’s expression, a big barrel of a laugh.

Varya grinned, Oleg’s infectious good nature difficult to not appreciate.