Mann & Machine - Pauling

Pauling met Pyro a long time ago. He wasn't called Pyro, then - he had another name, one that faded away a long time ago. Pyro was a better name, he had told her one day, and she'd resolved to forget the old one. They'd been runaways, at the time, two teenagers from bad situations come together out of chance. A perfect pair, she'd thought, and perhaps he'd thought so too.

Pauling didn't remember how long they'd stayed together. Pyro said it was a year, maybe, but she'd admitted herself that her memory wasn't so great nowadays. It might have been longer. It might have been shorter. Pauling hoped it was longer. They were good memories, even if they were hazy and buried under years of work.

The deal was a good deal. It had to have been a good deal, or Pauling wouldn't have taken it. Australium-based robots were hard to manufacture and expensive, too, and the promise of one that could bring Pyro back to life... well. It was worth every hour of work they'd put in after, Pauling thought. Pyro had always wanted to work with fire, anyway. Pauling hoped he was happy, now. Happier that he'd been in her memories.

What did Pyro's face look like, again?

Never mind. She was alive, after all. Buried in steel and Australium and fine copper wiring, but alive. That was all that had mattered.