Reboot: Mechanic

Once Mary revealed that she had a device of being able to detect items that could conceal its presence, Shi Tian quickly browsed the other cabinet.

"Are you sure the device is in one of these cabinets?" Shi Tian asked, searching aimlessly for the circular object that Mary had described.

"Yes, I'm positive about it. It's just that such items capable of concealing themselves are rare so the device is barely used." Mary explained. 

'So because it's barely used, you just tossed it aside and only remembered it now…' Shi Tian thought to himself, somewhat speechless of Mary's conduct. 

Even if it wasn't a device that was used often, she should have still placed it in an organized manner so that when the opportunity arose for it to be used, they would be able to find it. Unlike now, where they are searching mindlessly for the device. 

"You're quite unbelievable sometimes, Mary." Shi Tian commented, going to another cabinet to search for the item.

"The same could be said for you." Mary retorted. 

"Did you forget when you looked like a dead fish and craved for some dirt cheap coffee?" She added, reminding him of his pathetic and embarrassed state. 

Speechless, Shi Tian decided to not judge her for being a messy person. 

People can be messy depending on their circumstances, so he shouldn't have judged her on it.

With Shi Tian keeping his comments to himself, Mary was quite pleased to be able to shut him down. 

She was still a bit angry when she was told to leave the tent. After all, it made it seem like she was afraid of Vanessa and was forced to retreat when she could totally fight her. 

A fight was something she was never afraid of, even if the chances of winning were low. 

Of course, all of these are her inner thoughts, and Shi Tian did not have any idea of her thoughts. 

He was merely human and was not an omnipotent being that could predict everything. There are times when his deductions were wrong and proven incorrect with factual evidence. 

Sometime later, Mary finally found the circular object that she was looking for. 

"Aha, I knew it would be here. I remember using this device one time to search for some Lost Items in a ruin." Mary proclaimed, feeling proud of herself.

Shi Tian twitched his mouth in disbelief. It took them around 5-7 minutes to find the device, yet Mary was acting as if she found it right away. Nevertheless, he kept quiet and allowed her to enjoy the moment.

They had stalled long enough time, so saving the chatter that produced little to zero effect would be the better option. 

Waiting patiently by the side, Shi Tian watched Mary walk toward the empty crate alongside the other items such as the drones, laser gun, and the cartridges made with the processed Source Crystal.

Mary's facial expression was solemn as she stood still, playing around with the circular object in her hand. 

Just when a few minutes had gone by, Mary's position remained the same, and Shi Tian was subsequently confused by her action. 

What was taking her so long?

It couldn't be that…right? 

A thought came to his mind, but he dared not voice it aloud, lest Mary might start bickering again.

Though he didn't need to voice it aloud when Mary turned to him and smiled awkwardly. 

"Whoopsie, this circular object needed to warm up before it could be utilized." She stuck her tongue out and pretended to be cute, seemingly trying to nullify her blunder. 

"..."

"What? Don't give me that kind of look." Mary twitched her brows and said. 

"The device is merely warming up, okay. Even humans need to freshen up when they wake up. It's the same logic." She added.

"I didn't even say anything. Why bother explaining?" Shi Tian shrugged his shoulders.

"You say nothing, but you were giving me a funny look."

"That's just your misconception, Mary."

"No, I'm sure you're laughing at me right now. Aren't you?" 

Rolling his eyes, Shi Tian was too lazy to explain any further. 

Laughing? 

Nah, he had no time to make fun of her. Neither did he have the right to do so when he was ignorant of most advanced technological stuff despite trying to educate himself.

Disappointed?

There was indeed a bit of disappointment, considering how Mary was hyping over the circular object, only for it to end up needing to "warm up", so of course, he would be a tad disappointed. 

"So how long is this warming up process going to be?" Shi Tian sat down and asked, his hand placed on his chin. Since there was nothing else to do aside from waiting, he found it pointless to keep standing up.

"Umm, about 10 minutes or so?" Mary smiled nervously.

It was clear that she was a bit embarrassed, calling Shi Tian ignorant but look at her now. She can't even remember the function of her own devices. 

"10 minutes of warming up huh… then what are we going to do here for 10 minutes?" Shi Tian asked with curiosity. 

"How about we discuss something else to pass the time?" Mary suggested.

"Such as?"

"Ehh, such as your mechanic class? Like how are you doing so far?" 

"Don't you know my progress already?" 

"That's true…" Mary smiled awkwardly. "Oh, I know. Why don't you tell me how you met Vanessa and why she resides in your apartment?" She suddenly added. 

"Let's talk about my mechanic class, okay?" Shi Tian quickly chose the first option.

Alas, Mary shook her head and said, "You had a choice before, but you rejected it. Now you must tell me, and don't you dare tell me otherwise. That Vanessa probably forced you to tell her about our private discussion."

Sighing in defeat, Shi Tian was unable to fathom why these two women always wanted to know the secrets in his conversation with others. 

Unwilling to spend too much time on storytelling, Shi Tian made sure to skim through details that weren't necessary as he prayed for the device to finish warming up.