Chapter Text
Hugo grit his teeth as he popped the old metal foot out of its socket. A fizz from the wiring could be heard as the foot was disconnected from the rest of the leg. He set the broken extremity on the table and opened the panel on the sole. He was met with grease and fried wires. Hugo cursed and stuck his hand in it and pulled out the now useless coils. Where was he going to get the parts to fix this stupid foot?
He sighed and dropped the hunk of metal on the table, balancing precariously on his left leg. “Mom is going to love this.” Hugo hopped over to a chair and plopped down in it, his good leg aching from bearing his full weight.
He glared at his right leg. “Why are you such a problem?”
The leg did not answer.
He sighed again and considered getting an older foot from the collection of parts that had accumulated over the years. They never really fit or connected well enough with his current wiring but it may last him enough time to get the parts he needed to fix his currently broken foot, or get an entirely new one. He’d heard that a blacksmith in Corona made good extra cyborg and android parts.
“Might as well get this over with.” Hugo said with a sigh. He pushed himself up from the chair with a grunt and swiped his old foot off the table. “Hey mom!”
Donella came to his door a few seconds later and saw him using the table to keep himself up. She sighed when she noticed his lack of a foot. “Did it lock up again?”
Hugo nodded and Donella walked over to him, taking the grease-dripping foot from his hand. “Arm still good?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.” Hugo leaned on the table more. “I think I may just need a new foot.”
Donella nodded as she checked the wiring. “It would be better to get one that’s up to date with your circuits.”
Hugo pulled himself onto the table. “Why don’t we try Corona? I heard it’s lovely this time of year.”
“Why Corona?”
“Really? We both know that it’s the only place that doesn’t treat freaks like me as objects or property.”
Donella looked appalled. “Hugo, you’re not a freak.”
Hugo snorted, gesturing to the metal foot his mother was holding. “Aren’t I?”
“You’re not.”
“Right. Tell that to the metal limbs attached to my body. Oh! Or maybe the computer network of a brain in my head!” His voice was dripping heavy with sarcasm. “Yes, I’m definitely not a freak.”
“That network is keeping you alive.” Donella set the foot down and looked at her son sympathetically.
“I didn’t ask for it. I didn’t ask for my brain to be rewired. For my arm and leg to be taken away and replaced with this.” He waved his mechanical limb at her with anger on his face. “I didn’t ask to be taken apart and put back together.”
Donella’s face contorted with a flurry of emotions. “You may not have asked for it but it’s all I could do to keep you alive!” She braced both hands on the table and looked down, blinking away her tears. “Did you expect me to watch you die? I didn’t want to lose you.”
“Right. But you replaced your son with a computer.”
Donella looked up at him, icy glare cutting into his eyes. A single white dot blinked at her from the left one, unnaturally lighting up the emerald greens. “You may not be fully human anymore but that doesn’t change the fact that that is what you are on the inside. Underneath all of this,” she gestured to his whole body, knowing the circuitry, wiring, and microchip interface hidden beneath his flesh and metal. “You’re still you. You’re still my son. You’re still Hugo.”
Hugo stared back at her almost in shock. “I-I…”
Donella sighed and took in a heavy breath. “If I could take that moment back I would. If I’d known what would’ve happened to you, I never would have sent you out there. I regret making you go every single day of my life.” She put a hand on his leg. “Pulling you out of the rubble, seeing my thirteen year old son on the brink of death… it’s not something I’d wish for any mother to see. Hugo, the hardest decision I ever made was doing this to you. I knew that if I did, you’d be treated differently. You’d be seen as less human but I couldn’t lose you.” She smiled painfully, reliving the memories she tried so hard to keep down. “But the one thing I don’t regret is saving your life.”
Hugo felt a single tear trail from his right eye, down his face. Donella cupped his cheek and wiped the tear away.
“I love you Hugo. You know that, right?”
Hugo nodded and Donella smiled at him.
“Good. Don’t forget it.” She nodded with a breath and took her hand away. Hugo still sat on the table, his brain trying to process everything, filing it away for later. “Let’s go get that foot then, shall we?”
_____
The Actium touched down on Coronan soil, her crew which consisted only of three people clambering out and into the bustling City of the Sun.
Hugo was leaning heavily on Cyrus, an older foot was attached to his leg and it hurt to walk on. The buffer man was supporting the lanky teen’s weight without a problem.
Donella watched with pursed lips and an aching heart as her son limped next to her friend. Maybe while they were here they could fix the other things that had been going wrong with his body. She knew that the microchip embedded in his brain needed to be replaced. It had been old when she’d put it in and she hadn’t found a replacement since. The chip itself was Ulla’s design so it was no surprise to her that it had lasted this long. Of all the times Donella wished her old friend were here it was now. Ulla would know how to fix her son.
Unfortunately she could never get that friend back. It was too late. Eighteen years too late.
She was snapped out of her thoughts by Hugo’s laughter. Cyrus was grinning like he’d just told a dumb joke and was delighted to make the teen laugh. Donella guessed that that was exactly what had happened.
Hugo was smiling as they walked, not noticing the few glares he was receiving from passers by. He was enjoying the moment of not having a care in the world. He needed this.
They soon arrived at the mechanic’s shop, all three immediately noticing the plethora of mechanical limbs and other assorted pieces. Hugo scanned the shop, eyes falling on a younger person in the shop. He looked to be about seventeen or eighteen, dark hair falling into his freckled face, barely held back by a pair of goggles perched on his head, and bright blue eyes fixated on a broken droid he was fixing.
The trio entered the shop, bell ringing to indicate their presence and the teen looked up from his work. He immediately noticed Hugo’s arm and leg and how he was leaning on Cyrus for support.
The kid pursed his lips, a mixture of emotions on his face. “May I help you?”
“Yes, he needs a new foot.” Cyrus spoke first, attempting to ruffle Hugo’s hair but was batted away and the blond ducked out of his reach.
“I’m not a kid, Cyrus.” Hugo rolled his eyes, shifting his weight so that he wasn’t putting pressure on the obviously ill-fitting foot.
The dark-haired teen snorted out a laugh and put down the droid piece he’d been fiddling with. “Anything specific?”
Hugo shrugged and took a step forward. “Just something that fits and won’t break in a week.”
The other boy nodded and walked out from behind the counter. “We have some more parts in the back. It’ll be easier to attach it there too.”
He gestured for Hugo to follow him, the blond following with minor difficulty, leaving the two adults out in the main store.
Hugo pulled himself onto a hospital-esque bed while he waited for the kid to find the parts.
“So you got a name, or am I just supposed to call you Goggles?” Hugo called out and the kid poked his head out from behind one of the shelves.
“What?”
Hugo gestured to the goggles sitting on his head and the other teen smiled, a light flush growing on his cheeks.
“Right. Uh, my name is Varian.”
Hugo smiled and leaned back a bit, looking up at the fluorescent lights. “I think I’ll call you Goggles.”
Varian snorted from behind the shelves and re-emerged with a box of mechanical foots. “And what am I supposed to call you? Blondie?”
“No, my name is Hugo.”
“Mmm, I like Blondie.” Varian set the box down and sat on the floor in front of Hugo. He tapped the metal leg with his wrench. “Wow this thing is old.” He looked up at Hugo. “When was the last time you replaced it?”
Hugo shrugged. “I haven’t. Not since the surgery. My mo- mentor just adds to it as I grow. It’s never actually been replaced.”
Varian blinked as the information settled in. He nodded slowly and looked back at the leg, running a hand over the metal. “Well, it looks like it’s in good shape nonetheless. When did it happen?”
Hugo looked around the dank space distractedly. “Six years ago. I was thirteen.”
Varian froze. “Thirteen?”
“Yes.” Hugo nudged the other teen with his metal foot. “You gonna get to work Goggles, cause this foot is killing me.”
Varian shook off his stupor and easily popped the foot out of place. “Right, sorry.” He got to work, finding the best fit for the blond teen’s circuits and worked on inserting it properly. “I’ve never seen wiring like this. It’s so… different.”
“Is… that a bad thing?”
“No.” Varian worked on connecting the wires to the two pieces soon to be one. “It’s just interesting, is all.”
Hugo nodded slowly, chewing on his lip.
“What about your arm?”
Hugo smiled and flexed his mechanical fingers, listening to the smooth whirring. “Like it? I made it myself.”
Varian looked impressed. “Very nice. Is it functional?”
Hugo rolled his eyes. “No, that’s why I’m wearing it, Hairstripe.”
“Hairstripe?”
“You’ve got a blue stripe in your hair.” Hugo said matter of factly like that explained everything.
Varian laughed. “Do you give all your friends nicknames?”
“Oh, so we’re friends now, are we?” Hugo smiled and leaned forward to watch Varian work.
“I mean… I don’t see why we couldn’t be?”
Hugo thought about it for a moment, thinking how easy it was to talk to Varian, someone he’d met less than thirty minutes ago. “Maybe, Goggles. Maybe.”