The whirring of mechanical joints overpowered the usual soundscape of school-traffic, and just slightly hid the overjoyed exclamations of the two men's celebrations.
It had been twenty days of hard work, sweat, and a very large amount of luck, but on the middle of their workbench, atop a metal mount suspending it mid-air, a small, sleek metal critter was suspended.
It was lithe and rounded, taking the form of a well-fed rat. Its limbs were deceptively long, but mostly covered by its metal hide, leaving just small feet tipped with curved metal claws at their tips. Its tail was segmented, separated into vertebrae-like sections, allowing it to hold a myriad of shapes, and balance itself.
Of course, the head was nothing to scoff at either. It was devoid of any features, seemingly a flat blob of metal, until it hinged open at the half-point. It opened to a maw of razor sharp teeth, and had some heavy duty micro-servos, giving it a mean bite-force.
The thing was the second most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Dogbot naturally came at an astounding first. Tiffany was probably fifth.
It was such a shame he'd have it taken from him this very night. But no matter how proud he was of the machine, his life hung precariously closer to slipping away each day closer to his deadline.
"This stinking metal, filthy, rotten bastard! Gah, is it really working? You double- triple checked!?" The jubilant professor had unveiled quite the foul mouth over their weeks working day and night.
"Five times. I tested five times. The stats disappoint me a little bit, compared to my ideal, but… it works."
Despite Eli's stubborn refusal to get overly-giddy, he was fighting to get a grin off his face.
After all, he had effectively saved his own life.
"God damn! I think I've put more money into this damn thing than my mortgage… seriously kid, when you go to a big time hero-gadget contractor, hook me up will ya?" The old man wiped his forehead, leaning in to eye the little metal rat.
"What are you gonna call it?" He rubbed his thumb over a speck of residual grease on the bot's skin.
Eli reached toward the mound of metal reverently, lifting it softly from its stand and placing it to the table. He hesitated, but eventually let go.
"It's the RAT. Obviously. Mark one, of course. I'm already kicking myself at some of the details we missed, I can do much better-"
Mr. Staff Vaughn coughed, and kicked Eli in the shin just hard enough to bring him back to reality.
"Blithering fool, you made a self-running autonomous god-damned bloody crime-fighting robot! Celebrate!" Vaughn shook his head wearily, "Well, it's getting late. Take the beauty home, we'll do final touches tomorrow. I'm looking forward, kid. You're damn brilliant."
Just like that, Mr. Vaughn clasped his shoulder tight, before wandering out of the dim-lit shop. His coat rested over his shoulder, and his rolled sleeves gave a peek at his grimy, oil-coated hands.
But Eli couldn't miss the content smile on the old man's face.
It almost returned him to the weeks-long internal debate he had been warring over. But of course, there was no other course of action for Eli to take. He asked the RAT to crawl onto his shoulder, to which it did.
He was jubilant.
However, the weighty metal critter was too much of a burden for his thin frame, and that wasn't even to mention the untold amount of attention he would get, walking the streets alongside a huge metal rat.
He stuffed the little thing into his bag, pulled his hood over his face, and wandered out into the dark night. His hope was to keep his face enshrouded, pace quick, and to drop the bot off quickly.
His plan largely worked, being accosted a grand total of zero times. Eli had to wonder if the hoodie affected it, or if he gave off a more street-hardened image nowadays.
It didn't matter, though. The true test was whether he could stand his own against a true gang of criminals. It was almost unbelievable, that just a few weeks ago he'd have perished at the thought of witnessing a criminal from the sidelines. Now he was actively supplying them.
The young man firmed his resolve, and resolutely tapped his hand against the grimy shutters that he had once been dragged to. The noise rattled through the darkness, piercing it like an intruder.
Then, the shutters rose. A gun met his vision.
"Oh. It's you." Those three words were the last thing he heard, before the handle crushed against his nose, and he was sent into the familiar state of unconsciousness.
Next he knew, the bright lights he had seen in his nightmares were violating him yet again. It felt as though they were showing even his very soul. Like he was compelled to remain true to himself, and true of word.
"You're back. We told you that we would call you." The distinct, young voice surrounded him like a fog.
"I finished early- I don't want the threat of you guys killing me over my head a day longer than I need to!" Eli spat. Each word he felt his heart rate rise, but he simply couldn't keep it from spilling out.
"You're done?" He felt the questioning gazes bore into him, before a few faint whispers filled the room.
The sound of an old door screeching its way open silenced the room.
"Well, that's good. We'll verify that. If all is well, then… that's that." The voice was much lighter now, as if a weight had fallen from his own shoulders.
Silence ensued. The lights had caused Eli's eyes to water, turning the room into a slurry of pale yellow and darkness.
"Unfortunately, you caught me at a bad time. Or… well, it's bad for you." The amusement in his voice made Eli think he must've been very punchable.
"What the hell does that mean?" Eli huffed, close to snapping. These guys were being so difficult. Also, what was with these damn lights!
"We're going out. Right now. We were planning to use your pet, but two…" A grin became audible in the man's voice, "Two is even better."
Between the searing beams and abyss surrounding them, he heard chairs scraping against the floor. A collage of footsteps resounded, slowly dwindling until a single pair were audible.
"You, though. You have to stay here. Wish us luck, yeah?"
The door agonizingly squeeked, before slamming shut.
Then, Eli was alone.