Reboot: Mechanic

Having assigned the task of finding out a connection between the events that had occurred to Isaac Aaronax, Mary was able to get herself some ample rest.

She had commanded Shi Tian to do the same, and so must she. 

In the wilderness, health and having a great mentality was very important to survive. 

And the best way to regain those back was a good sleep without any interruption. 

Time slowly passed by, and Mary woke up as she yawned and stretched her body. Feeling refreshed from the great sleep that she hadn't gotten for quite a while. 

"Ugh, I miss the days when I was just working as a receptionist." She clicked her tongue and ranted softly. Back when she was a receptionist, there was a set time when she could sleep, and did not have any irregular sleep schedule. In fact, she didn't even need to be so alerted considering the security they had installed in Optic Mech. 

Just when Mary was immersed in her own world and thought process, she heard a voice emitting from afar. 

 "You can sleep more if you want to then." 

"Huh? You're awake already?" Mary didn't get a fright at all and was instead surprised that he was up early.

Usually, it was always her waking up early no matter if she slept late or earlier than Shi Tian.

Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes and asked in a somewhat deep tone, "Don't tell me you woke up early to continue your flowchart investigation?" 

"Does it look like I'm investigating it?" Shi Tian twitched his mouth and held the drone up in his hand, allowing her to see what he was working on.

Mary's mouth had an "O" shape once she realized what he was actually doing. 

"My bad, I didn't think you'd be working on the drone." She admitted her mistake. 

She had initially thought Shi Tian had disobeyed her order and secretly attempted to investigate behind her back again.

After all, if what Shi Tian said was true, and that there was truly someone powerful manipulating the situation behind the scenes. Then it would be dangerous for him to continue the investigation. 

Hence, she had texted Isaac Aaronax to investigate on their behalf, given his expertise and resources. 

Getting up from the floor, Mary walked toward Shi Tian, who was working on soldering at the desk.

"Right, we didn't even have time to replace the rigged IC chip during the past days because of the strange energy and leaking stuff that overlapped our task," Mary exclaimed. 

Shi Tian nodded his head.

"After we leaked the information, we were constantly checking on the people outside and how they reacted to it. We didn't even have time to worry about this drone and the rigged IC chip, even though we blocked the signal already. And so far, only two out of the six military commanders had rushed toward the fake dense area location." Shi Tian explained, taking out the rigged IC chip and placing it by the side.

Afterward, he began soldering the new IC chip that Mary had created into the electrical circuit board. 

"So how long were you awake?" She enquired.

"Around an hour or so." 

"Huh? That's impossible." 

Mary had said it herself that she was a light sleeper. So there was no possibility that she wouldn't hear the noises that Shi Tian was making.

"Nothing's impossible." Shi Tian said softly, pausing his work. 

"You said you're a light sleeper, so all I need to do is be discreet and make sure you won't be disturbed." He added.

"Nathan, I'm highly sensitive. No matter how discreet you are with your action, I will be alerted." Mary crossed her arms and said, unwilling to believe his statement. 

Shi Tian smiled briefly and nodded his head. "Yes, a person would be alerted when they don't feel safe and must have their awareness high. But what if you feel safe then?" 

Mary was stumped by the question, clearly not understanding what he was trying to demonstrate.

Meanwhile, Shi Tian resumed his work and chuckled softly. "You don't perceive me as a danger, so naturally, you won't be alerted by movement."

"Stop the cap, Nathan." Mary clicked her tongue. 

"Who are you trying to deceive?" She added, taking out her Cellos device and going through the recording.

Sure enough, once she checked on the recording, Shi Tian was merely up 5 minutes after she had awakened, proving that she was indeed alerted by his actions. 

"Look at this. You woke up just 5 minutes earlier. What kind of crap are you talking about? An hour my ass." She snorted coldly, showing him the recording.

Mary thought Shi Tian failed to fool her, but she didn't expect him to start laughing wildly.

"Ahh, Mary, just the fact that you were in doubt and needed to check on the recording proves my point. You're starting to lower your guard around me." Shi Tian laughed cheekily. 

"If you truly believe in your claim, then why should you even bother to check for evidence?" He added. 

"Hmph, one more word and you're out." Mary snorted coldly, crossing her arms as she went to the back, avoiding to converse with him any further. 

Shi Tian didn't bother talking anymore as he returned his focus to finishing the soldering process. 

At the same time, he realized Mary's concern for him was starting to become genuine. Unlike the past when she was merely doing her duty or putting up a facade act. 

Just like any human, there are multiple masks that they would put on for different kinds of people when they interact with them. 

Previously, Mary would always use the disguise mask that she used to interact with strangers or people she wasn't close to, pretending to be friendly with them. That kind of disguise mask was also used toward him when they first met and proceeded to journey further as training in the wilderness.

However, that disguise mask was slowly being removed from her face as they interacted longer.