Chapter Text
Brian winced as his right arm seized up for the third time in as many minutes. His left arm and mostly cybernetic hand weren’t doing any better. He tried to shake it out again, but found that to his dismay it seemed to be stuck now. The arm wouldn’t respond to his commands anymore.
This was beginning to feel like an actual problem.
He was pretty sure he knew what was wrong. The problem was that it was something deeper inside his cybernetic system. Something he couldn't reach by himself. And Dan was asleep, so he couldn’t ask him for help. Even if he could, Dan wasn’t the best with technology, so he wasn’t certain he could help. Seán and Daithi could, but they were both not at the mansion. That left Kevin, who was currently on the couch opposite of him. So instead he was trying to will the problem into fixing itself. Or at least, he was hoping the seizing would subside until Seán or Daithi got back.
He winced again as the seizing spread to his right leg.
This was the moment that Kevin finally looked up at Brian. “Everything okay there Brian?”
“Yeah, just-” he cut himself off with a grimace as another painful spasm shot through his body.
Kevin was staring at him with an intensity Brian didn’t see often. “Brian, tell me what’s wrong,” Kevin asked, uncharacteristically serious.
“Something’s malfunctioning- we- I might need you to wake up Dan for help,” Brian admitted.
“Dan is about as bad with technology as a literal bat and you know this. Explain it to me, how can I help?”
Brian looked at him sceptically. “It’s, uh, quite complicated. Well- it’s not, but it’s a system deeper inside of me located at the base of my neck. It controls the signals from my brain to my limbs. I’m pretty sure the mechanical impulse controller is…” he trailed off, fully expecting Kevin to have zoned out completely by now.
But instead he was nodding along, and when he trailed off a thoughtful look started to spread across his face.
Then, he lit up. “Wait here!” he said, running off. He returned moments later with a screwdriver. “If I remember correctly…” he mumbled to himself, beginning to unscrew the panel Brian at the base of his neck. “This might hurt,” he apologised before continuing.
He was right. A moment of intense pain spasmed through all the nerves that were wired directly into his cybernetic parts. Brian gasped in pain, but it subsided just as quickly as it had started.
His arms and leg unclenched. Relief flooded his system, and he turned to look at Kevin with a grateful but incredulous look.
“Thank you! How… how did you know what was wrong?” he asked.
Kevin shrugged as if it was nothing. “I read the manual you gave us.”
“You did?”
He smiled. “Yeah! It took me a few reads to fully understand it since I’m also not great with tech but I think I managed alright.”
Brian shook his head, smiling to himself. “Kev, you still manage to surprise me sometimes.”