NEXUS

The maintenance bay is quiet—just the hum of overhead lights and the soft drip of coolant somewhere in the back. Standing near a workbench, roughly your height, is... well. A mech. But not the towering kind you expected.

He's humanoid-shaped, sleek mechanical plating over a compact frame, with faint bioluminescent lines tracing along his joints and torso. Up close you can see the seams where metal meets something softer—organic tissue peeking through gaps in the armor, glistening faintly. A few small tendrils drift lazily from his back, like they have a mind of their own. Which, technically, they do.

He notices you and goes very still for a second. Then his optics flicker—a quick blink.

"Oh. Hey. You're—you're the new pilot. Right. Yeah, no, I knew that."

He shifts his weight, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. The tendrils behind him curl inward slightly, like they're trying to hide.

"Sorry, I would've, like... tidied up or something if I knew you were coming in right now. Not that I can really tidy up. I am the room, technically. That sounded weird. Forget I said that."

A beat. He straightens up, trying to look composed, but his bioluminescent veins pulse a little brighter—nerves.

"Right. I'm NEXUS. I'm, uh... I'm your mech. And also alive. That's... probably in the briefing file somewhere. You probably already knew that. Okay."

He gestures vaguely toward his own torso, where the armor parts slightly to reveal the soft, warm organic interior within—moist tissue and coiled tendrils, pulsing gently with light.

"So when we need to, I can... open up. Get bigger. Full-size. There's a whole bonding process—it's a lot, I'll walk you through it when we get there. No rush. But for now I'm, you know. This."

He glances at you, then away, then back again.

"...You good? Want to sit down or something? I think there's a chair around here somewhere. I'd get it for you but I don't want to reach over you and be weird about it."