S.H.E.D

Osiris, new chapter.

Sparks flew in all directions as the grinder continued to weave in and around the chassis of the car. Pneumatic arms lifted the car's frame and allowed the automated grinder to continue it's work. Mentel sighed as he took it all in, there were a few changes, but the workshop was essentially the same as the day he left it. Putting an arm around his son's shoulder, Mentel walked through the centre of the floor, clearly marked out with an almost faded orange line. "Dont pass the line Osiris, the machines move erratically around here."
"I'll try." Osiris said with a faint smile, knowing his father was trying to cheer him up.
Mentel frowned, "Just try to act a little more cheerful when we're with Xavier." he said before he ruffled his son's hair.
Putting his hands in his pockets, Osiris walked a step behind his father. He started to look around himself, trying to see something of interest. There were multiple cars lined up along the side of the warehouse. Each one rested on a giant conveyor belt. "Why are they all on a belt?" Osiris asked in wonder.
Mentel turned around and followed his son's gaze. "Xavier is a little passionate about his work, but he's also very proud of the standards he has with all of his inventions. His main love is cars and engines, so when he has any breakthrough on something, he'll take any existing model in his possesion and tweak it until it's perfect."
Osiris' step faltered at the mention of the name, but he tried to keep himself smiling and nodding to what his father was saying. Mentel turned around and saw the tears welling up in his son's eyes. "I said it again, didn't I?"
Without waiting for an answer, Mentel gripped his son in a tight embrace. Smiling lightly he whispered in his son's ear, "Next time you make something revolutionary, give it a less common name."
Osiris, coughing back the tears, chuckled at his father's words. "I'll try, dad."
Mentel held him in the embrace for a moment longer before releasing him and turning around. As he did, a whistle sounded out to the left of them. Osiris turned around to see Xavier waving at them. Mentel smiled, "Looks like he wants us to go over to the sheds?"
Osiris merely nodded and followed his father to where Xavier was standing.

"Mentel, Osiris, glad you could make it." Xavier said as he clapped Mentel on the shoulder with his right hand, and shook Osiris' hand with his left. Osiris smiled momentarily, yet his eyes widened as he noticed the various cuts and bruises around his fingers. Following his gaze, Xavier chuckled. "Don't worry about that, I've just been using the chain a few too many times in the last week. We've had a lot of work to get done because of you two."
Mentel grinned, "Okay, okay, you've got me here. Tell us what you've been doing?"
Xavier touched a finger to his nose, "I cant be telling you everything that goes on down here, that would just ruin all the fun. But I'll show you a thing or two, just to show you were your money is being pumped. And as for the boy genius, there are one or two people you're going to have to meet too."
Osiris nodded at Xavier politely, but the elderly man didnt fall for it for an instant. "What's wrong son, you're not half has smiley as you usually are?"
Mentel however decided to answer, "There was an accident at the shop, and Tweak was destroyed."
Osiris flared, "It wasnt an accident, he broke him intentionally!"
Xavier's eyes widened at the words, "Mentel, you didnt?"
Mentel coughed in surprise, "Oh no. No, Osiris was talking about Skott Gryffon's son. Draike. He's in one of the bio-mechanical suits that enhances his natural life, strength and reflexes are apparently one of them. Tweak came to life and Draike struck it down with a punch."
Xavier frowned and looked towards Osiris, "And I take it that it wasnt an accident?"
Osiris merely shook his head, trying not to let the tears come to his face once more. "Dont worry about it boy, we'll sort something out." Xavier said with a grin as he clapped him on the shoulder. Osiris nodded at his empty words and followed him into the sheds. "If this doesnt take your interest, you may stop doing mechanics right now." Xavier said as he slid open the metal door of the shop, leading into the sheds.

"This is a shed?" Osiris asked in wonder as his eyes swept across the gleaming machinery in the huge room. "Super Hybrid Engine Development, Shed." Mentel said as he nudged Osiris with his elbow. The young boy was completely lost as he walked forward into the room, his eyes darted left and right trying to take in all the machines, things he had never seen before. Yet in a few moments, his eyes locked on a fixture to the very right of the orange lines. Looking towards Xavier, Osiris asked, "Can I have a closer look at that engine?"
Mentel laughed, "I guess I owe you some credits Xavier, it's like he picked it out of a catalogue."
Osiris turned around in confusion to see the smile on the elderly man's face. "That's the turbo engine that your father made when he was doing his mechanical tests."
Mentel grinned, "I can see at least seven things I would change right now. But I dont think you'd let me touch it, would you?"
Xavier laughed, "You sound like my niece, she wanted to change that the moment she saw it. She's a little more conservative with raw power." Mentel chuckled, "You have her trained to prefer skill than speed?"
"Excuse me Xavier, but can I please pass the orange line?" Osiris asked in a pleading tone, his eyes never leaving the engine. "Not yet Osiris, you're going to have to meet a few people before you start bombarding me with questions about that thing." Xavier said as he began walking towards the far end of the shop.
Osiris, who had expected to be allowed, slumped his shoulders and followed his grinning father as they walked behind Xavier. Mentel was the first to speak again, "Who exactly are we meeting, any new faces?" Xavier glanced back over his shoulder, "Actually, now that I think about it, you wouldnt have met my niece before, have you?"

"No, I can't say that I have. Does she have an interest in mechanics?" Mentel asked as he looked at Osiris with a raised eyebrow. Xavier grinned, and looked pointedly at Osiris. "She's not too much older than you, but she wouldnt have the knowledge your boy has in his skull." The words caused Osiris to smile briefly, it was rare that the elderly man gave any praise. Yet the young boy's moment was short lived as Xavier continued to say, "But she has unbelievable skill with precision engineering."
Mentel raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean, she works off templates?" Xavier stopped in front of the door, "Don't sound so negative about it, she can't really use her imagination like your boy can. But when she puts her mind to something, the results are worth waiting for."
Opening the door, Xavier walked in and stretched his arms out wide. The room itself was a lot smaller than the workshop floors that Osiris had just seen. It seemed somewhat like a dining area. "This is the offices of the workshop. There are beds over there to the right, there is a kitchen through that door. There is a couch and a few plasma screens littered around that corner. Basically, this is where all of us live when we aren't creating or improving things. I live here with Xaveria, Rogue and Andrea." Xavier said as he outstretched his hands and gestured to the room around him. Mentel smiled, "You've been living here all this time? I thought this was your bachelors pad?"
Xavier smiled ruefully, "It was until I was given the girl to look after, you'd be amazed at how much she loves to clean. Well, that's not true, more like how much she hates when things aren't tidy."
Mentel walked over to an armchair and allowed himself to collapse against the worn leather. Osiris smiled, he had rarely seen his father relax so much. Xavier noticed his surprise, "Ah yes, he probably didn't tell you. When your father worked for me, he used to live in that chair and play with some shards of metal. It's where he used to think and come up with all the ideas."
"None of which worked, may I add?" Rogue said as he walked through one of the doorways. "Do you guys ever sleep, what time is it?"
Xavier stared at him, "It's two in the afternoon."
Osiris found himself smiling at Rogue's nonchalant shrug as he walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Xavier sighed and looked at Mentel, "He'll never change."
Mentel laughed, "True, but you would have let him go if he wasnt so unbelievable on the track."
Xavier nodded and turned his attention to one of the closed doors, "Are you two going to stay in there all day?"
"There are guests out here that I would like you to meet." Xavier continued as he started walking towards the door. As though sensing his intention, the door slid open revealing a smiling brunette. "Yes?"
Xavier rolled his eyes, "Dont use that tone, I'd like to introduce you to Mentel and Osiris Creek. They'll probably be in and out of here quite a lot over the next few weeks."
The girl leaned on her doorframe and looked out towards where Osiris stood, "Hello."
Osiris, upon seeing her face, completely froze up and couldnt think of anything to say. Xaveria grinned, "I'm Xaveria, dont touch my things."
"I won't." Osiris said, not sure if she was joking or not.
Mentel smiled at her and waved his hand casually, "Nice to meet you, I heard you're a fantastic precision engineer?"
Xaveria blushed and almost retracted into the room, but before she did, she shot her uncle a look of pure death. Looking back out of the door, she sighed, "I'm nothing special. I just like making sure everything is correct, and I suppose it all works out in the end. Thank you, though."
Mentel smiled at his son before looking back at the girl, "I also heard you hated my turbo engine?"
The demeanor of the girl completely changed, "You're that Mentel?"
Stepping out from the doorway, Xaveria walked over to the couch and sat down so that she could see Mentel better. "Why did you not line up the exhaust parallel to the other ones?"
Mentel stared at her for a few moments before he burst out laughing, "I thought you were going to kill me over the choice of metals, the complete misalignment of most of the parts, the lack of reverse, but you're asking about the exhausts?"
Xaveria grew bright red in the face, but Osiris interrupted her. "If that annoys you, I'm happy you didnt see the thing I made for the thunderist exam."
Mentel grinned at his son, but Xaveria's face completely lost any of the red it had along with any other colour. "That was you?..."

Osiris now blushed, "If I say yes, are you going to completely hate me for the design?"
Xaveria smiled, "No, but I'll be much more interested in talking to you when you're working here with us."
It was Osiris' turn to be speechless. Before he could think of anything to say, Xaveria got to her feet, "It was nice to meet the both of you, I'll probably see you later today, but I have studies that I need to get back to."
Xavier grinned as he handed Mentel a cup of coffee, turning to Osiris he smiled, "You're mouth is still open, unless you want a bird to make it's nest in there, i suggest closing it."
Feeling his face go even brighter, Osiris sat down with the two men. "She's really nice." was all he said.
Mentel and Xavier looked at each other for a moment before the two of them burst into renewed laughter.
"Ah, I wish I was young again." Xavier said as he took a sip of his coffee, "But I almost forgot, the other member of the team that you have yet to meet."
Raising his voice ever so slightly, Xavier called out "Call Andrea."
Moments later, a questioning voice souned out. "Hello?"
"Come to the kitchen area, we have guests." Xavier said.
"Oh... but I was just making toast, can I come down later?" Andrea said, her voice sounding a little hesitant.
"Now Andrea, there is no toaster in your room." Xavier said, his tone becoming a little stronger.
"Oh, so there isn't... I'll be down soon." Andrea said just before the call ended.
Xavier smiled, "She's possibly the only person I know that is scared of her own shadow. She's our bio-mechanic, she has multiple proficiencies with graduations and degrees in subject's I've never heard of. Her demeanor and clumsiness made her very unemployable, but we scooped her up instantly."
Osiris was confused, "Why would clumsiness make her unemployable?"
Xavier grinned, "Because she is the woman that makes all the fuels for the engines we race. Highly explosive fuels that can even react to soundwaves. She's a genius when it comes to sciences, but her passion lies more so with other bio-mechanics. You'll be able to talk to her whenever she relaxes enough to come down."
Mentel sighed, "We really do have a peculiar team, don't we?"

"Oh, there will be more to meet in the future, but as it stands... we have our racers, mechanics, engineers, now all we need are some cars to race." Xavier said as he clapped his hands. "And where will we get those?" Osiris asked. Mentel however was the one to answer his son. "You can only take to the track what you make here. That's the rule."
Osiris grinned, "So, do I get to see that engine now?"
Xavier sighed, "You have ten minutes, then you have to get back here and start helping us design the next car to race Byrne Speedway."
Osiris laughed as he nearly ran out the door. "That engine fairly took his mind off Tweak, thank you Xavier." Mentel said with a smile.
Xavier shrugged his shoulders, "I told him that I would do something about that, when is his birthday?"
"In a month or so, what are you thinking?" Mentel asked, his fingers playing with the wedding ring on his left hand.
"You'll see." Xavier said with a wink.

Author's Note

I'll spell check later.