Paul wanted to stop in a coffee shop to get something to drink. He bought pink drinks for all of us. I asked what it was, but he just shrugged. He had no clue about it. All it was in my cup was liquid sugar and food dye. What he wanted was something to wet his whistle. I did not care. After a couple of sips, I was over it. 11-002 was actually enamored with the drink. He was born a cyborg and he had no real need of eating or drinking. It stood to reason that this was the first time he had a drink before. He kept waving it around and cheering the taste sensation. Brett and I that thought it was pretty cute. Paul thought that it was embarrassing. "This is a really amazing drink!" he said. "I love this!" he exclaimed on the second sip. On the third, he said "I need to give everyone this so that they can try it." He believed this was the best thing ever. The drink was not impressive to me, but to each their own. I passed him my own pink drink and said "You can have mine if you want." He looked really happy and grateful for that. He began rapidly draining his first drink. It was too good for 11-002 to not finish.
Calling out to us, we heard someone call out to us. It was a young female soldier accompanied by a younger and older male comrades. They were all looking at us really aggressively. The red van the would be kidnappers used was crashed into a light pole across the street. Brett was the one that attacked and killed them. I made sure to wrap 11-002 in a tight hug. He writhed and thrashed around in frustration. 11-002 was mutually hostile with the military because of their war. He wanted to attack and kill them all. I was stopping him from doing that. He was certainly not happy about this turn of events. I was not going to let him go, but that just made us look really odd. As that was the case, I backed off so Paul and Brett could talk to the soldiers. When they were done, they got them to call up their higher ups to take us to their commander for a chat. It was not the major of the western quadrant, but it was a subordinate of one of the captains. That was a start. We also had an ace up our sleeve. We actually knew the name of the major. Major Maude Selova was her name. We could find her.
Keeping 11-002 restrained made things easier for us. "Let me go!! They are my enemies!" he screamed. He kept trying to engage his AEP organ, but I was blocking it so he could not use it. I just kept shushing him and holding him tight. I hissed "It's not all about you! Calm down and use your head. It's not a problem if you just talk to them for once!" He just kept whining and yapping about attacking and not backing down from threats. His clan was at war here. When the conversation was over, we made sure to get out of the way. After they were too far for 11-002 to engage them, I finally let him go. He glared at me and armored up. "Give me a reason I should not attack you." he demanded. I held up my arms and said "One, lots of violence is not a good thing. Two, attacks can hurt. Three, I'd probably still win in a fight." 11-002 blinked before saying "That's stupid! Of course attacks hurt. I'm trying to hurt you! You keep collaborating with the enemies of Sonic Clan." I just shrugged and said "But I do not want to fight you." The AEP unit growled at me. "I gave you a pink drink." I begged.
