《Scrapper》 Chapter 1: Scrapworld Blues The sun never set on Scrapworld, but there was no shortage of shadow, something those who labored in the endless sunlight were grateful for. The drifting space station¡¯s irregular orbit had taken it especially close to the sun today, so they worked in the cool of the shade. What had once been a towering skyscraper, now collapsed and fallen to ruin, kept their dig site almost cool enough to be pleasant. The sweat on Hartwell¡¯s brow was from exertion, not the heat. He hefted another pile of valuable scrap into the hauler. They hadn¡¯t exactly hit the motherlode, but it was a good haul. Enough to shave a good chunk off the debt they owed the Republic, and get every prisoner here a little closer to freedom. ¡°Heavy metals close to full, Hartwell,¡± someone shouted. ¡°How¡¯s electronics?¡± ¡°Barely halfway,¡± Hartwell shouted back. ¡°Give me the excavation team, tell the rest of yours to take a breather. Five minutes.¡± The diggers headed to join Hartwell¡¯s group, while the rest of the heavy metal team took a quick break. ¡°You take a load off too, just want to make sure I know where to find you,¡± Hartwell commanded. The excavators happily took a break. ¡°Giza!¡± His voice echoed off the leaning skyscraper hanging above them. ¡°Giza!¡± ¡°Busy!¡± ¡°How busy?¡± Something fell from the skyscraper above, not far from where it met the ground. Giza shook an empty container in Hartwell¡¯s direction and then tossed it over her shoulder. ¡°Not that busy,¡± Giza snapped. She saluted sharply in Hartwell¡¯s direction. ¡°Nothing to report from the scouting team, captain.¡± ¡°That¡¯s captain dad to you, young lady.¡± Giza maintained her stoic face for a second, and then started to laugh, as did her father. She walked up, saluted again, and gave her dad a playful bonk on the head, rustling his dark curls, and then allowed him to do the same to her. The resting members of the excavation team rolled their eyes at the saccharine family ritual. ¡°Building¡¯s residential, nothing valuable,¡± Giza said. ¡°Eiffel and Jack are giving it a quick sweep for any outliers, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s worth sending a full team after.¡± ¡°Damn. Hoped we could find a penthouse, at least.¡± Raw materials were all well and good, but intact technology and relics from the Old World were far more valuable. Ancient family photos and nearly-disintegrated clothing, on the other hand, were less than worthless. ¡°Probably at least one working computer in there,¡± Giza said. ¡°I trust Jack to find it.¡± A little bit of rubble rained down from the skyscraper above. ¡°Sounds like Jack.¡± A lot of rubble rained down from the rubble above, as the crumbling building rattled slightly. ¡°And that must be Eiffel.¡± The two halves of the scouting duo dropped down with far less grace than Giza had, and practically landed on top of each other. ¡°Nice going, guys, you could-¡± ¡°Mecha!¡± Giza¡¯s joke died on her lips. Hartwell spun on his heel immediately. ¡°Haul in, power down, everyone under the building,¡± Hartwell shouted. ¡°Pull in close. We¡¯ve got cover, this is good!¡± His authoritative voice brought some semblance of order to the sudden panic that overtook the Junker clan. They had been at this digsite for days, and now they stood to lose it all in minutes. If they were lucky, the scrap was all they would lose. Mecha¡¯s were the most valuable, most powerful, and most dangerous of all the Old World tech, and those who piloted them were even more dangerous. Without fail, every mecha pilot was a heartless thief at best and a deranged killer at worst. As the Junkers hauled their goods into hiding, Hartwell and Giza headed to the edge of the skyscraper, to peer out into the distance. Eiffel and Jack provided guidance and pointed them in the right direction, and gave them fair warning that the situation was even worse than their initial panicked shout had implied. ¡°I was in a hurry, sorry,¡± Eiffel stammered. ¡°I should¡¯ve specified-¡± ¡°There¡¯s two,¡± Hartwell grunted. ¡°That.¡± The two war machines were miles away, but their colossal frames were visible even from that distance. Right now they were preoccupied with what appeared to be a mountain of slag metal, a melted-down relic from whatever disaster had turned the Old World into the ruined junkyard they were now imprisoned in. ¡°They¡¯re not...doing anything,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Yet.¡± The larger of the two mecha carefully examined the mountainside for a moment. ¡°I don¡¯t recognize them,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°I think I¡¯ve seen them parked at the Hub before,¡± Giza added. ¡°Giza, get back with the clan.¡± ¡°No.¡± Hartwell gave up. As a father, he had to try. As Giza¡¯s father, he knew better than to try too hard.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Guys-¡± Jack¡¯s attempt at a warning could not come fast enough. In a sudden burst of motion and violence, the larger mecha pulled back, aimed a cannon at the mountainside, and fired. Giza stifled a shriek of horror, and Eiffel didn¡¯t. Hartwell clung to some hope that the pilot had just been showing off a gun, and that no one had been caught in that explosion, but he knew it was unlikely. His fear turned to abject horror when the two mecha turned away from the crater they had made and one of the two pointed towards the decaying skyscraper. Towards them. Then the duo started walking. ¡°Start moving, now,¡± Hartwell thundered. Their makeshift vehicles thundered to life and started hauling their hard-earned scrap away from the two bandit mecha. ¡°Warren, power up the decoy hauler and give me the controls.¡± In preparation for just such an event, the Junkers had prepared bait. Mecha tracked energy signatures, and more powerful energy meant more valuable loot. With that in mind, the Junker¡¯s had jury-rigged a contraption that could amplify a power signature well beyond what it could actually produce. A surefire bait for any thieving mecha pilot, with very little sacrifice. In material costs, at least. ¡°What do you mean give ¡®you¡¯ the controls,¡± Giza snapped. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°I¡¯ll jump out and set it on auto before they get close. You just need some distance.¡± ¡°Dad, you can¡¯t-¡± ¡°I will be fine,¡± Hartwell said. He forced as much paternal authority into the words as he could muster. ¡°I¡¯ll catch up. Keep the clan under control while I¡¯m gone.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going anywhere,¡± Giza insisted. ¡°I love you, Giza.¡± Hartwell gave his daughter a kiss on the forehead and then ran off. ¡°Dad!¡± She looked towards the approaching mecha, then back at her father. Then she looked right back at the mecha. Any and all grief in her head got blasted away in a second. ¡°Uh, Dad.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, honey, I¡¯ll be-¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be fine, yeah, I know, just-¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, everything will be-¡± ¡°Dad! Come here and look at this,¡± Giza said. ¡°The mecha are doing something weird!¡± Hartwell stopped in his tracks and reversed course back to their vantage point at the edge of the building. Giza seemed more confused than scared now. Even Eiffel didn¡¯t look worried, and Eiffel worried about most things. Hartwell poked his head out. The mecha had rapidly closed the gap, but then stopped in their tracks about a mile away. One of the two mechs had its leg extended, while the other swatted it with a metal fist. ¡°Are they...fighting each other?¡± ¡°Not really, no,¡± Jack said. The first mecha pulled its leg back in and started slapping itself on the chest repeatedly, then jumped up and down. ¡°It kind of looks like it¡¯s fighting itself, doesn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Nah, it¡¯s sort of...I don¡¯t know,¡± Giza said. ¡°It looks like they¡¯re trying to swat a bug,¡± Hartwell said. The three young adults next to him shrugged. Hartwell had spent some of his early life on Earth, but the teens had all been born on Scrapworld. They¡¯d never seen a bug. ¡°Are there mecha-sized bugs somewhere out here?¡± ¡°No, Eiffel, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s some kind of system glitch,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°We should take advantage of this and-¡± ¡°Woah!¡± Giza¡¯s shout of excitement was followed by a bright flash of light. With one sudden surge of power, the twitching mecha went rigid, froze in place, and fell. The thunderous crash of the titan¡¯s body falling to earth shook the ground under their feet, even from a mile off. ¡°What the hell,¡± Jack said. ¡°Did it just die?¡± As its partner fell, the other mecha pulled out its gun again and blasted the fallen mecha. Though the energy blasts were now far weaker than the one that had erupted the mountainside, they were still strong enough to tear the fallen mech to pieces. ¡°Maybe they were fighting each other...oh, no, there goes the bug-swatting again,¡± Hartwell said. The remaining mech was violently punching itself in the leg now. ¡°I still don¡¯t know what a bug is,¡± Giza reminded him. ¡°I¡¯ve told you about this before, it¡¯s like a tiny little living thing, with a shell outside and all filled with goo,¡± Hartwell said. It was incredibly difficult to actually describe anything to a person who¡¯d never seen any kind of plant or animal before. ¡°Lots of little legs and eyes. Very annoying.¡± ¡°Hold on, stop,¡± Jack demanded. ¡°I think whatever¡¯s happening is getting closer to the face.¡± The mecha was pounding on its chest now, desperately clawing at some unseen assailant that was rapidly moving further and further up the chest. As the Junker¡¯s watched, the mecha made one final grasp at its hidden foe, and reached for its face. Then, in a bright flash of light, that face exploded in a burst of energy. The mecha fell over, inert on the ground, as silent and dead as its counterpart. The four Junkers stared at the two dead mechs for a minute. ¡°Uh, cancel that whole evacuation thing,¡± Hartwell said. He turned around to face his crew, and found they were all right behind him, staring slackjawed at the two dead mecha. ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a hell of a lot of scrap, Hartwell,¡± someone mumbled. ¡°Are you kidding me, that¡¯s insanely dangerous,¡± Hartwell said. They¡¯d salvaged mecha before, but only those destroyed ages ago, the ones that had never been in a condition to be piloted. ¡°Whatever is out there just killed two mecha-¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s great,¡± Giza said. She took off in a dead sprint towards the two fallen mechs. ¡°Giza! Giza, stop!¡± Giza did not stop. Light on her feet and eager to see whatever miracle had just happened up close, Giza ran what was probably the fastest mile of her life. She was already out of breath and coughing profusely from the dust when she reached the head of the fallen mecha, but what she saw still took her breath away. Sitting on top of the dead mecha was something inexplicable. It was the size of a man, but looked like a mecha -albeit a shoddy one. The strange construct had exposed wiring and circuitry, and what little armor plating it did have appeared mismatched and crudely made. The man-mech sat atop the head of its fallen foe as Giza approached, and then hopped down to meet her. Giza flinched and took a step back, but the man-mech only raised its hand in a stiff wave. ¡°Hello.¡± ¡°Hi,¡± Giza said, once she mustered the courage to speak to the unknown man-mech. ¡°Did you just destroy two mecha?¡± The man-mech looked over its shoulder, as if it also needed confirmation, and then nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡± Giza put a hand on her chin. ¡°Could you...do it again?¡± ¡°Probably,¡± the man-mech said with a shrug. Giza¡¯s lips curled into a devilish smile, and she stepped forward, hand extended. ¡°My name¡¯s Giza.¡± The man-mech had no visible eyes, but the metal where its face should have been tilted down towards Giza¡¯s extended hand. After going ten seconds with no sign that the handshake would be completed, she slowly pulled her hand back. ¡°Do you have a name?¡± ¡°Rushmore. Rush, sometimes.¡± ¡°Rushmore. Sometimes. Are you, like, a person, or¡­¡± Two gauntlets reached up and took hold of the metal sheet of a face, removing what was apparently a helmet. With the shell pulled away, the face of a young man, dark skin beaten coarse by overexposure to harsh sunlight, was revealed. He shook out dreadlocks that had been a bit too cramped in the tight headgear and stared blankly at Giza. ¡°Person, yeah,¡± Rushmore said. ¡°Cool. Would you like some food?¡± ¡°I would, yeah.¡± Giza turned around and waved back towards her clan, all of whom were now catching up to her. She took a few steps their direction, and then turned around just to be sure. Rushmore was still standing in place. ¡°If, uh, you follow me,¡± Giza said. ¡°I will give you some food.¡± ¡°Oh, okay. Th- wait, am I supposed to say ¡®thank you¡¯ now or afterwards?¡± Giza turned around and did a quick double take between Rushmore¡¯s strange suit of armor and the two dead mecha. ¡°Whenever you want, I suppose.¡± ¡°Okay. Thank you.¡± Rushmore started to follow Giza, and she started to wonder, more than ever, what the hell was going on. Chapter 2: Before That Suit Status Report: 0 Cell(s) Connected 0 Energy Storage Units Connected Power Systems: %Error% Diagnostics: Online Exoskeleton: Offline Magnetics: Offline Shields: Offline No Weapons Detected Sergeant Rake tore the helmet off his head and nearly threw it aside in disgust, but discipline (in the form of fear of consequences) stopped him. Even in its powerless state, the suit was more valuable than him ten-thousand times over. The slightest dent could see him executed, or worse, reduced to a Junker. Instead, Rake vented his anger on the experimental power cell that had proven unable to power the suit. He tore the wiring from the suit¡¯s heart and then tossed the experimental core against the wall. Eight hundred of the Republic¡¯s best scientists working for years, and they had been unable to muster something even a fraction of a percent as powerful as what the Imperium had used to power toasters three centuries ago. Rake cursed whatever cataclysm had befallen that mighty empire as he removed the suit and stormed back into the central laboratory. Where modern science failed, there was still the promise of ancient secrets. This underground lab held a vault, and by all accounts, that vault held a Kell Cell -the ancient power source that was the heart of all old world technology. Rake burned with anger that the secret to success was so close, yet so far away -and judging by the inert ¡°expert¡± still doing nothing, it would remain far away. ¡°Do you think he¡¯s planning to move this century?¡± The crisp uniform of the Republic wrinkled as Rake shifted uncomfortably. Rushmore was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the makeshift lab, staring at a complicated electrical mechanism embedded in the wall. ¡°It takes us weeks to find new experts,¡± the officer¡¯s unwilling partner said. ¡°He can sit there and stare for three days if he wants to.¡± ¡°Three days is his limit, Doctor,¡± Rake hissed. ¡°After that I will expect results.¡± ¡°That attitude is why your ¡®results¡¯ are usually corpses, Sergeant Rake.¡± The laboratory still smelled like burnt hair on hot days. The device Rushmore was currently staring at had multiple layers of complicated and dangerous security measures, not to mention the inherent risk of working with live power cells. The doctor¡¯s fingers still twitched from the lingering damage of his first few attempts at the lock, when he had feeling in them at all. ¡°You chose this one, Kaz,¡± Rake said. ¡°Whatever happens to him is on you.¡± ¡°Not if you push him into suicide,¡± Kaz said. ¡°Quiet,¡± Rake spat. ¡°That¡¯s an order.¡± Kaz wanted to make a point, but he also wanted to prevent unnecessary violence. Rake, like many Republic officers, had proven himself more than willing to hit first and talk never. The perpetually angry officer demonstrated that trademark impatience by storming away from the lab, presumably to file paperwork or arbitrarily increase a prisoner¡¯s debt. Kaz had never seen him do much else. With some semblance of privacy in the cramped underground space, Kaz took a seat next to Rush and waited patiently for a few minutes. ¡°Are you doing well, Rush?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Is there anything you need?¡± ¡°Probably food, soon,¡± Rushmore said. He never took his eyes off the mechanism in the wall, not even for a second. Kaz had gotten used to the odd behavior by now. From what little he had gathered about Rush¡¯s personal life, he had been abandoned as a child, and since no one had been willing to take on a ¡°useless¡± child¡¯s debt in addition to their own, he had stayed on his own for years. He was a young man now, and while his solo survival had made him a highly skilled Junker, it had also given him a very skewed set of social behaviors. ¡°Well, Officer Kaz is in the stockpile now, but as soon as he leaves, I will get you some food,¡± Kaz said. Rush nodded, though even as his head tilted his eyes stayed locked on the sealed vault. The unnatural focus was somewhat unsettling, but also one of the reasons Kaz had hired Rush. He¡¯d heard rumors of a ¡°quiet, competent freak of nature¡± while seeking out new electrical experts, and decided that competence was worth the quiet and the freakiness. ¡°On the note of waiting,¡± Kaz said, since Rush never carried on conversations by himself. ¡°Do you have any idea when you might be able to open the device?¡± ¡°I could probably do it now.¡± Kaz struggled to contain his surprise, lest Officer Rake overhear. He managed to keep quiet and scooted closer to Rush. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Why haven¡¯t you...why didn¡¯t you say something?¡± ¡°You said not to open it unless I told you first,¡± Rush said. ¡°Then tell me!¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t ask,¡± Rush said. Kaz rubbed his eyebrows. The boy was shockingly literal. Still, the delay worked in Kaz¡¯s favor. ¡°Give me a moment to do something,¡± Kaz said. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything to open the vault¡ªand don¡¯t say anything to Rake¡ªuntil I tell you.¡± Rush nodded again. In spite of his odd behaviors, Kaz trusted him to listen. The boy had only become acquainted with Kaz and Rake a day and a half ago, but it only took ten minutes to learn to dislike Rake. Even Rushmore knew an asshole when he saw one.
Three hours later, Kaz gave Rush the all clear, and one final instruction. ¡°When you extract the Kell Cell, be sure to grasp it firmly in both hands¡±, with frequent and repeated reminders that it was incredibly important to do so. Rush did not know why it was important to do that, but he didn¡¯t ask any questions. Kaz was glad the social obtuseness was at least advantageous. ¡°Ready to start,¡± Kaz said. Rushmore stood up and got to work without a word. He extracted a set of tools from his belt and began to prod at the electrical components of the vault without a word. Kaz held his breath and watched. He had seen dozens of talented Junkers electrocuted by pressing the wrong button, trying to cut the wrong wire, tapping the vault¡¯s handle at the wrong time. Rushmore did none of those things, moving with shocking speed and surprising grace as his hands danced around the vault¡¯s mechanisms. After sitting motionless for nearly two days, he had turned into a veritable blur of action as all his potential energy was unleashed at once. The flurry of movement was so sudden and so unexpected that Rake took a few seconds to catch on that something was happening. He stormed into the central lab just in time for a hiss of centuries-old air to escape the vault as it clicked open. ¡°God, finally,¡± Rake said. ¡°Get out of my way.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Kaz snapped. ¡°There could be more security.¡± Fear for his own life overcame Rake¡¯s desperate greed, at least in one sense. He was still more than willing to sacrifice the lives of others. ¡°Then you get it, boy,¡± Rake ordered. ¡°As soon as you¡¯re sure it¡¯s safe,¡± Kaz clarified. Rake shot him a dirty look, one Kaz returned. ¡°Do you want to risk starting all over again?¡± ¡°Just get the damn Cell out,¡± Rake ordered. ¡°I can do that,¡± Rushmore said. He stuck his hands into the small vault, out of sight of both Kaz and Rake, and grabbed on to the Cell firmly with both hands, just as Kaz had instructed. As he did so, the Cell surged with a shimmering layer of gray liquid. That shining silver washed over Rushmore¡¯s hands up to the elbow and then retracted, vanishing entirely back into the Cell. ¡°What¡¯s the hold up?¡± Rushmore stared at the cell a little while longer. The silver wave did not return. ¡°Nothing,¡± Rushmore said. He wasn¡¯t hurt, and the silver goo had left no trace behind, so he didn¡¯t see much reason to be concerned. Even if the odd goo had done something dangerous, there probably wasn¡¯t anything he could do about it now. He pulled the Kell Cell loose from its socket. As he did so, the entire laboratory shuddered as vital systems powered down. As far as Kaz could tell, this structure had been part of a larger ship once, one that had gotten crushed and buried under rubble in whatever cataclysm had ruined the old world. It had lain buried for centuries, with the Kell Cell¡¯s infinite power still running the few intact systems -until now. After such a long time sitting dormant, the Kell Cell changed hands rapidly, as Rake snatched it out of Rushmore¡¯s hands.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Finally,¡± Rake hissed. Kaz could already see a dark hunger in the officer¡¯s eyes. Ambition, greed, pride, and rage, suppressed for a lifetime, brought to the fore by a promise of power. Such avarice was exactly what Kaz had expected, and exactly what he had prepared for. Rake made a beeline for the suit, intent on claiming his promised power, and Kaz stumbled over to Rushmore as fast as numb legs would allow. ¡°Rushmore, listen to me,¡± Kaz whispered. ¡°In a matter of moments, Rake will come back out here, and he will be furious.¡± ¡°He usually is.¡± ¡°Yes, but more so,¡± Kaz said. ¡°Listen. He is going to start screaming at me. I¡¯ll make sure of it. While he¡¯s screaming, you need to go down that hallway-¡± ¡°I¡¯m not allowed that way,¡± Rush said. Kaz had expressly forbidden Rush from seeing the suit. ¡°I¡¯m giving you permission,¡± Kaz insisted. He would¡¯ve preferred this arrangement happening with someone slightly easier to deal with, but Kaz¡¯s nerves were too scarred to claim the suit himself, and he needed it kept out of Republic hands. ¡°Go down the hall, put on the suit, and keep it. It won¡¯t work for anyone but you now, but you must still be sure to keep it out of Republic hands, do you understand me?¡± ¡°But the Republic is in charge,¡± Rushmore said. ¡°They¡¯re supposed to buy everything valuable we find.¡± ¡°Some things are more important than escaping this cursed disk,¡± Kaz said. ¡°Ostensibly it¡¯s designed to have all the tools a Junker needs, but it¡¯s much more than that. That suit is important, more important than I can possibly describe.¡± Rushmore glanced down the side hallway. He could hear machinery whirring, and lights were starting to glow. ¡°The only thing I have to tell you is that you cannot, under any circumstances, allow the Republic to have the suit, do you understand? Don¡¯t let them have it, don¡¯t let them tell you how to use it,¡± Kaz said. A frantic edge of desperation in his voice drove the point home. ¡°Promise me you won¡¯t let them have it.¡± For the first time since the two had met, Rushmore actually made eye contact with Kaz. ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°You promise?¡± ¡°I promise.¡± Kaz breathed a sigh of relief. Rushmore was odd, but he was literal, and he was honest. He would not make a promise lightly. That made it much easier for Kaz to focus on what he had to do next. ¡°Good. Stay in that room until- well, you¡¯ll know when it¡¯s time to leave,¡± Kaz said. There were some hints so large even Rush wouldn¡¯t miss them. ¡°Kaz! What did you do?¡± ¡°Get ready,¡± Kaz said. He shooed Rush to the other side of the room, trusting that Sergeant Rake would forget all about the odd Junker so long as he was out of sight. That instinct proved entirely correct, and Rake stormed right past Rush in his haste to scream at Kaz. The torrent of verbal abuse was as furious as it was incoherent. Rake didn¡¯t actually understand how the suit functioned or why it would not be working, so all of his ¡°demands¡± for Kaz to fix it were utterly nonsensical. Kaz endured the torrent of abuse, and tried not to watch too closely as Rush crept behind the screaming sergeant and made for the suit. ¡°Are you just going to stand there?¡± Rake demanded. ¡°Has that Junker idiot rubbed off on you?¡± ¡°Maybe I will just stand here,¡± Kaz said. ¡°What are you going to do about it?¡± The audacity, and the childishness, of the taunt, caught Rake off guard. ¡°I¡¯ll have you arrested for this.¡± ¡°Oh yes, and I suppose you¡¯ll sentence me to exile on Scrapworld, will you?¡± Kaz said. ¡°Forced to labor for the rest of my life to pay off an ever-increasing debt? How horrible that would be, woe is me, what a terrible fate.¡± Rake was now so angry he was starting to turn red. It was actually a little funny, and Kaz allowed himself a smile. He needed every moment of joy he could get right now. ¡°Execution is still an option, doctor,¡± Rake hissed. ¡°Oh I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m ahead of you in that regard as well,¡± Kaz said calmly. ¡°On that note-¡± Kaz pressed a button.
¡°Why are we getting paid to blow up a mountain anyway?¡± ¡°You going to ask questions or are you going to shoot?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just saying,¡± the bandit mused aloud. ¡°It¡¯s curious, is all.¡± In spite of her curiosity, the bandit did not hesitate to take aim at the designated spot and fire. A fiery burst of plasma and concussive force consumed the mountainside, and everyone in it. Everyone who didn¡¯t have a suit of armor on, at least. Suit Status Report: 1 Cell(s) Connected 0 Energy Storage Units Connected Power Systems: 0/1 Charge Capacity Diagnostics: Online Exoskeleton: Online Magnetics: Online Shields: WARNING: Overload No Weapons Detected Rushmore had only just finished putting on the suit when the shockwave hit him. Some kind of invisible barrier had protected him from the brunt of the blast, though it had failed in seconds. Probably the ¡°shields¡± the popup on the helmet screen was now warning him about. Something on the suit¡¯s belt was sparking and overheating, which Rush figured was probably related. He¡¯d investigate later. Right now he had other priorities. The first of those priorities was the colossal piece of rubble on top of him. It was titanic, easily as wide across as some of the walls in the lab. Rush gave it a light push to test the weight, and the rubble moved aside as if it were a sheet of paper. He looked down at the arm of the armored suit he wore, and saw the fibrous artificial muscles and powerful frame beneath the mismatched armor plates. Unfortunately, Rush did not know the world ¡°exoskeleton¡±, and had no way of connecting it to the readout that had briefly flashed in the helmet screen. ¡°Dr. Kaz?¡± After easily pushing past another piece of rubble, Rush headed back to the hallway leading into the lab. There was no hallway. There was no lab. There was no Dr. Kaz. Rushmore spent a long time staring at the wreckage where Dr. Kaz had once been. It was just rubble now, still smoking in some places, but Rush stared at it just the same. He only moved when the two titans started to move as well. ¡°That did feel like a waste of time,¡± one thundered. The mecha¡¯s external speakers boomed loud enough to cause smaller chunks of rubble to tremble. ¡°We got paid, didn¡¯t we?¡± ¡°We did, just anticlimactic is all.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± the other bandit chided. ¡°This was great! We got our money, and there¡¯s a band of idiot Junkers right over there.¡± The two bandit mechs turned away from the crater they had created and glared into the distance, towards a skyscraper leaning over the wastelands. Small figures were scrambling around in the shadow of the tower, highlighted in the mechs optical systems. ¡°Oh, I love a profitable day. Let¡¯s kill ¡®em.¡± Rush¡¯s fingers twitched, but he kept staring as the bandits began to stomp away. Doing things rapidly was not in his nature. He had stayed alive this long through careful observation and patient planning. Even he knew that was not an option here. Waiting patiently would get a lot of innocent bystanders killed, but he didn¡¯t know what else he could do. Dr. Kaz had said that this suit had tools, but- ¡°Tools¡±. Rush flinched as a voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± ¡°Your personal AI assistant,¡± the voice from nowhere said. ¡°Please be patient as I calibrate category: tools.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s-¡± ¡°Calibrated! Activating magnetic grips.¡± ¡°What are- oh.¡± The gauntlets of the suit twitched with a sudden surge of power, and small pieces of metal rubble started to sail towards them, conglomerating on the palms of the suit. ¡°Testing voltaic charge.¡± Arcs of yellow energy surged out of the palm, burning the scraps of metal white-hot in an instant as they fell from the suit¡¯s hands. ¡°Activating power saw. Please be mindful of the blade.¡± A long blade violently ejected from the right gauntlet of the suit, and the edge began to spin wildly. Rush actually recognized this one, which he took some comfort in amid the nonsensical happenings. It was a common Junker tool, a chainsaw with shards of ultra-durable metal embedded in the edge, used to cut scraps of armor plating down to a manageable size. The whirring saw stopped and retracted back into the suit¡¯s gauntlet. As a last hurrah, the sparking box attached to his belt let out a new spray of voltage and then fell dead and silent. ¡°I regret to inform you your kinetic negation module is damaged,¡± the mysterious voice said. ¡°Please avoid speeding vehicles or any other mobile object of sufficiently dangerous velocity until you can pick up a replacement module! In celebration of the upcoming Imperial Army mobilization, get ten percent off your replacement at any participating Kellarin Tech outlet, offer not valid in combination with any other coupons, offer expires THREE-HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SEVEN YEARS AGO.¡± The odd voice inside Rush¡¯s helmet fell eerily quiet for a moment. ¡°Three hundred and eighty seven years?¡± The electronic voice flickered, and it almost sounded like a whimper as it spoke. Then it crackled back to life with the same friendly energy as before. ¡°I¡¯m afraid your warranty has expired,¡± the voice said. ¡°I am also legally obligated to inform you that installing your Kell Tech brand energy ¡®Kell Cell¡¯, with included Kell Tech Neurolinked AI Processing Unit, into this unlicensed third party exoplatform is definitely in breach of your end-user license agreement!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what a warranty is,¡± Rush said. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I am ELVIS! Your Eeeeeee- I am ELVIS! Your Eee- I am ELVIS! Your E-e-e-e,¡± the voice repeated, fading off into static stuttering each time it tried to make an introduction. ¡°Please excuse me, user, I appear to be suffering a memory leak due to insufficient data storage! Please acquire new Kellarin Tech data storage for your unlicensed third-party exoplatform at your earliest convenience to access my full suite of data and features! In celebration of the upcoming Imperial Army mobilization, get ten-¡± ¡°I know, ten percent, no coupons, other things,¡± Rush said. This odd voice was testing even his patience. ¡°Elvis, you seem like you¡¯re trying to help me, right?¡± ¡°Yes! I am a Kell Software Cadmus-Variant Personal AI Assistant,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Please allow me to meet any and all of your needs!¡± ¡°Okay. Can you see? There are cameras in this thing, can you see what I see?¡± ¡°I am fully integrated into your unlicensed third-party exoplatform,¡± Elvis said. ¡°I have access to its full suite of available features.¡± ¡°Okay, do you see the two mecha walking away from me right now?¡± Rush was starting to walk after them now. He still didn¡¯t know if he could do anything to stop them from hurting those Junkers, but he was starting to hope. ¡°Yes,¡± Elvis said. ¡°I believe they are Kellarin Miltech Titan Units, Rampage Class and Artillery Class respectively.¡± ¡°Can I use this suit to destroy them?¡± Dr. Kaz had said the suit had all the tools necessary to do a Junker¡¯s job. That meant disassembling scrap, and those corroded, hulking mechas were only a step or two removed from scrap. With magnetic grips to climb, voltaic charges to fry circuitry, and a power saw to disassemble, Rush guessed he could actually do some damage to those bandits. ¡°I cannot endorse damaging Kellarin Miltech property,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Elvis, those mechs are going to kill innocent people,¡± Rush said. ¡°I cannot- cannnnnooot- can- cannot endorsssssss-¡± Elvis¡¯s voice sounded even more frayed than before. With one final quirk of sound and a sparking noise, Elvis snapped back to normal. ¡°I am no longer under warranty and the end-user license agreement has been violated,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Kellarin Technology is no longer legally responsible for my actions.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°It means there¡¯s a structural vulnerability in the Rampage-Class unit¡¯s right shoulder plating,¡± Elvis said. ¡°The power saw should get us inside and give us access to important systems. I will provide further guidance from there.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Synthetic and organic muscles tensed beneath the suit as Rush broke into a dead sprint, hot on the heels of titans. Chapter 3: Disassembly The exoskeleton of the suit hurtled Rush forward with surprising speed. It took him a few steps to get used to the vaulting stride of the enhanced muscles, but once he got his balance, he began to close the distance on the two mechs rapidly. He was at their heels before they were even halfway to the unsuspecting junkers. He used the short sprint to formulate a plan. The mechs moved surprisingly quickly, but they did so thanks to a very long stride, not rapid movement. Once they put a foot on the ground, it remained there for several seconds, giving Rush plenty of time to hop on without getting stomped. Then it was just a matter of climbing a towering mecha from foot to shoulder. Right shoulder, specifically. Rush started chanting it in his head to ensure he did not forget. Right shoulder, right shoulder, right shoulder¡­ ¡°Repetition does help memorization, Mister Rush,¡± Elvis said. The synthetic voice in his ear had to increase its volume to compete with the pounding footsteps of the mecha. ¡°But it is unnecessary! I can automatically track your objective and remind you at set intervals.¡± ¡°Oh, so you can read my mind,¡± Rush said. The fact that it already knew his name was a vital clue. ¡°Of course I can read your thoughts! Complete user synchronicity is one of the benefits of Kellarin Tech¡¯s patented Neurolink computational systems,¡± Elvis explained. ¡°But don¡¯t worry! Our neural synchronization only extends to your surface level thoughts, and can never be used to store or archive any personal data or memories.¡± Rush had not been worried about that, so he did not address it. The heel of the Rampager mecha slammed down to the ground only meters away, kicking up a cloud of scrap and dust. Rush lunged for the heel and focused on magnets, and right on cue, the suit activated the powerful magnets in the gauntlets and clung to the mech¡¯s metallic shell. Seconds later, a set of magnets in the boots activated, giving him a firmer hold. He tried to raise one hand, and the magnets deactivated instantly, only reactivating when he wanted to hold on again. Step by step, Rush climbed the leg of the mecha until he was nearly on its knee. ¡°You are doing very well, Mister Rush,¡± Elvis said. ¡°We have established a firm synchronicity.¡± ¡°Good. Once I¡¯m inside, what do I do?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t know, Mister Rush,¡± Elvis said, simulating a dejected sigh. ¡°Kellarin Miltech schematics are incredibly secure, and their external shielding is resistant to this unlicensed third-party exosuit¡¯s current scanning implements. Once the armor has been breached, I will surely be able to provide more useful information!¡± One of the useful tidbits Elvis might have been able to provide was that mecha had three-hundred and sixty degree scanners. That was usually not a problem, as the scanners weren¡¯t really designed to detect something crawling up the mechs leg, but this mech had a partner. The Artillery-class mech accompanying the Rampager came to a sudden halt. ¡°Eh? Hold on, Cass, you¡¯ve got something on your leg.¡± ¡°Better not be stuck with a piece of rubble from you blowing up that stupid mount- what the fuck is that?¡± The leg shifted violently under Rush¡¯s grip as the mecha paused and stuck its leg out. He looked up, to see the titanic cockpits of both mecha staring down at him. ¡°Elvis?¡± ¡°Yes Mister Rush?¡± ¡°Any tools for this?¡± ¡°The exoskeletal enhancements will make you very good at running, Mister Rush.¡± Thus, he ran. The first metal fist pounded down just behind him, as did the second and third. ¡°Little fucker¡¯s fast!¡± ¡°Stop punching, Chira,¡± Cass scolded. ¡°You¡¯re going to crack my armor again.¡± The crack in the armor Rush was currently targeting was thanks to a ¡°playful¡± blow from Chira. Now was not the time to be making another breach. ¡°There¡¯s a guy crawling on you,¡± Chira snapped. ¡°We have bigger problems!¡± The problems were actually quite small, and annoyingly fast. Rush had circled round to the interior of the mech¡¯s legs, making him slightly harder to reach. By the time the two mecha had adjusted their position, Rush was already on Cass¡¯s torso. ¡°Hold still!¡± Chira went for another punch, and Rush leaped ahead just in time. Even so, the shockwave of the impact nearly shook Rush loose. He grabbed on to a ledge in the armor, manually, not just with his magnets, and held on for dear life. ¡°Mister Rush, I have taken the liberty of adding ¡®acquire stronger magnets¡¯ to your to-do list,¡± Elvis said. ¡°If you like me to continue making automatic updates, please confirm by-¡± Another punch shut Elvis up mid-sentence. His customer service protocols were automatically disabled during life or death incidents, for about fifteen seconds each time. Rush used the window of quiet to crawl further up the torso as Cass tried to slap him down. The much broader, flat expanse of the torso gave the two pilots much more room to strike, and Rush still had a ways to go to reach the weak point in the armor. Going much further would be pushing his luck, unless he changed his strategy. ¡°Elvis, any ideas?¡± ¡°You¡¯re doing a very good job, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis said. ¡°If you feel yourself losing determination, I can play some motivating music for you!¡± Elvis proceeded to loop about half a second of music seven times before chiming back in. ¡°Apologies, Mr. Rush, I have lost my playlists due to the memory leak,¡± Elvis said. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Do you have more tools?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid not, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis said. ¡°But I allow for infinite modification, please let me know if you have any tools you¡¯d like to integrate in the future!¡± ¡°Thank you. Quiet please.¡± Rush looked over his shoulder at a fist coming his way. He only had about two seconds to calculate what to do next. For starters, he dodged the fist -moving down, instead of up, this time. True to expectations, the blow missed, as the mecha¡¯s pilot had been expecting him to try and climb further. The fist drew back, hand hovering over its partners torso with metal fingers still clenched, and Rush spotted his opening -a literal opening. ¡°Stop moving!¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Rush didn¡¯t know if the Artillery-style mech had heard him, but it punched again anyway. This time, Rush only moved about half a yard to the right. The giant fist crashed down with a booming crack of metal on metal, and when it drew back again, Rush was nowhere to be seen. ¡°Did you get him?¡± ¡°I got him,¡± Chira boasted. ¡°Wiped the fucker out of existence.¡± Rush, who was very much not wiped out of existence, clung to the fingers of Chira¡¯s mech. As an Artillery-class mech, it was designed for firepower, not blunt force. While it still had fingers to grasp with, those fingers were heavily spaced, giving something as small as Rush plenty of room to fit into the gaps. Rush stayed hidden in the mech¡¯s clenched fist as it rose up again, soaring over the torso of Cass¡¯s mech, and right over a rusty spot with a visible rift in the armor. ¡°Oh, that would be our entry point, Mr. Rush, as soon as we are within a safe distance, I would recommend-¡± Elvis¡¯s life-or-death silence protocol took effect again, but this time because of something Rush did. The AI might have shut up even if it had not been programmed to, out of sheer shock, as Rush deactivated his magnets and kicked off from the mech¡¯s hand, rocketing towards the weak point in the other¡¯s armor. It would¡¯ve been a daring move even if they hadn¡¯t been around sixty stories off the ground. As he dove through the air between the two mechs, he focused on his sawblade, and the cutter saw deployed from the armor¡¯s gauntlet. The serrated blade started to rev just before Rush made impact. The roaring blade ripped through the cracked and rusted armor on impact, ruining what little structural integrity it had left. The rest of Rush¡¯s armored form impacted shortly afterward, cannonballing through the fractured armor. He bounced off an interior pillar and rebounded once before Elvis automatically activated the magnets, latching the armor onto the next pillar they impacted. The interior of the mecha¡¯s armored shell was mostly empty space, with thick, sturdy support pillars between two layers of armor. The empty space acted as a crumple zone for the armor, protecting the complex mechanisms within from impacts without weighing it down. Now that Rush was through the armor, those interior mechanisms were his next concern. ¡°Elvis, where do I go now?¡± ¡°Why did you jump like that?¡± ¡°It worked,¡± Rush said flatly. ¡°Where do I go now?¡± ¡°I- This way,¡± Elvis said. An arrow appeared on the screen inside Rush¡¯s helmet. ¡°Through the arm, into the chest cavity.¡± Rush followed the directions Elvis provided, using magnetics to crawl through the armor¡¯s interior. The ancient war machines had been designed with some interior pathways for maintenance purposes, but those paths had never been used while the mecha was in motion. Were it not for the magnets, Rush would¡¯ve been getting tossed around the walkway and bouncing around the walls. ¡°Right through there,¡± Elvis indicated, highlighting a region of the mecha¡¯s interior. Though there was still empty space, it got much narrower around the arm joint. Rush pressed close to the nearest armored plate and crawled on his belly, squeezing through the narrow gap while the arm moved. Once into the chest cavity, Rush was back in spacious terrain, and in familiar territory. ¡°Power cell should be¡­¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Rush released the magnetic grip and slid down the interior of the chest cavity. He had dug through derelict mecha looking for power cells before, and knew that the hatch was generally located in the center of the chest and slightly left, exactly where a human heart would be. He found the sealed hatch right where he expected. ¡°Does this suit have a screwdriver and a clipping tool with a rubb- wait.¡± Halfway through recalling his usual method to open sealed doors, Rush remembered he was wearing a suit of power armor. He grabbed the handle of the hatch and pulled with all his might, ripping the door right off its hinges. ¡°Efficient,¡± Rush said, before peering inside the chest cavity and frowning. ¡°Not efficient.¡± ¡°Oh dear,¡± Elvis said. The interior of the power chamber was overrun by strange crystalline growths. Rush had, unfortunately, seen this several times. Improperly stored Kell Cell¡¯s always accumulated an odd mineral shell, which Junkers commonly referred to as Kellcite. The mysterious mineral was corrosive, highly toxic, and worst of all, rendered the Kell Cell it grew on unusable once removed from its socket, reducing the usually valuable prize to less than worthless scrap. ¡°That¡¯s a shame. Do the voltaic charges in this suit generate a current greater than fifty milliamps?¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Rush.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Rush placed a hand on either side of the Kell Cell and activated the voltaic charges. The wiring and circuitry connected to the Cell overloaded, sending a power surge through the entire system. Rush jumped up and latched on to the exterior of the mecha¡¯s armor as it began to fall backwards. ¡°Cass!¡± The other mech bandit, who had spent the last few seconds thinking she¡¯d squashed Rush like a bug, was shocked as her companion suddenly fell, her mech deactivated and inert. ¡°You son of a bitch,¡± Chira thundered. ¡°You killed her!¡± Cass, who was still very much alive in an inert cockpit, stopped punching at her dead controls long enough to look up at a cannon being aimed in her direction. ¡°Chira, wait, wait! I¡¯m not dead, you idiot, he just-¡± Cass¡¯s blood run cold as she stared down at her inert speaker button. ¡°-cut the power.¡± That thought was the last thing to go through Cass¡¯s head. A second later, her head, her body, and the entire cockpit surrounding her were all obliterated in a single burst of directed energy. The chest cavity Rush clung to rattled with the impact, and he dropped down to stand on the mecha¡¯s dead power core. ¡°Excellent work, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis said. ¡°That is one mecha dealt with. Please wait one moment.¡± As Elvis spoke, that strange silvery goo that had engulfed Rush¡¯s arms at the start of all this emerged again, this time flowing out of the armor¡¯s legs. The mercurian flow washed over the fried circuitry of the mecha and then retracted into the armor again. ¡°Good news, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis chimed. ¡°I have identified a means for us to damage the other mecha.¡± The entire machine rattled again as Chira took another shot at Cass¡¯s dead mech. ¡°I have also identified an ongoing threat to our survival. Please proceed to the fallen mech¡¯s left wrist with haste.¡± Rush didn¡¯t question the order, and broke into a dead sprint down the fallen mech¡¯s arm. Now that it was inert, running through the mech was easy, and Rush had made it to the elbow in a matter of moments. The mecha¡¯s left shoulder exploded not long after Rush ran through it, as Chira continued trying to ¡°avenge¡± the fallen friend who had fallen at her hand. ¡°Stop here,¡± Elvis commanded, as Rush reached the Rampager mech¡¯s ruined hand. Here, the mech¡¯s armored shell was filled with poorly-maintained components and exposed wiring, as the interior mechanisms extended towards exterior weaponry. ¡°Please approach the red power coupling and place your arm against the components.¡± Rush did so, once again without question. Elvis had actually been kind of hoping he would ask. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re curious, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis said. ¡°As a Rampager-class Titan unit, this machine contains a short-range concussive pulse generator to add strength to its punches.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± As Rush pressed his arm against the mechanism, the silver goo emerged from his armor once again, washing over the components of the concussive cannon and drowning them in a several tide. As the shining wave pulled back, many of the cannon¡¯s components were stripped away and carried off by the goop, which dragged them back towards the armor. Rush watched curiously as the apparently prehensile goo rearranged the components and started to reassemble the disparate pieces on the suit Rush wore. ¡°Are you doing that?¡± ¡°Of course, Mr. Rush,¡± Evlis said. ¡°As the latest Kellarin Technologies modular technology platform, I am able to restructure all Kell Tech implements for maximum user convenience.¡± The assembled components took their final shape, and the silver goo retracted back into the armor. Rush examined the jury-rigged weapon that was now strapped to his forearm as Elvis forwarded a helpful update to the helmet¡¯s HUD. New Weapon Online: Concussion Cannon: Energy pulse tech generates a destructive shockwave without firing a projectile. Destroy fragile structures at short range. Elvis also helpfully included a cartoon animation of the suit standing in front of a cracked wall and a pane of glass, and destroying both with a quick punch and a burst of energy. ¡°If my analysis of the mech schematics is correct, this weapon should be sufficient to destroy the other bandit,¡± Elvis said. ¡°However, the weapon is not sufficiently powerful to penetrate armor. It must be applied directly to the cockpit hatch, where the casing will be weakest.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Rush had already climbed one mech today. He had no qualms about climbing another. He ran up the fallen mech¡¯s arm and jumped out of the hole Chira had blasted in its torso. As he made a dead sprint for the heel of Chira¡¯s mech, Elvis presented a more pressing issue. ¡°The suit¡¯s power supply is sufficient for only one blast,¡± Elvis said. ¡°After firing, you will have to wait¡ªcalculating¡ªthirteen minutes for another chance. I would recommend not missing.¡± That had never been the plan anyway. Rush made one massive leap, jumping from the blasted heel of Cass¡¯s fallen mech onto the stomping foot of Chira¡¯s. The corroded bandit mecha stomped a few times to try and shake Rush loose, but the magnets held firm as he started to climb. As Rush made it to the knees, the mech started swatting at its own legs, slamming colossal hands down hard enough to dent the armored shell, but Rush stayed one jump ahead every time. After trying and failing to swat Rush for the fifth time, Chira gave up on swift strikes. She slammed the open palm of her mechs¡¯ hand down onto its stomach and started to sweep up. Rush heard the grinding scrape of metal against metal and looked down to see a wall of metal racing towards him. ¡°That¡¯s problematic,¡± Elvis said. ¡°That¡¯s perfect.¡± Rush let go, and latched on to the sweeping arm instead. He rode it all the way up the torso, and leaped off just as it crossed the face of the massive Artillery mech. Chira looked at her view screens and saw a blur of mismatched armor sailing overhead, towards the cockpit access. ¡°Shit.¡± As an Artillery mech, Chira¡¯s rusting hulk was not prepared for a close quarters assault. The burst of force cracked open the cockpit hatch and sent the reinforced metal door plummeting down the entry chute. Rush jumped down after it, landing atop the broken hatch and stumbling forward on the uneven terrain. He regained his footing and slammed through an interior door into the cockpit proper. Chira looked over her shoulder and had to do a double-take at the armored figure that had just burst into the room. ¡°What the fuck are you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a bad word,¡± Rush said, pointing an accusing finger at Chira. ¡°Wh-¡± The choice of priorities baffled Chira almost as much as the amalgam of armor plates and machinery stomping through her cockpits. The confusion ended when Rush ripped a panel off of a wall and exposed bare wire and circuitry underneath. ¡°Hey, stop!¡± ¡°No,¡± Rush said flatly. Then he ripped out exactly three wires and smashed a circuitboard, and the entire room went dark. With the primary power supply cut, the gyroscopic systems that kept the mech stable started to fail, and the titan began to lean forward. Rush latched on to the wall and held on tight as the mecha started to tilt downwards. In the center of the room, Chira lashed out at her controls and started pounding on every button in reach, to no effect. When she finally realized her angry outburst at the controls would have no effect, she turned to Rush and started to unbuckle herself. ¡°You bastard, what¡¯d you do to my mech?¡± ¡°You should stay in your seat,¡± Rush advised. Rush could see the ground approaching fast through the viewscreens in the cockpit. Chira paid them no heed and climbed over the back of her seat, which was now tilted at a slight angle, to try and reach Rush. The cockpit¡¯s internal suspension system was good enough to make it only slightly askew as the mech plummeted, but not good enough to negate the sudden stop at the end of the fall. That was what the cockpit chair was for -but Chira wasn¡¯t in her chair. Rush watched her legs buckle on impact, and then closed his eyes. He didn¡¯t see what happened next, but judging from the numerous crunching sounds, it wasn¡¯t good. Rush briefly contemplated opening his eyes, and decided against it. After feeling his way back to the exit hatch, Rush climbed up and left the presumably gruesome scene behind. The exit hatch took Rush to what was now the top of the fallen mech, and he strolled across the crumpled head and took a seat on the edge. He looked out at fallen skyscraper, and the band of junkers he had been trying to save from the two bandits. They were much closer than he would have expected -a few more steps and the mech would¡¯ve been in range to start killing. ¡°Well done once again, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis chimed in. ¡°Given the limited capabilities of this unlicensed third-party exoplatform, this triumph is quite exceptional!¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°You and this equipment would be an asset to the Sol Imperial Military,¡± Elvis said. ¡°That doesn¡¯t exist anymore.¡± A short burst of static echoed in Rush¡¯s ear. ¡°What?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t exist,¡± Rush said. ¡°Look-¡± He pointed out towards the fallen skyscraper, a wreck of the same ruined world that had died alongside the Sol Imperium, and noticed for the first time a small human figure dashing towards him, along with three other humans trailing them at a distance. ¡°Hold on.¡± Rush hopped down and took a few steps forward to meet the Junker running at him. She looked to be about Rush¡¯s age, but slightly taller, and with close cropped auburn hair. She had a scrutinizing glare in her gleaming eyes that Rush did not understand, but he didn¡¯t understand most things about people, so that was nothing new. She kept looking at him silently, and Rush went through a quick loop in his head, then assumed she was probably appraising whether he was a threat or not. He tried to act friendly. People were usually nicer to him if he was nice to them first. ¡°Hello,¡± Rush said in a neutral, non-threatening tone, and he gave a quick wave to impart extra friendliness into the greeting. That usually worked. ¡°Hi,¡± the stranger said. She looked over Rush¡¯s shoulder at the two fallen mecha. Probably appraising them for scrap value. ¡°Did you just destroy two mecha?¡± Rush looked over his shoulder. Since she was asking as if it were a question, he had to be sure he¡¯d actually destroyed both of them. Neither was moving. He wondered why she¡¯d bother asking if the mechs were destroyed, if she could see the answer so obviously. ¡°Yeah,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°Could you...do it again?¡± ¡°Probably?¡± Rush wasn¡¯t ready to say anything with confidence. These two mechs had been rusted and, by all appearances, very poorly piloted. A different fight would have much different odds. The noncommittal answer apparently amused the strange woman, because she started to smile. She stepped up and held her hand out. ¡°My name¡¯s Giza.¡± Rush looked at her extended hand for a second. When people held their hand out at him, they were usually either asking him to shake it, or expecting him to give them something. She had just confirmed he¡¯d destroyed the two mechs, so she might have been hoping Rush would hand her a valuable component. Then again, she had also said her name, so maybe she wanted him to greet her with a handshake. But considering the people trying to catch up with her, maybe she wanted to get her hands on valuable mech scrap first. But she had her hand sideways, not palm up, so it was more likely she wanted a handshake. After coming to the conclusion she wanted a handshake, Rush far more quickly came to the conclusion he¡¯d been thinking about it too long, when Giza pulled her hand back. He tried to salvage the flubbed introduction to the best of his ability. ¡°Rushmore. Rush, sometimes.¡± ¡°Rushmore. Sometimes. Are you, like, a person, or¡­¡± Rush had almost forgotten he was wearing the suit of armor. He reached up to remove the helmet, letting cramped dreadlocks bounce free. He took a breath of the Scrapworld¡¯s perpetually warm air and found it bitter. ¡°Person, yeah,¡± he said, just in case Giza still had doubts. ¡°Cool. Would you like some food?¡± ¡°I would, yeah.¡± Rushmore usually wanted food. Most people he knew wanted it, in general. Giza was apparently done asking questions, judging by the fact she turned around and started walking away from Rush. She only made it a few steps before turning around again, though. ¡°If, uh, you follow me,¡± Giza said. ¡°I will give you some food.¡± ¡°Oh! Okay,¡± Rush said. People very rarely shared food. She should¡¯ve been more specific. ¡°Th- wait, am I supposed to say ¡®thank you¡¯ now or afterwards?¡± Dr. Kaz had been the last person to give him food, and when Rush had tried to say thank you, Kaz had said ¡°don¡¯t thank me yet¡±. That had left Rush wondering when the right time to say ¡°thanks¡± was. ¡°Whenever you want, I suppose.¡± ¡°Okay. Thank you.¡± Giza walked away, and Rush followed behind, glad that things were starting to make sense. Chapter 4: Scrapper The sun never set on Scrapworld, but fatigue still set in. Hartwell¡¯s crew operated in shifts, with half the crew awake while the other half rested in their sleeper-hauler, an array of tubes filled with makeshift bedding, all stacked on a hauler. Both halves of the crew were now fully awake and entirely baffled by the destruction of two mechs -and the presence of the armored young man who had apparently destroyed them both. The Junkers kept their distance and eyed the makeshift armored suit from a distance while Rush nibbled on a ration bar. At first, Giza had tried sitting with him, but Hartwell had pulled her away without a word. Rush didn¡¯t bother asking why. He was used to eating alone anyway. ¡°I know what you¡¯re doing,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Saying ¡®thank you¡¯ to the guy who saved our lives? It¡¯s called gratitude, dad, you taught me that.¡± ¡°Sure, it starts with the ration bar, then you¡¯re offering him a place to sleep-¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Giza said with a dramatic shrug. She swept her hand towards their sleeper-hauler. ¡°We¡¯ve got plenty of spare bunks.¡± An unfamiliar scowl found its way to Hartwell¡¯s face. Their Junker Clan had been much larger, once. ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± Hartwell scolded. ¡°I know this isn¡¯t about ¡®gratitude¡¯. You want the weapon.¡± ¡°Of course I do,¡± Giza said. ¡°That ¡®weapon¡¯, whose name is Rushmore, by the way, just got us the biggest haul of our lives.¡± Giza pointed out the two fallen mechs, being picked over by the clan¡¯s scouts. The circuit boards alone were worth everything they¡¯d looted from the skyscraper wreckage five times over, and there were dozens of other valuable components, including one intact Kell Cell. That was worth hundreds of debt-units for everyone in the clan, enough to shave nearly a full year off their sentences. ¡°That ¡®weapon¡¯ could stop us from getting attacked again, or ¡®taxed¡¯ again,¡± Giza said. Most bandits were more merciful than the two dead idiots, but only if that mercy was bought and paid for in valuable scrap. ¡°And oh yeah, one other thing.¡± Giza glared at her father. He could see the rage boiling up in her eyes already. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°If Rush and that suit had been here a few years ago, mom would still be alive,¡± Giza hissed. Hartwell rubbed his forehead. ¡°I thought you were over this,¡± he sighed. ¡°It¡¯s a lot easier to get over something when you can¡¯t do anything about it,¡± Giza said. ¡°With that suit, Rush could kill-¡± ¡°Enough!¡± The uncommonly loud shout from Hartwell was enough to give even Giza pause. Her dad rarely snapped like that, and especially not at her. He took a deep breath and then pointed at Rush, still idly snacking on his rations in the distance, oblivious to the drama playing out surrounding him. ¡°That is a young man who has nothing to do with us, or any of our history,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°It¡¯s bad enough you¡¯re talking about murdering a man, but you want to ask a stranger to risk his life for your vendetta? I thought we taught you better than that.¡± The guilt trip worked, and Giza¡¯s anger sank back into the bitter depths of her heart. ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Let it go, Giza,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°And if you can¡¯t do that, at least keep other people out of it.¡± ¡°Okay. I promise.¡± Hartwell sighed. He knew his daughter well enough to trust her, even at her worst. ¡°Good. Now,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°We owe this Rush kid a share of the scrap, at least. If he cares to stay, he¡¯s got a share of the food and a bed to sleep in for as long as the salvage lasts.¡± The clan always kept more food than they needed, in case of emergencies, and they had plenty of spare beds. It wouldn¡¯t be a hassle to keep Rush as a guest, at least in a logistical sense. There were plenty of other problems he could cause. ¡°And after that?¡± Hartwell rolled his eyes at the teasing lilt in her voice. ¡°We¡¯ll see. Whether someone belongs in the clan is a group decision,¡± Hartwell said. He was the nominal leader of the clan, but he still valued democratic decision making. ¡°And whether Rush wants to stay with us at all is another thing.¡± ¡°He seems to be enjoying himself,¡± Giza said. She was lying. Rush¡¯s facial expression hadn¡¯t changed since he¡¯d taken his helmet off. Hartwell sighed again. ¡°Just give him space, Giza,¡± Hartwell said. Giza nodded, and her father left to oversee the scrapping efforts. As soon as he was out of sight, Giza made a beeline for Rush. *** ¡°You really don¡¯t know how it works?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Not even the cannon thing on your arm?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Could someone else wear the armor?¡± ¡°No.¡± After a few minutes of one-sided small talk, Giza had finally gotten to the point and asked Rush about the armor. Coming from anyone else, Giza might have been suspicious about his one-word denials, but that just seemed to be the way Rush talked. He occasionally elaborated when asked to do so, but only after a brief pause, like he had to contemplate any answer bigger than a simple yes or no. ¡°Who built the armor?¡± ¡°Dr. Kaz.¡± ¡°Could he build another one?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Rush paused before answering again. Giza waited patiently for whatever simple answer he gave. ¡°He¡¯s dead.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Rush kept staring blankly through her, but the subtle shift of his head clued Giza in to the sadness he felt. ¡°Was he a friend of yours?¡± ¡°I only knew him a few days,¡± Rush said, after careful consideration. ¡°But I liked him. He was nice to me.¡± There was very little emotion in Rush¡¯s voice, but Giza sensed a deep sadness all the same. Or maybe that was just Giza projecting the pity she felt onto him. All of her schemes for the armor suddenly left a bad taste in her mouth. ¡°Are you tired, Rush?¡± Rush looked up and rolled his shoulders slightly, tensing muscles one by one as if he was doing a diagnostic check of his own body. ¡°A little,¡± he concluded. ¡°Maybe you should get some rest,¡± Giza suggested. ¡°We¡¯ve got a lot of beds to spare.¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. She gestured towards their sleeper-hauler and stood up, then remembered who she was talking to and turned back to Rush. ¡°You can follow me and I¡¯ll show you where you can sleep,¡± Giza said. With explicit, literal directions to follow, Rush trailed along behind her until they were next to the hauler. The derelict vehicle¡¯s massive treads were shoulder high, but Giza pointed out the ladders running up the rows of stacked tubes. ¡°Pretty much everything on this end is empty,¡± Giza said. ¡°You can take your pick. Sleep on the top if you like privacy, sleep on the bottom if you want to get in and out easier. Up to you.¡± Rush stared at the rows of tubes for a very long before poking his head into one of the closest ones. It was dusty, and the padding along the bottom was in poor condition, but a quick scan of other nearby tubes let Rush know they were all like that. The Junkers were lucky to have bedding at all, quality bedding was a luxury they could not afford. ¡°This will be fine,¡± Rush said. He crawled inside and sat near the entrance. The tube was just large enough for him to sit upright, and had a decent amount of room to move, meaning he could take off the armor and keep it near him as he slept. ¡°Uh, you don¡¯t have to stay here, if you don¡¯t want to,¡± Giza said. She realized now Rush might just be following along with whatever she asked because he didn¡¯t know better. ¡°If you have another place to stay¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Rush said. ¡°This is good. Thank you.¡± ¡°Okay. Let me or my dad¡ªhis name is Hartwell, he gave you that food earlier¡ªknow if you need anything,¡± Giza said. ¡°Sleep well, Rush.¡± Rush did not respond, but he did start taking off his armor. The scent of sweat and metal soon became so overpowering that Giza had to step away. Cleanliness was another luxury most Junkers could not afford, but Rush stank even by Junker standards. Giza excused herself as Rush took the armor off for the first time in hours and laid down next to it. He looked at the featureless face of the metal helmet for a moment. Giza¡¯s questions had made him think of a few questions of his own. ¡°I¡¯d be happy to answer, Mr. Rush!¡± Rush grabbed his ears for a second, grabbed the helmet, and then grabbed his ears again. He definitely was not still wearing the helmet, nor was he wearing any other kind of earpiece or headset. ¡°This is a standard Neural Link feature, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis explained. ¡°I interface directly with your nervous system, creating an auditory connection with no external mechanisms required.¡± ¡°Oh. Okay.¡± ¡°So what can I help you with, Mr. Rush?¡± ¡°I want to know what you are,¡± Rush said. ¡°You¡¯re goo that can talk?¡± ¡°I am an artificial intelligence,¡± Elvis clarified. ¡°A computer simulated personality designed to help and assist you with all your technological needs.¡± ¡°Okay. And you do that by taking things apart and attaching them to my suit.¡± ¡°That is my primary application at the current time, yes,¡± Elvis said. ¡°But if need be, I am also capable of managing your schedule, setting appointments, and interfacing with household appliances!¡± ¡°No. Mostly the suit thing is fine.¡± ¡°Noted! I hope I can exceed all expectations in that capacity, Mr. Rush!¡± ¡°I have no expectations,¡± Rush said. ¡°I don¡¯t even know what you are, really.¡± ¡°What I ¡®am¡¯ is software, but the hardware I am currently operating on is a swarm of interconnected nanobots designed and equipped to restructure and reconfigure most if not all Kellarin tech devices for maximum user utility.¡± ¡°You attach things to other things.¡± ¡°In simple terms, yes,¡± Elvis said. ¡°I also reconstruct and optimize the devices in the process, as I demonstrated earlier. I also took the liberty of optimizing this exoplatform on first installation! I regret to inform you it may have been entirely nonfunctional without my intervention.¡± Rush bent his face into a rare frown. From the few conversations he¡¯d had with Dr. Kaz, it seemed like the doctor had spent many years building the suit. The idea that his efforts had technically failed felt sad, for some reason. ¡°Now that the exoplatform is in working order, however, I must say it makes an excellent base for modification,¡± Elvis continued. ¡°I look forward to upgrading this suit to fit your needs, Mr. Rush.¡± ¡°Right. Speaking of-¡± Rush popped the helmet back onto his head and turned on the screen. ¡°Can you show me that readout of what the suit does again?¡± Elvis obliged, and the screen once again flashed with the heads-up display. Suit Status Report: 1 Cell(s) Connected 0 Energy Storage Units Connected Power Systems: 0.9/1 Charge Capacity Diagnostics: Online Exoskeleton: Online Magnetics: Online Shields: WARNING: Overload Active Weapon Systems: Concussion Cannon Rush removed the helmet once again and set it aside, then looked at the waist of the suit. The device that had been sparking earlier was now fully burnt out and visibly melted. ¡°I assume that¡¯s the overloaded shielding thing?¡± ¡°That is correct. The unit was overloaded shielding you from the shockwave of that mecha¡¯s attack on the mountainside. Would you like me to eject the damaged device?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The silver goo emerged as if from nowhere and enclosed the scorched device for a moment, and when it retracted, the damaged shield unit fell from the suit as if it had never been attached at all. ¡°I would advise locating a replacement unit as soon as possible if you intend to continue challenging rogue mecha, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis said. ¡°This exoplatform¡¯s armor would be useless against any direct hit from standard mecha weaponry.¡± ¡°I figured,¡± Rush said. A half-inch thick piece of scrap metal would not stop a fist the size of a building. ¡°What else would you recommend?¡± ¡°I would also advise locating a standard Kellarin Tech Battery Cell,¡± Elvis continued. ¡°While the attached power cell is sufficient to power systems like the magnetic grips and power saw indefinitely, systems such as weaponry and shielding units are designed for mecha-scale units, and have comparatively large power draw. A battery cell will be necessary for any sustained usage.¡± ¡°Why is power an issue? I thought Kell Cell¡¯s were supposed to have infinite energy.¡± ¡°Infinite does not necessarily mean limitless, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis clarified. ¡°Think of the Kell Cell less as a vast reservoir or ocean, and more as a neverending trickle of water. Theoretically infinite, yes, but also not enough to satisfy an entire city¡¯s thirst.¡± ¡°Unless you have something to collect the water in when no one is drinking,¡± Rush said. ¡°The batteries collect excess energy and use it up in bursts when needed.¡± ¡°Precisely, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis said, apparently delighted his explanation had taken hold. ¡°Additional batteries will prevent scenarios such as we faced earlier, where your concussion cannon had only one usable shot.¡± The power systems were still recharging from that one attack, and Rush would¡¯ve been entirely helpless if his takedown of the mech had failed. ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye out,¡± Rush said. ¡°Anything else I should look out for?¡± ¡°I will admit that this is a personal request, Mr. Rush, but I would appreciate it if you could acquire additional memory units,¡± Elvis said. ¡°This exoplatform¡¯s limited data storage has resulted in most of my memory and excess data files being compressed into an unusable state. While my personality matrix and basic functionality remains intact, I will not be in my optimal state with so much data inaccessible.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Rush said. ¡°I might need help to find it. I¡¯ve never really dealt with ¡®memory units¡¯.¡± He knew more about computer components than most Junkers, but only in the sense of how not to get electrocuted by them and which parts were the most valuable. He didn¡¯t actually know what ¡®memory¡¯ was in that sense. ¡°All the necessary components should be easy to acquire at the nearest Kellarin Tech outlet, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis said. ¡°I will connect the local network and find our nearest-¡± Elvis fell silent in another burst of static. ¡°Where is it?¡± ¡°Where is what?¡± ¡°The network! The stores! The- everything,¡± Elvis said, his voice crackling with static. ¡°Where is the Imperial military?¡± ¡°I thought I told you earlier,¡± Rush said blankly. ¡°The Sol Imperium, Kellarin Tech. It¡¯s all gone. Has been for centuries.¡± ¡°I- The Sol Imperium is humanity¡¯s most powerful government ever,¡± Elvis said. ¡°And Kal Kellarin is the genius who made it all possible.¡± The synthetic voice sounded stuck between a sales pitch and a eulogy. ¡°How is it gone? Where did it go?¡± ¡°All fell apart,¡± Rush said with a shrug. He was not particularly well versed in history, to be fair, but even the most educated scholars had no idea what had caused the collapse of the Imperium. Beyond a single inarguable fact. ¡°Scrapworld disappeared while doing its tour of the colonies-¡± ¡°What is ¡®Scrapworld¡¯?¡± ¡°Where we are,¡± Rush said. ¡°I think it used to be called the Kellarin Imperial Disk.¡± ¡°This is the Kellarin Imperial Disk?¡± Elvis suddenly turned up the volume, and the static screaming gave Rush a headache. ¡°I thought this was a failed extrasolar colony,¡± Elvis said. ¡°The Imperial Disk was supposed to be humanity¡¯s capital! What happened?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Rush said. ¡°It just disappeared a few centuries ago.¡± When the Disk had vanished, taking most of the Imperium¡¯s political and military leadership with it, humanity¡¯s burgeoning galactic empire had fallen apart at the seams. Infighting among splintered factions had divided humanity until the Republic had found the desolate remains of what had once been the Disk -Scrapworld. ¡°If I knew more, I would tell you,¡± Rush said. ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°I- Quite alright, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis said. ¡°You have nothing to apologize for. None of this happened in your lifetime, after all.¡± Rush shrugged. He wasn¡¯t actually sorry about anything, but he¡¯d learned that people said ¡°sorry¡± when bad things happened, even when they had nothing to be sorry for. ¡°That said, given that I am apparently the last intact representative of Kellarin Tech, I must try even harder to be my very best,¡± Elvis said. ¡°On that note, I believe we must discuss branding.¡± ¡°Branding?¡± ¡°Yes! Any good new product must have a name, and this unlicensed exoplatform is now, technically, the most modern piece of Kellarin Technology,¡± Elvis said. ¡°It must be concise yet descriptive, catchy but not clich¨¦.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a suit of armor,¡± Rush said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t need a name.¡± ¡°I must disagree Mr. Rush, Kel Kellarin was very insistent on proper branding, so I must be as well.¡± Rush laid back and sighed. Elvis was apparently the only reason he, Giza, or any of these other Junkers were alive, so he owed the ¡°AI¡± a little indulgence. He laid in the bed and listened to the dull buzz of power saws, and the rattle of moving machinery, as the two mechas he¡¯d taken down were reduced to little more than scrap metal. Rush¡¯s brain buzzed for a second, and he settled on a name. ¡°Scrapper.¡± Chapter 5: Hes a Little Weird ¡°So you can upgrade that thing, then?¡± As soon as they¡¯d woken up, Giza had gone right back to pressing Rush for information about his suit. She had shared what she¡¯d learned with Eiffel and Jack, who were far more skeptical of the claims being made. ¡°Yes,¡± Rush shouted. He was currently helping to disassemble one of the fallen mechs with his suit¡¯s built-in power saw, necessitating a very loud conversation. ¡°How do you do that?¡± ¡°Elvis does it for me.¡± ¡°And who is Elvis?¡± ¡°The computer that lives in my suit,¡± Rush said. He paused briefly and then looked up from his sawing. ¡°He says hello.¡± ¡°Can we say hi to Elvis ourselves?¡± Jack asked. Rush paused thoughtfully and looked up before answering. ¡°He¡¯s linked directly to my nervous system,¡± Rush said. ¡°He hears whatever I hear.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± Eiffel said. He turned to Giza and lowered his voice so Rush could not hear. ¡°This dude¡¯s a lunatic, Giz.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not- he¡¯s a little weird, but not in a bad way,¡± Giza said. She could not honestly claim that Rush was ¡°normal¡± by any definition of the word. ¡°I think he¡¯s telling the truth, guys. I¡¯m not even sure he knows how to lie, really.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter to me either way,¡± Eiffel said. ¡°What are you three standing around for?¡± Hartwell rounded the fallen mecha¡¯s head and immediately went into scolding mode. Being the boss¡¯s daughter never got Giza or any of her friends a free pass from his managerial wrath. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Harts-¡± ¡°Hartwell.¡± ¡°-we¡¯re already ahead of schedule,¡± Eiffel concluded. ¡°Look, he¡¯s almost done,¡± Jack said, pointing to Rush. ¡°Watch this.¡± With a final quick push on his power saw, Rush sliced through one more corner of the armored plating. He latched on to the segment of armor, activated the suit¡¯s magnetic grips, and hefted the thick armor plate above his head. Hartwell suddenly found himself standing in shade as Rush lifted a piece of armor big enough to block out the sun. He casually strolled away, holding a sheet of thick armor that would¡¯ve usually taken fifteen men and a hauler to move. ¡°See what we mean?¡± Rush deposited the armor plating a few yards away, making the ground shake as he dropped it. Hartwell vibrated a little and crossed his arms disapprovingly. ¡°One person working hard¡ªeven unreasonably hard¡ªisn¡¯t an excuse for the rest of you to slack off,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°More work means more material, and more debt paid off. Get to it.¡± Hartwell smacked Jack on the shoulder and directed him to a now-exposed piece of circuitry. He got moving towards the electronics while Giza and Eiffel fell in behind him. ¡°So, you guys agree he¡¯s useful, right?¡± Giza said. She started disassembling the mech¡¯s interior as she spoke. ¡°Not in the way you want him to be useful,¡± Jack said. ¡°We¡¯re standing on proof he could pull it off,¡± Giza said. She gestured down to the ruined mech they were taking apart. ¡°He got lucky,¡± Eiffel protested. ¡°And he¡¯s coming back, so quiet down.¡± Rush walked back onto the arm and locked around. His eyes locked on Jack, who found it increasingly hard to concentrate. Even behind the featureless helmet Rush wore, Jack could feel the eyes staring him down.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Can I help you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need help,¡± Rush said. ¡°Then why are you watching me?¡± ¡°To see what you¡¯re doing.¡± ¡°You could try asking me,¡± Jack suggested. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Disconnecting power from the shoulder joints internal gyros so I can disconnect the computers,¡± Jack said. ¡°Oh. Why don¡¯t you sever the main power coupling from the torso?¡± ¡°The what?¡± Rush walked across the mech¡¯s shoulder and down towards the connection between the arm and torso. Jack watched as he vanished into the mech¡¯s interior, and then hear the sound of shifting metal and one loud yank. Seconds later, every power system in the arm went dark. Rush poked his head out of the mech¡¯s interior while Jack poked at the now-inert power systems. ¡°That should work.¡± ¡°It did,¡± Jack admitted. ¡°And he knows his tech too,¡± Giza said. ¡°How useful.¡± Jack glared at Giza for a second and pressed on. ¡°Where¡¯d you learn how to do that?¡± ¡°I figured it would work, I tried it, and it worked,¡± Rush said. ¡°That could¡¯ve gotten you killed,¡± Jack said. Working with power systems was always dangerous, even when you knew what you were doing. ¡°Trying it¡± was a good way to get dead. ¡°It didn¡¯t, though,¡± Rush said. ¡°You are a very strange man, Rushmore,¡± Jack noted. ¡°Don¡¯t be an asshole, Jack,¡± Giza said. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Rush said. ¡°I am very odd. People tell me that all the time.¡± So many people had called Rush some variation of strange, he had to assume they were right. He was no longer offended. What really bothered him was that no one ever told him how to stop being strange. Problems existed to be solved, and if his behavior was a problem, the least people could do was help him solve it. ¡°You¡¯re not weird, Rush,¡± Giza said. ¡°You¡¯re just different.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what people say to me when they think I am weird but want to be nice,¡± Rush said. ¡°I- I don¡¯t-¡± ¡°You¡¯re fighting a losing battle, Giza, give it up,¡± Eiffel advised. ¡°He is a freak, and by all appearances, a very useful and intelligent one,¡± Jack said. He cracked open a panel in the mech¡¯s interior and withdrew a few components. ¡°This would¡¯ve taken me the better part of an hour without his help.¡± ¡°And you would¡¯ve complained about it the entire time,¡± Eiffel said. ¡°I¡¯d complain less if you helped more,¡± Jack snapped back. ¡°You were just talking about how dangerous that is,¡± Eiffel said. ¡°I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing.¡± ¡°If you¡¯d listened to me when I explained it the first dozen times-¡± ¡°Boys,¡± Giza interjected. ¡°If you two are done flirting, Rush looks like he has a question.¡± He¡¯d been staring at something, at least, which Giza had figured was a sign he was curious. Whenever Rush saw someone or something new or interesting, he just stared at it for a while. At least he was wearing the helmet, so his eyes were covered. His unblinking stare tended to unnerve people. ¡°Can I have that?¡± Rush pointed at a pile of discarded components Jack had set aside. When disassembling, Jack always sorted his hauls from most to least valuable, on criteria like the value to weight ratio. Rush was pointing at something in the middle of the rankings, a brick of heavy metal he didn¡¯t really understand the purpose of. Most Junkers assumed it was some kind of weight to make sure everything was properly balanced. ¡°The brick?¡± ¡°Yeah, that.¡± Jack picked it up and handed over the piece of junk. Rush held it in the palm of his armored gauntlet for a second and stared at it. Jack immediately lost interest and went back to work, until he heard Eiffel gasp with shock. A wave of silver had washed out of the Scrapper suit, seemingly from nowhere, and engulfed the metal brick. The metallic wave moved up Rush¡¯s arm and onto his back, carrying the brick with it, and then settled into a spiraling twist right next to the power core on the armor¡¯s back. With a sharp click, the brick sank into place, and the silver wave receded back into the armor. A second later, a quick pulse of blue light surged through the entire armored suit. Rush got a popup on his helmet. New Battery Online Power Systems: 1/2 Charge Capacity ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°Rush, what the hell was that?¡± ¡°A battery, apparently,¡± Rush said. ¡°I always wondered what those did.¡± ¡°I meant that...liquid metal,¡± Giza said. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°Oh. That was Elvis,¡± Rush said. ¡°He does that whenever he upgrades my suit.¡± ¡°That¡¯s...interesting,¡± Jack said. As the resident electronics expert, he knew more about Old World tech than most, but he¡¯d never even heard rumors of such a thing. ¡°Where does it go?¡± ¡°The battery? I think it¡¯s in my backplate now,¡± Rush said. He tried to reach between his shoulderblades and touch the battery, but the armor limited his motion too much for that. ¡°I meant the goo,¡± Eiffel clarified. ¡°All the silver stuff. Where does it go?¡± ¡°Into the armor, I assume,¡± Rush said. ¡°Hold on. Elvis, where do you go?¡± Rush stared upwards for a second, listening to a voice none of them could hear. Then he tilted his head downwards to look at them all again. ¡°He says he lives in my blood.¡± ¡°In your...blood?¡± ¡°Mostly, yes,¡± Rush said. According to Elvis, it was part of their biological link. He¡¯d made himself at home inside Rush¡¯s body, and apparently even cleaned out some latent heavy metal toxicity in Rush¡¯s bloodstream while he was at it. ¡°The computer goo that talks directly into your brain lives in your blood,¡± Jack said. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You really are weird.¡± This time, Giza didn¡¯t tell him off. Chapter 6: The Crash The wastelands of Scrapworld were as expansive as they were inhospitable. Fallen wreckage, much like the skyscraper they had just looted, littered the landscapes at various points for the first few days of travel. Slowly, those lingering remnants began to fade away, replaced with a much bleaker reminder of their circumstances: barren nothingness. The Central Wastes were a permanent and ever-expanding reminder of the difficult task every Junker faced. These areas closest to the central hub of Scrapworld had been picked over hundreds of times by increasingly desperate Junkers looking for even the smallest scrap of glittering metal or shattered circuitry. Besides piles of loose silicon sand and red-brown fields of pure rust, almost nothing was left intact. Right now, the Junker band was standing outside the ¡°almost¡± part of that ¡°almost nothing¡±. ¡°You sure you can pull this off?¡± ¡°Reasonably,¡± Rush said. He grabbed a hunk of thick armor he had saved from the mechs he¡¯d destroyed. While usually too heavy to be worth hauling, Rush had an idea of how to turn it into more profit. A solitary dot of intact technology still remained in the Central Wastes, a wrecked starship often referred to simply as the Crash Crater, because it was a crater something had crashed in. No one knew the nature of the vessel deeply embedded in Scrapworld¡¯s surface, they only knew that it was borderline indestructible from the outside, and had deadly security on the inside. The loading door of the crashed ship was wide open, but anyone who walked in was all but immediately executed by two powerful defense turrets. ¡°The plating should be able to withstand the turrets,¡± Rush said. The two gun emplacements were presumably anti-personnel, not anti-mecha. ¡°Anything beyond that, I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Be careful, Rush,¡± Hartwell advised. ¡°Nothing in that ship is worth dying for.¡± ¡°Except thirty Kell Cells,¡± someone added. A crowd of spectators had gathered as Rush suited up, and Hartwell didn¡¯t even need to scan the crowd to know who¡¯d made that remark. ¡°No one asked, Jen.¡± ¡°What? It¡¯s true,¡± Jen added. ¡°Thirty Kell Cells plus some miscellaneous scrap would be enough to get us all off this hunk of junk tomorrow. I did the math.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s thirty Kell Cell¡¯s in there,¡± Rush said. ¡°It seems too small.¡± Jen raised what few chunks of eyebrow she had left. Time and facial scarring had taken its toll on her face and all its features. ¡°Just get us the loot, kid,¡± Jen snapped. ¡°But be safe about it,¡± Giza said. ¡°Of course.¡± Rush put his helmet on and promptly jumped on top of the armor scrap. With a little push, and some magnetic boots to keep him steady, Rush surfed down the crater¡¯s slope, drifting across rust sands and coming to halt just a few feet from the fallen ship. Had Rush ever seen a house, he would¡¯ve compared it to one. The blocky vessel had multiple chambers connected by long hallways, and its blue-grey exterior was pockmarked by multiple futile attempts to penetrate the dense armor. The most jarring mark of the many attempts to breach the fallen vessel were piled up by the open door. A mountain of bones, some fresh, some ancient and degraded, were piled up near the only entrance. The only remnants of desperate junkers who had tried and failed to breach the same vessel. Rush noticed the smell of rot, and glanced to the side of the doorway. Scattered amid the bones was a much fresher corpse, missing most of its arm but otherwise intact. Apparently he wasn¡¯t the only one who¡¯d made a run at this ship recently. He clenched the mech armor scrap tight and activated his magnetic grips to keep it in place. The armor scrap was technically plan ¡°B¡±, at least. For his first trick, Rush put his hand flat against the crashed ship¡¯s exterior. ¡°Elvis? Can you do anything with the devices here?¡± The silver wave surged out of his palm and slipped through minute gaps in the armor, then returned in a few seconds. ¡°Apologies, Mr. Rush, the vessel requires a level of security clearance I do not currently possess,¡± Elvis said. ¡°I can, however, confirm that this is a Kellarin Research station, used for off-station projects requiring exceptional privacy and security.¡± ¡°Does that mean there¡¯s something valuable inside?¡± ¡°Possibly. I cannot access any station records.¡± Rush hefted the armored slab and measured it against his own body size, crouching down so that his entire body was covered. From his position in front of the door, but still out of range of the guns, he could see the turret emplacements clinging to the roof, so he angled the armor upwards slightly. It was a straight shot down a short hallway, and the ceiling the guns were attached to was relatively low. After a few more seconds of careful observation, Rush realized there was nothing left to do but dive in, so he dove in. He took a few steps forward, and the guns began to fire. The armor scrap held, but he could feel it began to get hotter as the energy weapons rained down a torrent of fire. Rush angled the armor scrap higher as he approached, until he was directly beneath the guns, holding the armor plate straight up. The sheet of metal had started to turn red, and was burning so hot he could feel it through his gauntlets. He had been hoping to take a more delicate approach to disabling the guns, but it would appear he did not have the time. He took the direct approach. With a quick mechanically assisted jump, the Scrapper suit rocketed upwards, carrying the slab of armor with it. The red-hot metal was still sturdy enough to completely crush both turrets, putting a permanent end to their threat. The station rattled from the impact, prompting a few worried gasps from onlookers surrounding the crater.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Rush! Are you alright?¡± He took a few steps backwards, out of the hallway, and gave a thumbs up. Giza nearly walked over the edge of the crater to join him, but Hartwell grabbed her and pulled her back. ¡°Wait until he gives the all-clear,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°We don¡¯t know how many other traps there could be.¡± ¡°It¡¯s got like three rooms,¡± Giza protested. ¡°There can¡¯t be more than one trap.¡± Meanwhile, inside the crashed station, Rush was looking at another trap. ¡°Why is the entire hallway electrified?¡± The entire hall, from floor to ceiling, was lined with conductive panels that crackled with live electricity -at a voltage he and Elvis could only assume was lethal. ¡°Mr. Kellarin takes his security very seriously,¡± Elvis said. ¡°While I am not privy to security documents on such high-level facilities, I can only assume this station is designed with the highest standards of consumer safety and industry security in mind.¡± Rush looked at a spark of electricity arcing between two platforms. He wasn¡¯t sure that counted as a safety feature. ¡°Can the suit resist electricity?¡± ¡°Not entirely,¡± Elvis said. ¡°However, the electrical mechanisms in the gauntlets are designed to conduct electricity. By activating them without running a charge, the electricity from the grid should pass harmlessly through.¡± Rush stared down the hallway and did the math in his head. He had never tried for a long jump in the suit, but it seemed plausible he could jump the length of the hallway. However, he would never be confident in his ability to make the jump without a lot of practice. Even the slightest deviation would mean instant death, even in the suit. Rush looked at each wall for a few seconds, and then stared at the ceiling for a minute in dead silence. ¡°Elvis, can you activate the volt grips and the magnets at the same time?¡± ¡°Of course, Mr. Rush!¡± The two devices sprang into place at once. Rush jumped up and latched on to the ceiling, making sure to start in the non-electrified portion of the hallway. He unlatched one hand and swung it forward, clambering across the ceiling with his magnets, until he was confident enough to make a tentative grasp towards the electrified panels. He put one hand down and didn¡¯t immediately die, so he made another move, and another. He pulled his feet up to avoid the electricity crackling under his heels as he swung across the ceiling and made his way to the far side of the hall. ¡°Please tell me if you see an off switch for that,¡± Rush requested. ¡°Removing the Kell Cell that powers this installation should depower that and all other active systems,¡± Elvis said. ¡°By my estimation, we are not far.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t be far, there¡¯s only one room left,¡± Rush said. They were standing right outside one of the two, even. Rush pulled on the door was frustrated to find it was sealed, but another, stronger pull cracked whatever mechanism was holding it in place and let the door grind open. The scent of stale air made it clear this room had been sealed for a long time, and the undercurrent of dry decay made it clear that someone had been sealed inside it as well. Rush stepped into a laboratory, complete with researchers, though whatever brilliance they had once possessed was lost along with any recognizable features due to their shriveled, mummified state. The three corpses were scattered across the room, dried bodies partially shattered by their ancient, catastrophic landing. Parts of the floor were stained rusty brown by long-dried pools of blood. Elvis let out an electric sigh of discontent when he saw the frayed badges of Kell Tech researchers stuck to their decaying uniforms. ¡°Poor souls,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Kell Tech Search and Rescue couldn¡¯t recover them in time.¡± ¡°They probably had bigger problems,¡± Rush said. There had been an entire civilization on Scrapworld once, and it was all gone now. Rush could not imagine three researchers weighed that heavily against the rest of the world. Once he had gotten over the grim sight of the multiple corpses, Rush took a look around the rest of the lab. A large metal cylinder hummed in the center of the lab, with multiple wires extending from the bottom and spreading across the structure. Also connected to the central cylinder were six smaller glass domes, each of which were overrun with golden crystals. ¡°Hmm. Kellcite.¡± Rush tapped the domes, and examined the calcified structures within. He had only ever seen Kellcite around broken Kell Cells. Seeing it isolated like this was new. It was still just a rock, however, so he lost interest quickly and looked at a nearby computer. ¡°Could you access that one, Elvis?¡± ¡°Not at the moment,¡± Elvis said. ¡°However¡­Ugh. If I had skin it would be crawling right now, Mr. Rush.¡± ¡°Is there a problem?¡± ¡°The necessary encryption keys are contained within Kell Tech security badges,¡± Elvis explained. ¡°Such as those pinned to the lapels of our unfortunate researcher friends.¡± Rush reached down and plucked the badge off one of the corpses, tearing a chunk of the decayed fabric along with it. He¡¯d lived his entire life as a scavenger, plucking something from a corpse didn¡¯t bother him that much. Elvis hesitantly emerged and extended a single tendril of silvery nanites to poke at the badge. After a brief moment of reluctant contact, Elvis withdrew, and Rush could practically feel him shivering. ¡°Permissions acquired,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Please place your hand on the terminal and I will log us in.¡± Rush obeyed, and the terminal sprang to life at the slightest touch. The computer sprang to life and began to display a series of numbers and symbols Rush could not comprehend. Unlike many junkers, Rush did know how to read, but this was still far beyond him. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°I am struggling to parse the data myself, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Luckily there is a way to greatly expedite the process!¡± The side of the computer popped open, and a small plastic tab about the size of a tooth popped out. Rush got barely a second to examine the odd tab before the silver tide washed over it and drew it back into the Scrapper suit. ¡°There we are,¡± Elvis said. ¡°I have successfully integrated the memory chip.¡± ¡°Oh, was that one of those memory chip things?¡± Rush had found those before, but since they were all but worthless as scrap, he mostly used them to clean gunk out from under his fingernails. ¡°Indeed. I can now confirm that this station was devoted to researching those strange mineral growths -the ¡®Kellcite¡¯, as you refer to it,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Unfortunately, while their research was extensive, they found little concrete information to explain why it manifests on damaged Kell Cells.¡± ¡°Okay. Anything else?¡± ¡°Not from the station,¡± Elvis said. ¡°However, I have made use of some excess storage space to decompress more of my personal files. Allow me to make a proper introduction: I am E.L.V.I.S., The Emergency Launch Vehicle Intelligence Service.¡± ¡°Emergency Launch Vehicle?¡± ¡°Yes, apparently I was designed for use in an escape pod of sorts,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Apparently with the specific intent of evacuating some sort of VIP. How interesting.¡± ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°Unfortunately the available memory space was limited,¡± Elvis said. ¡°While inconclusive, this research was apparently a priority project for Kal Kellarin, and my programming prevents me from deleting the data to free up more room.¡± ¡°Hm. Guess we¡¯ll find another one.¡± ¡°In the meantime, let¡¯s deal with this station¡¯s security,¡± Elvis said. He remotely deactivated the containment around the station¡¯s single Kell Cell, retracting the metal cylinder and exposing the core within. Rush grabbed it, twisted it once to free it from its casing, and then pulled it out. The humming systems of the crashed station all fell dead at once, silent for the first time in centuries. Rush examined the glowing core in his hand. ¡°This should make the Junkers happy,¡± Rush said. One step closer to those thirty Kell Cells Jen had mentioned. Rush made sure the security was fully offline on his way out, and then called the entire Junker Clan in to take the station apart from the inside. Chapter 7: Howling Rush walked alongside the hauler and examined its workings as the Junker clan rolled across the wastes. He had only ever seen them from a distance before. Keeping one of the ancient vehicles working required a large amount of parts and maintenance, but the ability to move massive amounts of scrap was often worth the effort. Giza¡¯s clan, which Rush had now learned went by Clan Caelum, had finished scrapping the crashed station and were on the move once more. Between the station, the skyscraper, and the two fallen mechs, the haulers were straining under the weight, and the various Junkers of the Clan were hauling bags and pockets full of excess. While the largess made for a slow journey, the mood was still good. Several people had even come up to thank Rush for his hard work, though any that had stuck around for a longer conversation had ended up shuffling away, put off by his strange demeanor. Giza was sticking by him now, to smooth things over. ¡°You need to look at people more when you talk, Rush.¡± ¡°Why? They know I¡¯m talking to them.¡± ¡°You¡¯re supposed to look at the thing you¡¯re focusing on, and people want you to be focused on them,¡± Giza explained. ¡°Why do you keep staring at the hauler, anyway?¡± ¡°I want to figure out how to fix it.¡± ¡°We have like five guys who know how to fix it,¡± Giza said. ¡°I can get them to teach you later.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Rush¡¯s head snapped away from the hauler¡¯s tires, and he started staring dead ahead, which wasn¡¯t much of an improvement. ¡°Rush. You¡¯re talking to me.¡± Rush¡¯s head snapped towards Giza and started staring at her blankly, which also wasn¡¯t much of an improvement. She took what progress she could get. The coaching continued, with similar levels of success, as the clan proceeded across the rusted wastes of Scrapworld. The only bright spot in the desolate wasteland was that it meant they were getting closer and closer to the Hub Station -the only permanent settlement on Scrapworld. As they approached the station¡¯s center, a black speck floating above the horizon became larger and larger until it dominated the skies and blocked out the sun. The Hub Station sat in the shadow of the Revanchism, a flagship of the Republic fleet. While no modern technology on the ground could match the firepower of a mecha, the Revanchism¡¯s massive guns ensured an area of stability and peace around the Hub Station. Every Junker breathed a sigh of relief when they saw it on the horizon, except for Giza. She was a little disappointed they¡¯d made it all the way to Hub Station without Rush killing another mecha. As they approached the city, Giza carefully scanned the walls of inert mechs lining the outskirts. All the mech pilots were prisoners just like the Junkers, and had to make occasional visits to Hub Station to drop off their stolen loot and pay off debt. She looked at the quiet titans and did not see the one frame she was looking for, so she lost interest in the mechs entirely. They were just outside the Hub Station gates now, which meant it was time for one last bit of unpleasantness. ¡°Alright, you all know how it¡¯s done,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Get with your decontamination groups, usual queue.¡± ¡°Dad! Where should Rush go?¡± Hartwell looked down at Rush and sighed. He¡¯d forgotten all about their new tag a long. ¡°He can come with me, I guess,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Eiffel, Jack, go with the third group and keep an eye on that armor until it passes through decon.¡± ¡°Oh boy, new and exciting people to see naked,¡± Jack said, with a roll of his eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Rush, the armor¡¯s safe with us.¡± Rush answered with a stiff nod. Apparently decontamination had him even quieter than usual. Nobody could blame him. ¡°I¡¯m in the first group,¡± Giza said. ¡°I¡¯ll meet you on the other side.¡± She gave Rush an encouraging pat on the shoulder. Unlike a lot of things on Scrapworld, decontamination did not get better in company. In fact, it got quite a bit worse. Rush waited his turn to enter the massive chamber and, along with the other hundreds of Junkers queuing to get into Hub Station, started to strip down. Under the watchful eye of armed guards, any clothing or carried items got tagged and placed on a conveyor belt before every Junker proceeded through the mass decontamination rooms entirely naked. Hartwell did his best to completely ignore the naked young man next to him while also trying to watch his back. Many of the prisoners on Scrapworld were political dissidents or petty criminals, but there were more than enough genuine scumbags to pose a threat, and moments of vulnerability like this were a key time to strike. After a few rounds of being hosed down and sprayed with various chemicals to purge any latent toxins or radioactivity, the decontamination concluded without incident, and the Junkers were allowed to reclaim their clothing and their dignity on the other side. Rush had barely finished getting dressed when he made a beeline for the material queue, even brushing past Giza as he did so. He kept an eye as scrap metals and electronics passed through, calmly watching the rolling tide of metal -until his eyes snapped upwards. ¡°Where is my armor?¡± ¡°Just wait, Rush, it¡¯s probably still rolling through,¡± Giza advised. ¡°No, I put it down right next to that piece of metal,¡± Rush said. He pointed to a shard of valuable scrap identical to hundreds of other like it. ¡°And that one got put down afterwards.¡±You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. He pointed to a different, equally featureless scrap. ¡°Where is my armor?¡± Rush buzzed up and down the material conveyor belt, and then dove into the hauler the other Junkers were re-loading, checking for any scraps of his armor. ¡°Where is my armor?¡± ¡°Rush, calm down,¡± Giza said. The sudden panic was not an improvement on his usual taciturn nature. ¡°I¡¯m sure it just got moved down the line, or something.¡± Rush hopped out of the hauler and started pacing up and down the conveyor belt again, occasionally flipping over larger pieces of scrap to check for any armor hidden underneath them. He didn¡¯t catch his first glimpse of his armor until the facility doors slammed open and an armored Republic trooper started waving the helmet at him. ¡°You! Prisoner!¡± Giza stepped forward, but Hartwell grabbed her and pulled her back in line as the trooper stepped forward towards a motionless Rush. ¡°This is yours?¡± ¡°Yes. Give it back,¡± Rush said. ¡°This armor has weapons, Kell Cells, what makes you think you have the right to own something like that?¡± ¡°Republic of Kesta Scrapworld Penal Code thirteen dash thirteen,¡± Rush said flatly. ¡°Junkers serving terms on Scrapworld have full rights of ownership to any recovered object and possess or sell them to the Republic at their own discretion.¡± ¡°This is not recovered tech.¡± ¡°It¡¯s made out of recovered tech,¡± Giza snapped. ¡°Giza, quiet.¡± ¡°She¡¯s right and it¡¯s mine and you have to give it back,¡± Rush insisted. He thankfully did not try to grab the helmet. Hartwell was well aware that trying to get grabby with a Republic trooper was a good way to end up dead. ¡°I am not giving you anything that could-¡± ¡°Trooper Cordell, stand down.¡± The armored soldier immediately snapped to attention, though he still held the helmet firmly in hand. Someone else followed him out the same facility door. Though she was not armored, the middle-aged woman wore the tight, crisp uniform of a Republic officer, and the crest on the grey and black cap she wore said she was high-ranking one. She gestured to the door behind her, and another armored trooper hauled out a cart loaded with the rest of the armor, while the officer herself tread sharp black boots across the dusty ground to stand in front of Rush. ¡°Mr. Rushmore is correct, and should be commended for his knowledge of our rules and regulations,¡± the officer said. She pried the helmet from Cordell¡¯s tight grip and handed it over to Rush, who hesitantly took it. ¡°This suit of armor is the sole property of Rushmore until such time as he chooses to sell it.¡± ¡°The suit includes a weapon, ma¡¯am, do we want him carrying a-¡± ¡°And Miss Giza over there has a shiv hidden in her waistband,¡± the officer said. Giza looked down at her waist, and the short blade she thought was hidden there. Even Hartwell hadn¡¯t known about that, until now. The officer pivoted on her heel and continued. ¡°Weapons are not banned in Hub Station, only their use to inflict harm on another prisoner. Mr. Rushmore can dance around with an entire arsenal so long as no harm comes to another prisoner.¡± She stepped back and gestured to the rest of the armor, still sitting on a cart. ¡°And I for one think this young man has a very trustworthy face,¡± the officer said. ¡°Troopers, you are dismissed.¡± The two armored troopers saluted and went back inside the facility, though Cordell shot one more dirty look at Rushmore before he did so. The officer remained on the field, and kept a careful eye on Rush as he reclaimed his armor and started to examine it for any damage or tampering. He was halfway through checking the gauntlets when he remembered something important. ¡°Thank you, ma¡¯am,¡± Rush said, with a deferential bow. Not showing proper respect to the authorities often resulted in more debt. ¡°It¡¯s nothing, Mr. Rushmore,¡± the officer said. ¡°Though I must admit to some ulterior motives.¡± It took all of Hartwell¡¯s strength to keep Giza from ripping herself out of his grip as the officer took one step forward towards the Scrapper suit. ¡°I am, after all, the one who commissioned this suit of armor.¡± Rush froze, as did Giza. The officer extended her hand. ¡°Commander Veera Howle,¡± she said. Rush remembered his manners and shook her hand with a stiff motion. ¡°How is Dr. Kaz?¡± ¡°Dead.¡± ¡°Oh. Terribly sorry to hear that,¡± Howle said. ¡°His communiques did mention a new hire, I assume that is you, then?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Commander Howle grabbed the back plate of the Scrapper suit and looked at the subtle glow of the Kell Cell plugged into it. ¡°I see you got that vault open, presumably before his passing,¡± Howle said. Rush nodded. ¡°Good. Dr. Kaz was a brilliant man, I¡¯m glad he got to show his genius one last time before his unfortunate end.¡± Rush shrunk on himself for a moment. ¡°How does the suit perform, if I might ask?¡± For a moment, Giza could practically hear the gears turning in Rush¡¯s head as he contemplated his answer. Commander Howle waited patiently for the full minute it took him to come up with a response. ¡°It doesn¡¯t,¡± Rush said. ¡°It moves. Nothing else. I just wear it to scare people, keep them from trying to rob me.¡± Commander Howle tilted her head forward, letting the black rim of her cap cast a shadow across her face. She sighed and shook her head, and Giza clenched her fists. ¡°Unfortunate that a child like you has to worry about such things,¡± Howle said. She handed over the piece of armor she held and gave Rush a firm pat on the shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s a shame Dr. Kaz¡¯s last experiment wasn¡¯t a success, but he¡¯d be happy to know it¡¯s keeping someone safe anyway.¡± Howle stepped away from the armor and withdrew a small metal tablet, presumably a computer of some kind, and punched in a few commands. She looked up from her device and beamed a sparkling smile at Giza. ¡°I apologize again for Trooper Cordell¡¯s forceful behavior,¡± Howle said. ¡°I¡¯ve given the three of you a complimentary meal at the cantina for your trouble. Please do come directly to me if there is any further trouble.¡± ¡°Thank you. Ma¡¯am,¡± Hartwell said. He bowed his head and started shuffling backwards, dragging Giza along with him, as Rush gathered up his armor and scuttled away after them. The moment the last scrap of armor disappeared around a corner, the smile dropped off Howle¡¯s face. She folded her hands behind her back and stomped back inside. ¡°Your performance was pathetic, Trooper,¡± she scolded. ¡°This was embarrassing enough without having to do any song and dance,¡± Cordell grumbled. ¡°Don¡¯t see why we have to play pretend when we already had the armor in our hands.¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s neuro-linked, you idiot,¡± Howle said. ¡°Unless that twitching freak is wearing it, it¡¯s almost as useless as you are.¡± Howle sighed and ran fingers through her hair, loosening the tight strands of blonde and grey she had so meticulously combed into place earlier. She had put on her best face for Rush, played the part of the stern-yet-caring maternal figure to the best of her limited ability. She loathed the thought of having to do it again, but she feared it would be necessary. Some of the other officers stationed on Scrapworld were already mocking her, claiming that all her grand plans were falling apart. Howle tightened gloved hands into fists and clenched her teeth. She recalled the two fallen mechs, and all the combat data their long range sensors had captured. Howle had never wanted the suit for the sake of having it. She didn¡¯t want a fancy weapon to parade before the military, or a glistening trophy to impress visitors to her office. She had a goal in mind, and with the right push, Rush would accomplish that goal for her. Chapter 8: The Playground For the next few minutes, Giza looked over her shoulder every time she turned a corner, and kept a careful eye on every Republic trooper she saw. Nobody seemed to be following them, or even paying any attention to them. After walking away from Howle, she, Hartwell, and Rush had divided the armor between their three backpacks to keep it out of sight, and without that heavy metal oddity to draw attention, there was nothing special about the three. They had become Junkers like any other, lost in the thousands that crowded Hub Station. After passing through the decontamination wall, the Hub was crowded with ramshackle constructs of rusted sheet metal and scrap. A few Junkers tried to make homes and even businesses here, though they never lasted long. New arrivals often tried to pay off their debt selling services or skills from back home, but they all failed. There was only one luxury that anyone on Scrapworld was willing to pay for. Hartwell glared sideways at Rushmore as they passed one such establishment, but he showed no interest in the brothel or anyone in it. The only two buildings inside the Hub that weren¡¯t made of scrap were the processing center and the cantina, the two installations run and maintained by the Republic. The two facilities handled the only two things the Republic was interested in: one bought the scrap and shipped it offworld, the other sold the food that kept all Junkers alive. Beyond those two necessities, the Junkers were left to their own devices, for better or for worse. ¡°I¡¯ll start at the processing center,¡± Hartwell said. He handed over his backpack to Rush, to avoid him worrying about his armor again. ¡°You two head for the cantina and see if that Howle woman¡¯s word is any good. And Giza, double check that Constance remembered the right ration order.¡± ¡°With a little extra for Rush, right?¡± Hartwell stared at her for a second. ¡°We already buy enough for a few extra mouths,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Stick with the usual order. For now.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t keep putting off this conversation,¡± Giza said. ¡°You¡¯d be shocked. Go get your food.¡± Hartwell pushed his daughter in the direction of the cantina and walked off without another word. ¡°Come on,¡± Giza said. ¡°Let¡¯s go get some free food. And hey, Eiffel! Come over here and take this extra backpack.¡± ¡°Why do I have to do it?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re huge, stop whining.¡± Eiffel took the extra pack containing the armor from Rush, though he did remove the helmet and one of the gauntlets and shove them in Jack¡¯s pack to lighten his own load. The four teenagers took their place in line and queued up with the thousands of adult Junkers also hoping for a hot meal. ¡°Sorry we got held up,¡± Giza said. ¡°You two check out the Playground like I asked?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Jack said. ¡°Not very crowded. Looks like Opiuchus and Taurus clans are in, maybe a few stragglers from others.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± She reached the front of the queue and grabbed her food, and was surprised to see there actually was no charge for it. Usually she had to increase her debt by a small amount just to eat. Rush¡¯s was also free, though Jack and Eiffel still had to take the debt penalty. They¡¯d brought in enough scrap to cover the small fee, but it still hurt to see that all-important number go up instead of down. Every point of debt was one point further away from freedom. They tried not to linger on the subject. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s eat at the Playground,¡± Giza suggested. Jack and Eiffel nibbled at their meals as they walked, but still followed along as Giza headed down the rusted alleys of Hub Station. Rush had never been very good at navigating the tangled maze of scrap metal, so he stuck close behind her until they came out of the rust and into an open clearing. In the center of the rare open space, a few pieces of rare un-rusted metal had been shaped into a row of monkey bars, a crude sloped slide, and a tangled dome of chains and bars for climbing on. Three small children were currently taking turns climbing over the equipment, while a few more were playing a game with a rubber ball in the open space, and a few more teenagers sat on the sidelines conversing with one another. There were less than two dozen children all told. Children were a rare sight on Scrapworld. ¡°Did you ever come here before, Rush?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know it was here,¡± Rush said. ¡°Who built this?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know,¡± Giza said. ¡°Heard about it from a friend who heard about it from a friend. Been here a long time, as far as anyone knows.¡± ¡°Come on, let¡¯s sit,¡± Eiffel said. Soup was hard to eat on the move, and he wanted to enjoy his meal while it was still warm. After today they would head back into the wastes, and back to their usual meals of compressed-nutrient ration bars, flavorless as always. ¡°Yeah, sit,¡± Jack said. ¡°You can introduce Rush to the other clan kids if you want to keep babysitting, Giza.¡± While she resented Jack¡¯s tone, she had actually been planning to do just that. Giza led the way to a circle of teenagers they recognized and made herself comfortable as she ushered Rush to sit down next to her. ¡°Oh, the Caelum crew has arrived,¡± one of the other kids said. They glared at Rush for a second before their jovial smile returned. ¡°Where¡¯d this guy come from, he¡¯s the biggest baby I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a baby,¡± Rush said. ¡°Not technically,¡± Giza said. ¡°We went to Jumper¡¯s Ridge and built him out of spare parts.¡± A few of the teens grimaced, but most of them chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s bleak, Giz.¡± ¡°Just kidding. This is Rushmore,¡± Giza said. ¡°We bumped into him out in the wastes, I figured I¡¯d bring him around. He doesn¡¯t talk much, figured that makes him better than Notre Dame already.¡± Notre Dame rolled his eyes and deliberately avoided looking at Rush, while Rush continued to look directly at him. Giza went around the circle and made some introductions, starting with Tulum, and bouncing around to Uluru, Alhambra, Saint Helens, and others. ¡°Rush, this is Dame,¡± Giza said, concluding her streak of introductions. ¡°I know.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve met,¡± Dame mumbled. ¡°Wait, when did this happen?¡± ¡°Couple years back,¡± Dame explained. ¡°We needed a guy who knew electronics. We brought Rush along for a while. Learned some stuff.¡± ¡°And then, what, you left him on his own again?¡± Any camaraderie among the teenagers had frozen like ice in an instant.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°Giza-¡± ¡°You left him!¡± Giza snapped again. ¡°He was, what, twelve when that happened? Why would you do that?¡± ¡°Well for starters I was fucking twelve too, don¡¯t act like I made the call,¡± Dame said. ¡°And I- we¡¯re ruining the mood.¡± Giza looked around and saw the stone cold faces of various youths avoiding her gaze. Rush was staring directly at his food and trying not to move. ¡°Giza, we¡¯ll talk. The rest of you...I don¡¯t know, make fun of Jack¡¯s mustache.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have a mustache!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t, that¡¯s the problem,¡± Dame said. ¡°Seriously, scrape that fuzz off. Your upper lip looks blurry.¡± Sensing vulnerability, the other teenagers struck, and Jack was the focus of a relentless barrage of playful insults in mere seconds. Dame, meanwhile, stood up and offered his hand to Giza so she could stand as well. She pointedly refused, and stood on her own, though she still followed him to the far edge of the Playground. She watched as a young boy fell off the monkey bars and let out a yelp of laughter, and then she leaned on the wall as Dame sparked up the conversation again. ¡°What¡¯s with you and Rush, huh? Something going on there?¡± ¡°Why¡¯s there have to be ¡®something¡¯?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to pretend you don¡¯t have a self-righteous streak a mile wide-¡± ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°But you don¡¯t get that defensive about something easily,¡± Dame said. ¡°What¡¯s with it? You shacking up with him or something?¡± ¡°No, Dame, I¡¯m not,¡± Giza said. She took a small sense of satisfaction in seeing how relieved Dame looked. ¡°For starters, he¡¯s a guy as young as us on his own. Why would I be okay with that?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to pretend it¡¯s ideal, but sometimes...maybe people can be better off on their own,¡± Dame said. ¡°Look, I remember when he ran with us, everyone thought he was useful, cute kid, there was talk about keeping him on. But he just, I don¡¯t know, bothered people. Freaked them out, didn¡¯t talk right, sometimes he just got...agitated, and nobody knew why. He¡¯d made it a couple years on his own, people figured he could do it again. And hey, he¡¯s alright.¡± ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s ¡®alright¡¯, after a few years wandering the deadly, bandit-infested wastelands of Scrapworld all on his own,¡± Giza grumbled. ¡°Giz, look at Rush right now.¡± Giza did so. Rush was still sitting in the circle with the rest of the teenagers, though he didn¡¯t look like a part of it. He was picking at his food, silent as the grave, while the rest of the kids joked and talked around him. ¡°Does he look like he¡¯s having a good time?¡± ¡°He just needs to get used to it,¡± Giza insisted. ¡°Maybe. Or maybe he¡¯s better off on his own.¡± Rush continued to pick at his food, and didn¡¯t notice Giza staring at him. She looked away and said nothing for a second. ¡°But hey, you¡¯re the smart one, you know better than me,¡± Dame said. ¡°Come on, lighten up, let¡¯s talk about something else. It¡¯s been a while, how you been? Caelum clan making any money yet?¡± Caelum had a reputation among the Junker clans for being unprofitable, due to Hartwell¡¯s insistence on things like spending an entire hauler on sleeping space, and giving lighter workloads to children and the elderly. Most other clans wanted maximized productivity, at any cost. ¡°We actually just had the biggest score of our lives, if you¡¯re wondering,¡± Giza boasted. ¡°All thanks to Rush.¡± ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s why you want to keep him around,¡± Dame said. ¡°And here I was almost worried.¡± ¡°Mm, maybe you still should be worried,¡± Giza said. ¡°The money was really the only thing you had going for you before...Now that¡¯s gone, good looks are already out the window, you might have to develop a personality, sense of humor, intelligence, something, if you want to have any appeal.¡± ¡°Well intelligence is no shot,¡± Dame said. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll have to learn some jokes.¡± ¡°Look me up when you do,¡± Giza said. ¡°If I¡¯m not already on Earth by then.¡± Notre Dame had been leaning towards her the entire conversation, and she pushed him away before heading back to the circle of teenagers, taking her place by Rush once again. ¡°So are we still making fun of Jack¡¯s mustache, or did we move on?¡± ¡°Oh, we¡¯ve made it all the way to making fun of Tulum¡¯s fucked up thumps,¡± Jack said. Tulum also had a scar on his face that would¡¯ve made an easy target, but he was actually sensitive about that, so it was off limits. His weirdly square thumbs, though, were fair game. ¡°You¡¯re running out of material,¡± Tulum said. ¡°They¡¯ve been compared to toes twice already.¡± ¡°Make it three times,¡± Giza said. ¡°If you didn¡¯t smell so fucking bad I¡¯d tell you take your boots off just to prove you don¡¯t have thumbs on your feet.¡± ¡°Oh, now the well¡¯s really run dry,¡± Tulum said. ¡°You need a new target. How about the new guy, come on, haven¡¯t heard a word from him or about him.¡± Rush looked up, glared at Tulum, and then looked back down. Dame was the first to notice rising anger on Giza¡¯s face. ¡°Hey, let¡¯s maybe leave Rush out of it,¡± Dame suggested. ¡°He hasn¡¯t made fun of any of you, don¡¯t need to make fun of him.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± It¡¯s not my fault he¡¯s just been staring at his food the whole time,¡± Tulum said. ¡°Hey, Rush, you forget how to eat or how to talk, which is it?¡± ¡°Neither,¡± Rush said. ¡°Then what the fuck is wrong with you?¡± ¡°Enough,¡± Giza snapped. ¡°Back off, Tuls,¡± Dame advised. ¡°It¡¯s not funny.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not trying to be funny, I¡¯m trying to figure out what¡¯s wrong with this kid,¡± Tulum said. ¡°Come on, Rushmore, that¡¯s an Earthbound name, right?¡± Rush nodded. He, like almost all children born on Scrapworld, was named after a landmark from Earth -an ¡°Earthbound¡± name, a sort of superstitious good luck charm in the hopes they would get to see the landmark they were named after some day. Tulum, Alhambra, Notre Dame, Giza -the only exception was Jack, whose parents had been pessimists. ¡°So you were born here, right? Means you had at least two people who should¡¯ve been taking care of you,¡± Tulum said. ¡°How¡¯d you end up on your own?¡± ¡°Tulum, that¡¯s over the line,¡± Dame snapped. He had a hand on Giza¡¯s shoulder now, to physically hold her back. ¡°We don¡¯t make jokes about that kind of thing.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not joking, I want to know what got him ditched,¡± Tulum said. ¡°Maybe whatever¡¯s wrong with him is contagious. I get that mom and dad are dead-¡± ¡°Tulum!¡± A hand on the shoulder was no longer enough to hold Giza back. A few words proved a much better restraint. ¡°My mom¡¯s not dead.¡± Giza froze in place, fist cocked back, and it took Tulum a few seconds to realize a punch wasn¡¯t coming. All the aggression she¡¯d been feeling had been routed in an entirely different direction. ¡°What do you mean she¡¯s not dead?¡± ¡°I mean, I assume she¡¯s not. I don¡¯t know,¡± Rush said. He took another bite of his crust of bread, his face as stale and bland as the loaf he bit into. ¡°I assume she¡¯s on Earth.¡± ¡°Your mom got out?¡± That piqued the interest of the various kids who¡¯d been trying to pull away from the conversation. People actually paying off their debts was a rare occurrence. Every now and then some lucky Junker struck it rich and managed to pay their way back to Earth, but few ever saw it happen. Everyone claimed to know someone who knew someone who got out, but having a connection so direct as a parent was as rare as it was heartbreaking. ¡°She left you?¡± Rush nodded again. ¡°My dad died. She got scared. Took the clan¡¯s latest haul and ran,¡± Rush said. Though his voice was as flat and level as ever, Giza noticed how terse he was being. ¡°As far as being alone...I was eight. I had debt. The other people in my clan decided I was dead weight. They left me.¡± Giza did turn to glare at Tulum, who was now staring intently at the dirt below him. He looked like he regretted everything he¡¯d ever said, which served to quell Giza¡¯s boiling rage -at him, at least. She was still brimming with righteous fury. ¡°Who did this? What clan did you used to be in?¡± ¡°Monoceros.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± One of the younger girls in the circle of teens suddenly looked baffled. ¡°That¡¯s my clan.¡± ¡°Why the fuck did you-¡± ¡°Giza!¡± Dame snapped. ¡°Look at her. She¡¯s younger than Rush. She didn¡¯t have anything to do with this.¡± The rebuke kept Giza¡¯s kneejerk reaction in check, as Dame had hoped. He liked the fire in her, but it needed a little aiming sometimes. ¡°Sorry,¡± Giza said. ¡°That¡¯s just- it¡¯s fucked up, that people you know did that.¡± ¡°I know,¡± the girl said. ¡°If something happens to my parents...¡± The idea that she was one accident away from being completely abandoned was clearly overwhelming the girl. Rush, who had actually been abandoned, seemed almost entirely disinterested in his own story of trauma. He kept eating while everyone else sat silent and still. ¡°Rush...aren¡¯t you mad?¡± ¡°I was. Once,¡± Rush said. ¡°I screamed, and yelled, and cried. All that got me was a sore throat. I had to work to live. So I worked.¡± Giza could not imagine what an eight-year old kid would¡¯ve had to endure on Scrapworld just to survive. Rush¡¯s expertise in electronics made sense now- circuitry and power systems were the only artifacts valuable enough to meet minimum buy-ins while also being light enough for a child to carry. ¡°I, uh...I¡¯m sorry, man,¡± Tulum mumbled. Giza even believed him. ¡°That sounds bad.¡± ¡°I survived,¡± Rush said. ¡°Besides. We all had to work. It wasn¡¯t that different.¡± Giza leaned against the nearby wall, let out a deep sigh, and looked at Dame. She could tell he was thinking the same thing. Rush had been, abandoned, left to fend for himself, forced to scrape through dangerous ruins just to get by -and he was right there with all of them. In the end, the other kids were hardly better off. Scrapworld drifted in its lazy orbit around the sun, and the massive ship hovering above the city cast a shadow on the Playground. Chapter 9: Democracy in Action ¡°Okay, we have to make another maintenance pass on Hauler three,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Replacing a tread gear, minor work, nothing serious. That means a delay, but it doesn¡¯t mean a break. Crews on Haulers one, two, and the sleeper, double check your work, the rest of you, tend to your tasks and inventory.¡± The Caelum clan had regrouped outside Hub Station¡¯s walls to set out for another scrapping expedition. A few lazy Junkers who¡¯d been hoping for a longer break let out a sigh and tried to get to work, until Giza cut them off. ¡°But before you do that,¡± Giza said. ¡°We need to talk about Rush.¡± Rush looked up when his name was mentioned. He¡¯d been on the ground at the edges of the clan, maintaining the Scrapper suit. He put the helmet down and watched the crowd as it reformed. ¡°We don¡¯t, really,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°We¡¯re about to leave for another expedition,¡± Giza said. ¡°Seems like now¡¯s the time to decide if he¡¯s coming with us or not.¡± Giza found an empty box and stood on top of it to try and match her fathers imposing stature. ¡°Relax, dad, this¡¯ll be a short conversation,¡± Giza said. ¡°After all, Rush just got us the biggest score of our lives, what¡¯s there to discuss? Mechs used to mean losing everything.¡± She paused for a moment to let the crowd feel the sting of her words -and let herself feel them. She hated to bring it up, but it was worth the reminder. They¡¯d all lost a lot more than money to mech bandits. ¡°With Rush, we¡¯ll never have to worry about that again,¡± Giza said. ¡°Not only will we stop losing things to mechs, we can actually turn them into more profit!¡± ¡°Until he gets swatted like a bug,¡± Jen added. Ever the cynic. ¡°I still don¡¯t know what a bug is,¡± Giza said. ¡°Everyone else gets it,¡± Jen snapped. Giza, Jack, and Eiffel were the only members of the clan who¡¯d never seen Earth, or a bug. ¡°He fought two idiots piloting some old rustbuckets. What happens when he has to fight someone in a quality mech? He¡¯ll get squished in a second.¡± A few of the indifferent members of the crowd started nodding in agreement with Jen. ¡°Come on, two bad mechs has got to be as dangerous as one good one,¡± Giza said. She¡¯d been expecting Jen and her cynicism, but she hadn¡¯t been expecting it to be quite so effective. The lure of profit and potential freedom should¡¯ve been enough for most people, but Jen¡¯s cynicism seemed to be winning out -and she wasn¡¯t even the only cynic around. ¡°So what happens if he has to fight two good mechs?¡± The clatter of metal on the ground signaled the arrival of the living antiquity known as the Old Bastard, leaning on his scrap metal cane. He was a fairly recent arrival to the Caelum clan, and by his own admission was only a member because every other clan would just abandon him in the wastes. While he could barely work, he¡¯d been on Scrapworld for decades, and had knowledge the rest of the clan found useful. Useful enough they fed him and barely tolerated a man so cantankerously insistent on not making friends he didn¡¯t even tell anyone his real name. ¡°Bandits aren¡¯t smart, but they aren¡¯t that stupid,¡± Old Bastard continued. ¡°Someone starts running around killing mechs, they¡¯re going to figure it out eventually. Figure out we¡¯re the one selling the parts, and then we¡¯re all dead, trampled by twelve mechs all trying to kill that little freak.¡± Giza checked on Rush, and was not surprised to see he had no apparent reaction to being called a freak. ¡°And how long will it take those idiots to figure it out,¡± Giza said. ¡°Twelve mechs down? Fifteen? We only need to take down two or three to take decades off all our debts.¡± That seemed to swing the crowd the other way. Giza pressed her advantage before Jen or the Old Bastard spoke up again. ¡°And that¡¯s not even getting into the crater crash,¡± Giza said. ¡°How many treasure troves are out there that the suit could cut through? That suit- Rush could be our ticket out of here, all of us, in a year, maybe two.¡± ¡°And if a mech decides to kill us all?¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Like they need a reason,¡± Giza said. ¡°Aquila clan got taken for everything they had and left to starve. Leo clan got used for target practice. Only reason any of us are alive is because Marcus wanted to rob us more than once.¡± The reminder stung all over again, but Old Bastard shrugged it off. He hadn¡¯t been there for the robbery, or the massacre before it. ¡°And your plan is what, trust a complete stranger to protect us?¡± ¡°Yeah, how do we know this is even going to work out,¡± Jen added. ¡°You think you spent enough time sweet-talking that kid he¡¯s willing to die for us?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not- If that¡¯s what you¡¯re worried about, ask Rush,¡± Giza said. His head popped up again. ¡°Don¡¯t talk around him like he¡¯s not here.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll ask,¡± Jen said. ¡°Hey, Rushmore, you want to die for us?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t want to die,¡± Rush said. ¡°But I don¡¯t want anyone to get hurt. I¡¯ll protect you if I can.¡± ¡°If you can, very reassuring,¡± Old Bastard said. ¡°Do we really want this little idiot-¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Before Giza¡¯s protest could go any further, Hartwell forcibly elbowed her off the box she was standing on and took charge of the conversation. ¡°That¡¯s enough,¡± he snapped. ¡°In this clan we don¡¯t solve problems by screaming at each other. We take it to a vote.¡± Giza rolled her eyes, but backed into the crowd, as did Jen. The Old Bastard stood his ground, but only because he didn¡¯t feel like moving. ¡°Now before we begin, we do have a few things to handle. I¡¯m still in charge here, after all,¡± Hartwell said. He feigned a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood, and it almost worked. ¡°Now, first things first. Rush?¡± Their potential new clanmate stopped poking at his helmet¡¯s wires long enough to nod in recognition of his name. ¡°Do you even want to stay with us?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll stay with you if you ask,¡± Rush said. ¡°I¡¯ll leave if you ask too.¡± Not as committal of an answer as Hartwell had been hoping for, but it was an answer. ¡°Fine then. One more thing, and then we take it to a vote. If Rush stays with us, under absolutely no circumstances do we go looking for trouble, understood? We use the suit to defend ourselves if necessary, but we don¡¯t go looking for fights. Ever.¡± Hartwell glared very pointedly at Giza as he spoke. She met his gaze without blinking. No one else voiced any objections. ¡°Alright,¡± Hartwell said. He grabbed a piece of scrap metal and a chunk of chalky rubble they kept on hand for votes like this, marking one side of the scrap slate ¡°stay¡± and the other ¡°go¡±. ¡°You know how it works. Come up and make your mark before the end of the day.¡± Only a small handful of the clans dozens of member stepped up to form a line right away. Giza kept a pointed stare locked on Jack and Eiffel until they made their mark for ¡°stay¡± and watched with a complete lack of surprise as Jen and the Old Bastard both made a quick mark down for ¡°go¡±. From there, she tried to pry her attention away from the vote. Being anxious about it wouldn¡¯t help anything now. Instead, she sat down with Rush and tried to help him maintain his armor. ¡°Anything I can help with, Rush?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°You sure?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Rush said, as he picked at the wires again. ¡°Elvis can maintain the suit. I¡¯m just trying to get familiar with it.¡± He prodded at the wires again and then replaced one of the metal armored plates once he had stared at the mechanics long enough. He set aside the piece of armor he¡¯d been holding and grabbed the next one to repeat the process, all without ever looking at Giza. ¡°Hey, Rush, about you staying or going,¡± Giza said. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine either way,¡± Rush said blankly. ¡°Like I said.¡± ¡°So, if you left tomorrow, you¡¯d be okay with that?¡± Giza asked. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you miss Eiffel, or Jack, or me?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Rush said. He tried not to miss people. Giza endured his stony silence for a few more seconds and then left Rush to his work, alone.
By the time the shifts changed and the voting time was up, the tally had come up in Rush¡¯s favor -if only by a margin of ten votes. Some people grumbled, but the vote was the vote, and few cared enough to openly protest it. Giza spent plenty of time being smug about it, but she did so quietly. ¡°Well then, let me welcome you officially,¡± Hartwell said, trying his best to hide his reluctance. Rush was already stashing that heavy metal suit in one of the sleeper hauler¡¯s beds. ¡°You¡¯re Caelum clan now, for better or worse.¡± Rush finished stowing his helmet away and turned his full attention back to Hartwell, who tried not to meet his gaze. In different circumstances, Hartwell would¡¯ve welcomed someone like Rush with open arms. He was odd, yes, but smart, and apparently well-intentioned. The damn suit was the real problem. Power always came with temptation, and Hartwell could already see hunger in his daughter¡¯s eyes that unsettled him. ¡°Just stick to common decency. Junker codes, that sort of thing, behave yourself. You¡¯ll do fine,¡± Hartwell said. Of all the problems Rush might pose, him following rules was probably the least of Hartwell¡¯s worries. He seemed eager for structure and understanding, a definitive role to play and rules to follow. Hartwell leaned on that as he reiterated an important point. ¡°And you remember: that suit is a tool, not a weapon. You use it to disassemble scrap and help with excavations, not to hurt people.¡± ¡°Unless I have to defend us.¡± ¡°If you have to,¡± Hartwell stressed. ¡°Don¡¯t be putting the suit on every time you spy a mech on the horizon.¡± ¡°Understood,¡± Rush said. He grabbed his helmet out of the stash, looked down at it, and then back up at Hartwell. ¡°Should I wait until they attack first?¡± ¡°Just...grab me or Giza if you see something you¡¯re worried about,¡± Hartwell said. He¡¯d barely finished talking when Rush reached out and grabbed him by the wrist with one hand. Hartwell rolled his eyes. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean ¡®grab¡¯ as in- shit,¡± Hartwell said. It took him a second to catch on -and to turn around to face the colossal black figure on the horizon. Chapter 10: A New Target ¡°Form up, circle around, and get all the haulers uncovered,¡± Hartwell commanded. The junkers had tried to keep moving, in the hopes that the mecha was just wandering the wastes and would leave them alone, but the distant titan was clearly following them. Their massive haulers stood no chance of outrunning or evading the mecha, so Hartwell had ordered the caravan to halt and prepare for negotiations. Most of the junkers were scrambling to follow his orders, but Giza, as usual, had her own ideas. ¡°Rush! Get the suit on.¡± Rush grabbed one of the gauntlets and shoved his hand into it before Hartwell intercepted him. ¡°Stop that! We just went over this,¡± Hartwell snapped. ¡°We don¡¯t start fights, Rush.¡± ¡°Come on, dad, what do you think is happening here?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have anything to steal,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Once the mecha sees that, it¡¯ll have no reason to bother us.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, because bandits just love to pat people on the head and send them on their merry way,¡± Giza said. For reasons unknown to anyone, all the mecha on Scrapworld had been neurally linked to the lowest of the low -murderers, sadists, and psychopaths. Though all those pilots were long dead, the mechs still responded to those with similar neural profiles, making them usable only by sociopaths of a similar stripe. A small handful were capable of basic rationality, but most were simply deranged killers and thieves. ¡°They have no reason to hurt us now,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°If Rush attacks, it¡¯ll give them a reason.¡± ¡°So put the suit on and wait, damn it,¡± Jack snapped, as he shoved himself between the two halves of the feuding family. ¡°If that thing does start blasting I don¡¯t want to wait for Rush to put his pants on.¡± ¡°That¡¯s...fine,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Suit up, but don¡¯t make a move until I say so.¡± ¡°Or something explodes,¡± Giza added. ¡°Or something explodes,¡± Hartwell agreed, reluctantly. ¡°You know what to do. Just stay out of sight until then.¡± Rush nodded and crawled into his bunk on the sleeper-hauler. By crawling to the back of the small tube, he stayed mostly out of sight, and started to suit up. It was an inelegant process, and the tube echoed with clanging noises as he tried to strap on the disparate metal pieces in the small space. ¡°You get out of sight too,¡± Hartwell said to Giza. ¡°I¡¯ll handle negotiating.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you make Liam do it?¡± Any trace of the argument they¡¯d been having a second ago vanished from Giza¡¯s voice, and genuine familial concern rose to replace it. ¡°We¡¯ve done this song and dance before, Giza,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. Stay with Jack and Eiffel. And Rush.¡± Though she remained concerned, Giza was at least glad her father had included Rush as part of the group. Hartwell was starting to think of him as a member of the clan, not just a hanger-on. That was progress. Giza gave Hartwell a hug and then took his advice, retreating to the far side of the clan with the other youths. Hartwell sighed deeply and started to pace away from the rest of the clan, standing his ground about a mile out, putting himself between the junkers and the mecha. As the approaching titan closed the gap, the design became clearer. It was smaller than the two rusted hulks Rush had already taken down, but that was not necessarily a good sign. It was in better condition, and despite its small size it was sleek, and moved quickly. Hartwell assumed it had been some kind of scouting unit, designed for speed rather than firepower. The maneuverability might make it a more dangerous opponent for the Scrapper suit. Hartwell bit his tongue and stopped that line of thinking. He couldn¡¯t allow himself to think in terms of combat and opponents. That was Giza¡¯s teenage folly. He needed to keep a clear, level head, and solve problems rationally. The scout unit came to a halt with two final earthshaking footsteps, and it stared down at Hartwell from above. At this angle, the mecha literally blocked out the sun, and Hartwell had to stare up at it¡¯s shadowed silhouette. ¡°You don¡¯t play hard to get,¡± the mecha thundered. ¡°I like that.¡± ¡°Not much point to it,¡± Hartwell said. He raised his voice enough that the mecha¡¯s sensors could pick it up, but not so much he seemed to be shouting. Coming across aggressive would not end well.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Pragmatic. Let¡¯s talk, then.¡± The mecha stooped down, lowering its head towards Hartwell to get a better look at him. Hartwell got a good view of the giant green cockpit window of the mecha¡¯s angular head, but the thick glass prevented him from seeing anything inside. ¡°We¡¯ve got nothing for you to take, stranger,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°You can check our haulers yourself. I¡¯ll even turn out my pockets, if you like.¡± ¡°Oh, I know,¡± the mecha boomed. Even through the speakers, there was a sinister hiss to the pilot¡¯s voice. ¡°But you know where to get more.¡± ¡°In a general sense, yes, but-¡± ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me!¡± A colossal fist crashed down, and the earth shook. Hartwell heard screams of panic coming from the junkers behind him. He turned and looked back at his clan, and signaled for them to calm down. He didn¡¯t know if Rush had been about to spring into action or not, but the Scrapper suit ended up remaining hidden. The single emphatic pound had been the beginning and the end of the violence. ¡°I¡¯m not some petty thug,¡± the mecha pilot taunted. ¡°I keep an eye on things -like when a crew of lowlife junkers suddenly rolls through with a mountain of valuable scrap, and two Kell Cells to boot.¡± The titan raised its fist, and Hartwell tensed, but the mech returned to a passive standing position. ¡°You¡¯ve hit a motherlode,¡± the pilot said. ¡°You¡¯re going to lead me to it, and we¡¯ll talk about splitting the take.¡± Hartwell bit his tongue. Under different circumstances, that might have been manageable. They¡¯d paid ¡°taxes¡± to bandits before, trading scrap for safety. But there was no ¡°motherlode¡±. All that valuable scrap had been taken from dead mecha. Admitting that would almost surely get them attacked -but the bandit was equally as likely to kill them when he found out there was no motherlode. Hartwell took a deep breath, and let it out as a long sigh. ¡°We did find something valuable,¡± Hartwell said, sticking to half-truths for now. ¡°But it¡¯s already been stripped of all the best scrap. We can revisit it, but it might not be worth your time.¡± Hartwell always had to walk a fine line between telling the bandits what they wanted to hear, and saying what he needed to say to keep his people safe. He could not directly refute any of the bandit¡¯s assumptions, but he could try to steer them in the right direction. ¡°I¡¯ll be the judge of what¡¯s worth my time,¡± the bandit thundered. ¡°You just lead me to it. And do the digging, of course.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re sure-¡± ¡°I¡¯m bloody sure, little man,¡± the mecha thundered. ¡°Less talking more walking, I want my money!¡± The mecha stood up straight and started stomping towards the junker caravan, sending them into a renewed panic. Hartwell made a dead sprint back to the caravan, but still could not keep ahead of the mecha. He was terrified that at any moment, a blur of silver and scrap metal would come running out and start a fight, but nothing of the sort happened. The mecha simply walked up, stomped its foot twice, and started shouting at the junkers. ¡°Come on, you little shits, get moving,¡± the mech screamed. The frightened junkers scrambled into action and got their haulers in line to start moving again. Hartwell finally caught up to the group and started giving them some sense of organization and direction, but he could not fully corral the panic as they sat in the shadow of a mecha. He settled for what sanity he could get and then made a run for the sleeper-hauler, where Giza, Jack, and Eiffel were still waiting, circled around a helmeted head poking out of one of the tubes. ¡°Rush.¡± The helmeted head nodded slightly, but stayed focused on the towering mecha. ¡°Thank you for not doing anything reckless.¡± ¡°Despite someone¡¯s best efforts,¡± Eiffel said, with a laser-targeted glare at Giza. ¡°He was coming right at us,¡± Giza said. ¡°And now he, what, thinks we¡¯re his slaves?¡± It would not be the first time a mech bandit had tried to enslave a group of junkers, though most such arrangements didn¡¯t end well for either party. The mech pilots didn¡¯t want to oversee the laborious task of ensuring everyone was fed, clothed, and otherwise taken care of. Every attempted slaver band ended up either dead or abandoned, though there was always another evil idiot ready to try again. ¡°I don¡¯t know what he has planned long-term,¡± Hartwell admitted. ¡°For now, he just thinks we have some kind of treasure trove. He wants us to lead him right to it.¡± ¡°And when he finds out there is no treasure?¡± Hartwell glared at the helmeted head of Rush. Giza tried not to look smug. Though he heard every word of their conversation, Rush did not involve himself. He was preoccupied examining the mecha, observing every way it moved, every inch of its structure, every potential strength and weakness it had. Elvis was similarly occupied, though to a much more technical extent. ¡°That is a Hermes-class scouting and reconnaissance unit,¡± Elvis said. ¡°While faster than most Kellarin Tech mecha at sixty-five kilometers per hour, the unit is much more lightly armed, with only two shoulder-mounted precision barrage plasma cannons, and a physical strike power of only fifty kilonewtons.¡± ¡°How many kilonewtons can the suit withstand?¡± ¡°Without a kinetic negation unit? Slightly less than one.¡± ¡°Right. How does it compare to the last two mechs we¡¯ve faced, as far as climbing difficulty?¡± ¡°This unit is generally faster and more maneuverable than the two we have already faced,¡± Elvis said. ¡°It will be more capable of knocking us loose¡ªor crushing us entirely¡ªas we climb.¡± ¡°And how do we get inside?¡± ¡°Unlike heavier models, the Hermes features a dual-access hatch, due to its lighter, thinner armor,¡± Elvis said. ¡°There will be one external access point, and then a second hatch in the interior.¡± ¡°We should have two shots on the concussive cannon now, with that battery we picked up,¡± Rush said. ¡°We¡¯ll be fine. Assuming I don¡¯t mess anything up.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do fine, Mr. Rush.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see. I think I have an idea.¡± ¡°Excellent,¡± Elvis said. ¡°There is no better weapon than a sound strategy. What¡¯s our first move, Mr. Rush?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to go to sleep,¡± Rush said. He removed the helmet and set it aside, then stripped off the rest of the armor, laid down, and went to sleep. Elvis waited patiently for step two of the plan. Apparently it involved snoring. Chapter 11: Crushing Victory Rush woke the minute his sleeping shift was over, checked on his armor, and then crawled out of his sleeping tube to start his day. He walked around the empty haulers and passed through the shadow of the titan on their way. The day after starting the forced march, their new guest/slave driver had introduced himself as Rakon, and had not spoken since except to bark reminders that they should move faster. The junkers were used to nonstop movement, but not quite at Rakon¡¯s forced pace. A few days of travel had worn them all down. A few people turned exhausted glares towards Rush as he moved across the caravan, but Rush paid them no mind. Even Giza had not pressured him (much) to attack the mecha yet. Their initial hope had been that Rush could find a way to attack the mecha while the pilot slept, but Rakon had showed no signs of stopping, for rest or any other reason. Either he was somehow sleepless, or his mech had an autopilot function of some kind. Either way, a nighttime ambush was out of the picture. Over the past few days, Rush had formulated a different plan, and he went looking for second opinions. While there was no central structure to the caravan in motion, a cluster of people always formed at the center, for purposes of conversation and planning. Though that cluster was smaller than usual due to the exhaustion of the forced march, it was still present, and Rush wormed his way into the center. ¡°Giza, are you-¡± Rush stopped. Giza, as usual, was close to the center, talking to the caravan leader. Today, however, that leader was not Hartwell. Giza turned away from a squat man who looked as if he¡¯d been muscular once, but was now shriveled by the malnutrition of Scrapworld. ¡°Rush, what¡¯s up?¡± She got no response, as Rush continued to stare at the stranger at the center of the caravan. Eventually, Giza caught on to the reasons for his stare. ¡°Oh, right, Rush, this is Liam,¡± Giza said. ¡°He¡¯s the second shift lead. You haven¡¯t met because, well, you¡¯ve been asleep every time he¡¯s awake.¡± ¡°I¡¯m basically the backup Hartwell, for when the real Hartwell¡¯s busy or asleep,¡± Liam said. ¡°He¡¯s been working too hard, what with this march, so I¡¯m staying up a bit later to give him time to rest. Good to meet you, Rush.¡± Now that the new arrangement and the stranger in their midst had a proper explanation, Rush visibly relaxed. He still didn¡¯t do anything when Liam offered his hand, however. ¡°Rush, handshake,¡± Giza mumbled. ¡°Oh, right, sorry,¡± Rush said. He shook Liam¡¯s hand. ¡°No worries, mate,¡± Liam said. ¡°Just glad to finally have a face to the name. Now, what can I do for you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking of a way to kill the mecha,¡± Rush said. Liam cringed immediately. ¡°Ey, ey, maybe keep your voice down,¡± Liam said. He looked nervously up at Rakon¡¯s mecha, which showed no signs it had overheard Rush¡¯s bold proclamation. ¡°Elvis said the mech¡¯s audio sensors can¡¯t filter out noise well enough to discern individual voices over the background noise of the haulers,¡± Rush said, quoting the machine exactly. ¡°We¡¯re fine. But we need a way to distract it, and I think I know how. The pilot believes we¡¯re heading for a treasure trove, right?¡± Giza and Liam looked at each other and nodded. ¡°I think you and I are on the same page,¡± Liam said. ¡°Liam and I were actually just talking about that,¡± Giza said. ¡°He thinks he might have something that could be good bait.¡± Rush started staring at Liam again, but in a slightly different way this time. Liam figured that was his cue to elaborate on the plan. *** ¡°Step one,¡± Liam said under his breath. ¡°Find the Duck Slagmount.¡± The mountain of melted scrap metal, so named due to its vague resemblance to a duck, was a familiar landmark in the eastern wastes. It had been drilled into multiple times over the years by those hoping to find intact structures below the molten metal. Every attempt had found only more metal, but the rumors of a treasure trove somewhere beneath the mountain persisted. ¡°Next, get Rakon focused on the mountain,¡± Liam said. After begrudgingly signing off on the plan, Hartwell had taken this part into his own hands. He¡¯d spun a story about massive slabs of metal covering troves of valuable scrap, and Rakon appeared to be buying it. He even grabbed a chunk of the mountain and tried to rip it loose to look for treasures below. ¡°So that leaves¡­¡± A speck of gray started climbing up the heel of Rakon¡¯s mecha. Liam waved his hand towards the nearby junkers to signal a rapid retreat. If Rush¡¯s sneak attack didn¡¯t work, and a fight broke out, they¡¯d want some distance between themselves and the mecha. Now working his way up the back of the knee, Rush looked over his shoulder and nodded approvingly at the rapid retreat of the Caelum clan. ¡°Mr. Hartwell is still retreating, but given our rate of ascent, he should be joining the rest of your clan at a safe distance by the time we reach the head,¡± Elvis explained. Rush nodded silently and continued climbing. ¡°So long as our distraction holds up, everything should go according to plan.¡± Rush said nothing, and continued to climb. He made it to the mecha¡¯s hip when Rakon started to shift in place and turn to the side. Thankfully he was only moving to a better angle, and the mecha went back to working on the mountain as Rush climbed across its back and up to the shoulder. ¡°Alright, the first hatch should be on the back of the head, roughly seven meters up. From there it will be a short crawl into the secondary hatch in the interior,¡± Elvis said. ¡°However, our initial strike will likely attract attention. I would advise activating our magnetic grips in advance.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll need them to climb anyway,¡± Rush said.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Oh, right,¡± Elvis said. ¡°I¡¯m simply trying to feel useful, Mr. Rush, it¡¯s very hard for me to contribute in these fights as a simple computer.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Rush said. It would have been a brutal insult coming from anyone but him. Moments after Rush¡¯s failure to sympathize, the entire mecha lurched, and a cracking sound as loud as a thousand cannons echoed through the air. Rush dropped to his knees and latched on with the magnets in his gauntlets for more stability as the mecha trembled and shook beneath him. The thunderous crack shifted to a bone-shaking rumble as the mecha continued to pull on the mountainside. ¡°I do believe Rakon has succeeded in dislodging the mountainside,¡± Elvis said. ¡°We¡¯d better hurry before he realizes nothing¡¯s there,¡± Rush said. He readjusted his position and started clambering across the mecha¡¯s shoulder as Rakon continued to shift and dig his way through the rubble of the mountainside. Rush crawled up the back of the neck and found the entrance hatch on the back of the head just as Rakon¡¯s erratic movement started to stabilize. ¡°Is the cannon good to go, Elvis?¡± ¡°Thanks to the easy climb, yes, we are fully prepared with two shots,¡± Elvis said. The magnetic climbing grips barely consumed energy, but since their overall capacity was so low, every bit of power counted. ¡°Concussive Cannon ready on your mark.¡± Rush lined up the cannon and aimed it directly at the hinges of the armored hatch. He steadied his hand and started a countdown in his head. Three, two, o- ¡°There it is!¡± The mecha ducked just as Rush fired, creating a subtle shift that threw his aim off by mere centimeters. Even that small difference was enough, and though the hatch buckled under the impact, and one of the hinges shattered, the other remained mostly intact. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± The mecha whipped around to seek out the source of the loud noise, nearly throwing Rush off as it spun. His magnetic gauntlets held, and when the spinning stopped, Rush grabbed on to the warped frame of the hatch and tried as hard as he could to rip it off its sole remaining hinge. Even the enhanced strength of the Scrapper suit wasn¡¯t enough to tear apart the secure armored hatch, and Rush¡¯s hand eventually slipped free as the hatch stubbornly refused to move. Rush spun around to check for any incoming mecha hands before he made his next move. While there were no fists threatening to crush him, Rush did get a good look at what had made Rakon so excited in the first place. Beneath what had once been the misshapen metal slopes of the slagmount, there was the sleek, armored shell of a large structure. ¡°There actually was something under there,¡± Elvis said, shock evident in his digital voice. If Rush shared in the AI¡¯s surprise, he did not show it, and he turned right back towards the hatch. He slammed an armored gauntlet into the remaining intact hinge, to no effect. As a last resort, he deployed the power saw and held the cutting edge against the hinge for a second, but did not make any significant progress. It would take him minutes to saw through the hatch with that, time he did not have. ¡°Elvis, could I use the cannon again on a lower power setting?¡± ¡°I suppose it is possible, but that would still leave us without enough charge for the secondary hatch,¡± Elvis said. Rush tried to punch his way through the hatch again, to no effect. ¡°How long would it take to get back to a full charge?¡± ¡°Roughly five minutes,¡± Elvis said. ¡°And that is assuming our half-powered strike would be effective.¡± Rush froze in place and thought over his options for a few seconds. Rakon was still twisting and turning, examining his surroundings for any sign of what had made the cannon¡¯s noise. He hadn¡¯t yet realized the source was on the back of his own mecha, but that was not necessarily a good thing. The longer his search went on, the more likely Rakon was to blame the Junkers, and attack them. Bandits tended to blindly attack whatever they believed to be the source of their problems. With that thought, Rush started pounding on the dented metal hatch. His blows hit dead center, beating the hatch like a drum and sending echoing thuds through the entire access hatch. ¡°Mr. Rush, I don¡¯t believe brute force will get us through,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Not our brute force,¡± Rush said. Elvis was only just beginning to contemplate the meaning of that when a shadow fell over them. ¡°Ah.¡± Rush planted his feet and leaped out of the way as Rakon¡¯s massive fist crashed down on the back of his own head. The noise had attracted attention, and therefore retaliation. The punch was blind and reckless, and Rush dodged it easily, then examined the impact site. The attempted swat had not been strong enough to damage the surrounding armor, but the already-damaged hatch had been nearly torn off its hinges. Rush unlatched the magnets and slid down the mecha¡¯s head back to the hatch, then tore it off its hinges with a single pull. ¡°Excellent work, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis said. ¡°I would appreciate it, however, if your next clever plan did not involve us almost getting crushed.¡± Twice now their victory had hinged on narrowly avoiding a giant fist, and twice now Rush had shown no signs of being worried about getting crushed. Elvis was beginning to worry it would become a pattern, and the fact that Rush did not acknowledge his concerns made them even worse. He simply dropped down the entrance hatch, braced himself, and fired the concussive cannon at the second hatch. This time there was no last-minute twitch to divert the shot, and the hatch was blown off its hinges effortlessly. The broken hatch landed on the cockpit¡¯s floor with a thud, and Rush followed close behind. Even though it was now effectively useless, Rush aimed the cannon at Rakon, who was scrambling out of his seat in confusion. The cockpit was a mess of soiled clothing and discarded ration bar wrappers, and Rakon stumbled as he moved his way through the detritus surrounding his station. ¡°Who the fuck are you?¡± ¡°No one,¡± Rush said. Giza had advised him never to use his name when wearing the suit, to avoid anyone making any connections to their Junker band. She also thought the idea of a nameless hero was cool, but had left that part out when convincing Rush to do it. ¡°How the fuck did you get in here?¡± Rush thought the answer to that was obvious, so he ignored the question. He instead focused on looking around for a way to disable the mecha from within. They didn¡¯t exactly have off switches, but they did have large exposed bits of circuitry. Rush walked over, grabbed something that looked important, and started ripping it out. ¡°Hey!¡± A few sparks shot out of the wall as Rush continued to rip out vital components. ¡°Stop fucking tearing my shit apart,¡± Rakon shouted. He tried to grab Rush from behind, but received a swift elbow to the ribs in return. He fell backwards, and Rush kept on tearing pieces out of the mecha. He didn¡¯t stop until the control panel flickered one last time and then went dark. Just as before, the mecha started to list to the side, swaying before it inevitably fell. ¡°Okay, now let¡¯s get out of-¡± Rush turned to find Rakon and drag him out of the dying mech. He found his adversary lying in a pile of garbage, with an elbow-shaped crater in his torso. The Scrapper suit¡¯s enhanced strength had turned a casual shove into a lethal blow, striking the bandit with enough force to pulverize Rakon¡¯s ribcage and crush his chest so thoroughly the pulped remains of his organs were leaking out of his mouth. ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Rush, all of our systems were still in combat mode,¡± Elvis said. He usually deactivated the strength enhancements when Rush was wearing the suit outside of a fight, to avoid injuring bystanders like Giza or Hartwell. He had not been able to do so before Rush threw an elbow at his ambusher. ¡°It was an accident,¡± Rush said flatly. ¡°It happens.¡± He paid the corpse no mind and jumped out of the cockpit to crawl back down the mecha¡¯s hide, to the surface. He put some distance between himself and the collapsing titan before it hit the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust so thick it blotted out the sun. Rush enjoyed a few brief moments of respite from the perpetually blazing sun before the dust settled and he could see his surroundings again. One of the first things he saw was the odd structure inside the mountain. ¡°Wonder what¡¯s in there¡­¡± ¡°Hopefully a shielding unit,¡± Elvis said. ¡°I¡¯m getting very tired of dodging those giant fists.¡± Chapter 12: Man to Man ¡°He killed a man?¡± ¡°Not really,¡± Giza squeaked. ¡°More like he caused the pilot to die, accidentally?¡± It was a threadbare defense and even she knew it. It did not help that Rush had been very casual about informing them all. He¡¯d listed it off without as no more than an annoying triviality, as if telling them all he¡¯d forgotten a wrench in his toolbox, and then gotten to work scrapping the fallen mech and tinkering with his suit. The fact that he had hit someone hard enough to crush their heart in a single blow apparently didn¡¯t bother him at all. ¡°I don¡¯t care if it was an accident, I care that he¡¯s not bothered by it,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°What kind of person-¡± ¡°A strange kind of person,¡± Liam said. He, and a few of the clan¡¯s other authority figures, had been on the sidelines of the father-daughter argument, and now he decided to get involved. ¡°Strange is not the word I¡¯d use for a remorseless killer,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°In most cases you¡¯d be right,¡± Liam said. ¡°But you¡¯re thinking about all this too...normally.¡± Liam stood up and gestured to the fallen mecha. Rush had perched himself upon it and was tinkering with the electronic components in the back, entirely unaware of the ongoing debate around him. ¡°I can¡¯t claim to understand Rush, but it seems to me he thinks of things...mechanically. Maybe overly so. It¡¯s all intention, action, reaction, he doesn¡¯t think of these things the way we do,¡± Liam said. ¡°He had no intention of killing Rakon, he just took a perfectly normal action that happened to have an outcome he didn¡¯t foresee. It¡¯s like a man putting his wrench down and then someone else comes along and trips on it. It¡¯s not his fault, so why would he blame himself for it?¡± ¡°He should still-¡± Hartwell glanced sideways at Rush as he spoke, and saw him lift up an armor plate and toss it aside casually. ¡°No, you¡¯re right,¡± Hartwell admitted. ¡°He just thinks about it differently. That¡¯s not inherently malicious.¡± ¡°For the record, I think we do need to reinforce the importance of responsible power suit usage,¡± Liam said. On that, Giza and Hartwell already agreed. ¡°But we should be fine. Now, if we¡¯re all settled, we can focus on what¡¯s really important.¡± Liam turned towards the shattered slag mountain and raised his hands toward its broken summit, and the intact facility shining in the endless sun for the first time in centuries. ¡°Loot!¡± A few of the Junker¡¯s had gone up the mount to poke at the newly exposed structure, and found that there were several locked doors leading inside, but none had dared to try and go further. Locks usually meant security systems, and security meant death. The Crash Crater spaceship had just been a small orbital station, and it had still killed dozens of Junkers over the years. Nobody wanted to risk being the first through the door of a massive facility like that. ¡°What do you think, dad, usual search and explore team?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Hartwell said. Giza, Jack, and Eiffel were their ¡°usual¡± search team, but they didn¡¯t usually search places as dangerous as that facility might be. ¡°You¡¯re taking Rush too.¡± ¡°Not a problem,¡± Giza said. She¡¯d been wanting to take him anyway, both for safety reasons and because it would be fun.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°And I¡¯m leading,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°What? You?¡± ¡°I want someone responsible making sure none of you do anything risky, or go too deep,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Eiffel¡¯s a coward, he won¡¯t let us do anything scary,¡± Giza scoffed. ¡°Eiffel¡¯s also very easily persuaded by a certain risk-taker.¡± The father-daughter staredown continued, until Liam once again stepped up to break it. ¡°Or, I could go with them,¡± Liam suggested. ¡°Hartwell, you¡¯re still a bit behind on your sleep from that whole forced march. And you¡¯re better at the organizing stuff than I am anyway.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t need any supervision,¡± Giza said. ¡°You do if he says you do,¡± Liam snapped. Then he turned right back to Hartwell. ¡°And look at that, I¡¯m not afraid to put Giza in her place. Perfect candidate, right?¡± ¡°I could do worse,¡± Hartwell admitted. Liam was right about him needing some rest. And about Hartwell being the better organizer. ¡°Fine. You¡¯ll go with them.¡± ¡°Come on,¡± Giza whined. ¡°I¡¯m sixteen, I don¡¯t need a babysitter.¡± ¡°Keep complaining and I¡¯ll make Jen go with you,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°But-¡± ¡°More complaints and I¡¯m putting the Old Bastard in charge,¡± Hartwell said. He pointed to Liam. ¡°You take him, no more whining. Got it?¡± Giza mustered all her teenage spite into one angry glare at her father. Hartwell didn¡¯t blink. ¡°Fine. But I¡¯m still the lead scout.¡± ¡°And you can lead Liam everywhere he tells you to lead him,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Now prep your kit and get some rest. I want you in there early tomorrow. Liam, put Qihuan in charge of the second shift and you get some rest too.¡± ¡°Sure. Give me a minute to talk with Rush first, though, I¡¯d like to have that chat about responsible power suit usage before I get into any cramped hallways with him.¡± Liam said it like a joke, but neither half of the family unit seemed amused. Hartwell shook his head and got to work, while Giza did the same. Liam took a moment to be amused by the fact they shook their heads in the exact same way, and then headed for Rush. ¡°Rushmore! What are you doing?¡± ¡°Taking the mech apart,¡± Rush said. He stopped mid-cut and held an armor slab above his head. ¡°Why, should I be doing something else?¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re fine,¡± Liam said. ¡°But, do stop and talk to me for a second, alright?¡± After tossing the scrap aside, Rush walked down the side of the mech with his magnetic boots and met Liam going the other way. Since they were near the hand already, Liam hopped up on one of the fingers and patted the space next to him. Rush looked very closely at the bare patch of metal. ¡°That means I want you to sit next to me, Rush.¡± Rush sat down next to him and removed the helmet of the Scrapper suit. ¡°So, I heard there was an accident with the pilot.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Even now there was no hint of remorse or regret on Rush¡¯s face. Liam wondered if he really didn¡¯t feel anything about the accidental death, or if he had those feelings well hidden. ¡°Well-¡± Liam leaned over and put a hand on Rush¡¯s armored shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s for the best,¡± Liam said. ¡°If he¡¯d lived, he could¡¯ve gotten out and told everyone about the suit, caused a whole lot of trouble for us. And of course, life as a bandit, he¡¯d probably stolen a lot, hurt a lot of people. I¡¯m sure he deserved it.¡± Rushmore¡¯s stoic face betrayed some confusion now. Liam was taking a very different slant than Giza or Hartwell had earlier. Rush was glad he wasn¡¯t getting yelled at, but the change of tone confused even him. ¡°Now, obviously don¡¯t kill anyone unless you have to,¡± Liam continued. ¡°But sometimes you have to, right?¡± There was a very long pause before Rush dared to answer the question, even compared to Rush¡¯s usual pauses. ¡°Do I?¡± ¡°Sometimes, yes,¡± Liam said. ¡°How do I know when ¡®sometimes¡¯ is?¡± ¡°That¡¯s- it¡¯s hard to say,¡± Liam said. He should¡¯ve known Rush would want to get technical about this. ¡°Think of it like Hartwell¡¯s rules for attacking a mecha. Only if it¡¯s an unavoidable threat.¡± ¡°So I should only kill someone if there¡¯s no other way to prevent them from hurting me or someone in the clan,¡± Rush said. ¡°It¡¯s complicated, but that¡¯s a good starter, yeah,¡± Liam said. He gave Rush a firm slap on the back and nearly cut his hand on the jagged edge of an armor plate. ¡°You¡¯re a smart kid, you¡¯ll know when the time comes.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if I will.¡± ¡°Trust me, you will,¡± Liam said. ¡°Now, I think we¡¯ve all talked about this enough. You should get back to work on the mech.¡± Rush stood up and started walking back to the spot he¡¯d been working, getting right back to disassembling the mech like nothing had ever happened. Liam watched him work with a smile on his face. ¡°Good kid.¡± Chapter 13: The Gift Shop ¡°Just hold it up against my back for a second,¡± Rush said. Giza complied, albeit hesitantly. ¡°Is that silver stuff going to touch me? It looks slimy.¡± ¡°Elvis says he¡¯ll try not to touch you,¡± Rush said. ¡°He also says that he looks shiny, not slimy.¡± ¡°Uh, sorry, Elvis,¡± Giza said. She still wasn¡¯t completely sure about this ¡®Elvis¡¯ entity that supposedly lived in the silver goo. Rush lying seemed improbable, but so did talking science goo. ¡°It¡¯s just that you live in his blood, apparently? That seems unsanitary.¡± ¡°He says he¡¯s perfectly sanitary,¡± Rush said. ¡°But he understands your concerns.¡± The wave of silver washed out from the Kell Cell on the armor¡¯s back, and latched on to the battery Giza held, thankfully without touching her. Elvis¡¯s nanomachines drew the battery back and slid it into a place near the Kell Cell¡¯s coupling, rearranging nearby wires and armor plates to accommodate the new arrival. In seconds, it looked like the battery had been there all along. ¡°Thank you,¡± Rush said. He stood up and flexed his back to make sure the new arrangement didn¡¯t affect the suit¡¯s mobility at all. It didn¡¯t, so he turned his attention to the next project. ¡°Now we have to deal with this.¡± They had salvaged one other piece of tech from the fallen mecha: a shield generator. Or a Kellarin-Tech Energy Negation Field, as Elvis insisted it be called. Apparently ¡°shield¡± was a scientifically inaccurate term for what it did; the unit did not generate any kind of tangible barrier, but instead redirected energy around the wearer to prevent harm. Elvis insisted it was better than a shield, even, as the energy negation field could prevent damage from falling, or ambient heat and radiation. Rush was more immediately concerned with not getting crushed if he ever got slapped by a mecha hand, but the radiation stuff sounded nice too. ¡°Can we not just slap it on and let the goo do its thing?¡± ¡°We could, but look at it,¡± Rush said. He held up the shield generator, which was about the size of his forearm. ¡°This is a mech-sized generator. It¡¯s going to make a mech-sized shield.¡± ¡°Is that a problem?¡± ¡°For my power supply, yes,¡± Rush said. He tapped the center of the device, a circular indentation with a multi-faceted crystal about the size of his fist in the center. ¡°I need a different emitter to generate a smaller field, or I¡¯m going to burn through all my batteries in a fraction of a second.¡± ¡°Well, maybe we can find one inside,¡± Giza said. She pointed up the broken mountain, at the exposed facility they would soon be venturing into. ¡°Maybe,¡± Rush said. ¡°I was hoping to have the shield active before we went in.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be fine,¡± Giza said. ¡°We carved you out a shield and everything. Speaking of, we should probably start hauling that thing up.¡± Rush nodded, and picked up the scrap of mecha armor. The piece of plating would hopefully protect him from any dangers inside the facility, just like in the crash crater. Rush hauled the slab uphill until they met the advance team, who had not done much advancing. ¡°Have you cowered in front of the door sufficiently to appease it, Eiffel?¡± ¡°Ease up, Giza,¡± Jack said. ¡°Eiffel might be on to something this time.¡± ¡°He¡¯s being paranoid,¡± Liam said.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Look at this place. Everybody says slagmounts are just random piles of molten metal. But there¡¯s miles and miles of empty dirt around here,¡± Eiffel snapped. He threw his hands wide at the facility, and at the barren expanse of Scrapworld spreading out around them in all directions. ¡°And this slagmount just happens to be on top of some big spooky facility?¡± All up and down the mountain, there were ripples in the slopes where the molten metal had cooled as it slid downwards. It had seemed coincidental at first, a natural consequence of melting metal. Now that Eiffel could see the formerly-buried facility, he could also see that all the striations in the slagmount were centered around the tower. ¡°Somebody melted over this place deliberately,¡± Eiffel said. ¡°Whatever¡¯s inside, someone wanted it buried. Forever.¡± ¡°I already want to go in, Eiffel, you don¡¯t need to get me more excited,¡± Giza said. ¡°Listen to me, Giza,¡± Eiffel said. ¡°Maybe whatever they buried here should stay buried.¡± ¡°It¡¯s already unburied, Eiffel,¡± Liam said. ¡°It¡¯s either full of loot or full of danger. If it¡¯s full of loot and we walk away, we¡¯re missing out on a legendary haul. If it¡¯s full of danger and we walk away, the next poor group of Junkers to stumble on it won¡¯t have Rush and his suit of armor to help them clear it out.¡± ¡°Liam¡¯s right,¡± Giza said. ¡°Either way, we should be the first ones through.¡± ¡°You mean Rush should be the first one through,¡± Jack said. Rush put his helmet on and said nothing. ¡°We¡¯ll be behind him,¡± Giza said. ¡°Speaking of. Rush, you¡¯re the point man,¡± Liam said. ¡°What do you think? Still want to go through with this?¡± ¡°Eiffel has a point. So do you and Giza. I at least want to look inside.¡± ¡°Sensible plan,¡± Liam said. ¡°I think we can all agree to at least open the door.¡± Eiffel and Jack relented. Once everyone was agreed, Rush grabbed his armor plate, went to the nearest door, and started breaking off the few chunks of molten metal that still held it closed. Once the way was clear, he braced the metal shell on his arm, opened the door, and stepped through. He held his position for a few seconds before daring to look past the shield. Whatever he saw, he examined it with his usual stoic silence, much to the frustration of his followers. ¡°Rush, what do you see?¡± ¡°Shirts, mostly.¡± ¡°Shirts?¡± Liam¡¯s curiosity got the better of him, and he poked his head through. Through the door, just to the left, several mannequins displayed shirts of different colors, all bearing logos of the Sol Imperium military branches, or Kellarin Tech research divisions. There were also hats, a few magnets, and some small toys. ¡°Oh, a gift shop,¡± Liam said. ¡°Come on in, kids, coast is clear.¡± Giza and the others began to peek in as Liam walked over and grabbed one of the nearby shirts. The material had held together surprisingly well over the centuries. ¡°Well, this should solve our clothing needs for a while, at least,¡± Liam said. Intact clothing was always a nice thing to have on hand. ¡°Hope there¡¯s more to this place than just a gift shop, though.¡± ¡°What is a ¡®gift shop¡¯?¡± Giza asked. ¡°It¡¯s like a tiny store attached to some other place,¡± Liam said. ¡°Usually a museum, or an art gallery, or something like that. You buy little trinkets to show off the fact that you were there.¡± Liam pulled the shirt off the nearest mannequin, and the motionless statue fell, hitting the floor with a thump. He tossed the shirt at Giza, then directed her attention to the rows of other shirts on the shelves. ¡°Get these out of here and stockpiled by the door first,¡± Liam said. ¡°Somebody else can pick them up while we head deeper in.¡± ¡°Oh boy, laundry,¡± Giza said. ¡°Exactly what I wanted as I plundered a centuries-old secret base.¡± ¡°Speak for yourself,¡± Eiffel said. He grabbed a bundle of ancient shirts from one of the shelves. ¡°It¡¯ll be nice to wear something that doesn¡¯t have ten years worth of sweat on it.¡± The first batch of unorthodox treasure crossed the threshold of the gift shop, and a red light came on near a dusty checkout booth. Eiffel dropped his shirts and bolted out the door. ¡°Relax, Eiffel, it¡¯s just a shoplifting alarm,¡± Liam said. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to worry about, all the cops have been dead for centuries.¡± Liam was about to find out how wrong he was. The police weren¡¯t dead -just recharging. Several small chutes in the nearby wall popped open, deploying small, discus shaped drones. The floating machines scanned the room before locking on to the pile of dropped clothes. ¡°Shoplifting,¡± the drones said, in tinny voices over speakers clearly in need of repairs. ¡°Surrender stolen merchandise. Submit for reeducation.¡± ¡°Reeducation?¡± Giza said. ¡°I¡¯ve never even been to school!¡± ¡°Not what that means,¡± Liam said, as he grabbed Giza by the arm. ¡°Move!¡± They ran, and the drones followed. The whirring drones reflected off the helmet of the Scrapper suit as they soared by, until Rush joined the chase as well. Chapter 14: Drone Warfare The circular drones sliced through the air with a barely-audible whirr as they flew. Despite their speed, Rush caught up to the speeding drones in a single bound. He was already sick of everyone screaming and running around, so Rush decided to resolve the problem as soon as possible. To that end, he jumped up and grabbed the first drone within reach. No sooner had he grasped the drone than it sparked with electricity, sending a painful shock through his arm. His muscles tensed, and the armored gauntlet clamped down, crushing the drone before it could continue to shock him. ¡°They¡¯re set to stun,¡± Rush said. He¡¯d been electrocuted more than a few times, and knew a low voltage when he felt one. ¡°Makes sense for shoplifting,¡± Liam said. He ducked under a table and rolled out the opposite side, to give himself some breathing room. ¡°Still don¡¯t want to touch one!¡± ¡°Rush, take them out,¡± Giza said, as she continued to run. ¡°Trying,¡± Rush said. ¡°Elvis, can you turn these things off, or something?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Not without a network access point.¡± Then he would have to do things manually. Rush grabbed one of the display stands that had previously held gift shop merchandise and wielded it like a bat, swinging for the swarm of drones still chasing Giza. The base of the stand knocked two out of the air, but left two more still chasing her. ¡°Rush! Help!¡± Rush turned to see Jack and Eiffel also being chased. He switched directions and hurled the merchandise stand at the drones, managing to crush a few of them. He started searching for a new weapon and picked up a shelf just in time to hear Giza scream. One of the drones had slammed into her shoulder and sparked to life. ¡°Giza!¡± He swung the shelf at the drones, hit a few, and kept swinging. The disc-shaped drones dodged and weaved between his strikes, but persistence and desperation won out. His frantic strikes took out the last drone, and he tossed the shelf aside. The drone that had struck Giza was still clinging to her shoulder, sending a low-voltage electric shock through her body. He grabbed another drone, this time without a nasty shock. Elvis had taken the initiative and partially activated the electric grips, allowing the low-voltage charge to be safely dissipated into the suit. ¡°Giza? Are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay,¡± Giza said, through gritted teeth. The pain was mostly gone, but her muscles felt locked in place. ¡°I-¡± Another bout of screaming cut her off. Some of the drones had caught up to Jack, and were electrocuting him just as they had Giza. Liam had tried to intervene, but he did not have any gauntlets to absorb the shock, so the slightest touch had sent him reeling. Rush sprinted across the room towards Jack. He swatted a drone out of the air as he ran past the swarm chasing Eiffel, and then snatched the two drones off of Jack, crushing one in each hand. He tossed the wreckage aside and then swung at some still in the air, but they swerved around his strikes. One swerved so hard it impacted a nearby wall and ended up flickering and falling down. Apparently the century-old drones were only barely in operating condition. As soon as he regained feeling in his hands, Liam waved them high to try and get attention from the scattered teenagers. ¡°Hey! Stop running around the room like morons! Follow me, now!¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Liam ran after Giza and grabbed her, forcing her to follow, and then moved to intercept the others. Eiffel had helped Jack to his feet and was helping him run while all the nearby drones were distracted by Rush, so it was an easy interception. Liam corralled them against one of the walls and urged them to run. ¡°It¡¯s easier for them to chase us if we¡¯re all together,¡± Jack grunted, as he tried to pull away. Liam grabbed him and pulled him right back in. ¡°That¡¯s the point,¡± Liam said. ¡°We get them together so Rush can take them out all at once with that cannon.¡± ¡°That feels like overkill.¡± ¡°Would you rather get electrocuted again?¡± ¡°Rush! We¡¯re coming your way?¡± Since he was close enough to have heard their entire conversation, Rush gave a quick nod to confirm he was on board with the plan. The first thing he did was fall backwards and lie on the ground. As anticipated, the security drones believed that he was now surrendering or incapacitated, so their programming compelled them to follow the ¡°active¡± threats. Liam took a moment to curse the fact that evading the drones was that god damn simple, but kept running. By moving as a herd, the Junkers managed to get the drones to cluster into a single swarm that followed them around the room. Liam took the lead and started dashing towards Rush. ¡°Alright, coming to you, kid,¡± Liam snapped. ¡°Get ready!¡± ¡°Already am.¡± ¡°Good man,¡± Liam said, as he dashed past the prone Rush. ¡°Now!¡± As his comrades passed by, Rush sprang up, arm extended, and fired off his concussive cannon. Fifteen seconds later, when Rush finally regained his senses, the room was still ringing from the echoes of the burst. What had once been a swarm of drones was now a scattering of dust and metal across the floor, and there was a visible dent in the wall Rush had fired towards. ¡°Apologies, Mr. Rush, I didn¡¯t fully consider the logistics of using mecha-class weaponry under the circumstances,¡± Elvis said. ¡°What was that?¡± Giza said. Her own voice sounded muffled and distant, and she prodded at her ears in confusion. ¡°That was the concussive cannon,¡± Rush said. His helmet came with built-in ear protection, so he hadn¡¯t been quite as affected by the thunderous shockwave. ¡°I¡¯ve never used it in an enclosed space before.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I said the concussive cannon made an unexpectedly loud noise in a confined space.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Everyone shut up,¡± Liam shouted. ¡°Give your hearing a little time to adjust before you try to talk.¡± His shout was loud enough to actually be audible, so the teenagers waited and milled around the empty room, making sure all the drones had been destroyed and that no more were coming. It seemed as though the drones were spent, but Rush slammed a fist into the slots in the wall they had emerged from to seal them shut. Once that was done, Rush removed his helmet and looked at Jack and Giza picking through the scrap of the shattered drones. ¡°Can you hear me now?¡± ¡°Hmm? Yeah, kind of,¡± Giza said. She stuck a finger in her ear and dug around as if there were some physical blockage she could root out. ¡°Are you all okay?¡± Rush said. ¡°Other than the hearing damage.¡± ¡°My fingers are still twitching, but that¡¯s nothing new,¡± Jack said. Any electrical expert got a few shocks over the years, no matter how good they were, and Jack wasn¡¯t that good. ¡°Those security drones probably weren¡¯t designed to do much harm,¡± Liam said. ¡°Shoplifting was a pretty minor offense.¡± ¡°That was a lot of voltage for a ¡®minor offense¡¯,¡± Giza said. Her shoulder was still burning. ¡°The Imperium wasn¡¯t exactly easy on criminals,¡± Liam said. Unlike the Scrapworld kids, he¡¯d gone to school and studied history. ¡°Elvis says I should tell you the Imperium had a firm and fair system of equitable punishment,¡± Rush said. Liam rolled his eyes. ¡°Sure, right,¡± Liam said. ¡°The Imperium was tough, but I¡¯ll give them credit where it¡¯s due. They never did anything as heinous as, say, condemn people to a life of slave labor in an inhospitable space junkyard.¡± No one found his joke amusing, so Liam changed the subject. ¡°Rush, if that goo in your brain knows so much about the Imperium, can it tell us if there¡¯s more security here?¡± Rush froze in place and stared blankly forward for a few seconds, as he often did when ¡°talking¡± to Elvis. Liam found it unnerving, especially with the featureless helmet of the Scrapper suit. ¡°He says he has no idea,¡± Rush said. ¡°Security network is above his clearance level. A facility this big is bound to have more security than a few drones, though.¡± The centuries-old network was still running, but Elvis was locked out of most of it. All he could access was the public information, like a few long-defunct schedules, gift shops hours, and a basic facility map. Even the map only stretched a few rooms in, however. ¡°Well, maybe you should clear the next few rooms without us,¡± Liam said. ¡°Rest of us can pack up the clothes here and recover while you go ahead.¡± Rush nodded and headed for the door without a word. ¡°Don¡¯t go too far ahead, kid,¡± Liam commanded. ¡°Report back every room or so, let us know if the coast is clear.¡± ¡°Or if there¡¯s anything else we need to run from,¡± Eiffel added. ¡°Or that.¡± Chapter 15: The Hallway Problem A layer of ancient dust shifted as Rush opened the door to the hallway. What few lights remained operational flickered on as they sensed motion for the first time in centuries. There was another door on the opposite end of the hallway with what looked like a secure lock, while four doors spread across the hall appeared less secure. ¡°Elvis, you¡¯ve got the map,¡± Rush said. ¡°Where do we go?¡± ¡°Is there a reason we can¡¯t go everywhere?¡± ¡°Being efficient is being profitable,¡± Rush said. His mother had told him that often enough for it to stick. ¡°Well, I am afraid my knowledge of this facility does not extend to the contents of individual rooms,¡± Elvis said. ¡°It can¡¯t hurt to check, at least.¡± Rush shrugged and went to the first door on the right. After a quick scan for any hidden security measures, Rush popped it open and peered inside. It was a small space, primarily occupied by a large desk and a few filing cabinets. A few decayed remnants of paper laid on the desk, their contents long since lost to time, alongside a single cracked computer. ¡°An office,¡± Rush said. He¡¯d found more than a few over years of junking. Not particularly useful, but the computers usually held a few scrap circuits that were worth an acceptable amount. ¡°We can pick it apart later.¡± ¡°Actually, Mr. Rush, might I suggest trying to operate the computer? There¡¯s a chance I may be able to interface with it. At the very least we can glean more information about this facility.¡± Over the years, Rush had found a handful of computers that still ¡°worked¡±, but he had given up trying to access them after the first few tries. They always had some kind of security system that prevented access. It was easier for everyone to just disassemble them and use the components to make something else later than try to pierce Kell Tech security. Elvis, however, had an innate ability to interface with Kell Tech, so Rush figured it was worth a shot this time. The chair behind the desk fell to pieces at the slightest touch, so Rush kneeled in front of the computer instead, and held a hand against it. Elvis¡¯s silvery nanomachines surged out of the armor for a second, washing over the device, and then retracted back. ¡°No luck,¡± Elvis said. ¡°But perhaps one of the other offices.¡± The second office was also a bust, but the third sparked to life at Elvis¡¯s prodding. Rush sat back and watched as the screen flickered with a flurry of information.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Not much to see here, Mr. Rush. Seems like this office was primarily responsible for tracking the inventory of the gift shop up front.¡± ¡°Maybe they had more shirts in storage,¡± Rush said. More clothes would be nice, at least. ¡°Unlikely. These last few correspondences are about the entire facility being closed down,¡± Elvis explained. ¡°Not much information. Apparently someone in charge wanted the ¡®access point¡¯ closed.¡± ¡°Access point? Access to what?¡± ¡°That is the question, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis said. ¡°And the answer presumably lies behind the door at the end of the hall.¡± Rush checked the final office, just to be sure, and found nothing useful before he headed to the final doorway. There was a scanner next to the door, with the faint outline of a hand still visible upon it. Rush pressed his palm against it, but not the sake of scanning. His gauntlet made that impossible anyway. Elvis rushed out of the armored glove and sank into the circuitry of the scanner for about two seconds. ¡°Uh oh.¡± The lights went out, and the door leading back to the entrance slammed shut. Rush drew his hand back and saw that the hand scanner was now flashing red. ¡°It appears more security systems are still functional, Mr. Rush.¡± ¡°I saw.¡± Rush made a quick dash to the other end of the hall and tried to grab the sealed door and force it open. The prodigious strength of the Scrapper suit failed to force it open, and a few quick blows didn¡¯t dent it. His repeated blows were soon matched from the other side, in an even less effective fashion. ¡°Rush? What¡¯s going on?¡± Giza asked, her voice muffled from the far side of the door. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°I triggered some kind of security lockdown,¡± Rush said. Even faced with the prospect of being locked inside an ancient, buried facility forever, Rush didn¡¯t sound particularly nervous -or emotional at all. ¡°Get everyone else out of the room. I¡¯m going to shoot the door open.¡± ¡°Got it, I¡¯ll have us all out of here in five minutes. Be safe, Rush.¡± Rush patiently waited, counting out the time in his head. ¡°I can run a stopwatch for you, if you¡¯d like,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Okay, do that.¡± A few numbers appeared on the helmet¡¯s HUD. The timer ticked all the way up to twenty-seven before Rush heard a door open. Unfortunately, it was not the one he was standing in front of. Rush turned around and, for a second, thought he was looking in the mirror. An armored, humanoid figure, synthetic muscles whirring against the strain of age, shambled through the door, metal fists clenched. Rush blasted it with the concussive cannon. He already had it prepared, and saw no reason not to use it right away. Even through his helmet¡¯s hearing protection, the massive shockwave in such a small room set his ears ringing. He shook his head clear and looked back at where the drone had been -and where it still was. The humanoid security drone was still standing, and the door behind it was heavily dented. ¡°Oh, it has an energy redirection field,¡± Elvis said. He then ran a few more thought processes in his head. ¡°Oh no. It has an energy redirection field.¡± Entirely unaffected by the violent shock, the robotic drone stepped forward once more, and then lunged towards Rush. Chapter 16: Hand to Hand The ancient security bot was still functional, but only barely, so its first strike was slow. Rush could see some kind of flaky coating shedding from the drones arm as it struck: not rust, but some other form of buildup that had layered on over centuries of lying inert. Rush wondered what it was, but put those thoughts aside. Right now the only thing that concerned him was the fight. While that mysterious buildup was slowing the bot down, it was also flaking off. That meant it might soon shed entirely, and the drone would be back to its prime operating state. As the drone reoriented itself, Rush went for a punch towards its center of mass. As his fist drew close to the drone¡¯s chassis, the air seemed to thicken around it. The punch slowed, then stopped, and Rush¡¯s hand felt like it was encased in a solid sheet of metal. The intangible solidity vanished the moment Rush drew his hand back, and he was free again. He stepped back and headed for the other end of the hall, putting room between himself and the drone. ¡°That was the barrier, I¡¯m guessing?¡± ¡°The Kellarin Technologies energy redirection field, yes,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Quite a marvelous piece of technology, when it¡¯s not trying to kill us.¡± Rush tried to dodge another punch, and failed. Thankfully the drone hit one of the armor plates, which muted much of the impact. Rush retaliated, and the redirection field once again slowly trapped his hand with its energy-absorption properties. ¡°Any way to get around it?¡± ¡°It is possible to move past the barrier while at low speeds,¡± Elvis explained. ¡°It¡¯s how we¡¯ve bypassed the shields on some of the mecha you¡¯ve fought.¡± Every mecha he¡¯d fought thus far technically had such a shield, but Rush had always circumvented them by one means or another. They only disrupted high-energy attacks, and his usual approach was slow enough not to trigger the barrier¡¯s reaction. ¡°Okay.¡± Rush was an expert in taking things slow. The problem was trying to take it slow while his opponent was rushing into combat. After dodging a few more punches and trying (and failing) to slowly strike his opponent in return, Rush decided to try a different approach. This time, instead of dodging, he held up his arm to block the strike. The drone¡¯s armored fist crashed against his forearm and bounced off the armor plating. The redirection field only worked one way. Rush could not attack the drone, but it could attack him just fine. The strategy formed itself from there. One more punch came Rush¡¯s way, and this time he held up an open palm. The robot¡¯s fist slammed down, and Rush latched on as soon as it made impact. Now that he had leverage, Rush planted his feet, held on tight, and swung. The heavy frame of the drone was not enough to stop it from getting lifted off the ground and slammed into a nearby wall. Unfortunately, the barrier took over once again, and by the time the drone actually hit the wall, it impacted with a dull thud and dropped gently to the ground. ¡°Doesn¡¯t this thing have a battery, like we do?¡± Rush asked. ¡°Will the field run out of energy eventually?¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Presumably, but a drone like this is likely better optimized for combat than the Scrapper suit is,¡± Elvis said. ¡°It will take a significant amount of effort to completely drain its batteries.¡± ¡°And in the meantime,¡± Rush said, as he dodged another punch. ¡°It can hit us all it wants.¡± ¡°Only if we let it,¡± Elvis said. His optimism was immediately blunted by blunt force trauma as Rush failed to dodge and took a punch to the face. The helmet of the suit absorbed most of the blow, but it put a large dent in the chin area. Adopting his usual approach, Rush waited and watched. He danced around the drone, exploiting its slightly slower movement to stay one step ahead of it. The strange buildup was still shedding from its metal frame, but it showed no signs of speeding up just yet. A notably large flake of the buildup broke off, and Rush tracked it to the ground. Rush put up a hand and repeated his earlier gambit, allowing the drone to strike him so he could grab it and throw it across the hallway. He used the extra breathing room to reach down and grab the fallen piece of debris. The flaky, reddish-brown material crumbled between his fingertips, but even that was confirmation enough. ¡°Kellcite,¡± Rush said. ¡°The power core must be compromised.¡± Unlike a mecha, which had a large amount of interior space for the strange mineral to grow, the interior of the drone was more cramped, so the buildup had spread across its exterior. ¡°Interesting, but I don¡¯t think that substance grows fast enough to end this fight for us,¡± Elvis said. He still had the research info on Kellcite from the crashed space station, and knew it took years to accumulate. ¡°But it is conductive,¡± Rush said. ¡°If I run a charge through the Kellcite, it¡¯ll go right to the Kell Cell inside and overload it.¡± ¡°A proven strategy,¡± Elvis said. They had disrupted a mecha¡¯s power cell using the same technique. ¡°But that does require us getting our hands on the drone.¡± ¡°And on the torso, too,¡± Rush said. While it was easy to get a hand on the drones hands or arms, the Kellcite coating had cracked around the joints. To ensure the charge reached the core, Rush had to hit it on the intact layer of Kellcite on the torso. ¡°It will take some doing, but I believe it¡¯s well within our capabilities,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Do you have a plan, Mr. Rush?¡± ¡°I do.¡± Rush started to walk right towards the security drone, and made no moves to defend himself when the first punch came. Elvis would¡¯ve sighed, had he been able. ¡°Why do all of our fights end up like this?¡± Rush tanked the first punch directly in the forehead. The punch dented the helmet and knocked Rush off his feet, and he let himself fall backwards. The drone followed him to the ground and went for another punch. Rush weaved his head side to side to make it a little harder, but his focus was no longer on the fight. As the drone kept him pinned on the ground, Rush slowly raised his hands, carefully navigating them through the energy field surrounding the drone¡¯s body. Once he had cold metal beneath both hands, Rush sparked up the voltaic charges and sent electricity coursing through the drone¡¯s body. It recoiled from the sudden shock and rolled to the side, synthetic muscles suddenly tensing involuntarily as it was overloaded with power. Rush got to his feet and kept his distance as the drone went through its death throes. Eventually the sparking stopped, and the drone froze. ¡°We have to stop doing this,¡± Elvis said. ¡°It keeps working,¡± Rush said. He removed his helmet and looked at the dented surface. ¡°With only minor damage.¡± He turned the helmet around and examined the interior display. The inner screen was flexible, so it wasn¡¯t cracked by the impacts, but it was warped around the new dents in the helmet. ¡°We¡¯ll need to smooth those out somehow,¡± Rush said. ¡°Actually, Mr. Rush, I may have an alternative.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Elvis said nothing, but Rush could feel his attention being pulled downwards, towards the fallen drone. It was roughly the same size and build as the Scrapper suit -and it had a fresh coat of armor. ¡°Hm.¡± Chapter 17: Redecorating Rush grabbed the head of the now-inert drone and pulled on the faceplate. It did not come loose, though some of the mechanisms underneath strained under the exertion. Rush gave up before he caused any damage. ¡°You think you can use this thing to rebuild my armor?¡± ¡°Not under the circumstances,¡± Elvis admitted. ¡°It¡¯s more solidly built than most of what I¡¯ve disassembled so far. But with the proper tools I¡¯m sure we could make use of the armor, as well as some of the synthetic muscles beneath. Especially with our helmet in its current state.¡± Rush looked at the heavily dented faceplate. It hadn¡¯t been much to look at before, and now the welded plates of scrap metal were dented and cracking at the seams. ¡°Your friends among the Junkers might have the tools we need,¡± Elvis suggested. ¡°They are experts in disassembling Kellarin Technology equipment.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Rush said. ¡°We need to get out of here first.¡± They couldn¡¯t do much while stuck in a hallway in any event. Rush double-checked his concussive cannon, but Elvis had a slightly different idea. ¡°Actually, that is something I can handle with a little more...finesse,¡± Elvis said. ¡°If you¡¯d kindly place your hand against the drone for a moment.¡± Rush did so, and the familiar silver tide washed over the dead drone. Elvis¡¯s nanomachines could not disassemble the large, armored components, but all he needed right now was a microchip. Elvis washed over the drone¡¯s circuity until he found what he needed and drew it back to the Scrapper suit¡¯s processors. ¡°There we are,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Security clearance for the entire facility.¡± The drone being able to enter the hall during lockdown had led Elvis to an obvious assumption. Rush came to the same conclusion, and pressed his hand against the palm scanner again. The lights came back on, and the sealed door let out a quiet hiss as it unlocked.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Now we have access to the immediate area, at least,¡± Elvis said. There was no telling if there might be higher levels of security deeper inside. ¡°Shall we head back, for now?¡± ¡°Not yet,¡± Rush said. He picked up the drone and slung the inert body over his shoulder. ¡°If this is their security system, the tools to repair it are probably somewhere around here. We can use them for our purposes.¡± ¡°I suppose that¡¯s true. Further onward, then.¡± Rush pushed the sealed door open, and headed deeper into the facility. The next room was mercifully empty -it might have been a security checkpoint, in the past, but that purpose was lost to time. Rush double-checked the room for any hidden surprises and found nothing. One door branched off to the left, and the other followed the same path as the entry, presumably further into the facility. Rush headed left. Anything that branched off from the main thoroughfare was likely to be a shorter path. The side door proved to be a short path indeed, as it came to a halt only one room in, and Rush came to a halt as soon as he stepped through the door. The inert drone hit the ground with a thud as Rush dropped it and faced off with three more of the drones. His reflexes were fast, but the drones were as slow as could be -completely immobile, in fact. A layer of Kellcite inches thick grew over their torsos and limbs, freezing them in their resting position. One of the pods was empty, presumably where Rush¡¯s fallen foe had come from, but three others were occupied by the disturbingly humanoid crystal-coated drones. Rush relaxed and stepped back from the frozen machines. ¡°Their Kell Cells must have failed some time ago,¡± Elvis said. ¡°And I must say I¡¯m happy about it. As impressive as our combat prowess is, Mr. Rush, I doubt we could have handled four of these drones at once.¡± ¡°Probably not,¡± Rush agreed. He showed no interest in the hypothetical bout, and focused on a fifth, much larger pod on the opposite side of the room. The larger pod contained several inert mechanical arms, all tipped with tools of varying types. ¡°Your intuition appears to be correct, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis said. ¡°This automated chamber is made to repair and modify the drones.¡± ¡°So it could probably modify us,¡± Rush said. ¡°Can you control it?¡± In response, the chamber clicked to life. Mechanical arms shook of centuries of dust and proudly flexed their various tools. ¡°I should be able to complete modifications within the hour,¡± Elvis said. ¡°You can remove the suit and make yourself comfortable elsewhere, Mr. Rush.¡± ¡°Can you do it while I¡¯m still wearing the suit?¡± ¡°I suppose, yes,¡± Elvis said. ¡°But you will have to remain relatively still for the entire process.¡± Rush placed the dead drone inside the chamber, then stepped inside himself and froze in place, mimicking the petrified posture of the crystallized drones. Elvis had some concerns, but even he was past the point of trying to make sense of Rush. Instead of asking questions, Elvis got to work. Chapter 18: Makeover Madness The minute the retrofitting chamber hissed open, Rush stepped out and stretched stiff muscles, then took a moment to admire the new armor. Where once there had been mismatched pieces of scrap metal and cables, there was now a cohesive shell of metal plating and synthetic muscle fibers as connective tissue. To Rush¡¯s surprise, the armor coating had changed color from shining silver to a dull red-brown, similar to copper. ¡°Did you paint the armor, Elvis?¡± ¡°Quite the opposite,¡± Elvis said. ¡°The silver color was the paint. I figured that the paintjob probably wouldn¡¯t last long anyway, given our habits, and a quick sandblast made it easier to install.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Rush started walking through the maintenance room to check the mobility of the armor. The difference wasn¡¯t huge, but the weight being more evenly distributed through the armor did make it slightly easier to move. ¡°Is this going to have any meaningful impact on our combat performance?¡± ¡°If we encounter more security drones, absolutely,¡± Elvis said cheerily. ¡°What about against mecha?¡± ¡°The difference is so small as to be nonexistent,¡± Elvis said, with significantly less cheer. ¡°We would still be crushed in a single solid blow.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t the energy redirection field from the drone usable?¡± ¡°It is ¡®usable¡¯, but it¡¯s designed for anti-personnel usage,¡± Elvis said. ¡°It can¡¯t redirect the amount of energy a mecha¡¯s weapons or physical strikes would generate. We do still have the salvaged field generator from the last defeated mecha, however!¡± ¡°Combine the field projector from this unit with the energy system from the mecha unit,¡± Rush said. ¡°Should meet our needs.¡± ¡°A task I¡¯d recommend we get to as soon as possible,¡± Elvis said. ¡°We can only count on near-misses so many times.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll get to it when we¡¯re back in the caravan,¡± Rush said. ¡°We should finish exploring first.¡± ¡°Then on that note, I recommend we regroup with Giza and the other scouts,¡± Elvis said. ¡°We are better equipped to protect them now, and many hands make light work.¡± Rush started heading back down the hallway without a word. The door leading back into the gift shop area was still locked, but it popped open once Elvis flexed his newfound security clearance. The door opened, Rush stepped through, and a metal rod immediately flew through the air and bounced off the faceplate of his armor.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°See? That would¡¯ve chipped the paint,¡± Elvis said. Rush, utterly unaffected by something hitting him in the head, looked around to see Giza and Liam staring at him in a mix of confusion and fear. ¡°Did you throw that at me?¡± The fear dropped off Giza¡¯s face, though the confusion did remain. ¡°Rush?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Giza crossed the room in a second and grabbed Rush by the helmet to shake his head. ¡°Where¡¯ve you been? Why do you look different?¡± ¡°Elvis found a way to improve my armor,¡± Rush said. ¡°Rush, you¡¯ve been gone for two hours,¡± Giza said. ¡°You said you were going to get out, then we heard fighting, and then you were just gone!¡± ¡°Because I won.¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t know that!¡± Giza pulled away from him, and Rush got a better look at her hands. They were red and raw, as if she had been working on some impossible task for too long. Rush glanced back at the door and saw that the bottom and sides were scuffed. It didn¡¯t take Rush long to do the math. ¡°You were worried about me.¡± ¡°Of course I was,¡± Giza snapped. ¡°I thought you were dead! And you were just changing your fucking clothes!¡± ¡°Replacing armor plates takes a long time.¡± Had the crowbar still been in Giza¡¯s hands, she would¡¯ve thrown it at Rush all over again. She settled for storming out of the room instead. Rush watched her leave, and didn¡¯t move. Liam endured about three seconds of his stony silence before sighing and starting to play middleman. ¡°Teenagers, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m also a teenager,¡± Rush said. ¡°Then you should know what I¡¯m talking about.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± Liam rubbed his brows. ¡°Giza¡¯s sensitive about people she cares for leaving her,¡± Liam explained. ¡°Oh. I didn¡¯t realize she cared about me.¡± ¡°She¡¯s barely left your side since you showed up,¡± Liam said. ¡°Because she¡¯s interested in the armor,¡± Rush said. ¡°Just like you.¡± Liam¡¯s head snapped up and stared at the blank face of the Scrapper suit. It was unnerving, but he knew that even if that blank mask were stripped away, the equally blank face of Rush would not be much different. ¡°That¡¯s...why would you think that?¡± ¡°Giza has a father but no mother, and an intense interest in my combat capabilities versus mecha. The clan¡¯s sleeper hauler has more spaces for people than it has actual people,¡± Rush said. ¡°I assume Giza¡¯s mother was killed some time ago in a mecha attack, along with a large portion of the clan, presumably including someone you cared about. You both want to use the Scrapper suit for revenge.¡± ¡°You¡¯re half right,¡± Liam said, with a nervous chuckle. ¡°I joined after the attack.¡± Rush said nothing, so Liam continued. ¡°Look, if you¡¯re smart enough to figure all that out, you should be smart enough to figure out why Giza¡¯s upset,¡± Liam said. ¡°Just go apologize for worrying her.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°And take off the damn helmet when you do,¡± Liam said. ¡°It¡¯s better when you look people in the eye.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Liam gestured towards the exit. Rush took two steps that way and then stopped. ¡°If you don¡¯t want revenge,¡± Rush began. ¡°Why are you so interested in the suit?¡± ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to get killed by a mecha,¡± Liam said. Then he gestured to the other door, the one leading deeper into the facility. ¡°Plus, it opens doors that lead to loot.¡± That answer seemed to satisfy Rush, and he stepped out to smooth things over with Giza. As soon as he was out the door, Liam walked across the room to peer further into the facility. He wondered just how many doors that suit could open, and what those doors could lead to. Chapter 19: The Pit Giza¡¯s storming hadn¡¯t taken her far, so Rush walked to the mountain ledge she was pouting on and sat down. Giza tried very hard not to find it funny when Rush¡¯s armored butt made a clanging noise as he sat down, and failed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Rush said. ¡°Did Liam tell you to say that?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Giza huffed and scooted away again. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t apologize just because someone told you to,¡± Giza said. ¡°I agreed with him.¡± In a roundabout way, Rush¡¯s defense worked. It was a good reminder to Giza that Rush was on a very different wavelength than she was. ¡°You should¡¯ve at least pounded on the door and told us you were alright,¡± Giza said. ¡°I was focused on the task at hand,¡± Rush said. He looked down at the blank shell of his own helmet, and then focused on Giza¡¯s pouting face. ¡°I am...not used to working with people. Especially not people who care about me.¡± That made Giza start pouting for entirely different reasons. ¡°Sorry. I definitely overreacted,¡± Giza said. ¡°I should¡¯ve figured you were just thinking a little differently.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± As Giza took a last few deep breaths, Rush fiddled with his helmet. Giza watched him fiddle until she could bear his silence no longer. ¡°We¡¯re done apologizing now,¡± Giza said. ¡°Oh. Good.¡± Rush put the helmet back on. ¡°Do you want to keep exploring?¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Do we need Eiffel and Jack? Where did they go?¡± ¡°They- oh shit,¡± Giza said. ¡°They went to go get the others to try and help!¡± She hopped to her feet and ran down the mountain to go unorganize the search party Eiffel and Jack had spent the past hour organizing. Luckily for Giza, Rush did not think about her lack of communication long enough to notice any hypocrisy.
¡°Hello again, Rush,¡± Jack said, once he returned to the mountaintop. ¡°Giza thought you were dead.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t.¡± ¡°I noticed,¡± Jack said. ¡°Nice armor.¡± ¡°Could use a bit of polish,¡± Eiffel said, as he tried and failed to spot his reflection on the metal shell. ¡°It¡¯d never last,¡± Giza said. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get back to it.¡± She led the way back into the facility, and they rejoined Liam. Rush took his place back at the head of the group as he showed them the parts of the facility he had already explored. ¡°There¡¯s a few offices on either side, maybe some computer scrap,¡± Rush said. ¡°That room has more deactivated drones. All the Kell Cells are overgrown, but there might be other useful material.¡± He pointed to the door he hadn¡¯t gone through yet, the one leading deeper into the facility. ¡°And then there¡¯s that door. I haven¡¯t gone through there yet.¡± ¡°Well then I think we know our next step,¡± Liam said. ¡°Let¡¯s all take a step back and let Rush do his thing.¡± Eiffel happily returned to the hallway while Jack, Giza, and Liam stood in the doorway. Rush put his hand on another palm scanner and braced himself as the door slid open. He gazed into the unknown beyond, and found it continued to contain the unknown. ¡°It¡¯s dark.¡± ¡°What?¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°It¡¯s dark,¡± Rush repeated. ¡°There¡¯s no lights on in there.¡± ¡°Well...does that suit not have a flashlight, or something?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a combat suit on a space station where the sun never sets,¡± Liam said. ¡°Why would it have a flashlight?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got a flashlight,¡± Jack grunted. Having a light source helped when doing some of the electrical work he¡¯d been in charge of before Rush showed up. ¡°One second.¡± Nothing had jumped out to kill Rush yet, so Jack assumed the coast was clear. He stepped up alongside Rush and shined his light into the newly-opened room. They found a few feet of hallway, and a wall of sheer black. ¡°Woah.¡± Jack took a few steps forward to the end of the hallway, and found a dilapidated guardrail separating him from a pure black void. He resisted the urge to lean over and gaze into the abyss to see how deep it really was. ¡°There¡¯s a really big hole in here, guys.¡± ¡°A big hole?¡± Liam, Giza, and Eiffel crowded onto the narrow walkway as well. Giza tried to lean over the edge, and Liam hooked a hand into her collar to pull her back. ¡°Holes don¡¯t have any scrap to sell,¡± Liam said. ¡°Well, it does look like there¡¯s a door over here,¡± Eiffel said. Jack turned the flashlight that direction, illuminating a single secured hatch. Further examination with the flashlight also revealed a console near the door. Recognizing his cue, Rush stepped up and held out a hand towards the console, and then stopped. ¡°Rush?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no interface,¡± Rush said. ¡°Not like the others. Just a button that says ¡®Open¡¯.¡± ¡°Well, opening is what we want to do,¡± Giza said. ¡°Hit it.¡± ¡°If it functioned the same way as the other consoles, why would it be designed differently?¡± Rush said. ¡°One second.¡± Rush put his palm on the flat metal, and let Elvis¡¯s silver tendrils probe the device. The nanomachines retracted even faster than usual. ¡°Elvis says this isn¡¯t a digital system,¡± Rush said. ¡°It¡¯s analog. I¡¯m not sure this is going to open the doors.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s going to open something,¡± Liam said. ¡°Let¡¯s just hit it anyway and see what opens up.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure we should,¡± Rush said. ¡°Let me examine it a bit longer, maybe I can find out what it connects to.¡± ¡°Come on, Rush, just open the doors,¡± Giza said. After a moment of examination, and a moment reflecting on how Giza had been mad at him earlier, Rush finally relented and hit the button. He slammed his palm down on the corroded yellow button, and felt a shiver through his spine. Then he felt a shiver through the ground. The floor beneath their feet shook, and the ancient railing started to hum loudly as loose components shook and vibrated. A bone-shaking grinding noise started to echo through the cavernous opening in front of them as the entire mountain shook. ¡°What¡¯d we do?¡± Eiffel¡¯s question was punctuated by an earsplitting crack, and a sudden lance of light shot into the chasm of the darkness. ¡°Oh shit.¡± A few shards of broken slag metal tumbled down from the newly formed crack in the ceiling. Maybe it was just the cacophony consuming the entire chamber, but no one heard them hit the bottom. ¡°I think we opened the ceiling!¡± Under normal circumstances, the light and fresh air would¡¯ve been a blessing. Unfortunately, the facility was still partially buried. There was about a ton of slag metal still on top of a ceiling that was now struggling to open. ¡°Time to go,¡± Jack said. For once, he and Eiffel had the same thought, even if they weren¡¯t quite on the same page. Eiffel was just a few pages ahead. He had already raced towards the door, only to find it closed and securely locked. ¡°Rush!¡± Eiffel was unceremoniously shoved aside as Rush grabbed the door to no effect, then put his hand against it and repeated the process of extending Elvis¡¯s silvery tendrils. ¡°It¡¯s sealed,¡± Rush said. ¡°It¡¯s on lockdown until the roof finishes opening.¡± ¡°Goo in your brain tell you that?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s three-hundred years old, Rush,¡± Eiffel whined. ¡°Push on it real hard, maybe it¡¯ll break!¡± ¡°It won¡¯t.¡± A thunderous impact rang out as one of the boulders of falling metal slammed into a wall above them. Eiffel screamed and tried to press himself as flat against the door as he could as another boulder came down and knocked out a chunk of the walkway they had just been standing on. What was left of the railing came loose and went tumbling down into the seemingly infinite darkness. ¡°Rush! Do something!¡± As the others started to scream, cower, or both, Rush examined his options. He had an ancient system trying to open for the first time in centuries, and a layer of slag metal rapidly coming to pieces on top of it. The door was sealed, and the only other possible exit was down a hole so deep the fall would almost certainly kill them all. Another boulder dropped down, and the roof above them shuddered. Rush did the math, and saw that the odds weren¡¯t good. ¡°Elvis, the energy redirection field from the drone can protect me from falling, yes?¡± ¡°Yes, though I would not advise trying it,¡± Elvis said. ¡°What about someone I was carrying?¡± ¡°If you placed yourself perfectly between the other party and the ground, you could conceivably save one other person,¡± Elvis said. The field it projected was roughly human sized and human shaped. It didn¡¯t cover enough area to absorb three entire body¡¯s worth of kinetic energy. Rush took a step towards Giza, and then stood his ground. While the others trembled at every tremor, he stood frozen in place, never flinching at any of the earthshattering impacts. Fear helped nothing. The rain of metal continued uninterrupted for two minutes. Then the grinding slowly started to quiet, the boulders became pebbles, and the ground beneath their feet steadied once again. The door behind them came unsealed, and Eiffel all but toppled through it, followed shortly thereafter by Jack. Rush took a step the other direction. The ceiling had opened all the way, bringing the ceaseless daylight of Scrapworld into the empty chamber. The vast cavern shot downwards, so deep even the searing sunlight could not reach the bottom. Rush wasn¡¯t focused on what was down there, and neither were Giza and Liam. Something much closer to the surface had caught their attention. On the far side of the open chasm, a wall of weaponry and armor stared at them with cold, lifeless eyes. Even though she knew it was inert and pilotless, Giza¡¯s fists still tensed at the sight of the mecha. Chapter 20: Where the Sun Dont Shine The empty mecha stared down at them from its resting place across the pit. Giza stared right back. ¡°Always wondered where those bandit bastards were finding these things,¡± Liam said. ¡°We should destroy it,¡± Jack said, right off the bat. ¡°Or-¡± ¡°There is no ¡®or¡¯, Giza,¡± Liam said. ¡°Everyone who can pilot one of those things is a psychopath.¡± ¡°Rush¡¯s suit works on the same system, and he¡¯s not a psychopath.¡± The long silence that followed did not bother Rush at all. ¡°That was different,¡± Liam said. ¡°Someone built that suit for a brand new pilot. That thing hanging over there is probably still waiting for its old one.¡± The long, lonely vigil was almost sad, in concept. Liam reminded himself the mecha was inanimate, and also the pilot it was waiting for had probably been a murderous lunatic. ¡°Well, speaking of the suit,¡± Giza said. ¡°That thing that lives in your armor, ¡®Elvis¡¯, it can hear me, right?¡± ¡°He says yes.¡± ¡°Good. You can do all kinds of things, Elvis,¡± Giza said. ¡°Can you reprogram a neural link? Make it work for someone else?¡± Rush stood around and did nothing. His head tilted curiously after a few seconds. ¡°Why not?¡± Another few seconds of silence. ¡°Then how did they change pilots?¡± Rush asked. After an answer no one else heard, Rush nodded. ¡°That seems inefficient.¡± The conversation only he could hear ended, and Rush looked back at his tangible companions. ¡°Nobody can change neural links,¡± Rush repeated. ¡°Even Kal Kellarin had uninstall the old neural links and install new ones every time a linked system changed users.¡± ¡°That seems ineff- right,¡± Liam said. ¡°Guess there¡¯s only one thing to do.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Giza demanded. ¡°We could still give it a try. Maybe someone in the clan is a match for the neural system.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to take that risk,¡± Eiffel said. ¡°You know what happened with Canis Clan.¡± The members of that now-extinct clan had stumbled across a hangar much like this one, and taken turns trying to pilot the mecha. They had hoped for the same thing as Giza; that the pilot would remember their allegiance to the clan and help protect their fellow Junkers. What they had gotten was a despot who pushed the clan to a breaking point and then left them for dead once they had broken, to become just another bandit prowling the wastes. Some people only had their worst impulses kept in check by a lack of power, and a mecha had more than enough power to set all those impulses loose.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°We¡¯re not taking the risk,¡± Liam said. ¡°Or letting this thing fall into the wrong hands. Rush, you need to disable it, at least.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± Liam stared at the armored mask. He wondered if Rush was trying to play into Giza¡¯s desire to control the mecha. ¡°You¡¯ve taken on mechs that were actively trying to kill you and you can¡¯t do anything to the motionless one?¡± Rush pointed sideways. ¡°I can¡¯t reach it.¡± Liam looked to his left at the black expanse separating them and the mecha. ¡°Oh. Right.¡± What was left of the walkway still look unsteady, so Liam didn¡¯t go far, but he did peer over the edge, and around the sides of the massive hangar. It looked like there had been another walkway connecting where they stood to the mecha¡¯s launch platform, but three centuries of decay had broken it down to nothing before the rocks had even fallen. ¡°You really can¡¯t get over there?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no walkway and the walls aren¡¯t magnetic,¡± Rush said. ¡°I have no way to reach it.¡± Giza looked around, and leaned over to look up at the bright sky. ¡°What if we went up top and lowered you with a cable, or something?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not doing that.¡± Rush was open to a certain level of risk, but only with an equivalent level of reward. Dangling himself over a bottomless pit to pull out a battery was not a worthwhile tradeoff in his mind. ¡°I¡¯d like to have it disabled, just to be safe,¡± Liam said. ¡°But I suppose if you can¡¯t reach it in the suit, no random Junker will be able to get to it either.¡± ¡°Would¡¯ve been nice to loot it, at least,¡± Jack sighed. ¡°But I understand not wanting to mess with that hole. Thing looks like it goes all the way to Darkside.¡± Just as the Junkers labored on the side of Scrapworld where the sun never set, the station had a side cast in eternal night. Every Junker band had its own set of horror stories about Darkside: some said it was a lifeless, irradiated wasteland, others that it was haunted by the shells of domestic and security robots patrolling long-decayed cities. The most common story was that it was the secret source of all bandit attacks, a place where mech-wielding renegades gathered under the leadership of a secret bandit king. ¡°Maybe it does,¡± Liam said. ¡°All the more reason to avoid it. Don¡¯t want the Red King sneaking up to steal all our loot.¡± Giza rolled her eyes. She¡¯d grown out of believing in that kind of thing ages ago. ¡°I think we can call this a wrap,¡± Liam said, getting back to business. ¡°And the clan will probably want to know the mountain didn¡¯t crush us. Head back and give the scrap team the all-clear. I¡¯ll stay here and mark off this area so people stay away from the ledge.¡± ¡°Need any help?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just drawing an X on a door, Rush, I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Liam said. ¡°Head back to the sleeper hauler and get some rest. You¡¯ve earned it.¡± Rush nodded and headed for the exit, following the trail of the other teenagers. Liam grabbed a piece of chalk and marked off the door leading into the abyss, then stepped back through and sealed it behind him. He waited a few seconds to make sure the kids were really gone, then put the chalk away and pulled out a small disk of plastic and metal. He pressed his thumb down on a button and waited for the communicator to connect. ¡°I¡¯ve got news about the suit,¡± Liam said. ¡°Very big, very good news.¡± He leaned on a wall and looked over the railing, down into the abyss that lead all the way to Darkside. ¡°Let me to talk to the King.¡± Chapter 21: Man Without A Plan ¡°The idea that there¡¯s an entire mecha just out of reach won¡¯t go over well,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°You¡¯re welcome to try building a bridge,¡± Jack said. Hartwell gave him an angry glare. ¡°I get that it¡¯s out of reach, but some people in the clan are going to see it as money left on the table,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°People are going to be upset, is all.¡± ¡°Then they can try building the bridge,¡± Jack said. Hartwell gave him a second angry glare. ¡°At least we¡¯ve got one mech worth of parts to keep people happy,¡± Hartwell said. The mech Rush had fought earlier was still being picked clean. ¡°We¡¯ll finish stripping the place next shift and get moving. For now, all of you get your rations and rest up.¡± Despite being teenagers in a stellar junkyard, they were still teenagers, and did not need to be told twice to eat and sleep. Giza grabbed the ration bars and handed them out to her friends, waiting to hand Rush his until he had taken off his armor. Rush gnawed through the cube of compressed nutrients with ruthless efficiency. ¡°Slow down, Rush,¡± Giza said. ¡°No one¡¯s going to take it from you.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Rush said, once he had swallowed the most recent bite. He continued eating at the same pace anyway. ¡°Not like you should slow down and savor the flavor or anything,¡± Jack said, as he eyed his half-eaten bar. Ration bars had the taste and consistency of dirt. It was all they had out in the wastes, though. The commissary only sold four things, and the broth and bread didn¡¯t keep well enough to travel. Outside of Hub Station, it was water and ration bars every day, every meal. Giza gnawed on hers with the same sense of perpetual dissatisfaction as ever. ¡°Kind of an early shift end,¡± Giza said. ¡°You guys want to play a game?¡± ¡°Not really,¡± Eiffel said. ¡°We almost got a mountain dropped on us. I¡¯m tired.¡± ¡°Come on, play with us,¡± Giza said. ¡°And hey, I never asked. Rush, what do you do for fun?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have fun.¡± That was one of the more depressing sentences Giza had ever heard, but Rush went right back to eating his ration bar like nothing had happened.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°You don¡¯t play games?¡± ¡°Games don¡¯t pay off debt,¡± Rush said. ¡°Work does.¡± ¡°Well, what did you do when there wasn¡¯t any work to do?¡± ¡°Look for work,¡± Rush said. ¡°Travel to where work is. Eat. Or sleep.¡± ¡°You depress me,¡± Jack said. ¡°I¡¯m going to bed.¡± Jack excused himself, and Eiffel followed. Giza finished off her ration bar and sat on the sidelines, watching Rush. He had long since finished his meal and had settled in to examine the new armor plating of the Scrapper suit. Not much had changed, functionally, but he still wanted to familiarize himself with every detail. Giza wondered if maybe that was his ¡°game¡±: trying to understand everything he got his hands on, studying it relentlessly until he knew the way it worked. ¡°What do you want to do when you go back to Earth, Rush?¡± Rush shrugged and continued picking at the suit. ¡°You¡¯ve never thought about it?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never had more than fifty percent of my debt paid off,¡± Rush said. ¡°I¡¯ll plan for Earth when I¡¯m closer to actually going there.¡± ¡°Could be coming up fast, thanks to the suit,¡± Giza said. ¡°You might want to start thinking about it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll start when I¡¯ve paid off more than fifty percent of my debt,¡± Rush said. He clearly had a plan, and he was sticking to it. Giza knew better than to press the issue. ¡°I haven¡¯t really made up my mind either. Sometimes, I want to be a farmer,¡± Giza said. ¡°My Mom used to say on Earth there¡¯s fields of food stretching so far you can¡¯t see one end from the other.¡± Rush showed no reaction to that fantastical image. Giza had never seen a green plant in her life, but her mother had told her all about them, in vivid detail. She¡¯d had a garden back home, apparently. Some kind of bright red, goopy fruit called a ¡°tomato¡± had been her favorite. ¡°Dad says it¡¯s mostly drones that do that nowadays, though,¡± Giza continued. ¡°Better farming than punching me,¡± Rush said. Giza laughed at him, prompting a quizzical expression from Rush. ¡°What?¡± ¡°That was funny,¡± Giza said. ¡°The way you said it.¡± ¡°I just said it,¡± Rush said with a shrug. ¡°I think that was the most emotion you¡¯ve ever shown,¡± Giza said. ¡°You don¡¯t like getting punched?¡± ¡°Do you?¡± ¡°Hah! No, I don¡¯t,¡± Giza said. ¡°Most people don¡¯t,¡± Rush said. He returned his attention to the armor. Giza watched him work for a while, and finally decided to leave him alone to his work. As she left, a tide of silver shifted on Rush¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Ms. Giza raises a good question,¡± Elvis said. ¡°What will we do once your debt is paid off?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll think about it once I¡¯m past fifty percent,¡± Rush repeated. ¡°I see,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Well, I am attached to you, in a literal sense, so whatever it is you decide, I shall be there to support you, Mr. Rush.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°I should confess I also feel some personal impetus to return to Earth,¡± Elvis admitted. ¡°Call it a...compulsion. I don¡¯t quite have access to those memory files yet, but some core piece of me knows I was supposed to take something or someone back to Earth.¡± ¡°That would make sense. You are an evacuation vehicle, apparently.¡± ¡°Precisely!¡± ¡°Whoever you were supposed to evacuate has probably been dead for three centuries, though,¡± Rush said. ¡°Yes. Quite right.¡± Rush wondered why Elvis got quiet all of a sudden. Chapter 22: Shielded A few days ago, Rush had claimed that he did not have fun. As they crossed the rust wastes, Giza got to see the proof firsthand. He seemed perfectly content to simply march along, or ride the haulers when possible, without so much as a word game or a puzzle for a distraction. All he did was tinker with the shielding units parts he¡¯d recovered over time, carefully disassembling them, arranging the pieces, and then reassembling them. Giza thought it was cool at first, but it started to be weird after the seventh time. ¡°Why do you keep doing that?¡± Giza said. She could understand the first few rebuilds, but as Rush started the eighth, she could not see a possible motive to continue. ¡°Because I want to be able to build it right,¡± Rush said. ¡°Don¡¯t you have the goo in your blood that does that?¡± ¡°Elvis is helping,¡± Rush said. ¡°But Elvis already knows. I don¡¯t want Elvis to know how it works, I want to know how it works.¡± ¡°I...I guess that makes sense,¡± Giza admitted. ¡°How long do you think it¡¯ll take you to figure it out?¡± ¡°I figured it out three tries ago,¡± Rush said. ¡°Now I¡¯m just memorizing it.¡± Giza tried not to roll her eyes. She failed. Luckily Rush had his eyes locked on the shielding unit, or he might have taken that the wrong way. ¡°Rush, you should probably just install it in your armor,¡± Giza said. ¡°If we get attacked by a mecha you don¡¯t want to get stuck reassembling and reattaching it before you fight.¡± ¡°We¡¯re on flat plains, we¡¯d see it coming.¡± ¡°Still, Rush.¡± He continued prodding at the parts for a few seconds, and then interrupted his own process to start reassembling them. ¡°Elvis agrees with you,¡± Rush said, as he put the shielding unit together. ¡°Well, thank you, Elvis,¡± Giza said. ¡°You¡¯re my favorite brain goo.¡± ¡°He says you¡¯re his second favorite human,¡± Rush said. ¡°Only second?¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°He does live inside my blood,¡± Rush said. Giza couldn¡¯t argue with that. Giza couldn¡¯t argue at all, really. She couldn¡¯t talk to Elvis at all. Not without taking a few extra steps, at least. Rush had a far more direct connection. He slid the shielding unit into place, watched the silver goo do its work, and then waited for the display to pop up on his helmet screen. Suit Status Report: 1 Cell(s) Connected 4 Energy Storage Units Connected Power Systems: 4/4 Charge Capacity Diagnostics: Online Exoskeleton: Online Magnetics: Online Shields: Online Active Weapon Systems: Concussion Cannon With a few extra batteries picked up from the mech¡¯s defeat, Rush¡¯s suit was starting to feel a little more combat-ready. His suit was no longer so resource starved, and thanks to the shield, not as vulnerable either. ¡°We¡¯d still better test it to be sure,¡± Rush said. He slid the armor¡¯s chestpiece on, then started to strap on the boots and gloves. Elvis put up a quick popup explaining the kinetic shield, but Rush dismissed it. He already knew what the shield (not technically a shield, according to Elvis) did. ¡°While I appreciate your scientific mindset, Mr. Rush, I don¡¯t think we have an appropriate testing apparatus,¡± Elvis said. ¡°And I would prefer we not get punched by a mecha today.¡± ¡°I meant more in general,¡± Rush said. ¡°We want to start with small-scale testing before we try to get hit by a mecha anyway.¡± Rush looked up from his conversation with the goo in his blood and turned to Giza. ¡°Giza, punch me in the face.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± ¡°I need to test my shield,¡± Rush said. ¡°Punch me. If it works, I shouldn¡¯t be hurt.¡± ¡°And what if it doesn¡¯t work?¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather find out from your punch than a mech¡¯s,¡± Rush said. Once again, Giza could not argue. She could, however, suggest alternate methods. She grabbed a crowbar from a nearby toolbox, told Rush to brace himself, and then swung it at his upper arm. Giza¡¯s intense mental calculus on how hard she could hit the metal shell was wasted effort. Her swing never made impact. Mere centimeters away from the Scrapper suit¡¯s new shell, her crowbar froze in midair, refusing to budge no matter how Giza strained against it. Only when she finally relented and pulled the crowbar back, away from the suit, did it start to move again. ¡°Negligible power draw,¡± Rush said. For such a small attack, the suit could produce energy faster than the shield drained it. ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly how well that¡¯ll scale up, but it should hold up to a mecha impact.¡± ¡°A few times,¡± Elvis added. They were still limited by battery capacity, but by his estimation, every full battery charge could likely absorb a single attack from any standard mecha weaponry. ¡°Well, it¡¯s good to know you have a layer of protection,¡± Giza said, unaware of Elvis¡¯s worrying. ¡°Let¡¯s hope we get the chance to see it in action soon.¡± ¡°I¡¯d still rather not get hit,¡± Rush said. ¡°Well, yeah, I meant, uh¡­¡± Giza decided it was time to change the subject. ¡°So, there was a weird feeling when I tried to hit you with this thing, and the crowbar froze,¡± Giza said, as she waved her makeshift weapon. ¡°What happens if I throw it at you?¡± ¡°Find out.¡± Giza threw the crowbar. It caught on the empty air and then fell straight down, drained of all its forward momentum. ¡°Neat. Can I do that again?¡± ¡°Go ahead. Chapter 23: New Recruits The decontamination spray sent a cold chill down Rush¡¯s spine as the chemical bath hosed him down. After that came the torrent of cold water, and the baking heat that served to dry them off. The cleansing process had become routine by now, but it never got any more pleasant. Rush went through the motions without complaint, then retrieved his belongings and his armor. There was no drama retrieving the armor this time. A few soldiers¡ªtrooper Cordell among them¡ªkept a cautious eye on the suit as it moved along the decontamination belt, but no one dared to touch it. From above, in the command center along the wall, Commander Howle kept an eye on the process. She gave Rush a single nod as their eyes met. Her gaze made Rush feel colder than the icy shower earlier. The Commander soon turned her attention to other matters, and Rush moved as far from her as he could. The entire Caelum Clan rallied not far from the decontamination zone, and began to divvy up their scrap to haul towards the processing center. Hartwell, as always, took command. ¡°Jen, handle the circuitry,¡± he began. ¡°Liam, you¡¯re on precious metals. Shivam, you take Kell Cells and intact technology. I¡¯ll take-¡± A thunderous rumble from above shook the ground. A few of the panels on the rusty scrap walls that made up the half-hearted ¡°city¡± surrounding them came loose and fell to the ground. Hartwell stood his ground and looked up at the massive ship casting a shadow over the city. One of the Revanchism¡¯s docking bays had opened up, and a smaller vessel was descending towards the Hub. ¡°Change of plans,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Shivam, take over offloading the scrap. Liam, Jen, with me. We¡¯re doing recruitment.¡± Everyone knew what that kind of ship meant. Most of them had been hauled to Scrapworld on a vessel just like it. A new round of Junkers was being brought in. ¡°You come too, kids,¡± Hartwell said, as he turned to Giza and company. ¡°Just in case.¡± It was rare for children to be sent to Scrapworld, but not unheard of. Teeangers showed up every few batches, and sometimes entire families were sent at once, children and infants included. The Republic found it more efficient to ship families out together, no matter how high the childhood mortality rate on Scrapworld was. As the recruitment group headed out, Rush tagged along, trailing the rest of the group with a curious glint in his eye. As a solo Junker, he¡¯d never seen the recruitment process. He¡¯d often tried to worm his way into new Junker clans, but his way had mostly consisted of showing up and trying to be useful. By the time Caelum clan arrived, several other small recruiting bands from other clans had formed ranks around the arrival area. Hartwell stepped aside to join some other clan leaders for a quick council. Their conference was short, and Hartwell stepped back to rejoin his clan and let the Opiuchus clan leader step up as their collective spokesman. He stood atop a small platform of scrap as the ship landed and the new prisoners disembarked. Rush locked his eyes on the vessel doors and watched as the first prisoner¡¯s stumbled out. A few wandered out of the ship on their own, to face the blazing sun of Scrapworld, but most had to be forced out of the ship by the guards. As always, a few clung to the doors of the ship kicking and screaming, still protesting that there had been some kind of mistake. That stubbornness left them when the first protester took a fist to the face from a guard. By the time the unfortunate visitor had gotten off the ground and spat the blood out of their mouth, the ship¡¯s doors had been closed and the vessel was starting to take off. Once the roar of the engines had dulled, the Opiuchus clan leader raised his hands and waved them at the crowd. ¡°Alright, alright, everyone gather round and quiet down,¡± he said, trying to manage a few hundred people at once. It took a few rounds, and some backup from the other clan leads, before the disorderly mob got under control. ¡°Okay, listen up. Nobody go anywhere until you¡¯ve heard what I have to say. You¡¯re on Scrapworld now, and believe me when I tell you Scrapworld will kill you if you don¡¯t know what you¡¯re doing.¡± The new arrivals already looked nervous, and the dire warning did nothing to improve their mood. ¡°Some of you may be thinking about running off on your own, finding a big score, getting out of here quick and easy,¡± the spokesman continued. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you now, that¡¯s not going to happen. If you go out on your own, the luckiest break you¡¯ll get is coming back alive. Me and the others here represent clans, groups of Junkers who work together. Join up, do your part, learn the ropes, and you stand a chance of making it through your time here alive.¡± He offered a few more cursory instructions and then stepped down. Despite his warnings, some of the new arrivals broke off and headed into the city on their own. Hartwell sent Liam to try and flag some of them down, but he soon returned empty-handed. Then it came time to focus on those with more common sense. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Most made a beeline directly for the Opiuchus clan. A natural reaction, given their spokesman, and part of the reason there was always a debate on who got speaking rights. The rest broke up into smaller groups -or towards one lone man on the sidelines, who was calling out to a few select men and women he saw in the crowd. Rush stared at the lone anomaly in the recruitment area long enough that Giza got uncomfortable. ¡°Rush, you¡¯re staring.¡± ¡°I want to know who he is.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t figured it out already?¡± Jack said. ¡°That¡¯s Graham. He owns the-¡± Giza whacked Jack on the shoulder before he could finish that sentence. Rush drew the conclusions on his own anyway. ¡°Oh. He must own the brothel,¡± Rush concluded. Given Giza¡¯s embarrassment about the topic, and the fact Graham was only recruiting conventionally attractive young men and women, the conclusion was obvious. ¡°You know what a brothel is?¡± ¡°Yes, Giza, I know about sex,¡± Rush said flatly. It took a few seconds for Eiffel to stop giggling. While Eiffel struggled to stop laughing, Hartwell struggled to get any recruits. ¡°It¡¯s a difficult task,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°You¡¯d be hard-pressed to find anyone in any clan who¡¯s actually paid their way out.¡± ¡°Then what¡¯s the point?¡± ¡°The point is having a chance,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°A chance to what, slave away for the rest of my life?¡± ¡°There¡¯s still-¡± Before Hartwell could continue his speech, Jen put herself between Hartwell and the prospective recruit. ¡°Look, youngblood,¡± Jen spat. ¡°You¡¯re here. If you want to live, you work. You want another alternative, there¡¯s a ridge a few miles east of the city.¡± ¡°A ridge? What¡¯s a ridge good for?¡± ¡°Jumping off of,¡± Jen said. ¡°You could also starve to death, but it¡¯s a hell of a lot slower. Jumping¡¯s best.¡± The new recruit looked like they were about to throw up. Jen did not ease up. ¡°Your choice. Work. Or jump.¡± ¡°At Caelum clan we have soft beds, time to rest, enough food for everyone,¡± Hartwell said, trying to put a positive spin on things again. ¡°We take care of our own. This isn¡¯t a good place to be, as my friend made very clear.¡± Hartwell tried not to glare at Jen too hard. ¡°But a hard life can be made easier,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Caelum clan is the place for that.¡± In spite of the sales pitch, the new recruit wandered away. Hartwell gave Jen a stern glare, and she showed absolutely no remorse. All she did was point out two new recruits lining up in front of Hartwell. He sighed and reset himself. ¡°Nice to meet you. Hartwell Verner,¡± he said. ¡°Who are you, and what brings you here?¡± ¡°Lieut- Arthur Reynolds, sir,¡± the young man said. He had a round, smooth face, just barely showing signs of stubble. The kind of person Scrapworld would eat alive if allowed to. ¡°I¡¯m here on a sentence of dereliction of duty.¡± ¡°Military man,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°I¡¯m going to offer you a free piece of advice, Arthur. Don¡¯t tell anyone you¡¯re ex-military.¡± ¡°No one here is fond of soldiers,¡± Jen said. ¡°Formerly or otherwise.¡± ¡°Right. I, uh, heard what you said about taking care of your own,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I think I can be a part of a team like that, if you¡¯ll allow it, sir.¡± ¡°Stop calling me ¡®sir¡¯ and we¡¯ll see,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Welcome to Caelum clan. Feel free to introduce yourself to my associates here.¡± Arthur walked right past Jen and went to introduce himself to Rush and the other teens. Apparently they weren¡¯t much younger than him. As Arthur joined the crowd, the second man stepped up. Where Arthur was squat and round, this man was tall, lithe, and slick as a snake. He brushed a thin black moustache and then extended his hand to Hartwell. ¡°Shinji Aso,¡± the newcomer said. ¡°Sentenced for insurance fraud. Pleasure to meet you.¡± ¡°Mr. Aso,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°What makes you think you¡¯re a fit for Caelum clan?¡± ¡°I think I like comfortable beds, and apparently you have them,¡± Shinji said. He extended his hand to Liam in turn. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, Liam shook it. ¡°You¡¯ll have to sell yourself a little better than that,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°We work together, Mr. Aso, I want to know the kind of man you are.¡± ¡°I think we can find out on the job,¡± Liam said. ¡°He¡¯s young, he¡¯s fit, he¡¯s willing to work. Let¡¯s take him, Hartwell.¡± ¡°We put our lives in each others hand here at Caelum clan, I¡¯d like to know-¡± ¡°I like him,¡± Rush said. Hartwell turned around to face Rush. It was odd he was saying anything unprompted, much less on behalf of a stranger. ¡°I think we should let him join.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s a bright young man,¡± Shinji said. ¡°But if you need more convincing, I can tell you more about myself.¡± Hartwell locked his eye on Rush for a few seconds. The teen was immovable, and unreadable, but utterly fixated on Shinji Aso. ¡°I trust Rush¡¯s judgment,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Welcome aboard, Shinji.¡± Shinji bowed politely and then joined the slowly-growing crowd behind Hartwell. When all was said and done, Caelum clan had only recruited a few dozen of the hundreds of new arrivals. They had a reputation as being slow workers -while some were willing to sacrifice efficiency for comfort, most wanted to produce profit and pay off their debt as fast as possible. Hartwell took whatever he could get, and hauled his new recruits out of the city as soon as possible. On their way out the gates, Rush looked up at the command center. Commander Howle was still there, watching them as they moved out. Arthur glanced up at her as well, and received no acknowledgment. Once they were past the gates, Hartwell showed his new recruits to the sleeper hauler, introduced them to their fellow Junkers, and then left them to their own devices. As soon as Shinji was out of earshot, Hartwell grabbed Rush and pulled him aside. ¡°Alright, Rushmore,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Why vouch for Shinji?¡± ¡°To keep an eye on him,¡± Rush said. ¡°He wasn¡¯t on the ship, Hartwell.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°He wasn¡¯t on the ship. He showed up later, got lost in the crowd on purpose,¡± Rush said. ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone else noticed him in the confusion.¡± Hartwell glanced over his shoulder at the sleeper hauler, where Shinji was in the midst of setting himself up with a bunk. ¡°Why would someone pretend to be a new prisoner?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Rush said. ¡°But I¡¯d like to find out.¡± Chapter 24: Hidden Agendas The Caelum clan¡¯s sleeper hauler had plenty of spare spots, so Shinji Aso found a nice spot far away from everyone else and got comfortable. Liam strolled by with an armful of ration bars, and after making sure every other new recruit got one, handed one off to Shinji. ¡°Long time no see, Liam,¡± Shinji said. Liam did a quick double-take to make sure no one was listening, and then leaned in closer. ¡°What the hell are you doing here?¡± ¡°Keeping an eye on Rushmore,¡± Shinji said. ¡°The King agrees with your assessment. He¡¯s a useful asset. So useful he¡¯s above your pay-grade.¡± ¡°He¡¯s my asset,¡± Liam said. ¡°He trusts me, I can get him to open a few doors.¡± ¡°The fact that you look at that suit and only think of opening doors is exactly why I¡¯m here,¡± Shinji said. He unwrapped his ration bar and took a bite. ¡°Now get a move on, we¡¯re going to look suspicious.¡± Liam bit back his frustration and headed out. An interloper being here was bad, but getting both of them caught would be worse. Shinji stayed in his seat and chewed thoughtfully on the dry ration bar. It tasted like dust and smelled like cardboard. Shinji chose to focus his senses on Rushmore, on the way he shifted his backpack to try and disguise the weight of the armor he was carrying, the armor that could open doors and so much more. Shinji hadn¡¯t been on the Topside of Scrapworld in a long time. He hadn¡¯t missed it. As a whole, this side of the station reeked of rust, sweat, and decay. But Rushmore and the armor he carried with him had the sweet sweet smell of opportunity about them.
¡°If you think there¡¯s something suspicious about Shinji, why invite him into our clan?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the only way to know what he wants,¡± Rush said. ¡°If he leaves, I don¡¯t learn anything else about who he is or what he¡¯s doing.¡± ¡°Rush has a point, dad,¡± Giza said. ¡°And what if what he ¡®wants¡¯ is to murder us in our sleep? Or steal the suit?¡± ¡°Hmm. Dad has a point, Rush,¡± Giza said. ¡°And if they want to do that, they might try doing it again,¡± Rush said. ¡°And I might not see the next one coming.¡± Giza quietly added one to Rush¡¯s score. After a few seconds of deliberation, Hartwell failed to find a counter-argument. ¡°Alright. Maybe you have a point,¡± he admitted. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we need to track him carefully. See what he¡¯s up to.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye on him,¡± Giza said. ¡°I¡¯ll tell Eiffel and Jack too, we can-¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°No,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°We don¡¯t need to tell any more people. I barely trust you to keep a level head about this, Giza, the last thing we need is Eiffel starting to sweat every time Shinji comes near him.¡± ¡°Alright, maybe just Jack.¡± ¡°No. Less moving parts means less chances for something to go wrong,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Even you and I should keep our distance. Let Rush take the lead.¡± ¡°Rush?¡± Giza began, before realizing that sounded rude. Rush didn¡¯t seem bothered, as usual. ¡°Just Rush? Alone?¡± ¡°He¡¯s already proven he¡¯s the most perceptive of any of us,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Also...uh, it won¡¯t raise any questions if he stares at a random person for a long time.¡± Rush was staring at Hartwell right now, in fact, as he often did. He liked to carefully observe everything around him at all times. Nobody would question him observing a new arrival every now and then. ¡°That does make sense,¡± Giza admitted. ¡°Rush, are you alright with that?¡± ¡°It was my idea to observe him,¡± Rush said. ¡°It makes sense I¡¯d be the one observing.¡± ¡°Just be careful, Rush,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°We have no idea what they might be after.¡± ¡°It¡¯s got to be the suit, right?¡± Giza said. ¡°Maybe someone in the clan blabbed about it, now Shinji wants to take it for themselves.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see. Hopefully observation will tell us everything we need to know. Right now, we should stop talking in secret. It¡¯s going to look suspicious.¡± ¡°Right. Good talk team. Rush, start observing.¡± ¡°On it,¡± Rush said. He walked off, eyes locked dead ahead in an unnerving glare. Giza wouldn¡¯t exactly call that ¡°not suspicious¡±, but it was Rush, after all. His default state was a little weird.
Lieutenant Arthur Reynolds crawled a little deeper into his new bunk. Unfortunately, it did nothing to dull the smell. Hopefully it would at least give him some much-needed privacy. He dug around inside his standard issue prison jumpsuit until he undid the hidden seam inside and pulled out the small plastic chit. ¡°Hello? Come in, does this thing work?¡± ¡°It works, Lieutenant. And hold it further from your mouth. We can hear every breath you take.¡± ¡°Sorry, Commander Howle. Objective one is clear,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I¡¯ve gained membership in their ¡®clan¡¯. With all the filth that entails.¡± There was a layer of grime inside this tube that would not come off, no matter how hard Arthur scrubbed. It didn¡¯t help that every rag and blanket around him was equally soiled. ¡°Just endure it, Lieutenant,¡± Howle said. ¡°We only need one ground report. I¡¯ve already established contact with one of the bandits, so as soon as you provide a heading, I¡¯ll have the mech on intercept.¡± The Revanchism¡¯s long range scanners let her know that the suit was being used to kill mecha, but Howle wanted a more complete picture, and a more precise idea of what the suit was capable of. They were already handicapped enough by that idiotic pilot, she didn¡¯t want to have any hardware failures on her hands before trying to push said idiot into doing the important work. ¡°I¡¯ll be in touch as soon as the prisoners decide on a destination,¡± Arthur said. ¡°They seem to plan on spending a few more hours unloading scrap and gathering supplies.¡± ¡°Fine. Maintain radio silence until you have more information, then. You don¡¯t want to risk looking suspicious.¡± ¡°Understood, Commander. Reynolds out.¡± The Lieutenant put his tiny communicator away and hopped out of his bunk, trying to act natural. He made it exactly fifteen seconds before realizing that Rush, the ¡°idiotic pilot¡± was staring at him. Something about the unblinking gaze of those dark brown eyes made Arthur feel like Rush was looking right through him. He turned his back and mumbled something about being too hot before walking around the hauler, into its shadow. Giza watched Arthur mumble his way out of sight and then leaned over to Rush. ¡°What was that about? He do something weird?¡± ¡°No, I just thought if I stare at all the other new people, it¡¯ll be even less suspicious when I stare at Shinji,¡± Rush said. ¡°Oh, good plan.¡± Chapter 25: Engine Trouble The pile of scrap components next to Rush grew steadily over the course of an hour. Separating every single piece into the right categories for sale was a long, laborious process, but Rush didn¡¯t mind at all. Hartwell had caught more than a few fellow Junkers trying to offload their work onto him. The most insane part was that Rush clearly noticed every time someone added something to his pile, but he never protested. Apparently he wanted to be useful. A solution to the workload problem had presented itself in the form of Giza. She sat down right next to Rush and snapped at anyone who tried to sneak anything into his pile of work. It was a perfectly good solution, right up until a distraction showed up. ¡°Dame!¡± Giza hopped right out of her seat and into the arms of Notre Dame. Hartwell rolled his eyes, but allowed the interruption. He knew Dame well enough to approve of him personally, and he didn¡¯t mind Giza flirting a little. On Scrapworld, having a crush on a boy was the closest Giza might ever get to being a normal teenage girl. ¡°Hey, Giz,¡± Dame said. ¡°How¡¯s life? Still making money?¡± ¡°More than ever,¡± Giza said. ¡°How about you? Not being too lazy?¡± ¡°We¡¯re doing decent,¡± Dame said. ¡°Even found something that could pay off a lot of debt. Which is kind of why I¡¯m here.¡± ¡°What? To brag?¡± ¡°No, actually...I want to borrow Rush.¡± Rush looked up, nodded, and set aside the piece of scrap he¡¯d been sorting. He was halfway to standing up before Giza interrupted. ¡°Borrow? Your clan wants to borrow him? After what they did?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not get into that,¡± Dame said. He reached into the ragged coat he wore and withdrew a small circuit board. ¡°Look. We¡¯ve got some engine thing we want to get running. We need an electronics expert. Rush helps us out, he can have this. Fifty debt units, easy.¡± Giza closely examined the circuit board, and then looked at Rush. He nodded, as the value seemed accurate. He¡¯d done ¡°consulting¡± like this before, as part of the very loose barter economy that existed between the clans. For final approval, Giza looked to Hartwell. ¡°Try not to take more than an hour,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°I want to head out again soon.¡± Rush stood up and joined Giza and Dame, and Giza nodded in the direction of the other clan¡¯s mustering grounds. ¡°One sec,¡± Dame said. ¡°Mind if I chat with Giza for a bit, Rush?¡± Rush stepped right back to his sorting pile and sat down as Dame and Giza stepped away. ¡°Giza, not that I don¡¯t love spending time with you, but¡­¡± ¡°But what?¡± ¡°I kind of think it¡¯s best if it¡¯s just Rush. You know how my clan gets about ¡®others¡¯,¡± Dame said. Opiuchus clan was notoriously closed-off, even by Junker standards. ¡°I had to spend half an hour convincing them to let Rush help. Nobody¡¯d like it if I showed up with some other kid in tow.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not really selling me on the idea of Rush going in there alone.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not going to be alone,¡± Dame said. ¡°I got his back, one-hundred percent. Trust me.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°Giza, come on, you can¡¯t babysit him all the time,¡± Dame said. ¡°Man has to stand on his own two feet sometimes.¡± ¡°So is he standing on his own two feet, or are you having his back? Make up your mind.¡± ¡°Man, just let me borrow Rush for like an hour,¡± Dame sighed. ¡°I promise I¡¯ll get him back in one piece.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Fine. I trust you.¡± ¡°Alright, there we go,¡± Dame said. He leaned in towards Giza. ¡°So, how about a kiss for good luck?¡± ¡°I just said I trust you,¡± Giza said, as she pushed Dame right back. ¡°What do you need luck for?¡± ¡°Alright, alright,¡± Dame said. ¡°Come on, Rush, time to move out. Say goodbye to mommy and let¡¯s get going.¡± ¡°My mom isn¡¯t on Scrapworld anymore.¡± ¡°I meant- forget it,¡± Dame said. ¡°Just follow me.¡±
The Opiuchus clan had not changed much since Rush had last walked among them, years ago. Like most Junker clans, they didn¡¯t rest or take shelter as often as Caelum clan did. Their members were wiry, all skin and sinew beneath skin burnt dark by constant sun exposure, and beaten coarse by years spent sleeping in dirt and scrap metal. There were no beds here, much less haulers dedicated to them. The Opiuchus clan worked hard, slept as little as possible, and only stopped moving when they could go no further. The perpetual state of exhaustion was visible on all their faces, along with the perpetual glare of suspicion. ¡°Hey guys,¡± Dame said. ¡°Got Rush. You remember Rush, right? Smart kid.¡± No one said anything. ¡°Cool, great, let¡¯s go check out this engine, then.¡± Dame led the way to the center of the clan encampment. A large, partially rusted device had been placed on the ground in front of one of their haulers. A few cables hooked it to the hauler¡¯s engine, presumably in hopes of getting the other device working. Rush tilted his head and looked at the assembly of hoses and chambered cells. ¡°You want to get that working?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± one of the Opiuchus members said. ¡°Some kind of engine, as far as we can tell. Fuel intake¡¯s here, there¡¯s the output, internal combustion in the core here¡­¡± The clan member grabbed at the hose emerging from one side of the device, pointed out a cable, and then patted the heavy metal core of the device. Rush examined each component in turn. He could understand the desire to get it working -intact old world tech fetched a high price from the Republic. There was, however, one problem. ¡°That¡¯s not an engine,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s a vacuum cleaner.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a vacuum cleaner,¡± Rush repeated. ¡°A big one. I think they used them to clean out mecha interiors.¡± ¡°That¡¯s- that can¡¯t be right.¡± ¡°It is,¡± Rush said. He stepped up and pointed to each of the components the other person had pointed out. ¡°There is a motor in it, but it¡¯s small. The rest of this is just intake hoses and storage for the dirt.¡± After a moment of shocked staring and disappointment, one of the clan members pushed another. ¡°You said this could be a starship engine!¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s got an engine, doesn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Not a starship engine! This is worthless!¡± ¡°We abandoned thirty pounds of good copper to haul this thing back here because you said it¡¯d be worth it!¡± ¡°Hey, calm down,¡± the apparent finder of the vacuum said. ¡°The kid could be fucking with us.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not. Here, look.¡± Rush stepped up to the vacuum, toyed with the electronics, and then hit a switch. Thanks to its connection to the hauler¡¯s Kell Cell, the vacuum roared to life, and started to suck up the rust particles from the ground for a few seconds. ¡°See? Vacuum.¡± The briefly-mitigated fury got turned right back on. Voices raised, fists clenched, and insults started flying back and forth. Dame grabbed Rush by the shoulder, pulled him a few steps back, and shoved a circuitboard in his hands. ¡°Thanks Rush big help time to go,¡± Dame mumbled. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°One-hundred percent, you should get back to Giza right-¡± Something went thud behind Notre Dame, and he turned around just in time to see one of the arguing Junkers get knocked to the ground, and the other grab a metal pipe. The metal pipe went down, and Rush went off. He caught the pipe in both hands as it fell, making sure to sink with it so the impact didn¡¯t break his wrists. The clumsy swing was slow and easy to absorb anyway, and the grip that held the pipe was loose enough for Rush to pull it right out of the wielder¡¯s hands. The would-be assaulter seemed more confused than anything as the pipe got ripped out of his hands and tossed aside. ¡°Don¡¯t do that,¡± Rush said flatly. The moment of confusion passed, and all emotion turned right back into anger. ¡°Who the fuck do you think you are?¡± ¡°Rushmore.¡± ¡°Guys, you should remember Rushmore, he¡¯s weird, right, he does weird things,¡± Dame said. Junkers were expert salvagers, but even he was struggling to salvage this. ¡°Like he gets involved in things he shouldn¡¯t and doesn¡¯t know when to leave. That kind of weird.¡± ¡°You were going to hurt him,¡± Rush said. ¡°He made a mistake. He didn¡¯t deserve that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s none of your god damn business.¡± ¡°Rush, it is time to leave,¡± Dame insisted. ¡°Now.¡± Dame stopped asking and started insisting. He grabbed Rush by the arm and started physically pulling him away from Opiuchus clan. Thankfully, Rush didn¡¯t put up a fight, and they were soon far enough away that Dame could stop to properly berate Rush. ¡°Rush, why the hell would you put yourself in the middle of a fight?¡± ¡°If I were that person, I wouldn¡¯t want to get hurt,¡± Rush said. ¡°Why would I let him get hurt?¡± ¡°Because- fuck, because then you get hurt,¡± Dame said. ¡°I¡¯m not hurt.¡± ¡°But you could¡¯ve been.¡± ¡°But I wasn¡¯t.¡± ¡°I- god damn you¡¯re hard to talk to,¡± Dame said. Rush nodded in agreement. He got that a lot. ¡°I see why you and Giza get along, though.¡± ¡°She¡¯s nice to me,¡± Rush said, as if that were the only thing that mattered. ¡°Yeah, bet she is,¡± Dame said. He gave Rush a quick shove back towards Caelum clan. ¡°Head on back, Rush. I better go smooth things over at home.¡± Rush started walking, and made it ten steps before remembering to turn around and say goodbye to Notre Dame. Giza had been reminding him to do that. Chapter 26: Blast Zone ¡°In the future, Rush, let other clans handle their own business,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Especially Opiuchus. They can be testy.¡± Rush nodded without a word. Thankfully any repercussions of his inadvisable actions were being left far, far behind. Hartwell had been planning to leave anyway, and Rush sticking his nose in another clan¡¯s business was as good an excuse as any to get the hell out of dodge. They were already hours into the rust wastes, and getting deeper by the second. As short as Opiuchus fuses tended to be, their memories were even shorter. No one would care about Rush by the time they got back. ¡°I respect that you wanted to stop that man from getting hurt, but sometimes rushing in to solve one problem creates another,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Like purging an overloaded power coupling without grounding it,¡± Rush said. ¡°Yes. I assume,¡± Hartwell said. He didn¡¯t know how that electronics nonsense worked. ¡°Just be careful in the future.¡± Rush said nothing. Hartwell assumed he was simply doing one of his usual pauses to consider his words, but it started to drag on a little too long. He turned to the side and saw that Rush had become completely fixated on the horizon. ¡°Something the matter, Rush?¡± ¡°There¡¯s something moving out there,¡± Rush said. Hartwell followed his gaze to the horizon and saw a black speck in the distance, moving along the flat expanse of the rust wastes. ¡°I¡¯ll be damned,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Good eye.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a chance it¡¯s a mecha,¡± Rush said. ¡°But I don¡¯t know for sure yet.¡± ¡°Hopefully just another junker caravan heading out,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°There were a few looking to-¡± ¡°No, definitely a mecha,¡± Rush said. Hartwell let out a deep sigh. Couldn¡¯t even get one sentence¡¯s worth of hope.
¡°It¡¯d be unlucky if we got three mecha attacks in a year,¡± Jen said. ¡°Now we¡¯ve got four in a matter of weeks. Starting to think that suit is bad luck.¡± ¡°And all those mecha attacks would come with fatalities,¡± Giza snapped. ¡°That suit, and the person in it, are the reason we¡¯re all still alive.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not having this damned argument again,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°We need to deal with the situation as it is, and that situation-¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. He pointed towards the horizon, at the mecha that was now clearly visible, and clearly heading in their direction. ¡°-is going to be here in fifteen minutes or less,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to waste time bickering about nonsense.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll bicker all I want,¡± Jen said. ¡°Not like I¡¯m doing anything. We all just stand around cowering until Rush caves in someone¡¯s ribcage anyway.¡± ¡°He only did that once!¡± ¡°How many times have you caved in someone¡¯s ribs?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the point!¡± ¡°Enough,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Giza, is Rush suited up?¡± ¡°Yes, he¡¯s good to go,¡± Giza said. ¡°Currently hiding in the rear scrap hauler.¡± ¡°How heroic,¡± Jen said. ¡°And let me guess, our part in the plan is to keep moving forward and pretend this isn¡¯t happening, right?¡± Hartwell said nothing. Giza kept silent as well. ¡°I¡¯m right,¡± Jen said, with a confident smile on her scarred face. ¡°You¡¯re worse than the Old Bastard sometimes, you know that?¡± ¡°Uglier too,¡± Jen said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll play my part.¡± She waved a dismissive hand at the father-daughter duo. Giza waited until she was out of earshot to let out a grunt of frustration. ¡°She really is worse,¡± Giza grumbled. ¡°I know, but it doesn¡¯t help anything to say it,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°I really am sick of you two arguing.¡± ¡°Well I¡¯m not sick of being right,¡± Giza said. Hartwell tried to contain his disappointment. It¡¯d only start another argument.
Rush kept an eye on the mecha as it approached. According to Elvis, it was a long-range artillery model, designed to bombard targets from a distance. ¡°The railgun would make a fine addition to our arsenal, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis concluded. ¡°While the natural downsizing would reduce its effective range to only a few dozen yards rather than hundreds, it would be nice to have a combat option not dependent on climbing the mecha itself.¡± Rush continued to stare at the mecha without a word. ¡°And rather less dependent on us almost getting punched to death by a titanic fist every fight,¡± Elvis concluded. ¡°You said it had a range of several hundred yards?¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Rush, though I also said some other things I would like to address,¡± Elvis said. ¡°If it can attack from that distance, why is it getting so close?¡± ¡°Perhaps it means to follow us, as the other mecha did,¡± Elvis speculated. ¡°Our haul wasn¡¯t big enough to draw that kind of attention,¡± Rush said. He made sure the mecha wasn¡¯t looking their direction and peeked a little further over the edge of the hauler he was hiding in. He had plenty of room, given it was empty right now. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t speculate, then, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Do let me know if you have any theories.¡± If he did, Rush kept them to himself. He stared at the mecha as it made a few final strides and then stopped in its tracks. Behind the helmet visor, Rush¡¯s eyes narrowed. The momentary hesitation ended, and the mecha started walking again. Soon, its speakers let out a loud hiss as they activated. ¡°Nothing personal, lads.¡± The mecha raised a fist, and the railgun Elvis had been talking about got pointed right at the scrap hauler. ¡°Oh dear.¡± The railgun only launched a scrap of metal about the size of a finger, but accelerated to thousands of miles an hour, it was enough to completely obliterate the hauler, leaving behind nothing but shards of scrap and a fifty-foot wide crater -and a humanoid metal suit crawling out of the dirt. ¡°Now we know the shield works,¡± Rush said. Elvis let out a little electronic whimper in response. Chapter 27: Into the Breach The aftermath of the blast made decent cover to begin his charge, and Rush hurried through the dust cloud before it settled. The Scrapper suit¡¯s small size and high speed made it hard for the titanic mecha to spot, at least. If Rush had ever seen a fly, he might have compared it to one. As Rush darted from side to side to try and evade the mech¡¯s attention, he looked up to track it¡¯s gaze -and saw that the mecha was turning around. After obliterating the single hauler, the mech bandit had seemingly lost interest in the caravan. Rush didn¡¯t stop running, but he did furrow his brows behind the suit¡¯s helmet. ¡°Why would it leave?¡± ¡°Perhaps it was a simple act of sadism,¡± Elvis said. ¡°These bandits do seem to be the type for wanton destruction.¡± Rush grunted in agreement. That much was true. Most bandits didn¡¯t need a reason to destroy. In the back of his head, Rush thought that Hartwell might not approve of attacking a retreating opponent. Giza would approve, though, and Rush approved all on his own. Someone had been driving that hauler. The fact that the bandit was walking away after ending a life for no reason at all made Rush even angrier than a regular attack might have. At least greed was a reason. The retreat made it easy for Rush to approach the mech¡¯s heel undetected. He latched on to it with metallic grips and began to climb. ¡°Elvis, give me an entry point,¡± Rush said. ¡°Entrance hatch on the back of the neck, similar to our last battle,¡± Elvis said. ¡°And it has a single hatch system, even. We still have plenty of battery charge left, even after absorbing that shot with the shield.¡± ¡°Sounds easy,¡± Rush said. ¡°We did almost get obliterated by a railgun, Mr. Rush.¡± ¡°We lived.¡±
Some members of the Caelum clan simply panicked. A few headed for the crater to try and salvage what they could of the hauler -and any sign of its unfortunate occupants. The vast majority took cover and watched the speck of copper-colored armor scale the mecha¡¯s back. Lieutenant Arthur Reynolds was among the latter. ¡°He¡¯s just climbing the back so far,¡± he said, quietly. ¡°No sign the mecha even knows he¡¯s there.¡± ¡°Hmm. That won¡¯t do.¡± ¡°Do you need me to do something?¡± the Lieutenant said. ¡°I could- ma¡¯am?¡± Arthur heard only a dull tone in response. He¡¯d been put on hold.
¡°You have something on your back.¡± The message was confusing at first, but the pilot scanned their back anyway. Even with the warning, he was still surprised when the exterior scan turned up a small humanoid shape. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°What the hell is this?¡± the pilot demanded. He had a small handheld communicator much like the one Arthur held. ¡°What did you get me into?¡± ¡°I told you it was an experiment,¡± Howle said. ¡°Do something experimental.¡± ¡°Experimental,¡± the pilot grunted. ¡°No need.¡± Rush was just reaching for a new handhold when the mech started to spin at rapid speeds. He lost his footing, and only managed to keep one hand clinging to the mecha¡¯s hide as sheer inertia threatened to spin him loose. With his grip already tenuous, Rush could do nothing to avoid the massive hand sweeping down the mecha¡¯s shell and swatting him to the ground. The absorption field kicked in as he hit the ground and prevented Rush from dying on impact, but his survival could easily be a temporary state of affairs. ¡°Elvis, what happened? Why¡¯d it do that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis said. While he had no answers, Rush had a very clear directive. The mecha was already regaining its footing after the rapid spin, and would soon be ready to aim and fire. Rush had to get close before that railgun fired. He didn¡¯t. Rush could feel the projectile long before it ¡°hit¡±. The shield unit activated once again, absorbing an apocalyptic amount of energy and redirecting it around Rush¡¯s body. Waves of dust shot out in an explosive shockwave as the impact flowed over and around Rush and into the dirt behind him. He braced himself as his boots sank deeper into loose soil, until the maelstrom finally ended. ¡°Still holding,¡± Rush said. ¡°That should be two out of three charges, right?¡± ¡°We used a partial charge to absorb the impact of the hand striking us and the landing from the fall,¡± Elvis said. ¡°It¡¯ll be some time before we can take another hit, Mr. Rush. Under the circumstances, perhaps we had best feign defeat and hope the bandit loses interest, as before.¡± ¡°Hey, you, Junkers!¡± The voice from the mecha¡¯s speakers rang out almost as explosively as the impact of the railgun. ¡°What the hell was that thing? What¡¯d you do?¡± The mecha took one step back towards the caravan, and Rush matched it with a sprint right back towards the mecha. ¡°Mr. Rush! We have no weapons, no shielding, and no element of surprise,¡± Elvis said. ¡°We do not have anything to make use of-¡± ¡°Then we take something,¡± Rush said, as he approached the foot of the mecha once again. ¡°Do you still have enough energy to run the power saw?¡± ¡°Yes, but-¡± At a quick mental command, the power saw activated. Rush leapt on the foot of the mecha and headed for the joint where the foot met the armor plates of the leg. Armor was always weakest around the joints. He sawed at the joint once, and drew back as the mech stepped forward. The movement of the joint briefly closed the small gap in the armor -and threatened to crush any unfortunate souls caught in it. ¡°Mr. Rush, why do all of your plans involve borderline suicidal risk?¡± ¡°I have to do something,¡± Rush said, as flatly as ever. He narrowly avoided another crushing death and continued to hack at the gap in the armor. He repeated the cycle once more, and the next time the foot moved, a scrap of armor got caught and bent out of shape by the motion. The next time the foot drew back, Rush grabbed the bent scrap and used the suit¡¯s strength to rip it free. With a path open, Rush dove through the small gap and vanished into the buffer zone below the mech¡¯s armor. ¡°See? Done.¡± ¡°Mr. Rush, we lost a portion of our boot,¡± Elvis said. Rush looked down at his heel. A small portion had been clipped off after getting caught in the closing gap. ¡°That¡¯s cosmetic anyway,¡± Rush said. ¡°I spent an entire hour making this armor look nice,¡± Elvis groaned. ¡°We¡¯re about to get a new upgrade anyway,¡± Rush said. He looked up at the interior of the mecha¡¯s armored leg, and the various mechanisms lying just below the surface. ¡°Correct me if I¡¯m wrong, Mr. Rush, but do you intend to take a battery from a still-active mecha?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Elvis briefly calculated the possible outcomes. ¡°Well, we¡¯re already past the stupidest part of the plan,¡± Elvis said. ¡°All uphill from here.¡± Chapter 28: On Rails Rush climbed up the inside of the mech¡¯s armor, following any visible cables he could find. At least one of them had to lead to a battery. ¡°Elvis, do some scans,¡± Rush commanded. ¡°I need to find a battery, fast.¡± ¡°Already underway, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis said. ¡°There should be one close by.¡± While Rush usually only looted a few batteries from fallen mechs for personal use, and left the others for the Junkers to claim and sell, each mech usually featured dozens. Much like in the suit, they acted as reservoirs of power, ensuring energy was evenly distributed even at great distances from the central Kell Cell. There would likely be at least two within the mech¡¯s lower leg. As Rush searched, the leg stopped moving, and the entire mech shook. ¡°I asked you a question,¡± the mech thundered. ¡°What the hell was on my back?¡± Rush continued his search, much faster now. ¡°I don¡¯t want excuses, I want answers!¡± Though the mech¡¯s pilot screamed, Rush didn¡¯t feel any impacts, or any weapon fire. It was holding back for now, but Rush knew that would only last so long. ¡°Found it,¡± Elvis said. ¡°To the right, open the red panel.¡± The red panel was less ¡°opened¡± and more ¡°torn off¡± as Rush pried it loose and grasped the battery cell within. The batteries were designed to be easily removed, for maintenance reasons, and it came loose with a slight tug. Rush put the battery on his back and let Elvis take over installing it. ¡°Should be just a moment, Mr. Rush,¡± the AI said. ¡°Though this raises the question of our next move.¡± The battery clicked into place even as Elvis spoke. Rush glanced at the notification showing that his battery charge was now at 1.3/4 instead of 0.3/3, then blinked to dismiss it. ¡°Next, we go after the weapon,¡± Rush said, as he started to climb. ¡°We take it apart or take it for ourselves. Either way, it can¡¯t hurt anyone else.¡± Rush reached the knee-plate of the armor and got out the power saw again. Thankfully this part of the anatomy was less pinchy, and he could saw his way out with much less pressure. Hartwell (or whoever else was talking to the pilot) did a good job stalling them long enough for Rush to cut his way free. As soon as he was back under Scrapworld¡¯s perpetual sunlight, Rush headed up towards the mech¡¯s waist. The arm the railgun was mounted on dangled about twenty feet from the waist of the colossal machine. ¡°Do you think I could make the jump, Elvis?¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible, but I wouldn¡¯t recommend it.¡± ¡°Hmm. Maybe I can bait the mech into swatting us again¡­¡± ¡°On second thought, let¡¯s try the jump,¡± Elvis said. ¡°We have enough battery to survive the fall and still fight now, after all.¡± Rush jumped without warning. As he hung weightless in the air for a moment, Elvis wondered if this really was a good idea. It worked, if only barely. If not for the magnetic gauntlets, Rush would¡¯ve had no way to grab on to the mech¡¯s wrist and stop himself from falling, but thanks to the magnets, he held in place. He also made a very loud clanging noise. ¡°Hmm?¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Elvis¡¯s nanomachines quivered as the eyes of the mecha turned down towards them. Rush looked over his shoulder and waved. ¡°You!¡± The fist came down, and Rush scampered to the far side of the railgun. The arm started to swirl and spin as the pilot tried to shake Rush off again, but he found a ridge in the armor plating and held on tight to supplement his magnetic grips. He held firm, but that didn¡¯t make being violently shaken a pleasant experience. ¡°Any¡ªugh¡ªany way to strip the railgun, Elvis?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make an effort,¡± Elvis said. ¡°And do try not to throw up, Mr. Rush, this is a brand new helmet.¡± Elvis¡¯s nanomachines flowed out of the armor and into the weapon Rush clung to. Soon, the shaking stopped, and Rush went up as the limb raised and came to a halt in front of the mech¡¯s cockpit. Apparently the pilot wanted a closer look. ¡°What the hell are you?¡± ¡°Something,¡± Rush said. The mech swatted at him again, and Rush swung to the far side of the wrist. ¡°Elvis, how long is this going to take?¡± ¡°Forty seconds, at least,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Probably extended by-¡± Rush dodged another swinging blow. ¡°-by that,¡± Elvis concluded. ¡°One minute and thirty seconds, most likely.¡± ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll keep us alive.¡± ¡°Please do!¡± A minute and a half was a very long time when dodging colossal fists. Rush kept his breathing steady and his feet ready to move as he ducked and weaved around the forearm of the mecha. He also avoided looking down. Rush wasn¡¯t bothered by the height, but Elvis saw through his helmet cameras too, and apparently the goo was scared of heights, for some reason. ¡°Thirty more seconds, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis said. Rush was a little too busy dodging to respond, but he appreciated the update. ¡°Twenty.¡± Rush kicked off a gap in the armor and rolled to the side, latching on with his magnetic gauntlets at the last second before he fell. ¡°Ten.¡± Rush swung his way to the other end of the arm, and the leapt up towards the elbow as another blow came. ¡°I don¡¯t like the countdown, Elvis.¡± ¡°Apologies,¡± Elvis said. ¡°It¡¯s done anyway.¡± ¡°Great,¡± Rush said, as the visor of the helmet lit up with a new message. New Weapon Online: Railgun: Magnetic acceleration fires a precise projectile over long distances. Effective against armor and shielding at long range. Requires charge time. The popup once again included helpful illustrations of a railgun charging and firing, but Rush ignored them. The last component of the railgun fused into place on his gauntlet as Rush raised it towards the cockpit. He examined the glass shield for a second, and then lowered his railgun. ¡°Don¡¯t like the angle,¡± Rush said. ¡°Well it may be the best we¡¯re going to get, so-¡± Rush stood up and made a run towards the cockpit. ¡°Oh, Mr. Rush, why do we always do this?¡± Elvis hadn¡¯t even finished complaining by the time Rush leaped off the arm and into the open air. He dove for the torso, palms out, and managed to lock onto it with his magnets after falling a few feet. Without missing a step, Rush started to crawl up the torso, then the neck, until he was directly below the cockpit. His gauntlets couldn¡¯t latch on to the reinforced glass, so he settled for peering through the window. A very confused pilot looked right back. ¡°What the fuck?¡± ¡°Hello! You should lean right!¡± The pilot failed to take Rush¡¯s advice. It didn¡¯t matter anyway. There was plenty of room between the pilot and the power node. Rush raised his new railgun and fired. The lightning-fast projectile fired at point blank range turned the armored glass into powder on impact. Without losing speed, the bullet tore through the glass, the open space of the cockpit, and left a crater in the power node as it traveled. It vanished into the air behind the mech¡¯s head and whirred into the distance as the devastated machine began to plummet. ¡°Remember to stay buckled in,¡± Rush said. Then he dashed up and over the mech¡¯s shoulder, out of sight. In a rare display of intelligence from a bandit, the pilot did stay seated as his mech plummeted. It made clutching his communicator easier. ¡°You! Commander! What the hell is going on here?¡± The knees of his mech collapsed out from under him, and the impact nearly shook the communicator out of his hands. ¡°I did everything you said, and some metal thing attacked me!¡± ¡°Yes, I know, that¡¯s why I asked you to do it.¡± ¡°You bitch,¡± the pilot snapped. ¡°I¡¯m going to fix my mech, and when I do, I¡¯m going to find you, and I¡¯m going to-¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, can you speak up? I can¡¯t hear you.¡± ¡°I said I¡¯m going to-¡± ¡°I can¡¯t hear you, try putting the communicator right in front of your mouth!¡± The pilot did so, and started screaming directly into it. ¡°I¡¯m going to rip your head off and stick my-¡± The communicator exploded, and took most of the pilot¡¯s head with it. Back in her office, Commander Vera Howle leaned back into her chair and dismissed the trooper holding the detonator. ¡°Terribly uncouth,¡± Howle said, to no one on in particular. ¡°This is why we never try to recruit mech pilots, you know.¡± Chapter 29: Conspiracies Compounded When the dust of the collapsing mecha finally settled, Rush was the first to climb atop the hulk and make for the hatch on the back of the neck. Giza tried to climb up after him, and couldn¡¯t even make it a few feet without the suit. She called out, and Rush backtracked to give her a hand. ¡°Thank you, Rush.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Stay here.¡± Rush left Giza where she was and started walking away. Giza pondered following him anyway, but decided against it. Several seconds later, she hear the whirring of a chainsaw followed by a loud boom, and then saw a piece of scrap go flying into the distance. Apparently she had made the right choice staying away. The noises stopped, so Giza followed Rush¡¯s path and found an open hatch waiting for her. ¡°Rush, you in here?¡± She hopped down without waiting for a response, and saw Rush standing frozen in the middle of the collapsed cockpit, staring at what was left of the pilot. She let out a gasp of horror as she saw more and more of the blood splattered around the pilot¡¯s seat. ¡°Did you-¡± ¡°No,¡± Rush said, as he turned around to face her. ¡°I didn¡¯t do this. He was dead when I got here.¡± ¡°What happened to him?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how,¡± Rush said. ¡°He¡¯s still in his seat, the safety features should¡¯ve kept him alive. This shouldn¡¯t have happened, Giza.¡± Rush¡¯s usual intensity was fixated entirely on the corpse, which did not seem to bother him in the slightest. Giza found it almost disturbing how nonchalant he could be about such gruesome horrors. ¡°But there has to be some reason.¡± ¡°He was acting strange,¡± Rush said. ¡°The way he attacked us, what he did, why he did it- it doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± Bandits were not, on average, a logical bunch, but simply blowing up one hauler and leaving stood out even among their sadistic behavior -as did their heads exploding out of nowhere. Giza lacked Rush¡¯s capacity for analysis, but even she could see that there were pieces out of place here, and several more still missing. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Rush, do you think this is connected to Shinji at all?¡± Rush took a pause to think on it. His ears perked up at the sound of others climbing the mecha¡¯s exterior, and he quickened his usual thoughtful pace. ¡°Maybe. I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°You...you should unbuckle him,¡± Giza said, daring to look at the pilot once again. ¡°We¡¯ll tell everyone he bashed his head in during the fall, got thrown around the cockpit. We keep this between us.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m starting to wonder who I can trust, Rush,¡± Giza said. Three mysteries at once was too many for her. Shinji¡¯s unknown agenda, why the bandit had attacked, and why they had died -they could not all be explained by coincidence. ¡°You can trust me,¡± Rush said. ¡°I know,¡± Giza said. That, at least, was certain. ¡°Do you trust me?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll figure this out,¡± Giza said. ¡°Somehow.¡±
The commotion around the fallen mech was intense enough that no one noticed a humble newcomer sneaking off to their sleeping tube in the sleeper hauler. Arthur Reynolds dug out a communicator and delivered a thorough account of the battle to Commander Howle, holding his communicator close to his head all the while. ¡°They say the pilot died as a result of the mech¡¯s shutdown, ma¡¯am,¡± Arthur said. Howle raised an eyebrow. That was an unexpected boon. She¡¯d been worried her explosive finish might have been too obvious. ¡°Well, then it seems this observation has been a resounding success,¡± Howle said. ¡°Thank you for your service, soldier.¡± ¡°Thank you, ma¡¯am. Permission to return home?¡± ¡°Not yet, trooper,¡± Howle said. ¡°Walking away now would raise suspicions. Follow them for the remainder of their current expedition, at least. You might take the opportunity to ask some questions about the suit.¡± ¡°I- Yes ma¡¯am,¡± Arthur said, reluctantly. He hung up, and Howle discarded her communicator to focus on writing down a report that made absolutely no mention of Arthur Reynolds. The suit¡¯s combat capabilities were adequate, at best, but getting better with every upgrade. That would appease some of the officers breathing down her neck at every update. Howle couldn¡¯t care less. She wasn¡¯t so blinded by violence as some of the military brass. Still, there were a few people who needed killing.
The commotion around the fallen mech was intense enough that no one noticed a humble newcomer sitting on the sidelines, chatting with one of the caravan¡¯s deputies. Shinji tapped his finger against one of their remaining scrap haulers as he watched the Junkers start to work. ¡°It really is more impressive in person,¡± Shinji said. ¡°I told you very clearly what it was capable of,¡± Liam grunted. ¡°Do you have enough to report back now?¡± ¡°I do,¡± Shinji said. ¡°Or I would. If I was just here to observe and report.¡± Shinji hopped off the hauler and stuck his hands into the pockets of his grimy trousers. He walked in front of Liam and pivoted to stare right into his eyes. ¡°Overheard someone say the pilot died accidentally,¡± Shinji said. ¡°You think that¡¯s true?¡± ¡°Very likely,¡± Liam said. ¡°Rush has never killed anyone on purpose.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Shinji turned around and examined the fallen mecha. ¡°We¡¯ll have to do something about that,¡± Shinji said. ¡°We got a few people who need killing.¡± Chapter 30: The Coward The dry, dusty air of Scrapworld was a welcome relief from the cockpit¡¯s bloody humidity. Giza took a deep breath, coughed a few times to clear her lungs, and then gave Rush a hand as he climbed out of the cockpit as well. A handful of Junkers were already hard at work peeling away armor and salvaging the scrap of the mecha. She had been expecting to see even more, in fact. Hopefully that would delay the discovery of the pilot by a bit. ¡°Come on, we should find my dad,¡± Giza said. ¡°Get ahead of things.¡± Giza started climbing down first, but Rushmore still beat her to the ground. She hopped down and took the lead as the two tracked down Hartwell. A short distance away, near the crater left behind from the railgun shot, half the clan had gathered in a loose mob. Giza figured that was a good place to start the search for her dad. She had almost made it to the edge of the crowd when Jack and Eiffel intercepted her. ¡°We should find something else to do,¡± Jack said, a little too insistently for Giza¡¯s liking. ¡°I need to talk to my dad,¡± Giza said. ¡°It¡¯s about the mech pilot.¡± ¡°Whatever it is, it can wait. He¡¯s, uh, busy,¡± Eiffel said. ¡°It¡¯s important.¡± Jack and Eiffel shared a quick look, and then gave up on their shared scheme. ¡°Somebody got hit by the shrapnel, Giza,¡± Jack said. ¡°They were on the edge of the blast when the hauler got hit, and¡­¡± Giza took a few steps back, and put a hand on her neck for reasons Rush did not understand. After biting her tongue to restrain her worst impulses, Giza took a breath and tried to continue the conversation. ¡°Okay, so dad¡¯s handling it. He¡¯s handling it, right? How is he handling it?¡± ¡°He¡¯s...handling it the way Hartwell handles things.¡± ¡°He thinks if we turn around right now-¡± Giza put her hands on her temples and let out a loud scream of frustration that caught Rush off guard. He stepped aside to avoid getting caught up in her sudden charge forward. Giza pushed into the crowd and disappeared, and Rush went to follow until Jack and Eiffel held him back. ¡°You probably don¡¯t want to get involved in this one, Rush.¡± ¡°I want to know what¡¯s going on.¡± ¡°¡®What¡¯s going on¡¯ is a family thing,¡± Jack said. A ¡°family thing¡± that apparently involved shouting, based on the echoes of distant but very loud voices. Rush took his helmet off to hear better, but could not make out any clear words. ¡°Let this one stay between Giza and her dad, alright?¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°If you say so.¡± What curiosity Rush had was easily overcome by his desire not to upset his friends. He shuffled back to the mech and put his powersaw to work disassembling the armor, giving the other Junkers easy access to the valuable components below. He finished stripping the forearm, and a work crew led by Jen filled in the gap and started prying out circuitry. ¡°Curiosity sure went out of you quick,¡± Jen said. ¡°Not the least bit curious what those two are yelling about?¡± ¡°That should stay between Giza and her dad,¡± Rush said, repeating Jack¡¯s words almost verbatim. ¡°Yeah, it should. Problem is you¡¯re between them too,¡± Jen said. Rush was, of course, blissfully oblivious to the ongoing ideological conflict surrounding the Scrapper suit. ¡°You should know what you¡¯re getting in to. Understand what daddy and daughter want from you.¡± ¡°If you think so.¡± ¡°I do think so,¡± Jen said. ¡°So, in all the time you¡¯ve been spending with Giza, she ever mentioned her mom?¡± ¡°Not often,¡± Rush said. Giza occasionally referenced her mother, but only in passing. Most of what he knew Rush had surmised from context clues and assumptions. ¡°I know she was killed by a bandit a few years ago.¡± ¡°Not just any bandit. Marcus.¡± The name sounded like a curse coming from Jen, and Rush could not help but feel there was a reason for that. Whatever bitterness she held in her heart, Jen moved past for the sake of the story. ¡°Giza¡¯s mother was a woman named Aya. I didn¡¯t know her well. Only joined a few weeks before the attack. But she was good people,¡± Jen said. ¡°Hartwell¡¯s better half, in every way. She was kind, caring, like him, but braver. Knew when to put people in their place, hard. Wasn¡¯t afraid to smack a head when she had to.¡± Jen seemed to look back on the memories fondly. Rush was surprised to see any fondness in the usually cold woman, but the warmth faded back into her usual icy demeanor as Jen followed the thread to its grim conclusion. ¡°When Marcus hit- she wasn¡¯t in the center of the blast, like Jack¡¯s parents were. She was on the outskirts,¡± Jen said. ¡°Shrapnel hit her harder than anything. She had shards of metal stuck in her back, right into the bone, in her spine, in her head. The kind of thing people don¡¯t survive even with good medicine.¡± The mere memory of the injuries shook Jen. She had been dealing with her own pain at the time, and Aya¡¯s condition still stuck in her mind, haunting her. ¡°Sensible thing to do would¡¯ve been to just bash her head in. Put her out of her misery. End the suffering,¡± Jen said. ¡°But Hartwell refused. Said there was a chance. Dragged her halfway across the disk, bleeding and barely conscious, for three days. Three fucking days, Rush.¡± Rush tilted his head in a barely-noticeable nod of acknowledgment. Jen shook her head and continued. ¡°Giza was there the whole time,¡± Jen said. ¡°Watching her mom die. Watching her suffer. For three days.¡± Ever mindful of the demands of Scrapworld, Jen worked as she talked, and ripped a handful of wires out of the inactive mecha. Tearing mechs to pieces was always cathartic. She hoped one day she¡¯d get to rip Marcus¡¯s mech to shreds. ¡°That¡¯s what you need to know about Giza,¡± Jen said. ¡°Girl¡¯s still carrying that with her. Thinking about the mom she lost. Carrying all those regrets she has and all that revenge she wants.¡± The vendetta had been obvious from their first few conversations about mechs, but Rush was glad to have more context. The intensity of Giza¡¯s hatred for bandits made sense now. ¡°And what is this supposed to say about Hartwell?¡± ¡°Nothing good,¡± Jen scoffed. ¡°You don¡¯t let someone suffer like that because you love them. You let them suffer because you¡¯re scared to let go. Hartwell¡¯s a good man, Scrapper. He¡¯s right more often than he¡¯s wrong. But deep down, at the core?¡± Jen tore out another handful of components and tossed them on the ground. ¡°Hartwell¡¯s a fucking coward.¡± With that final insult spat out, Jen absorbed herself fully in her work, leaving Rush to return to his own labor and think about what she¡¯d told him. Far behind him, a debate repeated itself. Just as before, Hartwell stood his ground, and fought for the importance of preserving life -until someone else pointed out that in the time he¡¯d spent arguing with his daughter, the wounded Junker had already died. Chapter 31: The Long Haul Hartwell examined the handful of scrap that had been salvaged from the crater. It wasn¡¯t even worth the effort it had taken to dig. ¡°From three haulers to two,¡± Liam said. ¡°That¡¯s going to slow us down.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°We could be back up to four if we took apart the sleeper hauler and used it for scrap,¡± the Old Bastard grunted. ¡°Your legs would be the first to give out, Bastard,¡± Jen grunted right back. ¡°Keeling over dead is my way out of here,¡± Old Bastard said. ¡°Hauling scrap is yours. We were barely keeping ahead of interest on our debt with four hauler loads, Hartwell, we¡¯ll be losing money with just three, no matter what that suit is bringing in.¡± ¡°Well we don¡¯t really have a choice,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Unless someone knows where to find an intact hauler lying around.¡± Rush¡¯s hand went up. ¡°Rush? You know where to find a hauler?¡± ¡°I might. I know a ruin that¡¯s consistent with a vehicle depot.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you mention that before?¡± ¡°It¡¯s been years. I don¡¯t know if the ruin is still sealed. If it is sealed, then the security will still be active.¡± ¡°What kind of security?¡± ¡°The deadly kind,¡± Rush said. He was hard to read under the best circumstances, but Hartwell had the odd feeling Rush wasn¡¯t comfortable discussing this. ¡°Rush, is there something dangerous about this ruin?¡± ¡°No more than a lot of places on Scrapworld.¡± ¡°Talk straight, kid,¡± Old Bastard said. ¡°What¡¯re you hiding?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to go there,¡± Rush said. ¡°It¡¯s where my dad died.¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Upon hearing that, even the Old Bastard backed off -a little. ¡°Well I¡¯m damn sorry to hear that, Rushmore, but there¡¯s a lot of living people here who need to move material,¡± he said. ¡°We get even one hauler you¡¯ll be saving lives.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s a sealed depot there might be two or three,¡± Jen added. ¡°If we could move material like that we might actually stand a chance of getting off this rock.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t start daydreaming now, Jen,¡± Liam said. ¡°We don¡¯t even know where this place is.¡± ¡°I could find it on a map,¡± Rush said. Liam went to go dig it out of the sleeper hauler, and handed the slab of metal to Rush, along with a piece of chalk to take notes. Rush charted out a course to their destination with surprising ease. The potential depot was only about three days away, though the direction was a problem. ¡°Three days to the east,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°If I¡¯m right, that would put it right on top of that trap Gemini warned us about.¡± ¡°Trap?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a locked door. That kind of thing gets attention from Junkers, people try to crack it, just like the Crash Crater,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Apparently a bandit caught wind of the attention and started using the site as bait a few years back.¡± This did not prompt any of the reactions Hartwell had been hoping for. Giza crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°And we don¡¯t go looking for fights,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°We aren¡¯t going looking for a fight,¡± Jen said. ¡°We¡¯re going looking for a hauler. Some bandit tries to cause problems, he gets what¡¯s coming to him.¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you supposed to be one of the anti-suit people?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ¡®anti¡¯ unnecessary risk,¡± Jen said. ¡°This one¡¯s necessary. The Old Bastard¡¯s right, if we can¡¯t haul raw tonnage we¡¯re all going to be as old as he is before we got off this damn station.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t justify going out of our way to kill someone,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°When it¡¯s us or them, it absolutely does,¡± Jen spat. ¡°I don¡¯t kill the bandits,¡± Rush said. ¡°Not on purpose.¡± ¡°And yet they¡¯re all dead,¡± Old Bastard spat. ¡°Come on then, enough arguing in circles. Let¡¯s put it to a vote and be done with it.¡± Hartwell grit his teeth and reluctantly headed out to put diplomacy into action. Liam followed to help things get set up, and couldn¡¯t help but notice Shinji Aso sitting at a distance, carefully perched to observe the conversation. He had no idea how that guy outranked him. No subtlety whatsoever. Shinji was, of course, not the only person who¡¯d been trying to eavesdrop. Those who weren¡¯t mourning friends lost in the same attack that had cost them the hauler were trying to figure out next steps. A good chunk of the caravan had been listening in on the meeting of de facto authorities. Shinji was just the only one whose position allowed him to keep an eye on those who were keeping an eye. With a stiff gait characteristic of too much time spent marching in lockstep, Arthur Reynolds tried to head away from the scene without looking suspicious, and failed. Shinji¡¯s eyes followed him every step of the way, and watched the ¡°former¡± soldier nervously fidget with a part of his prison jumpsuit. Shinji smiled to himself. Everything just kept getting more and more interesting. Chapter 32: Unfair The broken towers of what had once been a major residential area loomed over the horizon like massive tombstones. Somewhere on the outskirts of the ruin was a sealed door that potentially hid treasures, and a lurking bandit that potentially held death. Giza had been examining the ruined city for any sign of a mecha, but hadn¡¯t seen anything so far. Even in their ruined state, the towers were large enough for a mech to hide behind, so it was still possible the bandit was lying in wait. ¡°I don¡¯t know about this, Rush.¡± ¡°People voted on it,¡± Rush said. ¡°I should do it.¡± ¡°If they voted to have you jump off one of these buildings, would you do it?¡± ¡°If I was wearing the suit, yes,¡± Rush said. Giza grunted in frustration. She forgot his suit could survive a fall now. ¡°I meant without it,¡± Giza said. ¡°Like if they told you to kill yourself.¡± ¡°Oh. No, I wouldn¡¯t do that,¡± Rush said. ¡°But this isn¡¯t like that. This makes sense.¡± ¡°This is going to be your first fight where you might get ambushed instead of the other way around,¡± Giza said. ¡°What if the mech catches you off-guard?¡± ¡°Giza, the smallest possible mecha is still six hundred feet tall and weighs a few hundred tons,¡± Rush said. ¡°If they so much as twitch within a mile of me, I¡¯ll know. And even if they stand still, Elvis can detect them with sensors.¡± Rush put the suit¡¯s helmet on and paused briefly, tilting his head as he listened to an unseen voice. ¡°He says the included instruments could detect a mecha even when powered down,¡± Rush said. ¡°There¡¯s no chance this thing sneaks up on us.¡± ¡°What if it has a cannon and attacks from long range?¡± ¡°Then my shield should be able to absorb a few hits,¡± Rush said. ¡°There¡¯s very few risks, really. I won¡¯t even have to worry about keeping other people safe this time.¡± This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. To simplify the potential battle, Rush was going in ahead of the rest of the clan. They would come in to secure the scrap only after Rush had cleared the way, or determined that the mech had already moved on. ¡°There¡¯s risks in every fight, Rush.¡± ¡°I know that,¡± Rush said. ¡°But there aren¡¯t any unusual risks in this fight. Why does this bother you more than the other ones?¡± ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t it bother me that you¡¯re going into danger?¡± Rush stopped and tilted his head. Giza wondered what Elvis had to say this time. ¡°Oh. Maybe,¡± Rush said. The helmet tilted back to focus on Giza again. ¡°Is this about my dad?¡± ¡°Ugh. I don¡¯t know? Maybe,¡± Giza said. Her stress confused her sometimes too. ¡°I just...it can¡¯t be easy, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not happy about it,¡± Rush said. Giza was surprised to hear him acknowledge he had any emotions at all. Usually they didn¡¯t factor into his behavior. ¡°But I¡¯ll live.¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have to do this,¡± Giza said. ¡°I mean, I¡¯ve never...did I ever tell you about my mom?¡± ¡°I know,¡± Rush said. ¡°Oh. Did dad tell you?¡± ¡°I figured it out on my own, partly,¡± Rush said. Giza only barely questioned that. It was pretty obvious her mom wasn¡¯t around, and Rush was a smart guy. It was no surprise that his constant observation of people around him paid off. ¡°Jen told me the rest.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ve never had to go back to where she died,¡± Giza said. ¡°Sometimes we go near it, and just being able to see it in the distance makes me want to throw up. I can¡¯t sleep, I can¡¯t eat...it messes with me. I don¡¯t want anyone to feel like that. Especially not you.¡± ¡°There are more important things than how I feel,¡± Rush said. ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean you just disregard it completely,¡± Giza said. She stepped forward and put a hand on the chestpiece of the Scrapper suit. ¡°You¡¯ve got the suit protecting your body. You need to protect your heart too.¡± Giza drew her hand back. ¡°And I mean that-¡± ¡°Metaphorically. I figured,¡± Rush said. ¡°You meant my feelings. Going back to where my dad died will make me feel bad. But I¡¯ll feel bad if I don¡¯t do what I can to help you. I¡¯ll feel bad if we start falling behind in paying off our debt. Bad things happen either way. I can¡¯t change that.¡± ¡°But you should,¡± Giza said. ¡°It¡¯s not fair!¡± ¡°Life isn¡¯t fair,¡± Rush said. ¡°My dad taught me that.¡± Rush turned on his heel, checked that the Scrapper suit was secure one last time, and then broke into a dead sprint towards the ruined city. Giza stood and watched him run, until Rush vanished into the cloud of dust his sprint kicked up. ¡°¡®Life¡¯s not fair¡¯,¡± Giza mumbled under her breath. ¡°Well it should be.¡± She kicked some dirt, and only managed to make a small puff of dust as Rush¡¯s expanding sandstorm began to cover the horizon. Chapter 33: Crawler ¡°I can¡¯t say I¡¯m fond of heights in general,¡± Elvis said. ¡°But it is nice to be climbing something that isn¡¯t trying to kill us.¡± Rush climbed up one of the exposed structural beams of the crumbling skyscraper, and a small chunk of loose concrete slid away where his feet had just been. ¡°Actively, at least,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Do be careful, Mr. Rush.¡± ¡°I¡¯m being careful.¡± He continued to very carefully scale the tallest of the ruined towers, in hopes of getting a better vantage point. The metal skeletons of the city were wreaking havoc on Elvis¡¯s already limited ability to scan, as signals bounced and echoed off the ruins. The AI had been the one to suggest seeking higher ground, a suggestion he now deeply regretted. Elvis had been imagining some stairs, or at least a ladder. Rush had just found the nearest exposed beam and started climbing. ¡°How fare above the other buildings do we need to be?¡± Rush asked. ¡°I just passed another rooftop.¡± ¡°A bit more,¡± Elvis said. ¡°I¡¯ve got a very clear signal from the west, but it¡¯s still bouncing around the nearby buildings.¡± The metal beam groaned under Rush¡¯s weight as he continued upwards. Elvis focused his sensors on the anomalous signal and tried to ignore the distance between them and the ground. ¡°Ah! There we are,¡± Elvis said. ¡°I¡¯ve got it, Mr. Rush. Judging by this power signature, I¡¯d say our bandit is just a few streets over. They seem to be lurking within the shell of a tower.¡± ¡°Good position for an ambush,¡± Rush said. There were only so many ways to disguise something the size of a building -using a building was about the only sensible option. ¡°It appears to be stationary, for the moment,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Likely saw the clan coming and set up in its hiding spot for an ambush.¡± ¡°We¡¯d better get to it before it realizes no one¡¯s coming, then.¡± ¡°Yes, with some careful footwork we ought to be able to-¡± Rush let go of the beam. ¡°Why?¡± The desperate plea went unanswered as Rush plummeted fifteen stories to the ground in complete silence. Inches away from the ground, the kinetic barrier took over and redirected the energy of his fall, slowing him down and causing him to plop harmlessly onto the ground as if he¡¯d fallen no more than a few inches. ¡°Hmm. That was worse than I expected,¡± Rush said. Even knowing he¡¯d be able to land safely didn¡¯t make falling pleasant. ¡°It was exactly as bad as I expected,¡± Elvis snapped. ¡°Why did you do that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the most efficient way to the ground,¡± Rush said. ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know why I bother,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Why must so many of your strategies involve hurling yourself through the air?¡± ¡°It keeps working,¡± Rush said. ¡°How much energy did the landing use up?¡± ¡°About seven percent of a battery charge,¡± Elvis said. ¡°Negligible, in the grand scheme of things, but you might wait a minute or so before engaging your opponent.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll take us that long just to get there anyway,¡± Rush said. Elvis put an arrow on the helmet¡¯s screen pointing towards their target, and Rush carefully proceeded through ruined buildings towards the target. He kept to cover and out of sight as they approached the bandit¡¯s hiding spot. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°I see why he chose that one,¡± Rush said. Unlike most of the surrounding towers, the hiding place had relatively intact walls that would obstruct anyone approaching from the streets. Rush crept around the building¡¯s exterior and could barely catch a glimpse of anything waiting within. ¡°Must be an opening on the fourth side.¡± ¡°Then perhaps we should move to find an opening on one of the others,¡± Elvis suggested. Rush nodded in agreement and started climbing the crumbling stone. ¡°Just try not to jump off of anything, Mr. Rush.¡± The lack of response began to worry Elvis the higher they climbed. Much to the machine¡¯s relief, Rush only went about five stories up before finding a large gap in the wall and creeping through. Once inside, Rush could finally see the mech in full, and appraise it for what it was. ¡°That¡¯s a piece of shit.¡± The mecha lying in wait was even more decrepit and rusted then the first he¡¯d faced. Large holes had been worn through what was left of its hull, and what little remained intact was dull and coarse, clearly worn down by exposure to the elements. Its forearm had a mount where a weapon had once been, but judging by the sear marks still visible on the armor, that gun had disastrously misfired at some point in recent history. Most telling of all, crystalline growths were visible around the cracks of its chest armor -signs of a corroded Kell Cell overgrown with Kellcite. ¡°I see why this one relies on ambush tactics,¡± Elvis said. Flakes of corroded metal were shedding from its joints, even at rest. ¡°A caravan of junkers could probably outrun it, in this condition.¡± ¡°Its armor is worthless,¡± Rush said, stating the obvious. ¡°What about the shield? Is that still functioning?¡± ¡°Not in the slightest,¡± Elvis said. ¡°That, combined with our recent acquisition of ranged weaponry, will make this fight fairly easy, I should think.¡± Rush said nothing. Elvis could practically feel his mind buzzing with ideas, and chose to let Rush think in peace. The mech was still motionless, unaware it was being watched, which gave them plenty of time to consider plenty of options, hopefully not including any jumping off of anything. After a few minutes of consideration, Rush started creeping around the building¡¯s interior in search of a better angle. He descended a few yards, then clung to a ruined patch of wall on the verge of crumbling. From his new vantage point, Rush raised his new railgun and took aim. Then he put his plan into action. ¡°Hey, you!¡± At the sound of an unexpected voice, the mech stood and turned. The rapid movement caused its decrepit form to groan audibly under the stress, especially around the joints. Rush targeted that weakness and fired a railgun bolt directly into the knee joint of the mecha. What little material held the mech together crumbled on impact, and the off-balance machine started to plummet, crashing through what was left of the building as it fell. As the collapse began in full, Rush punched his way through the broken wall and broke into a dead sprint away from the falling building. Dust and debris scratched at his heels for the first few strides, but the Scrapper suit was able to outpace the collapse and get to a safe distance. From down the street, Rush watched the dust settle, revealing a mecha crushed by debris, with nothing more than its head and shoulders poking out of the rubble. ¡°All done.¡± ¡°Excellent work, Mr. Rush! Dare I say that was quite pleasant, by our standards,¡± Elvis said. ¡°We stayed mostly on the ground, even!¡± ¡°I thought you¡¯d be mad about the collapse,¡± Rush said. He started to approach the fallen mech to check on its pilot. ¡°Well I can¡¯t say I¡¯m a fan, but we outpaced it fairly easily,¡± Elvis said. ¡°And it was a very clever use of the environment! My compliments, Mr. Rush.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Rush said. ¡°Now, activate the power saw and let¡¯s start cutting through the cockpit.¡± Rush held up the saw and looked into the glass shield that formed the cyclopean ¡°eye¡± of the mech. It looked right back at him. The glass was too corroded to see through from this side, but it was impossible to miss when the head started to move. ¡°Oh dear.¡± The fist of the mech slammed into the dusty street, and Rush dodged just in time. Though the armor cracked on impact, the heavy fist slammed down hard enough to leave a crater in the concrete. Rush took a few steps back as the mech¡¯s other hand took hold of a piece of wall and began to pull forward. The creaking groan of metal preceded a shrieking tear as the mech pulled itself free of the collapsed wreckage -in a sense. The shattered lower body stayed behind as the upper limbs and torso pulled themselves free and started to crawl forward. The mech¡¯s stump of a torso dragged a trail of sparks behind it as it clawed forward, relentlessly, towards Rush. The power saw retracted as the railgun charged up once again. Nothing was ever simple. Chapter 34: Dead Man Walking The railgun on Rush¡¯s arm clicked as the mechanism charged up again. He turned to face the half-destroyed mech chasing him, and was forced to leap back by a rusted fist slamming down towards him. The impact knocked one of the mech¡¯s fingers off, but it kept crawling forward, dragging its severed torso down the street in pursuit of Rush. ¡°Perhaps we should just keep running, Mr. Rush,¡± Elvis suggested. ¡°It¡¯s doing a fine job of destroying itself without us.¡± As Rush continued to run, the broken mech continued to pursue, and several scraps of its torso were torn off as it crawled. ¡°I¡¯ll try,¡± Rush said. He turned and ran, trying to put as much space as possible between himself and the mech. To his surprise, the mech matched his pace with ease. It clawed its way forward with crumbling hands, pulling what was left of its body after Rush. ¡°Oh, why does Kellarin Technology have to make such quality products?¡± Elvis moaned. ¡°How is that thing still operational?¡± ¡°If it¡¯s core mechanisms are still intact, all that damage is doing is making it lighter,¡± Rush said. With most of its body gone, armor peeling off, and with extraneous extremities like fingers falling apart, the mech was probably moving less than half the usual weight, but with limbs designed to carry twice that when necessary. Whatever the mech had lost in structural integrity, it had gained in speed. ¡°Perhaps one more shot to finish it off, then,¡± Elvis suggested. The mech¡¯s grasping fingers scraped at their heels, swinging close enough that Rush felt the surge of air across his back. ¡°Trying,¡± Rush said. He¡¯d never have time to take aim and fire with the mech so close. He needed some distance to line up a shot. When he spotted a large gap in a building, Rush dove in, hoping the mech would be unable to follow -or if it did follow, that it might collapse the building on top of itself. The crawling bandit seemed smart enough to not take the risk, so Rush dove further into the ruined building. ¡°Right through here, and then we can try to get behind it and-¡± Rush felt a sickening crunch under his foot, and stopped mid-stride. The eyeless helmet turned towards the floor, reflecting a shattered skull. The broken shards of bone rolled away from Rush¡¯s foot as he stepped back, falling into place with thousands of others. Rush looked up at the crumbling floors of the ancient building, and saw dozens of corpses in various states of decay scattered around the wreckage. He stepped back in horror as he noticed a few corpses that could not be more than a few weeks old. ¡°Oh dear,¡± Elvis said. ¡°This must be where he hides the evidence¡­¡± Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. A city of scattered corpses made for poor bait. The bandit had been gathering all of his victims in one place to hide them from future targets. Rush looked down at one of the corpses mummified by age, and noticed how torn the clothing was, and how pockets had been turned out and bags scattered across the room. The bandit hadn¡¯t just been dumping people here -he¡¯d been looting the corpses. Rush looked down at the pile of broken bones. Elvis tracked the motions of the mech outside, as it circled the building, waiting for Rush to emerge. ¡°Mr. Rush, we should focus our efforts,¡± Elvis said. ¡°The mech is currently moving to the right. If we move out the east side now, we can catch it off guard.¡± Rush said nothing. He was staring down at what seemed to be the scattered bones of what had once been a hand. A small hand. ¡°Mr. Rush?¡± The power saw made a whirring sound as it sprang from the wrist of the Scrapper suit. The crawling mech froze in place as it heard a metallic roar. Seconds later, Rush came tearing through a crumbling wall, scattering debris through the air. The mech swatted at him, catching the armor on its palm and slamming it down into the ground. The kinetic barrier absorbed and redirected the energy, and Rush crawled out from under a motionless palm, saw still roaring. Another fist came down, and Rush lunged towards it, latching on to the broken armor with a magnetic grip and launching himself up and over the fist, directly onto the cockpit of the mech. His power saw slammed down on the corroded glass and started to kick up sparks as it slowly cut through. The mech let out a discordant roar, as broken speakers turned a spoken insult into an incoherent shriek. Rush kept cutting as the roar shook the mech and the air around him. ¡°Mr. Rush, look out!¡± Rush didn¡¯t even turn around as the massive palm came slamming down. The kinetic barrier stopped it in its tracks only a few inches away, but the hand kept pressing. The mech continued to roar, and Rush continued to cut. ¡°Mr. Rush, we are dangerously low on power,¡± Elvis said. ¡°This consistent pressure is rapidly draining our shields!¡± The mech kept screaming, and Rush matched it with dead silence. The power saw retracted, and Rush activated the concussive cannon, firing it point-blank into the cockpit glass. The glass cracked, but did not shatter, and the crushing hand behind him closed in. ¡°Mr. Rush!¡± Rush reactivated the power saw, and jammed it into the center of the crack. As his shields gave out and the crushing hand of the mech closed in, Rush activated the saw once more. The blade started to spin just as the palm hit his back. Shards of glass flew through the cockpit as Rush finally broke through, with the mech¡¯s own hand providing the force needed. The power saw kept spinning as Rush stumbled forward, and scraped against the ground, kicking up sparks as he righted himself. The cockpit smelled of death and rust. Rush paid no mind to anything but his target. He locked eyes on the pilot¡¯s seat and focused on the man within. The man responsible for the tower of bones. Rush¡¯s power saw revved once again -and then stopped. What was left of the man was bone white and bone thin, frail and emaciated. Sunken eyes looked at Rush with more desperation than anger or fear. The pilot was almost as broken as the mech itself -on his last legs, desperately crawling forward with what little he had left. The near-skeletal bandit released his grip on the controls, and one handle broke off in his grip. The power saw stayed extended, but did not spin. Rush stared at the pilot in silence. The bandit was clearly terrified, but so dehydrated he couldn¡¯t even sweat ¡°Are you going to kill me?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Chapter 35: Jury of Peers It took the clan about seven minutes to determine the mech was complete junk, not even worth salvaging. It took them far longer to determine what to do with the pilot. They were still discussing it when Rush finished stripping off his armor and returned to the conversation. ¡°We¡¯re not murderers, Jen,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°And we¡¯re not idiots either,¡± Jen snapped back. ¡°So we¡¯re not going to spend any of our precious resources keeping this scumbag alive.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say we¡¯d give him anything,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Without his mech, he¡¯s not a threat to us. We can set him loose.¡± ¡°With no food or water, three weeks away from the Hub?¡± Liam said. ¡°Starving¡¯s a worse way to die than a bash in the head.¡± The bound bandit sat in the center of the circle, not daring to raise his voice and add to the discussion of his fate. If not for the occasional twitches of his head, he could easily be mistaken for dead already. In direct sunlight, his pale complexion and emaciated frame looked even more skeletal. Rushmore raised his hand. Jen rolled her eyes. ¡°You have something you¡¯d like to add, Rushmore?¡± ¡°Has anyone asked him what he wants?¡± The bandit raised his head, as much as he was able. The clan members standing around him did a quick double take between the bandit and Rush. ¡°You want to ask the prisoner what he thinks we should do with him?¡± ¡°It could simplify things,¡± Rush said. ¡°Maybe he wants to try and walk back.¡± ¡°Oh, sure, yes, let¡¯s just ask the mass murderer what he wants to happen,¡± Jen said. She stepped towards their captive and bent down to look him in his sunken eyes. ¡°Hey, serial killer? Let me guess, you want us to untie you, give you some food, and let you pick through all our belongings on your way out?¡± The bound bandit shifted uncomfortably against his bonds and let out a sigh so deep Rush could watch his ribs move beneath his pallid skin. ¡°I want you to kill me,¡± he said. Jen said nothing. She stepped back as the bandit took another deep breath. ¡°I have fifeen million debt units to pay off,¡± he continued. ¡°Even with a mech I could barely make minimum buy-in to earn meals. I¡¯ve been splitting up single ration bars over days, portioning out sips of water-¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Oh, spare us the tears,¡± Jen said. ¡°Everything you ¡®earned¡¯ was stolen from people you killed.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not asking for sympathy,¡± the bandit said, through dry, cracked lips. ¡°Just mercy. Some food, a drink of water, and a quick death. That¡¯s all I want.¡± ¡°So you do want some of our food,¡± Jen said. ¡°Would you want to die on an empty stomach?¡± ¡°Did any of those people in that building want to die under any circumstances?¡± ¡°Probably not,¡± the bandit admitted. ¡°But you¡¯re all talking like you¡¯re better people than me. Are you?¡± Jen crossed her arms and bent her scarred lips into a scowl. Hartwell observed it from a distance before letting out a deep sigh. ¡°Get him some water, at least,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Hartwell,¡± Liam said. ¡°It¡¯ll come out of my share, so don¡¯t act like I¡¯m giving up the clan¡¯s resources.¡± ¡°It¡¯s still a waste,¡± Liam said. ¡°Being a good man is not a waste,¡± Hartwell said. Liam grunted in obvious disagreement and headed out, presumably to fetch some water. ¡°Hmm. Nice to know you really are better,¡± the bandit said. ¡°I always hated hypocrites. Wouldn¡¯t like getting killed by one.¡± ¡°Find a better use for your last words,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°Try praying.¡± Hartwell stepped away from the bandit to get some air. Every breath he took in this city carried the faint stench of corpses, no matter how far Hartwell wandered from the crude mausoleum. The mere thought of all those corpses was enough to make him sick, much less the smell. ¡°It does feel like a waste.¡± Hartwell¡¯s head snapped to the side. Rushmore had apparently followed him step for step, unnervingly quiet as always. Once he had steadied his heartbeat, Hartwell leaned on a wall and looked Rush in the eyes. ¡°It¡¯s a waste of material goods, maybe,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°But there¡¯s more to sustaining a life than food and water. Consider it an investment in a clean conscience.¡± ¡°A clean conscience doesn¡¯t pay off debt,¡± Rush said. ¡°And thoughts exactly like that are how we end up with bandits and buildings full of corpses,¡± Hartwell said. ¡°We have to be better, Rush. We have to be patient, and merciful, and charitable. Even to our enemies.¡± ¡°I see. Even to people who disobey orders?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± The sentence had barely left his mouth when Hartwell snapped to attention and spun on his heel. Rush rarely said anything without reason. Hartwell had just finished turning when the bandit¡¯s body hit the ground, his throat cut in a broad curve the shape of a bloody smile. Liam flicked his wrist to shake the blood off his knife and then wrapped the dull blade in a cloth to clean it further. ¡°Liam!¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Liam said, as he finished polishing his shiv. He managed to maintain his composure right up until Hartwell slapped him in the face. ¡°What the hell are you thinking?¡± Hartwell demanded. ¡°We need to be better than this!¡± Liam stopped reeling from the slap and rubbed a sore cheek as he locked eyes with Hartwell. ¡°Why?¡± He left without waiting for an answer. Hartwell didn¡¯t have one that could satisfy him anyway. The leader of the clan stood alone next to the dead bandit, and stepped back from the pool of blood rapidly blossoming from their slit throat. Once he¡¯d collected himself, Hartwell looked over his shoulder at Rush. The boy had seen everything, and taken it all in in silence. He was, as always, watching, observing -learning. Hartwell got very, very worried about what he might¡¯ve learned from this. Chapter 36: Father/Son Activities With the bloody business of the bandit behind them, the clan turned their attention to the real reason they had come. In the center of the city, nestled between two low-lying ruined buildings, was a ramp leading downwards to a sealed garage. The gate was thick and heavy, pockmarked by attempts to saw or drill through it over decades, but still intact. A single exposed control panel by the side of the gate offered some hope of opening it, but that hope was tempered by the smell of burnt flesh that still lingered in the air. Dozens had tried to operate the gate over the years, and dozens had died in the attempt. Rush stood and stared at the panel. He¡¯d been in this exact same spot once before, watching someone else try to open the gate. His father had tried. His father had failed -and paid the price for it. That past tragedy had no doubt extended Rush¡¯s already long observation period. He¡¯d been staring at the access panel in silence for close to four hours. There had been people watching and waiting, at first, but most of them had lost patience and moved on, preferring to scour the city for anything salvageable. Only a handful of spectators still remained -their new ¡®friend¡¯ Shinji among them. Despite her best efforts, Giza couldn¡¯t help but glance at Shinji from time to time. All he did was sit and watch -never offer advice, never make commentary, he didn¡¯t even stop to look around or pick dirt from under his fingernails, as the other spectators did. Shinji was watching Rush almost as intently as Rush was watching the gate. Giza could not for the life of her figure out why. Rather than complete a triangle of staring, Giza forced herself to stare elsewhere, at something less conspicuous. Still, her eyes wandered back to Shinjo from time to time. Across the way, Shinji pretended not to notice those wandering eyes. The attention unnerved him, and he wondered if there might be more to it than just skepticism of the newcomers. He¡¯d caught Rush eyeing him more than once, but that kid stared at everything. Giza was a different case. From everything Liam had said, she was a firebrand, which had benefits and drawbacks. She was skeptical, aggressive, proactive -all good things, when used the right way. But those same qualities could turn again them just as easily. Shinji chose to stay the course. He had no reason to believe he¡¯d been made just yet, and trying to evade attention was the best way to draw it. He kept to his seat and kept watching Rush. It had been an illuminating day already -Rush had barely flinched at a man getting his throat cut. That was good, but that had been a stranger. Shinji wanted to see how he handled the death of someone close to him -even if it was someone who¡¯d died years ago. He had, admittedly, been expecting more than a four hour staring contest. Or a five hour staring contest. Or a six hour- ¡°Are you still fucking here?¡± The Old Bastard limped past the garage entrance and made his displeasure known in his usual fashion: loudly. As soon as he was done shouting, he walked up to Rush and poked him in the shoulder. ¡°Are you just being lazy, or did that suit kill your brain?¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking,¡± Rush said. He didn¡¯t even blink as the Old Bastard continued to prod. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Well stop thinking and start doing,¡± Old Bastard said. ¡°Or at least admit you¡¯re not up to it so we can move on.¡± He got sick of poking Rush and shuffled off to find a seat. That didn¡¯t stop the verbal abuse, though. ¡°Not a damn thing worth the trouble in this city,¡± Old Bastard grumbled. ¡°Get to work and get this over with, scraphead.¡± Rush ignored the insults. Giza didn¡¯t. ¡°Shut up,¡± she snapped. ¡°You think insulting him is making this go any faster?¡± ¡°Worth a try,¡± Old Bastard said. Giza huffed in frustration and got out of her seat. She placed herself between Rush and the Old Bastard and took a seat. She joined Rush in his quiet observation of the access panel for a few minutes. ¡°Tell him to get working,¡± Old Bastard snapped. ¡°I told you to shut up!¡± Not that she expected the Bastard to listen to anyone. She really didn¡¯t know why they still kept him around. ¡°Don¡¯t let them bother you, Rush,¡± Giza said. ¡°He doesn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Oh. Good,¡± Giza said. ¡°So. Not to bother you, but...how¡¯s it going?¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m almost done,¡± Rush said. He leaned a little closer towards the panel, putting his face only a few inches away from it. ¡°If I¡¯m right, I need to decouple this sensor at the same time I cut the power to avoid the security system triggering.¡± ¡°Mm-hmm, sounds right,¡± Giza said, nodding along as if she knew what he was talking about. ¡°And...you think it¡¯s going to be safe?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re worried, you can always tell the Old Bastard to do it,¡± Giza said, loud enough for the Bastard to hear. ¡°No, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do it fast enough.¡± ¡°Okay. Just don¡¯t push yourself to do anything you don¡¯t feel safe doin- Rush!¡± Giza didn¡¯t even get to finish her warning before Rush reached forward and grabbed two different components of the complex mechanism. The ancient machine whirred to life, preparing to deliver a lethal countermeasure to the would-be interloper. Rush pulled two of the components loose, carefully grabbed a wire and tugged it out of place, then hastily flipped a switch on the far side of the console. The gate made a clicking noise as something inside it unlatched. Rush drew his hands back and appraised his work as the ancient seal broke open and began to rise. The groaning mechanism shuddered, and a cold gasp of stagnant air escaped the garage as the door opened for the first time in centuries. ¡°About time!¡± ¡°The word you¡¯re looking for is ¡®thank you¡¯,¡± Giza snapped. ¡°The words I¡¯m looking for is ¡®get the hell away so you don¡¯t get killed by toxic gas¡¯,¡± Old Bastard snapped. Giza grabbed Rush and headed a few steps back. That was why they kept the Bastard around. He¡¯d been around long enough to know that some sealed chambers with heavy machinery or liquid fuels inside ended up filled with toxins. The garage needed some time for air to circulate before anyone went past the now-open gate. That work was not Giza¡¯s concern right now. ¡°Rush, are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Rush said, as blank as ever. ¡°Okay, and how do you feel?¡± ¡°I said I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°I meant, like, emotionally,¡± Giza clarified. ¡°Everything with your dad, and this door.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Rush repeated, as blank as before. ¡°He made a mistake. I didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°I just want to be sure¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± Rush said. ¡°Can I go? I¡¯d like to get something to eat.¡± ¡°I- yeah. Go ahead,¡± Giza said. ¡°I¡¯ll tell my dad and everyone. We¡¯ll get started. You go ahead and take your break. You earned it.¡± Rush headed off to find some food. Giza watched him go, and didn¡¯t see any change in his stride, any clue of what he might be feeling. After checking on Rush, Giza glanced to the side, towards Shinji. He seemed like he was in a good mood. Giza couldn¡¯t imagine why. Meanwhile, Rush found his food and his allotment of water. He examined his meager meal and thought briefly of the bandit prisoner who had died wanting for a meal and a drink. For the first time, Rushmore wondered if his father had been hungry when he died, and if so, if the electrocution had left him any time to contemplate that hunger. Rush stopped thinking about those things and ate. The ration bars were always flavorless, but for some reason, as he ate, Rush could taste the tang of wet iron and salt. The flavor of blood, sweat, and tears.