~
The cold rain continued unabated for several hours. The longer he waited the more intense it became.
The inside of a small cave afforded the only dryness available. Tuck did not permit the deserter, the woman, the comfort inside of her mecha whether it was usable or not. However, having seen his enemy weak and frail he no longer wished for her suffering.
Or is it because she was a woman?
She reclined next to him looking uncomfortable, but facing away. His badly damaged suit was running hot which was to her benefit. Calvin activated a supplemental exhaust unit which provided inconsistent warmth from the coolness of the cave and helped to dry her.
“You still haven’t explained your presence here,” she said not looking at him.
“I should ask you the same.”
“You may think of me as a traitor…a coward even, but I have good reason for my actions and I stand behind them.”
Even in her weakened state this chick was brass. Tuck wanted to keep her alive and mark her suit for pickup once he felt that she was able to move. And when the rain lessened. He did not wish to aggravate her.
“Tell me about your mecha. Your Tiger. How long have you been here and how have you been able to use it so long?”
“Has it really been that long? Without recharging I mean. But that would not suffice your curiosity would it? Maybe your official report, but not you.”
“Listen lady, I don’t really care for snippets of attitude. You can tell me what I want or you can keep quiet and answer to Foxtrot. Because of you innocents have been killed and I have come closer to death than I cared.”
“Ah,” she sighed, “do you really want to know?”
“Tell me all that you know.”
“I suppose it doesn’t matter now. Might even be good for you to know.”
“I want to know as much as you do.”
“That,” she said with a thick TH, “is not possible.”
“Tell me about your suit and why it was used for your mission.”
“From the beginning then…It is Amino. All of Amino’s previous efforts in R&D were focused on one thing; an unmanned combat mecha. Progress was slow, but success was nearing. However, with the surprise development of the new exoskeleton everything changed. All other projects were put on hold so Amino could direct its attention to the new suit. While an unmanned suit would limit casualties the corporation could not near the potential achieved utilizing the new suit. The exoskeleton taps into the host’s nervous system.”
“Those?” Tuck said pointing to the shredded tubes dangling from her spine and exo.
She nodded. “All of mankind’s efforts to subdue nature have fallen short. The closest we have ever come is a pitiful partnership. The human brain is infinitely more efficient than any processor ever built. Replacing a processor with a brain enabled the Tiger to reach almost unthinkable levels of speed and computation. This, as you may already know, enabled the new class of p8 Tigers to perform beyond the level of the host and the Tiger. The two work synergistically.”
“That’s why you were able to move after I shot you. Self-regenerating synthetic tissues. Partially anyway, right? I’ve never seen a mecha do that.”
“Hmph. That is beyond the partnership. Another upgrade newer versions have. Not all the Tigers are equipped with it. The same technology behind the self regeneration is behind why my Tiger never needs to charge.”
“Never? You can go on forever then?”
“Perhaps. Who knows? It’s only a prototype.”
“How come so many died in battle? I thought fatalities were supposed to decrease.”
“They were, but that’s not really why they were built. They were designed to destroy. With so much excitement about the innovation the military was eager to test their new toys. As you can imagine the suits rolled out without the benefit of quality control. Every version has its own glitches.”
“Defective faceplates for one.”
“One of many. The surgeries required to assimilate with the Tiger are more gruesome than a medieval mortuary. The process is full of flaws.”
“So, that’s why you defected? You were a guinea pig and didn’t even know it?”
Her eyes narrowed. Barely audible she said, “You have no idea.”
After a minute of silence she inched closer to the struggling exhaust unit. “When I held you up I saw your tattoos.”
He rubbed his fingers. His name, T-U-C-K, was etched into a finger with, P-U-P, crossing at the U.
“I saw the ichythus wheel on your shoulder.”
The wheel?
“How could you have seen that?”
“Transdermal vision. Sees through suits just as easily as it sees through skin. But that doesn’t matter. I’ve seen your wheel before.”
“You know someone else who…”
Lethargically, she unzipped the top of her exo-suit exposing the bare skin on her upper back. She turned just enough for him to see the same tattoo on her shoulder; a wheel with eight spokes.
“Not many have them. The few I’ve seen are different than other tattoos. They mean something. We’re connected somehow. I don’t know exactly, but I think it has to do with life before…”
“What do you mean life before?”
Her warm breath steamed in the cold air. Avers zipped up her suit and turned to face him. “Can you remember anything before the military? Anything at all?”
Tuck thought for a moment. Who was she to ask this? “It’s none of your business.”
“Has it always been your dream to evaluate dead things? Think real hard Assessor.”
“Why would I want to?” That wasn’t what I wanted to say…
“You can’t do it can you?”
“Of course I can.”
“No! I mean real memories. What you’re thinking of is an implant. Someone put them in your head.”
“You’re full of it lady.”
“You don’t believe me? Think of anything in the last oh, two years. Now think of something from ten years ago. They feel different don’t they?”
Hidden behind his mecha Tuck closed his eyes. Payne in the barracks, Digger who always talked himself into trouble, training, reprimanded for low scores; they all felt normal. But his tenth birthday, first kiss, swimming at the Pegasus Indoor Pool when he was a kid? Those did feel synthetic. Is the Pegasus Pool even a real thing? Who was this chick?
“Don’t trust them so much now do you?”
“What are you trying to say? You want me to defect…with you?”
“That’s up to you. You’re free to come and go as you please. The Amazons don’t care. You should, however, know that this isn’t the only reason why I left.”
What more could he do? Tuck did not feel comfortable talking to this lady. Whoever she was he couldn’t trust her, but he couldn’t stop listening either.
“Whether you return or not you should know that the reason you’re here is for a test. The reason we’re all here is because of a test.”
~
“What do you mean?”
Avers took a breath, still not looking him in the eye. “The battle was staged to draw all the Amazons out of the cities so that a platoon could be dropped in behind to capture me. I was part of an earlier pilot squadron sent to Earth. A dozen prototype Tigers to slaughter thousands of incompetent targets. Each of us designed with different enhancements. You’ve witnessed some of mine. There were more on other suits.”
“That doesn’t make sense. How did they capture you?”
“Who? The Amazons? Don’t make me laugh. We killed many of them...I killed many of them. Afterwards they fled as predicted. I sought refreshment at a nearby waterfall. While out of my Tiger, a p9.2, a gr
oup of them surrounded me. At this time I was already having doubts about what they’d done to me let alone the ethical nature of using humans as guinea pigs. You might be thinking they fought me and took me as their prisoner. Nothing could be further from the truth. Not all Amazons are fearless warriors. The group that came on me was of another sort; mothers and daughters seeking the respite in their oasis.”
“You didn’t kill them?”
“No, it was them who could’ve killed me. I was licking my wounds minor as they were. They easily could’ve overtaken me, but they didn’t. They took me in. Had compassion on me. By the time I was feeling better I was convinced I would never return to Mars. I was one of them.”
The rain outside the cave had stopped some time ago. The restless assessor stepped outside to discover a sun filled sky. Tuck swaddled Avers in his mecha arms like a precious baby. Her wounds were serious, but the bleeding had stopped.
The creek outside had swollen into a gushing river. He waded through the current until he reached the forest. The muddy soil surrounding the bank was passable even for a half ton mecha. Another Battle Asset Assessor could have tracked him, but this was not a worry of his now.
She groaned with every step, but for the most part her face was expressionless; that is until she opened her eyes and pointed.
From a cliff overlooking the near empty Amazon city they saw a stream of colors stretch across the sky.
“A sign of peace. A rainbow. A good omen…” she mumbled weakly.
“What is it?”
She was too lithe to explain. Calvin searched his records, but found nothing for ‘rainbow.’
Did you enjoy the story? This new series takes quite a few plot twists and explores different worlds. By mixing different tropes that don’t usually go together (amazons and sci fi tech in this issue, more in other issues) I hope to tell a story in a way you haven’t seen before. Can’t wait for #2!
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