Enabler: Ex Machina 7

[plot]



The activity in the hangar was subtly yet unquestionably different that day.  There was an air of anticipation about the workers, and while Zoe wasn't sure why, she was certain that something was about to happen.  An hour into her work, however, Javier approached her and, almost apologetically, informed her that she would have to leave for the time being and make room for the engineers.  She was unsure as to why but did as she was told, heading upstairs.

It wasn't until she was in the antechamber between the hangar and the elevator to the rest of the building that she had her answer.  Stepping out were all four of her flatmates, wearing jackets, boots, and the diving suit-like uniforms she had seen William and Kathy wearing previously.  Seeing Claire in one, she was struck by how form-fitting they really were. "What's going on?" she asked. "They told me to clear out for the trained guys."

"One of the early warning towers in the Wild Zone is down," Kathy explained. "The company hired us to defend the location until it's repaired."

"How long will that take?"

"Two hours by their estimate.  So four, minimum."

"You're going out to fight?"

"We're going out to stand around.  If things go bad, then we fight."

"Oh." Zoe's next words slipped out before she could think about them. "Can I come with you?"

Kathy looked vaguely offended. "This isn't a field trip."

"I-" Faced with either backing down or doubling down, she chose the latter. "I never rode in a giant robot before."

"Many people haven't.  Did you ask soldiers in your world if you could ride in... whatever you had there?"

"No, but I didn't live with tank crews.  Besides, I haven't even been out of the city."

"Then take a bus.  There's nothing to see where we're deploying.  It's all overgrowth and underground ruins."

"I'll make it up to you."

She snorted. "You say that a lot, but you haven't-"

Claire rested her hand on Kathy's shoulder. "Weiss.  Could we speak in private?"

Kathy glanced up at Claire, giving Zoe a curt "excuse us" before heading back with Claire a few paces.  What followed was a muted conversation between the two, punctuated with a sidelong glance at Zoe every so often.  It didn't strike Zoe as malicious, but it was somewhat ominous when Kathy grew a bit heated, though they returned before she grew too worried.

"You're riding with Claire," Kathy said as they walked by.

"Thank you," Zoe replied, putting her hands together. "I-"

"Don't-" She stopped, holding up a finger. "Don't."



*****



They split up once they reached the floor of the hangar, with Claire leading Zoe towards a storage room.  Opening one of the lockers, she retrieved a jumpsuit of heavy layered cloth, passing it to Zoe. "You'll need to wear this."

She held it up in her hands. "Is this a uniform?"

"Orichalcum fibers." She tapped the collar of her suit. "Protects you in Wild Zones.  The cockpits are shielded but if we go down they should buy time until rescue."

"'Should?'"

"We're headed in deep.  Exposed we have fifteen minutes before the changes happen.  Maybe twenty."

"Oh.  Well it's not that bad, is it?  You could probably just walk to safety if you were afflicted."

"Maybe.  If you still had legs.  Or could feel them through the pain."

"...oh.  Oh.  It's a Cronenberg sort of thing, isn't it?" She gestured with the jumpsuit, forcing a smile. "I'll just put this on then."



*****



The mecha cockpits were located in their chests, boarded from the rear via a platform on a horizontal crane.  There were two seats, one above and behind the other; the foremost one was before a control panel covered with switches, buttons, and digital displays, with foot pedals and what looked like aviator joysticks on segmented limbs in front of it.  The space in front and to the sides of the seats was taken up with curved, dark panels; Zoe wouldn't have called it roomy, exactly, but it was a great deal more open than the inside of a tank or jet.

Claire climbed in with practiced ease, taking her seat and belting herself in before working on the control panel, tapping buttons and flipping switches with occasional spoken messages to the support crew.  Zoe followed her in and sat down in kind, a bit more slowly and cautiously.   The hatch closed and sealed behind her, leaving her with the pale glows of the console and a mounting sense of anticipation.

Suddenly the panels came to life, blinking on one at a time in a rapid staccato, displaying a manufacturer logo before switching to a feed from the outside the mecha and forming a panoramic view of the hangar.  The access bridges in front of it retracted, and one of the support crew gestured with a pair of batons.  Claire took hold of the joysticks, and a second later the mecha took a heavy step forward, moving in a surprisingly steady, even gait for something thirty feet tall and robotic.

"This is so awesome," Zoe whispered to herself.

With practiced ease, Claire piloted the mecha to the far end of the hangar, stepping onto a heavy platform.  There was the rumble of machinery and the platform lurched into motion, rising up past a series of lights before coming to a stop at the end of a long indoor runway, the end open to the sky.  The mecha took a few steps forward, and Claire's hands moved across the control panel before the cockpit was surrounded by the sound of something heavy shifting, the view growing lower to the ground.  After the movement stopped there was a thunk, followed by the rising rumble of engines.

"Heartbreak Two, ready to launch."  Then to Zoe she said, "hold on."

Zoe glanced around. "Hold on to wh-"

The mecha rocketed down the runway, sailing out above the terrain before rising into the sky.  Any further words of Zoe's were cut short by a cry that was equal parts terror and pure, unbridled joy.



*****



The tower was in a wide overgrown clearing, bordered on two sides by a thin, leafy forest that stretched off to the horizon.  It was pristine and pure, though Zoe didn't know how much of it had once been built over, only to be reclaimed by nature following the disaster that hit centuries before.  Still, even taking into consideration the latent hostile nature of the Wild Zone, she found it a welcome change from the city, and after two hours she was the only one of the five that was still even remotely enthusiastic about being there.

As Zoe was peering off at what looked like an open patch in the forest, the radio came to life. "Heartbreak Squad, come in, this is Adam Noin.  I'm the lead technician on-site with Galford Industries."

On the other side she heard Karen respond, "this is Heartbreak One."

"I'm just reporting in to tell you that even though we started a little behind schedule, we should be finished in about two hours."

"Understood.  Hearbreak One out." After a few seconds she said, "what did I tell you?  Four hours."

"Better than four hours in Alor Amon," William said.

"Better than any time at all in Alor Amon," Grant added.

"Hey, Claire," Zoe began, "how come you're called Heartbreak Squad?"

Claire glanced back at Zoe. "Karen, did you want to tell her?"

There was a quiet sigh from the other end of the line. "Early on I showed great aptitude for being a pilot.  My mother was against it; father piloted a GR before she divorced him, and she said it would break her heart if I became one as well."

"But you did anyway," Zoe replied.

"I was never fond of her."

"No foolin'.  Doing pretty good for yourself, though."

"W- ...thank you."

A moment later Grant spoke. "We've got company.  Bearing one-seven-five, closing in."

The mecha turned, facing a dark-colored shape on the horizon.  A crosshair lit up on the screen, moving towards the shape and resting on it as a zoomed-in view appeared on the right. "I see it," Claire said.

The thing - there was no other word to describe it - was over two stories tall at the shoulder, lumbering on all fours.  It was an amalgam of mismatched parts, muscled flesh blending roughly between them and covered with a thick hide whose color and texture changed partway down its body.  Exposed patches of raw flesh in the misshapen silhouettes of smaller creatures were visible across its sides, protruding limbs twitching erratically.  Its head was asymmetrical and split roughly down the center, one half predator, the other prey, mismatched teeth scraping against gums.  As it turned, vestigial feathered wings began to beat, still matted with ichor from previous hunts.

As Zoe saw it, the world suddenly felt a little more fragile. "What -is- that?"

"Chimera.  Animals wander too deep into Wild Zones, get afflicted, then eat and grow.  Sometimes they wander back out."

"But it wasn't a -person-, right?"

"Not this one."

Zoe suddenly felt sick to her stomach.

"Hearbreak Squad," Karen said over the radio, "spread out, close in."

Claire moved the controls and the mecha strode forward, crossing the clearing as the others came up on its flanks.  The barrel of its rifle rose up into view and Zoe did a few mental calculations, trying to figure out what effect the rounds would have on the beast in the distance.  It would be like hunting a bear with a battle rifle, she reasoned, but not having any experience in that she didn't know how well it would go.  Even if they shot it in the head it could have mutated a second brain elsewhere for all she knew.

As they and the chimera closed in on each other the creature turned, loping in a wide circle around the unit, its head tracking each of the mecha in turn before focusing on one to Claire's side.

"It's tracking me," William said.

"Hold your fire," Karen replied. "Wait until the rest of us get closer."

They continued their advance, each closing in on the other.  A minute or two later Grant reported in with, "I've got it in range."

"Target in range," Claire added.

"Understood.  Squad, halt." The mecha came to a stop, the others following suit. "William, on your shot."

There was a long silence as Claire tracked the creature as it slowly moved.  It came to a brief stop, and suddenly there was a report like a cannon.  A shot streaked through the air and the beast hurled itself to the side, the round whipping past.  With a loud roar it charged, clawed paws throwing up slabs of earth.  The rest of the squad opened fire, weapons thundering as rounds few downrange.  The beast weaved and dodged with uncanny agility as it ran, some bullets missing but others finding their mark, creating spurts of ichor in its hide as they connected but doing little to slow its advance.

Another shot rang out above the others, hitting the chimera's front limb at the joint.  The creature stumbled before pitching forward and sliding to a halt.  It struggled to right itself but, its advance halted, it was an easy target for Claire and the others, twitching and spasming as rounds were poured into it until it finally fell still.

Zoe let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.  After a long silence she asked quietly, "is it dead?"

"William?" Kathy said.

A shot sounded, and the side of the chimera's head splintered apart in a gout of bone and brain matter.  There was another silence before Claire spoke up. "It's not moving.  No secondary brain.  Target neutralized." Then, to Zoe, she said, "you probably weren't expecting this."

"I'll think I'll stay at the apartment next time," Zoe said queasily, "if that's okay."

"'It is well that war is so terrible-'"

"'-otherwise we should grow to fond of it.'" In response to Claire's look she added, "we had someone say something like that back home, too."

Claire nodded, returning her attention to piloting the mecha.  As it turned and head back for the antenna, Zoe spotted a large pool of some jet black substance.  The surface was smooth - almost too smooth - but despite that it was only partially reflective, showing light and shadow rather than the environment around it.  As she focused on it she felt movement around her wrist, and held up her arm to find that the green bracelet was twitching and vibrating.  Pointing to the pool she asked, "what is that?  Tar?"

Claire glanced behind her, doing a double take when she noticed Zoe's bangle now shaking violently. "Godsblood.  Are you doing that?"

"No.  When I saw it, it started moving."

"You had that on you when you woke up here?"

"Yeah.  I thought it was just jewelry, but whenever I was afflicted it changed with me."

From out of view Claire frowned. "It appeared when the god died.  Just takes up space."

"You can't use it for fuel or anything?"

"It's chemically and magically inert.  Resists analysis.  Mass but no atoms."

"Isn't that impossible?"

"It's from a god."

"Yeah, well, it's the first thing resembling a lead I've gotten.  What's the closest pool of that stuff to the apartment?"

"Pretty far.  Only appears close to or in Wild Zones.  There's a glass canister of it in the geology museum, though."

"Thanks.  Guess I know where I'm going."



*****



After the mission had ended and the repairs completed, Heartbreak Squad flew back to base.  Claire was taking her time going through her post-mission checklist, and the atmosphere in the cockpit was, to Zoe, not entirely unlike when her parents drove her back from somewhere with the intent of lecturing her in the car when they got home.

"Radio's off," Claire said. "They can't hear us."

Well, Zoe thought.  That's that.

"I know about them and you." She glanced behind her to gauge Zoe's reaction.

Zoe sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I know what you're thinking, and that's not it at all.  It just sort of... ended up that way.  I mean, I've got a little..." She gesticulated. "...sexual baggage from unfulfilled fantasies, and all of a sudden I'm a world full of really pretty people.  I'm not forcing myself to do it, I mean, William's really sweet and we've got a lot in common, Grant's been supportive in figuring out what I'm into, Aenor came onto me a couple times, and Kathy..." She shook her head. "I think she needs help figuring out what she really wants."

"Kathy?"

"Yeah.  You knew about me and -her-, right?"

"No."

"Oh." She cringed. "Oh..."

"I'm surprised she let her guard down."

"She didn't, not really.  But later, maybe."

Claire gave a slow nod before lapsing into silence.  A few seconds later she asked, "what do you think of me?"

"Um..."

"Be honest."

"I want to lick whipped cream off your abs." A beat. "Or your boobs." Another beat. "Or just, basically if you had any food on you I'd clean it off with my tongue and love it." A tinge of red crossed her cheeks. "I mean, you've got a great body.  I'm not... being too forward now, am I?"

"Not really," Claire replied, unbuckling herself. "Spent enough time on it."