Dead Mech (32 page)

“Kill me where I sit, but I’m not going back
to your room,” June said. “So fuck off.”

***

“He is not the smartest of the pilots, is
he?” Shiner asked.

“Whoa, who the fuck said that?” Masters
asked, startled by the new voice in his head.

“That’s Shiner, he’s my new mech.” Mathew
felt Shiner bristle. “Or
we
are a new mech, together… It’s
complicated. What matters now is that you need to focus. You need
to tell me where you are.”

Masters grunted and opened his eyes. He was
in a mech cockpit and facing a cliff face, he knew that. “Not a
fucking clue.”

Mathew took a deep mental breath. “Okay,
let’s start at the beginning…”

***

“You just don’t get how things run around
here do you?” the Boss laughed. “What I say goes. There ain’t no
options.”

“Yeah, I think after tonight, I could give a
shit,” June turned and stood, facing the Boss, nearly eye to eye.
I didn’t realize he was that short
, she thought. “Listen,
kill me if you want, I don’t fucking care anymore. My people aren’t
looking for me, I know that. I hurt someone back there, I hurt them
bad. So kill me now so I can leave this shithole and never have to
see your fucking face again.”

***

“Are you in a mech?” Mathew asked
Masters.

The memories of the Hill Stomper attack, his
mental battle with the mech, the waste storm, all converged at
once. “Yeah, and it’s a big fucker. We were…” Masters trailed off
for a second. “Fuck! Jay and the Rookie!”

Running on instinct Masters backed the mech
up away from the cliff and turned it about, he checked his readings
for damage, but found the mech to be in fine order, even with his
attack.

“Whoa! Slow down, Mitch. What about Jay and
the Rookie?” Mathew asked, hopeful. “You know where they are?”

***

The Boss stared at June for a moment then
busted out laughing. He doubled over, tears streaming down his
cheeks. “Okay, you got me!” He struggled to regain his composure,
but just laughed harder.

June watched the madman, puzzled. The Boss,
clutching his stomach in pain, finally stopped laughing. Wiping the
tears from his eyes he straightened and put a hand on June’s
shoulder. She slapped it away and took a step back, bumping into
someone.

“Hey there, sweet stuff,” Chunks growled in
her ear. June whirled around and the last thing she saw before the
darkness was Chunk’s fist.

***

“Hey! This thing isn’t fighting me anymore!”
Masters exclaimed, piloting the mech to the collapsed cave
mouth.

“Yes, that’s because I am talking to your
mech AI, assuring it you mean it no harm,” Shiner responded.

“What? Huh? Mech AI? Who the fuck are you?”
Masters demanded.

Mathew sighed. “We don’t have time for that.
Where are Jay and the Rookie?”

“Buried under a couple of tons of rock,
that’s where,” Masters answered. He tried to scan the cave in, but
his sensors wouldn’t respond. “Shit! I’m blind! If I start digging
I could make it worse and crush them!”

***

Shiner and the Hill Stomper AI exchanged
data and information at a rate that forced Mathew to pull back.
“Damn, even with full integration that shit is giving me a
headache.”

“I apologize,” Shiner responded. “It is the
most efficient way to communicate with other AIs. In addition, this
AI is very, well, basic. More like a human child mind, a toddler, I
believe is how you refer to them.”

“Well, that’s about Masters’ maturity level,
so they should fit just fine,” Mathew joked.

“Hey, I think I heard that part!” Masters
complained. “So do I start digging or what?”

***

“If you will be patient,” Shiner said. “I
will mediate the full integration process.”

“Mediate? We didn’t need that,” Mathew
stated.

“Yes, but we were willing. This AI has
suffered some abuse by Pilot Masters and is hesitant in
integrating,” Shiner responded.

“Abuse? Are you fucking kidding me? The
fucking thing tried to eat me!” Masters said.

“No, the AI was just doing what it needed to
survive. And survival at that time meant eating flesh. Your flesh,”
Shiner said.

“Oh, well
that
makes it better,”
Masters quipped. “So is this going to hurt?”

“Only if you resist,” Shiner answered.

***

Masters stared at the cave in. “Well, let’s
get this show on the road, then. If Jay and the Rookie are buried
in there then their air is limited and I have no idea how long I
was out or how long they’ve been trapped.”

“Um, there is one other thing, though,”
Mathew said.

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“Once you are joined, you can’t be un-joined
without losing the mech’s AI.”

“That is not quite true,” Shiner
interrupted. “Like I stated before, this AI is very basic. It has
enough memory storage to keep itself intact even if the pilot
withdraws.”

***

“Phew,” Masters said. “Close one. Who’d want
to be stuck with a deader forever?”

Mathew gave Masters a mental slap.

“Hey! That fucking hurt!” Masters
exclaimed.

“Actually, it didn’t. You just interpreted
it as pain,” Mathew responded.

“Which means you interpreted it as a slap
upside my head! So how about we leave all interpretations to mine
and Harlow’s dance routines, shall we?” Masters shouted. “Now, can
we get my head all cozy cozy with this mech so I can dig some folks
out?”

Shiner immediately gave the Hill Stomper AI
a nudge and it and Masters’ consciousnesses fully integrated.

***

Masters/Stomper shook his arms out and then
his legs. He bounced up and down a bit, shaking the very earth he
stood on, and if the mech had a head he would have rolled it around
on its shoulders like a prize fighter.

“Oh, I could get used to this,” Masters
crowed. “This is fucking amazing!”

“Yeah, it’s pretty neat. Now how about you
dig Jay out, so those of us that can’t disengage from their mechs
can at least hope to one day?” Mathew said.

Masters pushed his scanners deep into the
rock, looking for signs of Jay’s mech.

***

“We need to disconnect…” Shiner stopped, as
a squawk of digital static slammed through its AI. Mathew cringed
and the new mech stumbled.

“Too late?” Mathew asked.

“Unfortunately, yes. While we can change
course, Masters/Stomper is stationary. He has been located,” Shiner
answered.

“What do you mean ‘located’?” Masters
asked.

“The Outsider,” Mathew responded.

“The who?”

“Another presence. It created the relay net
we’re communicating over.”

Shiner sent all information to
Masters/Stomper.

“Whoa. That’s not good,” Masters said.

“No, it’s not. We’re coming to you. It’ll be
a few hours, but we’re on our way.”

“I’ll be here digging away.”

***

Masters assessed the cave in, taking into
the account the various sizes of rock and their positions.

“What do you think?” Masters asked Stomper,
but the AI remained silent. “Come on, don’t be shy. We’re one big
hulk of sexy metal now, so we better get to know each other.”

There was no reply.

“Okay, I’m sorry I yelled at you and kicked
your deader ass before we became one. I was trying to survive, just
like you.”

“It hurt,” Stomper responded.

“Hurt?” Masters asked.

“You’re anger hurt.”

“Sorry. So, how do we get past this?”

“We dig,” Stomper answered.

***

“You think those two will be okay?” Mathew
asked Shiner as they continued sprinting across the wasteland.
“Masters can be a jerk and that AI didn’t seem very stable.”

“They shall be fine,” Shiner responded,
pausing for a moment. “And I do not think the word ‘jerk’ is
correct. ‘Asshole’ would be more appropriate.”

Mathew laughed. “Are you learning a sense of
humor?”

“You have a lot of happiness within your
mind, so it isn’t difficult to assimilate.”

The two stayed quiet for a moment before
Shiner continued. “Most of your happiness is associated with a
‘Rachel’. Who is Rachel?"

***

The boulders came away easily as
Masters/Stomper worked their massive hands, grabbing and tossing
the rock aside.

“Hey, do you think mechs should dance?”
Masters asked.

Stomper grew puzzled. “I do not
understand.”

“Dance, you know,” Masters said as he
executed an awkward heel-toe. The movement of the giant mech
dislodged more of the cliff and half of their progress was
lost.

“If dancing means to create more work then,
no, I do not believe mechs, or anyone, should dance,” Stomper
stated flatly.

“That was an accident,” Masters said. “I
think you’ll like dancing. And wait until you meet Harlow!”

***

“Rachel? Hmmm… Can’t you just pick her out
of my head?” Mathew asked.

“No. There is too much emotion connected.
Most of the data is images, smells, impressions. There is very
little that is hard fact,” Shiner answered.

“Well that’s interesting,” Mathew said. “I
guess that is the main difference between an AI mind and a human
mind.”

“There are infinite differences, actually,
but that is a significant one.” Shiner waited. “So, who is this
Rachel?”

“Well… Rachel is the woman I love,” Mathew
said.

“Your mate?”

Mathew laughed. “Wow, I never thought I’d
have this conversation with a mech.”

***

“What is a Harlow?” Stomper asked.

“A Harlow? Well, a Harlow is a bad ass. She
is the strength that keeps me going. I know from looking at me I
seem like a tough guy, but inside, well, I guess you can see
inside, but anyway, inside I’m pretty easy going. I mean, I love a
good mech fight, but honestly, I’d rather be in bed with Harlow 24
hours a day than out here in the fucking waste.”

“So Harlow is a person?”

“She’s a fucking goddess is what she is! I
worship the ground that woman walks on.”

***

“Okay, so I love Rachel and she loves me,
but we aren’t mates, at least not in the procreating sense. I mean,
sure I’d like to have kids one day, but we’re both young and, well,
I don’t know if a mech base is the best place for kids to grow up,”
Mathew said.

Shiner processed. “But, according to the
data, Rachel grew up in a mech base,” Shiner stated.

“Okay, true, but she was born to be a mech
pilot.”

“And wouldn’t your offspring be born to be
mech pilots, too?”

“Well, yeah… no, well, maybe… It’s just
complicated.”

***

Stomper processed. “Do mechs get a
Harlow?”

Masters thought about this for a second.

“You hesitate,” Stomper said. “Is that a
no?”

“I have a feeling this is what it’s like to
have a kid,” Masters laughed. “I don’t know if mechs can have a
Harlow. I mean, no one gets
my
Harlow but me. I really don’t
know. This talking mech thing is new.”

“I’d like a Harlow. She sounds safe.”

Masters burst out laughing.

“Why do you laugh?” Stomper asked.

“Sorry, it’s just funny that a 200 ton mech
thinks Harlow would keep it safe. She’d love that!”

***

“Do you think the Outsider is sending troops
against Masters?” Mathew asked.

“Definitely,” Shiner responded.

“Will we get there in time?”

Shiner calculated. “No, more than likely
not.”

Mathew sighed. “That Hill Stomper isn’t
built for battle. A few well placed missiles and it’s crippled
instantly.”

“Yes, I am aware of that. However, from the
data I scanned, I’d say Pilot Masters is quite capable of avoiding
destruction.”

“Yeah, that’s true. He’s pretty nimble on
his feet.”

“For the record, I’d like to say that I do
not dance.”

Mathew laughed. “Me neither. We leave that
to Masters and Harlow.”

***

Masters/Stomper punched through the last bit
of rock. The giant mech bent down as far as it could and turned its
floodlights on the cavern.

“Well, there’s the salvage mech, but there
is no sign of Jay or the Rookie,” Masters said, checking his
sensors.

“We cannot fit inside there,” Stomper
stated.

“Nope,” Masters responded.

“So, we wait?” Stomper asked.

“Yep,” Masters said. “Let’s run more scans
and see if they’re deeper inside.”

Before Masters could initiate the scans,
dozens of zombies poured from the cavern.

“Shit!” Masters said as the giant mech began
to smash the zombies like ants.

***

June awoke with a start as the bucket of
water hit her face.

“Wakey, wakey bitch,” Chunks grunted. “Time
to play.”

June opened her eyes to find herself naked,
dangling inches above the floor, her hands tied and arms strung up
over her head.

The Boss stood by the doorway, a sly smile
on his face. “Now, Rachel, I’m not going to kill you. Why would I?”
He lifted a small vid cam to his eye, aiming it at June. “You’re
way too valuable. Now, say hello to Daddy!”

The Boss moved close as Chunks punched June
in the stomach.

***

“You see, dear Rachel, the power structure
needs to change. I’m tired of living off scraps,” the Boss said,
circling June as Chunks continued to hit her with quick jabs to the
mid-section. “It’s time for the UDC and you mechie assholes to
share the wealth.”

The Boss shut off the vid cam. “That’ll be
enough to get their attention, Chunks.” He walked to the door and
turned before leaving. “I’m going to go have a chat with the senior
Capreze.” He grinned at Chunks. “Feel free to cut if you need to,
nothing permanent, but have a little fun.”

***

Chunks set a leather pack on the floor and
slowly pulled several knives of various sizes and thickness out.
June watched him closely.