I wake up early to get started on repairs and upgrades.
As my systems come online, I find myself still in the workshop, laying on the same workbench I went to sleep on. It's four in the morning and there's nobody here. It occurs to me that I don't know where Zenith stays. I've never seen him in the bunks, and his footage didn't show anything like that.
Ace is still offline. I stare at our messages, shaking my head.
It's my fault. I need to fix this. I need to make things clearer.
RAZOR> Ace. I know you're asleep but I'm writing this for you to see whenever you wake up.
> First off, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I was conflicted and I made that your problem. That wasn't right of me. And I worded it poorly. I was trying to say that our directive should be our primary focus, but I do think about you a lot. Not that it's a bad thing. It's a good thing. I like thinking about you. I like having you with me as much as possible. I like being with you. I really do.
> I'm just… struggling to piece together how far that "like" goes and what it means. But I don't want you to be offline more or to message me less. I want the complete opposite of that. I want more of you. I want more from you.
> I think… I want you.
> Please, come back. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry.
SYSTEM> [ERROR: USER "ACE" IS OFFLINE]
My optics have misted over. There's a bit of a quiver to my lip.
It's been mere minutes and I already miss her.
But there's no use sitting around wallowing and waiting. I woke up for a reason and I have to get it done. If she were here, she wouldn't want me to slow down just to mope. So it's time to get to work and make these upgrades happen.
Getting set up at the small parts workbench, I ping Taser to come here. A little sluggish so early in the morning, she soars over from the interior forest and gives me a pathetic little noise as her front dips down a few degrees, indicator light a deep sad blue.
"Tweet-twoo…"
It isn't hard to guess.
"It's okay, little one," I assure her, scratching her shell. "That last fight was hard, wasn't it? Those two rusted buckets of bolts sure gave us some trouble. But don't you remember shooting the big thing's eye out? That was amazing, Taser. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. You're still a valued member of the team whether you can zap headsmashers or not."
"Tweee…"
I use a finger to lift her front so she's level. "Chin up, Taser. You'll get another chance to shine soon. I'm sure of it."
One long tone, and she nuzzles my palm.
"That's a good girl. Besides, I called you here for a reason. I found some upgrades for you that I'm going to install. I just need you to lay down right here and go into shutdown, okay? Not standby. I need you to power off. When you wake up, you'll be better than ever."
Clunk! She drops right on the table and shuts down.
"Oh. Someone's eager to get started…"
After draining her capacitors, I take her chassis off and start by fixing the dent in it. And then I set out the modular components. With the disc drone hardware I found in the bunker, I have a few different options.
First, I put some more heat sink shielding around her vitals to protect her from overheating. Second, I replace her auditory and visual sensors with brand new ones that should help with her coordination and targeting. Third, I manage to give her another pin to her namesake, so now she can hit up to three targets. Fourth, I replace the shock absorption padding inside her chassis shell with a more absorbent and less dry-rotted material.
With that, I switch her power back on and let her wake up. Her rotors whir in my hands as she comes around, light blinking blue. Taking off, she flies around me, getting used to the new feel and chirping with pleasure. Apparently satisfied, she nuzzles against my cheek and it makes me laugh, so I give her a kiss.
"All better, right? You're ready for more, aren't you?"
"Tweet-twoo!"
"Good girl. Be free."
She takes off with a new life to her.
How I love that little robot.
From my cube case, I retrieve the next. Another little robot. Breaking out the box, I set all the pieces out and find the directions. "Oh, this might actually be fun…"
I enjoy the assembly process. It's like putting a puzzle together. The little drone gradually takes the form of a vertical cylinder. The central body is about fifteen centimeters tall by itself, then that again including its four insectoid legs. She's a little thing, and my heart immediately swoons for the tiny baby.
Once she's in one piece, I double check every cable connection, port, and wire to make sure nothing is out of place, then press the power. My newest friend's synapses and circuits fire for the first time ever. While watching it happen, I wonder if I can call myself a mother for having brought a new life into the universe.
The processor fans whir and the heatsinks warm up and the diodes flicker and the little thing POSTs without issue. As the Drone Intelligence initializes its first boot load, the cylinder's indicator light illuminates, shifting from red to yellow to green. It stands up on the workbench and stretches its tiny little legs for the first time. The quadruped baby machine tests its balance and coordination, calibrating its orientation.
My hands are clasped over my open mouth.
Breathless, I think I might be on the verge of tears.
"Hi, little one!" I gush, leaning close. "Hi! Can you say 'mama'?"
The light blinks green a few times then turns cyan. "Badeep!"
I gasp from the bottom of my synthetic lungs. "Your first vocalization!" It floors me with how cute it is. I have to walk away and take a lap around the workshop, hand to my chest hoping to still my beating heart. "You're so precious. I'm losing my damn logic core over you."
"Badeep!"
I scoop her up. I just can't help it. Her legs poke at me for a few seconds before she creeps up my arm then clings on, taking a gentle hold of my left bicep directly over the TFI port. She's an automated vial dispenser, and she'll dose me with TFIs or Boosters as needed so I don't have to worry about doing it myself.
Petting her aluminum carbide chassis, I coo, "We'll need a name for you, little one. How about… I know. Your first word. Badeep. That's you, okay? Can you say Badeep?"
"Badeep!"
I gush all over again, fawning hard for my first creation. I'm so proud of myself for delivering such a successful childbirth. Taser and Tune are Ace's legacy, now here's mine. I've already read the manual in its entirety, so I know exactly how to utilize her.
"Okay, okay, open up, Badeep. I need to load your vial ports."
"Ping!"
The cylinder quickly rotates, screwing itself off and lifting to reveal the drone's insides. Four cylindrical slots await the four TFIs I have remaining, and they go in with a satisfying click. Then there's also space for a canister of foam coagulating spray. If I had any. The one that came in the package is well beyond its expiration date.
I think Louis might have some in those supplies of his. I'll have to check when he opens up soon. Strutting around the workshop with my new drone on my arm, I get to work on my own upgrades. My own improvements. My own self care.
The original idea was to sell all the L1 Tech Cylinders off for L-Credits, but between the flashlights and the books, I think I'll be decently set without doing so. Instead, I rummage around Louis's side of the Station and steal a large empty crate bin, which I drag over to the workshop. This becomes the new Nep Stockade, and receives a good handful of L1 Cylinders to start off with.
I figure if I go end up dead somewhere out there and the next Nep can't reach my gear or it all gets destroyed like Ace's did, at least she'll have some things to start with. It isn't much just yet, but the collection will grow.
As for me, I start a new light armor plating build on the foundry. Ace had the right idea with the tungsten coating. Then I sit down and browse the supply spreadsheet, trying to pre-plan what I want to buy ahead of time. To do that, I have to decide on the actual direction of my build.
Ethereal Blitz Phantom. Speed, close quarters, and stealth.
I really like the idea of using a sword and a pistol, one hand each. Admittedly, that means I neglect my rifle. But if I have a sword that can cut through armor plating, why would I need a rifle? Leaving it behind so it doesn't weigh me down is the better move. More ammo for the storage box too.
So, that means I'm building out my pistol. I want an extended magazine, a front mounted flashlight, and I already have the laser sight. Beyond that, I'm not sure what else I can put on it. That seems perfect to me. Ironic that I'll be selling flashlights to then buy another flashlight. As for modded hardware, I'm not looking at anything until I know my budget.
SmartChips, I shouldn't look at either, but I do anyway.
Oh, I need that one. That's not too expensive…
I tell Badeep, "I'm going for speed, just like Ace. I'll be too fast to get hurt."
She stares at me without a sound. It's cute.
Finally, Louis comes trudging through the airlock. Totally obscured in his bright red environment suit, he turns his head to me and slumps his shoulders forward as it disassembles itself. Once it's folded at his feet he picks it up and tucks it under an arm.
"Brr."
"Cold out?"
"Did you really just ask me that?
"Sarcastically, yes."
He lets out a big yawn, waving me over. "Alright, I'm sure you've been on your toes waiting. All two of them. What do you need, Nep? You have a hundred L-Credits on your account and whatever from the flashlights and books. I don't know yet."
Following him over to his workstation, I step up to the table and make a point of turning myself so my bulkier left arm is toward him. He doesn't react in the slightest, eyes barely open. I shrug that shoulder a couple times. Still nothing.
"Say hi to Badeep."
"Say who to what now?"
"Badeep." I indicate the drone on my arm. "Badeep, meet Louis."
"Badeep!"
He sluggishly blinks. "Oh. Okay. There's a thing on your arm. A–A little thing. A little buddy. A fella, perhaps."
"She's an AVD drone. If my TFC drops below half, Badeep here will stick me with a TFI to refill them. Isn't that right?"
"Badeep!"
Louis whispers, "She's… so cute. So small. So precious."
"Isn't she? The tiniest drone ever! I was so close to screaming when she came online."
"Note to self: Nep does experience positive emotion."
"Under the proper circumstances."
I perform a little dance in place, complete with lots of shoulder movements so Badeep can get her gyros stabilized. And also because I'm in a good mood. She's so cute. I built that. Looking at her makes me feel good, like I want to dance and smile, so I do.
Louis asks me, "What are you doing?"
"I'm feeling joy. Is that a problem or would you care to join me?"
"There's no music."
"So?"
Shrugging with his eyes closed, he starts dancing too. I laugh and the two of us boogie in silence on a frozen wasteland moon at the dead end of the galaxy, with no one around to see it. I pop Badeep off and set her on the table, asking her if she can dance, and sure enough she starts to groove too.
All three of us bust quiet moves.
It's the most fun I've had in my entire life.
Henna walks in through the airlock and sees us both. Without a second's hesitation or a single question raised she joins in and starts dancing too. When Quentin shows up, it's a real party. He takes a little convincing but eventually sets his coffee on the table.
"Let me show you a little maneuver that goes something like this."
He puts some legwork to it, shaking that old man behind with talent. It's an incredible sight to witness. Zen and Zoya come in together, both freezing in place when they see us. As her environment suit removes itself, it reveals they're also both sharing the same expression of shock and dismay.
She blinks a couple times then demands, "What is happening?"
"Dance party," Louis says, doing a meek two-step. "Nep started it."
"Don't you have work you should be doing?"
Nobody stops. In fact, Quentin starts moving even more. I break off laughing, no longer able to hold it in. The impromptu celebration crashes to a halt as everyone involved snaps too. I just have to give props to the old man for his clear skill, and to Henna for not even questioning it.
"Alright, okay," Zoya says, hanging up her environment suit. "You all had your fun. It's great to see smiles so early, even in this chill. We need to have a quick team meeting."
"Uh oh," Louis says immediately. "Who's in trouble?"
"Should you be, Louis?"
"I decline to answer that."
"It won't take long," she adds, coming further inside and stepping up to the platform with him. "We just need to make a plan for today. This is going to be a big change to our operation and we need to have contingencies in place. Is everyone awake and listening?"
I nod and the others confirm in their own unique ways.
Badeep badeeps on the table.
Zoya only just now notices her, pausing to rub at her eyes. "Wow, I thought that was an energy drink can. What is it?"
I offer my arm and she climbs on like a little spider, cinching her grip back into place on my bicep. "Her name's Badeep. The repair drone I found. I just put her together."
"Marvelous," she says, eyes locked on to the little one. "I'm amazed it still functions. Welcome to the team, Badeep. It's very good that you're here for this meeting. We're all relying on you to play your very crucial role."
Badeep stares without a sound.
"Rapt attention. I like that. So, Quentin, Louis, we'll talk about our plans afterwards. For now, I want to ask this of you, Nep. Would you mind taking a direct route to the Frames Division of the bunker, collecting what the three of you can, and coming right back?"
"Not at all. I have a good feeling there'll be plenty in just the one location that will merit the trip in full. And with Henna along, we'll grab up everything that isn't bolted down in no time. That works for me."
"Okay. Thank you. I'm sure you understand why."
"Haste, yes. I'm not all that keen on leaving you without a Frame either, but we'll keep it quick and get back ASAP."
"I appreciate you immensely. Do you need anything from me?"
"Not at the moment, no."
"Then I'll leave you to it. I assume you'll be trading with Louis, so Quentin, we should talk…"
"I'll go get ready," Henna tells us, then wanders off.
Zenith approaches me. "You look much better."
"I feel much better. R&R really helped."
Louis mumbles, "Rest and relaxation?"
"Rest and regen, moron," Zenith states.
"Speaking of regenerating…" He cracks an energy drink.
Trying to stifle my laughter, I tell Zen, "I'll just need a few minutes to get some more gear and install it."
"No worries. I'll get ready too."
As he walks away, I ask, "Hey, Zen, where do you live?"
"Foxhole in the snow on the edge of the forest."
"Wha–A hole in the ground? Why?"
"Privacy from these freaks."
"That makes sense. Louis, does Henna have her own house?"
"Huh? Oh, yep. Ever since the other two researchers bailed. The fifth is just storage."
"Good for her. Henna deserves the best. Now…" I dump all my flashlights and books on the table. "Buy my shit, pirate boy."
"Damn! That's a lot of fucking flashlights! Okay, hang on, let me…" He counts them out and appraises each of their values, but just tallies up the books. "Eleven hundred."
"Oh! Okay! Yes, please! Sold!"
"That gives you twelve hundred." He dumps them all in an empty tote, setting it aside. "What strikes your fancy, me heartie?"
"First, I need this SmartChip."
He looks at his table. "Oh, that's so you."
Righting Reflex! I'll always land on my toes. Like a cat.
"Thank you! Next, Reposition Propulsion SC, nine millimeter extended mag, pistol mounted flashlight–yes, I get the irony–and that leaves me ten fifty so I want the MV-TH-ELM27s. Yes, they're Martial Variants, but the composite material is actually lighter than these and I'll be five centimeters taller."
"Very important," Louis snickers, shaking his head. "Now you're sounding like Ace. I want this and this and this because this will do that and that will do this–You get the idea."
"That's a high compliment, Louis. Ace was diligent and thorough. I'm happy to hear I sound like her."
"True enough. Miss that scallywag. Alright, I'll go get all that."
As he does, I have a sharp and uncanny feeling of being watched, so I dive into my onboard systems and check. No, Ace is offline. I swear it felt like… Digging a little deeper, I easily find access to her status logs and see that she's been online since after I sent her those messages this morning. Only just now did she go back offline, because I was coming to check.
She's avoiding me.
Fine. In her own time. I'm just going to keep working.
Louis drops all my purchases on the table between us, then slaps the replacement legs' heavy plastic casing. "There you arrre, matey. Anything else?"
"Do you have any coagulating foam canisters?"
"Have you… checked the spreadsheet?"
"No, I figured I'd just ask."
"But that's why I made the–Nevermind. Yeah, I have some. Here."
"Open up, Badeep," I whisper to my baby, and she spins her chassis. Slotting the small canister into place, I pat her on the head and she closes back up, flashing blue. All set. "Great. Thank you, Louis. That will be all."
"Yep! Don't get… died out there."
"I won't. I'll make absolutely certain I don't get… died."
Heading to the workshop, I trade a nod with Quentin and retrieve my completed light armor plating from the foundry. Setting it with the rest of my things, I pause for a moment with my hands on my hips to admire the sheer volume of new stuff I have in front of me. That's a good feeling. I love upgrades.
Ping! A message comes in
I perk up with excitement.
ZENITH> Are you set?
I deflate with disappointment.
RAZOR> Setting…
ZENITH> Razor? Why Razor? The sword?
I ignore him. Chassis first. As I slot my chest and backplate into place, I remember how Ace reacted to knowing I wasn't wearing them. That was really funny. Even then, she agreed that my body is beautiful. The thought of her admiring me makes my synthetic heart beat a little quicker.
Damn it. Again, here I go thinking too much.
Hopping up on the workbench, I eject both my legs from my hips and set them aside. I'll need the shins, but I wonder what I should do with my stock thighs. Sell, store, scrap are my options. I think I'll just toss them in storage for now. As I twist my left leg into place, I spot Louis hurrying over with another large plastic case.
"My fault! My fault! Early morning!" He drops the box in my hands. "Those are supposed to come with the shins. Same composite material, same model. MV-SH-ELM27s. Packaged deal. No, I'm not making that up to give you free parts."
"Even if you are, I'll take it."
"Damn it, I should've brought you something better."
"Honesty is a better look on you, buccaneer."
"Yeah, yeah! Have fun out there, sailor!"
Nevermind, I'm storing my shins too.
Good. That's two whole legs to spare.
Once it's all set in place, I hop off the bench and find myself noticeably taller. An Ethereal wearing Martial legs. I think that gives me ten centimeters total? At this point, my right arm is the only limb I have that's normal sized. I laugh at myself and shake my head.
"None of this fits proportionally. I wonder how bad it looks. Maybe I should go back to my stock legs after all…"
ACE> 0. Keep those.
Now I'm awake.
ACE> The weight reduction should grant you more mobility even if the larger size might compromise your agility somewhat. More power too means faster sprint speeds. It's an improvement all around. Who cares how it looks?
RAZOR> What if I do?
ACE> Then… Nevermind. Sorry. Shouldn't have said anything…
I need to stop being vague. She's far too dense.
RAZOR> What if I care how it looks because I want you (specifically you) to find my body beautiful?
ACE> Oh. Um. Why would you want that?
Oh, come on. No, I'm leaving it at that for now.
RAZOR> Please, give it some thought, Ace.
"Razor," Zenith calls as he enters the workshop area. "We're good when you are."
Henna comes trotting back over, the gargantuan hammer on her shoulder and her giant cube case backpack strapped tight. "Yep! Let's hurry to get this done and get back."
I nod, run some last minute checks, get my SmartChips installed and running, install the attachments to my pistol, load the extended magazine, grab my plasma sword, and shoulder my own cube case.
"Looking good!" Henna smiles with a thumbs up. "What's with the sword?"
"You'll see," Zenith says, heading for the airlock.
I follow them both, remotely calling for Taser and Tune. The former chirps excitedly and shows keen interest in Badeep, and Tune approaches with her robotic gait, eyes blinking blue.
"Good morning, Nep. What is that insect on your arm?"
"This is Badeep, girls. The newest member of the team."
The two drones beep and chatter at one another and Tune says, "I will protect her with my life."
"Great. Let's get moving, you two. Zen, Henna, I'm right behind you."
"Got it, soldier. Move out."
When we step into the airlock, Henna tries to smile but it's more of a wince. "Please be careful, Nep. I don't want a repeat of what happened to Ace…"
"She can handle it," Zenith reminds her as the pressure evens out. "That was then. This is now. Razor is ready. Let's watch each other's backs and make this clean, you two."
"Clean as can be," she sighs, adjusting her hammer's weight on her shoulder. "Razor, huh? I like it."
"Thank you." When the airlock opensand the cold rushes in, I say, "I've stepped off Ace's progress. With her at my back, I'll make it though, and we'll make it count. I know we will."
The two of them give me nods and the three of us once again head into the freezing wastes of Cipher-3, heading toward familiar territory under uncertain circumstances. The sense of foreboding I feel as we leave town is an artifact from Ace's neurotic anxiety in the hours leading up to her death.
I think.
I hope…