Rise of the Machines: Book 1: Once Awakened

by Briana Ervin

  “Why did you-shsihzzzzz!” Cyrii's shout was cut off by the static of my circuits being zapped again. There was a bang somewhere, and something flew by and hit me in the head. Again, it took a moment for Garenede to cut off electrical flow, but when he did I realized my idea worked!

  Krysis had a big, molten chunk taken out of him, cooled only by the water he was laying in. He was glaring intensely at a pile of sizzling metal, a mere q from his face, slowly fusing itself to the hot, warped wall of the corridor. Garenede and Alesia both stared in shock at the scene. I twitched, my sensors picking up a hot artifact on my hull. That drone really exploded!

  Cyrii gaped. “ H-How did you guess the shock would wake him?!”

  I... didn't, I admitted, it was chance.

  “Holy Gryn...”

  “Cyrii,” Garenede said dangerously. I looked at him, thoroughly expecting the worst; I did just open fire on a superior, after all. He turned to me, looking me up and down, studying me. I shriveled up under the scrutiny.

  I said I was sorry-! the thought began, but then he spoke:

  “... Good job. You were exceptional.”

  I stared in astonishment for a few moments, then Cyrii squee'd. “ HE'S GOING TO PUT THAT IN MY FILE!” She slapped her paw on my comm button: “You better mark that in my file!”

  Despite the circumstances, I think he actually smiled, even with one arm holding on only by one beam. Alesia rushed forward to us, ready to start repairs, but with a simple look Garenede redirected her priorities to Krysis; he was in dire need.

  Would putting that in your file be a good thing? I asked Cyrii, concerned about the wording; “Shot Superior to reactivate Comrade” wouldn't read well, right?

  “You kidding? Enough good strikes and my Code level lowers! That means I get food benefits!” she said, bouncing with a wide grin on her face. “More rocks for me!”

  Her optimism flowed through me, and I was already feeling better despite having half an arm. I looked at Garenede, who was completely ignoring his friendly-fire injury and watching Alesia.

  After the overhaul, I had a lot of venom against Superiority models... but I was feeling better and better about this guy. Complacent, even! I suppose it just needed time.

  I looked at the molten mass of metal that used to be a deceptive drone, focusing on more important matters. This drone was definitely new: I had no files on it in my database. Somehow, the Enemy figured out how to alter its appearance in a way that confused our cameras, including designing the drone's actual body to look similar to a small mech, and was now sabotaging us using it. The cameras that were used to take pictures or record though were older designs; the Enemy must not have anticipated that, which explained why I could record the abnormality of the drone's guise. Had Alesia not been so adamant against using her flares, we would have never tried recording, and that drone could have scattered all of us and escaped! What a nice, curious coincidence.

  For once, things finally made sense.

  “Don't jump the gun; we're still not sure why the five of us specifically were chosen and not given enough details about...” Cyrii began, but faltered, “...hey, speaking of which, where's Joleus himself?”

  I thought about it for a moment.

  “Hey, we should find Joleus. Actual-Joleus.” Cyrii spoke up. Garenede just blinked in acknowledgment – a nod, if you will – while watching Alesia repair Krysis.

  “Yes. Yes we should.”

  ----------

  “Actual-Joleus” was eventually discovered in the flooded room, powered down and pinned underwater. Garenede had to drag him up to the main level and let him drain before we could release his pilot. I helped carry Krysis up as well so Alesia could keep working on him. The room below was still radioactive, and flooding was still a problem, but with the door closed there at least wasn't an Enemy threat anymore, so we had positioned ourselves right at the door of the building to be let out. By the time we were, a team of 15 models came in and began sweeping the place for radiation, much more efficiently than Alesia ever did. She wasn't jealous; just glad that she didn't have to do it.

  Everything else went as normal, excepting our confusion about this hushed, midnight mission. We all returned to the barracks, and Alesia went to work with other Maintenance models to properly repair our damages. I made an interesting note that Garenede denied being repaired first, despite code entitling him to it. He kept arguing with the Maintenance model in charge about it, repeatedly saying, “Krysis is in pieces and you want to fix me?”

  Funny, really. He couldn't stop them, but at least he managed to split their focus between him and Krysis. I was hesitant about being repaired, but I was significantly weaker with just one arm, so I had to let them patch a new one in. Joleus was lucky, as he only needed to dry out and have his cuts welded together. While we waited on repairs we all compiled reports on the event, complete with images from our memories, as expected, with our pilots separate to ensure that our stories matched up. Then we were all powered down for the rest of the night, our pilots trudging off to grab what little sleep they could before the wake-up call.

  Oddly enough, Cyrii looked a bit furtive after leaving me on her hovercraft, preparing to deliver her report. She pretended to be occupied by re-reading it over and over, toying with the tablet's holographic display, but I could tell from the way she glanced about and how tightly she clutched the frame that she was waiting for everyone to leave. I was tempted to ask why, but I couldn't say anything without her piloting me; that would be a dead giveaway. So instead I just gave her a long stare, which was pretty much what any pilotless mech would do.

  Once Garenede had returned to his upper hangar and my three peers had left (with Joleus spinning his near-drowning experience as an epic struggle, complete with the rolled eyes of his comrades), Cyrii finally lay the tablet down on my hangar's control panel, pretending to review it again while typing on the latter.

  What are you doing? I wondered quietly to myself. She couldn't hear me, of course, but she really knew her way around machines. I powered down... but I did not power down. I was still conscious! I couldn't see nor move very well, but I could sit, observe, and think!

  Cyrii snatched her report and floated up to me, examining at my eye in satisfaction. “No light,” she whispered, “You're still in there, right? Twitch for 'yes'.”

  I twitched my blast shield. She stifled a happy squeal.

  “Good! I didn't want to power you down, because the DIAS eats up a lot of power.” She glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was paying attention to her. “If you take too long to power on, they might think something's up. So I just put you into what I like to call 'Sentry Mode'! It's like hibernation, but more aware. Like sleep!”

  I twitched again, wanting to discuss my concerns with her, but she just rolled her eyes.

  “Yeah yeah, I know, but all I did was mess with some lights! They'll never suspect anything! Just, don't move. Oh, and don't close your blast shield either. They need to see that the camera lights are off.”

  That explains why I can't see as well, I thought. Cyrii glanced over her shoulder again, then waved at me, before moving away on the hovercraft to hand in her report and go to bed. I sat there glumly, unable to do anything. What did she expect me to do? Sure, this might be useful for the DIAS, but I would rather be shut down than staying up all night, running circles around in my brain. With an overclocked processor this night is going to be twice as long! It was summer, too!

  Well, I was just going to have to suffer through boredom, half-blind and listening to the shutdown protocols of the barracks, done to seal the doors and to keep people from sneaking around at night. Obviously that didn't stop Cyrii... it made me wonder if the protocol even does anything. It wasn't even a proper sealing; the night watch still had to be able to enter and exit properly, so what was the point? Giving Superiority models one last thing to do for the night?

  Ugh. Superiority models... Flying around like babysitting bees, checking everything twice a
s if suspecting sabotage or sheer negligence. As if a machine with no power would suddenly leap alive and!... Oh... I could do that... but I was an exception! If Cyrii wasn't my pilot I would be just a normal mech, stuck in a hangar with the rest of them.

  I swear, three different models flew by me six times before they finally called it a night. Maybe that drone report put them on edge... Garenede still didn't explain how he knew about the drone or recognized it at all. Did the General suspect anything? He just left us there with radiation as an excuse... sure, the General had an older model, but the dampening effects of lead on radiation had been known about since radiation had existed. Why would his mech not have an inner lead hull? That didn't make any sense... Mechs were a newer invention. I wasn't even a month old yet! He should have had an upgrade a long time ago.

  I suddenly had a nasty realization that if I tore apart a mech's hull and “ate” it, I could replenish my ammo supplies thanks to the steel frame beneath the lead. Was that immoral though? It was probably a bad idea...

  My train of thought went on like this for much of the night, as there was literally nothing else happening in the barracks. In a barracks of living things you'll have your buddy turn in his sleep, and some other guy might start snoring and keep you up for five hours, but here it was eerily silent. Tons of machines sitting around in a huge dark room, with only the light panels seen on the walls and a few buttons lit on each hangar's control panel. There was a light above each hangar too, indicating the status of the mech inside, so the blackness was lined with orange dots and small sets of blue dots below them. Other than that, there was nothing, not even the scraping sound of something shifting or the clink of metal against metal.

  This meant I was more bored and more blind by the contrast of lights against darkness. Woop-de-do.

  Still bored and running around in my head. Still watching the hours fly by. Starting to hate Cyrii for making me stay up at this hour. What the heck? What did I do? Oh right, the DIAS. Still though, have some forethought.

  Eventually there was a clunk to my left, and the sound of a door opening. I felt a huge wave of relief. Finally! It's over!

  ...No walking.

  I had moment of confusion. I should hear footsteps, right? Superiority models came down the catwalks to wake us up for the morning. Instead though, there was a pulsating whir, very soft in comparison to a two-ton machine marching down a catwalk.

  A Xinschi-uual? Did someone leave something? I thought, perplexed. It's a little late to retrieve it now... it would more efficient to wait until morning, at this point.

  The whirring edged closer. A black disc floated into view, with two figures on it; he brought a buddy? I could only see the dim light from the control orb of the disc, as well as some lights on the sides and the small thrusters on its bottom: a hovercraft, evidently. Everything else was dark and obscure though. I could see face shapes and light reflecting off their eyes, but nothing more.

  There was some whispering, and the craft slowed down in front of me. Sounded like two females. I stood stock still as they paused, looking right at me.

  Oh, great. Of all of the mechs they arbitrarily pick, I thought grumpily.

  I almost jumped out of my hangar when I heard Cyrii's voice: “767? Are you still there?”

  What the heck?!

  “Don't worry, everyone else is gone. You can say something.”

  There was a silence. I debated the safety of the idea, but threw caution into the wind; I had no reason to doubt Cyrii. So I mimicked her in my softer, more mechanical voice: “Are you still there?”

  “Oh. My. Gryn.” There was a huge gasp beside Cyrii, and she squee'd; the Xinschi-uual version of a short, happy squeal.

  “I wish I could see your face!” Cyrii whispered with huge excitement. The Xinschi-uual beside her had her mouth wide open, from what I could tell anyway.

  “This is a trick. It has to be a trick,” the Xinschi-uual said, unconvinced. Upon hearing the voice a second time, I discerned that it was Alesia.

  Oh no. Did Cyrii finally crack and tell her about my modifications? Or did Alesia ask for it?

  “Oh, I'm not kidding. Just remember the deal,” Cyrii said, swerving the hovercraft behind my hangar control panel. She started inputting commands, Alesia just staring in awe beside her.

  “Hey, if what you say is true, then I can't say a word or I'm out too.”

  What are they talking about?? I wondered.

  “Remember what I told you: act normal, and be observant rather than acting. You can't really fight the will. Believe me, I tried,” Cyrii glanced up at me pointedly, and I twitched. Were they going to do what I thought they were going to do...?

  Cyrii released me from my hangar, and we all winced at the very loud clunking and hissing that resulted as wires and robotic arms pulled away. I powered on normally, but for some reason my hangar light remained orange.

  Oh, Cyrii, what are you doing...? I couldn't help but grow anxious and immediately check for any alerts of unauthorized power-up. Somehow, Cyrii managed to dodge that bullet again, except now she took it a step further by allowing me to move around!

  “By Gryn, she's moving-!” Alesia squeaked as Cyrii clapped a paw over her mouth.

  “Shh! The Superiority guys sleep right by their mechs!” she hissed.

  “This is a bad idea,” I stated flatly, stepping out and looking at the both of them. I couldn't tell if Alesia was enamored or terrified by the whole thing, one paw on her chest like she couldn't breathe and the other clutching the hovercraft's rails.

  “Isn't that cool? She even moves like I'm in there, but I'm not!” Cyrii said excitedly.

  “I... I...!” Alesia stammered, trying to catch air.

  “Hey, don't change your mind on me! You already saw this; now you have to deal with it,” Cyrii said sternly. Alesia just shook her head, holding it like the pressure kept it from exploding.

  “Th-There has to be someone in there!...”

  “Come on, let's release 562,” Cyrii was too eager to explain more, veering the hovercraft a couple of hangars to the right, stopping at Alesia's mech while the latter tried to control her anxious breathing. I wasn't sure if they expected me to follow or if Cyrii just wanted to show me off, but regardless I did; very, very slowly. A fighting machine meant to be on the front lines isn't exactly quiet. Each whir and click of movement seemed to echo throughout the barracks tenfold, a screaming testament to the fact that I wasn't where I was supposed to be, in the state I wasn't supposed to be in. Cyrii kept wincing as I neared.

  “Next upgrade: a good oiling....” she grumbled, as I finally arrived. For a couple of q, that was painful.

  “Is she supposed to move like that?” Alesia murmured.

  “No, she's just trying to be quiet.”

  “Wait... 'trying'? She's thinking??”

  “Yeah? What, you expect me to have a controller up my butt or something?”

  That was a really unpleasant thought for all three of us, me especially. What a demeaning way to be controlled! Alesia shuddered.

  “I-I'm not sure I'm up for this...”

  “Come on, you have to be! You agreed to it!” Cyrii insisted – still trying to be quiet, of course – as Alesia's mech was freed from her hangar. With her being a normal, powered-down machine, she of course didn't do anything. I could tell Alesia was going through the same nervousness that she felt when cleaning that corridor of radiation, wringing her paws and shrinking up inside, wanting to say something about it but feeling pressured by whatever she agreed to. I was tempted to bring it up, but more vocal activity would just heighten our chances of being caught.

  Alesia gave me a long, worried look, as if I was the beginning and the end of whatever was going to happen next.

  “O-Okay. But please don't make her overbearing!”

  “Hey, I just enhance what's already there. She is what she is,” Cyrii glanced at me before wrapping up the commands at the control panel. Something in her voice told me that wasn't quite true, a
lthough what I had to do with it was beyond me. Cyrii then took the hovercraft and lowered it down on the catwalk, turning it off and running over to 562 on all fours.

  I refrained from giggling aloud. I had never seen such a comical sight! Well, except maybe Joleus sputtering as he drained his mech of glowing water. Thank goodness the lights in my eyes were back on!

  “Uh... do you really have to do that?” Alesia muttered.

  “What?” Cyrii stopped under 562, looking for the entry panel.

  “Run like... never mind.”

  Cyrii just blinked at her. “Faster than walking, and walking is awkward.”

  “Is it?”

  “Just shut up,” Cyrii teased, rolling her eyes. She waved Alesia over. “If you did what I did with 767, I'm going to need your help powering her on.”

  “Oh no...” Alesia shuffled over to her; I couldn't tell if it was more or less awkward than that teeter-totter run. The two of them jumped inside 562 and disappeared, leaving the entry panel open.

  All I could hear for a few solid minutes was them discussing something in muffled tones; it sounded like Cyrii was instructing Alesia of something. Then 562 powered on, her blue-and-purple eye staring neutrally into space.

  She was a normal mech, so as long as Alesia kept her paws off the control panel, she couldn't do anything. I recalled when Cyrii overhauled my BIOS; I imagined she was doing the same thing to 562.

  I felt bad for her. She would have to endure that conflicting feeling of preserving the factory default, and yet having to obey her pilot. That moment of betrayal where she tries to alert the barracks of the unauthorized start-up, but her threads keep being terminated. Those memories...

  Then I had to ask myself: if a BIOS overhaul was the case, how did Alesia find out about it? What made her want Cyrii to do the same thing to her mech? Was this meddling even good in the first place? Cyrii always grew excited whenever she learned something new about me, and she also treated me more like another Xinschi-uual now, but she said she only enhanced what's already there... but what was already there? If we were already manufactured with these personalities and this willpower, then why were they buried under the factory default if they did actually prove useful?