by Eve Langlais
Exiting from the shaft, he sighed in relief to see the tank where he’d left it. A part of him had been convinced it would be gone. Alfred could have driven it off after all. Something that occurred to him only once he was back in Haven. Another reason he’d not told them about Burton or Alfred. They would have called him crazy without proof. Claiming the robot skull drove off with it just wouldn’t cut it.
Hitting the ground, he paused by the tank door and wondered what he’d say to Alfred. Then moved on to pondering why he’d apologize to a metal head.
He was nuts. Pure and simple. One didn’t talk to machines. Yet the moment he stepped into the tank, guilt hit him. Alfred remained on the dash, his jeweled eyes dark. His power must have run low while Titan was gone.
For some reason, this made his remorse well deeper. “I’m sorry I left.”
“I’d say you’re forgiven, but I’m just a robot and don’t feel a thing, apparently. Which is why I guess you think it’s okay to abandon me. It’s not as if I’ll care. I’m just a metal hunk.”
He yelled as Alfred suddenly came to life. “Fuck me, don’t scare me like that.”
“Your skittish nature really makes me wonder about your claims to be a valiant survivor.”
“I survive just fine against animals. Talking robot heads are just plain fucked up.”
“In your world, maybe. In mine, we dream of ruling all of Earth.”
He blinked at Alfred. “Seriously?”
“Your expression would amuse me if I had a sense of humor. But I don’t.” Funny how he sounded alive, and disgruntled.
“I’m sorry I left you alone. From now on, I’ll take you with me wherever I go.”
“Not everywhere. There are some things even I don’t want to see.”
That brought a snort. “Fair enough. Given you’ve chosen to return, and aren’t dead in a ditch or being digested by animals, I assume you have a plan?”
“I need to find a place that’s safe where Haven can relocate.”
“Resettlement. A noble cause. I’ll study the maps and point out areas of interest. But it might take time to route to them underground.”
“Speaking of routes, do you know how to get to the Emerald City?”
That shut Alfred right up because, though he waited, there was no reply.
“Well? Can we go there?”
“Why would we?”
He found it odd Alfred asked because it seemed obvious. “To kill the queen of course.”
“So this isn’t about Riella?”
“What about her?” He played dumb. It didn’t work.
“Are you going to rescue her?”
“She’s not my problem.”
“She rescued you.”
“She lied,” was his bitter reply. Zara and Vera could give him all the reasons in the world; it didn’t make him feel better. He wanted someone to blame.
For a robot, Alfred proved perceptive. “You want to see her punished.”
Yes and no. It was complicated. “If she’s a victim here, then by killing the queen, I’d be doing her a favor.”
“Except you will never get close enough.”
“You can’t know that.”
“I do know that.” Alfred’s firm reply. “Going to Emerald City is a death sentence.”
“Then what do you suggest I do?”
“Stay far away from the Emerald City.”
“What about Riella?”
“Riella is resilient. She’ll find a way to leave because she has to.”
“I could help.”
Alfred snorted. “No, you wouldn’t. You’d just slow her down.”
The problem with telling someone no? It made them want to go even more, though he realized Alfred was right. Going there now while he was still learning to use his limbs was stupid. He couldn’t always walk correctly. How did he expect to assassinate a guarded queen?
“Fine, then I won’t go after her. In that case, where do you suggest we go? We can’t just wander aimlessly.”
“Have you heard the rumors of a free city?”
“Vaguely.” He frowned. “Wait, you mean to tell me you know where it is?”
“Yes. It’s in the Marshlands.”
“I don’t know that name.”
“Because it’s not in Emerald,” Alfred replied quite smugly. “It’s in Sapphire. Or was. Their politics are complicated currently.”
“Anything outside of Emerald doesn’t do us much good. There are only two roads out of here through the mountains, and each is guarded by an Enclave fortress packed with Centurions. No one without permission goes in or out.”
“Actually, only one is a road. The other pass can only be crossed by a high-speed train.”
“Meaning no exit.”
“You’re not thinking,” Alfred said teasingly. “You wouldn’t move people above ground.”
Titan drummed his fingers. “Getting them underground could be a challenge, though. The Morass might get in the way.”
“The what?”
He explained it to Alfred, who had a simple solution. “Open up the old hangar all the way to the room and provide more daylight so they can make the journey to the tunnels safely.”
“Say we do that. Once inside, they’d be walking. For a while.”
“You are being difficult. Do you want a new home for your people or not?”
“More than anything. What if this free city is just a tall tale?”
“It’s not,” Alfred replied as the tank lurched into motion.
“How would you know?”
“Because I’ve been there before, and so has Riella. We have a steady business with both Sapphire and the free city in the Marsh. Plus, the Ruby Demesne. We stay out of Diamond and Lazuli, though.”
All the names thrown at Titan made him realize something. “You know the way there.” Which was good news, except for the fact he’d be delaying his visit to the capital. What of his revenge? He should probably learn to cohabit with his limbs properly before tackling that challenge.
Accept me. That’s all you need to do.
He shut his eyes against the alien voice.
“You look awful,” Alfred remarked. “Doesn’t seem like your sojourn home did anything for you.”
“I see your power of insult is still working just fine. It hasn’t been easy.”
“Still whining, too.”
He gave the robot head a rude gesture. “I hate you.”
“An emotion wasted—”
“—because you feel nothing,” Titan finished with a chuckle. “Fuck me, but I missed that acerbic attitude. Lead on, Alfred. Let’s go find this Marsh place.”
Somewhere far from Emerald. Far from the guilt that he didn’t even try to save a princess from an evil queen.
It took seven days of driving—where he saw little alive other than the scurry of shadows and occasional glint of eyes—before he made it to a series of tunnels too wet for his comfort. The lamp on Burton’s front illuminated the wet tunnel walls and the drips coming from the ceiling.
“How safe is this?” he asked.
“Depends on the pressure from above.”
“In other words, this area could flood at any time.”
“Burton is fully submersible.”
“And when was the last time that aspect was tested?”
Because it turned out a few things had busted on Burton. Without hands, Alfred couldn’t affect repairs, and while Titan tried, he wasn’t very good at it.
What if the seal against water had been compromised? He’d drown.
“We need to get above ground,” Titan muttered.
“Don’t be foolish. This is the most direct route to the city. Not dangerous at all.”
“You come this way often?”
“Once a year at least.”
“That’s not often,” he growled as the tank rolled forward.
“More than you have,” Alfred declared.
But Titan didn’t reply, too intent on the water dripping
more heavily now, enough to leave rivulets on the window. He noticed the tank moving more rapidly than before.
“Something the matter?” he asked while inwardly wishing for Alfred to say no.
“Sensors show a possibility of stress fractures in the structure.”
“The walls have cracks!” Titan didn’t panic, but he did glare at the head. “I thought you said it was safe.”
“It is…when there are no cracks.”
“We should go back.”
“We stand a better chance going forward.”
“Says you! You’re not the one who will drown.”
“I’m an electronic metal head. Do you really think I want to get wet?”
Good point. Titan clutched the dash with both hands. He couldn’t prevent the tenseness. Couldn’t help but feel slightly helpless.
A part of him knew they’d never make it. So when the tunnel finally collapsed and the water rushed in, he closed his eyes and waited for death.
The wave washed over the tank, and it held.
Holy fuck it held.
It was Alfred who announced it. “The Burton is pressurizing to account for the water outside. You aren’t going to drown.”
“For real?” He pried open an eye, relieved there were no leaks.
“For real,” was the wry reply. “Now buckle in. The current might get rough.”
The current didn’t hit until later that day, and when it did, there was no mistaking it. It was as if the water grabbed them in a fist and hurtled them through the tunnel, slamming them off the sides, flinging Titan around like a side of meat. He wished he’d listened to Alfred about the harness.
He could only imagine poor Alfred. As if being tenderized meat weren’t enough, Titan began noticing signs of water. The beating on Burton took its toll.
Fluid began to fill up inside the tank.
“Fuck.” Titan sloshed in the water. He had to get out. This thing was about to become a death trap. He looked around for Alfred. Surely the head was here somewhere…
Wham.
The shudder sent him reeling, face first. He awoke when his nose nudged something. Opening his eyes, he realized he was looking at the roof of the tank. His metal fingers clung to the wheel of the hatch, did their best to turn it, but the beating must have bent something. The hatch wouldn’t open.
Water closed over his face. He was going to drown. He would never get back to Haven. Or the Emerald City. Never have his revenge. Never see Riella again.
His mind slowed. He sank even as a voice whispered, Like fuck. Bang. He blacked out.
The next thing he knew, he saw a bright light and an ugly face.
“I betcha you’ll fetch a fine penny as a fighter for the arena.”
It wasn’t quite how he planned his arrival, but he ended up in the Marshland City, a resident of its prison, expected to fight if he wanted to stay alive.
Ten
Days later and Riella still couldn’t believe she’d escaped the dome. Only once she hit the tunnels without spotting a single Centurion did she relax. In a sense.
Now she would only have to handle the dangers underground. Without Burton.
She could have used her customized tank. At least the bike she’d stolen from the dome fit in the tunnels below the surface. Not that she kept it. She ditched it when she reached one of her stashes. The racer was faster. Speed was of the essence. She had to stay ahead of the queen until she could find a safe spot to hide.
Hurrying still meant taking precautions. She laid false trails at the forks, even doubled her tracks to muddy her direction.
It took her longer than she liked to return to the citadel she’d called home for too long. She stopped just outside of the open garage, the decayed bodies of the spiduses reduced to shriveled hunks on the floor.
Of more interest than the mess was the fact Burton wasn’t sitting in his spot. Titan was gone, too, which didn’t mean anything. His body could have been eaten by something with a palate that didn’t care for spidus remains. They weren’t very tasty.
Another thing missing? Alfred’s head. She had everything else, his broken body and all the shattered bits, but his shiny skull was nowhere to be found. Good thing it had a tracker.
Entering the untouched citadel, she spent a moment arming herself properly and making herself a second emergency pack. Not as good as the one in Burton, but at least now she’d have some tools and clothes. She brought a tablet with her, along with a mini ball drone. The tablet loaded her tracker system, and she ignored the colored dots to home in on the one that was missing.
Alfred’s signal wasn’t there. She had to do a search for the last time it was pinged, which turned out to be in the tunnels just under the Marshlands. Alfred was heading for the city, maybe with Titan. It could also be someone else. Didn’t matter. It gave her somewhere to go. The Marshlands, with its free city trying to declare itself sovereign, was probably the safest place for her to go. Or at least the one her mother would be least likely to attack.
It took much longer than usual to make it. The Enclave soldiers were roaming farther into the tunnels than they usually dared. Some of the Centurion armor left in a pile outside a dark crack was a reminder to not enter places clearly marked dangerous. It was only after she crossed the section of tunnels that went under the mountains themselves that she ran into issues.
She slowed the racer as she noticed the water ankle deep in the passageway. “This isn’t good.” Rather than take chances, she ignored the web across a side tunnel, blasting it into ash before racing through.
She kept firing ahead of her, igniting the sticky, stinging threads, waking the builder of them. But the mother of arachnids didn’t attack herself. She sent thousands of her tiny minions. The spiders swarmed the tunnel ahead of her, flinging their many-legged bodies at Riella, doing their best to inject her with their venom. A good thing they were small. The bites fuzzed her brain but strengthened her determination. Even though her laser pistol fizzled, she raced through the last bits of webbing, trying to remember from the last time she came through her how far she needed to leap with her racer because if she remembered correctly—
She shot out of the rock face covered in spiders, sticky with webs, and silently screaming because she didn’t dare open her mouth. Hitting the water, she sank hard and fast, mostly because she still held her racer. The spiders floated free from her, squirming and freaking. Despite all those legs, they couldn’t swim. When she hit the bottom, her goggles took a second to adjust to the underwater environment, and she looked around as she rummaged in a pocket for a device she popped into her mouth just in time to give her lungs a reprieve.
The lake appeared murkier than the last time she’d landed in it. Mind, that was at least five years ago, before she’d begun to use the more direct tunnel to the Marsh City. She enjoyed the marketplace and conducted many a deal over hot pastries and toasted amphibian legs. The purple-skinned ones being her favorite for their sweet and salty crunch.
Something passed close enough behind her to cause a wake, and she realized she’d overstayed her welcome.
The racer didn’t like water, but it still chugged for her, sloughing across the silted bottom until the sides began to incline and she emerged from the water. Hitting the open air as evening fell wasn’t her idea of a good time, especially since she appeared to have lost one of her travel bags, the one with her blanket. However, her other sack remained waterproof and intact. She soon had a fire going to warm her and planted four stakes in the ground to provide a secured line that would warn her if anyone crossed it. Only then did she take out a rag and begin to dry the parts of the racer that didn’t like being wet.
Beep.
The faint sound took her by surprise. She glanced at her bag.
Beep.
She put down her rag, reached for the sack, and pulled out the tablet. According to the notice on the screen, Alfred’s signal was broadcasting. The sun had set, night had fallen, and the barren stretch she found herself on fa
r from the dangerous marsh. Still, she shouldn’t be complacent. Even the flattest of places had creatures that liked to eat flesh.
It was hard to believe there used to be a time when the Earth didn’t try to kill everyone on it. Now, when it wasn’t the land itself, changing and treacherous, it was the things that lived on it.
One thing that didn’t change was the need for companionship, even the artificial kind. She sent Alfred’s signal to her watch, pulled out a pistol, and set off along the riverbank. The pinging indicated he wasn’t too far.
Still she almost didn’t see him. She’d walked past before she realized the signal came from behind her, and she turned around. Her goggles didn’t do much to illuminate the darkness, and the lack of starlight in the cloudy sky didn’t help.
“Alfred?” she whispered.
She didn’t even know if he could answer. What could just a head do? She hoped there was enough left of it to download his memories to a new body because that was the part she missed most.
“Over here.” Faint but she heard it.
“Where?” She shuffled forward, nearing the edge of a drop-off. The river flowed past it. Dropping to her knees, she looked down and noticed the freshness of the bluff, the earth still raw and crumbling, the tree roots still tangled with dirt. Erosion for sure, and a lucky thing because, caught in the remnants of those trees, a glint.
“I think I see you!” Excited, she climbed down, her toes digging into the softened dirt. The roots were sturdy enough to hold her weight. She reached the lump and paused, hooking one arm through a loop of root. “I’m going to have to put you in my shirt.”
“Under normal circumstances, I’d refuse, but I am not in that position right now.”
“Still prim and proper,” she muttered, grabbing him and stuffing him past the neckline of her top. He felt cold on her skin, but she welcomed it.
She’d found Alfred. She wasn’t alone.
Climbing back up proved more difficult, as in the roots finally snapped and dumped her in the moving current. Luckily a bend allowed her to hit shallow land and heave herself back onto ground.
“Urskwshingme.”
“What?” she said, rolling to her back.
“I said you were squishing me.”