"There’s no need," Becker3 said, pushed Jessica13 back, and took the bag from her hands.
It would be a simple matter to peek under the top flap to find the food the men had mentioned and which she’d shoved in hastily once she retrieved it, but digging in deeper would find even more suspicious items.
"Long-term repair pieces for a Minato mech," Becker3 said, took the parts out of the pack, and placed them on a nearby table. "Food, supplies, and tools. It looks like we have a runner here, boys. What do you think?"
"A runner?" the guard asked and finally pushed past the other two pilots.
"All the supplies you'd need for a long-term stay in a mech," the pilot said with a firm nod. "Not a terribly good mech, mind you, but it still looks like Jessica13 here planned to run away from the bunker."
"Run away?" The guard stopped alongside them and shook his head. "Why… What?”
“I remember her talking about what a nice day it was outside,” Becker3 continued. “It seems like she’s one of those sun-lovers who can’t get enough of the Outside until it’s too much.”
The security man seemed entirely bewildered. “I…huh. Well, that is more serious than only stealing food. What’s the protocol for this?”
The other two security guards realized that he was talking to them, and one of them spoke quickly. “We don’t really have something specific for it. Endangering the bunker to outside contamination, maybe? Or possibly heading up Topside without a permit?”
"Well, you heard that, bulletfoot," Becker3 said with a chuckle. "Do you have anything to say for yourself? Anything in your defense?"
"There's no need for a defense," the guard snapped. "She's been caught red-handed. The report will be submitted to the admins, who will decide her fate. For now, she should be remanded to the control of the security guards and that will be that."
This was it. She would never get out of here. Then she wondered if they would even want to keep her around, knowing what she did. Even someone with her skills could be seen as too disruptive to be a beneficial member of the Sanctuary bunker.
They could all feel the causeway shake a little. Jessica13 assumed it was only her shaking as the realization took root. She had somehow fucked up her only chance to get free of this place and wouldn’t have another.
Maybe she should have waited a day or two for her chance to get outside with minimal supervision and then make her escape. She could stomach staying here for a little while longer, right?
None of that mattered now, though. She would have all the time in the world to contemplate what she had done wrong and what she could have done right while she rotted in the Hole and then in one of the lower levels. From now on, there would be no more looking out at the open horizon for her.
All she would see was the cramped, narrow concrete hallways of the bunker she had been born in and would likely die in.
No, that shaking wasn't in her hands. It was stupid to even think she might have caused it. She could see the pilots and guards who weren't too distracted by her looking at the causeway they stood on.
Something moved across the steel walkway and it was heavy enough to make it shudder with each step.
"It makes me wonder if she forged the form from Armstrong7 to get here in the first place," the guard said. He was still talking to Becker3 and shook his head, not realizing that something heavy approached. "Such a waste of good resources. That on its own is another year, easily. Okay, Jessica13. I’m sorry, but I hereby place you under arrest for the crimes of endangering Sanctuary, theft, and forgery."
"Hold up!" one of the other guards shouted and stared at something over Jessica13's head. "The situation is under control. We don't need any mech assistance."
There was no answer, and Jessica13 turned and forced herself free of Becker3's grasp to see what moved up behind them.
Mini was smaller than the mechs they had in their hangar but still stood well above seven feet tall and towered over the men who surrounded her.
"Who's piloting it?" one of the guards asked.
The pilots shrugged and took a step backward, more as a precaution than anything else. No one wanted to be close to a mech if it malfunctioned. That was a good way to get oneself killed.
The guards had not been similarly drilled and stood their ground while they looked for someone to help them order the mech pilot to stand down.
And, as it turned out, it looked like the mech would give her a chance too. A surge of excitement filled her stomach as she moved to the table where her items had been placed and slowly began to replace her belongings in the pack. She used the case with her tools to cover the hole before she crammed all the other items around and over it.
She had no idea what would happen next, but if there was ever a last-ditch effort to get herself free from this place, this was it.
"Who is piloting that?" Becker3 asked and stepped forward. Jessica13—and anyone else—could have told him it was a bad idea.
"No one was given authorization for mech duty," one of the other pilots said and they continued to back away, leaving Becker3, the three security guards, and Jessica13 alone to deal with the mysterious mech.
Although she had an idea as to who might be piloting it, she still had her doubts.
She also began to move in an attempt to get away from her would-be captors and to the mech. While she wanted to get away, she didn't want to risk having anyone hurt in her escape attempt.
"I'll need you to stand down now or you will be written up for obstructing justice," the guard said, stepped forward, and drew the taser gun from the holster on his hip to aim it at Mini. "This is your last warning."
He looked like he was merely putting up a brave front when he aimed a weapon that wasn't even that effective at subduing humans.
Mini paused, looked at the weapon in the guard's hand, and took another step forward.
He pulled the trigger. Two electrode studs launched from the gun, each connected to a wire that transmitted however many volts in an attempt to disable the mech.
Jessica13 had to resist the urge to laugh as the studs bounced off the armor and fell harmlessly.
Mini stepped forward, and she could see the grappler had disengaged from the dart it was supposed to launch as well as the cable it was supposed to tow.
It was such a simple change and yet now, she could see the compressed air cannon wind up and release to strike the guard with a blast of air strong enough to pick him up off his feet and hurl him into the table her things had been on.
Becker3 tried to back away, but Mini was already advancing on him. Before he could take three steps, her right hand caught him by the right leg and picked him up effortlessly.
The other two guards and three pilots were already rushing toward the other side of the room and away from the mech that appeared determined to attack. They seemed to have no qualms about leaving Becker3 alone and unaided.
"Holy shit," the man shouted as he was raised up to eye level—the cockpit—at an angle that allowed him to see what was inside.
Or rather, what wasn't inside.
"There's no pilot!" he shouted and struggled to twist free.
It was difficult, hung upside down as he was, but he could see that no one was there to hear his declaration—or, rather, no one who cared.
Jessica13 rushed toward the mech, yanked the chest open, and tossed her bag inside before she scrambled in and shut the chest behind her.
"Good afternoon, Jessica13," Mini said cheerfully when she pulled the headset on. "How are you today?"
"I'll be honest, I've been better," she replied. "Do you mind if I take the controls?"
"Affirmative." The AI released control of the mech to allow her to take over.
"What do you think we should do with Becker3?" she asked.
"Make an example of him?" Mini suggested.
"There’s no time. We need to get to that elevator," she replied and turned her attention to the man, who still dangled by one of his feet.
"No!" the pilot protested and shook his head wildly, but she simply dropped him despite his plea. Sure, the fall wasn't the most pleasant, but it was better than being thrown.
Jesscia13 paid no more attention to him and now focused on the elevator. The doors, thankfully, were still open but alarms would be triggered soon.
"How did you come online, anyway?" she asked as they moved as swiftly as she dared toward the doors. "I thought I needed to be around for that to happen."
"Your agreement to allow me access to the controls of the mech was not revoked," Mini informed her. "As such, the authorization of control was never relinquished and so I was allowed to access the controls of the mech at will, which included disengaging from the harness and coming to your rescue."
"And I have to say thank you for that. I was sure I was in a whole pile of shit before you came along."
"Your appreciation is noted. Although, as you have consistently helped me, you might say I owed you the help. Either that or the fact that your continued existence would allow you to consistently help me in the future. As such, we are helping each other. As I have been able to determine, that is what you humans call a friendship."
"Well…yes, I guess you're right," Jessica13 started to say but immediately increased speed when she heard the alarms activate and flashing red lights filled the hangar like they had when they were being attacked.
Most importantly, of course, the elevator doors began to close.
She pushed herself to move faster and watched nervously as the hydraulics began to protest the pace they were being used at, but she didn’t dare to slow to ease the pressure put on them.
The doors were massive but slow-moving, possibly a reflection of the AI that operated them. They did inch shut, however.
"Faster, faster—must go faster!" Jessica shouted and barely registered how loudly she was speaking. She couldn't hear much of anything over the sound of rushing and thudding in her ears. Adrenaline spiked in her body, the instinctive response to her desperate need to get to that damn elevator.
The doors were almost completely closed and left barely enough space for her to squeeze through. Seconds felt like hours and each step felt like it took for fucking ever to complete before she dove forward to push through the last few feet of opening still available to her.
She made it inside and landed hard with a jarring impact on her shoulder, but the doors clanged shut an instant later.
Mechs weren't designed to dive like that, and it took her a moment to rearrange it before she was able to stand again.
"We did it?" Jessica13 asked, looked around, and pushed into the mech's natural position. "We did it!"
Mini remained silent but did show the same smiley face on her HUD when the whole elevator shuddered and began to move upward.
"Huh." She grunted and looked around in disbelief. "I would have thought they would shut the elevator down with the alarms activated."
"Normally, that would be protocol," Mini replied. "But in this case, the elevator is being sent up to the defense level because there are currently members standing guard up there who need to be retrieved before Sanctuary can be locked down."
"I…didn't know about that. Wouldn't they try to stop us before we get to the top?"
"Did you have a plan if they had shut the elevator down?" Mini queried.
"Yes—open the hatch above us, use the grappler to scale the shaft, and force the doors at the top open by disengaging the magnetic lock," Jessica13 said. It was so nice to finally have someone to discuss her plans with, even if they were ultimately unnecessary.
"There is a seventy-five-point-three-two percent chance that would end in success should the elevator be shut down," the AI replied after a moment of calculation. "The chances of the elevator being shut down are infinitesimal. The AI has been programmed to not allow outside tampering, and any actions would need to be taken by admin staff. It is also possible that they believe you are unable to escape as there are three Guardian mechs waiting for us at the top."
"Well, let's go prove them wrong, shall we?" She felt an almost manic kind of smile settle on her face. They had made it this far, after all. There was really no point in ever turning back.
Besides, it wasn't like those waiting for her Topside would expect her to move as fast as she could in the Minato, after all.
The elevator came to a halt and the doors began to pull open as slowly as they had closed. It appeared as though the warning had been sent to the three Guardians since they all stood in wait outside the elevator.
"Jessie, please don't do this," one of the pilots said. She recognized Lance7's voice. "Head on down with us and this will all be worked out, I promise. Armstrong7 would never let them take you away from the defense level."
"It wouldn't be his call, and you know it," Jessica13 said and shook her head decisively while she made sure to stay in motion and inched away from the Guardians. "I'm going to leave. I'm heading out! I have to see the ruins, the gold and red sunset, and the world! Lance7, what they’ve told us all this time is all lies!"
"No, they're not lies," he replied. "You don't know what you're talking about. You don't know what you're doing."
"Yes," she said, partly to herself as well as to the pilot who stood between her and freedom. "Yes, I do."
"As do I," Mini said. "Please place your hands up to brace your neck."
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"We're taking you back down with us," Lance7 said.
"I wasn't talking to you!" she retorted.
"I'm taking control," Mini replied. "And getting us out of here."
She did as she was told and placed her hands on her neck to brace it like she had been taught to if she expected a hard impact. The Guardians hadn't locked any weapons on her yet.
Mini took control of the mech and she could feel him going through a couple of hardware changes. These appeared to tweak the hydraulics to fit the adjustment that was required to move down on all fours on the elevator floor.
“What is this?” she asked, but Mini made no answer as the mech settled in with a shudder.
"Damn it, Jessie!" Lance7 called and moved into the elevator to restrain her.
It seemed that was what the AI had waited for.
Coils whined on what were now the hind legs and in a second, he bounded up to the wall of the elevator, used the mag clamps on the hands to provide leverage, and vaulted over the tall mech. He landed smoothly on the other side and began to run and jump in movements like a dog’s, complete with a smooth loping pace.
The impact was still jarring to anything or anyone inside.
As all three Guardians attempted to converge on them, Mini navigated them around the slow-moving legs of the large mechs.
It had been a good idea to brace her neck, as each bound ended with a painful jolt across her whole body. In a few seconds, however, they were clear of their pursuers.
When the last one tried to physically block her escape, Mini ducked low and darted between its legs.
Once they were clear, the mech maintained its forward momentum and without so much as a second thought, vaulted over the edge of the cliff.
Jessica13 gasped when her whole body was caught in the vertigo of looking down to see the ground hundreds of meters below. It was an exhilarating, terrifying sight that was only made worse when vertigo vanished, gravity took hold, and they began to plummet.
"What are you doing?" she screamed.
"Trust me," Mini replied calmly.
They pivoted and the left hand aimed at the cliffside while the grappler engaged again. It fired, the retractor left as loose as it could be. The dart hammered into the wall and stuck.
They continued to fall but their momentum was arrested by the retractor, which pulled them against the cliff face. Mini immediately began to run them down the wall.
It went much faster when they were practically free-falling, but aside from a somewhat rough landing, they were none the worse for wear. The AI pushed them rapidly into mot
ion and increased speed as he continued to move on all fours like a wild dog. They cleared the minefield quickly and smoothly, while the dart disengaged from the cliff wall and it and the cable retracted.
"You're damn amazing, Mini," Jessica13 said, unable to restrain her laughter as the whole world opened up in front of them.
"Your compliment is noted," Mini said. "And appreciated."
“What did you do to the mech?” she asked and looked at the improved movement and speed as they literally raced away. “I didn’t know that it was capable of this.”
“Your knowledge banks do require upgrades,” he agreed. “This is the format originally designed for the Minato for all-terrain movement at high speed and also in combat situations. What it lacks in weapon capabilities, it makes up for in speed and agility. Your descendants affectionately referred to it as Bulletfoot mode.”
“Bulletfoot mo— Is that why they called us bulletfoots in the bunker?” she asked and still tried to adjust herself to the changes.
Mini paused for a few seconds. “There is a ninety-three-point-seven-eight percent chance of a connection between the name for the mode and the name for mechanics. Minatos with fully-functioning AIs were a preferred support mech when I was designed.”
She smiled. “I like that.”
Chapter Ten
The afternoon light faded. Even from the ground, the sight of the sun setting and painting the whole sky with a variety of reds and oranges and even a few pinks was still a breath-taking sight.
It was difficult to see, especially since Mini had kept them in Bulletfoot mode. She had adjusted to the rhythm of the mech's movements as it ran on all fours, which provided some semblance of comfort inside the mech. Maybe comfort was too much of a stretch, though. Jessica13 knew she would be sore by the end of the day.
They were three hours into running across the landscape when what she'd done began to actually sink in. Something seemed to almost thump into her body and made her realize that she had—on some level, at least—thought about this, dreamed about it, and day-dreamed about it, but in the end, there was nothing that could really prepare her for what the Outside looked like at night.
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