by Sandra Bard
It was just he, Florence and the Avis, so he felt less stupid about making such statements.
"Hell no," the MAU—Tyler—said, sounding strangely cheerful. "I've always been Tyler, just … a part of me was saved onto Avis."
"I thought memory transfers didn't work … not to machines," Hideki said. "That memories … mind … whatever deteriorated over time."
"Yes and no. It was a project to see if soldiers could remotely control their units with their minds, without actually getting into them." The huge suit shuddered and both Hideki and Florence stepped back. "Everyone was just surprised I was so good at it; they couldn't figure out how I did. Thought it was some fluke. I did, too. Then I started getting dreams, seeing places, hearing people. Thought I was going mad."
"That explains the medication you have on you," Florence said.
The MAU looked down at her.
"It's my job to know about everyone," she said.
"Turns out I was making an exact copy of my mind in the MAU," Tyler said. "Don't ask me how, it was part of the neural control system—"
"Mark said it was impossible," Hideki said. "Sorry, go on."
"Well, I stayed quiet, asked to be discharged and left. Realized I couldn't leave Avis behind. This is all me, I mean … my mind was trapped in it. I could feel it all the time … so I just went with it and left. It was after I'd left that the ISF bought Alpha Mech and got wind of me. I think they figured out I was special. Probably not what Avis is, but they wanted me back. I said no, and from then on it's been a race from place to place, changing my name, face … kinda hard to hide when you're dragging a MAU with you." Tyler leaned back and the frame shuddered. "This is the first time my original body has died, though."
"What do we do now?" Hideki asked softly. "I know my mother's alive—or I think she is, and ISF has been feeding me a bunch of crap."
"Well, we need to get them off our backs," Florence said. "I'm sorry, Tyler, but I do have my priorities and—"
"I understand," Tyler said.
"What're you going to do?" Hideki asked quietly. He was seen the calculating side of her, the hard interior so much like his mother's.
"You—" She pointed to Hideki. "Are going to call ISF and tell them the pirate leader is dead. We have the body to prove it. And when they come to see or collect, we can give them Tyler's body also."
"What!" Hideki exclaimed.
"Don't sound so surprised," Florence told him. "I spoke to our doctor. The brain is practically cooked in the skull. There's nothing to save."
"But …"
"It's ok," Tyler said. "I have my own DNA profile. They need to match it with something, so give them the body."
"And then … I'm going to ask them to leave." Florence looked at Hideki and took another step back. "I have work to do. We need to get on with our repairs, and I'm calling rights on salvaging the pirates' base before ISF comes blazing in."
Then she turned around, looked once at Tyler/Avis and walked away, head down, shoulders hunched.
"Wait," said Hideki as he walked to her.
Florence stopped and looked at him, her face hard. "What is it?"
"I don't know how, but your plan worked. You wanted to save Marion, and you got it. You wanted to get rid of Vincent Manning, and he got killed. You wanted to get rid of me, people threw me out an airlock."
"You think I'm behind all this?"
"I don't know. I know you love this station. You'll kill for it."
"I'm not that good at predicting the future. You're giving me far too much credit."
"Let me leave with Tyler. I don't want any more trouble."
She inclined her head to the side and then nodded slightly. "Of course you can leave," she said softly. "You're free to go. I'm sorry to see the MAU go but given the circumstances, I think it's for the best."
"I wonder," Hideki said as she walked away, then walked back to the mech, hoping Tyler hadn't overheard that conversation.
"She doesn't know how to deal with me," Tyler said, his voice echoing in the vast emptiness.
"We need to get you a new body," Hideki said. "You always had a mental link with the machine, but I don't know if your memories are permanently stored in a non-organic place. That would mean you have a time limit in that body."
"It's not that bad," Tyler replied. "Sometimes it felt like I was in two places at once, not a pleasant feeling … sometimes Avis spoke back to me and it was terrible. Though I have to admit, sometimes it was fun, and sometimes the only person you could talk to was yourself."
The MAU moved restlessly, joints creaking and snapping, making loud mechanical whirls. "Sometimes I would come and sit in the cockpit just to cut back on the feedback. Luckily for me, people think all pilots are freaks."
"We're going to Earth," Hideki said. "Are you alright with that? Can the MAU stand atmospheric take-offs and landings?"
"Yes, but … what, Hideki? No, Avis … er … I'll have to be modified for atmospheric flight. Need flight modifiers and chemical thrusters."
"We're going to rescue Mark, an old friend of mine."
"Who?"
"Not that type of friend, and there's a story behind it; I'll tell you later."
"I'll remind you if you don't."
"Since the evacuation is not happening, there'll be room in the ships for me and my new obsession, an old MAU. We'll say it's of sentimental value to me."
"Really."
"You have the easy job of pretending to be a hunk of metal."
"And you?"
"I'm going to request to see Mark. After all, my mother was not in the base and neither was Atlas—"
"Again, who? Why do you need to find your mother?"
"—but I can convince Nadeeka I need to see Mark and … find a way to spring him out. Since they aren't treating him like a hardened criminal, we can manage. They think I'm under their thumb …"
"How in the world is that going to—"
"Then we're going to escape, together, and Mark mentioned having a lab on the Pluto colony … Earth government can't even touch it. We're going to grow you a new body there."
"That's … the only part of the plan I like, and mind you, I see so many ways of how it'll fail."
"We'll wing it."
"And then what, we go our separate ways?" Tyler asked and Hideki felt a stab of hurt at the thought of losing him. He'd lost Tyler when he was shot and the relief of finding out he was still alive was … was … it had been a physical pain. Like when he'd first thought his mother was dead and then discovered she was still alive.
"You owe me for your new body," Hideki said. "So you're going to help me rescue my mother."
"The woman whom Foster was referring to," Tyler said. "Sounds interesting. Rescuing damsels in distress is all I live for." He sounded relieved.
"She's not exactly the damsel type."
"It's fine." Tyler/Avis crouched low on the floor, knees bent, and held out an open palm.
"What?"
"Well, I might not have a body but I do have a lot of sensors in my cockpit. I have a vibrating chair and a lot of long control sticks and—"
"Are you … hitting on me?" Hideki asked. "This is the first time a machine has hit on me."
"What, never had sex with a mech unit before?" Tyler sounded deadly serious.
"No, and really … I don't know if I want to."
"Step into my palm and see."
"Sounds like fun," Hideki muttered as he stepped onto the open palm , holding onto a finger for balance.
"Just don't mention your mother while you're in my cockpit. We'll have a lot of time together later when you tell me all about her."
"A lot of time?"
"I don't know, Inspector. We're going to break into an ISF facility, grow a body, and rescue a princess … that'll probably mean I'll be stuck with you for a long, long time…"
"Then you'd better call me Kaishi."
"I take it there's a story behind that as well. Can't wait to hear it." The cockpit hatch
slid open, but Hideki didn't step inside. "Does it sound like a bad thing, spending time with me?"
"You've grown on me." Tyler said. "Kind of like rust, but I like it. And who knows, a long, long time with you might be interesting."
"It's a deal," Hideki said, stepping into the cockpit. He jumped when the hatch slid shut behind him. "Uh … what…"
"Now you take your clothes off. I'm about to rock your world, literally."
FIN
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sandra Bard has been writing stories ever since she was a small girl but she’s only recently started to publish. She loves to make up stories in her head, read books, watch anime (mecha, yaoi), and occasionally visits a fan-fiction site. She lives with her pets (fish, cats and dogs), and has been a volunteer for an organization that takes care of stray dogs (there are many, where she lives), for over ten years. When she has some free time she dabbles in Wushu, Tai Chi, and Yoga to keep herself flexible (she hopes). Her real life jobs involve lecturing at the university and freelancing as a maths tutor. 0Though she writes romance stories, she still hasn’t met Mr. Right and hopes one day that she’ll be able to rescue him (whoever he may be) from a fire breathing dragon (or something equally daring). She would love to hear from her readers and can be found at her tumblr (sandrabard.tumblr.com) or emailed at [email protected].