Ypsilon and the Plague Doctor

by Zachary Chopchinski

  The city guards had escorted them through the empty tunnel system to a hatch that opened at the back of the clinic in Aparat. Luckily, it seemed like the city hadn’t been affected by the chaos that reigned outside the walls.

  Kip’s shop was like the Engineers' workshops that Ypsilon ran back on Taraveil. If Ypsilon’s shop had been on steroids. The types of technology and machinery that seemed to hold the place together was tech she would never have thought possible. Gears and sprockets whirred as tiny machines exuded smoke and random electric charges that lit the room.

  Cases upon cases lined walls and walkways, filled with mechanical parts, gadgets, and who knew what else. Kip told her this was a medical facility for the mechanical Dweller-people that lived here. He and his mother used to run the place. Avani was her name. Kip got quiet when he spoke about his mom, so Van didn’t push.

  Maza shifted and drew a deep breath. Van placed her hand on top of his and squeezed. She was once a proud warrior. What the hell had happened to her? When she met Adal, Arija, and Kip her life took a turn and now she was stuck with this stupid mechanical leg and too scared to do anything.

  She didn’t blame them, now. At first, she’d hated Kip. She'd hated everyone. She’d lost her ability to Grind, to be in her gang of Tekaha warriors. She’d done nothing but fight with her girlfriend, Soisha, ever since the accident. Soisha blamed herself and blamed the world for what had happened to Van. Van couldn’t take it, so she left Soisha, she left the Tekaha and, when Ypsilon decided to run off, Van decided she had no reason to stay on Taraveil anymore either, so she left her home. Maza tried to help, but she was lost.

  But now, when her brother needed her to be the warrior she knew she was, she couldn’t do it. She’d let him get hurt. If he died, it would be her fault. She hated herself for not being able to pull out of this. It was her fault she was like this. Helpless. Useless.

  Van let her thoughts travel back to Soisha. She wouldn’t have let Van think like this. She would sweep her long, black hair into a ponytail and give Van a kiss on the forehead. Then she would tell her to shut up. Van really missed that. She missed Soisha's incredibly soft skin, contagious smile, and gorgeous deep drown eyes.

  Van let her gaze wonder towards Ypsilon. She knew Ypsilon missed Soisha too. Soisha had been her best friend and second in command of the Engineers. When they got back to Taraveil, Van was going to tell Soisha she was sorry. She didn’t want to live in a world without Soisha anymore.

  The conversation on the opposite side of the workshop pulled Van from her thoughts as Adal and Arija spoke with Captain Silny.

  Captain Silny was different than the other Dwellers Van had seen. He wore ornate clothing, had a hand cannon on his hip and wore a patch over one eye. He was also larger than other Dwellers. Adal told her Captain Silny ran the police force in the World Machine, and she could see why. She’d been hesitant to trust him at first because the police were so corrupt on her planet, but Adal had assured her that Captain Silny and his men were the good guys.

  Van picked up a cup of tea Kip had prepared for her and walked over to Adal and Arija.

  “…luckily, the alarm sounded in time and we were able to close the main gate before the Geartha could get in here,” Captain Silny said.

  “Those Doom Tower-things really seemed to do the trick as well,” Adal added.

  Captain Silny shifted in his stance. “Those have served the city for millennia. One of my most proud inventions. Always have been effective against Pajak’s Kleinmasch. Unfortunately, the coil technology can lead to catastrophic collateral damage. That is why we’ve never made it mobile.”

  Adal leaned against a table. “How did he break out of jail?”

  “My men are still investigating.”

  “So, you have the entire city on lockdown?” Arija asked as she paced.

  Ypsilon stood with her arms crossed, watching Arija pace back and forth. She scrutinized Arija like she was trying to figure out what to do with her.

  “Yes. The city sections have been sealed by barriers, towers activated for airborne assault, and my men march the streets. Life continues onward, but Dwellers are not permitted to leave their zones at the moment and all air traffic has been halted. We cannot let those things in here,” Captain Silny replied.

  Adal crossed his arms over his chest. “No, you cannot.”

  “How is he?” Ypsilon asked, swinging her gaze to meet Van’s.

  “He’s good. Sleeping.”

  “That’s good. He’s fortunate,” Silny said, the corners of his mouth turned down in a frown. “You’re all fortunate. I lost many good men defending against the first wave and we will continue to lose more if we cannot think of a way to cure people. Where Pajak got this weapon is beyond me. And I can’t seem to find Webley.”

  Adal pushed off the table. “It isn’t Pajak. It’s his helper, this Plague Doctor lady.”

  Captain Silny turned his attention to Adal. “Yes, so you said. Our intelligence shows no sign of origins for this person. Though, Pajak has had many minions over the centuries. None more vile than Fausto, though I thought you killed him last year when you captured Pajak.”

  “I thought we did too,” Arija replied, finally halting. “Who knows?” Arija perked up. “We should go to the jail cell where Pajak escaped and see if we can figure out what happened. It might give us some idea of where he got the virus and how the Plague Doctor plays into all of this.”

  “Yeah. Let’s go now,” Ypsilon piped in. “You have us, Captain, we can organize your guys. Let’s get down there and kick the shit out of whatever we find. Your guys in those contamination suits seemed fairly safe.”

  Captain Silny shook his head. “Unfortunately, our plans are different at this time. We are rallying a battalion of soldiers to drive our attack on the Roost. Our intelligence says that’s still likely the Kleinmasch headquarters.”

  “Wait, if you don’t think Pajak and the Plague Doctor are in the Roost, then why are you going there?” Arija asked.

  The conversation broke as Kip kicked the front door of the shop open and barged in with his arms full of burlap sacks leaking oil. He made his way to an examination table next to Maza and slammed the supplies down. Kip checked Maza’s vitals, watching closely for any issues before shrugging. “The synthetic blood seems to be working.”

  Van's brother snorted in his sleep, but did not wake. A tall case behind him, filled with what looked like guns and weapons, shook and rattled. “What I miss?”

  “That guy wants to go to the Roost to fight the bug things,” Van said, shaking off her awkward silence and pointing at Captain Silny. “Arija seems to think it’s a bad idea.”

  Kip started taking things out of the bags. “Oh. The capital city for the Kleinmasch. The one filled with millions of Pajak’s creations? I agree with Arija. You probably want to bring an army if you’re going there.”

  “We’ll be fine.” Captain Silny shook his head. “We’ve fought these things before, and we’ll do it again. We need to quell that fire before things really get out of hand. They’re clearly using the Geartha to spread this sickness. We’ve already decided.”

  Adal rubbed the back of his head, shooting nervous glances at his girlfriend. Ypsilon remained silent, but Van could see she kept eyeing Maza.

  As Kip set up some diagnostic machine, the door burst open and a small Dweller girl ran into the shop. “Kipper!” the girl shouted, sprinting across the room.

  She knocked over several trays, sending metal items clattering to the floor. Ypsilon pulled out Bangarang and aimed it at the child.

  Kip didn’t have time to turn around and face the girl before she jumped, wrapped her arms and legs around his back and squeezed him. Kip was forced to brace himself on a table to stop from toppling over. “I… can’t… breathe…”

  “Oh, sorry,” the girl apologized and released him. “I haven’t seen you in so long and with all this stuff happening, I thought I wouldn’t get to see you again.”

  Rusty freckl
es speckled the girl’s mechanical face. She seemed to be around Kip's age, with buck front teeth and a button nose. The child wore overalls, a white long sleeve shirt, and a cap that looked exactly like Kip’s.

  “Molly!” Captain Silny barked. “I told you to stay at the barracks with your mother where it’s safe.”

  “Dad,” Molly whined, “you know I had to see if my Kipper was okay.”

  Arija stifled a laugh. “Hey Kipper, you going to introduce us to your little friend?”

  Molly glared at Arija. Then her sour gaze turned to Ypsilon, then to Van. “Uh, I’m Molly. I don’t know who you are, but I’m Kipper’s girl. So, I suggest you go back to the doctor that gave you that hideous Topper face and have them fix it.”

  Adal snorted, which earned him an evil glare from Arija. But Van could see that she was trying not to laugh. Ypsilon fought a smirk until Molly turned to her.

  “Not sure what you’re laughing at, Medusa. Hasn’t anyone ever told you that tube-hair fell out of style in the Copper Age?”

  “You little…” Ypsilon growled.

  “Molly,” Kip snapped. “Be nice to my friends. First off, you are not my girl. Like ever. So leave it alone. Second, they’re not Toppers. They’re real Topsiders.”

  Molly ruffled her fingers through Kip’s hair. “Oh Kipper, you’re such a jokester.” She turned back towards Arija and Ypsilon. “Real Topsiders, huh?” She stepped closer to them, squinting as she examined their faces. “Hmm, I meant what I said. You should get that looked at.”

  “Molly!” Captain Silny bellowed.

  “But Papa...”

  A sharp whistle ripped through the room, making Van jump.

  Ypsilon stood with two fingers in her mouth and a frustrated look on her face. “Focus, people. Damn. Look, you and your boys are going to roll up into these guys' house and whoop some ass. Cool. Maybe the rest of us should go and check out his former cell to see if there’s anything we can figure out, right?”

  “I wouldn’t recommend that. That place could be dangerous and full of infected,” Captain Silny replied.

  “Look, it’s either that and we maybe kill some Prowlers, or I’m going to shoot that little smart-ass over there,” Ypsilon warned. “You all good with that?”

  Molly stuck out her tongue. When Ypsilon growled, Molly yipped and slid behind Kip.

  “Sounds like the only plan, if we can’t talk you out of going into the lion’s den, Captain,” Adal replied.

  Captain Silny shook his head.

  “Then let’s get this thing going.” Arija reloaded her pistol. “We don’t have much time,” she added. “Show us how to get there. Kip will stay here and work on figuring out what the hell this virus is and how we can stop it.”

  “Very well,” Captain Silny relented. “Molly, if you won’t stay with your mother, you can stay here with Kip and Van. But don’t leave here. I’ll have a guard outside.”

  Molly bounced on the balls of her feet, a wide smile stretched across her face.

  Van scowled. “Hey, I’m not staying here,” she argued. “You need all hands on deck fighting this virus.” She turned to address Ypsilon, pleading with her eyes. “Common, Ypsilon, you need me. Don’t put me on babysitting duty. Please.”

  Van’s face warmed with embarrassment. She hated begging. But Ypsilon was a chief and if she relented, so would they. She needed to prove that she was still a valuable member of the team. That she could still fight.

  Ypsilon sighed and shook her head, walking over to Van. “You aren’t coming. You’ve been in the wrong headspace since you got here. You’ll only get yourself killed or, worse, get everyone killed.”

  “But Ypsilon, I need to—“

  “Maza would murder me if you got injured while he was laid up. Stay here and watch your brother. Right now we need warriors, and you aren’t one anymore.”

  Van ground her teeth, her jaw sawing back and forth. She couldn’t believe Ypsilon said that. The same Ypsilon that only ever cared about herself. Who ran into fights for the sake of having a good time. Her friend. She looked past the Grinder to Adal and Arija. Both nodded in agreement.

  Regret flashed on Ypsilon’s face but it was gone in an instant, replaced by her usual unreadable expression. She put her hand on Van’s shoulder, but Van slapped it away and turned to look at Maza.

  Ypsilon drew a deep breath through her nose. She turned and walked away, following Adal and Arija to the door. Van didn’t look up as the door opened, then slammed closed.

  She watched her brother jerk and twist in his sleep. Ypsilon’s words burned in her mind. Right now we need warriors, and you aren’t one anymore. Van had been a warrior her entire life. The Tekaha were proud warriors. Hired muscle for the other Grinder gangs on her home planet. Her brother Maza was their chief and she was his second in command.

  Not anymore.

  Not a warrior anymore.

  The words hurt worse than a knife.

  Worse than the bullet that had shattered her knee and put her in this situation in the first place.

  Molly pulled up a chair and sat next to Van, ogling Kip as he worked on whatever he was doing.

  Van tried to put what Ypsilon said out of her mind, but the words kept nagging at her, demanding attention. Ypsilon only ever cared about herself. Hell, she only recently started showing any real human emotion when Kip and the rest of them came along.

  They needed warriors. Van knew it and so did Ypsilon. They needed all the help they could get. They needed her.

  Van marched over to Kip at his workstation. Without warning, she slammed her prosthetic leg on the bench top. “I need you to fix this thing. When you’re done, you’re gonna show me how to use every single thing in that weapons case.”

  “Are you sure?” Kip asked with a toothy grin.

  “They want a warrior? I’ll show them a damn warrior.”

  Part 2

  A New Enemy

  11|Behind The Veil

  Pajak stretched one of his arachnid limbs and grabbed the side of a beam. He clung there for a moment before reaching out and grasping the next beam, making his way farther into his new home.

  Now that the Topsiders knew he was behind the virus, it was safe for him to have his arachnid legs out. He’d missed the agility they gave him.

  He thought back to the offer he’d made to his long-lost niece. The interaction had reminded him just how much he’d missed his legs.

  It also reminded him how much he detested pretending to be a Dweller. He was one of the Radix, the small first group of creatures handmade by Webley. In fact, Pajak was Webley’s very first creation. He was created by his father to help build this world.

  That was all in the past now.

  Now, he would be the first to destroy this world. He would kill Webley and take his rightful place as ruler of the World Machine.

  His mechanical lovelies worked tirelessly around him, building nests and shelters. Pajak watched them work, proud of what he’d made. His army. It was still too dangerous for them to retake the Roost. So they set up their base, and the Plague Doctor's workshop, deep in a lost part of the Machine.

  When Pajak came to the Plague Doctor’s workstation, he stopped, suspended above her lab bench. He flipped himself around so he hung upside down. As his army worked, Pajak examined the machinery put together by his new partner. Vats of her two viruses, the golden Vexation and the red Ossidare, bubbled and shook as the machines attached to them stirred the mixtures. One caused immense anger, turning any Dweller it touched into a killing machine. The other increased the rate of oxidation, effectively rusting metal within seconds. Together, these two viruses would be able to wipe out the entire Machine in weeks.

  “I see you’ve decided to go back to your true self.” The mechanical voice of the Doctor jarred Pajak from his thoughts. He laughed, letting go of the beam and allowing himself to flip upright as he landed on the platform below.

  He stretched his legs as he walked towards the Doctor, letting them roam as he sho
wed them off. “Even with assassins afoot, a king should never hide his crown, my love.”

  The Doctor walked to a vat of Vexation, running one delicate finger across the rim of the tank. “And what a king you will be.”

  Pajak’s heart leapt into rhythm as he watched her. The glint from her mask flickered in the swaying light provided by the gas lamps she’d set up around the area.

  The Plague Doctor settled herself into the throne the Kleinmasch had made for her out of steel webbing and Dweller parts left over from the cleansing at Aesop’s Station. She raised her hand. A small beetle that lay sleeping on her lab bench clicked to life and flew to her. She drew the small creature to her face and examined it as a plume of smoke crept from beneath her mask.

  “And you a queen, perhaps?” Pajak asked eagerly, moving to stand before her. When she didn’t reply, he added, “Is that not what you wish, my queen?” He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. “To rule this world as I do?” He clenched his fists in frustration. When had he been reduced to a bumbling idiot?

  “I mean not to rule. I want nothing to do with this hovel. You can do with it what you will once my mission is done.” Another plume of smoke seeped from the bottom of her mask.

  “You mean our mission, love?” Pajak asked, to remind her that she was part of his plan.

  “I suppose you are correct.”

  Pajak frowned. Although the mechanics of the Doctor’s mask changed the tone of her voice, he still detected a hint of sadness behind her words. “Might I inquire as to your concerns? We’ve had a vastly successful day, wouldn’t you say? And yet you seem beaten.”

  The Plague Doctor ran her finger across the top of the beetle’s head like she was petting it.

  Pajak’s eyes narrowed. When he asked a question, he demanded answers immediately. The Doctor might be beautiful, but he wasn’t going to let her disrespect him. He opened his mouth to speak but the Doctor waved her hand and the beetle took rest on her shoulder.