The No Names

by Frank Albelo

  The moment she was illuminated, she was pelted by rocks. Additional screeches of pain corresponding to each rock followed. As I shook myself off and up to my feet, I widened the gap between the wrench teeth. I glanced back to see either Gamma or Zeta toss the last rock at the malformed woman. I pitched myself toward the downward incline and ran at the long armed monster.

 

  The unsevered talons of the creature tried to reach out and grab me, but the stone that had been flying hit it in the shoulder. As the creatures stumbled back slightly, I connected with her neck. The gap fit snug on her neck as I knocked her back and to the ground. I put my armored foot on her chest and yanked up with as much force as I could. The creature continued to try to claw me, but I had it pinned down.

 

  As a primal scream escaped my mouth, a crunching sounded from the creature and the next moment her head came off. Even as the head landed some five feet away, the body spasmed for a good minute. I stood back and watched it slowly settled down, having spilled gallons of its blood all over the passage and me.

  I hadn’t even realize I had fallen down on my ass, but Zeta and Epsilon helped me to my feet as Delta ran deeper in while tapping the walls, lighting up the passage. I looked to where the head had rolled to see Beta curb stomping the head, leaving a mess of gray, black and green gore.

  All of us sat against the rock wall and caught our breath. Marvin slowly made his way towards us, knocking several rocks out of place. I flicked the gore off my hands and wiped the blood splatter off my visor. Not believing I had survived, my body struggled to settle my heart as it pumped the remaining adrenaline through my body. I felt ragged and confused. The strange voice in my head had spoken a new message but they still held no meaning.

  After a minute of relative silence, I heard Delta speak up in his gravelly voice, “We did it. Survived.”

  He followed it with a skeptical chuckle and then full out laughter.

  I wanted to reprimand the man for the somewhat manic episode, but without realizing it I was also chuckling lightly. The complete absurdity of the situation the Government had put us in had finally fried us. The rest of the Digits all started laughing as we took a moment to forget the situation and revel in our victory.

  Darkness still extended down the passage, beyond the celebrating Digits around me. As my thoughts turned to our present situation, my joyous mood vanished.

  “I think, considering our present exploits, that rest is in order. Far away from the dark, if at all possible,” I said while motioning the upward slope.

  “We could try to make it back to the base. It would put us a day ahead on rations,” Gamma indicated as we all stood. It was a sound plan, so I had no objections. The tough thing was going to be carrying the long armed monster back through the moraine.

  After contemplating our options for a few minutes, all of us standing around the corpse of the monster, I turned to Marvin, “How long would your battery last at your current consumption.”

  “Approximately five days,” came the dry, robotic reply.

  “What if you helped us carry this… thing?”

  “Assessed weight. One hundred eighty pounds. One hundred fifty pounds above current capacity due to structural damage. Carrying strain to USG outpost would leave three days charge.”

  I paused as I contemplated our options. I had failed to consider the ATC’s charge throughout our expedition form the base. Beta moved closer to Marvin and looked into his unlit and beat up screen, “How much does one of those repulsor jumps take?”

  “A Full Capacity Jump will take four days of charge. At fifty percent, one and a half days. At twenty five percent, half a day,” replied Marvin mechanically.

  Before I could voice another comment about using Marvin, Beta waved his hand.

  “We can carry the body. I think saving the robot for a pinch will be more valuable.”

  The others quickly nodded in agreement and I shrugged, the decision having been made. Beta offered to carry the body up, but it took him and Zeta to lift it. The pair dragged it up the slope while we cleared rocks out of the way. After several minutes of struggling, we made it to the top and out of the passage. It had been difficult to move the body, not only for its weight, but for the long arms that kept rotating on unnatural joints.

  Now back in the icy weather, I suggested a switch so Delta and I grabbed the body. We carried the headless monster up the moraine, along the path Beta and Epsilon had taken. It took well over an hour of stopping, tossing the body over boulders and group carrying the body to make it onto the spot where we had met the alien sheep.

  Once we arrived at the rock formation, we took a ration break. While everyone munched on the bland rations, I analyzed the body more closely under the planet light. The lower body of the monster was still mostly human, but above the belly button it took on a scaly and slimy sheen. From the shoulders, the almost five foot long arms were barebones with sinewy muscles. I hadn’t looked the multi-arm monster in the holding area over, but the black-green coloration seemed to match the arms that had sprouted from the Digit.

  The ferocity of the malformed humans had to have an explanation, as well as the markings on the walls of the passage. As far as I could tell, they had not been made by the military enforcers and the monsters we had encountered were about as intelligent as dirt.

  After everyone was fed and hydrated, I took my spot under the left shoulder of the monster. Epsilon replaced Delta as we continued up the moraine, back to the base and the monsters we really wanted to kill.

  Chapter 4: Temperament

  The trip through the icy plains was completely uneventful. The only features that could be seen were the ice spikes that had risen in the distance due to the quake and the dark silver sheen of the base. I wanted to spend some time considering the information we had gathered since arriving, but none of the other Digits looked to have the same physical endurance I did. I never remembered having that much stamina, especially compared to another factory-raised Digit like Delta, but I had to focus on carrying the headless creature. I lasted double, if not triple, the time carrying the corpse when compared to the others.

  Towards the end of the trip every few minutes I would hear the whisper in my head about Conditioning Mastery Advancement. I began to suspect that my newfound stamina was somehow connected to the whispering in my head. I felt a pang of fear; the mental whispers suggested something completely bizarre was going on with my body. With a clear lack of answers I dedicated my energy to pulling the corpse as opposed to getting lost in my theories.

  Once the base was fully in sight, we took cover behind a small snow drift and propped the body against it as a little additional protection.

  After conferring with Marvin, it seemed that the suits would sustain heat for up to two days in the open, wind chilled conditions of the plains. Our time in the moraine and the much warmer passage had allowed us to stretch the battery life. However, it wouldn’t be long before the charge warnings began.

  As we distributed the food, some of the good ol’ human fortitude showed as conversations started. I was much too exhausted from my long carry periods, and ruminating, to try and join the others, but I kept an ear out when speculative talk about the meeting rose up.

  “Do you think the Government has tracked us? Like, knows who is dead…?” Gamma’s question hung in the air as the others contemplated it.

  “I think with all the stuff our suits can do, it wouldn’t be a stretch,” responded Epsilon after a few moments of silence. I nodded, shifting to face the others before speaking.

  “There is no sense in worrying about that. Based on everything we have seen on Dun Lund, even if the Officials are watching us, we are relying on them for food.” I paused as I looked at them all in the eyes.

  “We should at the very least attempt to receive more rations. If they aren’t watching us then they don't know about Eta and we might deceive them,” suggested Ze
ta. I agreed with the woman.

  “It’s worth a try. Delta, Marvin and I will take the body when we’re done here.”

  The others grimaced at the suggestion to use Eta’s death to our benefit, but everyone understood the reason for the plan. As soon as everyone was done eating and drinking, Delta dragged the body around the snow drift with Beta in tow. After a few minutes, Delta and I were on our way.

  ● ● ●

  As we approached the base from the holding area side, Marvin close behind us, we noticed Captain Starden standing inside it. Next to the Captain was a mech that looked similar to our ATC but was much larger and had four repulsors as opposed to Marvin’s two.

  Once we had made it up the incline to the level of the holding area, we heard Starden’s voice loud and clear. It was amplified by the loudspeakers of the area.

  “Back so soon, 36589900?” he said in a sing-song voice. It was hard to think someone could say that mouthful without mistake, but the Captain was certainly one for demeaning theatrics. The more I interacted with the man, the more his cruelty and insanity became apparent.

  “Go fuck yourself, Starden! You know why we’re here.” I said, my insecurities pushed down by the presence of the Official.

  “My, it sounds like the reports from your work superiors is correct. Excellent work, but quite the foul, insubordinate mouth.” He chuckled as he glanced at some kind of handheld device.

  “This is not work, asshole,” I hissed. The Captain waved his hand dismissively and then pointed at the body of the long arm monster.

  “I see you have a package for me.” He moved closer as he spoke.

  “We found one of these things and got rid of it.” I paused before I continued, weighing my options. “We would like some answers about what the hell is going on here.”

  “Sure, sure. First, my friend here will secure your dead pal there.” He flicked his hand at the large ATC. The machine started to whirl loudly, much more than Marvin, and shot into the air with almost animal-like grace. The mech transformed as it landed, throwing snow and shards of ice into the air. It quickly transformed one repulsor arm into a crude hook, grabbed the corpse and jumped back. Jumping again, it landed on the gangplank that led to the main base.

  “Now, how does one question per visit sound? I’ll even throw some ATC parts your way. Seems you might… need a hand.” The cold smile on Starden’s face made the deal several times sketchier.

  I looked to Delta, who nodded, before looking the Captain in the eye. “What exactly are we killing?” I asked.

  “Straight to the point, huh? Well, since you’re stuck here I guess it shouldn’t be a problem if I anger the professor some… they’re forcefully mutated humans,” the Captain finished suddenly. We waited for him to elaborate, but he maintained his shit-eating grin.

  “That’s it? Are you fucking serious?!” Delta bellowed his opinion before I had a chance to vent at the man.

  “Yes. I never said I would elaborate. Now take your parts and your food for six,” said the Captain, his grin replaced by a blank look.

  “But there are seven of us…” I said to the Captain.

  “Were. Anyone with a pair of binoculars could have spotted you sorry lot,” the captain said, cutting off our argument.

  He pressed something on his forearm and quietly spoke into it. Finished talking, he waved his hand towards us. Another ATC-looking mech jumped from the ground in the holding area, where it had laid unseen. The robot was a blur of white as it dropped off a package and jumped next to Starden. With a pretentious wave, the Captain grabbed on to the ATC and jumped away towards the base.

  I had things I still wanted to say to the Captain, but he was gone now. We stood stunned for a moment as we processed the exchange. The “forceful” part of the mutation that the our fellows had experienced concerned me the most. Did that have something to do with the voice in my head? I thought.

  Trying to focus on our next course of action, I inspected the package before instructing Marvin to collect it. It was a two foot cube of silvery metal with no apparent way to open it.

  “Repairs will take approximately one day in order to minimize power consumption,” reported Marvin as he touched his hand to the cube. The moment the ATC placed his mechanical limb on it, smooth lines glowed and a lid opened, similar to how the ration storage operated. It only took a few seconds for Marvin to load up the rations and grip his replacement arm with his working limb.

  “Let’s get back to the others. I think we need to plan long-term soon,” I said as I picked up the cube. There was no sense leaving any resources in the wasteland.

  ● ● ●

  There was a pep to our steps as we returned to the group. Even with the weight of the information we had gained, the resources we acquired and the sparks of potential plans seemed to incite me and the others forward at the maximum speed Marvin could go.

  When we noticed the black and gray armor suits around the snow drift, we called out. The others joined us and we described the exchange. I mentioned the idea of setting up a base around the entrance of the passage, hoping to have a place where we could escape the weather and hopefully find more of the mutated humans. The prospect of the monsters we had encountered being forcefully mutated humans was received less than enthusiastically, but we all tried to move past that. The cutting wind and slight rumbling in our stomachs made future concerns a bit less pressing.

  The others were on board with the idea of setting up a camp, so we made our way back to the moraine. As we moved through the snow I saw Epsilon smiling widely; the mention of full rations later had him in good spirits.

  While we trudged through the snow, I looked over Marvin’s repairs. The ATC was able to self repair, but after questioning him about the process he revealed that assistance would improve its completion rate. Thanks to my knowledge of different electrical systems, I was able to connect the replacement arm to the existing socket. The mechanism was much more advanced that any I had experience with; the wires that connected the central power to the limb were self repairing and soldered together the moment the connections were made. Making repairs on the ATC while on the go was a piece of cake thanks to my experience on lunar rigs. The colossal machines were not allowed to stop moving around the mining pits lest the workers get complacent, as per Banker instructions.

  Having lost myself completely in the mechanical wonder of the ATC, I didn’t even realize when we started moving down the moraine incline. Another new whisper shaking me from my mechanical reverie.

 

  A few hours later, the system’s starlight starting to fade, we arrived back at the entrance to the underground passage. Once everyone was gathered, Delta and I discussed the details of the base we wanted to construct. While we were debating the strength of the different rock materials, Beta moved closer to speak to us.

  “I think if we had a rough semi-circle with openings here and there.” Beta pointed forty five degrees to the right and left of the passage. “It will let us break up the sight lines and corral anything that comes from inside the passage or from the moraine.”

  Both Delta and I were taken aback by Beta’s sudden change in attitude . It must have been evident because Beta explained his reasoning.

  “I used to be in charge of corralling our livestock. Just because I‘m not an old fart doesn't mean I can't contribute, ya’ know. Now, that said I am clueless as to how we are going to do that…” Beta's enthusiasm faltered a bit, but Delta and I patted him in the back. His plan was solid, and I had an idea of how we might pull it off.

  I told everyone, except Delta, to start gathering smaller rocks. Everyone immediately started piling rocks over by the passage. I took Delta and we moved towards one of the human sized boulders.

  “We should be able to seesaw the rock even if we can’t carry it. I’ll push it off balance from this side, you push it from the other. DON’T push too hard,” I said with a pointed look at Delta. The man chuckled as he took h
is position on the other side.

  The rock was flatter at the bottom and rounder at the top, but with effort we were able to shuffle the rock closer to the entrance. After about an hour, the area immediately around the passage was clear of rock and two large rocks stood on the Eastern side of our rough base.

  The entire process had been accompanied by advancement whispers for my Conditioning Mastery so I was fairly certain whatever was going on with the whispers was tied to what I was doing. I did my best to tune out the voice, since every few feet we paused when moving the boulders I would heard the monotone voice. With a strange flexing of my brain I stopped hearing the voice after receiving a notification of advancement in Cerebral Maturation. I hadn’t the foggiest idea what was going on with my body, I worried I was somehow on the path to go insane like the creatures we had encountered, but I soldiered on for the sake of the other Digits.