Session 10

"Ooooo owwww." Faye opened her eyes and moaned. Everything hurt. Swallowed by a dense bush she jerked at the sight of red spatters all over her body. So much red! "Oh God! I'm gonna bleed to death! Guys, where are you?"

Nothing answered. Only the sound of gears whining broke the spell.

Gears. Whining.

Faye froze. The red pooled on her belly. As much as blood loss frightened her, the thought of a creature rending her to bits was far more compelling a reason to remain still. Sweat beaded on her forehead.

Heavy steps thumped on the ground, branches snapped and cracked.

She gritted her teeth and whispered to herself, "I promise if I get through this I'll return the money I had Ed hack from Spike's account. I swear, I'll never gamble again. No more … " for a moment she held her breath, "ponies."

Silence reigned. For one breath. Two breaths. It remained unbroken.

Faye heaved a sigh.

The brush moved, shifting her body as an immense snout pushed through. She couldn't help it, though she sure as hell tried to fight it! Faye screamed.

The creature withdrew bringing the branches with it as it roared. Faye's body tumbled a few feet onto the ground. Berries from the bush splattered all over the ground. One squished beneath her palm. She lifted it and stared at the pulpy mess. The same all over her body.

"Son of a—!" Leaping to her feet she threw her hands in the air. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get berry stains out of clothing?"

The once curious dimetrodon scrambled on his short legs away from her. His eyes wide in the berry stained face. The setting sun glinted on his metallic pebbled hide. The huge sail fin on his back caught the reddish hues of the artificial sky.

Faye held up a finger to the beast and berated it, "Let me tell you how much of a pain in the ass it is. You can't bleach this. And that supposed color safe shit isn't worth shit. Works less than that lunkhead, Spike!"

The dimetrodon walked sideways, edging away from her tirade with his eyes wider the more she yelled. The thick forest swallowed the lumbering beast leaving Faye to rant as the last rays of light were sucked beneath the asteroid.

Darkness fell. Beneath the chorus of her rage the surrounding forest descended into utter silence. No sounds of gears. No limbering steps or flapping wings. No eye shine. Nothing moved.

Her fury spent, Faye huffed a few breaths and looked around. Realization dawned on her. In the thick foliage she had no way of knowing where the tower had landed. The eerie silence penetrated her. She tucked her limbs in tight and eyed the woods. In a shaking voice she called out, "Uhh, guys? Jet? Ed … " Swallowing hard she bowed her head and whispered, "I'd even settle for lunkhead."

Alone in the dark Faye wiped a tear from her eye. For all the times she cursed the guys, stole from them, and ran off, it had always been her choice. Beyond her control fate had dumped her ass in the middle of a nightmare deathpark on her own. This wasn't her choice. Every step in this stupid park was a gamble of insane odds. At least when she'd been with the guys there was someone to watch her back.

Slowly she spun around, wide eyes burning from the lack of blinking. The shadows pervaded everything. She couldn't see a thing.

"No. I'm not going to scream for them. I absolutely refuse to play the damsel in distress. I'll just hide until daylight." She slunk over into the bush and concealed herself in the thick branches weighed down by berries.

Mmm, berries. Even in the low light they looked good. They smelled better. Faye reached out and plucked one. The moment it hit her tongue she realized how hungry she was. When had they last eaten? Who cared! A bush full of sweet fruit, she plucked a handful and indulged with a wicked smile, and they were all hers!

Jet rubbed his whiskered chin and stared at the small device in Ed's hand. "Wait a sec, you telling me these things are actual AI?"

Ed nodded so hard her hair flopped about. "Artificial sensory decision maker and processor. Some bright person made it so the dinos don't need external prompts."

Snatching the device, Spike narrowed his eyes. "So this is one of their brains?"

Ed snickered into her hand.

Spike cocked an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

"What Faye-Faye would say."

"And that is?" He grit his teeth, his hand gripping the device in a fist.

Ed tucked her chin and rocked on her heels. "That the robo-dinos have bigger brains than Mister Spike-person."

"Oh yeah?" Spike pulled his fist back. "And what do you think?"

With her cheesy wide grin, Ed sprang up and hugged him. "Only part of Spike that matches dinos is his eye. Rest of Spike-person is the reeeeaaal deeeaaaal!"

He rolled his eyes and extracted himself from her grip, careful of his busted left hand. He dropped the device into Ed's waiting hand. "Whatever. Alright, so they don't have a remote control."

"But they do." Ed ruffled Ein's ears. "Ein found it."

Jet and Spike blinked at one another. "The damn dog? You can't be serious."

"Sure he did, see watch."

Ein barked. After a moment he turned around and faced the compys and barked again. They didn't move. He whined, stepped up to them and poked one in the snout. It didn't move. No light in the socket of its eyes.

Spike smirked. "Yeah, nice demo. What'd he do, tell 'em to play dead?"

Scratching her head, Ed examined the compys one after another. None of them moved so much as a gear.

Jet leaned in closer, "What the heck. It's like they're off or something."

Outside the sky had fallen dark. Spike perched up on the sill. "Wait a moment. That big one, the thrasher in the atrium. It was motionless until the sun hit it. You don't think these guys are solar powered do you?"

"Spike, bring your lighter over here." Jet waved a hand.

The moment the flame flickered to life Ed and Jet spotted it at the same time. Small panels on the feathers of the compy's heads gleamed with an oily finish.

"Shit!" Spike grinned. "This is easy now. We just gotta move in the dark when these things are harmless as an empty gun! We'll be back to the Bebop in no time."

Ed tugged on his jacket tied around his waist. "Umm … Faye-Faye?"

"What about little Miss Freerider?"

Jet grabbed him by the shirt collar. "We're finding her before we go back."

"Oh come on! She's a big girl, she can find her own way back to the ship."

"Spiiikkke!" Jet's fist shook, crossing Spike's eyes. "I've had enough of you two bickering all the time! She's part of this crew, as much as your annoying ass is."

"Easy pard!" He held up his hands, unable to do much else suspended by his shirt collar. After all, he didn't want to hurt the big guy … or accidentally land a punch on that metal arm of his. That always hurt. "I was only joking."

"No you weren't." Jet grunted and released Spike. "I know you better than that. Now, where would she be?"

Spike adjusted his fraying shirt. "Where ever the ponies are." He darted back at Jet's glare. "What?"

See You Space Cowboy …