Prompt: Steampunk

AU

The world was silent. It was as if no sound had ever existed, all memory of noise cleansed from her mind. The silence was calming, but lonely. The girl hopped down, leaning as she stepped over random piles of scrap. Her skirt brushed against a large metal plate- possibly part of a boiler once, judging by the welding- covering the fabric in a new layer of grime. The skirt was unconventional, ending just above her calves, to help the girl move more easily among the scrapheaps. Likewise, the rest of her appearance- dark boots, a red cloak pulled tight against the cold, hair cropped short- favoured practicality over fashion.

The girl headed silently through the junkyard, boots tapping quietly even along corrugated iron. Above her the fog covered the sky completely, the bright light giving everything an ethereal feel as if it were in a dream. What could be seen of the horizon revealed sheer cliff faces along most sides, the scrapheap horseshoed on three sides by rock. She paid the sight no attention, however, gaze directed down as she searched the rubble for footholds and rare finds.

Her hand plunged into a bag along her side, rummaging for a moment before revealing old goggles, cracked along the left rim but otherwise usable. The girl strapped them over her eyes, blinking as she tightened the leather clumsily. Once they were secure she dived into a a large steel container, sorting through garbage and metal scraps. Screws, bolts, gears and discarded plating were sifted through quickly, few items of worth entering her bag. The majority of the valuable metal was coated in grime or soot, which made the search more difficult. Fortunately she had rags tucked into her belt, which could be used to wipe over a cog and identify it more easily. The girl was just in the middle of doing so, trying to read the inscription on the back of a pocket watch, when she was interrupted.

"Hello there little girl." A tall man smiled jovially down at her, one foot leaning on the end of the container's roof. He tilted his head with surprise. "Are you human?"

"...Yes. Yuki Nagato." She glanced up at him, face unreadable. She had heard nothing but the sounds she made walking among the silence for days now- his interruption felt unnatural.

"Oho, you have a name! How delightful!" His smile grew even wider at the news. Then, leaning in conspiratorially he added, "I have a name too."

"Are you not human then?" The pale girl ignored his banter completely.

"Ah, sadly I am but a mere automaton, at your service." He bashed his fist against his chest, revealing a hollow echo as if to prove his point. Despite his words the smile never left his face. Yuki had met his kind before, but this one seemed odd. Few automatons wore clothes, especially not a gentleman's waistcoat, trousers and dress shoes.

"Would you like to know my name?" Yuki glanced back at the pocket watch still gripped in her hand. It was silver, although it was tarnished quite badly, and had stopped working. It had little practical value, and she might never get it running again. She slipped it into her bag regardless. "My master has started calling me Koizumi, as of late." The automaton seemed proud of his new moniker, judging by how eager he was to tell her.

"...You serve a master by yourself?"

"Not at all. There are a prized few who serve her." Koizumi bowed slightly as he said this. He was still standing along the lid of the steel container, silhouetted against the cloudy sky for Yuki. With one push of his foot he could slam the lid shut, which would likely deadbolt tight in response.

"Is your master nearby?" Yuki's voice was faint. She hadn't needed to use it in quite some time.

"That she is! Would you like to meet her, Lady Nagato?" The girl brushed her hair aside, hiding the hint of a frown. These scrapyards were solitude and silence given form- she hadn't seen as much as an insect until now, with no living plants or edible substances to attract anything alive. Now suddenly an automaton, a steam-and movement powered machine, who claimed his mistress and other automatons were nearby. Curious.

"I am just a junker," Yuki replied. "Surely your mistress has more important things to attend to." She turned back to the pile beneath her, spying what might have been copper. The 'man' was still above her, silent for a moment as if he were in thought. He could still close the roof at any time, trapping her inside. Yuki had one water skin on her- her food supply lay back at her make-shift camp. She wouldn't survive very long in here.

"Nonsense!" Koizumi beckoned with both hands out towards her, blocking most of the light behind him. "I am sure my mistress would be delighted to meet you. In fact, she was the one who instructed me to to bring you to her for an audience." Ah. Yuki paused for a moment, eyeing the machine more carefully. His actions... she had no choice at all. Yuki walked to the side of the container, careful not to slip on stacks of loose tin, and climbed the rungs indented into the side. "Splendid!" The smiling machine offered a hand up, which was ignored without comment. She had only spent an hour or two inside the storage block, but the difference outside was enough to shock her. A light breeze tickled her bangs, clearing away the corrosive smell inside the container. Her boots were resting on solid steel again- after navigating loose piles of debris for so long, the feeling was uncomfortable.

"Are you feeling alright?" Koizumi cocked his head towards her, painted eyes looking through the girl. She nodded her consent and began to follow him down. In the light she could see his movements were slightly stiff, but otherwise he was fairly convincing as he walked. All automatons ejected steam at regular intervals, usually from the ears or mouth judging from the ones she had seen in town. As she followed him over scaffolding and the remains of a ship, she passed the time trying to observe where the steam came from on this automaton. Several times Koizumi tried to engage her in conversation.

"What a lovely pair of goggles! I have never worn something like that before." Yuki held them up for him to look, putting the goggles away in a pocket shortly later. They were heading deeper into the scrapyard, she noted.

"So, how does one search for scraps and metal?" Koizumi appeared genuinely interested. "There are so many variables, I would never be able to ascertain what is of worth and what isn't."

"I just... look until I find something." Yuki had never had to explain her life before. She found metal that was still useful, or could be repaired easily, and sold it back in the towns. There wasn't much else she could explain, or put into words.

"But how does one know what's worth finding?" Koizumi looked back at her as he pushed aside badly-welded chair.

"One never does until after they've found it," she replied softly.

He seemed puzzled by Yuki's response, but paid it no mind. "How long do you spend in each junkyard? Your camp indicates you've spent a week here so far, and you have collected quite a lot of resources." In his curiosity he'd let something important slip, but Yuki answered him as if she hadn't noticed. They'd already inspected her campsite, and this master of his had known about Yuki and sent for her... Just how long had they been watching her?

"Are your legs tired?" Koizumi spoke up yet again. "I have been reminded to be courteous of humans, and to make sure you are comfortable on the way back. I do forget your needs at times, admittedly." She shook her head and continued, following him at the same brisk pace. Whether he was walking too fast was debatable, but she didn't care. Eventually they passed through a steeper part of the junkyard, a scrap mountain towards the heart of the pile. The footing got steeper and scarcer, whilst the cheerful man sped up unconsciously. Even a few feet ahead of her, his form was hard to make out in the fog.

Yuki paused for a moment, gazing back expressionlessly. When the air was clear she knew as far as the horizon was nothing but more trash. Junk and scraps and shards of once-useful machines with a life of their own, all rusting away to the silence. The panorama from atop this mountain would have been breath-taking, had the fog not coated everything around her like a soft blanket. Small wisps of clear vision swirled through with the breeze, teasing at the view she could not see. Yuki turned back, ready to follow, when the silence was shattered.

SCREEE-

Yuki spun, eyes sharp. Where was it coming from? A loud screeching noise reverberated through her skin and teeth. So loud! A loud, rasping crash boomed through the junkyard, as if a giant had fallen from the sky, shattering the metal beneath. Then silence. Yuki turned again. There was nothing to be seen- the fog was as calm and still as the circuitry lying around. Yuki opened her lips, just about to ask her companion what the noise had been when the horrible screech tore through the air again. Her hands twitched as she made to cover her ears, moments too late as the magnificent crash echoed again, cutting off the grating screech. Her ears rung with the impact- both sounds were horribly loud, shocking after the calm.

"What was...?" she found herself asking. The automaton had turned to her at some point, and was making urgent motions with his hand. The junker took one step forward before the screeching noise burst through the sky once more. The high-pitched squeal seemed to get worse every time, the sound vibrating through her teeth and fingernails. After ten heartbeats the noise was silenced by the booming crash, silence taking over once more. It was as if the sounds had never existed at all. She followed a panicked Koizumi through the junk, both walking in silence, as if any further noise might prompt the strange screeching once more. What was it? She hadn't seen anything that could make that kind of noise around here. She struggled to think of a single machine that could make those sounds.

Koizumi was gesturing-was he talking to her? Yuki belatedly realised she had gone deaf from the noises, and could not hear a word the automaton was saying. She said as much to him, which prompted Koizumi to simply point and drag her along. He had no lips to try and read, so all she knew was he wanted her to follow. Stumbling over piles of rusted garbage and crates of metal, they continued to head deeper into the heart of the junkyard. As if far away in the distance, Yuki heard the horrible screech once more, followed by the booming crash. Her hearing was returning.

Koizumi paused all of a sudden, in front of a particularly large pile. What might have been a bathtub rested against the remains of a motor vehicle, small copper screws and flakes of purple metal underneath her boots. Koizumi pulled the edge of the car, something shifting as the door opened. Peering in, a hint of a frown appeared on Yuki's face. The inside of the auto mobile lead down, underneath the pile and the earth. She turned to her companion, giving him a quizzical look. He said nothing in return, a wooden smile on his metal face. The screeching had started once more, and the girl saw no specific danger. It looked like she was heading in.

She felt, rather then saw or heard, the door shut behind them. It was as dark as night, and the faint ringing in her ears stopped her from hearing anything close by. Koizumi seemed unperturbed by the dark, a faint glow coming from his hinges as he led the way further down. They appeared to be in a tunnel made of scrap, the floor changing everytime a piece of metal ran out. Smooth sheet metal, wavy corrugated iron, a slippery polished brass of some kind... every kind of junk she could imagine had been used in making this tunnel. Yuki lost all sense of time within minutes, and could not say how far down they had walked. Surely they'd reached the bottom of the junkyard, and even below the ground by now?

Turning a corner, abrupt light shone into her eyes, blinding the girl. Ducking under a loop of copper wires, she entered a large, wide circular room filled with people.

"Well it's about time!" a complaining voice welcomed then. Blinking widely, Yuki turned to see a girl her own age, lounging on a couch. The girl wore her dark hair back in a ponytail, and was garbed in a comfortable-looking cloak and expensive skirt.

"My master, Lady Suzumiya." Koizumi bowed as he took his leave, joining two others on a similar couch at the other side of the room. Yuki was just getting used to hearing things again, and was noticing the booming noises weren't audible from here. She felt uncomfortable with that, not knowing if whatever was causing it was still outside.

"And you are?" Ah. Suzumiya had been looking at her impatiently, waiting for Yuki to introduce herself in return. People were much harder to interact with then automatons. Koizumi answered for her, his grin even wider then before. The two figures next to him on the fabric also appeared to be automatons- a buxom red-head with obvious elbow joints, and a young man who appeared to be sleeping, head rolled back, his snoring showing the circuitry inside his mouth. Yuki wondered what would possess somebody to invent an automaton capable of snoring.

"Well, are you wondering why I brought you here?" Suzumiya pouted slightly. She seemed put off by Yuki's distraction, so she nodded yes. Getting up in a flash, the brunette grabbed her by the arm.

"Because you, my dear junker, have the opportunity to work for me!"

"Opportunity...?"

"Well, it's that or my automatons kill you. Really, you have no choice, but I'm trying to sound benevolent here." Yuki could only blink at the eccentricity of that claim. Suzumiya's slaves did nothing to help her impression- the girl squealed in fright the moment she said 'kill', Koizumi chuckled, and the final one continued to snore. It was the worst bluff Yuki had heard in her life.

Rolling her eyes at the three, Suzumiya continued talking as if she had never stopped.
"Listen you heard those horrible noises, right? We knew they were coming, but Koizumi was late getting you. If he'd found you a few hours later, you'd be dead from them." Dead? Koizumi's ever-present smile turned sheepish at this. The single bulb hanging from the ceiling made it hard to be sure, but Suzumiya's expression was completely serious.

"That noise was caused by the Gynoids. They attack any human or automaton they see on sight." Yuki cleared her throat, interrupting in a low voice.

"I thought Gynoid's were those female automatons? Ones made in the city for men to enjoy." Suzumiya frowned at her comment.

"Normally this is the part where people get embarrassed, and I can laugh at them. You have even less emotion then my automatons!" She declared this as she pointed at Yuki with her index finger.
"...I see."

"Damn it, you're still doing it!" Suzumiya seemed like someone used to getting her own way.

"Anyway," she changed topics once more, hands on the curve of her hips. "These Gynoids have it out for humanity. They have nothing in common with the other kind; we think the name means something else. Giant, mechanical beats with multiple legs and arms, live electricity for blood and skin of the toughest metal." Suzumiya's hands waved around as she got into her story, creating a tense atmosphere. "They were designed as the perfect beings, and a few dozen have been manufactured at last count."

"By who?" Despite herself, Yuki found herself intrigued.

"We don't know! Their numbers are still small though, so they stick to the shadows, leeching off scrap piles and junkyards like this one. When they find enough salvageable materials they assemble another few of their kind, before moving on to their next target. We think they're building an army."

We? There was so many holes and unlikely parts of her story, Yuki wasn't sure where to begin.

"That's where you come in, Lady Nagato," the girl automaton spoke up, inclining her head towards Yuki as she spoke. "You can help us against them!"

"I don't see how." Her voice was even.
"You're a junker, right? We've seen you, you're good!" Suzumiya didn't wait for a reply, patting her on the back roughly. "If we can find out what parts they need, we can beat them to the punch! Heck, after that we could even find a weakness or loophole in their design, rip them apart!"

"You're very... enthusiastic," Yuki begun carefully. She was unused to talking to people, and didn't want this to come out improperly. "But why are you even fighting these Gynoids? Surely such a threat would have the whole state against them."

"Pfft, the state are the ones who made them!" Suzumiya replied, confusing Yuki even more. "Listen, we don't have time for all this. I'm the only human who knows enough to fight them, and you're joining my brigade."

"Huh? We have a brigade now?" The final automaton, the boy, looked around sleepily as he 'woke up'.

"Kyon, keep up. The times, they are a changin'." Suzumiya said this as if it somehow answered him, tapping the toe of her boot impatiently. "Now Yuki, are you with us, or do I have to drag you?" She paused at this, unsure what to reply with. This woman was clearly mad, but appeared wealthy, and had at least three automatons in her personal service.

"If I may," interjected Koizumi, helpful smile at the ready. "Lady Nagato, this could work in your favour. By travelling on our airship, you could reach many scrapheaps much quicker then you could by land, and anything you found in each one would be your spoils to sell." At the look she gave him he continued, elaborating. "As we travel from junkyard to junkyard, you could continue your job as always. And staying with us would be the best protection against the gynoids, who you're sure to run into on your own if you continue this profession. So your skills could benefit us as much as our services benefit you, what I have heard called a 'win-win' scenario." He spoke a lot more sense then his master, that was sure. Yuki brushed her hair from her face, coming to a decision.

"I am at your service, brigade leader." She bowed slightly, kissing Suzumiya's offered hand.

"Good protocol, lackey!" She seemed pleased by that, pressing her hand to her breast as if accepting an award. "You need to learn to curtsy like a girl though. That'll be your first training." Just as Yuki processed what she'd said, a horrible crashing noise broke the reverie, dust raining down the cracks of their shelter.

"Master, the Gynoid's are searching directly above our hideout!" the girl squealed.

"Oh hell." Suzumiya spun, grabbing several bags which she threw over her shoulder. "Koizumi! You took too long finding her!" He accepted the blame, not pointing out how much time she'd wasted when they were talking. All four of them suddenly started to run for another tunnel entrance, leaving Yuki alone in the clearing. A moment of indecision overcame her- should she really join these people? Several large booming noises shuddered overhead, filling the room with far too much noise for such a small space.

A hand grabbed hers roughly, as she was suddenly pulled into running along the tunnel. It was Kyon, his glass eyes urgent.

"Are you insane? Get out of here already, geez!" She'd never heard a rude automaton. What exactly was he? Behind her the clearing collapsed, rubble and debris filling the area she'd been standing in just seconds ago. She started to sprint, keeping up with the automaton as they outran the sea of rusting life behind them.

She had no reason to join them- she wanted not for money, and enjoyed her quiet life. With no family to call her own, Yuki was used to being a loner, and hadn't seeked out others company in an age. Travelling with them might be a mistake, and even mortally dangerous if the story about a Gynoid war had any truth to it. But how would she know for certain, without going with them?

"One never does until after they've found it," she murmured. Running alongside her, Kyon could somehow hear her words.

"Find what now?" he shouted.

A place to belong? A quick way to die? A new life for her? No, it was finding something that was the easy part. Finding out what it was- that came after.

"I'll tell you when I find out," she shouted back, as the five of them ran out of the tunnel together.

A/N: Sorry for such a stupidly long absence. I still intend to finish these stories, I promise. Life went busy on me for a bit, but I now have a month off university, so hopefully I can get back to writing during the break. Well, fingers crossed. Has my writing style changed much?

Thanks go to Midirin, who requested a Steampunk Yuki, and inspired this piece. As always, C & C are welcome.