Rune

I woke up the next day, after a pretty uneventful run of the outpost I wasn't expecting anything exciting to happen today either, but when I looked around my room I saw that things already weren't right. My door was opened, which I was sure I closed last night before I went to sleep and so was my window. Perhaps Dempsey or Takeo checked up on me last night and got distracted by some other matter that they couldn't take the time to close my door, but my window was all but a mystery to me. I thought back to the teasing that Nikolai had done two weeks ago, about how Dr. Simons watched me while I slept at night. I chuckled a little bit, getting dressed after shutting both my door and window and started preparing for the day ahead.

In the main room I saw that Dempsey had recovered from the accidental crotch shot he'd received, courtesy of me.

"You think you can handle it today?" I asked as soon as I saw him.

"Yeah, I'm fine today. Gotta love it when those nanobots can double time." he replied happy to no longer be in pain. We shared in a bout of laughs and I went to get something to eat in the mess hall, to my surprise I saw a familiar face that I hadn't seen in while.

"Hey, Richtofen!" I greeted as I came in through the door. I didn't want to hold anything bad against him from what he did a few days back, holding grudges just wasn't my thing (with the exception of the Dukni who'd killed my father).

He looked to see me, but instead of responding to me he just let a small smile that faded quickly and he turned away with reluctance. Dr. Maxis was close to him and eyed me with a peculiar expression; something was definitely not right with him and Maxis was trying to convey it through that silent gaze. I didn't want to stand on ceremony though, I felt bad for him, I didn't know why I did but I did. Against Dr. Maxis' silent protests I sat down with them and tried my best to make polite conversation and at least try to undo whatever damage was done during the time he was gone. I understood that Richtofen had alternate personality issues, but I was given a rude awakening to just how bad they were when I tried to initiate in conversation.

"Hey I hope you're feeling better. I was worried that you might be out for the rest of your time on Agria... I'm glad to see you back out here to be honest." I started gently.

"I'm sorry..." Richtofen muttered quietly.

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry for anything he might have done in my absence." he clarified.

"What, the alternate personality, he wasn't too much to handle. I didn't even see much of him anyway." I chided.

I got that look from Dr. Maxis again and now I was feeling even worse than before for even trying to help out.

"Rune, I believe you should let him be for a while. Edward isn't at his best at the moment, I'm sure he'll be feeling better sometime later today." Maxis urged gently. I took his offer to leave, but not before getting a few last words in before I ate breakfast.

"If you want to talk to me later, Richtofen, you'll be able to find me in the garage. I don't have any duties to attend to today so I'll be there virtually anytime." I informed him, to which he nodded slightly and I left shortly after.

They both left the mess hall soon after I sat down to eat and I was left to wonder about just what to say if Richtofen did actually come by. I also thought about the fact that I'd have Spencer to help me out with the Grav-racer today and that might make things a little more awkward than I would have liked. After I ate I went back to the barracks and checked in with Dempsey before making my way to the garage and starting on inspecting the magnetic suspension. Spencer didn't arrive until close to noon, but thankfully he'd brought all the parts he could spare so that we could get started on fixing the racer for real. Like he'd said yesterday, the parts he had were a little outdated, but I knew ways to squeeze a little more out of them that would put them up to par with the current models out there.

"Hey, Spencer..." I started, remembering that Richtofen might arrive sometime today to talk to me.

"Yeah? Whatcha need kid?" he asked.

"I might have a friend coming by to talk to me, so if I leave to do that I want you to know about it beforehand."

"That's all right, I can handle workin' on the racer myself."

"Thanks."

"No problem kid."

For the most part it was a lot of trial and error trying to get the parts to work at their maximum efficiency, more than enough times we'd had to shut off the racer completely for the fear of a total blowout.

"Damn, fucker's stubborn as an ass!" Spencer exclaimed after the third incident of having to shut down the racer.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll get it sometime, besides we're in no rush." I quelled him.

"Yeah, but you need practice before the races start officially." he reminded me.

"True, but let's not stress ourselves out now, it'll just lead to more problems trying to get the racer fixed."

"Yeah, let's just try it again, maybe we can try adjusting the gauges lower this time." he suggested.

Just before I started to get to work on setting the gauges I caught a glimpse of someone standing at the garage door; I had to double take to realize that it was Richtofen standing there.

"Spencer hold up." I said walking away from the racer.

"What, something wrong...?" he asked, then he went quiet suddenly.

"Hey Richtofen. You took up offer I see." I started.

"Ja, if ve could..." he looked over at Spencer, "speak alone I'd be very appreciative."

"Sure, I'm okay with that." I replied. "Hey Spencer we're going to go talk, if you want you can work on something else until I get back, okay."

"All right, you just be careful ya don't go out too far. The Swarmers are a little agressive today." he warned.

"I'll make sure to be careful." I promised and I started for the end of the plateau where the road lead to the Pit. He wasn't dressed in his armor, just casual clothes that I thought were a bit "heavy" for the environment around here, but he didn't seem to be encumbered.

"So, how are you doing?" I began casually.

"I could be doing better." he replied a little grimly.

"Well what's the matter. The whole alternate personality thing got your head in a bind?" I asked.

"Sort of, but zhat's not vhat's really bothering me."

"Well then what is it? Don't be shy about it, you can talk about anything you need to, that's why I offered it to you."

He paused, trying to think of what words to use with what he was trying to convey.

"He didn't hurt you did he?" he asked. I was surprised to hear that was his question, but I went along with it regardless.

"No, I'm fine he didn't even touch me, besides I could have beat him back into to next week if I needed to." I responded confidently.

He chuckled quietly, but then returned to his grim outlook.

"I don't doubt zhat you could have, but I just vanted to be sure."

"I can understand that, so anything else you need to say?" I urged him on.

"He didn't say anything... did he?" he asked a bit hesitantly.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"He didn't say anything zhat vould have... put a dent into ze vay things are going right now did he?"

I was confused for a moment, trying to figure out what he meant and then it came to me; he was asking about what his alternate personality had said to me in the garage when he'd come out.

"Well... I do have to say I was a bit "surprised". I'll just leave it at that." I answered.

"So he did say something about it... It vasn't too bad vas it?" he asked a bit embarrassed at the prospect of having to investigate what was said.

"No, he just kind of dropped a little bombshell that I suppose you would have told me sooner or later." I clarified.

"Right..." he chuckled nervously.

"You were going to tell me weren't you?" I instigated humorously.

"It vould have depended, but..." he deliberately dodged the question, "I'm glad you're all right."

"So is that all you needed to talk about?" I inquired.

"For ze most part, yes." he answered.

"Okay then, I guess I'll get back to fixing the Grav-racer." I said before heading off to the garage again.

"Vait!"

I turned around quickly, there was this pitiful look on his face, like he didn't want to be left alone.

"Can I still help out? I'm sure Maxis von't mind if I do, my schedule's pretty empty." he asked.

"Sure, the more the merrier. Spencer and I won't mind it a bit." I told him. His eyes seemed to light up and he followed along gladly. As I walked in the door I saw that Spencer was having a little trouble with lifting a box of parts.

"Little help kid?" he asked straining to heft up the large box. I rushed to the other side of him and grabbed hold of another side, even with my help though the thing was still motionless.

"What the hell did you pack in here Spencer?" I questioned letting go of the box.

"Well this one has the new engine in it I'm sure." he answered.

"A new engine? Are you sure it's a Grav-racer engine because that thing's heavier than an elephant on a fucking McDonald's diet."

"Pretty sure, it's about the newest thing I could spare for ya." he replied scratching his head.

"Are you sure that's all that's in there?" I asked. We went back and forth for about five minutes before turning back and seeing that the box was gone.

"Well where the fuck did it go?" Spencer asked. We both look around like idiots until we heard the clinking and clacking of metal onto the concrete floor.

There was Richtofen next to the Grav-racer with the box on the floor and several parts scattered across the ground. It took me a minute to realize he'd just picked up the entire box that neither Spencer and I could pick up together with all of our strength, alone, by himself, no help from anyone else. Spencer and I both looked at him with confused awe on our faces until he saw us and decided to speak.

"You didn't think zhat ze nanobots vere just for reflexes did you?"

Dempsey

I was in my office when I got a call from Nikolai, I didn't know what to expect when I picked up, but I hoped for the best.

"Hello."

"Hey, Tank, it's Nikolai." he started, he was clearly pained with something.

"Hey man, how are things?" I asked carefully.

"They...they're okay... I'll be back in two days. Just thought you'd like a heads-up." he informed me.

"That's fine, you take as much time as you need..." I told him, but I was curious to see how things were going with him, he sounded so defeated. "Is everything all right?"

There wasn't an immediate reply, but there was one nonetheless.

"He didn't make it..." he muttered. So his father had died like the doctor said he would, I felt sorry for Nikolai now, more than I ever could have before.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Are you staying for the funeral?" I asked.

"Da, that's why I call to tell you I won't be back until the 29th." he clarified.

"Okay then..." I tried to think of something else to say, but I didn't want to push him, "I'll let you go then. Thanks for telling me Nikolai."

"No problem Tank." he ended.

The phone line went dead and I was stuck there for a moment, thinking about all the other things I could have said or asked, but it didn't matter now. Now I knew that when he came back he wouldn't be in the best of moods, so now I had to tell the others about this so they would understand his position when he did arrive. Even though I never personally knew his father, I could feel for him, even if I'd lost my father in completely different circumstances I could relate to the absence of an important family figure. I'd lost both of mine though, and he still had his mother who was probably also grieving with him. It was a sad thing to picture, but I knew it all too well.

"Dempsey." I heard Takeo call for me.

I walked out of my office and went to see what he wanted; I wasn't in the least bit expecting what I was about to see.

"Well by god, if it ain't Tank Dempsey!" the familiar gruff voice called out as soon as I came into the main room. I was assaulted by a boa constrictor hug that threaten to squeeze the life out of me and pop my head right off.

"Nice to see you too Spencer." I strained. After the life or death hug was over I took in a much needed breath and gathered my senses again.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, I knew Rune had said he was over yesterday, but I didn't know he'd come back today.

"Well I came over yesterday after you told me Rune was working on the racer and I thought I'd come by with some parts and help her get it fixed up in time for this year's races." he explained.

"I see, she tell me you'd be coming over today too." I admitted.

"I'm here now and I just thought I'd pop in and say hi to ya."

"It's a pleasure to see you again after all this time."

"Sure is, and hey I wanted to ask what's the story on that new fellow you got in the militia."

He was referring to Dr. Richtofen and I was confused at how he knew about him, he hadn't been out of the building yet today, or had he.

"You mean Dr. Richtofen?" I asked.

"Yeah him, he looks awfully familiar, but I can't quite place my finger on why that's so." he contemplated.

"Well he was in Ian's platoon during the war." I told him. He snapped his fingers and his eyes went wide with realization.

"That's why! Oh man, I've got stuff to mull over with him. So many questions to ask and stories to tell."

"You know him too?" I questioned.

"Sure do, the man single-handedly saved Ian from a horde of winghasts on Gygax. Surely Ian's told you that story before."

He hadn't and now I was curious about it, just how many people knew Dr. Richtofen that I wasn't aware of.

"No, he never did tell me, always was quiet about his time in the war." I replied.

"Oh, well that's a shame. It's a good story, you might want to ask Richtofen yourself about it. Maybe he'd be willing to tell you his version of it." Spencer suggested.

"Me ask him?! He's not exactly the conversational type."

Spencer chuckled and put a hand on my shoulder.

"You just gotta get to know him. The closer you get to him the more he tells ya, he's one of those kinds of people who only come out of their shell with those they can trust." he explained.

"Yeah, but still I'm not really all that eager to get on his good side."

"What does he scare you or something?" Spencer asked, his chuckle still lingering.

"I guess, it's either that or I'm just utterly creeped out by him."

"There's no need to be afraid of him. He's not a violent type of person, he's just "shy", for lack of a better word."

"Still though, I don't exactly trust him."

Spencer sighed and patted my shoulder with the hand that was still there.

"Give it time. I'm sure you'll get used to him, just like Ian did." he said before checking a carefully hidden watch on his right wrist. "Oh, hey I gotta get back to helping with the racer. If you want you can come down and help or something."

"That's fine I've got things to do here." I replied.

"All right then, I'll see ya some other time." he waved and left the barracks.

"He seems rike a nice person, despite his appearance." Takeo observed suddenly.

"Huh? Oh you mean Spencer, yeah he's a cool guy. He knew Ian for years even before he went off to fight in the war." I informed him.

"He never fought in the war himself?"

"No, he couldn't pass the physicals. Spencer's got a heart condition, I think if I remember correctly he's got a murmur or something like that."

"I see..." he muttered before taking off with his sniper rifle.

"Where are you going Tak?" I asked.

"Target practice." he replied simply.

"Oh, well I gotta stay here, I've got a patrol to run in another hour. You be careful out there, I've been getting reports all day that the Swarmers have been more aggressive today." I cautioned.

"I wirr make sure to be safe Dempsey." he said before leaving. Having reminded myself about the patrol I went to my room and began to put on my combat armor for the occasion.

I was hoping that the Swarmers were still the only thing we had to worry about around here, but with our luck the Dukni could come back any day and start making things difficult around here again.