7 Tranquillitatis
Mare Tranquillitatis by Jake Bowen
I wake by myself. Slowly breathing, I'm heavy, but in the best way. That weight that comes from a worn-out body that's rested and is still completely relaxed. As long as I stay still I'll be this peaceful cocoon of blankets and bedding.
I look at the clock on the nightstand and see it's 13:00. For a moment, I feel my responsibilities come back to me and my hands and arms twitch with the response. Midway through, I hear Paige's voice in my head, and my muscles freeze as I listen.
Rest. Take care of yourself.
I see double vision. Her and Bodhi. In my mind, they look at each other and smirk before Bodhi softly taps her shoulder and walks away leaving Paige with her arms crossed and a knowing look.
I look back at the nightstand and see a note.
I went to work. I let Able know you were Deenergized and couldn't make it in. I'll be back at 16:00. I labeled some bottles of energy in the cooling unit, drink them when you wake up.
- Paige
I set it back down and resign myself to getting up even though my body feels like it's made out of lead. The energy is refreshing and after downing it all, I make my way to the terrace.
Her view over Argon is similar, but she can see more of the mountains and the industrial area. Following the road, I see the main highway I take to Able's garage, and even a pinch of the bean-shaped garage.
The breeze isn't as strong on this side and I'm disappointed to not have it lifting me. It seems so still here. Like nothing can touch this area. That is until I feel echoing vibrations of thrusters.
It's the mid-cycle patrol. I duck into the corner of the balcony and watch as they roar past. Without the wind, they sound so much louder and closer.
To my surprise, my comm beeps.
"Hello?" I answer with a husky voice.
"Beck, where are you?" Tron starts, he doesn't sound angry, or concerned.
"Where are you?" I counter.
"At your apartment with Keller, did you go to work?" He questions.
"No, I… I'm across the street,"
"Across the street?" Tron echoes.
I see Tron step out onto my balcony, his helmet looking down at street level. I chuckle.
"Look up," He does so.
"What happened?" He clearly thinks I've done something wrong… in a way I have.
"I passed out while scouting."
"You've been on countless recon missions, but riding some trains tire you out?" I hear snickering on the other end. I look closer and see Keller at the sliding door.
"A medic found me and I'm crashing at her place."
"And she just happens to live across the street from you?" Tron is pissed, but he's holding it back.
"What's got your bits all twisted?" I retort.
"Don't you find that a little odd? What are the chances?" He presses.
"...Now that you mention it, it is a little rare for this to happen."
"Have you seen her before?"
"On occasion."
"When did you first notice her?"
Shit, why does he always ruin my life?
"A few cycles after the Occupation took over." I answer painfully knowing exactly what it seems like.
"Beck…" Tron hisses through clenched teeth.
"What else was I supposed to do? I was Deenergized!" I bark back.
Apparently, I can shut Tron up. He takes a micro to talk again.
"What?" his voice is stupefied, "When? How?" He can't seem to decide what he needs to know first.
"I'm not sure. Paige says I've been running low for a while and then I had an episode and I had nothing after that. She wants me to rest up for three cycles."
There's a long silence.
"We can't trust her Beck. She may have helped you, but the timeline is impossible to ignore."
"I'm aware. For now, I have to stay where I am."
"Agreed. She's a liability. Keep a close eye on her."
That shouldn't be too hard.
"Will do."
"I'll have to move Keller, it's too risky to keep her here."
I've never seen her in Occupation colors. I want to defend, keep fighting him, but know it's a moot point.
"Understood, I'll contact you later this cycle," I end the call.
I'm light-headed as I leave Paige's apartment. The straggler Programs I cross in the hallways and lobby don't give me a second glance, so I take it as a good sign I can keep up appearances.
I sit on my light bike and simply feel the engine as it turns, the vibrations comforting to my frazzled mind. Paige is just another complication I don't need. I glance at my wrist resting on the throttle and see the previously exposed coding is translucent in the midst of repair. My eyes move from the skin to the throttle to the tachometer and then the road before me.
The road slopes downward, it's dark in contrast to the white silver of the sidewalks, highlighted by blue-white lines of energy. The lights coming off the edge of the buildings and windows give a faint hue to the distant horizon. The definitions of things in the distance are hazy and unclear.
I twist the throttle and ride off towards the heart of the city.
"Beck?" Mara's shock is the first thing to greet me when I exit from the lockers.
"Hey, sorry I'm late… again," I mutter, head down avoiding her eyes.
"Able said you couldn't make it into your shift today."
"I was… Denergized," I admit sheepishly.
"What!? How?" Mara grabs me and angles me so she can look me in the eye. She gasps as she gets a look at my ashen face.
"You look terrible."
"Thanks."
"What's going on, Beck?" She snaps, her voice wobbling at the end, "You're rarely here anymore, you're constantly missing shifts, I hardly ever see you, neither does Zed! What is going on?" She's angry, worried, and nervous all at the same time.
Something only Mara can manage to do. I muse wryly.
"I got another job," her eyes squint in disbelief, "It was Bodhi's. He was going to quit here, he wasn't meant to work as a mechanic."
"He made the recoders we use, Beck, do you really expect me to believe that?"
"He wasn't programmed to be a mechanic. He was meant for structural analysis."
Mara starts to object but stops midway, her mouth partially open.
"Taking the job was my way of keeping him alive. I'm sorry for not telling you or Zed…" I give her a wry smirk, "I wasn't sure if it was going to work out."
She takes a moment to process the information, her eyes glancing down, but when they return to my face an understanding appears in them.
"Beck- no! I'm sorry, I didn't know. I've been so harsh on you lately," her big cyan eyes tear up and she pulls me into a typical fierce hug, something I hadn't realized I had missed. We stand there for a moment until we hear a disrupting cough next to us. The two of us break apart and look as Copper and Link walk into the locker room.
Mara glares at them before remembering herself and seems apologetic. We move aside from the entrance.
"Well, I'm glad you went to see a medic. What did she tell you to do?"
"To rest, but I can still work, I'll just send all the heavy jobs over Zed's way," I wink and a small smile appears on her lips.
The corner of her lips turn up in a half-smile. "We're going out right now, the Occupation is hosting a racing competition in a pectro."
"Kind of early for an event, is he participating?"
"No, but he wants to see if he can get any ideas to put onto his own bike," She shakes her head and smiles, "I'll tell him about the new job… can we talk later?"
"Yeah, I'll make some time. Thanks, Mara," she gives me a tight hug as if it'll hold all the pieces of me in place. It helps.
We wave as she enters the locker room.
I look out to the garage, seeing the mechanics going out and coming in to switch shifts. At the other end is Able's office. I sigh and make my way over.
The door's partially ajar, so I peek my head in.
Able's in the middle of tasking jobs to the mechanics coming in for their shifts. Three digital boards are floating in front of him: a calendar or when jobs need to be completed by, one of the undone jobs from the day's shifts, and a list of the mechanics coming in.
"Come in," he announces to me in distraction, "I'm just about done."
I step in and close the door. The sound grabs his attention and he looks at me. His brows shoot up in surprise. He quickly finishes up his task, his fingers touching the boards and allocating the last few jobs.
He closes the boards and turns towards me, "I thought you were Denergized?" The smile on his face is wider than I've seen in a long time.
"I was… errr- I am. What's so funny?" I ask in sheer confusion. My genuine loss makes his smile falter.
"I… I just thought your medic friend was covering for you again. Then why did you come into work? She called you off, you know."
"Yeah, she left me a note. She's the reason I'm here."
I explain the true story behind Paige. Repeating to Able, I realize coincidences seem to always spell bad news for me.
"I agree with Tron. She's far too suspicious to be trusted," Able says after a long moment.
"Do you think she's working for Tesler?" I ask.
Able places a hand to his chin in thought, "... I don't think so. Tesler wouldn't allow his own to rebel, even to get close to you,"
"What's her end game?" I wonder while leaning back into my chair and looking at the ceiling. I tilt my head back and feel lightheaded and dizzy.
"I thought you came to work, to work," Able says sternly.
I sit up and pause to let the spots in my eye clear up, "Sorry. I can only stay for half a shift."
"Fine… Don't push yourself," Able orders as he follows me to the door.
"Right right," I say as I leave his office, I find he's followed me out, "You leaving for the cycle?"
"Yes. I've been invited by Zed to watch the race tonight," he explains as he locks his door.
"Who's watching the garage?" I ask as he turns to me and comes closer.
"I was going to close it for a few pectros, but now that you're here, I know someone will manage it," he claps a hand on my shoulder and walks out with a lopsided smile.
My shoulders droop, "Great."
A pectro in, the workload is light and whatever jobs come in I manage before work piles up. It's nice to have some resemblance of normalcy from work again.
When I realize it is 16:00 and work will continue to slow for the rest of the day, I tell a few of the veteran mechanics I'll be in Able's office finishing up some filing.
Hopefully, it stays quiet enough for me to drink some energy and sleep.
I reach the door and make sure no one is watching before I use my recoder to turn the pins and unlock it.
I crash on the white silver couch flush with the wall a nano later.
"Sleeping on the job?"
Out of shock I jump and end up falling off the couch.
"Damnit," I curse as I sit up and find Tron sitting in Able's chair. His suit is in its minimalist form, helmet pulled up, but it's him. No one else gets off on infiltrating places like he does.
"Can you blame me?" I sigh as I sit up.
"No."
A great conversationalist as always, Tron.
"Keller at the hideout?" I ask and try to get comfortable on the sofa.
"Secured. We need to plan our move."
"You plan it. Let me get some rest and I'll go along with whatever you want," I bite out, turning my back towards him.
"... Very well," I hear him stand up from the chair, "We leave next night cycle. Hawk will be our decoy to Gallium as we ride with Keller to Carbonite City,"
"That seems oddly simple," I point out.
"Any suggestions?" Tron asks somewhat tamely.
"What is this? You've always taken charge on important missions. And you've never come to the garage…" then it clicks.
"Are you worried about me?" I ask while my head turns to peer over him.
"You should be resting."
"I would be if my other job wasn't here asking me to work."
"You chose to come to the garage, how-"
"I'm talking about you, Tron," I laugh out and lie supine, "Keep Keller company, I wouldn't put it past her to set something off in the hideout due to sheer boredom. I'll be fine, just need some rest."
"And energy. Drink this on the table before you take your nap. Come to the hideout at 12:00 tomorrow," he orders as I hear him walking away.
"Will do." I yawn, tracking him with the sound of his steps.
He stops in the middle of the room. When he doesn't move again, I look over to him and see he's standing in front of a display case. In the case is the suit of a Program.
It's white, at first I thought it was a siren's light suit, but upon closer inspection, it's from the old Grid. The white is aged, almost dusty in nature, and the triangle and circuit lines above the breasts are outdated, incompatible with the more refined energy of the modern Grid.
He notices me staring and takes his leave before I can inquire about what he's doing.
I stare at the white suit and ponder what it means before turning over and get some rest on the couch. The sounds of mechanics and work being done easing me with the familiarity.
When Able, Mara and Zed return the garage is near dead with work and I've managed to sleep the entire time, none of them notice or care enough to comment.
Able and Mara leave giving Zed and I an opportunity to chat.
"Hey," he starts simply, a wry smile on his face.
"Hey," I return.
There's a pause before he speaks, his expression unsure as he figures out what he wants to say.
"Mara and I talked," he begins, "Wish you had told us you had another job, would have saved me a lot of trouble with Mara," Zed crosses his arms, the motion causing his hair to bounce with the movement.
My smile becomes less wry and more genuine.
"She's your girlfriend,"
He sighs and looks away with a slight blush, "I wish,"
I clap a hand on his shoulder, reminiscent of Bodhi, and give him my trademark smirk.
"Give her time, and push a little. Stop being her shadow and be her equal," I encourage.
He raises an eyebrow, "You're giving me relationship advice?"
I laugh "You two would never get anywhere without it,"
Zed hums in an affronted affirmation.
"You working tonight?" He asks.
"Yeah. I'll be gone the next few cycles," I voice reluctantly.
"Gotcha,"
"Tell Able for me. I should be leaving soon, when I get back I want to have a talk with you and Mara. About the job,"
Zed's eyes widen in response and his mouth hangs loose. Before I can ask him why he seems so shocked he controls himself and smiles reassuringly.
"I'm holding you to that," he thinks for a moment before pulling out his disc and showing me a memory.
"Before you leave, want to help me with something? I have this new mod idea based on what they showed off at the race,"
"I still have a pectro, what can I do?"
He plays the memory, a close up of the racing light bikes as they come across the finish line.
The bikes are much different from the standard ones. They have fins on the bottom and small wings near the top. As they move into the first corner of the race circuit, the lower fins bend so they don't get crushed as the bike leans.
"That I think I can do," Zed notes before he skips forward and shows the bikes coming around the last corner, "Watch as they turn the corner you can see the air intakes,"
True to his words, while the bikes are in the apex of the turn, they're directly facing us. Two sleek low profile air intakes are integrated into the side body. As they straighten out of the corner the lights motorcycles grow brighter and they accelerate faster than an Encom 786!
"Whoa!" I let out in amazement.
"Right?" Zed exclaims.
As the purples, reds, blues, and greens of the riders cross the finish line to finish their first lap I hear the distinct whine of their engines clearly. A mixture of a high pitched whine of a super sized grid bug being crushed and the deep rumbling of a finely tuned roadster.
"They sound spectacular too,"
The video ends and Zed puts the disc on his back again.
"So what do you want exactly?"
"Everything!" Zed nearly shouts and I shake my head at his greed.
"If you race one of those in the Argon tunnels I don't think you'll make the turns," I joke.
"It's not about the speed. Just imagine creating a machine like that!"
"I'm good at fixing bikes Zed, i'm not sure how much help I can help figure out those ones,"
Zed is visibly put out at my words. He closes his eyes and appears to go into thought before nodding his head and looking back to me.
"I'll see what I can figure out, but you can help me with logistics and Able might have a few tricks up his sleeve too!"
I laugh at his optimism, "Fair enough. I'll let you get started on that,"
"I will. Maybe when you get back I'll have a working model for you to work with,"
"Sounds good. I'm gonna get going, I'll see you in a few cycles Zed,"
"Alright. Take care of yourself Beck,"
I smile, "You too,"
"I thought I told you to come here tomorrow?" Tron comments as I enter into the overwatch of the hideout. He's next to the glass with a small digital interface open as he monitors the movements of the Occupation.
Keller is seating away from the window, simultaneously scrolling through a datapad and playing with some sort of cubish device. She pays me no attention as I stroll towards Tron.
"I didn't want to go back to the apartment,"
"Hiding from your personal medic?" Tron chuckles. I blush.
"No- Yes. I don't know. Just want to focus on the mission," I stammer.
"Good. Keller's working on creating camouflage for herself. I'll keep track of the Occupation's movement. I want you to get into my healing chamber for a pectro,"
"What?"
"I need you to be fully alert and prepared for this. Tesler has hardly reacted to Keller's defection,"
"Desertion. I'm not joining your little rebellion," Keller corrects sounding half preoccupied.
"Regardless," Tron huffs, "Tesler's waiting for us to make the first move,"
"What if we just have Hawk act like Keller? Make her run to Gallium as a feint?" I suggest.
"It would only work if she diverted enough of his forces away for us to make a clean escape. It's a small window of opportunity and probably one Tesler has covered already with a surplus of troops at Bismuth and Gallium," Tron reasons.
"Right. I need to contact Hawk then," I say and pull out the communicator Hawk gave me.
"I should do it. I have specific instructions for her to follow," Tron steps closer, his hand reaching out for the communicator.
"N-no, that's alright. Just tell me a place and time for her to rendezvous with us," I stutter. Tron raises an eyebrow, "She won't listen to you. I have to tell her," I reason.
Tron mules this over for a heartbeat.
"Very well. Nine hundred at the Argon Square platform next cycle,"
I nod and head to the healing chamber, beginning my call to Hawk when I leave the overwatch.
"Hello?" She sounds mildly shocked and confused when she answers the call.
"Hey. You okay? You sound a little lost," I ask with concern as I enter the room that houses Tron's regenerative chamber.
"Huh? Oh yes, I'm fine. Just… sorting some things out. Still getting used to… this," She explains slowly.
"You never do," I say absent mindedly as I turn the healing chamber on.
"That's reassuring," Hawk remarks dryly.
I chuckle, "Sorry, for the bad news. But I have some good news, we're meeting at the Argon Square train station next cycle. Nine hundred,"
The chamber whines like steam and pressure being built up.
"Should I look out for anything?"
"Just be there early. We'll track your position and meet up with you,"
There's a silence between us. I want to talk, but don't know what to say. She's not a friend, or trusted so the things I want to ask her about are off limits. Like this whole Paige situation, or lying to friends about this double life.
"Do you ever regret it?" She asks, breaking me from my thoughts.
"Being the Renegade?" I think about it for a moment.
Bodhi's face burns into my mind, followed by the deresolution of his body. The image stays for a long time before I see Mara and Zed getting pushed into a train to be sent off to the games. Programs like Rilo and Cutler. The blackouts. Saving Mara from the mind control gas.
"Never," I answer with a calm confidence, "I wouldn't have any friends left if I had sat back and done nothing: The consequence of inaction,"
"I wish I had heard that back in Carbonite," she laments.
"Why?"
"I might have stopped the ISO's from killing my friends,"
The ISO's. I've run into them before, but nothing more than passing conversation.
"I thought you had friends in the Occupation,"
"They're not… it's complicated,"
The regeneration chamber beeps at me letting me know if I don't get in soon it'll power down.
"I have to go, I'll see your at the station,"
"Get some rest Renegade. You sound tired," Hawk comments softly before cutting the connection.
I replay the conversation in my head as I put on the breathing mask and get inside the chamber.
When the machine detects my body it sets to work recharging me. There's a warm tingly beginning on my skin. It tickles at first and makes me feel light until the feeling comes from within my core. For a moment I can't breathe at how amazing it is, a lightness and energy from within my chest that makes me feel close to bursting.
My head rests against the back of the machine and I close my eyes. Lost in the bliss of the euphoria.
Even as I could tell I was going to slip into unconsciousness, one thought lingered.
Hawk sounded incredibly familiar.