Valentina was tired. Hot, tired, and ready for a long nap. The sun was low in the sky as the shop began to close, all staff gathering their things and leaving. Valentina however stuck around, working on finishing repairs to a beautiful, sleek motorbike before she left. She had already spent the day changing out the tires and adjusting the finishing touches. Finally, after months, her own personal bike, restored with her own hands, was finished.
"Val, it's time to go!" A voice called out to her from the office doorway, her boss holding her bag and giving her a slight smirk.
Cursing at the time, she called back, voice thick with an Italian accent."Yeah, give me a second capo!"
Mark Spencer, her boss, and owner of 'Spencer Mechanics' chuckled, coming over to the younger woman and patting her on the back as she packed away her tools. "Said it before and I'll say it again, as much as I love hearing your Italian, call me Mark."
Valentina laughed, smiling at him and finally wiping off the grease from her hands. "We all love my native language." Taking her things she shrugged on her coat. "I know, I know! I forget sometimes."
"Whatever you say." He teased, before whistling at the bike. "Looking good, all finished and ready to go then?"
Valentina couldn't help but practically bounce with each step as she pushed the bike out of the garage doors, following Mark. "Yep! She is looking perfect."
Mark nodded in agreement, stopping to close the doors and lock up. "You've done a good job, kid. See you tomorrow?"
"I appreciate it, Mark." Valentina sat on her bike, feeling the handlebars and taking a moment to appreciate the bike. "Maybe, I need to prepare for the course report. I'll let you know."
Mark nodded, moving to his own car. "Kay sounds like a plan, see you, Val." Giving a wave, he got in and soon enough drove away.
Smiling a little smile to herself, Valentina put on her helmet, and with a practiced motion, she was off. Her bike roared to life, the rattling of the roaring engine sending a familiar vibration through the seat. She was so proud of what she'd managed to make of the old girl, just a few months ago it had been a hunk of abandoned scrap metal, but now? With some commitment, care, and elbow grease it was here, tearing down the road, its scratched metal catching the mid-afternoon sun. A perfect balance between old and new.
It was a short drive between the garage and the small apartment she called home, but it was perfect to test out the bike, a smile never leaving her face as she felt the wind against her. It was still rather humid for the time of day yet that wasn't a surprise for the tiny town of Jasper, Nevada. A place surrounded by desert with a hot climate that makes Valentina wish she had stayed in Italy with the cool winters. Yet, as she drove down the streets of the town, she felt at home once more. Happy with her choice to not move out of the place, passing up the opportunity to the year before. Now look; new home and job, she was about to finish her university degree - albeit a part-time degree apprenticeship that was disturbed by her move to the states - and now her dream bike was finished and felt perfect.
Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she had yet to eat lunch. Perfect timing; K.O. Burger was just around the corner. It didn't take her too long through the drive-thru to grab a simple burger meal, making sure to greet the cashier as she did so. What was his name? Jack or something? Either way, satisfied with having a meal, she finished heading home.
Home was a small apartment in a larger apartment complex of three floors to the south side of town. Not too fancy, but good enough. The bathroom was a nice size, and so was the bedroom. The kitchen leads into an open floor plan of a small dining table, big enough for four just in case she had guests, and a living room with a small couch and TV. Her favorite part was her balcony. Living on the third floor meant she had a small balcony big enough for a seat and coffee table. This was often her study and reading spot.
Once her bike was locked up, it was only a few minutes before she sat down at the table to eat her meal - much more hungry than she thought she was. Once finished and cleaned up, she took some time to unpack her bag from the day, making sure to clean off any leftover grease or oil, and packing away her notes and plans. In the bedroom was a small desk, with a laptop and a very messy area filled with papers, sticky notes on all available surfaces, and books.
Stretching, Valentina hummed. She didn't have much to do for the next few hours before plans later on to work on her course report, and she did just finish her bike so…a ride it was! Happy with that choice she grabbed her helmet and made her way to the door, pausing in the entryway mirror to tie back her shoulder-length brown hair into a ponytail, making it much easier to manage in the helmet.
As she did so, her eyes caught pictures on the wall. Many decorated the surface, from ones with her father and friends to memories of travels and studies. She smiled at one, in particular, taking a moment to reach out and touch it. A picture with her father, godfather, and best friends back In Italy; Sarah and Jay. She was so much smaller than everyone, barely 5'2 meaning she was tiny, especially compared to Jay who was much taller at 6' 1. The memory of the picture made her laugh, it was the last gathering they all had, many things separated the group from commitments to, well, life things that are out of anyone's control.
She looked at her father in the photo. He looked so happy there; his blue eyes glinted with mischief like they always did. She had his eyes, although he was much more tan than her with much darker hair. Kissing the photo she smiled again, before heading out.
The bike was perfect as she rode more, testing the limits of the engine and wheels as she sped up, using back roads and barely used roads out further and further into the desert as if she was racing an invisible force. Valentina has no idea how much time passed while she was enjoying time riding her bike out in the open expanse of the area, listening to music through her earplugs, and allowing herself to just feel the bike, the air, and everything in between. However, what finally did key her into her surroundings, was a sudden and large shake in the ground, causing her bike to rattle and an ear plug to fall out. As it did she heard something akin to a car crash. Metal scraping and hitting another, groaning. She recognized the sound from wrecks she had heard before and the sounds in the car shop; had she just heard a crash? Had she just driven into an illegal race area that was common in the area?
Her bike came to a stop, Valentina was on a crest of a hill, able to see in the distance ahead easily. What she saw confused her even more so. Three large figures were ahead of her down in a valley, but it was something she had never seen before. It was like looking at a building from a ways away. Clearly, they were insanely large in height, but her position made it hard to fully grasp how so. They were robot-like, mechanical - making her think of mechs in alien films she loved to watch. For a moment she thought she had come across a movie shoot of that type, yet as she looked around she saw no cameras, no crew. Nothing. She could make out the shapes and colors of the figures; one was smaller than the other two, thinner and bluer in color. The other two were similar in bulk and size, yet one more red and the other yellow. She mused for a moment, truly unsure if she was dreaming or not, seeing something so inhuman. They moved like humans, they seemed to be talking to each other also. Their body structures were similar to humans, yet they clearly were not.
Whatever she had stumbled upon, the reality caught up to the curious mechanic quickly when she saw the blue one flip the red one onto its back and throw a punch at the yellow which it deflected. Was this a fight? The noises it made echoed throughout the valley, reaching her just as easily as they could potentially hear her bike; that made her worry. If they weren't human…Were they dangerous? Valentina wanted to do many things. She wanted to get closer to learn about what was happening, she wanted to get away. Her mind struggled to keep on top of the information which it was receiving.
At that, she felt this was something she was not meant to be seeing. Her hands were shaking as she restarted her engine and started to back away, only to freeze as her wheels caught a rock which caused it to tumble off the edge of the hill, creating a cascading, rumbling pile of rocks and sand that drew the attention of those fighting. It was for a split second of course before Valentina in her fear kicked her bike into gear and used the momentum to ride out of there, but at that moment she looked up and through her helmet, it was like she made eye contact with the red robot. She may not have made eye contact, likely impossible but it definitely saw her.
Valentina didn't stop the bike till she was miles away, far enough where no sound or sight of whatever the hell that was, was close to her. In frantic movements she took off her gloves, struggling with her shaking hands, taking in gulps of air as she took off her helmet and searched for her phone in her jacket. Whatever the hell that was, she needed to get somewhere safe. All ideas of reality had gone out the window, hope that it was a movie shoot or some sort of hallucination gone. She didn't want to go home, not yet, she didn't want to be alone. But who could she turn to? If this was real she just witnessed something she really, really should not have.
She wasn't close to anyone at work and all her friends were in Italy. So one person came to mind, the person she moved to this tiny out-of-the-woods town for, well forced to considering she needed to crash on his couch while she found a place of her own to live; her godfather. Her phone felt so slow as it unlocked and dialed his number. She willed it to go faster, muttering under her breath as it finally picked up, her godfather's voice coming through the speaker, but she didn't give him much of a chance to speak.
"Val? Kiddo, I wasn't expecting a call today, what's-"
"Help." She pleaded, feeling guilty for interrupting him but she was sure she would make it up to him. Her voice was shaky and the urgency clear.
His own tone shifted quickly, movement was heard from the phone as if he was grabbing something like a coat. "What's wrong? Where are you, are you safe?"
"I-I don't even know, I just got out of there, I just kicked the bike into gear and left I have no idea where I am, I need help pops, please!"
There was more movement through the phone and some hushed voices also, before he finally spoke again. "I have your GPS, you are way out of town Val. I am sending you the location of the closest base, I'll be there at ten."
Thankful for his connections and the fact he could easily get her onto a military base for protection helped. Having a godfather in the military had its benefits. With the confirmation of the location and that she was alright, Valentina got back on the road to the base located fifteen minutes further into the desert in the opposite direction to where she had come from.
By the time she arrived, her godfather was already there. His facial expression was serious yet morphed into relief when she pulled up, moving forward to sweep the younger woman into an embrace. He was taller than her; they looked nothing alike of course, not actually being related but he was more family to her than anyone else. He had short, jet black hair with a deep gruff voice, his skin a dark brown, and his entire mannerisms almost the opposite to Val, but he was family.
"Come on kiddo, let's get you inside."
With her bike locked up, hot tea in hand, and sat down in a small room likely used for meetings with her godfather, Valentina finally relaxed. Her breathing calmed and the shaking finally stopped, yet the adrenalin didn't seem to wear off, her leg bouncing as she sipped the drink, anxious about what to say. She was left alone for a few minutes before her godfather entered, giving her a small smile before he sat down across from her.
"Before I say anything, you aren't in trouble. This isn't an interrogation kiddo. You've done nothing wrong and not caused any issues coming onto base okay?"
He knew her well. Valentina offered him a small, thankful smile as she let out a breath she had been holding. "Thank you pops…I was worried about that. Thank you for helping, genuinely."
He gave her a curt nod, he was often a man of little words or at least little signs of affection. "I understand, it's no problem kiddo. Now, what happened that got you shaken up? That got you so far out of town on your own?"
She opened her mouth but paused, really unsure what to say. What could she say? He would probably get her locked up in some mental asylum for being insane. Yet the images replayed in her mind of the fighting robots, of how the earth shook when they landed and moved and fought. So, she tried to say it as easily as she could; "Robots. Big, mech-like robots that moved like humans but weren't humans, and god it was insane and terrifying and I have no idea what the hell I saw and I didn't know what to do so I called you." She took in a large breath after rambling, all of that coming out in almost one breath. Her intention to keep it simple clearly didn't work.
She watched her godfather while he seemed to think, before cursing. "Oh hell."
It was then that the door to the room opened and a woman entered, dressed in a similar suit to him, her blonde hair tied up in a neat, military-style bun. "Agent Fowler sir, you are needed in the comms room. A message from him sir." With that, she left.
They sat in silence for a few moments before he just repeated himself. "Oh hell."