While in that luxury Molga with the girls, I had my first zoid-orientated conversation. Clara knew more about my zoid than I did. I showed her the remote card for the cockpit, and she just tore off a piece of plastic on the back. I went to stop her but she showed me it was covering the Model ID.

"WTF-6890. Dear god. . . "

I shrugged, man I was a moron.

"Who did you say sent you with this thing?"

"The old guy."

". . . Name?"

His name? Dang, I'd been calling him 'Sir' for years. I saw it on a few plaques in his hanger.

"Max Brand. He used to pilot zoids a little."

I quickly learned that getting to S Class with an early Saix model was a big feat. And that Max is a historical figure. And that it was smart to take his last name instead of my parents. And that there was a piece of dirt stuck on my shoe. I kicked the dirt clog off and looked out the window.

"Well, I guess it could be handy to be associated with that guy. He should be in the city by now; you guys could meet him I guess."

"You mean the city we're headed toward right?"

"Um, the big thing on my radar I guess."

"That's Vigilian. It's bayside, so it's probably swamped with tourists."

"Eh, he didn't exactly say where in the city to meet. . ."

Riz laughed at me from behind the console.

"You're a tad out of touch, aren't ya?"

I shrugged again. Dang, I was going to regret all that shrugging a year later.

"He'll probably be at the Public Hanger. It's where most guys show off their zoids, and it's where all the pilots go to check out the competition."

"It's also where we're going to scout zoids for Riz; she has no idea what kind she wants. Last week she says she wanted a Liger, most of the family has one and she wants to blend in. About an hour before we picked you up, she said she wanted a Command Wolf!"

I rolled my eyes.

"So you guys use zoids for getting around and work?"

"WHAT! Our family has been in the Sector Games since the first year!"

Sector . . . nope, doesn't ring a bell.

"Ten credits say you don't know what that is."

"I'll pay you later."

"Think Field Day with giant robots."

"So you and Riz train for that?"

"I've won the relay over two cities over with my sisters three times. Riz here thinks she might be a battle pilot."

Riz kept looking at the horizon. So, Riz is the quieter, yet curious one and Clara is a traditional dominant girl. Hm, Clara must have got the short straw and had to help out Riz.

". . .And she wants a Command Wolf?"

Riz and Clara turned to look at me. Riz made sharp eye contact with me, I found out later they were surprised; Clara called me an idiot savant.

"Yeah. . . I think it'd be great for starting out in the Battle Commission."

"That depends, where are you starting out?"

"Out West, my dad likes to watch battles there."

"So you want to do battles in a bunch of abandoned cities and bases from the Big War?"

She nodded.

"A CW's armor would get trashed down there. There's no dirt to slide back on, you'd be getting the full force of every hit you take. And all it takes is a good blade zoid or a sniper to total your zoid. And I mean out of service, not a system freeze. And if you try going close combat in one of those alleys, a wolf's cockpit snaps like a sugar cube in those situations. And don't even try sticking to that turret gun duck taped on; those things can't even dent an armor plate."

More staring. Confused? Well, I didn't know a fuel station from a library, sue me. But I did know zoids. Sure I was from a deadbeat desert town, but I new when a Command Wolf is going to get turned into a toaster.

". . . You were heading us on with that parents story . . . come on, you're Max's grandson or something? Why would you not sue your real name?"

". . . Remember the Backdraft-Ensalax scandal?"

". . . Oh . . . wait, you're saying a Wolf would get me killed in one of those Bases?"

"Have you ever been in a battle? Wolves are great if you know how to use them, most of the ones getting torn up are filled with new pilots. Spend a couple months in the Simulators, a CW is a good zoids to learn with but don't drag a brand new one onto the Field."

". . . Have YOU ever been in a battle?"

Ouch . . . eh . . . true, I kind of knew the tricks but had never even worked a zoid that could walk without breaking.

"Riz, stop the snail. I gotta see this guy in a zoid that wasn't made a few decades ago."

The Molga stopped a mile later; Clara grabbed me by the collar and opened the hatch, dragging me out to the trailer her Liger was on. She clicked something on her belt and it lowered itself like a cat eating from a dish. She just pointed.

"You have the nerve to tell mycousin what zoid is right? Let's see you try and get this thing to even move."

I glared. So Clara wanted me to prove myself, I didn't even know she was ticked off. I hopped into the cockpit and close the hatch. I pressed the start up button, and felt the cat rear up to its feet. Wow, nice. This was my first new zoid cockpit, get this, it was actually comfortable. Nice chair, all the lights aren't blinking, and the radar has nice little symbols instead of dots. I got the zoid to hop off the trailer, no creaks, no snaps, it just hopped. Hm, I may have to get a new zoid sometime. Maybe one that actually belongs to me.

I set the Liger into full sprint right away. I didn't care about Clara or the Molga; I just had to do this. Soon I was easily going past a hundred MPH. Dear god, it was gorgeous. The wind going past in spurts, the horizon blurring, the sun blaring down. I reared back the control wheel and I let the cat soar for a good distance through the air. I later learned that a Liger can hardly jump, but I still felt like it could fly.

I saw a small crop of rock ahead, I jumped and a second later I was watching the dirt flash over my head and then the sky. Yep, I could do a flip. Run back, yep, run on walls a little. Hey, what the heck was that? I poked a tile on the console and I saw two sticks unfold on the sides. Blades? So that's what they looked like. I popped them back and kept sprinting. Yeah, I was getting a zoid of my own. The Saix had history, but this thing was amazing! Hey, there's the Molga. And Clara sitting on the tail, Riz in the cockpit. I felt a concrete bar of reality hit me in the groin. This wasn't my zoid. I didn't have one. Or a home. Or a life. And Clara was shaking her head, I'm a lousy pilot. Come on, how could I be good? Some old guy rambling about zoids isn't a teacher. I'm sorry that this isn't the journal of some fancy team leader with a master zoid. I parked it back on the trailer and got out. Well, actually I jumped out and closed the hatch mid jump. I landed in the dirt on my feet.

". . . That bad?"

Clara kept staring.

". . . okay, so I'm bad, who isn't their first time?"

. . . She was still staring. . .

". . . You did a rebound flip. . ."

Wait, she was impressed?

"You had that thing going faster than our Molga!"

"Sorry . . . ?"

"You're a freakin' pro aren't you! You just told us some story you heard in a bar to make us flip when you do those tricks!"

"Eh . . . huh?"

. . . They thought I was a battle pilot pretending to be whatever the heck I said I was? Well, I'd tell you the rest of the trip to the city, but all it is Riz and Clara asking me again and again, where did I learn that stuff? For two hours. When the city finally popped up over the horizon, I wondered why it was shaped like a bunch of squares and triangles. Half the buildings were tall and perfectly squared with each other; the others were triangular and scattered more. Riz explained the skyscrapers were businesses and homes. The triangles were centers for anything zoid related. Planet Zi was half people and their lives, half zoids. Either you're on one side or the other. Wait, drop off the zoid, and talk to the old guy. . And . . . . eh. . What? He didn't give me any plans did he? Well, I can't go back to that waste pit of a suburb. Hm, well, I guess I'll be in the city a while.

"How much would it cost to rent a place down here for a couple months up front?"

I watched as we approached a large beam and steel plate structure surrounding the city. It was like a lopsided ring around the border.

"About 300 for three months, that's usually how long pilots last before moving."

Cripes. I had a hundred credits to my name with that duffel bag in the Saix. I can't sleep in the Saix because I have to give it to the old guy.

"How long are you two staying here?"

"Five or six months, I have to get to the Games by then."

"I already have a place rented."

Hm, so Riz has an apartment. Nah, not the couch hermit type. Hmm. . . . Hermit . . . apartment. . .

"Clara, you're staying with Riz right? And you're leaving the zoids at the Hanger?"

"Yeah."

"Could I sleep in the Molga for a couple days? I'll pay the garage rent and keep it in shape."

Clara seemed more interested than reluctant. She reached back and poked the braid she wore her hair in. She looked just slightly like her cousin. Riz was slightly shorter, smaller of frame. She wore her hair down to her shoulders naturally with those huge triangle earrings that I grew to hate. Clara was taller, more athletic and lacking the orange spray tan Riz sported. She simply had a ponytail. Currently she was looking at my clothing, probably wondering if it was wear and tear or dirt.

"My Liger needs a new tint on the cockpit, get it done and you got a few days in this thing. Either get a deal or do it yourself, just don't screw up."

Great, I had to stain glass to live under a roof.

"Deal. This thing have running water in the kitchen or is it just storage?"

"Running water, heat, AC, we even got a bio-generator cheap from a friend of my dad's."

"A Bio? Geez, nice going, those things are like gold."

It was the newest thing on the market, an energy generator that runs on its own energy via biological cells and systems. Unlimited energy, but only in certain forms. And it's extremely expensive to manufacture.

"We hook it up to zoids when they need to do scans and stuff. Sometimes a little energy surge goes a long way. That and we like electronics."

Hm, so they use it like a giant battery. Cool.

"And you got two weeks if we can take some pictures of us by your antique."

Hey, the Saix just bought me two weeks of rent!

". . . After you fix it up a little."

Dangit.

"We have a tool set under the deck."

Woohoo! Okay, so life is easier than I thought. Wait, how could I fix it up if the old guy is going to take it? Well, zoids travel faster than cars. . . I have at least a few hours to get the rust off a little. Soon our three zoid parade stopped at a tower outside the Hanger Ring. Clara and Riz flashed IDs, I showed the ID card the old guy made me. The guy smiled and waved us through into a partially open air structure filled to the brim with zoids. Every where you looked, at least one rare zoid and a few commons ones. And a few ones you could tell were high in the Battle Commission. And a few you could tell were never going to be used. We stopped at an empty stretch toward the back Riz had reserved before she left to accompany Clara back here. We were right between either a Gun Sniper or a Snipe master; they all look the same to me. On the other side was a Liger, I had no clue what kind. There are like fifteen breeds and fifteen thousand colors, who keeps track? Yes, I was like a schoolboy in a candy shop. I'll spare you my dancing around looking at zoids dance. I jumped out and noticed a cable outlet next to our assigned space. Must be for power and whatever the heck zoids need. Riz and Clara took the opportunity to stretch and argue over who parks what. I moved the Saix myself, Riz parked the Liger along the other one, they didn't look similar, and so it must not be a blade. They went off to get lunch and I was alone again with the Saix. I wandered back into the Molga and found the tool kit nestled under the floor panels. I rigged up a cable from the bio-generator on the back of the worm. Why? Well, Clara mentioned how zoids react to energy. Well, maybe a little jolt will help the Saix. So there I was walking around the cat trying to figure out where to connect.

"Hey Kid, you never see Frankenstein or what?"

I turned to see a bleach blond guy in a spotless blue jump suit with a black jacket. He was holding a bag of what appeared to be some type of food. He was holding a small yellow thing with something red on one end.

"Uh . . . not following . . . trying to figure out where to hook this Bio up to my friend's Saix . . . "

"The neck, kid."

"Oh, thanks."

"Want a fry?"

He suddenly looked at the cat.

". . . whoa, nice antique. . .You reviving this thing or what?"

"It can barely walk, so yeah . . . wait, what's a fry?"

He tossed a little yellow thing at me. Odd, feels oily . . . yes, my first French fry. Ten minutes later we were sharing fries and discussing the history of the Saix. He seemed a bit impressed. He even helped me hook up the cable to the neck and get the Bio booted up.

"Now, normally you just need a little voltage to wake up a zoid that's a little dusty. Now, I think you need to send this thing out in a lightning storm honestly. Just give it all this thing's got!"

He then said he had an appointment, told me his name was Sam for future reference, and took off in that mystery liger. I watched it leave and turned back to the generator. Okay, maximum voltage, my stuff is out in the Molga so nothing burns, and time to start it up. The start button gave me a ten second timer to move all zoids and humans away from the shock area. Five, four . . . dang, this is slow. And, now! I watched as a white energy field covered the cable, and then completely covered the saix in a matter of seconds. I would have shut the thing off if Sam hadn't warned me it wasn't pretty.

All of a sudden the head moved, it seemed to shake itself just slightly, but it moved on its own! I shut off the flow and stared at the now burnt-looking zoid. Christ, it looked even worse! Then a flake of rust fell off the front leg. Then another off the torso. Then every bit of rust and old paint fell off like snow. It just piled into a ring of red and black around the cat. The zoid was completely unpainted underneath, cold steel. Not too flashy, but it was ten times better than the rust. And now you could see the detail in the joints and armor. There was a section torn away from the legs, no wonder it limps. Inferior parts for ya, they rot away on their own. Well, the outside looks good. I clicked the still rusty remote and it went down to it's haunches, the eyes flashing yellow. Hey, the eyes worked!

I hopped in and looked around. Same as before, maybe a little cleaner from the rust shock. I tapped the console, nothing. All blank. There was a little gauge with a red light that read 'RECHARGING'. Hm, so I have to wait for the battery to start working on it's own . . . nah! I went back to the Bio and set it to continuous flow. The panels lit right up, no flickering. They actually had backlighting now. Radar, a little diagram to show body status, a few data screens. Well, once this thing charges it may start rewiring.

Confused? Well, the old guy taught me about how zoids are made to replicate living organisms. Hence the minor thoughts and the fact they can heal with energy. Only internally though, they can rewire their circuits to adapt or sometimes improve, but good luck re-growing a leg. They're made of metal, duh. And he also explained the theory of Ultimate Xs, all zoids have some thoughts and instincts programmed in, but only those things have minds of their own. So if this thing does manage to rewire and I can repair a few major problems, maybe this thing could be used as a transport. No chance at a battle zoid though, unless the old guy settles down here and we can work on the zoid seriously. Speaking of the old guy, where is he?