The Collector
"How can any one person lose that often? I mean, seriously, the math says you should at least win occasionally."
Hunter Ania Solezulam narrowed her yellow eyes at the source of the voice. "You're not helping, Ricardo."
"I disagree," Warlock Ricardo Melendez said. "If I can convince you of how astronomically, improbably horrendous you are at these games, perhaps you'll stop wasting all of our team's glimmer, which would be a big help."
The Hunter across the table snickered as he scraped his winnings together. It was his turn to get a glare from Ania now. No one liked a gloater.
"I suppose you think you could do better?" Ania asked the Warlock. "Feel free to try."
"A blind Dreg with all four arms docked could do better," Ricardo sniffed.
"Well that's just mean."
Ania waved off the other Hunter when he silently offered another game. He shrugged before standing and walking off to find another challenger. Ricardo took an off-balance step and settled into the abandoned seat, folding his gangly legs under the table. Ania shook her head at the awkward movements.
"How do you not fall down and blow yourself up with your own Nova Bomb?"
"Trade secret," the Warlock retorted.
Ania rolled her eyes at the remark. "One day it will happen, and I am going to laugh so hard."
"Unlikely," Ricardo said, shifting in his seat a little and changing the subject. "Have you seen Barin yet?"
The Warlock was referring to Barin-23, the third member of their squad. He was supposed to have met the two of them at the bar earlier, but had not shown up yet. It was actually his tardiness that had allowed Ania the time to engage in the card game in the first place, so, in a way, it was really the Titan's fault she had lost some of their glimmer.
"Not -" the Hunter began, then stopped at the sound of broken glass behind her. "Never mind. There he is."
Ania pointed over her shoulder without looking. Ricardo followed the finger to see the Exo standing near the bar staring in open disbelief at his hands, his Ghost hovering over his shoulder. Liquid was running over his fingers and dripping onto shattered glass that lay in a growing puddle on the floor. Barin stood there staring until a frame wielding a broom came and pushed him out of the way so that it could clean.
Forced from his spot, the Titan looked around and noticed his friends. He said something to the bartender. Giving a helpless shrug, he made his way over to them.
"That's the fifth glass you've broken in the last two days," his Ghost said as they approached.
"It's your fault," the Titan replied. "Last time you revived me, you screwed up. You tightened the servos in my hand too much or something, I can't control it."
"Don't blame me," the little drone said. "You just weren't paying attention."
"You do tend to break things," Ricardo commented. "Almost as often as Ania loses our glimmer."
"You're taking his side?" the Titan asked, wounded.
"No sides, just observations," the Warlock said.
The Titan mumbled something under his breath and waved to a waiter. A short while later, a replacement drink was brought over to him. Moving in an exaggerated parody of caution, Barin gingerly lifted the cup to drink. Thus, he managed to take a drink and set the cup back down safely.
"I would have bet anything that you would have broken that cup too," Ania said.
"Yet another one you would have lost," Ricardo mumbled, earning himself a swift kick in the shins.
"So," the Awoken woman said, turning her yellow eyes to Barin, "why were you late?"
"Oh, I, uh, just had to finish taking care of something," the Exo said, stumbling over the weak reply.
"Something?" the Hunter questioned, sensing a trail that she wanted to follow.
"Yeah, just something. A little thing. But here I am, and you said you had a mission for us."
Ania stared at the Titan for a moment, sure he would be sweating under the scrutiny if he were organic. She decided to let it go, however. For now.
"Right. New Monarchy is looking for someone to go pick something up for them. Someone was testing out some new scanner for them and detected a concentration of some valuable materials that Executor Hideo wants to put to use in his weapons foundries. Besides the general risk of Fallen scavengers, apparently there are scattered reports of Taken in the area, so Hideo is paying a pretty penny."
"So, it's a fetch quest?" the Titan asked, scrunching the plates of his face in displeasure.
"Yes, but we need the glimmer," the Hunter replied.
"I wonder why that is," Barin commented.
The remark would have bought him a kick in the shins as well, except Ania didn't feel like breaking her toes just now. Instead, she pouted and indicated the Warlock, "Don't you take his side."
"I say we take the job," Ricardo chimed in. "If the material is that valuable to the Executor, I might like to take a quick look at it myself before we hand it over."
Barin looked back and forth between the two of them. Ania waggled her red eyebrows at him.
"Fine, fine," the Titan said, giving in. "Let's go get Hideo his junk."
"That's the spirit," Ania said, reaching over to slap his arm.
Unfortunately, Barin had just been lifting his cup to take a drink. The unexpected contact caused his grip to tighten, shattering another glass. He watched the liquid dripping from his fingers yet again in despair. He turned his optics back to the Hunter, the sense of betrayal clear despite Exo's limited expressive capabilities.
"Oops," the Hunter offered with an apologetic shrug.
The Titan rose with a grumble and then stomped out in a huff. Ania eased out of her seat to follow. Ricardo got tangled up with the chair legs, but managed to extract himself before hurrying to catch up. As they walked, their Ghosts made plans to have their ships prepped for launch.
"So, where're we going?" Barin asked.
"Old Russia," Ania replied. "Just outside of the Cosmodrome. They think the hit came from an old Golden Age crash, maybe even one of the colony ships that was trying to escape the Darkness."
"If that is true, there could be much more of value there than just the Executor's material," Ricardo interjected.
"Which means more glimmer for us," Ania said. "Aren't you glad you let me pick the missions?"
By the time the trio made it to the hangar, everything was in place. They quickly trasmatted aboard, and then left the Tower behind. The trip was a quick one, and close to familiar flight lines. Another transmat, and the fireteam found themselves standing in a clearing surrounded by trees. It looked like this are had been growing undisturbed for a very long time. The three Guardians looked around, trying to decide where to begin when Ania noticed the signs of past trauma in the terrain.
"There," she said, pointing.
Untold years of erosion had worn down some of the jaggedness of the rocks, but the path the crashing ship had gouged into the surface was still visible beneath the green growth that had since reclaimed the land. It was wide enough that someone might have mistaken it for a natural formation if they had not been specifically looking for a crash. To leave this large of a mark, it had to be one of the colony ships. Ania and Ricardo both felt a thrill at the realization, if for different reasons.
The three of them followed the damaged terrain, seeking the source of the alterations. Eventually, they came to a massive mound of dirt and rock. Visible through the rubble, and once again every easy to miss if you weren't looking for it, they could see the backside of ship.
"As it struck the ground, it must have plowed up enough dirt to nearly bury itself completely," Ricardo said, stepping closer. The Warlock reached out, placing his palm flat against the exposed surface. "From out here I don't see a breach. There's a good chance this hasn't been already stripped by the Fallen like so many other relics."
"Well, let's get inside and see what we can see," Ania said, placing her hands on her hips.
The trio of Guardians searched the exposed surfaces of the ship, looking for anything that led inside. Eventually, they found a damaged panel. Barin-23 punched his fingers through the weakened metal. Gripping it tightly, he pulled and tugged, the skin of the ship grinning in protest as it was peeled backward. He tore it free and tossed it aside, leaving a dark hole in the hull.
"Ladies first," he said, indicating the opening.
Ania took hold of her cloak and mock curtsied before stepping through. Her Ghost appeared over her shoulder, its light flaring to life, illuminating the dark corridors of the ship. Two more lights speared into the shadows at the other two Ghosts did the same. A crash behind them caused Barin and Ania to while around. The beam of their Ghosts lights landed on Ricardo, sprawled across the floor.
"Just tripped on my way in. I'm fine," the Warlock said, standing and dusting off his olive green robes.
"Gonna blow yourself up with your own Nova Bomb," Ania said in a sing-song manner, just loud enough to be overheard before changing her tone. "It could take an entire team weeks to go over everything we could find in here. Let's split up and search, use the scan data to find what we're looking for, then call the others. Try not to get too sidetracked."
The last words were aimed at the Warlock, who just waved her off. "I can catalog data and find our material at the same time."
"Sure thing, Stretch," Barin said. "Don't worry, after we get it all transmatted out, we'll come dig you out of the computer system. Probably."
"Make sure you're taking passive scans while you're looking around," Ania called to the two men as she set off down a corridor. "We have no records left regarding these ships and their construction. I'm sure future teams looking for loot would appreciate a detailed map of the place. Might even be worth some glimmer."
She disappeared into the darkness. The other two Guardians looked at each other with a shrug and set off in opposite directions. Once they were a few meters in, their Ghosts started pinging off the material that New Monarchy sought. There were several small traces scattered throughout the ship. Whatever it was, it wasn't going to lead to mass production.
Ricardo speculated about what it was and its use. He noticed that it did seem to be connected with the ship's circuitry in some way. Noticing what seemed to be a slightly larger deposit, he decided to skip others and following it, hoping it would lead to something worth investigating.
His goal turned out to be the ship's AI core. Whatever was in these circuits, New Monarchy must want it for something related to a similar purpose. Perhaps to try to outdo whatever the upstart Veist was promising with their smart weapons they were beginning to produce. The Warlock had his Ghost attempt to interface with the AI, but without result. Either the AI was dead, or it simply didn't have power. Shame, talking with a Golden Age intelligence would have been quite the experience, he thought.
Ania took a winding route through the ship, trying to record as much of the passage as she could while also tagging the material for transmat. Visions of all the glimmer she could get it she spent a little more time gathering stuff here danced in her head. Too bad the Executor had specifically asked for the retrieval to go as quickly as possible.
Of course, they could always just come right back and look around again before telling anyone else about the ship.
The Hunter froze suddenly when she heard the sound of something shattering in the distance. Could someone else be aboard the ship? She dismissed the thought right away. No way anyone could have survived, and there was no sign anyone else had found the wreck before them.
Silently, Ania moved in the general direction of the sound. She hesitated at a crossways, then heard another banging noise that solidified the path for her in her mind. As the sounds drew nearer, she had her Ghost deactivate its light, creeping forward in the dark.
Rounding another bend, a faint, bobbing light became visible. Approaching, she saw that it was the light of another Ghost. Barin. Confirming it was her teammate allowed the Hunter to relax. She was about to have her Ghost turn its beam back on, when she stopped in curiosity. What was the Titan up to?
Barin didn't seem to be actively searching out their bounty. Instead, he was snooping around in what appeared to be civilian quarters. Ania remained in the shadows, watching him through narrowed eyes.
The Titan was at the far side of the room, looking at something just out of the Hunter's vision. Whatever it was, he was being very careful not to damage it. He appeared to gather a few items together, and then Ania heard the unmistakable sound of a transmat. Barin seemed to be going into business for himself, trying to cut the others out of something. Ania would not have believed him capable of that level of duplicity.
Ania backed up carefully, sliding around the bend in the corridor again before having her Ghost reactivate its light. She then sauntered down the hallway, heading back to where she had seen Barin. The Titan nearly jumped out of his yellow metal skin when he turned around and saw her.
"Oh, hi, hey, just taking a look around" he said in a rush.
"You don't say."
"Yeah. Tagged a couple samples of what we came for along the way. Think we might have enough for Hideo yet?"
The Hunter paused as if silently communicating with her Ghost. "Yep, looks like we're good."
"Okay then. What say we blow this popsicle stand, then, huh?"
"Yes, lets."
They contacted Ricardo and the Warlock met them back where they first entered the ship. He seemed to notice something going on between the other two, as he glanced back and forth between them a couple times. Ania gave him a subtle shake of her head.
Not now.
The three Guardians transmatted back to their respective ships and set off toward the Tower. Once she was out of earshot of Barin, Ania opened a private line to Rico, letting him know what she saw. Together, they decided on a course of action.
They dropped into the Tower courtyard and made their way to New Monarchy's usual section of the Tower. Executor Hideo was present, and was very happy to see what they had managed to recover. He transferred the bounty payment to their account, then excused himself. Their business concluded, the fireteam left the area as well.
"Hey, how about we spend a little of that glimmer on a celebratory drink," Ania suggested. "I'll even dip into my part of the reward to buy you a metal cup so you don't shatter another one, Barin."
"Sounds good to me," Ricardo chimed in.
"I, uh, think I'll pass," Barin replied. "I've got something I need to take care of in my quarters."
"Yeah? Well, maybe we'll come hang out with you then," Ania suggested.
Barin stiffened, almost imperceptibly. Almost. "Rain-check? I kind of need a little time to myself."
Ania stepped in front of him and froze, her yellow eyes intense. "Oh, but I insist."
"What's going on?" Barin asked.
"You tell us," Ania said. "I saw you on the ship taking something. Why don't you let us see, and then I'll decide whether or not I rip that horn off your forehead."
Barin turned his optics to Ricardo as if seeking assistance, but found nothing there. He seemed to consider his options for several seconds before sighing. "Fine. Follow me."
The Titan led his two companions back across the courtyard and down to Guardian living quarters. They shadowed him down the hallway and to his door. None of them said a word the entire time. Once at the door, Barin hesitated. He started to turn and opened his mouth as if to say something, but stopped himself when he saw the look on Ania's face. He opened the door and stepped inside.
In the front room stood a large, metal shape. The other two knew of his propensity for taking scrap metal and reworking it into sculptures, though it was rare they saw one as a work in progress. Barin only ever liked to show them off once they were complete. This one looked like it might eventually be a trio of Guardians. Maybe something for the upcoming Festival of the Lost?
Barin walked past the sculpture, through the living room, and to his bedroom door. He hesitated again before opening it and leading the other two in. Once in the room, he held out his hand, and his Ghost emerged.
"Show them what we found," he whispered. The Ghost bobbed a nod and complied.
On the nightstand, two misshaped figurines appeared.
"What are those?" Ania asked, dumbfounded.
"Bobble heads," the Titan replied, gently flicking the over-sized head of one of the figures, which nodded enthusiastically.
"I don't understand what is happening right now," Ricardo said, his face openly expressing his confusion.
"I collect them," Barin said. The Exo stepped across the room and pulled back a sliding door, revealing shelves stacked with the odd little creations.
Ania and Ricardo stared.
"I saw these two on ship and had to have them. I think I may have broken something climbing over to get them. I had hoped there might be more where they came from, but I moved everything nearby, and found nothing."
The other two watched as Barin very carefully lifted the two figures and places them in an empty space on one of the shelves. That image was the straw that finally broke the camel's back, and Ania could not take it anymore.
She burst into gales of laughter.
Barin's faceplates shifted into a look of pain. Ricardo turned his face from the bobble heads and now stared at the Awoken woman with the same level of confusion he had given the dolls. This was a side of her that he had never seen.
"I really don't understand what is happening right now," the Warlock muttered.
"I... I am so... so sorry, Barin," Ania managed through the laughter. "I really am. I just... I can't... The little dolls... and you trying so hard not to break them... and I thought you were trying to cheat us... I... I have to go..."
The Hunter staggered out of the room, laughing. She was struggling so much, she tripped over her own feet and tumbled into the other room. Through the doorway, the two men heard her voice drift back.
"Oww. I think I fell on my knife."
"Well, now I really think I've seen everything," Ricardo said, shaking his head.
…
AN
The story and characters here were suggested to me by Marcellasnow231. The prompt: An Awoken Hunter and human Warlock find the Exo Titan's bobble head collection.
Thanks to facelesssausetrc for the story follow and spell checker 11111 for the story favorite and follow!
Marcellasnow231 – Hope I did okay by your idea.
I almost took this in an entirely different direction that involved a character death. Then I remembered that these weren't my characters. Here is a glimpse at what I wrote of that original idea (which would have come near the end).
Nearly one year after the Red War.
Barin-23 put the last of the sculptures on the mobile platform. He pressed a button and the lifters underneath fired up, which would allow the platform to hover half a meter off the ground. Exos don't need to breathe, but their bodies often simulate it as part of the process of keeping the human mind in the machine sane. Barin held his artificial breath as his creations lifted from the ground.
The sculptures remained steady.
Barin released the pent up air and pressed another button, causing the platform to drift forward. Everything seemed to be satisfactory. His addition to the ceremony tomorrow would work exactly as it should. Another press and the platform settled back to the ground. Barin gave each other statues a final inspection.
Ania stepped up behind Barin, wrapping her arms around one of his and resting her head against his broad shoulder. "It's beautiful. You know he would absolutely hate this, right?"
"Yeah, I know."
The statue representing Ricardo Melendez was positioned at the nose of the platform, nearly a full head taller than those behind him.