A Waken 15.9
GN-00
The HUD flashed around me, and I raised my head.
I knew the controls well enough. 00 was built on the same base as Exia and Kyrios, so internally it was mostly the same. Visually it even resembled Exia. The big difference was where the GN Drives were mounted. I didn't have room on the back for two Drives so we'd built mounts over the shoulders.
Both faced forward as Orga and Shino pushed Exia and Kyrios' GN Drives into 00's casings.
"Step back please," Veda warned.
Orga and Shino did, pressing their backs to the wall as I started to stand. The motion was a bit rough. The right foot came down hard. I pushed the left next. It came down smoother. Reaching behind the suit, I guided the fingers to close and pull the auxiliary cable free. The line snapped back and hissed some stray GN Particles and Shino jumped up a little bit at the motion.
Orga held still but looked about as unnerved. "It's not going to explode, is it?"
"Hopefully," Veda replied. Shino and Orga both grimaced. "That was a joke."
It was sort of funny.
To my left and right, the GN Drives began to spin. The green aura of the GN Field took shape, flickered, and then snapped into place. Seventy-nine percent efficiency. That was the highest we'd managed to push the synchronization thus far.
Light shimmered from the casings and surrounded 00. The soft flow broke, turning into a torrent of green that slammed into the wall and bounced back into me. It nearly knocked me over. When I threw a foot forward, the leg went faster than I expected and I nearly fell backwards instead.
The mountings on the shoulders swiveled around, pointing straight back and pushing 00 to hover an inch off the ground.
Wobbling upright, I tested the fingers individually. "That's different," I muttered. I raised an arm, and it snapped out much further and faster than I was used to. "That's very different."
"The system is stable," Veda informed me, "though it requires constant adjustments."
"Can you handle it?" I asked. We hadn't finished programming 00's OS and Veda was rushing to make it functional.
With a near alien amount of confidence, she asked, "Do you doubt me?"
I grinned, despite myself. "Then let's go."
With a press of my feet against the pedals, 00 started forward. I flew past the door and crashed into the wall outside. I cursed, fighting the controls for any sense of control and barely managed to keep the suit in the air.
Exia was not this sensitive.
"You okay?" Shino asked, still keeping his back to the wall in the lab. Orga leaned around from behind him, looking doubtful. Their clothes and hair looked completely disheveled. "That uh, looked like it hurt."
"I will make some adjustments," Veda stated.
"Please," I croaked, feeling the crash in my chest. "Can't do anything if I can't control where I'm going."
"I will bring responses down to Exia's level and slowly increase them."
"That would work."
Suddenly, 00 felt a bit slower. Part of me felt some kind of rejection at it, like the very idea of limiting a new suit was wrong. I was no good to Dragon crashing into walls though. I certainly didn't want to wreck the factory on my way out.
"Hold down the fort just a bit longer," I asked, looking at Orga. I turned 00 toward the elevator shaft and took things slowly. "I'll be right back this time. Promise."
The other boys stumbled back as I entered the workshop, which was a fucking mess and it infuriated me, but I had other priorities to deal with right now. Getting a more familiar sense of the controls, I turned toward the ramp outside and glided.
"Taylor?!"
Lafter started to rise up as I exited the workshop. She fell back as her leg gave out, and Akihiro caught her before she cracked her skull. Her face was so pale.
I pulled 00 into a stop just above her. "Are you okay?"
She managed a smile that looked stronger than the rest of her. "Dandy!"
"She should be resting," Akihiro growled. "Not guarding"—his attention shifted—"her."
Banshee was watching me, still bound up in duct tape.
"Let her go," I decided. "We're not arresting 'heroes' today."
"You sure?" Mikazuki asked. He'd taken to standing behind her apparently, hand in his coat where I knew he kept his gun. "She was trying to kill StarGazer."
Banshee lowered her head and looked away.
"Let her go." I was too furious to think about it now and I didn't want anything stupid to happen. Best to just let her go. "We'll sort out the mess with the Protectorate later."
Mikazuki hesitated but eventually pulled his hand from his coat. "Okay."
"Taylor?" Vista came toward me on a road of compressed space. "Can you finally tell me what is going on around here?"
Listing it off, "Saint tried to kill Dragon, framed me, I fought the Slaughterhouse Nine, had a personal revelation I'm not going into right now, went to Toronto, fought Narwhal, StarGazer beat Alexandria into the ground, and now I'm going to go save Dragon."
Vista stared.
Maybe I should have skipped some parts.
"I guess that counts as an explanation?" Lafter offered weakly.
"Sorry," I apologized. "There's not a lot of time. I can say more later. I need to get outside."
Vista frowned but nodded. She turned, holding her hand out. I looked at Mikazuki and motioned 00's head toward the gap. He got Banshee on her feet and started walking her to the opening. Vista followed behind, saying something I paid no attention to.
Being asked if I was okay reminded me. "Are you okay, Veda?"
I'd been so wrapped up in my own head and everything that was happening—plus relief that she was finally out and about again—it never hit me. Dragon was not dead but she was in bad shape. Veda had seen that on a way more intimate level than me.
"No," Veda admitted, "but we can't stop here."
I swallowed and set my eyes forward. "Yeah. Here we go."
"Let's."
Vista parted a section of her power, opening the way out to the street.
"StarGazer is still inside, right?" she asked.
"Yes," I answered.
She frowned, looking in the direction of the fighting three blocks away. "I'll stay here then." I could tell it wasn't what she wanted to do.
"Thank you."
"Go save Dragon."
I nodded and accelerated 00 through the opening onto the waterlogged street…which was covered in paint. And some nets.
"Orga worked very hard today," Veda explained unbidden to my unspoken question.
"I noticed." I hadn't really taken note of the mess though. Such a fucking mess. He'd had some dried blood on his face and knuckles too, though he didn't look particularly hurt. "I need Trevor."
Accelerating forward, my body crushed into the back of my suit as the drives boomed and I soared forward. Too fast. The buildings on either side of me vanished rapidly in the distance as I closed in on the fight.
Swinging both feet forward, the suit snapped into a sudden stop—I slammed into the chest and gasped—as I swung a beam saber down at one of Dragon's attacking suits. I thought I'd missed the thing, but the beam was a bit longer than normal. Hotter too. The tip seared through the suit's neck and set a series of explosions off under the armor.
The machine sputtered, a cracking voice saying "S-Class event in progress" before a cylinder slammed into its side and exploded.
Momentum kept me going and I couldn't change course. 00 landed hard, feet scouring the street for a good ten meters before I came to a full stop. And I nearly fell over again.
"I'm working on it," Veda promised.
"Finally!"
Bakuda landed beside me and rolled forward. She slid, her hand releasing a grenade onto the ground. It cracked and sputtered a few feet away, then exploded into a narrow column that cut another suit in half as it flew overhead.
I stared. "Was that a beam saber grenade?"
"Pretty cool right?" Bakuda rose up and patted herself off. "Yeah. You're jealous."
I let her think that.
Raising my own saber, I looked at the blade and considered the increased intensity. That was not in the schematic.
The pieces of the falling suit spiraled into the ground and a familiar face crashed into one half. Trevor's Gundam creaked back slowly. The wreckage tried to topple him and crush a family of three, but Trevor threw a foot down, stepped forward and dropped the debris onto the ground.
I caught sight of Sergeant Flemming on the roadside, helping an injured man to cover while another trooper covered them. Bakuda threw another beam saber grenade that didn't hit anything but did cause a suit to change course while a woman escaped. I needed a moment to realize what a disaster the two block area of fighting looked like.
There wasn't time to linger. People were getting hurt.
I was going to have to talk to him about that suit later. "Trevor."
The suit froze, then spun about to face me. "Taylor?"
This was awkward. "Hey."
"Sorry," I apologized. "I need my sword."
He raised the weapon. "Oh. Right. Sorry!" The machine tossed it through the air and I grabbed the handle as it came down. "I didn't have anything else and the Haros offered it up… Why are you in 00?"
"Because it's the only suit I have left," I admitted, grudgingly.
"Oh shit." Bakuda leaned in. "How fucked are you right now?"
Very. "I need to go save Dragon. Can you guys handle this a little longer?"
"Combat ready! Combat ready!"
In the distance, one of the Tierens aimed a Gungnir and fired. The stake pierced a hovering Dragon suit and went out the back, leaving the machine to explode a second later and crash to the ground. Another Tieren began loading a new round, and the third covered them with a shield.
Yellow, Orange, and Green were sitting atop the machines, plugged into open ports beside the heads.
That was clever of them.
"We can handle it," Trevor promised.
Dauntless flew overhead. He looked down at me for a moment and started to bank but a suit intercepted him with a barrage of missiles.
I didn't have time to wait and answer every question. "I'm sorry. I have to go." I didn't want to leave him unarmed either but I couldn't fight Hashmal with just beam sabers.
"It's okay," Trevor assured me. His suit leaned forward and rushed towards another Dragon suit, hovering just barely over the ground as it moved. He tackled the damaged suit and swung a knee into its side. "I can use this."
He ripped a wing off the suit and then used it as a shield when another fired a large rifle at him.
"Get going, Arbalest." Bakuda's boots ignited and threw her into the air. "We're having fun without you!"
I grimaced but forced myself to turn.
Pushing on the pedals, 00 exploded forward and rose into the sky. It wasn't as fast as before, but it was still fast. I thought I'd finally gotten used to speed but fuck that. This wasn't as fast as Trans-Am exactly, but Trans-Am was weird. Things seemed to slow down when I used it. I didn't have trouble maintaining my aim or precision.
Which was no help here.
00 just cut into the sky and flattened me inside. The inertia neutralizers were too weak. This was far more output than we'd calculated! Even with the previous adjustments, we were going so fast that formerly slight movements I was accustomed to radically altered my course. I had to compensate and ended up overcompensating, like a drunk driver fighting not to flip over after swerving off the road!
"Compensating," Veda assured. "One moment. There."
The pressure on my body eased suddenly. 00 jerked and I was hard pressed to keep the suit on course.
"00's current output is fifty-four percent higher than we anticipated," Veda revealed.
At three quarters synchronization?
I still felt the pressure, but I could at least control it.
I watched Brockton Bay vanish in the rear cameras.
I felt bad about leaving Trevor and the others to clean up the suits, but letting Hashmal reach the city would be worse. Most of what I saw on the way out were some of Dragon's older suits. Probably ones that had been locked away in storage in Buffalo.
Hashmal was entirely different.
It was her latest suit and explicitly designed to fight Endbringers.
It also happened to be the size of a damn house so just fighting the thing would probably wreck a city block. I mean, it wouldn't be too hard if I could just smash it and not care but I needed the backup to remain intact.
Also I only had two beam sabers and an old longsword. So yeah.
"Where is it now?" I asked.
"Thirty-three kilometers east-north-east."
She added a compass to the top of my HUD, which we were admittedly programming as we went. Veda did most of that. I was testing the controls and adjusting them for actual flight, something 00 hadn't done until now.
"Hashmal is being carried by a transport," Veda explained.
"Can you get control of the transport?"
"No. All of Dragon's suits are refusing all queries. I think it's part of one of her S-Class protocols intended for use against the Machine Army."
"Machine Army?"
"Long story short, a tinker died and their creations lived on. They're very adept at corrupting computer systems and Dragon designed protocols in case she ever encountered them. Saint has weaponized those against us, no doubt to prevent me from simply hacking the suits."
"Well"—I weighed the sword in 00's hands—"there's always the old fashioned way."
I pulled 00 into an arc, rising high into the sky. There was another dragon-craft. An advanced scout maybe? It flew past me in the distance with two other objects in pursuit.
"Are those fighter jets?" I asked.
"Y—" Before Veda could fully answer, a series of missiles shot into the air and the jets peeled away. Beams fired from the scout, shooting down most of the missiles and leaving a trail of blasts in the sky. "Yes. One moment. The Air Force has apparently taken exception to Dragon's aircraft... This may be a problem."
"How?" I mean, other than the Air Force attacking Dragon's stuff.
"The protocol being employed registers all hostile actions as the Machine Army. It's also very adept at disguising itself."
"Oh god"—I pulled, sweeping my legs out and spinning 00 around—"dammit!"
The jets continued to peel away from the scout but the transport was veering toward them.
The hills raced below me as I approached. The scout fired at one of the jets and the pilot began pulling into a hard ascending turn to avoid the beams.
I swooped in over the scout's wing, threw my feet forward, and drew a beam saber. My blade slashed into the turret as I passed, shredding through the armor plating like paper. I fired the thrusters and braced myself as I hit the back of the chest plate hard.
We needed new inertial neutralizers. Again.
The turret exploded behind me and the scout started catching up as I slowed. The wake rattled me hard and I nearly got thrown aside as the wake and sensitivity of the controls combined into a mess. I grit my teeth and endured the sudden deceleration, then kicked 00's feet up and swung down through the scout's wing as it passed under me.
The engine exploded as I struck it and the craft started spinning through the sky.
"Tell the Protectorate where that is"—I really didn't want to—"and tell them where that thing is crashing!"
We were over a rural area. I really hoped it didn't hit anyone's house, at least not while they were in it. I didn't want to damage 00 trying to steer the damn thing onto a safe course. I didn't have the time either.
In the distance, the evading jet started spitting smoke and the pilot ejected.
The other jet rolled onto its side and circled me. The woman inside reared her head up, watching as she flew by. I stayed long enough to be sure her wingman's parachute deployed and then sonic-boomed my way back in the direction of Hashmal.
I breathed, slowly adjusting to the weight of physics trying to pancake me as I flew. "Since when does the Air Force do this?"
"Panic, I suspect." Veda brought up a few news reports. "PRT communications are still disrupted. I've been able to fix some of the issues but the damage done isn't all within my ability to mend. It's likely the jets were deployed because no one could get answers to what was happening."
Chaos.
Pure chaos.
Exactly what David and the Simurgh would want.
This was going to be such a fucking mess and I didn't have time to think about that. My hands were shaking so much I needed to set the controls to ignore the subtle movements.
"I could do this," Veda offered yet again.
"I have to do it," I responded yet again. "I can't..."
I imagined she was giving me a quiet sigh. "I understand."
It wasn't even about living or dying or any of that. No matter how this turned out, if I wasn't there I'd never forgive myself. Apparently, I had to live with things now. Actually live with them rather than just tossing them over my shoulder to deal with 'later.'
Maybe I was still frazzled, but that did make me smile.
The ground below flew by and a few low lying clouds parted in my wake. Hashmal wasn't far off. Just a few minutes. It was a perfect place to shoot the transport down. I could let it crash in the middle of nowhere and not worry about bystanders while fighting Hashmal.
"Taylor," Veda called.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault." It really wasn't. "I know you did everything you could."
"No, not Dragon. I... I loaded a significant amount of video onto the Internet. Some of the moments were not your best."
I tensed, and I was already tense. "Me threatening Maggie?"
"I only removed Aisha, and those in Sanc. I thought it would be best if we told the truth."
"The truth starting when, exactly?"
"Your encounter with Eidolon."
"And ending?"
"Narwhal."
Oh. Oh wow. "Kati might be upset."
"...Is it too late to blame Saint?"
That might have been too soon but I laughed.
I couldn't help it. I mean, the asshole played a huge role in this mess. Mercy kill and inhuman suffering aside, a joke at the expense of the dead—
"That was in poor taste," Veda realized.
I tried to stifle my laughter. "I think I'm too frazzled to care."
I managed to calm myself down and keep my eyes forward.
"It's okay. It's the truth. Not sure anyone would believe any explanations we offered anyway. It's been too much. So, it's fine. Pretty sure I'm not going to be able to change a lot of minds at this point anyway."
"I was worried that you would be blamed. You didn't create this situation."
Didn't I? "Is Narwhal okay?" I hadn't meant to do that much damage. Things were just going so fast, and I reacted. Shit. "What about Armsmaster and Aisha?"
"According to emergency response lines, Narwhal is being rushed to a hospital but her condition is not considered grave. Armsmaster's condition is serious but he is with Panacea and Aisha is uninjured."
So, Narwhal and Aisha were both going to be okay.
"Her power is strong." Not sure which of them I meant.
"Tattletale believed no one would blame either you or Narwhal for what happened. I think something similar may apply to Armsmaster's battle with Rime's team."
"Tattletale said that?"
"She called the video of the fight a 'tearjerker.'"
I scoffed. "She would."
"She's been rather helpful today."
"Don't remind..." Fuck. What? I couldn't even hate Tattletale for being a total bitch anymore? I had to feel guilty about that too? Really? "I hate today."
"It's not over just yet."
"Don't remind me."
"I mean it doesn't have to be a bad day. Not yet. Twenty-seven degrees left, eighteen degress up."
I looked in the general direction of 'slightly to my left and a little up.' The transport was a mere dot in the distance, but we were flying toward it and it was flying toward us.
"I see it. How are we doing?"
I tested each of 00's limbs, did a few barrel rolls to check the thrusters, and weighed the sword in my hand again. Reminded myself I only had the one sword and two beam sabers. Go me. I probably should have grabbed something the Haros borrowed.
"This is the same model of transport used in New York," Veda noted. "Hold on. I believe I saw a schematic."
I blinked as I set a course for intercept. "Are you still in Dragon's system?"
"I am. Fixing the damage done by the other Richter programs is taking some time. We're going to have to find out what to do with them, actually."
Huh. Shit, what did happen to them? Did Dragon need to maintain them or did they just work? Dragon hadn't needed any specific tinker maintenance to her code in forever, though she needed specialized hardware to operate.
"We'll figure it out later."
I drew a beam saber in one hand and brandished the sword in the other. "The craft in New York had weapons that didn't work. This one?"
"Yes, but they are comparatively low power. Target the right wing just left of the engine. The transport will have no choice but to force a landing and crash into that field."
She highlighted the field and I nodded. "Alright, let's—" The transport began banking away from me. "I think it sees me."
"Oh dear."
I started moving, trying to keep myself out of a direct line of fire from the turrets on the top and bottom of the transport. "Veda?"
"Part of the Machine Army response protocol is containment."
Oh dear. "Define containment?"
"Stopping the Machine Army from spreading out of its quarantine zone."
"And this machine army takes over technology?"
"Yes."
"And...we're probably flagged for that right now, aren't we?"
"Unfortunately."
I took a deep breath. Nothing to be done about it now. "Bring it."
I looked under the transport.
There was a small town. It had a dense main street with some three and four story buildings, then a few strip malls and smaller structures around it that faded into some tiny suburbs and then lots of farmland.
The transport's bay door opened and I pushed 00 to go faster.
"If we run, will it follow us?"
"No. The protocol will direct the suit to defend the town and detonate itself if it becomes compromised."
"Well, we can't do that part."
I watched the figure slide out of the back of the transport and drop.
"On the bright side," Veda began, "the suit will send an automatic warning to the local authorities telling them to evacuate."
"Oh." Well, that was good actually. "So... The cops will clear everyone out and the worst we can do is tear up the place?"
"More or less."
"...I can work with that."
The suit dropped to the ground, but I charged at the transport. Best not to give Hashmal free air support.
The turrets turned and began firing as I approached. I spun between the red beams, rose into the air, and dove. Igniting my beam saber, the blade slashed through the armor on the nose and then scoured through the flank of the craft as I raced toward its rear. Pulling the blade free I stabbed my longsword into the engine as 00 passed under it.
The belly turret swung about and sprayed my back. I cursed but the barrels were too close to possibly miss me as they fired.
The red light of the lasers scattered among the particles streaming behind me, to my surprise. I almost forgot to pull my longsword free before it was yanked from my hand. The ship spun forward, rolling on its side as G-Forces tore the wing off and snapped the transport in two.
I didn't have time to dwell on how the GN Drives were putting out enough particles to scatter a laser beam.
"Where's it falling?" I inquired, glancing at the Drive in the side camera. It wasn't supposed to do that.
"It will crash into a field point eight miles south-west. I see no people in the area."
"Alright then."
I flipped 00 about and dove toward the ground.
Hashmal landed with its body folded up. It came down right on main street, sending one car swerving onto the sidewalk and a truck to a screeching halt. The machine moved without care, spreading two large wing-like arms and pulling its long beak-like head from underneath its belly. It rose on two legs—it actually did look like a giant robot chicken now that I got a real good look—head turning up toward me as I dov—
Oh. Right.
The beak opened and light gathered around the lens inside.
The beam fired almost instantly, cutting into the sky right toward me.
I swung 00's legs out and shifted the GN Drive mounting attached to the right shoulder. The combined thrust threw me out of the way of the beam and into a spin. I heard a shriek as it passed and even felt the heat of the weapon as it streamed a few feet away.
I did not want to test my armor against that, new suit or not.
I pulled 00 out of the downward freefall with some difficulty, unaccustomed as I was to the new arrangement of thrusters. I regained control before hitting the ground and instantly threw myself into another spin as its tail-blade shot straight at me.
The weapon slammed into the concrete behind me and cut through the side like a knife through butter while I ran. Hashmal charged, jumping forward and firing the thrusters mounted to its wings. One foot struck out and closed its clawed feet into a giant spear aimed right at my chest.
Shit it's fast.
The claw collided with the building and it struck me that someone could be inside. I searched briefly with the sonic cameras but couldn't see anything before the leg swung back and I threw 00 into a damn backflip to avoid the attack. The tail swept up from the ground and hit my chest. The armor held but the blow rattled me.
I still managed to swing a beam saber at the cord but to no effect. The blade simply heated the material.
Right. Dragon wanted this thing to be useful against Behemoth. She probably gave the cord the same kind of anti-beam coating.
So beam sabers were useless.
From the corner of my eye, I saw the tail-blade's cord snap.
I spun, planting 00's feet on the wing and pushing off to pull my blade free. I raced down the street, glad that for once people seemed to realize they should be running from a fight rather than filming it. Well, someone had their phone out but they were two blocks down and I'd fucking take it.
Actually, the town looked a little run-down up close. Old buildings. One storefront was boarded over. Only a few vehicles in sight. Lucky break.
Hashmal's beam fired again and I rolled 00 around the energy. The chest-plate scraped over the asphalt road, but I kept the suit under control this time and used the Drive mounts to push off the ground and go straight up.
"That's going to be really useful when I get used to it," I growled.
"The processing core is here." Veda flashed a quick schematic on my head. "It is secured behind an armored plate at the base of the neck."
"Where's the backup?"
Veda highlighted a square section on the back of the machine under the heavily armored spine. It was close to the reactors but not the CPU core. Odd location but given the design there were few other places to put it. The reactor was huge and took up much of the body along with other components for flight, movement, and—Missiles, apparently.
Ports along the wings opened and a stream of rockets fired in a half dozen volleys.
I guess I was going to get used to the new Drive mounts fast.
00 rolled and flipped and spun. Veda identified safe places to go to avoid the missiles but they were tracking me and as soon as I found a blindspot from one volley the next adjusted. Left. Right. Up. Down. Forward.
00 came out of the barrage swinging, knocking the tail-blade aside with my sword and spinning with the momentum toward the lens in the beak. If I shattered that, no more particle cannon.
The beak snapped shut and my sword sliced the armor, shaving a layer off but not getting through.
Planting one foot firmly into the machine's collar, I stabbed into the gap and tried to pry it open, using one of the GN Drives to blow the tail-blade off course when it tried to stab me. Hashmal bucked after that, jumping up and shaking its body to throw me away.
I held on, grabbing hold with 00's free hand. It was chaos inside the suit. I'd been rattled before but combined with a thruster arrangement I was still adjusting to, keeping a hold of the controls was hard, and not losing my control of them while everything shook and swayed was harder.
It didn't help that some of the shaking was me.
My heart was pounding in my ears. My headache was back in full force. The fear was clawing at my chest.
What if this didn't work?
What if I messed up and because of it, we couldn't save Dragon?
I'd never been afraid like this before. Dragon was the one in danger. Trevor and Bakuda and Vicky were risking their lives back in Brockton Bay. The people around this fight weren't safe. So much was at stake, and my greatest fear was such a selfish fucking quesiton.
How do I live with myself if I let Dragon die?
The excuse was familiar, but that's what it was. An excuse, not a real consideration of the consequences of my action or inaction. I'd never really felt it before. I'd always taken such insane risks. Huge gambles. Convoluted plans. Any one of them could have gone wrong.
What if this one went wrong?
"This suit is far more capable than the ones in Brockton Bay," Veda pondered.
"It is?" I asked.
The tail snapped back and I pushed 00 forward, ducking under the next swing and driving my sword toward the beak. The suit jerked its head to the side—like a fucking bird—and one leg swung up in a kick.
"Yes," Veda confirmed. "I must check something."
I barely avoided the blow, sweeping both GN Drives forward and throwing 00 to the side. One wing tried to catch me but I met the attack with my sword. My blade dug into the armor but not nearly as smoothly as it went through the transport.
This is like the armor Squealer put on her robo-tank.
That was a blast from the past.
"I cannot account for two of Andrew Richter's programs."
I had a sinking feeling. "Please don't tell me."
She told me.
"The Regetta program is likely at the Birdcage, but I can not account for the absence of the Tieria program."
I threw 00 into the blade again, trying to pry the beak open to get at the lens. "One of Richter's programs is controlling this thing?"
"Dragon mentioned wanting to experiment with some of his more advanced programs after observing my control of the Tierens. I did not know she'd already started."
"Great."
"Taylor," Veda called. "I don't think this is working."
She wasn't wrong.
I shoved a knee into Hashmal's neck and pulled my sword free again. I let 00 drop toward the ground, avoiding the tail-blade as it stabbed over the larger machine's shoulder. I fired the thrusters and spun away from the ground and started racing away from the mainstreet.
I couldn't get through its armor like this. Not before the entire town was destroyed, at least.
And I had no idea what was going on back home.
Hashmal's beak opened and the beam fired. I darted to the right, taking cover behind some buildings. I turned up the street and accelerated, hoping to get onto Hashmal's flank.
The suit met me there, feet digging into the street while one wing ripped some power lines free of their pole. Throwing all my thrust forward I tried to reverse course but the foot was already coming down.
I cried in pain as 00 cratered the road and Hashmal leaned its weight onto the chestplate.
Alarms sounded and I barely managed to knock the tail blade aside with my sword. The blade slammed into the ground beside me and I brought the blade back down on one of the talons pinning me to the ground. When the cut didn't go all the way through I swung 00's free hand over, striking the back of the blade and forcing it the rest of the way.
The talon snapped and 00 shot out from under the crushing weight. Hashmal crashed forward and opened its beak to fire. My back hit the road and 00 flipped before I could stop. I rolled with the inadvertent maneuver, swinging the Drives about and propelling 00 straight up and then right. The beam shrieked, barely missing my right leg.
This really wasn't working. Just cutting the talon took way too much time.
I needed to end this now. "Can we use Trans-Am?"
Veda calculated for a brief moment. "I would not be able to maintain it."
So yes. "How long?"
"A few seconds at most. The GN Drives may suffer damage."
A shadow came over me and I brought 00 to a dead stop as Hashmal crashed into the street before me. Its head swept through the swirl of dust kicked up by its landing and the beam fired.
Again I swept the Drive mounts around, throwing 00 out of the way. The tail-blade met my course, slamming into my chest and sending a warning to my ears.
"Primary chest plate integrity damaged," Veda relayed. "I'm not sure it will sustain a second blow like that."
At least it hadn't pierced into my chest.
I released 00's sword and grabbed the blade in a reverse hold. Sweeping it across my chest, I nicked the line connecting the tail-blade to Hashmal but failed to sever it as the weapon withdrew. Hashmal itself closed its beak and swung its head into my side.
"Ah!"
00 spun through the air and crashed into the ground. I got my legs beneath me quickly. The thrusters fired and 00 flew back into the air before one of the feet crushed me like a grape in an armored skin. A trail of debris followed my wake only to be scattered when Hashmal's tail whipped out again.
It aimed for my side and I blocked the blow with my sword. The ring of E-Carbon and super hardened trans-dimensional plate echoed through the air and a few windows nearby shattered. There were people inside, huddling and covering their heads.
This couldn't go on.
The town might have seen better days but it wasn't abandoned.
I slipped behind another building, buying myself time while Hashmal moved about and repositioned itself to try and jump me again.
A few seconds of Trans-Am for damage to the drives, huh?
The TD Blankets wouldn't burn out.
Yeah. Those were the parts that actually took time to create. I could repair any other damage. Unless something else came up today. Then I really might be out of suits.
Can I live with that?
Dragon's life was more important than those things. I couldn't live with failing to save her. I didn't want to.
"I am prepared," Veda announced.
I flew out from behind the buildings. Hashmal's particle cannon was already charging, pointing right at me. I swung a leg out, turning sharply to charge the machine.
"Burn red!"
And something happened.
The light around 00 wasn't the right color. No green. No red. And that wasn't the weirdest part.
I was still in the suit. I felt it. I could move it.
I charged at Hashmal, keeping myself low to the ground and relying on Veda to help me not crash at the speed we were going. I almost didn't need the help though. I dodged a piece of large debris, and rolled over another deftly.
Elsewhere, I blinked, unable to understand where I was standing.
It reminded me of the sensation of Claire's power. The static in my brain was loud and painful, but through it I saw the scene clearly. It filled me with a sense of being in two places at once. In my suit and standing in a sea of stars.
The place was real. I felt it. I could walk in it. I felt her.
Them.
I turned, meeting their gaze.
Administrator stood in one form, and not the one I knew. It looked back at me with a golden face. Long white hair flowed from atop their head and black eyes peered out from behind the curtain.
It looked like my mother or maybe me? I didn't know. Mom and I looked so much alike. It had our figure. Her hair. Her face. Even with the colors and the many eyes it was her.
Nine eyes.
"Administrator?" I called.
Confirmation
I started toward them, walking over the stars in that place while I dodged the beam fired from Hashmal's beak.
I raised my hand, stretching out to them.
Their hand mimicked mine, rising from the golden form's side and reaching toward my fingertips.
Somehow I knew their appearance wasn't coincidence. She triggered. She triggered during the accident and she—"What did you do?"
They tilted their head, like they didn't understand the question.
Query
We weren't getting any closer. No matter how far I stretched or walked, we stayed distant. Wasn't this the point? Was it? This was why they told me how to build the GN Drive. This was supposed to happen.
Why couldn't we touch?
The golden figure stared back at me quizzically, but I couldn't tell if it was confusion about what I'd asked or if they didn't understand the distance between us either. I wanted to reach them. That was Mom's face. I wanted to see her face again; even if it had extra eyes I didn't care, I wanted her back.
Their head tilted the other way suddenly.
Reconciliation
"Taylor."
My heart froze and I almost spun 00 into the ground.
Looking away from Administrator, I turned, voice cracking. "M-Mom?"
She blinked at me, and a smile came over her lips. I repeated the call, turning away from Administrator and running toward her.
"Mom?!"
I reached her, my arms going around her back as I buried my face in her chest. She, or it, recoiled at first. Then she smiled and leaned into me, her arms closing and holding me close.
Her cheek pressed into my forehead, and she said, "You're so big."
I heaved.
It wasn't her. Not really. It was a shadow, a ghost. Something they retained from her even after she died.
I didn't care.
She was Mom. She was Mom and I'd almost forgotten what she looked like. I'd tried but the face was never right. There were pieces of other faces in my memory. Kati and Murrue and Dragon. It was like they were replacing her piece by piece without me ever realizing it.
"You left me," I croaked.
I raised my head.
In 00, Hashmal's beam exploded in the street behind me and I swung my longsword. Hashmal blocked the blade with its right leg and a familiar whirling sound echoed in my ear. I drew the blade out of the cut and caught the tail-blade under 00's arm.
Its armor was tough. One cut wouldn't do it.
Among the stars, I looked back at them.
They did this. We brought her out. They understood connection. It was familiar to them, something about me that they could grasp.
"Taylor."
I looked back at Mom, and part of me wished Dad was here. Fuck, where was Dad? So much had been going on I kept forgetting him.
Mom's hands cupped my face and she smiled at me. Not down at me, at me. I was as tall now as she had been.
"I'm so proud of you, little owl. I always will be." I raised my hands, gripping at her wrists. They felt real, even though I knew she wasn't. Mom smiled at me. "I love you."
Hashmal tried to kick me while the tail-blade withdrew. I pushed 00 forward, diving past the leg and catching the tail's cord under its claw. The line snapped and I threw the blade away before spinning and cutting into the back of the right leg.
Mom pulled away, "I'm not really here, am I?"
I didn't care. "Mom, wait!"
She smiled again and she turned and faded. "This part of me, it's always watching you."
I tried to grab her, but a new figure stood in her place. I knew him. I'd seen him in the news and old articles.
Scion. The Warrior.
I stepped back, at first uncertain if that was real or just another echo.
"Love is love." Lalah Sune stepped up beside me. "Even if you don't call it love, that's what it is. I think Shakespear said something about that once." She gazed up at Scion, sad for him despite everything. "He understood that in his own way. It's how we defeated him. When he took human form, he took on human emotion too. He missed his partner dearly."
The other entity? The Thinker.
I looked past Lalah, searching the sea of stars but Mom was gone. And—and that was okay. She had to leave, and we both knew it. She was dead and I couldn't pretend otherwise. I just wanted to see her again. Just one more time...
I took a deep breath and forced my hands still at my sides.
That's why she left.
She had to leave?
I'd always want one more time, but she was gone and that ghost wasn't her. Just a piece. A piece that remained behind. A reflection in a mirror.
I looked up at Scion while guiding 00 to sever Hashmal's leg. The machine collapsed, nearly trapping me underneath. I peeled out from beneath the frame, stabbing one of my swords up into the beak and shearing the particle cannon through. The explosion threw me, but I recovered in an instant, whipped my legs out and powered 00 into a loud dive.
"It was cruel what we did to him," Lalah whispered, "but war is always cruel."
Scion wasn't real. Unlike Mom, he wasn't even a ghost. He didn't react. He didn't move. He just stood there looking at something that wasn't there, like a still image...
They could produce a ghost of Mom, but not him?
I looked back at Administrator who still stood beyond my reach.
This wasn't far enough. I still couldn't reach them. I could see them. We still couldn't talk though.
"Just because war is cruel, doesn't mean you have to be."
I turned my attention back to Lalah Sune.
She was already walking away, reaching out her hands. A pair of men took them, one tall with blond hair and blue eyes, and the other average height with brown hair and dark eyes. They spared me a passing glance before turning away and Lalah looked over her shoulder.
"The world is you, and you are the world." She smiled. "To save one is to save the other."
Really? She was leaving just like that?
She closed her eyes and turned away. They faded and the image of Scion faded too.
As Hashmal fell, I flipped around and drove my sword forward. The thrusters all ignited at once, exploding light behind me as I ripped forward and tore the suit down the middle. The tail whipped at me as I came around. I caught it on 00's left arm, letting the wire catch itself on the limb.
When it pulled, I went with it, using the shift in momentum to my advantage.
I couldn't help but be suspicious. I'd always wondered in the back of my mind how much to trust Administrator. How could I be sure whatever it was, wasn't manipulating me?
Trust doesn't come easy.
Were they trying to manipulate me by bringing up a ghost of my mother, or did it feel guilty somehow? There was this sense of wanting to mend or bridge something. Bringing together? It was hard to put into words. Reconciliation. Reconciliation worked but I couldn't really put a finger on what that meant to the two of us.
That's when I realized, "You don't understand me, do you?" No response. I'm right. "You really don't understand me?"
Their head tilted and I got the same sensation again. A reaction through all the static. This was deeper than words. Words we could share. Sensations. Feelings even. There was a connection between us. But that shared experience in itself didn't constitute understanding.
We needed to go further.
Reconciliation
I blinked and my stomach sank.
I thought—I believed that Administrator had a plan. A goal, some idea of how to fix all this broken shit in the world. I thought she had the answer and could tell me what to do.
I'd finally gotten this close, and I found she didn't know. She didn't know any more than I did how to fix everything. If she didn't know how to fix all of this, then why were we—
I grit my teeth as I drove my sword down and severed Hashmal's tail.
The stars shimmered in the sea, and the colony took shape.
"Do you understand this?" I asked. "Are we dreaming the same dream?"
Administrator looked around, examining the scene as the details filled in.
The cylinder expanded and trees filled its inner surface. Mirrors extended from the base. The moon rose behind me, and the Earth swirled into existence behind Administrator. The elevators rose and then grew to encompass the globe.
The future.
My future.
The way forward from this hell that kept breaking and breaking.
Rome wasn't built in a day. You couldn't just sit down and solve every problem with enthusiasm and good will. Making anything took time and work and pain. It took sacrifice. Real sacrifice. Acceptance that you would never get everything you wanted or deserved and dying was no way out.
It didn't fucking work that way. It was never going to work that way. Anyone could fucking die. Dying was the easy way out.
Administrator turned its gaze back to me.
Query
The figure's lips began to move and Administrator said the word aloud. "Forward."
The image shimmered again, and for the second time I saw the red flower taking shape. The petals shimmered and swirled around the center, moving in a way I didn't remember from before. Light drifted from the surface, filling the stars and embracing the colonies and the ring I'd imagined.
Administrator raised its hand, fingers pointed at me. "Forward?"
A question, this time. I clearly understood the word as a question.
Is this the way forward?
Was it?
I flew over Hashmal's back and spun. My blades cut twice and severed the head from the neck. The machine bucked, wings rising as it tried to push itself along on one leg. I drove 00 down, planting my feet on the suit's back and driving it to the ground. Hashmal crashed and an explosion tore through the right side.
I cast my beam saber aside and drove my sword into the plating. Twisting and throwing all 00's strength to the side, I peeled the armor up and grabbed the edges with my fingertips. The E-Carbon strained as I tore the opening wide.
My eyes watched the flower, feeling certain I understood its meaning. Yet, how could I be sure? What if I was wrong? I couldn't really know that Administrator saw this image the same way I did.
On a whim, I filled the colony with people. Most of them were those I knew. Dad. Lafter. Dinah. Trevor. Orga. Charlotte. Alice. Vicky. Even Tattletale. The Haros were there and a small girl that looked like me. It was Veda, how I thought of her.
More figures took shape and I recognized one.
Tattletale's power stood behind her, watching her closely. Trevor's took the shape of a series of interlocking wheels that raced around him, and Vicky's was this invisible figure that loomed over her protectively. Lafter's was a multi-armed form that reached out, eager to play.
We were there too.
Administrator and I…
That's the answer. That's how I could be happy, despite everything. Because, despite it all, I'd regained what the worst day of my life represented. The thing that I lost that finally broke me in that locker, I'd found it again.
A sense of belonging. Acceptance. Family. Our Network.
The connections that gave my life meaning beyond just living from one morning to the next.
I smiled, reaching into Hashmal and taking hold of its reactor. 00 strained and ripped the component free in a surge of mechanical gore.
My hand reached out to Administrator, matching her own.
The distance between us shrank, just a little. We didn't understand one another, but we understood connection. My mother and I, Scion and them. Right or wrong, they were part of us. They'd always be part of us.
I tossed the reactor aside and pulled back as the machine collapsed.
"Forward?" Administrator asked again.
Yes, I agreed. "Forward."
"Taylor."
It wasn't Mom. Administrator still stood a distance beside me. I turned.
Stella smiled. "We'd like to come back."
The rest of the children were arrayed around her and they were different from before. Before, they'd seemed almost like dolls, faces placid and blank. Now they bore smiles, scowls, or expressions of confusion or fear. More than anything though, there was conviction.
"Grace wanted to save the world," Marie added.
"Let us finish what she began," the boy at her side agreed.
"We're ready now," Stella insisted.
I...believed them? Not really sure how I could bring them back though. I didn't think this place was the same one we'd been in before. Actually, where were we? Obviously somewhere other than what I'd taken to calling 'Over There' or the 'Other Side.' This place seemed less physical.
Administrator held their hand toward me and I raised my own to meet it. Two of them pushed forward. Stillness. Conclave. The two pieces of the whole of my power I'd created the GN Drives with.
With.
We did it together.
There was something, a tug or a pull. A sense of ice shattering and melting away.
The golden light began to fade from around me and Administrator vanished.
Forward
Stella and the others rose from the ground around Hashmal, looking about the surrounding street curiously.
"Taylor?" Veda asked. "Did something happen just now?"
"It's okay," I promised, a stupid smile still on my face.
"Are those Cranial's children?"
"Don't worry." I turned, gazing down at Stella. She smiled up at me and nodded. "It's all for one now."
As long as the destination was the same, then there would always be a way forward.
We just had to find it.
The children began moving and I turned my head toward the sky.
"Taylor," Veda repeated.
"Yeah?"
My HUD flashed with a half image of my face. The internal cameras? Why—
My eyes.
They widened, which made it easier to see the flickers of golden light in my irises.
"Do you feel alright?" Veda asked.
Alright? Fuck, I felt—I felt great! I mean, I guess I was crying but it's not because I was in pain or sad. My head was still aching from the sound of static but somehow that didn't matter.
It didn't matter because, "I saw my mom..."
Veda's system cycled for a moment. "Where?"
Inside me.
Part of me was surprised I wasn't suspicious. If Administrator wanted to manipulate me, using a ghost of my mother would be a great way to do it. Except I knew that wasn't it.
They were trying to understand. They connected the pain of my mother's death with their own pain of the Warrior's. Parasite who planned to blow up the planet or not, he'd been their Annette Hebert and without him they were lost.
They didn't know what came next anymore than I did.
We are the same.
Lost souls trying to feel our way through the storm.
And she was with Administrator. Part of her. A living memory or echo of who Mom had been survived in Administrator. Maybe that's why it chose me? Because she was there? Wishful thinking maybe, but... That echo existed. With it. Watching me. Watching me like Administrator watched me.
That little piece would be with me until the day I died.
"She's watching me live."
