She could feel the circuits firing as she tapped the card, the tool chest sliding out along the wall.
The room beyond was lined with storage stalls, five of them full. The back of the room was some kind of loading bay, the sounds of the transport lanes just beyond its rolling door. Each mech was held firmly in place with straps, their heads hanging low, without power.
D’Anna clenched her fists as she walked down the line, the lights flickering on overhead.
Just how long had he been running like this?
“Most of these are archer mechs, combat models,” she muttered to herself, frowning in thought.
She stopped at the last stall before the loading dock, running a hand over the scorched metal of the mech’s chest plate.
They were an RC-N model, exactly who she was looking for…
The engineer had pulled out their power cell, leaving it on a small table built into the stall. With a grunt, she pulled open their chest plate and slotted it back inside. Its circuits flickered to life as she twisted the cell into place. She could hear their systems warming up as she closed them back up.
“Rosi?” she asked, stepping back as their eyes came online, pulsing as they regarded her.
“You–” their voice box crackled. “You…know my name?”
She gave them a small smile as she undid the straps, “Somebody missed you a lot when you disappeared. Sweet lady asked me to find you.”
As the last strap came off they stepped free of the stall, arms turning and clicking in sturdy shoulder joints.
Rosi tested and flexed their hands after being bound so long, tilting their head inquisitively as they spoke, “You know Cole?”
“I’m gonna get you back to her,” D’Anna said, meeting their eyes as they studied her.
They clenched their hands at their sides, looking around at the other stalls.
“What about them? What will happen to them?” they asked, watching as she studied the other models.
“I’ve got a friend that can take them in-” she ran a hand along the chest of one of the archer mechs, their body brand new. “-I won’t leave them behind.”
“Do you mean that,” Rosi asked, towering over her as they stood at her side.
She took their hand in hers and squeezed until her nerves ached, the servos in her knuckles whining.
“I give you my word, Rosi. They’ll be safe,” she said softly.
Rosi stared at her for a long time, longer than most would be comfortable with.
It was a look that asked too many questions. A look that held thought behind it. It reminded her that even a machine like them, a workhorse, was alive.
“You surprise me,” was all Rosi said.
D’Anna gripped the hem of her coat, thumb trailing along the once white synth-silk, long since dyed red.
She looked back at them with a smile, irises glinting as she spoke, “That’s a good thing, Rosi, thank you…” she rubbed her hands together with a small chuckle, “Now, let’s get the rest of ‘em online, shall we?”
The Gardens were always warm, humidity dripping from the solar shaft’s machinery. Greenery grew along the walls, vibrant in the sunlight that spilled in from above.
The air rushed past D’Anna as the corridors of the city opened up into the Gardens’ wide open spaces, sunlight glinting off her glasses. She shaded her eyes as she let her circuits adjust to the natural light.
“So it’s morning already?” she muttered to herself, knocking her glasses up as she kneaded at her brow.
She would never get used to seeing so much growth outside the Towers. Vines and branches wound their way around metal and concrete, cleaning the air for the rest of the city. But that wasn’t all it did.
She could see people tending gardens mounted on the walls, picking fruits and leaves that thrived in the sunlight. Flowers bloomed in planters along the path she was walking, an absolute riot of color. She could see traders setting out their wares, gardeners gathering their harvest, and engineers readying their equipment.
“Looks like a smuggler drop’s coming,” D’Anna hummed, glancing up at Rosi beside her.
Rosi gave a sage nod, then tilted their head in confusion as they spoke, “Smuggler drop?”
She nodded towards the massive airshaft that dominated the space, climbing towards open sky.
“You’ll see,” she said. “We should hurry, we don’t want to get in the way, trust me.”
They looked back to their fellow mechs, the other four giving Rosi a questioning look. And Rosi just splayed their hands in a small, helpless, gesture.
D’Anna frowned in thought as she looked around, circuits whirring as her eyes scanned around the space. She let out a soft sigh as she found what she was looking for, a yellow diamond marked on the nearby wall. She laid a hand over the marker, the paint still pretty new, and turned till she found the next.
This wasn’t where the path was last time she was here… She’d have to ask about that later.
She waved for Rosi and the others to follow, tucking her hands away as her eyes traced from one diamond to the next. The gardens continued to hum with activity. The tension building to an event she knew all too well. She continued to follow the trail, her eyes scanning about
Her eyes scanned about, racing along the trail until she found a familiar sight. Hidden in the branches and vines was an alcove, a small door marked with that same golden yellow beckoning her. She could hear the rumbling overhead, the electric hum of engines.
Bell tones rang out all around the shaft as several aerial craft started their descent. Their atmo-drivers whipped the wind into a frenzy as they hovered. Men and women barked orders, machines creaked and groaned, landing pads sliding out from where they’d been hidden amongst the green.
A young woman’s voice crackled out all around the Gardens, “Starting the clock, ninety minutes.”
The crews clicked on their watches, small screens flickering to life. And all counted down-
-90-
The moment a craft landed, the smuggler crews went to work, opening panels and pulling their contraband from their hiding places.
-87-
Others opened their cargo bays as they descended, barkers leaning out to announce their wares.
-81-
Mechanics raced out to meet them, trading work for whatever they had to offer.
-counting down the small window till sector security took notice.
D’Anna flashed a small smile as she watched everyone go to work, bringing goods to trade and sell.
Before she came here, she had never seen anything quite like it. She’d hated the chaos back then, but now she could see the beauty in it. The people here were full of life, brimming with ideas. Now, she could hardly imagine any other sight that brought a smile to her face quite like this.
She turned to Rosi and the others, one hand still in her coat pocket while the other tapped against the door.
“That-” she said with a nod to the organized chaos around them. “-is a smuggler drop.”
Himari was probably hard at work already.
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