Living Antiquity

~30~

After several experiences of nearly falling down the other side of the mountain and having to ride Piglet down an active rockslide- 0 out of 10, do mot recommend- I finally managed to reach the general area the house used to be...
A section of neighborhood still remained, a town I couldn't remember the name of... The past thousand years hadn't been kind to the buildings, even in all their "survivability" glory.
Trudging through the ruins, I could see trees growing inside the walls of houses, the rooftops in some cases completely gone, or even houses where only the floor plan was left, the remaining bases of walls crumbling and falling apart underfoot as I search for the hatch I'd recognize. It had been beautifully hidden back when Trav lived there, when he took me in, but it'd be in full view of sun, moon and the shitting birds by now...
Finally, as I stepped on some rubble, my foot went through the ground under me, my armor protecting my from punctures and potential infection as I pull my foot back out and have Piglet help me clear the rubble, staring into the hole.
"Well, bud... If I don't come back out.., Remember me..." I joke, using my cord and hook to rappel down into the darkness.
The stairs were mostly gone, having used to hug the walls on the spiral ever downward... The seeping meltwater over the centuries probably took it out, jt looked like at least one or two flood planes had redirected into the area... Hopefully everything below wasn't rusted out...
I take a breath as I land, making a face at the standing water squelching under my boots as I find the old vault door... Still sealed, pristine condition...
"Damn, bro... guess you did good work on your own..." I say, running a hand over the metal, before sighing and checking the numpad to get in, the pad asking for an eight digit code, "Uh... Damn, what would you have... oh," I say, and smile, wheeling my way around the pad.
10042066.
The date he picked me up and brought me home like he promised. October fourth of 2066.
I sigh and take a step back as the mechanisms whirl, and scan me, "Aw, shit..."
"Aw hey sis! Guess you finally cracked the code! Didja really take this long to do it? How often did you ask me to let you in here, hm?" A recording of his voice, breaking my resolve and making me have to lean against the wall for support, covering my mouth and sobbing.
Damn you, Trav... Did you leave me easter eggs?
I take a shuddering breath, watching the door open to a well lit, pristine lab, computer terminal and all, several machines wrapped in tarps as a hologram of Trav appears, walking in the door with his back to me.
"Guess it's only right to give you another tour of the place, what with having to lock it down one last time... You're already froze up, and Gaia's gonna take good care'a you, but... Damn, sis, once we go on lockdown, that's it. We're done, finito. I won't see you again, not even the tube of ice with you layin' in it... so I guess this over here's the computer. You'll still recognize that. Worked some of my favorite projects on that... Over here's some safes with nkce gear I'm leaving you, here's the little car you made for me, remember that?... Yeah..." he sighed, pacing scross the workshop, leaving me only able to follow him meekly, watching the equivelent of a thousand year ghost giving a tour of what used to be their palace... He was sad, but didn't show it til he was down here. And even then, I could see him trying to keep his haply face on, trying to hide it from me, "And over here, I'm keeping your baby safe. I figure depending on how long you're down, a tarp would just fuse to the casing, so I'm not gonna cover it up. It'd be too tedious for you to tear off a rotted tarp from the poly-mesh titanium you made the thing from. And you made this fuckin' thing on the streets! If a corp had gotten hold'a you, you coulda sold these bikes for thousands. But naw, you keep your secrets. Heh... Hope it still runs when you get here. I'll miss ya, sis. Eventually, we'll all be together again, won't we? I don't believe in an afterlife, but my mama did, and she was religious..." another sigh as the hologram's hand rests on the casing of my hovobike- my pet project and baby from a thousand years ago.
I found myself as the hologram continued around the shop, talking intermittently as he chats about different past projects and life as an Alpha during the preparations... It just kept going. How many hours was he here, before going bacj?... In the end, I could only download all of his audiovisual files to my focus and back them up on several others, before turning and beginning to run diagnostics on my bike.
It started up, and hummed weakly, having been leaking power for some time... I'd need to upgrade it and add more green energy, which was part of why I brought Sunwing membrane with me...
I got out my tools and began splicing the bike, taking out the old core and replacing it with machine energy cores, tapping them with the sunwing membrane panels and stretching them across the sides in places light would always touch- the hovopad casings, and a couple of small places where I'd be able to adjust them if need be, at a later date...
It purred like it used to, chirping and whirring easily as it hovered a foot off the ground once I was done, burning through less energy than it ever did with the greencore from a thousand years ago.
Now to test it out...
I tucked my kit into the bike's storage, and hopped on, revving it up, and easing it out into the shift, carefully closing and locking the lab behind me before revving the altitude engine, shooting up and around the crumbling stairs, rocketing out of the hole past a very astonished Piglet, who screaled and reeled back, before realizing it was just me, "Yup, its me, bubba!" I grin, leaning on my handlebars, "Can you make it home? I have to put Old Faithful through his paces," I pat the bike's casing, grinning as Piglet tosses his head, "No, don't race me, Faithful's built for speed, but I'll see you at home. Your paint job should protect you." I salute him and take off, rushing straight up, feeling the wind whip my hair behind me as I struggle with the wind screaming against my skin. I forgot a helmet, or at least- nah, I made goggles, right?
Reaching snd digging in my stuff, I pulled out the round, steampunk looking goggles I'd made and pull them on, instantly able to see without tearing up. "Oh, so fucking much better... Ripping the glass from machine lenses was smart," I stretch, taking my hands from the handlebars and letting it nosedive, pulling up just a couple dozen feet from the ground and flitting between towers, even some old trees, as I duck and dodge, reminding myself of the old tracks I used to race. Air traffic control, how you like me now? Houston, we have hovertech!
I grin, racing back and doing circles around Piglet, "Don't worry, Faithful'll only be for special occasions! I'll see you have home," I speed off, activating my focus, "Yo, guess who's got the sweetest ride in the northern hemisphere!"
"Y/n, you're alright? Thank the Ten..." Drakka groans as some of the others pipe in.
"We've been hunting down cells of the rebels and getting them under control," Aloy explains, "Stanley actually managed to reprogram about a dozen Bellowbacks and the desert villages currently have a constant supply of clean water, while we've had about fifteen more Quen come to stay. Feels empty around here without the Carja and Nora, but Soma seems to like Zo, at least," she laughs.
"They looked like they'd tear each other's faces off at first!" Varl groaned.
"So you got your bike?" Erend asks.
"Yep. And I upgraded him before taking him fir a ride. Piglet's taking the long way home, I'll be there in, oh..." I check my speed and do the math, zipping through tunnels like a squirrel on caffeine shots, "About fifteen hours?"
"I- how fast is that thing?!" Varl yelps.
"Yes." I grin, leaning over the handlebars, "I'm looking forward to playing with this new core, too. Piglet'll take the path we took to get there, so please keep a lookout."
"The Nora will make sure he passes unharmed," Teersa replies, a few extra voices responding in confusion from her line.
"The Carja as well. We can even have him escorted to make sure machine hunters steer clear," Avad offers, "Talanah may even be available."
"Yeah, I can do that. Should be interesting, getting him to the corner of the Daunt. Can you get him from there, Petra?" Talanah says, clearly having received a Focus from Avad and the other Carja.
"Yep! Some of the forge workers actually liked seeing how easy machine riding was- overrode a few and started using them ti help haul resources. We can escort him out over No Man's Land," Petra grins.
"I'll be putting along. I'm already over Nora land again," I grin, blasting out the other end of the tunnel and leaving a trail of dust behind me.
"So... Like... How face is that thing? Can you race us?"
"Oh is that Pekka?!" I laugh, "Honey if I'm on Old Faithful, you haven't got a prayer. I could probably run the desert circuit in fifteen seconds at low speed. Man..." I laugh, almost falling off from distracting myself.
She groans, and I hear laughter.
"I can make you guys some once I've found ways to make the parts, if you like, since you're all speed demons in training. But for now, enjoy the Chargers. They're the very closest thing you've got."
"About that- We were actually recruited to train riders for the three clans!" One of the other racers pipes up, "And Abadund gave us a deal where we get a 50/50 cut of profits if we do races out by Hidden Ember, so we've been doing that for a week or so. The shards are insane, and the patrols like the override systems."
"That's awesome! See, I told you guys you'd be able to branch it out." I grin, listening to the excitement as I speed along, "I'll let you get back to it, then. How's everybody else doing?"
"Amazingly. Silens is helping me build the rest of the rig for Gaia. We're finessing the last few pieces now," Beta says excitedly. She'd been really pushing herself ever since meeting Teersa... The matriarch gave the former spacefarer so much comfort in just the few day span she was there... She got to actually feel a mother's love in some way for the first time in her life. If Beta could have picked the tribe to be born to, had she been born on Earth, I think she'd have wanted to be Nora, Quen or Utaru... Maybe Utaru, to be closer to the terraforming system.
I took a breath, pushing onward, loving the feet if the wind in my hair.
"That's awesome! Good luck, cause I know how rough around the edges his communication skills are."
"Thanks!" Beta grins.
Silens was not-so suspiciously silent. Likely ignoring the obvious jab at his character as I hang up their ends of the line, leaving...
"Y/n..."
"I'm coming, Drakka, just a few hours. A day, ish."
"Hurry..."
"I know..." I let out a breath, and fully open the throttle, losing the limiter for now, "Down to about twelve hours with the gas all the way open."
"See ya soon, then..." he lets out a breath as I hear some of the village leaders talk to him.
Onward.