I'm not crazy, right? It's definitely crying that I'm hearing...
It doesn't quite sound... human. What is that? There's nothing in this cave but a few piles of rocks and a trench that looks like it used to be a stream of some kind. I can't figure out where that sound is coming from.
I use the optic cameras attached to my standard issue axiom coven gauntlets to peek around the opening of the alcove I'm in. I can see that Cabal patrol lumbering by, they're at a safe distance, so I don't think they can hear the... crying. If they can, they're doing their best to stay well away from this area; better for me.
As soon as they get another respectable distance away, I decide I want to find the source of whatever this noise is. Like I already said,there's hardly anything in here, but if I were to guess, it's coming from underneath this huge pile of....
Oh.Look at that, a trunk. My Ghost hasn't spooled up it's warning meter on my Heads-Up Display, so just a few visual checks tell me that nothing is awry with the rest of the the rocks covering this trunk,or with the trunk itself. As I'm moving these rocks, I am hit with anew sound in this cave - silence. The sound had stopped.
When I've finally gotten all these rocks moved, I can mostly access the lid. It's weird, but as I reach for the lid, I feel like there's some kind of static field surrounding it. Now I'm... well I'm more worried than I was, so I chin the controls to make my Ghost rez from it's digital existence. The fist-sized robot floats around for a few seconds, occasionally sending out a pulsar scan. That is probably my favorite thing about my tiny shadow - the pulse scans that it sends out are visible on my HUD. I always enjoy watching the scan go out.
When the Ghost is satisfied that there really isn't anything amiss, it deposits itself back into digital storage.
I reach down and unlatch the lid of the chest. That feeling of a static field is stronger... it was almost like I can feel the air thickening. As I lift the lid upwards, there's a hiss and my helmet HUD starts to fuzz. The hissing gets louder, and the moment I shift my weight to peer into this big box there is a scary loud "BWOOOOOOP"followed by a violent pop as my HUD goes black.
By the time I rip the seals off my helmet and take the damn thing off my head, I can see my Ghost puttering around, whirring and buzzing. It actually sounds annoyed, but it still isn't talking. Big surprise there. Not keen on getting CO2 poisoning, I lift my bucket toward the Ghost.
"Can you reboot the system, please?"
The Ghost begins it's diagnostics, so I set the helmet down and look into this trunk properly. Really not much in here, a bunch of moldy papers, some metal cutlery looking items, of course the ever present red dust from the great red planet... and what appears to be a drum magazine of a light machine gun. I reach in to get hold of the magazine, and knock a stack of papers off.
Holy shit, there's an entire LMG in this chest! Barrel, receiver, mag,stock. Even a bipod setup. My hands close around the stock of the weapon and I immediately recognize that whatever that static field is... it's coming from this gun. What's more, I'm not hesitant anymore. This thing is pure Golden Age tech. I don't know how I know,it just makes sense. The whirring of my Ghost tells me that it's done recalibrating my helmet, so I turn to pick it up. My Ghost is staring at me - or, I think at me. Now I'm looking at it directly, it appears to be focused on that LMG stock in my hands.
I pop my helmet back on and seal it, listening to the atmo-scrubbers hard at work cleaning the CO2 laden air I just brought into the sealed environment. The HUD cycles through its routine and within milliseconds I'm looking at the stock in my hands. I pull the receiver out as well to see if the parts fit together. It certainly seems like they should, the paint job is the same red-and-white, reminiscent of the New Monarchy chic.
I don't even think those goons have any real access to any kind of Golden Age stuff, anyway. The last of the Faction wars was nearly a century ago... then the Vanguard was created, which is why I'm being ignored by Zavala, Ikora, and Cayde-6 instead of being ignored by the Grand Executor.
That's beside the point, here. It doesn't look like this gun will fit back together without a little work, first, so I magnetize all the pieces to various parts of my axiom plates, or tie it into my modest Warlock robes. Thankfully, after all is said and done, the whole of the LMG is not entirely cumbersome.
Maybe I can fix this thing up, I'd love to see it work.
YOU ARE READING
Only On Paper
أدب الهواةA Warlock sent as an intel scout rather than a scientist slowly begins to resent his leadership. After stumbling across an unlikely companion, he begins pushing his limitations, eventually catching some well-deserved attention. When he and a Crucibl...
