Inferno

7 - As a Riverstone

Four's Logbook

I told Gates about what I heard down on Tyche. She still seems skeptical, but she made the call to request an audience with Briggs. If Briggs gets back to us, then we're in business. I hope that she can put whatever kind of info I've got to good use. I also hope that this doesn't totally blow up in my face, and Gates becomes pissed with me.

When KT contacted me earlier, something seemed off. It was like... I don't know, like she was apprehensive or something. Haven't seen her like this before. I'm heading back to the Titan barracks to talk with her, see if I can figure out what's going on.

—X—

He walked into the Titan barracks; they weren't really barracks like humans had, they were just referred to as such. In reality, it was pretty much just a large space where Titans resided until they were placed in titanfall pods, or where they were kept when they weren't active. There were many chassises that were hung up on racks on the walls, and spare parts were lying around every so often. Inactive Titans either were unmoving and stationary in a neutral standing position, or were on one of the aforementioned racks.

Apparently that neural link allowed him to communicate directly with KT. He thought about transmitting to her, and tested it. "KT, you here?"

"Yes, pilot."

The voice didn't come from the neural link, but from off to his right. Looking over, he saw the Titan making her way over to him. He took off his helmet, and crossed his arms with it held in one of his hands.

"Kay, what's up?"

Her blue eye blinked. "To what are you referring to?"

He sighed. "You've had a few odd moments before, but you've never sounded as... almost fearful as you did over that transmission. Is everything alright?"

She hesitated for a few moments, and he waited for her to speak. The seconds dragged on as each stared the other down, waiting for the other to make a move, much like they had on that first night they'd met on Nedar.

"Do you remember when I met you in the hangar after having my chassis repaired, the day you joined the Militia?"

He tilted his head. He didn't know where this was going, but he figured he'd see it through. "Yeah, I remember. I was people-watching."

"Yes. I told you that you were unusual; that you seemed to have a fascination with taking risks, much like how you argued against my decommissioning."

He nodded. "Yeah, because you were pretty much-"

"Your only friend."

He was taken aback. Was that what this was about?

She looked away. "Titans are not friends. Our pilots, and other humans are our friends. But they do not often consider us to be the same." She glanced back at him. "You, however... you refer to me as a friend as easily as you would a human. Not even Shears would have considered Titans to be more than companions; military hardware with human-like traits, yes, but not much more."

He was a bit shocked to hear all this coming out at once. He hadn't realized that she'd thought about all of this.

"So when you first called me a friend, I was unsure of how to respond. I decided that I would continue to monitor our interactions, the way we fight together, talk together. And I realized that I consider you my friend as well."

She stared down at the ground, almost dejectedly.

"I am worried."

He moved closer, so he could put himself back into her line of sight. "About what?"