Mechanical Minds

Sob Story

 Meta scanned the surrounding stacks of cargo, frowning. It had been at least three hours since the Halberd landed, and there had been no sign of Susie. She had seemed quite eager to see his workshop, and Meta would be lying if he said he didn't take every opportunity to show it off.

"You alright there?" Meta jumped slightly, and looked up at Blade.

"I am merely preoccupied with my thoughts. Have you unloaded the necessary cargo?" he said, turning back to his restless gazing.

"Yeah, we got everything we need. Dee took Sword to the hospital for x-rays. You should have seen him; he must've taken like half the painkillers in the infirmary. Totally loopy," Blade snickered.

"With any luck it will merely be a soft tissue injury," Meta said. He'd experienced more than his fair share of fractures in his life, and they were painful and frustrating even with his accelerated rate of healing.

"Hopefully. Hey, I've got things covered here. You go take care of whatever's buggin you," Blade offered, patting Meta on the shoulder. He half-heartedly swiped at her hand, and sighed.

"All of you know me far too well."

"What kinda crew would we be if we didn't?" Blade said. She could see the slight squint of his eyes that meant he was smiling under his visor.

"I suppose that I do appreciate it, however aggravating it may be," he teased.

"Yeah, yeah. Go on, now. I know how cranky ya can get when you brood too much," Blade snickered.

"I do not brood," Meta huffed, turning to walk into the Halberd's interior. He paused, and glanced behind him. "Thank you, Blade," he added, before darting off.

"It's no problem, boss!" she called after him, grinning.

Meta walked through the harshly lit corridors, boots clacking against the metal floor. The Halberd was a mazelike mess of corridors, but Meta knew every single nook and cranny. He'd drawn up the blueprints, after all, and built much of the ship with his own hands. He turned sharply, heading down a dead-end hallway lined with steel doors. He counted the doors as he passed them, stopping as he reached the correct one. Meta knocked on the door, the metal plates on his gauntlet loudly clanging against the steel.

"Susie?" he said. There was a long stretch of silence, and he grasped the door handle.

"Don't come in!" Meta froze, hand still on the door. Her voice sounded raspy and weak.

"Are you unwell?" he asked. Another long pause. Meta began to nervously wring his cape in his hands. He could sense a sort of dark pall on the other side of the door, and he'd never been particularly good at comforting others.

"No, I'm fine, just..." her voice wavered. "Just leave me alone for a bit..." Susie continued. Meta carefully considered his next words.

"I refuse. I will not abandon anyone aboard my ship," he responded, grabbing the door handle again and turning it.

"Seriously, get lost!" Susie hissed, but her choked up tone leeched away any sort of venom her words held. Meta took a deep breath and steeled himself.

"I am coming in," he said, opening the door slowly. Susie sat on the far corner of a cot, looking away from him pointedly. The holoscreen lay on the hard floor, shattered into a million pieces that glistened in the lamp light. Meta carefully picked his way across the room, glass shards crunching beneath his boots.

"I told you to leave" Susie muttered. She looked up, eyes rimmed with red and brimming with tears. Meta held her gaze, subconsciously fidgeting with his cape. He sat stiffly on the edge of the cot, turning sideways to face her.

"What is the matter?" he asked. Susie drew in her legs, burying her face in her knees. She let out a long, shuddering sigh.

"My dad is dead," she said bluntly, as if she was telling him the weather. Meta's fidgeting increased two-fold.

"I offer my deepest condolences."

"No, I mean... He's been dead for a while. He was dead before he died, if that makes any sense..." she murmured.

"He changed, yes? Or did the rose-tinted glasses of childhood fade away?"

"I don't know. Maybe it was both."

"It often is." Susie raised her head, laying it sideways across her knees and looking at Meta.

"It doesn't matter. His soul was obliterated. Whatever afterlife you believe in, he isn't there," she whispered, two large tears rolling across her face. Meta's eyes widened. He'd seen only one person associated with Susie have their soul obliterated, and that was...

"Your father was Haltmann," he said. Meta chewed his lip in thought, mulling through the multitude of questions this revelation raised. "Why were you relegated to the position of a mere secretary then? I sensed no fondness from Haltmann either..." he trailed off, realizing how sensitive these questions were.

"It's a long story, if you'd like to hear it," Susie said.

"Certainly, if it is not too troubling," Meta responded, careful to sound as gentle as possible. Susie let out another long sigh, and closed her eyes.

"A long time ago, my father and I traveled the galaxy, gathering knowledge and technology from every planet we could. But not by force; we learned from the natives, traded and bartered for the equipment. We didn't do it for money, either. We wanted to cure the disease that took my mother," she began.

"A noble pursuit," Meta said. Susie nodded, and continued.

"We found a civilization that promised something none other had. They told us that they had unearthed an ancient mechanical god, one capable of manipulating reality as if it were computer data. We went to work reactivating the machine, ignoring all the signs of danger. Then one day there was a catastrophic accident. I was ripped from this reality and thrown into a parallel dimension." Susie took a long pause, and then began again.

"This dimension was hellish. Every law of nature was turned on its head, and there were vicious creatures at every turn. I survived for six long years before I found a tear in reality that allowed me to escape. By then it was too late. My father had become so twisted by Star Dream that he no longer recognized his own daughter. The daughter he'd reactivated it to save," she finished. Susie grimaced and curled in on herself more, burying her face into her knees again.

"I never meant to destroy him! I-I wanted to get rid of that thing! I won't pretend that it was altruistic, but... but..." she shuddered, hot tears brimming in her eyes. "I wanted my dad back! Even after everything he did, I was willing to do that stuff too! He was all I had in the whole universe..." her words trailed off into sobbing. Meta moved silently beside her, and draped his cape over her shoulders. The silken fabric radiated a strange sort of heat from within.

"We tend to defend and follow those we love, even despite their transgressions. We value their love so much more than their hate, and as such we never notice when the hate far outweighs the love," Meta soothed.

"Yeah, well, hindsight is 20-20," Susie hiccupped, wiping at her face.

"It is indeed. But it is also a component of moving forward, and I have the utmost faith in your ability to do so. Your strength is incredible, and I have no doubt that you will surmount this obstacle as you have all others" Meta said, awkwardly laying a hand on her shoulder. Susie sat up, and looked at him with red, dewy eyes. She then suddenly embraced him, pulling him forward so that he leaned against her and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you," Susie choked out, her tears dampening Meta's coat. He loosely returned the embrace, humming quietly until she drifted off to a fitful sleep.