Alder slung the heavy battery over his shoulder with a grunt, trotting towards the Iapetus with renewed vigor. His goal, the one he had worked towards for as long as he could remember, was finally at hand. He was finally going to get his reward, his war machine.
Finally arriving at the kneeling behemoth, Alder gripped the battery with both hands and pushed the power module home. With a loud click, the power began returning to the machine, sending juice to the core systems. A message flashed on the viewing port, reporting, Iapetus power levels restored to working order. Please stand back as the unit powers up.
Heeding the warning, Alder backtracked roughly ten feet before halting. A hum filled the air as the 'eye' regained power, its blue light signifying the operating conditions. A feminine voice cut the humming off as it stated, "Ocular and mapping systems restored."
A groan echoed through the abandoned street as the Iapetus pushed itself up onto the large metal feet. The same voice spoke again, uttering, "Power at one hundred percent," as the leftmost hand scooped the automatic cannon up. The orb dropped its gaze and locked onto Alder. "Are you injured, pilot?"
A moment passed before Alder registered that the voice was addressing him. "Uh, nah." Another few seconds passed before he formed a question. "Who are you?"
The eye snicked as three metal shutters locked together for a split second in the imitation of a blink. "My unit designation is NV-091A; however, I prefer the nickname Nova."
Alder nodded as he memorized the name. "Nova...alright." Glancing upwards, he noticed the sky beginning to darken. Alder swung around to face Ember, who had moved from her spot on the Themis's metal corpse. Gesturing with his thumb thrown over his shoulder, Alder remarked, "I hope you got something more stable than that rickety-ass tarp for cover, 'cause we're gonna need it."
Nonchalantly, Ember produced a small metal flask from a hidden pocket on her tattered leather jacket. As if she hadn't even heard Alder speaking, Ember loosed the cap and took a long swig. After replacing the lid with a relaxed sigh, the young woman replied, "Yeah, I have a safehouse a few miles down the old interstate, next to a decent ol' pond." Ember peered at Nova, who had silently listened to the exchange of words. "You think we could hitch a ride down there?"
YOU ARE READING
The Collapse
Science FictionLong ago, humanity ruined its home world of Gaia with quantum weapon fire and synthetic production of soldiers. High-ranking officials were able to board battleships and disappear into the stars, but the rest of the population were left to fend for...
