Guardian(Part IV): Revelation

Chapter 22: The Mayfly

I turned my cuirass white to match the snow, then laid down in it with the fake bloodstain in my abdomen. My pale skin would help me look like a corpse to the Regular convoy, which they would undoubtedly stop to investigate at our ambush site. I had to make sure I really looked dead, though. I was to draw the Regulars' attention to myself so Lieutenant Riley and his men could attack the convoy and steal every weapon and ammunition crate they could. I wouldn't stay a corpse for any longer. I began to hear an engine coming towards me. I closed my eyes. The vehicle's engine went silent right in front of me. I heard the doors open, then footsteps coming towards me. I made sure I didn't move, even as one Regular touched my neck to feel my pulse.

"She's alive!" he shouted. He must have been close enough to his comrades to hear him. I warped right into the middle of them and drew my sword, swinging it all around myself to cut down the entire squad. Riley and his soldiers came out from hiding to ambush the rest of the convoy's escort. None of the Regulars knew what hit them. They were all dead within seconds.

"I want all of those crates on the transport within the hour," Riley ordered.

"Sir," his soldiers replied.

"I'll never get used to playing 'dead'," I sighed. "And I'll never ask you to spread fake blood on me again."

"You passed for a dead person," Riley reminded.

"Just because my pulse is lower than a human's, but I still have one," I hissed.

"Well, thank you," said Riley. "Really."

He went to the rest of his men to help them load the confiscated equipment into our jeep, but I stayed behind for a moment, to look at the Regulars I killed. I had already killed plenty since Trident became a serious force. In fact, I think my kill count was in the hundreds as of tonight. I wasn't guilty of killing them, but I had at least some regret. I may have had nanomachines that suppressed battlefield emotions, but that didn't make me heartless. I remembered everything that's been said about me and my comrades since the end of the Third Great War. I still fought for everything I always had, though, despite how our services had been repaid. Despite what the Fox said in Valedon.

"Mayfly?" a familiar voice suddenly said, through my APID. I recognized it instantly.

"Fox?" I responded. "Where are you?"

"You know the answer to that," the Fox answered. "I'm always with you. I love you."

"I meant...!" I shouted, then I sighed, "I love you, too. Can I tell you that in person?"

"Yes," the Fox answered. "You can track me with your APID."

My APID caught his signal a mile west of my location. He was in my sight within minutes, and soon, I was standing right in front of him. He was sitting on a rock on the side of the road with his sword sheathed. Seeing him again was somewhat of a relief, but at the same time, it brought back feelings of guilt. I loved him, but I still tried to kill him.

"What happened in Valedon, Mayfly?" he wondered. "Why did you try to kill me?"

"I had to," I answered. "You killed Trident soldiers."

"'Trident'?" the Fox chuckled. "Where did that come from?"

"Suonan's trident," I enlightened. "The God of the Sea and Storm."

"I know who Suonan is," the Fox reminded.

"He was more than that to his son," I said. "Jonathan Chambers."

"You're kidding me," the Fox hoped.

"Is Wilson listening to this?" I wondered.

"It's just us," the Fox promised.