Jeurridam Ch. 04: Sloan

"Stop..." Zanir said. I gently pressed the brakes coming to a halt.

"Why are we stopping?" June radioed in. I looked at Zanir, perplexed.

"Why are we stopping?" I asked him. He gave no response, getting out of the buggy. He stood atop the buggy, looking at his laptop screen, "Hello?"

"Sorry," He said realizing he blacked out, "But there's a valley mech about a quarter mile southeast that has been completely destroyed."

"Good, that means we can see if it has the acid." I said back.

"Yeah." Beth agreed.

"Not quite," He said, thinking about it. He turned to us as we stuck our heads out the window to look at him, "Something had to take that mech down..." It gave us all something to think about.

"I still think it's worth checking out." I responded.

"Yeah." He said, climbing back in the car.

We did what these buggies were best at, driving up near vertical rock faces. We reached the top of a mesa where the mech lay. Zanir was the first to get out the car, everyone else looked on in horror, this being the first time we've seen a mech of this magnitude.

It was huge, like a giant armored crab with a scorpion tail. It showed no signs of struggling for it's life before it fell. The mech was heavily armored, with over five feet of dense metal plating in the denser areas. That made it impervious to EMPS. It didn't make sense... How did this mech get taken out?

Zanir turned to face me.

"Stand mount!" He said. I climbed to the rooftop, sitting in the turret. He then began navigating the interface of his watch.

"So what now?" June said getting out of the buggy. Zanir looked up at the sky as Big Daddy and Orb patrolled. He then walked over to the valley mech, crawling in and under it. Everyone looked on, unsettled by how fearless Zanir was. I turned my sights onto the mech, not trusting it. Something this size just didn't fall over and die with this little extent of damage.

Suddenly the giant mech rose off the ground, it's mechanics whirring.

"Ooooh SHIT!" I said, getting ready to take a shot.

"Don't shoot!" Zanir said, hanging upside down from a plate of armor within the mech. He climbed back in, making a hell of a lot of noise as he did.

"What the fuck?" Heaven asked, deeply unnerved.

"He can't be fucking serious..." Beth laughed, holding Zanir's laptop.

"What's he doing?" I asked.

"He's syncing the valley mech with his firmware...but this thing is damaged bad." Beth said. I climbed off the turret, looking at the laptop screen. Indeed he was syncing the massive mech to his firmware. But most of the mech's core functions reported severe radiation damage.

"The mech has been fried with a microwave blast. Fortunately, the mech is so big, not all the wiring and computers were damaged. The memory files are also not damaged. Beth, I'm downloading them now. I wanna find out what happened to this mech." Zanir said.

"Zanir," Beth said full of worry, "Get out of there..."

"What?" I asked.

"It's overheating!" She said. Zanir dropped out of the chink in the mech's armor, quick to give it space.

"Shut it down!" He demanded. Beth did so, tapping the keyboard repeatedly. The mech collapsed on the ground again, producing a quaking thud. Everyone looked at the giant seventy foot long, thirty foot tall arachnid-like mech as though it was some long lost relic. In a way, it was.

"Sorry Zanir," Beth said, "The recovered files were aborted."

"Shit..." Zanir said, sounding very disappointed, "You know what's funny. There was no cytotrolic acid in the entirety of that mech. That was why it overheated. Something drained it... That's why it's armor is pried apart on it's underbelly."

"Really..." Beth said, looking at what was recovered, "Because the last system boot before this day was six months ago."

"So this was distantly recent...?" Zanir realized, growing more intrigued, "Let's keep heading southeast."

We did so, ascending up and down the valley, yet again stumbling across another fried valley mech. This time, more unsettling evidence popped up. The mech was dragged south for a quarter mile. Upon investigation, it too was drained of it's circulatory fluid. I was expecting Zanir to be frustrated with these mishaps but no...the boy threw a curveball at me and concerned and sympathetic for the machines!! Considering the way the mech was dragged and ripped apart, I didn't blame him. It was mangled so badly, as though a massive predator of mechs crushed it then drained it's life force from it's circulatory system. Zanir plundered the mech, checking on it's insides. Most of the delicate chips and machinery on the inside were smashed or burned. It was a grim sight.

"I can boot this one. What the fuck keeps draining these mechs?" He asked, looking at the machine. It made us all wonder. He looked up at the sky, "Big Daddy, Orb, scan the entire network of canyons for any more mechs, active or not. This is getting...disconcerting."

"What do you think is happening to them?" Beth asked, looking at the massive mech, cold, lifeless on the sandy mesa top.

"I have no earthly idea..." Zanir responded, truly perplexed, "There's still some acid left in this one, about sixteen gallons or so. I'm gonna drain it."

"OK." Swish said, running back to the truck. He grabbed an urn, followed by June. Tiny little Zanir moved the vases in the right position, waddling as he held the heavy ceramic storage containers. It was oddly adorable. He crawled under the mech, pulling a long silicate tube. He stared at it for a long while, contemplating what he had to do. He put his mouth on the tube and began sucking.

"Zanir!" I yelled, worried. He held up his hand, keeping me at bay. This boy was just crazy! He literally put his mouth on a tube that contained some of the most corrosive and oxidizing acid in the world. I watched nervously, this being one of the most tedious moments of my life. God, I didn't want him to get burned. He pulled the tube from his lips, quickly putting putting in the neck of one of the urns. He looked at the four foot tall vases.

"Where did you get these?" He asked.

"I stole them out of the hotel in Fool's Paradise..." Swish sighed. Zanir laughed, nodding in approval.

"It's," Zanir began, "Surreal you know..."

"What?" I asked, curious.

"Dealing with mechs. I think it's a side effect of being cybernetic, ya know, half-mech. Cytotrolic acid runs through their tubing, providing the oxygen needed to fuel their liquid flesh. Not to mention, they have raw wiring, treated with a silicate that keeps them from corroding away in the acid. This acts as a nervous system. Running through this tubing are cytocites...the tiny machines that run through my blood. In some mechs, the cytocites link together...forming mechanical organs, all by themselves. Not to mention, these mechs are smart, can feel, respond to their environment, can fear their destruction and know pain. You all don't know how devastating it is to see them fall like this...like something is killing them!" He said.

"You speak about them like their living beings! These things were made to kill us and will not hesitate to do so!" June responded.

"That's beside my point. My point is that how the hell are we supposed to deal with a machine, a machine that is truly convinced that it is alive and is fighting for its own survival! This decommissioned mech alone is evidence, here!" He said looking at the mech not quite sure, "Well partial evidence... I don't know."

"Wait," I said, starting to see where he was coming from, "You don't think these mechs are behaving predatorily towards each other?"

"It's hard to say. We'd need to find more clues. The first mech we found was fried by a very powerful EMP which is damn near impossible to do with such thick armor. This mech here was simply attacked, ripped open and drained, like a massive creature or in this case...mech did it. Maybe even multiple mechs." I said.

"Are you saying we're dealing with a vampiristic mech?" Beth asked.

"Possibly. The other possibility is that someone is going after mechs for the same reason we are, their circulatory fluid. I mean, mechs can adapt. That's common knowledge but I doubt one can produce an EMP. It would fry itself in the process!" Zanir said.

"I don't know, man. I found some giant ass tracks over here." Heaven said, consumed with fear. We all hurried over seeing a massive foot print in the sand. It had three toes and segments, suggesting a machine.

"Vampire mech?" Beth asked, really wanting it to be something real.

"Vampire mech..." Zanir confirmed, with a laugh. It was clear he wasn't too sure.

"More tracks further south." Heaven said, pointing to the cliff.

"It still doesn't explain what fried the first valley mech..." Zanir said, completely stumped.

"Worst case scenario...what if aliens fried it and there also is a giant vampire mech and both are after cytotrolic acid?" Swish asked teasingly.

"Then we're eternally fucked..." June responded.

"Whoa..." Beth said, looking down at the laptop screen. Zanir turned to her, concerned, "There are a lot of dead mechs here."

"Really?" Zanir asked heading over to her, "How many?"

"I don't know, but look at the map. So many blips." She said, turning the laptop to face him.

"DAMN!!" He said shocked, "Something has been taking them out left and right!"

"This valley is relatively empty now. I don't think there are any valley mechs around anymore. They're kind of extinct." Beth said.

"No, there's gotta be some around..." Zanir said, looking at the wrecked one before us all, "I really don't wanna go down in the vaults. We'll have to fight close quarters then and we stand a much better chance facing off with the larger mechs since we have heavy fire power! The vault mechs are no joke..."

"What do they look like?" Heaven asked.

"Like, I don't know it's hard to explain, like... dinosaurs but more metallic." Zanir said, trying to find the right words.

"Way to keep it vague..." Beth laughed.

"Just pray that you won't have to see them." Zanir sighed, walking back over th the buggy. We all climbed in.

We scoured the canyonside, looking for any active valley mechs. The search lasted until sunset. It was clear Zanir was growing frustrated.

"Maybe we should set up camp." I suggested. He seized before sighing.

"OK." He responded, realizing it was the best idea. He went to the back of the buggy to grab bedding supplies.

"I got it." I said, not wanting him to lift a finger, "You worked hard today." A barely visible smile came across his face as he went to the hood of the car to sit. Heaven sat beside him.

"So," Heaven began, "When all of this is over with... You're gonna leave?"

"I'm afraid so. I got a long trek ahead of me. I have to get all the way to Labrador." He smiled.

"We!" I said from the back of the buggy. Zanir looked back at me, smiling.

"I mean," Heaven said, trying to find the right way to word it, "After doing all of this stuff with you for the past few weeks, I kind of don't want to go back home. I felt trapped."

"Well," Beth chimed in, "We can't go with him, Heaven. Travelling from here all the way to the northern edge of this continent is a huge undertaking."

"Well what will we do because I'm NOT going back home!" Heaven responded.

"Jeurridam is a big place. I'm sure we can find something." Beth said, truly understanding her brother's frustrations.

"What if mom doesn't come back? What if things never go back to normal?" Heaven asked, deeply worried.

"Look, your mom is a hero to the UCNC! She saves lives every day and fights for a cause she believes in. It's not for her sake but for the sake of the world, the people she cares for. Just know that every sacrifice your mom has made is for a greater good." Zanir smiled.

"UCNC?" Swish asked, never hearing the term before.

"United Cybernetic Naval Core." Zanir said.

"Whaaaaa?" The boy said back.

"It's a giant oceanic voyager group that helps out coastal civilizations around the world, fight crime and stops tyranny. It's a world balancing order, one of three. Two are off the ground one...is not. My whole purpose is to get that third one off the ground." Zanir said, continuing to be vague. This time, no one bothered to even try and ponder deeper. They just went about their evening duties and set up the camp.

The whole time, June eyed Beth. It was clear he wanted her but Beth was a loose cannon. It was no telling what she was interested in and June would have to really, really approach that one carefully. I didn't want to see the boy end up heartbroken. He was a very good friend of mine. However, there was little I could do.

With the tents pitched, the food brewing and the fire started, Zanir shut down the mechs, bringing them in for the night. He clearly had a lot on his mind. Seeing him stressed like this was no fun. I wanted free his minds of his worries for this night. However, he seemed so distant, so far gone. It was rather intimidating to say the least because I had some serious feelings for him. But he showed nothing...

We sat silently, no one uttering a word. I didn't like this one bit. Even extremely talkative Swish found himself being quiet which was rare. Everyone just had a lot on their minds. I felt particularly bad for Heaven. He just had the loneliest lack of expression on his face. It was clear something was missing from his life and I'm betting it was understanding. It was how I felt before Zanir came in my life and now, the feelings were starting to return with Zanir being so dedicated to his work.

"I remember the last story," Zanir said, looking up to the skies, "My father told me before I never saw him again. It was about a senator's daughter and a lieutenant of the Interstellar Campaign. The two began to fall madly in love but couldn't be together for respect of duties. However they made it work somehow but they knew the risk of their relationship. This war that ravaged the planet, a war over precious space minerals, ripped everything a part. The senator and his family were now political targets for a faction and the only one who knew was the lieutenant. Disobeying orders, he and a team of space soldiers went to their rescue. It was a grim battle, many people being killed in the process. In the struggle, the lieutenant's face got ripped off revealing he was not as human as he seemed. He was an android one with a synthos chip that allowed him to feel sympathy for others, inevitably making him fall in love with a human believing he was a human for so long. The senator's daughter was so shocked to know she had been sleeping with a machine, but wanted to stay. However she was forced onto an evacuation fleet without seeing the lieutenant ever again... The lieutenant felt betrayed, risking all he had for this woman and she just left him. He began to see himself as nothing but a machine and hated they programmed him to feel. Feeling purposeless, he found an underground bunker where a machine called Decimation was. This machine was dark and twisted and got inside the lieutenants mind. It made him hate humans, believing all humans were selfish creatures that only bring suffering upon themselves. It was then he vowed to never risk his life for another human. He ripped out his synthos cog and from that point on rallied other abused and hurt androids to form a third faction in this war. They ended this war, only to start a new one. It was now machines against humans and the leader of the human faction inevitably becoming the senator's daughter. Truthfully, she had never moved on from the lieutenant but she was now a world away, safely on Mars. Upon seeing evidence of the new war and the cause of it, she flew back, rallying all of her own. Deep down, she felt that she could talk sense into the lieutenant who was now fully android with no regrets. The fake human skin he used to sport proudly, had been mostly burned off, revealing the hard, cold mechanical frame underneath. All the androids did it to themselves to show that they were no longer human. The war lasted a long time, the whole time the senator's daughter trying to get close to the lieutenant. When she finally did, it was like dealing with another entity. She tried reasoning with him as he furiously attacked her but it was fruitless. The android had memories with her, sweet memories but these memories only served as archival data to only justify his disdain for humanity without his synthos cog. It was futile. The senator's daughter realized she got in over her head, thinking mere words could rekindle feelings from years ago... especially with robot. It was heartbreaking to her. Then and there she fell to her knees, not wanting to fight anymore. The android stopped, shocked as he watched a human he cared for, give up before him. Despite not having a synthos cog, his computational systems prohibited him from killing her. If he could feel hate for humans, he surely could feel love. However, the android's second in command did the job, killing the senator's daughter before his very optics. The tides of the war had changed now... It was now mech against mech which, supposedly is how we ended up in this predicament."

"Wow..." Heaven said, mesmerized by the story, "So a woman fell in love with a machine?"

"Yeah. I always loved that story as a kid...despite it being quite dark." Zanir laughed.

"I wonder what it's like to fall in love with a machine?" Heaven pondered.

"Why would you want that?" June asked, disgusted by the very idea.

"No! I mean, I want to know the thoughts that'd run through your mind, the way it'd make you feel, like... I don't know." Heaven said in his defense.

"That story can't be true..." June said, looking at me.

"It is. I found the original archival data from it. It happened five hundred years ago." Zanir said.

"So that dumb bitch fell in love with a machine and died for it?" June asked, truly upset to know this was real. Zanir looked at him blankly.

"You know sometimes you can't help who or what you fall for. I completely sympathize with this woman!" Beth chimed in, "I'd much rather be in love with a robot that would guaranteed treat me right, versus a man who'd put his agenda before mine and treat me like less than what I'd deserve. Her plight is something real and believable and if I was in her shoes, I'd be torn the same way!" It made June go silent, staring at her intently. He simply didn't understand the way girls thought. It was hard period to make June feel outgunned but Beth completely disarmed him. It made June think hard on how to get closer to her. If a girl could managed to do that to him, she was definitely a prize. However, they were two vastly different types of people. His eyes eventually slumped to the ground, feeling as though he didn't know what to do about her.

"I mean, I only told the story because of how I feel about these mechs. I think it is so wrong to build them the way they were built, with so much intelligence and feeling but having ultimate control over them. We fucking made them breath but would not treat them like they did." Zanir said, shaking his head.

"You'd say those machines were alive?" June asked.

"I don't know but very close. They could feel pain... You shoot them, they knew they were hurt. You chase them, they knew they were in danger. You catch them, watch them plead. And we built that..." Zanir said, this being mind boggling even for him.

"I see your point now. But, don't you think it'd be best if these things were destroyed?" June asked. Zanir looked at him, very upset. His look eventually waned down as he thought about it.

"I don't know..." Zanir responded, perplexed, "I just don't see the point in not treating them like they don't deserve respect. For one, someone broke their back designing, planning and building one. Secondly, they are built to feel and understand and to learn from what's around them. That is a very... life-like thing to do. I mean I wouldn't say they are alive in the same way that we are. You'd have to be a mech to see how to be alive from their point of view. They did, after all fight for their own survival... and almost won."