Yes, I am starting a new manuscript today.
Fate Spinner. I hope it goes well. Pfft, that's a lie. I know it'll go well. THIS IS ME.
Anyway, here is chapter four. It might be the last one I post, we'll see. Mkay?
Chapter 4:
Barrack
had to struggle to keep his hand from shaking. He sat at his table, working on
the small turbine kept within Mira’s belt. It was a simple fix, he would repair
the wiring which had shorted out, likely due to a surge of power, and then
power it back up using a secondary power source. He didn’t quite understand why
he was doing what he was, he was betraying the trust of the Masters. He was
actively helping a member of the rebellion, the girl had taken part in an
operation to help the Heretics undermine the Masters.
Yet he
couldn’t help himself. Mira wasn’t a bad girl, she was kind to him, very caring
in fact. Barrack hadn’t interacted with anyone quite like her before, she
seemed genuine. It wasn’t like he was helping her blow something up, he was
just helping her escape, and the damage of her operations were already done. Barrack
had lived his life using logic, and this time it checked out, although he would
admit that emotion was playing a small part.
“How’s
it going?” Mira asked, her voice curious. She stepped close, looking over his
shoulder, bending over and moving her long hair to the side so that it would
stay out of her face as she watched his hands work. She was lovely, her scent
wonderful, even when covered in perspiration like she was. Still hating the
heat, Mira had chosen to strip off her cloak and jacket, now she just wore a
simple shirt, it had no sleeves and it was held on her shoulder by thin straps.
Her arms were muscular, although very lean, her chest was caved inward, her
ribs visible among pale skin, freckles, and minimal breasts. What surprised
Barrack the most was her hair, it was long and red. Mira had taken the clip out
of her hair, letting the full length of it fall down to almost her hips, it was
messy and wavy, although straighter in other places.
“I’m
almost done,” Barrack stammered. He hid his embarrassment as best he could,
despite the fact that she was the first woman he had seen in so long, he should
still respect her. Barrack just wished he wasn’t so awkward, did he come off as
pretentious when he talked about science? “I just have to power it up now.”
Barrack
reached under his table and produced a portable turbine he used for his other
creations. It sat on the table, no bigger than his own fist, cone shaped and
spinning on its own. The Revius belt contained within would constantly spin,
using the magnetic field to generate electricity. The turbine had an especially
ingenious design because it would create an independent circuit when it wasn’t
powering something, so that it would keep spinning on its own. Barrack did keep
a steam engine in the back, just in case he ever needed it. However it was very
unlikely that he would ever need to use such a primitive method of getting one
of the power sources going again.
“Watch
this,” Barrack said as he unwound the cord that tied neatly around the
turbine’s base. He connected it to the belt’s small turbine and the small
device roared to life.
“That’s
why it’s so loud when I turn it on!” Mira exclaimed, examining it closer.
“Indeed,”
Barrack replied. “Actually it is always running, but when it’s powered off it
spins so slowly that it can’t be heard normally. The belt has four settings:
Mild, positive, negative, and concussive setting that allows you to survive
falls. It truly is incredible, it creates a magnetic field dense enough that it
will brace your fall and spread the energy into the ground instead of through
your body.”
“Is
that so?” Mira said, giggling slightly. “I had trouble believing them when they
said it would brace my fall and not break my legs. They have to do it front of
us first so we’ll believe them. I always wondered how it worked, I figured it
was just magic.”
“There
is no such thing,” Barrack snorted. “Only science, everything can be
explained.”
“What
about those strange powers the Subjectors have?”
“That
is no different. It’s just beyond our understanding, I’m sure it has a logical
basis.”
“Could
a human use it? That would be useful for…you know, fighting them.”
“No,”
Barrack said simply. “Only the Master’s with their superior souls and metal
bodies have displayed the ability, humans are exempt from such gifts.”
“Could
we learn?”
“I
don’t think you understand,” Barrack sighed. “Breaking the Hermetic laws is
something that only the Masters can do, it is physically impossible for us to
do.”
“Oh
well,” Mira said while shrugging. “It was worth trying.” She gave Barrack a
wink and laughed to herself. Despite her laughter, she looked so ragged, like
she had been through the worst time of her life recently. It was no wonder that
before he could start on her equipment, he had to feed her first. Of course,
everything Mira was given to eat, she devoured like a starving beggar. Barrack
found it funny, especially since he always watched how much he ate and took
good care of his body.
Barrack
handed her the belt, Mira took it and put it on. She ducked down reattached the
wires down to both boots. She practiced with all three switches and grinned
widely.
“They
work!” Mira exclaimed. “You’re a genius, Barrack.”
“It was
really a simple fix,” Barrack muttered. “Not even close to my best work.” He
reached out and grabbed his walker, he pulled himself up, the easiest part.
“Now
what?” Mira asked, face curious.
“We go
back down into the tunnels.”
Barrack carried Mira
the whole way this time. She had been resting for a few hours before, but it
was still important that she save her energy for the actual trip. As Barrack
understood it, the grinding process was incredibly exhausting, Mira might also
have to evade the Masters.
“Are
you okay?” Barrack asked. He was moderately sure that his speech patterns had
become less awkward as it went on, he had adapted.
“Yeah,
thanks,” Mira muttered, clutching his neck. This particular stretch was
especially dangerous, they were underground, a deep and endless chasm below
them. Barrack crossed using the suspended bars that had been placed there. A
normal human would likely have to use their legs to go across carefully, he
only needed to swing with his arms.
They
passed through, this part may have been dangerous, but it was also the quickest
path to the edge of Barrack’s territory. Beyond that, he wouldn’t be able to
help her, other sectors of the repair tunnels would be blocked off from him. They
eventually made it to the spot, a single ladder that descended straight
upwards, blocked off by a manhole cover. It would emerge at the top of a pillar
protruding from a building that was fairly high up the cliff edge, as high as
his territory would allow him to take Mira. The tower served as an
observational deck, so that Barrack could watch his work in action and see all
the rails work properly.
“This
is it,” Barrack said. He let go of the walls and placed himself gently on his
butt.
“Oh,”
Mira said, she climbed off and looked up the ladder. “Well.”
“Yes?”
Barrack said, he studied her for a moment. She seemed like she had more to say.
“No,
that is quite all,” Mira finished quickly. Her eyes darted away for a moment
but then locked back onto his. “Can you come up, please? See me on my way, so I
can look back and let you know I made it.”
“Okay,”
Barrack replied. He happily returned her smile.
Mira
went up first, Barrack followed closely. She reached the top, banged her fist
against the door until she found the handle, then she proceeded to open the
hatch. Mira climbed out, Barrack dragged himself up, he had to reach down and
pull his legs up. The sun was beginning to set as early evening consumed the
night. Barrack wasn’t fond of watching the city at this time, it seemed too
busy.
“The
capital city is kind of pretty for something built into a bowl,” Mira said. She
was now standing up and watching as trains went by and people scurried home
from their jobs.
“The
textbooks refer to it as a crater actually,” Barrack replied, fishing out his
pipe. He proceeded to stuff some Tabaco in it and light it.
“What
is that stuff?” Mira asked, curious.
“Some
plant,” Barrack responded smoothly. He lifted the pipe to his lips and took a
puff.
“So
this is it?” Mira asked. “I can just go, grind away into the sunset?”
“Literally
yes, if you leave right now.”
“Oh,”
Mira said, turning away for a moment. She suddenly lifted up her hand to him,
her eyes were slightly watery. “It has been a hard day, and you have no idea
how much this means to me and others. I made a promise, I will keep it.”
“Thank
you…” Barrack stammered trying to think of the words to say. “For the company.”
“Will
we see each other again?”
“Likely
not,” Barrack said, shrugging.
“It’s
a shame really, I think I could have come to like you.” Mira replied, she held
up a hand to her mouth and let out a small laugh. It was adorable and full of
relief, she looked younger like this.
“I
agree,” Barrack said. He took her other hand in his own, it was so small. “I
think I’ll miss you.”
“You
know where I’ll be, idiot.” Mira added. She shook his hand gently. They held
their hands together for another heartbeat before she turned away, triggered
her device and jumped off the edge.
Barrack
watched her go as she grinded off, his chest hurt. For the first time in years,
he felt the pain of loneliness again. She would make it back to her friends, she
would be happy, she would keep her promise, she would…
Three
Masters jumped off rooftops and began their pursuit. Two of them were light
units, designed for grinding and combat, while the third was a heavy unit with
thick armour. They likely didn’t know who she was, but the fact that she had
the boots was enough to warrant suspicion. How had they known? Normally they
wouldn’t just hang out in a sector like this…
Unless
they were waiting for her. Mira had escaped the night before, they had noticed,
and they had taken precautions. These three units were likely just the pursuit
team, there would be more to chase her down within minutes. They would catch
her, they would interrogate her and then after she was broken they would kill
her. This wasn’t someone in the distance, this wasn’t somebody Barrack didn’t
know nor care about, this was Mira. The first person in years whom he had
interacted with and enjoyed the company of. He couldn’t watch.
So
he would act. Barrack within seconds was already climbing down the hole, pipe
left on the ledge. The units pursuing Mira were heavier than most, they needed
to use the thicker rails in order to get around, it would be difficult but he
did have an idea.
Another
twenty seconds later, Barrack had found his way to a nearby panel underground,
it was of a rare variety, a master panel that carried all the circuits for the
turbines in the area. From here, he could feasibly work on every rail. There
was even a small hole carved into the side of the pillar so that he could view
his work. More Masters were already in pursuit, they had massive bodies and a
lot of fire power. The initial three units had backed off slightly, Mira had
likely gone low, through the lower rails in order to lose them, they could
easily get lost if they went directly after her in that labyrinth of paths.
Perhaps the girl wasn’t as strong or intelligent as him, but Barrack now
realized that Mira had excellent instincts. She was doing what was needed to
survive, despite the fact that she might not have understood why.
Barrack
worked hastily on the panel, he had pinned his legs and was using both hands, and
he kept the light bulb between his teeth as he worked. He pulled wires out,
reconnecting them in other places, all while doing the necessary calculations in
his head. One of the larger units was within view, perched on a building,
watching where was going, so that it could advise the others where she went. As
Barrack understood it, the Masters could communicate without actually speaking
out loud. He began to sweat, his hands were twitching but he kept working. It
was messy, but hopefully it would be enough.
With
one last wire to connect, Barrack’s hand suddenly stopped, centimetres away
from its destination, his initial goal. If he did this, there was no turning
back, Mira would live but he would die. He would betray the Masters, they would
know, and he wasn’t fast enough to get away on his own. By the grace of
everything, if he did this, he would undermine everything he had worked on in
the last ten years.
“So
what,” Barrack heard himself say out loud. “What would be the point if nobody
lived to remember me. I might die, but she’ll remember.” With that, Barrack
stuffed the wire home.
It
wasn’t noticeable at first, it started out as a quiet kind of gentle humming.
Yet it got progressively louder and louder, soon it was a hiss, then a screech,
finally the obvious scream of metal scrapping against metal. The Masters didn’t
seem to notice immediately, yet as they continued to grind after Mira, it
became obvious. At first their trajectory became pretty unstable. Yet as the
turbines continued to scream, pick up more speed and progressively move more
and more towards overloading, the magnetic fields were affected as a result.
Many of the smaller Masters were launched straight up, a sudden but powerful
push as they were catapulted to the sky. Most were smart enough to adjust as it
was happening, but even that was too late, instead of getting launched up, they
were shot on an angle, usually in the direction of a building.
The
Behemoth parked on top of the building’s gaze fell upon the pillar, had it
registered what happened? The rest of them were in chaos, attempting to recover
but failing as a system they had always known failed. Only one clear path had
been left, one rail untouched. The one that Mira had chosen, the smallest of
them all. In the chaos, it would be easy for her to slip away. In times like
this, Master procedure was to condense damage as much as possible. The damage that Barrack had caused.
The
massive Master’s arm was now pointed at the pillar. It was quite funny, Barrack
had always taken pride in his work. Yet now he felt true happiness for
unraveling it all, destroying it and letting a rebel escape. A rebel who had
gone against everything that had always supported him. There was a glow as the
Master broke the first of the Hermetic laws, the blades extended from its hand
and launched his way.
Barrack
felt as the pillar shook, he lost his hand hold, his legs slipped and he fell.
He remained suspended only for a bit before he tumbled down the narrow tunnel.
His head was bashed back and forth, he hit his arms even. Barrack did finally
hit the ground below, except he landed on his feet, he heard the horrible
snapping of his feeble legs. The scream, painful and primal filled the entire
corridor.
Yet
the scream turned into laughter.
“Stupid
legs!” He hissed between fits of mad laughter. “You’re already useless, how is
this supposed to be worse?” He barely grabbed hold of a bar and dragged himself
away as rubble fell down around him. The tunnels would collapse, the Maker had
caught onto what he was doing and was bombarding him with those spears. Despite
accepting his fate earlier, Barrack still swung from bar to bar, using his
hands to gain as much distance as he could, but he was still too slow.
Everything fell around him, massive pieces of concrete, now just boulders.
Light
poured into the tunnel, the sky now clear, yet the path in front collapsed
completely, boxing him in. Suddenly, the
hissing consumed his ears. Turning his head, Barrack looked directly at one of
the numerous and massive turbines that he had overloaded, it hung suspended
upside down by wires. He knew what was about to happen, he had planned it this
way.
The
turbine spun faster and faster as Barrack held himself up using only his arms,
he banged against each wall that was boxing him in, he was trapped, except for
upwards. So he gripped a rock, he was already cut up from his tumble, his hands
covered in blood. Yet still he fought, he gripped each hand hold, not crafted
for that purpose but it would still do the effort. He climbed towards the sky,
open and magnificent. The light of twilight was bathing his escape, the sun
setting above. Mira was leaving into that sunset, she would live…
Barrack’s
hand slipped, he fell backwards. He stared at it as he fell, the sky, the light
that was not quite darkness yet. He thought about the time they spent together,
not long in the grand scheme of things, but still, enough to make an impact on
his life, an exciting climax at the end of a boring twenty-four year old song.
Barrack
hit the ground, he was winded, he heard his ribs snap, he felt the pain. Yet he
still had the will to live, he pulled himself up, grabbed hold of two hand bars
as what remained of the tunnel began to collapse, rocks falling all around him.
Staring at his work, his masterpiece, Barrack laughed in the face of the
turbine, now spinning so quickly and so violently it was shaking. It would happen, and there was nothing he
could do.
The
turbine burst apart. Although many would have said it exploded, that
technically wasn’t correct, it didn’t combust and there was no fire. However it
was understandable how it could have been mistaken for that, its pieces all
blew apart in all directions at speed that no eye could catch. Metal pieces of
shrapnel cut into the concrete above, penetrating at least a metre before
finally being stopped. So the pieces that dug into Barrack’s legs and chest
tore straight through him, leaving lumps of meat for legs and a body that no
longer resembled him.
Still,
Barrack sucked in breaths. It was difficult, likely one of his lungs had been
pierced, the pain was so excruciating that his mind could no longer register
it. His left arm was broken and twisted, it was now laying out directly to the
side, as if on soft grass. However, Barrack’s right arm still seemed to work,
he reached upward, his eye swollen, blood pouring into it, blinding him. Yet
still he reached for the sky, his freedom, it was right above him. His fingers
clutched into a fist and he remembered shaking her hand.
The
rocks fell all around him now, a particularly large one had just crushed his
left arm, likely severing it completely. In his mind, Barrack comforted himself
with the knowledge that he had accumulated in the past. He had learned so much,
he had been so smart, he was capable of so much, even now. Had it been a good
life? He had never truly created anything of his own, just replicated using the
technology of others, did that make him an Innovator like the Makers claimed?
Or was he just another fake. It didn’t matter anymore, although it did to him.
Given another chance, he would probably have invented something.
Barrack
faded away.
