Generator Maint. with Blaze & Ghost

[notalldead]

A meeting of the gang was called the second Jesse was back underground. He then filled them all in on what was up there; some weird new place full of grass, electricity and running businesses. They nearly had a harder time believing that than Jesse's next story about how he met a robot and she was going to come down with another robot to take a look at their generators.

But other scouts soon went topside to confirm the same and came back, mute with disbelief. Granted, few of them wandered far from the subway, just like back home; habits die hard, especially ones that keep you from dying hard. But they all the saw the same thing; a place with no zed, bright and clean and like some kind of park or mall from the times before things fell apart.

When the day finally arrives for Blaze to visit, Jesse's waiting for her topside, using his tongue to wet down a fresh cigar. Well, fresh at least that it hasn't been lit yet. It looks a little crumpled, but these things are hard to get, darn it.

Comments

[rekindledtitan]

Good to her word, Blaze doesn't take long to come by. It's been a good day, so far. You can tell from the scuffs and welts on her armour, the odd spatter of something shiny on her shoulders and chest. There's a satisfied hum in her circuits as she paces along, gaze sweeping around her out of habit. Her Ghost sticks close, occasionally zipping a little way from her side to peer at another Nexus-goer or an interesting door.

When the Guardian spots their friend outside the subway, she lifts a hand in greeting and heads his way. "Jesse! How've you been doing?"

[notalldead]

He'd been mid-lick on that cigar, looking a little foolish in his opinion, when she addresses him. The zombie lowers the stogie from his lips and gives a friendly lift of his chin. "Howdy, pardner. Been doin' just fine. Hope the folks here don't mind if we borrow a thing or two from this place. We've been seein' things here that we ain't seen in a long time. Like clean water and batteries." People can play those old game boys they found now!

"Yer lookin' like you were just in a scrap; how bad does the other guy look?" He grins.

[rekindledtitan]

It has to be said, he gets a curious look. Blaze hasn't a clue why he's licking the thing that, as she understands it, he plans to set on fire. Perhaps he needs to taste it first? The ways of organics are mysterious and unknowable.

"Well, he was pretty ugly to start with," she answers with a satisfied chuckle. The Ghost settles over her shoulder to listen. "But he and his friends won't jump another patrol. One less pack of Devils blighting us. And it's good to hear the Nexus is helping you out. I don't think anyone's going to get on your case for rounding up basic supplies."

[notalldead]

He notices the look and explains. "Y'all ever smoked a cigar before? Or, uh, can you? Y'gotta lick it down first if it ain't fresh. Otherwise, thing'll crumble once you light it and you won't be gettin' the right bang for your buck. Lil' cigar lesson for ya, there." He gives a wink before popping it in his mouth and rummaging for a match to light it with.

"Devils? That a gang tag or they actual fellas from hell? Sorry, heh, I feel like what with how this here place is, y'gotta ask the obvious questions."

[rekindledtitan]

"So that's it." The lesson might not apply to her, but she's interested anyway. "That's one of the things we can't do. Heh, I was wondering if you had to check the taste or something. Must be more of a knack to this stuff than I thought."

He has a good point when it comes to the Nexus. "Nah, these ones are just alien pirates. One of their so-called noble houses. I don't know where they came from, but we're happy to send them back in pieces."

[notalldead]

"Right on," he agrees to the admission of violence. "People wanna start somethin', always be ready to oblige." A match is finally located and he takes a moment to scratch it on his belt buckle, then lift it to get that stogie going. A few initial puffs to get it going, and then Jesse waves for Blaze to follow. He's turned and is now heading down those graffitied steps.

"Gave the gang the heads up on your visit, so they should all be well-behaved. Just don't mind the stares. Like me, they ain't seen a robot before now." At the bottom of the steps is a VERY large door, heavy and excessively reinforced with piled-up junk and sheets of tin and plywood. But turns out if you move this tire and lift this plank of wood, a reasonably human-sized opening can be made.

"I know we ain't gotta protect ourselves as much from this place, but we like makin' sure," he says regarding the barricade.

[rekindledtitan]

Blaze falls easily into step behind him. She hasn't spared much thought to how this might go, but there doesn't seem much reason to worry. Least of all a few stares. She'd stick out in her own city if she ever went for a stroll.

The door warrants a pause for inspection. She gives the side a heavy rap, making an appreciative grunt at its solidity. "Good habit. Nice work, too, considering your materials."

"I suspect it's better camouflage than a giant stone wall," her Ghost points out.

[notalldead]

"We got a couple of fellas who can make a wall soon as y'all drop a hat and say go. Know just how to make 'em to either make you ignore it or keep out a horde o' zed who are lookin' for a meal. Granted, they don't bother us much; but if we set up camp to close to some livin' folk, they're gonna start tearin' things down all indiscriminate."

He steps through the opening first, then offers a hand if Blaze needs help doing the same. Inside, it's dark except for some buzzing, flickering florescent lights overhead. The graffiti goes all the way down, and there are some spots where things have been broken; railings off their bolts, cracks and buckled impacts in the cement walls. Jesse seems to be taking this in with fresh eyes and mutters an apology.

"Sorry it ain't much to look at..It's better down where we live, at least some."

[rekindledtitan]

With those big old shoulder guards, getting through takes some ducking and twisting. This seems to be something Blaze is used to, but there's a bit of clanging off the side nonetheless. Since she's not expecting it, she quite misses Jesse's offered hand. She looks around eagerly as soon as she straightens, her optics bright in the gloom.

His unexpected apology draws a puzzled headtilt. "Looks a lot like our Earth, honestly. Was there a fight down here?"

She nods toward those impact marks in the walls. Her Ghost is already scooting over to scan the graffiti.

[notalldead]

"The zed took over a couple'a years ago. There's stuff like this everywhere. People who were panickin' and fightin' to survive. We figure with what we've found, the subways weren't the best place to be when the sick started to spread." He rubs the back of his neck, looking briefly uncomfortable thinking back on it. "Enclosed space and people packed in subways? Yeah. Weren't pretty."

He starts jogging down those steps. "Got the generators runnin' right now, but as you can see," he points upwards at those flickering lights, "it ain't all it could be right now. We gotta ration the gasoline we dump into 'em, so they're not optimal."

As they get further down, there are candles. The place seems cozier for it, with its orange glow casting a warm light on things. Plywood and tin are propped up here as well, but instead making shacks and lean-tos. Now is when the other zombies start showing up, though they all stay safe in their makeshift homes, peering out curiously at their visitor. There are sometimes hurried whispers and points, obviously calling over others to see the robot! See, Jesse said there was one!

[rekindledtitan]

"Hnnh. I understand." She can imagine it too vividly for comfort. At least it sounds neither Jesse nor his friends were there. That's no memory to carry with you. It's more pleasant to contemplate the electrics.

"Gasoline, huh?" She lifts her head unconsciously as they descend, as if scenting for something familiar in the air. That stops when she's distracted by the jury-rigged village. Despite her assurances, her combat instincts heed the stirring in the shadows, sensing all those eyes on her.

Yet there's no sense of hostility here. Just nervous people, and that triggers a very different reaction. Her Ghost sticks very close, but that's just a response to the new environment. It hasn't fled to her systems as it would if threatened.

"How many people are down here?" she asks. Those zombies whose eye she catches get a friendly nod. Can't complain about them gawping a bit. After all, she's doing it right back.

[notalldead]

The one who gets a nod goes wide-eyed (with just his one eye) and then hurriedly whispers to a companion. Did you see that?! She saw me! And was friendly!

Jesse, meanwhile, moseys through their shanty town, where even subway offices and standstill trains have been converted into homes, labs, a clinic. "We've got about 25 of us down here at present. We're all spread out between here and the rest of the subway into other cities; we've only just settled this homestead kinda recent. Month or two, I think?"

He stops when a much smaller zombie runs over to him, dragging a dirty doll. Once in front of him, she jumps up and down, wanting to be lifted. Laughing, Jesse bends down and obliges, putting the undead girl on his hip. She looks about 10, if one looks past the rot and missing lower half of her face. "Hey, Julie, y'all gonna say hi to our new friend, Blaze? She's gonna fix stuff and make the power work!" The girl gives Blaze a timid wave, then buries her face against Jesse's shoulder, which gets another laugh from him.

"She's shy."

[rekindledtitan]

It's a fair guess that interacting with children hasn't featured much in any of her lives, but seeing the little girl so maimed, that's genuinely unsettling. Her optics widen, then narrow in a concerned frown. There's a moment where all she can think is Light, that must hurt. Jesse sparks some of the same feeling, it's true, but his injuries are less obvious and perhaps less cruel.

Blaze lifts a hand on impulse, as if to touch the child, and then turns it into an answering salute because she really doesn't know the protocol. Which is a weird feeling itself.

"Hey there, little one. It's good to meet you."

[notalldead]

"Yeah. I might spare you that part. Unless you're keen on hearin' dehumanizin' tales of misery." He sighs. Poor Chucklin' Chuck; he was he one who made it back to them and he hasn't been the same since. Nightmares, scared of shadows, the whole bit. Makes Jesse grind what teeth he has left.

"And yeah, for the cult, I think they've completely got a light or two burned out on their string. Friggin' nuts. But their boss, Ms. Cassandra Starr, she's somethin'. She just has this...way about her? People listen to her. Really listen. I think all that there charisma she's got goes a long ways with her people. Not so much the zed, but maybe how they keep so casual when they're walkin' amongst their goldarn 'Chosen Ones'," he makes fingerquotes and rolls his eyes, "the zed don't notice or react to 'em? And why would they care if they were noticed? Then they'd get bit and join their angels! It's all messed-up and there's people joinin' them all the time. Want answers for why this happened to us, I guess. This whole doomsday deal, I mean."

Jesse sighs, leaning back against the wall, staring up at the flickering lights for a moment. Then he turns his head to look back at Blaze. "You got anything like this back home?"

[rekindledtitan]

"I'm not too sure." She leans an elbow on her knees, looking over to where her Ghost is working and vaguely wishing she had something in her hands.

"Right after the Collapse," she says slowly, "that was the time we call the Dark Age. The Traveler had beaten the Darkness back - the real Darkness - but there were still aliens on Earth. Plundering, slaughtering. Humanity was just struggling to survive - there were refugees everywhere, scattered, trying to find any safe place. Just like here. Like you, they formed up into groups. Gangs, tribes, even little kingdoms. There were all kinds of would-be warlords and petty conquerors who set themselves up back then. They promised food, shelter. Safety from the Fallen. The way Lakshmi and the others tell it, not all of them offered safety from themselves.

"But that was before the City. I don't think any of those warlords endured very long. They say there's still a few lost groups out there. Maybe even some cults - that wouldn't surprise me. Even if they weren't to start with, a few centuries in the dark does funny things to people." She shakes her head slowly. "Personally, the only times I've heard chants and sacrifices involving creatures like that- well, it was among worse creatures than some broken humans. I wouldn't mind taking a look at those cultists. Just to make sure it's madness."

[notalldead]

"A few centuries? This went on that long?" He looks a little dismayed. "Shoot, it's been about 3 years here since things fell. And here I am hopin' we find a cure and get society back on track in the next decade." What will he do if it's not found for centuries, long after he's dead? Or worse, is still here? Forced to stay on this earth like the Wandering Jew? Or his whole gang like that, shambling along with nowhere to go, lost like the Tribes of Israel.

"Were you there? Durin' any of that Darkness stuff?"

[rekindledtitan]

"I must have been. For the Collapse anyway. We were all built before that. Somewhere along the way I got killed, and I don't remember anything before. Just hope I took something big down with me." She chuckles, shrugging it off as she looks back to him.

"Hey, you don't have an army trying to tear into you. The zed, sure, but by the sound of it you've got their number. And it's been eight hundred years since the Collapse, but it wasn't so long as that before the City rose and gave people a real sanctuary." She reaches over to clasp his shoulder, firm and sure. "You'll rebuild. Things won't be the same way as they were before, but you've already proved that won't stop you. You'll make it."

[notalldead]

"Killed? Shoot, so you're like me then!" He grins wide, pointing between them. "Were you a robot back then too? Sorry, I keep askin' that. I just-...The idea of people parts gettin' put into robot bodies is a neat idea, y'know?" Maybe one that he likes the idea of personally.

When Blaze grows sincere and actually touches him, Jesse's insides kind of do a weird little flip. Seconds long case of the butterflies. Someone's...actually touching him. And not cringing. Or light and gingerly, afraid of his body or his disease. He looks dumbfounded for a time, staring at Blaze, but then he slowly smiles and covers her hand with his.

"Thanks."

[rekindledtitan]

"Yeah. That's something we've got in common." She'd grin in answer if she could. "Your people and mine. We all start out that way. I'd still be sprouting moss in some old shipyard if my Ghost hadn't found me, pulled me back. But I'm pretty sure I was always an Exo. Never heard of a human who got, uh, switched over. Maybe they could do it back in the Golden Age, though - they must have had the tech."

For a moment she wonders if she's done something wrong when he falls silent. But she means what she said, and she can't immediately see why he's shocked. When he smiles and returns her touch, she relaxes, approval in her tone. She's glad to see him take heart. "Heh. Any time you need a reminder, my friend."

[notalldead]

"So Ghost is like...a part of ya, huh? Like yer soul? Or somethin', sorry if that's a dumb thing to say. Since he seems to have his own little thoughts and actions for hisself an' all. But what happens if y'all are separated? Real big distances? Or one of you bites the big one?" To put it delicately.

He's still got a weird giddy feeling in his guts from that sincere, friendly touch. He can't remember the last time that happened between himself and a someone outside the Rotten. Even if she's metal and therefor immune to anything he could be carrying, it's still a damn nice gesture and warmed his dead heart.

[rekindledtitan]

"It's a fair question," she assures him, giving his shoulder one last squeeze. Plenty of people are hazy on the subject of things like souls, but in her time you don't make fun of people for talking about them. Definitely not Guardians, who get to see souls torn from their enemies' bodies. "We are bonded. It's not exactly my soul, but my Ghost is the one who keeps it safe."

Blaze drops her hand as she turns, looking over to where the smaller bot is hovering over the generator. "I don't know what happens if we get split up. I think sometimes Ghosts outlive their Guardians. Maybe they can find a new one, if they're lucky? But if you lose your Ghost- well. Then you can't come back any more. You get one last death. And it- it's not good."

She thinks of Eris in the tower, mutilated beyond repair, clinging to what broken and tainted Light remains in her. Obsessed. Grim. Possibly corrupted. Worst of all, alone. She shakes her head slowly.

"But I'll give every last spark of Light I have before I lose it. We go, we go together, and make the Dark regret it on the way."

[notalldead]

He nods, grim but smiling. "Damn right. Go down kickin' and screamin' and bitin' and shootin'. Drag every mothertrucker with you that you can." He keeps his language curbed cuz he's in the presence of a lady, after all! "That's how we live here. If people don't wanna respect us as sentient and try to hurt us or our kin, we're gonna respond in kind and a thousand times worse."

He looks towards the maint. closet as well, watching Ghost zip and buzz around, doing some mysterious work on those generators. "He seems like a good egg too. Here he is, helpin' us out, improvin' our way of life. That means a lot with the way our world's gone. Sometimes a kind hand is few and far between." Even more so when you look like the ever-present enemy.

[rekindledtitan]

"They've got to learn better than that. I don't like taking down other humans, but sometimes it's got to be done. There's no reason for your people to get killed again trying to teach them."

At least it's hard to get too grim when Jesse's praising her Ghost. Blaze nods fondly. "Ghosts are something real special. We're blessed to have them."

Hers returns about then, opening a canister of odd, shining crystals and announcing, "All right, I've completed the basic repairs and upgrades. But I need to see those rifle components we collected. I'm going to try and improve the generator efficiency. The current design loses a great deal of thermal energy."

[notalldead]

"Rifle? Thermal? Haha, damn, this here is why I ain't an engineer." He laughs. "I ain't got a clue. I'd be about as useful as an eyeless needle tinkerin' with this kinda stuff. Hey, Ghost, I was just sayin' too," now addressing the littler bot now that he's here, "thanks for all yer help. Means a lot to me and mine when someone's good to us. You've got favours comin' in from The Rotten any time you wanna call 'em. You and Blaze both, y'hear?"

[rekindledtitan]

The Ghost looks up at him, its case expanding and shifting as if to widen its optic. It's harder to read than its Exo companion, but it seems like it might be abashed. "Why, thank you. It's a pleasure to be of help to our friends. And if you ever need any help-"

"Or an extra gun," Blaze chips in, pulling out some electronic components, all glistening clean silver. They're also rather sturdy though, being intended for use in various firearms.

"-Then you only need ask. After all, our worlds are in much the same situation."