The guardsmen hopped in their vehicles and drove away from Kaito, heading further down the road. Past the houses and markets towards an industrial zone.
Large machinery was assembled, broken down and sorted into tiers. The zone contained an open field of rotten, old and broken down metals, machines and even old cores.
Near the entry, a man hopped out of his storage van. He walked past scattered tinkers and coils of wires to a one story building bearing a sign that read,
"The Emble".
The man walked in and saw an older man sitting behind a desk, reading and signing documents. The older man glanced up at the stranger.
"Are you Dakari?" The stranger asked.
"Yep", Dakari said, dropping the papers down on the desk.
"What do you have for me, or what do I have for you?"
The stranger, wearing a messenger bag, handed him a small but compiled stack of documents.
"Here is the list of things needed, as well as some items to be discarded here", the postman said.
"Great, I love dealing with more paper", Dakari said with a chuckle, his expression tired.
ZIP!
"Shit!"
Both men turned to see a boy sitting behind a boarded up desk, facing the door and the men. He raised his head , shaking his fingers.
The boys wore a worn face shield. Noticing the men staring. He took it off.
"Yes?", the boy said.
"Uzoma, take this and see if we have them ready." Dakari said. "Then load them on the hydraulic mech and strap it to the man's vehicle, yeah?"
"Sure do!", the boy said, taking the face shield off and pushing himself upright.
He tried to balance himself, taking a few cautious steps before finding a rhythm, then grabbed his toolbelt from the desk.
The postman's eyes traveled down to Uzoma's feet upward. Two boot shaped metal feet that seemd to pull the boy down with their weight like an anchor.
Pipe like ankles, thickened into what looked like knees, complete with hydronic strings that enabled motion. Though the man could sense the immense weight,slowing Uzoma's speed. Finally, between Uzoma's upper knees and lower thighs was an attachment connecting the mechanical apparatus to his body.
By the time the postman's gaze reached Uzoma's face, the boy was already within arm's reach.
"I can take these", Uzoma said with a smile.
The man snapped out of his daze and handed over the list to Uzoma.
"Thanks!" said Uzoma, then headed out into the scrapyard.
The postman still wore a shocked, pitiful expression.
"I wouldn't have him work here, if he wasn't capable", Dakari reassured the man.
He filled two mugs with hot caffeinated brew.
"Hope you aint in a hurry", handing one mug over.
The steam ascended from the mug, the heat reaching the man's face. "Might be here for a while".
The man looked at the mug, unable to refuse. He took it, and sat in the chair beside Dakari's.
Dakari pulled a long, rifled shaped object from his front vest pocket. He placed the tip on his mouth, then flicked his left index finger against his thumb. A small flame sparked from his thumb, igniting the end of the bronco.
One inhale, offers it to the man.
The man declines, sipping his mug instead.
Dakari exhales a plume of smoke.
"Now", Dakari exclaimed, taking the bronco out from his lips.
"Yall have been ordering more often than usual, what's up with that?" he asked before taking a sip.
…
Outside, Uzoma strutted past scraped vehicles and medium sized shuttles toward the inventory hold, repeatedly reading the list out loud.
"Rudders, extractors, transmissions," he said, then let out a huge sigh.
"We gonna need more people scrapping their shit parts, if the ole man is gonna keep his
yard runnin". He chuckled to himself.
He arrived at the front gate, strolled to the right side to a hidden compartment, and revealed a control module. He pressed the sequence in a coordination he could've done with his eyes closed.
A faint pressure released, the gates opened, and Uzoma stepped inside the massive space, scaled far above him. He reveled at the sight, a habit that had only grown stronger since he came to Awdal.
Inside the unit, a hydraulic mech stood on a launch pad, one foot above Uzoma. Wires snaked out from below, connected to a table sized module. Small screens showed battery levels and system installments.
Below them were numerous buttons and three levers.
Uzoma pushed the command to deactivate charging mode, then pulled one of the levers. The hydraulic mech lowered, he detached the wires.
It stood 10 feet tall, with wheels the size of a young teen, though Uzoma had grown taller since then.
He sat on the control seat, positioned behind a long platform with borders along the edges. To the side were massive blocks, spanning from the control seat to the front plate.
"Aright!" he said, activating the mech. He took out a face shield, placed below the controls, then drove off to the yard at a speed clearly violating its intended functions.
He soared across the field, then slowed down, activating the blocks on its arms. Converting them into gauntlets with 4 fingered claws.
Once formed, he began picking the parts marked on the list onto the platform.
Drifting and driving in an exciting frenzy, a blissful breeze poured on Uzoma. He felt every button, sensing the gears and mechanical parts shift into place with every command from his fingertips.
"WOHO!", he yelled out.
He marked off each part, until he stopped at the last.
"Cores?", he stammered.
"He must've missed the large sign that says, Terminal 5."
He steered the mech toward the large piles of grey stones, laid in a separate, fenced area with an open entry.
Inside the fenced area, Uzoma maneuvered the claws to the pile to collect the greystones.
The open claws fell down, closed, and as they lifted, the greystones crumbled into glowing dust, floating in the air before setting back down.
Uzoma drew the claw forward, holding it above his head. It was so close he was able to stand up and graze one of the metal fingers with his own.
He softly rubbed the residue between his fingers. Watching it glimmer in the setting sunlight.
Uzoma sat back down and pondered for a while. Then his eyes opened, a grin formed.
"Sorry, ole man. Might have to mod the functions again."
He turned the mech, his back directed to the pile of grey stones. On his right side, he took the ladder down and walked to the trunk next to it.
He opened the trunk. Half the space was taken by a reactor with three cores attached, slowly blinking. Next to it was a panel with small switches and an attenuator.
He pulled out his modifier, a rectangle plate with a screen covering half it, and two wires. He connected one of the wires to the reactor core, and the other to an outlet, both linked to his modifier.
BOP! BOP! BOP!
The modifier connected, Uzoma turned the attenuator down, his mod screen showing negative digits.
He flipped a switch on the panel and the mod. A green light flashed on the mod. The core's blinking stabilized into a steady glow.
"Might do the work," he said as he climbed back up and set the gas lever to third max level.
The heat from the sun quickly evaporated quickly off the thrusters.
"Come on", he stammered, pushing it on the second max level.
A sonic sound grew slowly as blue plasma shone out, frost blowing out from the vents.
"Dont blow, dont blow, don't blow," he prayed, covering his face.
The sonic sound fell silent.
He kicked the control panel.
A large hum kicked in, and a great cold phasma shot out onto the pile, freezing everything solid.
Uzoma tried to hold his upper body steady as his legs anchored him to the floor.
He then attempted to pull the lever back, but it was stuck, just as he'd half expected.
He stopped covering his face, put both hands on the lever,and with all his strength, finally wrenched it back. The reactor spat out sparks, killing two cores in the process.
"Shit!" he said, letting out a huge sigh as the cold mist cleared. Revealing a compact block of frozen old cores.
After fixing the reactor and salvaging only one core, he used the claws to pick up the frozen block and set it with the rest of the materials, then headed back to the office where two men have their conversation.
….
Dakari put his cup down and turned his body fully toward the man.
The stammered man held his own cup as Dakari stared him down for a response.
"Haha, Well.." the man finally muttered.
"The higher ups, I guess, don't want to waste any more materials, especially since it's been harder and harder to extract from recent attack sites". The man looked down at the cup and took a reluctant sip.
"Don't want to waste, huh", Dakari said between his puffs.
"What's the point of having big metal men fighting off our natural predators if they can't secure the sites?"
"Well, you must understand," the man countered. Wondering if he'd angered the old man.
"It is perhaps not as easy as you think."
Dakari smiled, shaking his head. Shifted his gaze to the window behind the man.
"After how long we have waged war against these giants, wouldnt the smart-pants upstairs have come up with a way to get rid of them?" He stated more than asked.
"Sorry, sir, im no expert", the man answered the nonquestion.
"I don't blame you," Dakari uttered, not changing his gaze.
"Say boy, how does it feel to be allowed entry through the Terminals?"
The man froze mid sip. He took a gulp and responded.
"I didn't have much expectation for the work. It's just loading and offloading carriages to their respective destinations. But I would lie if I said I didnt't enjoy it."
Dakari shifted back to the man. The man looked at his cup and continued.
" I have never left Awdal, nor my Set, but I guess it's nice to be able to atleast get paid travel. At the start, I was terrified of going through the Terminals. The Aardvarks sniffed my van for the first time. I almost spoiled my pants" He chuckled at the end, looking back at Dakari with a happy, yet slowly unsure face.
Dakari looked back, and then smiled.
"You know, " Dakari uttered. The man prepared eagerly.
"If you love your job, you will never work a day in your life", Dakari said.
The man finally released his nervous tension.
"Especially when you have the best office view, Am i right".
They both laughed.
HMM!
A great hum echoed, catching both men's attention. Then a sonic sound rippled through the air.
"For the ole gods' sake, today's youths!" Dakari said irately, getting up and heading outside.
The man followed eagerly behind him.
They both exit the office into silence.
"What was that?!" The man chanted.
"Hopefully not another dead core".