I woke up to the sun blinding my face. I slowly sat up and looked around. Tessara was nowhere to be found. Just what I need when I wake up — hide and seek with her dumb ass. I stood up and looked around one last time. Maybe I just missed her?
I scanned the treeline, nothing. Around the water, nothing. Then I looked over by the waterfall.
Guess who's sitting on a rock under the waterfall like a complete moron. I walked over to her, her gear was on a rock on the shore. She was in her shorts and cropped t-shirt in a meditative position, letting the water fall on her head.
"I hope a log falls and hits you."
"Shh! I am concentrating," she said, in a weird voice.
"What?"
"Ugghhh, you ruined it, I was having a good moment of focus."
"What were you even doing?"
"I was meditating like those ninja masters in movies under the waterfall."
"Uh-huh."
"I don't know why they would do it under a waterfall, seems quite dangerous."
"Says the one sitting under the waterfall," I mumbled.
"You should come try!"
"No, I'm good."
"Oh come on, it will be fun!" she said, jumping up and running over to me.
"I said no."
"You might like it though, it could help you relax." She said, starting to pull my armor off. I just gave up, after yesterday I wasn't in the mood to fight her right now.
"Alright fine, only for a minute."
"Yes!", she said, in a deep, but excited voice.
I finished taking off my armor, boots and the rest of my gear. I then followed her under the waterfall, sat down next to her and looked out over the pond.
"You're supposed to close your eyes and sit up straight." She said, pushing my back in with one arm and my chest up with the other.
"There, now close your eyes."
"Fine…" I said, closing my eyes.
I sat there just listening to everything and by everything I mean a waterfall washing over my head. Because that's all I could hear. Although — it did kind of massage the top of my head quite nicely. I continued to sit, and listen to the water rushing around me. I can see why people do it, this is kind of relaxing.
BONK!
"OW! What the hell?" I yelled, rubbing my head. I looked down at the pond and saw a small log floating. Just my luck it would hit me. I looked over and Tessara was gone, again.
I stood up and walked out of the waterfall and back to shore. Once again she was nowhere to be found. I looked all around, when suddenly a small rock fell from the top ridge next to the waterfall. I barely saw Tessara's head peaking over the edge.
"Really? You're playing hide and seek now?"
She laughed mischievously.
"Wait a minute — you put the log in the river, didn't you?"
She immediately stood up and ran.
"Oh, I don't think so!" I said, running up to the top of the waterfall. Just like her to wake up before and bait me into some stupid prank while we're on a time crunch to get back to the city.
She was running down along the river at a full sprint. But she knew she wasn't getting away. I ran after her down the river. She looked back for a second.
"Oh, shit!"
She turned back quickly and tried to run faster, but wasn't gaining any speed.
"Don't you ever learn? You remember what happened last time I chased you?"
"Yeah, but you won't catch me this time!"
"We'll see about that," I said, sprinting harder. I was catching up pretty quickly, but then she took a sharp turn left into the trees. We both had no shoes, but the ground was mostly mud so it wasn't too bad. Except for all the jungle bugs probably lurking in the brush.
Let's not think about that, actually.
It was hard to keep track of her in the trees, especially when I had to worry about breaking an ankle on a tree root or running into a tree.
We crashed through the trees until, suddenly, it opened up into a huge field. Tessara was running straight in front of me. Then she disappeared. I continued to run towards the spot where I last saw her and barely stopped myself from falling in.
I looked down and saw Tessara laying face down in a crater. I slid down into it right next to her. The hole was about seven feet deep, but it had a gradual slope. I looked down at her, "What are you dead now?"
"Nope." she said, pulling my ankles. Making me fall on my butt in the dirt. Then she climbed on top of me and pinned my wrists down.
"Looks like I caught you." She said confidently.
"Um I was chasing you, so how did you catch me?"
"I don't know, but it appears to me that you're one who's caught right now. So technically that's a win for me." She said confidently.
"Well if you wanna go by technicalities, I caught up to you first, so actually I won."
"But you're the one who's caught right now, aren't you. So I win overall."
"You sure about that?" I said, pushing my wrists up and her with them. Then I flipped to the side pushing her with me and pinned her down.
"Now who's caught?"
"Fine." She said, struggling to move her wrists.
After a few seconds of no progress on her end she gave in.
"You win, again" she exclaimed, disappointed.
"Thought so," I said, standing up.
I held my hand out to help her up. She took it and I pulled her to her feet. We climbed out of the crater and then noticed several more. It looked like someone had rigged the place with mines, seeing as there were hundreds of holes about the same size as the one we just fell in. The holes were too scattered and disorganized, so either they weren't from mines, or someone was really bad at burying them.
I looked farther ahead and saw a house. It was small, only one story tall, and not much bigger than two school buses put together.
"What's that?" asked Tessara.
"I don't know."
"Let's go check it out!" she said, running off towards it.
"Tessara, wait—"
It was too late. Her focus was on nothing but the building.
"Ughhh."
I ran after her and caught up right as she made it to the entrance.
The building was covered in overgrown plants and vines of all sorts. The exterior walls had dozens of varied, small holes in the wooden siding. The front door was missing and it was dark inside.
We didn't have any of our gear. Not that I can't fight without a weapon, but we would be at a severe disadvantage.
"Come on, let's go." she said, stepping over the vines in the door frame.
"Tessara, no!" I whispered. "Get back here, we don't have our gear for fuck's sake."
She just continued exploring the structure.
I can't stop her when she gets like this, but I can at least be there to back her up. I walked in behind her.
Beams of sunlight peaked in through holes in the roof, lighting up the ground like miniature spotlights. Dust and particles floated through the air, and the entire inside was wrapped in vines covered in flowers. Most were pink, varying in sizes from about the size of my hand to the size of my entire body. There was old furniture all set up in its typical places — a small living room to our left with an old tv, a couch, and rocking chair. To our right was a small table with two chairs, and a counter which separated the kitchen from the living area. To the right of that was a hall, which I assumed led to bedrooms.
"What do you think this is doing out here?" asked Tessara.
"Why ask me?"
"Who else am I supposed to ask? The chair?" She then turned to the chair and started mockingly asking it what it was doing there.
"Alright, I get it. Who knows? Maybe whoever lived here didn't like people?"
"Come on, that's all you got? What about the holes in the yard? Usually you would know stuff like this."
"Well I'm sorry, but there could be a million reasons why there's a house out in the middle of nowhere, that just seemed like the most logical one, unless they were trying to hide or something." I replied, slightly annoyed.
I started slowly walking down the hall. Tessara was rummaging through cabinets in the kitchen, probably looking for food. She usually won't care what it is, even if it's expired.
The hall was pretty dark, but I could still see well enough not to trip or run into anything. I turned towards the first room, but then suddenly felt the floor buckle underneath me, then give.
I crashed through the floor and hit the ground with a hard thud. The floor was definitely concrete — I could feel it in my tailbone and back. It was an amazing feeling, really great, I recommend trying it sometime.
I gritted my teeth as I stood up and dusted off my butt.
"Are you ok? WHOAAA!" Tessara said, looking down at me. Suddenly, the lights began to flash on and I could see computer screens and command consoles all over the place — along with piles of parts and electronics.
The room was about the size of the house, in the center was a holotable. It was flickering, as if deciding whether or not to stay on. The technology was older, maybe about fifteen, twenty years.
Tessara climbed down using some vines hanging in from the hole. I continued looking around the room. There were still a ton of vines over the walls, with an assortment of the same flowers as the ones on the main floor.
"Look," said Tessara pointing at some of the computer screens in the back left corner of the room. I looked over and saw the same symbol that was on the soldiers on every screen as they booted up. Underneath the symbol, it read Ghost.
"A secret base of theirs?" asked Tessara.
"Unlikely, especially out here, and something this small can't accomplish much of anything."
"Then what do you think it is?"
"I don't know…but what I do know now is we're up against an organization named Ghost."
"Ghost… that's a cool name."
"Yeah sure. Let's look around. We might find something useful."
"Yes, ma'am," Tessara said, saluting me and walking to the opposite side of the room.
I don't know what to do with her at this point, but whatever — just so long as she had my back. I started sorting through some of the piles of parts and electronics. Everything seemed to be broken or so out of date it practically made a wheel look like a technological wonder. My estimate was way off — some of this is easily sixty to a hundred years old.
"Hey Vera! Come here quick, I found something really useful!" She said waving me over.
"What'd you find?" I said, standing next to her now. She grabbed something from one of the piles and pulled it up, partially out of the pile.
"It's a robot arm!" She said, with a proud look on her face. It was a peach color like skin, but most of it had peeled off. It was all worn and scratched up.
"Tessara, how is that useful?"
"Oh, well, I don't know, but it's cool!" she said with a bright smile.
"Yeah, ok, sure. Call me when you find something actually useful."
"So you don't like the arm?"
"Just keep looking…"
"Fine." She dropped the arm in the pile making it collapse.
Then I saw a face.
"No way," I said, walking back towards Tessara. "Quick, move the parts."
We shoveled the random parts aside until we uncovered the body of a full robot. It looked like a little girl, if it wasn't for the unlit open eyes, scratches and wires, you'd think it was one.
"I can't believe it," I said, astonished.
"What?"
"That's a remnant unit."
"A what what?"
"A remnant unit. They were a robotic force used in the second dark war to fight off the magic users. With the loss of millions of soldiers the governments of the time brought their resources together to mass produce robotic soldiers. Since they didn't have the numbers to keep up an army."
"That's so cool! Can we keep it?" She exclaimed with excitement.
I ignored her and continued looking at it, "The project is extremely old. I thought by now they had all been destroyed or retired, but I guess there are a few still lingering around. It doesn't look functional, though."
"See? Told you it was cool."
"Yeah, yeah," I said, brushing her comment off. There was a faint blue glow through a hole in its faceplate. I went to take a closer look.
"Um, hey Vera!"
"What?"
I stood up and turned around face to face with a full grown Tupula, standing about five feet in front of me and about two feet above my head. A Tupula is an arachnid of sorts.
Now that I think about it, this place was covered in vines and pink flowers. Which means we just walked into an entire nest of them.
I froze, because I was so freaked out. Spiders are the only thing that really scare me.
"Vera what do we do!?" she said as it hissed at us, raising its front legs and revealing its fangs. They were about the size of my forearm. Being impaled by a giant fang was not on my to do list today, so I had to think of something fast.
Being in a nest and underground, we were practically screwed. It can run, jump and climb faster than us. There's no escaping, and fist fighting wasn't an option, either.
Suddenly I heard a voice, "Target acquired."
Then a beam shot straight through its face incinerating a hole through the middle of it. It collapsed with a loud thud. Burnt liquid and insides flowed out onto the ground beneath it.
Tessara and I both turned around to see the robot disabling its cannon and it collapsed back into its arm.
"See? I told you it was useful." Tessara said, smiling.
It stared at us intently and stood up. It was a little bit shorter than me and had a number of openings in its skin-like covering. Revealing rusted plating and wires. Its face resembled that of a woman, but broken and torn. I'm shocked it can still function let alone turn on.
Tessara leaned over and started brushing the dust off of her. It was wearing a uniform that was badly ripped with spider webs all over it.
She got most of the dust off and stepped away. I leaned forward and brushed one more clump off her chest and noticed something. A symbol, it was the Ghost symbol.
"Tessara, step back," I said, putting my arm in front of her.
"Wait, it's one of them?" Tessara said, surprised.
"One of what?" the robot said in an oddly normal voice.
"Ghost, you're a member of Ghost." I said.
Its face tightened up and then dropped. Odd expressions for a robot, especially one designed for war.
It put its hands up to its face and started crying. Clear liquid started spilling out of its damaged eye sockets.
Tessara and I looked at each other confused. I didn't think robots could cry. Tessara walked over to it.
"Tessara wait, stay back," I said as she put up her hand, telling me to stop.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Tessara asked, in a calm and slow voice.
The robot sniffled, "It-It's Ghost, I-I'm not with, no I can't be. At least not anymore, not after what they did. They hurt people, nice people, they're bad and I'm not bad. So please don't say that! I'm not one of them, I'm not bad, I don't think. Mother said I'm not bad, but was mother wrong? I don't know, what is wrong?" Its voice started stuttering and buzzed a little here and there.
"Okay, okay, stop," I said, cutting off its rapid downward spiral into existential insanity. "Let's get this clear, are you with Ghost?"
"I don't know, I say I'm not, but this emblem says otherwise."
"Well, do you want to be a part of Ghost?"
"No."
"Then it's settled, you're not a member of Ghost!" said Tessara with a wide smile.
"Ok, well now that we got that out of the way, we could use your help," I said, still skeptical.
"Help? I love helping! Yes, yes how may I be of assistance? It has been a long time since I have been able to assist anyone!" It said, shoving its face in mine.
"For one, back up," I said, immediately pushing it back and out of my face. "And two, what do you know about Ghost?"
"A lot! People, parts, base locations, tactical plans, weapon designs, software systems, prototypes, cafeteria schedule, men's special magazine stashes, whatever that is, also-"
"Okay, I get it, you know a lot."
"Yes, I do!" It said, snapping its arms to its side and smiling wide. Its face twitched a little and several wires fell out of its arm and began sparking. Creepy.
"Wait — before I ask you anything, when was your database last updated with information on Ghost?"
"My database was last updated with Ghost's information, on September twenty-fourth, year five ADW. ADW stands for After the Dark War."
"Yeah, I know what ADW means. Oh jeez, that's just after the first dark war, so five ADW, that's about twenty five years out of date, that's not going to help us."
"Oh, well I'm sorry I cannot be of assistance," it said, continuing to smile.
"What about that computer?" asked Tessara. "Do you think you could use that?"
"Yes, I could, but its database is the same as mine."
"Could you connect to their network from there?"
"I'm not sure, but I can try!" it said, walking over to the multi-display computer. It pulled a connector cord out of its wrist and plugged it into a port into the desk. Its body went stiff and her eyes turned black.
"Is she ok?" asked Tessara
"Yeah, it's fine. That's what happens when they connect to a computer or interface. Their mind, so to speak, enters the interface, so its body is currently just an empty shell."
"Wait, what? That sounds dangerous, is it gonna die? Is her body dead?" Tessara said, in an extremely dramatic but concerned tone.
"No, it'll be fine, don't worry. It was designed that way."
I'm not sure how I feel about the robot yet. I want to trust it, but wanting and actually being able to are very different things — especially since it has a connection with Ghost. Recent connections or not, doesn't matter. Still makes it a liability.
"Database updated. Disconnecting," the robot said in a monotone voice. It began to blink again and turned to face us, "my database has been updated! Although, their security network has been greatly improved. I was only able to obtain a very limited amount of data due to my outdated software."
"That's alright, anything works. Did you get any information on what Ghost is and their role?" I asked.
"The data I collected states that Ghost is a UCG special operations unit tasked with complex, dangerous and volatile situations. A battalion was stationed in Laragoi for Talamite retrieval. They were also tasked with locking down the city of Laragoi, along with isolate and capture individuals with high magic capacities, for testing purposes," its voice stuttered a bit, but then continued, "a battle there has been reported in the record, resulting in many damages to the city and dozens of casualties. The mission was issued by an unknown executive. Unfortunately, I could not identify the individual due to the firewalls protecting the information."
"Damn, okay. Do you know the location in which the Talamite is being delivered to?"
"The database states that the Talamite is to be delivered to Nazul city on the continent of Elegar."
"Yeah ok we know that, we also know it's Artech, what we don't know is which Artech building."
"It states that once the shipments arrive in Nazul city, a secondary team is to be deployed to retrieve the ore and transport it to Artech Tower."
"Artech tower — makes sense. It is their main place of operation in Nazul."
"Also you never told me, what's Artech?" asked Tessara.
"A weapons corporation. It's huge in Nazul city. Most of the factories in the south are Artech. It's one of the main corporations competing for control of Nazul."
"Hey, robot — or wait, is there something better I can call you than robot? Do you have a name or something?"
"A… name? Are you referring to my unit number, or—" it paused mid-sentence as if thinking. "Xarne. Xarne is what I am called!" it said, smiling wide.
"Are you a girl?" Asked Tessara, "cause you look like one."
"I am a remnant. You may refer to me in whatever way you like. So long as it is not derogatory in nature. I do not wish to hear those words again."
"Alright, Xarne, do you think you can set up a comm link from here?"
"Unfortunately, no. There is no communication equipment in this facility. In addition, my internal communication software and parts are damaged and currently unusable."
"Alright, we have no time to waste. We have to count on Eliana and Colt to inform the guild. Let's get out of here," I said
"Right!" Tessara said. "Only one issue, how are we going to get out of here?"
She pointed to the hole in the ceiling where we came through. I looked and saw the vines were missing, and tupulas varying from the size of my fingernail to my chest started slowly crawling into the opening.
"Great. I'm not going near that," I said, my eyes wide with disgust and anxiety.
"What's the issue?" asked Xarne, as she looked up. "Oh, I see. Targets acquired." She whipped out her arm cannon and started blasting the hole.
"We need to get out of here, NOW!" I exclaimed loudly.
"Then fly out," said Xarne.
"What?" I said, almost annoyed at its response.
"Fly out," it repeated.
"I can't fly." I exclaimed loudly.
"You can't? That is quite unfortunate. You humans need some serious upgrades."
"Wait, can you fly?!" asked Tessara.
"Yes, I can also run, and walk, partake in combat, read, write, cook, networ-"
"Yup okay, we get it you can do a lot." I said, cutting it off again.
"Can you fly us out of here?" asked Tessara.
"Yes, I can!" It said, walking behind us and grabbing our shirts. This is not what I had in mind.
"Wait, WAIT!" I said, as it flew off through the hole. My chest was smashed flat, because it also managed to grab my bra straps.
"OOOF." I couldn't hold in a grunt as my chest got crushed by something that's supposed to support it. I might not have a lot of weight up front, but that didn't make it hurt any less. In fact, I think it made it worse.
When I looked over at Tessara, she looked uncomfortable, but not really in much pain. We crashed through the ceiling of the building and into the sky. My leg suddenly started to get itchy and I looked down at it. Staring back at me was a small Tupula, about the size of my hand.
"AHHHH!" I screamed in a high pitch tone. Then I proceeded to slap my leg furiously, sending it back down to the ground. I looked back at the house and the Tupulas were crawling all over and around it. I then looked over at Tessara. She had a deathgrip on Xarne's arm and her eyes were wide with fear. I forgot she doesn't exactly do so hot when it comes to heights.
"Xarne, you see that river?" I said, pointing to the same spot I chased Tessara from.
"River located."
"Ok, go over there and follow it north until you hit the waterfall, then land below it."
"Affirmative," It said, zooming down to the river. In just a few seconds, we landed back on the ground, next to the base of the waterfall. Tessara slowly walked over to her clothes, her eyes still wide, and put her gear back on. I did the same and we walked back over to Xarne.
"Oh I like both of your clothes, the small colors are pretty, like flowers! And I love flowers!" said Xarne.
"Um…thanks." I said. Even though my clothes consisted mainly of black, with a few purple highlights.
"Vera what were those things?"
"They are called Tupulas, they are arachnids that are all green with a pink flower on their butt. They live in forests and jungles much like this one. Instead of webs they grow vine-like roots that cover the ground and detect movement. They like to curl up into a small ball and stick their butts out so they just look like giant flowers. Since most jungles have a wide assortment of both very small and large plants and flowers, they blend in quite nicely. And we just happened to stumble into an entire nest."
"Ok I'll keep an eye out for those now." She exclaimed, shaking as if one was still crawling on her.
I turned to Xarne and looked back at Tessara, "Also Tessara, you're not going to like this, but it's the fastest way back to my bike." She looked over at me with wide eyes that very clearly said "please, no."
At the same time she knew we couldn't afford to waste any time. So aimlessly wandering through the jungle until we found the road was not a viable option.
"Xarne, take us north to the road. Wait, wait, this time please don't grab my shirt. Grab around my waist or something instead please." I said, wrapping my arms around my chest. It felt pretty sore from our last flight.
"Will do!" It said, grabbing my pants from the waist and then grabbing Tessara. They immediately flew up my crotch. Again, not what I meant but it was too late now.
It shot back off straight towards the road, far faster than last time. It only took about thirty seconds to get there. The sun was still pretty high in the sky, meaning we still had plenty of time to make it back to Rubic before sundown. Xarne landed in the middle of the road. Although there was one issue — with my wristech shattered, I had no way of locating it automatically.
"Great…"
"What?" Asked Tessara, kneeling on the ground, staring at it into nothing.
"I have no idea where I left the bike."
"Oh…that's wonderful." Said Tessara, in a monotone voice still staring at the ground.
"Xarne."
"Yes?!" it said, snapping its attention to me, "How may I assist you?"
"Can you help me find my bike?"
"Help you find your bike?" It said, her eyes lighting up, "Yes! Yes I can! Eloq energy locator engaged."
"Eloq energy locator?"
"Yes!"
"What's that?"
"It is an interface that outlines and locates any amount of Eloq power within the user's visible range. It also has the ability to set specific power amounts for more precise methods of locating items and power sources."
"That is actually kind of cool."
"I have located your bike. It is fifty meters to the west."
"That was easy, thanks."
"Of course! Helping is my specialty!"
"Tessara, let's go."
"Ok…" She said, slowly getting up and following while continuing to stare at the ground. I walked over and wheeled my bike out of the bushes and back onto the road. The tire was still busted, making it useless. I had an idea, though.
"Hey, Xarne."
"Yes?! Do you require more assistance?!" It said, moving right in front of me.
"Chill out, but yes, could you move this bike for me?"
"Of course!" It said, walking over to the bike. It then proceeded to grab it and pick it up over her head. Jeez, it's strong, even for a robot.
"Can you actually fly us to Rubic?" I asked.
"Unfortunately no, my thrusters are already near the heat limit, if I continue to use them their already low integrity will decrease and my body will begin to melt."
"Oh, I see, I guess we're back to walking," I said as I looked back. Tessara seemed to have snapped back to reality now. Xarne was in the lead with my bike towering over its head, then me and Tessara. Together, we all began walking towards Rubic city. We had a long way to go and no time to waste. The sooner we get back to Nazul, the sooner we finish this.