Chapter Thirteen – Flick My Switches

Chapter Thirteen – Flick My Switches

“Forest fires are a common occurrence. In some part due to human intervention, but also as a natural-occuring phenomena. Once, we attempted to corral and control them, but now, with the rising risk of antithesis presence in the wilderness and in rural areas, controlling a wild fire is a much greater risk.”

—James “Smokey” Silver, Saskatchewan Fire Chief, 2041

***

“You know, this reminds me of the good old days,” I said.

“The good old days?” Gomorrah asked over a more private channel. It was just the two of us, and I supposed our respective AI. I couldn’t imagine Myalis not snooping in.

“You know, back when it was just you and me, heading out to blow things up and light the world on fire,” I said.

“Catherine, that good old days you’re alluding to was two weeks ago,” Gomorrah said.

I paused in the act of swinging myself into my mech’s cockpit. “Yeah, and?” I asked. “It feels like it was a longer time ago, what with those weeks being pretty busy.” I spun around and crashed ass-first into the pilot’s seat, then I reached over and flicked the cockpit closed–which required flipping a small analogue switch which my studies into repairing the mech revealed was only there because flicking switches did something for people.

I leaned into the seat, then wiggled my flesh and blood fingers, opening and closing them a few times. My skin felt a little… taut? Like it was just a bit too tight, or I was wearing a pair of latex gloves that were too small for me. It wasn’t cutting into my dexterity, but it was noticeable.

The itch was easier to ignore now, though I felt oddly… dirty? I couldn’t wait to take a shower later.

“Do you think that our level of business is normal for samurai?” I asked. There were more flicky-switch toggles to click up or down. Some had little plastic covers that had to be pulled up before I could toggle the switch below. They all made very satisfying ‘clicks’ as I pressed them.

“I don’t think so,” Gomorrah said. “Atyacus?”

A rather snooty voice came onto the coms. “Neither of you will be surprised to note that you didn’t break any galactic records for busiest newest-inducted Vanguard. However, you are both in the top percentile for busiest human Vanguard in terms of hours spent fighting the antithesis compared to hours since induction.”

“Huh,” I said as I chewed on that for a minute. “Top percentile is good, right? Because the last time I heard the word percentile it was with regards to the quality of the orphanage, and it was followed by ‘lowest’ which I think means it was shit.”

“In this case, top percentile is probably not ideal,” Gomorrah said. “But I can’t exactly complain, we had some time off. We might have spent it unwisely, but we had it.”

“Yeah,” I said with a nod as I settled in, hands touching the control sticks at last. “I’m ready to rock over here,” I said. The screens on the inside of the cockpit lit up and I had a one-eighty view of the outside of my mech. A map opened in the corner, and a diagnostics read out popped up in the other with text scrolling through it.

I actually knew what some of it meant now, which was kind of neat. Until I realized that a lot of it was reminding me that the mech needed servicing.

That was a problem for future-Cat.

“Alright, let’s move,” I said.

“About time,” Gomorrah replied. She kicked the Fury up and into the air, and the car came to a hover over my mech’s shoulder. Gomorrah then switched our comms channel to encompass the newbies as well. “Stray Cat and I are heading out to take on an incoming surge. You have until our return to eliminate the antithesis hive here. Make the most of it, but don’t get in over your heads please.”

“Aye-aye, boss,” Crackshot said.

“Oh, bye-bye! Have fun!” Princess replied.

The others acknowledged with a little more professionalism, and Gomorrah turned the comms back to private. “They should be able to reach out if there’s trouble,” she said. “And I left a drone behind to watch over them.”

“You did?” I asked.

“I did. You’re not the only one who can purchase stealthy equipment, you know?”