Metalized Dusk

A knock on a metal door beat once, twice, and only the third attempt was acknowledged. Usually, it was done to wake up the prisoners, but most of them rose before the jailer knocked; the first cell hosted a girl at the end of her morning training session and basic gear maintenance. “A polish here, a scrub between the metal spaces there does a lot to keep the military-grade prosthetics up and running for a long time”, she mumbled joyfully.

-“Yeah, yeah, in a second you walking cheesegrater”, replied the prisoner in an irritated screech.

-“Melina, my girl, you’re becoming predictable. You used that insult a month ago”. The jailer then moved to another door, where she greeted a giant man, transfixed in his meditation. “ Fabius, we leave in two minutes.”

A metallic mask sealed everything from the nose down, and he could only talk through an incorporated speaker, but only when given permission. Since he got captured, though, his off button for the speaker couldn’t be pressed anymore and he regained the reign of his cords once again.

-” Good morning to you as well, miss Angie. I hope today’s lesson will be kept in that lovely meadow again.”

Strange sounds came from the last cell, but the jailer knew it was nothing to worry about. Unlike with the other two, she casually opened the door and crouched next to the prisoner’s bed. A woman slept soundly in it, with her long ash hair covering most of her brown-skinned face. Her loud snores from the bad sleeping posture irritated the jailer, but ever since the same hibernating inmate transformed her into a cyborg, Angie found she had way more options about her body: like being able to shut her ears off with no problem.

Angie poked the deep sleeper, slowly increased the luminosity in the room, and nudged a couple of times, but nothing. Then, by editing some recordings, mimicked the voice of one of the prisoner’s old colleagues and commanded her to get out of bed.

-” Ew, Robert?”, cried out in terror Priya, checking her quarter for the imagined intruder. To her delight, she found herself back in the cell. “ Oh, have I overslept through another round of alarms?”

-” Yap, but that’s fine with me. At least you're sleeping soundly now”, replied Angie. “ Now, prepare yourself and get ready to move. We’re having a meeting with the others.”

…

A giant robot has been toiling since the crack of dawn in a field, gently tying small twigs sprouting from the ground to a thin string. He took his time with each of the ties, taking much care not to crack any of the berry branches. “ And…done”, said Billy out loud to himself. He slowly raised his foot, moved to the next plant, and repeated the motion until he reached the end of the patch.

-” Heeey! Good morning Billy!” From the other end of the field, another metallic being could be seen approaching, carrying two people in his palms. On one sat the boy who cried the greeting, an energetic and impatient one, who couldn’t wait to be carried a few more meters and jumped down from the hand. A few meters later after he started losing balance; his left organic hand became heavier than his thin prosthetic over the years.

The other passenger jumped after him just in time to catch the boy before he could fall. They then grabbed him by the artificial limb and helped him keep a straight line.

-” Heh, heh, thanks Four-Two. I almost tasted the dirt again.”

-” Tsz, you’ve become quite reckless lately, Semil. Is that burn on your face not enough of an injury? Maybe add a black eye to the collection?” the pale friend admonished the boy.

-” Ohh, that could be cool actually. We can use some paint to draw a dark circle around your eye. And on Billy too! ...matchies”, he exclaimed in a breezy tone.

-” No way, I don’t wanna look like a panda! Billy, help me out here…are you definitely, 100% sure you can’t farm some sense?” asked the tired clopy.

-” He he…what’s a panda?”

Billy felt put on the spot, and after pondering for a moment, he waved his palms to and in from his chest in a V shape to signal that it was impossible. “...For now, though”, he added while rubbing his chin. After he addressed the one who carried them: “ Oh, right, thanks for bringing them, Vivar.”

-” My pleasure. But you know that’s not the only reason I came here. The invitation is still open, Billy, you could join us in the meeting if you want…” The mechanical knight waited for the other to say something, but still, he already knew the answer from his long silence. “ He will give another bashful excuse, followed by promises of thinking it through and so on; Huh, alright. I’ll stop bugging you, but just be prepared; Savan will drown you in messages again.”

-'' Oh, is Savan coming over?” asked the boy excitedly, to which both Billy and the clopy turned their attention to Vivar.

-” Can’t say, to be honest. Possibly, though, if their schedule allows them.”

Four-Two then checked a device strapped to their hand and scrolled through tens of posts before giving up. “ Hey, Billy…wanna join their classes? That way you can see Savan more often…”

The cyborg grabbed some shovels and gave one to each of his friends. “ Thanks, but we’ve got our own job to do. And so do they. Vivar, greet everyone for me, will you?”

-” Sure, no problem kid. See ya later.”

…

A couple was browsing around an open bazaar, checking the wares, and some of the new products, and overall having a nice stroll. Some of the merchants immediately recognized the two and started attempts to woo them with their products.

-” Look at this, actual vegetables! We’ve got brown ones, we’ve got red ones, we’ve got all kinds of juicy vegetables!” The man checked them out attentively, looking for spots or od smells; all for show though, as he had no idea what he was supposed to look for. Still, he bartered with the seller and shared a tomato with his girlfriend.

The couple’s stroll brought them to an alleyway the girl wanted to check for a while. It was poorly lit, and a short breeze always blew around there, but the dry and sheltered environment was perfect for these wares: Old and new, broken or working computer parts!

-” Catch me, Chirani, for I might faint and die peacefully right here and now”, exclaimed the girl just from the first sight of the alley.

-” Yap, I figured that one darling. That’s why I brought with me my ace: emotional bribery. If you can contain yourself, I swear I’ll try out your new, special, virtual program tonight.”

The girl quickly turned around, almost whipping a bystander with her red hair. Her eyes were gleaming with joy at the proposal, and she immediately swore to try and keep her head cooled down. “ Besides, I’m here for work after all. Working with Sovereign and Priya on expanding the local network to another sector ain’t an easy task, let me tell you. People want their damn wirelesses, you know.”

-” Yeah…but still, think about it. Four years and the settlement is still growing like this. It’s a bit overwhelming, right?” he half-laughed at the prospect.

-” Right…but there’s still the topic we’ll discuss today at the meeting. I don’t mind getting spoiled, by the way. You can tell me what your scouts found out now.”, she said while comparing the two parts.

Chiranis sighed and felt the pressure rising from the belly to his chest. He wasn’t thrilled that he might be the only one with bad news that day. “ Not…great. Holes and signs of diggings from here to the County. They are trying to reach something deep underground. And we both fear the same thing, right?”

The girl waited until they were more alone, but the traffic was too high for that. She just nodded and the two walked in silence until she found what she was looking for. A small warehouse, filled with units and small screens.

-” Jackpot!”, she remarked.

The owner, after noticing them browsing around, greeted the two with a small smile. He was wary of any customer, as he got robbed more times than his robotic fingers could allow.

-” Hello. I hope you don’t mind, but all of the wares are no longer available for touch. If you want to check something, please let me know.”

-” Sure, no problem, we understand”, replied Chiranis who noticed that his partner’s mind was no longer in the room with them. She started making a mental list of parts and pieces from what was on display. The man then transferred a list to the shop owner and asked him if he had anything from there.

-” Yes, yes, we’ve got this. But this is a large, LARGE order. Don’t mind me asking, but how can I be sure that…”, he then stopped, trying to figure out how not to sound too rude.

-”...won’t be robbed?”, asked the girl who just got out of her trance. “ I think my name will help clear out this situation. Just deliver them to Syna Ru’dev, at my workshop. We can even barter for half in advance.”

…

A tired person was spinning around in a desk chair, waiting in an empty room, enjoying the time they still had for themselves and with a cup of tea. Their serenity, though, quickly came to an end when the door was opened wildly with a kick. A silver woman with a mohawk was dragging behind her the still-asleep prisoner.

-” God damn it, Priya, still insisting on being handcuffed everywhere we go! Here, take a damn seat”, he growled while dropping the former CEO in a chair. “ Morning Doc.”, added Angie while connecting a cable to a plug in her shoulder.

-” Right. Morning”, responded the pale doctor. “ I can already tell how Priya is doing, but what about you Angie? Is the energy consumption a problem like before?”

She replied, swinging her palm from left to right.

A moment later the couple, together with a sphinx-like metallic being entered the fray as well.

-” Hey guys”, greeted Syna.

-” Mornin”, added Chiranis.

-” Good morning”, said monotonously Sovereign. Then they repeated themself, this time with a forced, higher pitch. “ Was..was that better?” they asked the couple.

-” A bit wooden, but it’s a good start.” said the girl encouragingly. “So, we’re only waiting for our little guide and their knight?”

Before anyone could reply, the last two figures entered the room, each of them immediately greeting everyone with a high-spirited- “ Good morning everyone!”.

The knight then hid his face from the intense embarrassment he felt. Savan patted him on the knee, then addressed the room.

- “ So, what stupid stuff happened this week?”