Jeurridam Ch. 03: The Outskirts

"They're here. They've been washed for you." He said. I opened the door, extending my hand out. He handed them to me.

"You know you could have done all of this back at the Flats right?" He asked.

"Eh..." I sighed, closing the door. It truly was strange how comfortable he could make me feel. I put on my clothes and exited the bathroom. Galveston handed me my my bag with all my electronics neatly placed in it. Upon looking, they were placed in each compartment that I would normally place them in. Considering the back had tons of pockets and compartments, it was very, very odd...

He lead me out of the hospital room and down the hall.

"So, how was life at the A99?" He asked.

"It was ok... Very easy going if you didn't have much work to do. It could get boring really fast but I always had a thing for gadgets and shit so I always had something to do." I responded.

"So no one really showed you how to do anything?" He asked.

"No, it was like I already knew how...strangely. But, I didn't always have to motor skills and they began to develop when I was ten or so. It has something to do with the cybernetic side of my brain. It already had a lot of information in it... I as a mere human had to learn the depths of it." I explained.

"...Kind of like soul searching." He suggested. I looked at him, really liking the analogy.

"In a way." I smiled.

We exited the infirmary, the sight outside being utterly mesmerising. Mounds of colorful junk sat everywhere, televisions, stoves, radios, billboards cars, robots... Thing is, all of it still worked, making a strange bustle to this region of Jeurridam. Galveston walked in front of me with arms outstretched, showcasing this to me.

"Welcome to The Outskirts! It's my favorite part of Jeurridam... magical in a way." He smiled.

"How is this stuff still working?" I asked.

"There is a strange electromagnetic output from deep within this area. It's called the Flux... It scrambles with all my electronics so I tend to not bring anything, only coming for the beauty." He said, continuing to walk forth.

I looked back at the infirmary.

"Why put a hospital in such an odd location?" I asked.

"Who knows...but it's really close to the Flats and considering how everyone who stays in the Flats has to be treated weekly for new injuries, I say it's the perfect location." Galveston laughed.

"Well, you got a point." I said, "Now will everyone be looking at me like I'm some sort of monster when I go there? I mean, technically I didn't do anything wrong."

"Eh, everyone is always brash here. It's all about testosterone... people with brains are a minority." He sighed.

"Ugh, tell me about it! Between my best friend and I, we were the only ones who used our heads for much of anything. Her brother, the boy that was with us the other day, he's as dumb as a box of chalk. I mean some of the things he says...like... Oh my god." I said, truly mind boggled.

"Like what?"Galveston asked curiously.

"He pretty much stated he can't stand me for the way I looked...like that's something I can help about myself." I said.

"Well, that's the kind of bullshit you'll definitely face here. However, I think you can hold your own. You seem as tough as hell...nearly fatally wounded but walking away damn nearly unscathed, two days later? You're damn near immortal, man." Galveston said.

"Who um," I began, "Who did my surgery?"

"Well, my dad took the bullets out of you. One of the nurses stapled and rodded you back up." Galveston said, "Strangely, they said your body was pushing the bullets out of the wounds and already trying to heal when on a normal person, the wound would seal around the bullet and attempt to heal that way."

"I must had gotten shot with a handgun. I would have expected the bullets to pass right through me." I pondered.

"Yeah, June shot you with a nine. He has the best aim of all of us." Galveston added, "And, I'm sorry for shooting your mechs. I didn't know they were..."

"It's fine... I really hate apologies. They kind of dip my head in what I already am forgetting." I giggled.

"Well, point taken." He said, "When was the last time you ate?"

"I don't know... It's one of the drawbacks of being cybernetic. I can't tell when I'm hungry, or dehydrated, or exhausted. Sometimes, I just crash." I responded.

"Really?" Galveston asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I can generally remember when I am not doing anything to mentally strenuous." I laughed.

"Well," Galveston said moving a panel of sheet metal, "That's good to know." He pointed towards a tiny passage. I walked through it, he followed, closing the way behind us. He squeezed past me in the tight quarters, giving me a smile. He continued forward, reaching a metal wall. He tapped it, digging his fingers into some slots. A pressure lock popped and he pushed it open, the metal wall actually being a door.

"This is the back entry to my mechanic's shop." He said.

We were in the Inventory Warehouse, it being far larger than I thought. The rafters had been changed into a living space obviously for Galveston and his father. I couldn't see it in vast detail but it looked very comfortable.

On the other side of the Inventory Warehouse was another heavy metal door. Galveston opened it, the inventory room being connected to a massive garage. It was filled with many Merchant Clan goons. They looked at me, having to pause what they were doing. They resumed, obviously not willing to say anything. However, it was quite clear how they felt. I didn't belong here and I killed several of their own.

Walking through the garage was torturous. I could feel eyes scanning me up and down, trying to figure out what to make of me. I didn't look very threatening now compared to two days ago. Would I become a target to an attack? Would I be subjected to cruelty for the things I've done? Would I be treated with the same kindness Galveston showed me? All these questions loomed in my head.

Galveston led me to the mechs, the Big Daddy laying across several tables put together. The Orbs sat on two tables pressed against the wall. I was so glad to see them. I walked over to the Big Daddy, prying open his torso panel. My father's brain stem was still connected in it's tiny little capsule, perfectly unscathed. The hole that burned through the back of the Mech was three inches shy of destroying the brain stem capsule and making contact with the fission fuel core.

My heart shuddered at the thought. I unplugged the capsule, placing it over on an adjacent table. I then went back and unplugged the fission core. A big sigh of relief left me. I had to sit, this truly being tedious and taxing on me.

"What's that." Galveston asked pointing at both the fuel core and the brainstem capsule.

"The clear thing is my dad's brain. He died a few years back and I made this Mech for him." I responded, "It's an advanced life support system."

"Oh wow," Galveston said, shocked, "I didn't know!" He looked at the hole he had blown into the Big Daddy, feeling deep remorse.

Prying open the chest compartment of the Big Daddy, I saw a grim sight.

"Oh shit..." I sighed, damn near devastated.

"What?" Galveston asked. I reached into the chest cavity pulling out the Leer, the Cyberlope Android. It had partially been destroyed by the shot, most of the electronics smelted.

"Ooooh," Galveston said, knowing this was a big deal.

I quickly whipped out my laptop, connecting the android to it. I was relieved to see that all the encrypted data it stored was unscathed. Again, I gave a heavy sigh of releif.

"Everything is still intact. The poor thing just got ruined though..." I said, deeply saddened.

"I'm so sorry!" Galveston responded.

"Well, it seems we have no choice but to build a complete full scale model," I said, trying to be optimistic, "You have a 3D printer?"

"Yeah, why?" He asked.

"All the electronics I made for these machines were printed from a 3D printer." I said.

"But most of the design you implemented was metal. My printer only can print composites." He said.

"Well now, it seems we must trick out your 3D printer." I smiled.

"Wait you made a 3D printer that actually can print metal?" He asked, further astounded. I pulled up the schematic for my 3D printer on the laptop. I turned it showing it to him.

"Yeah..." I said.

"Oh shit!!" Galveston said, taken aback by the sight.

"I got to um," I began, "I got to review my schematics for my mechs for now which might take days. If you want to build the printer, I suggest we head out now."

"I can do that. This doesn't look too challenging." Galveston said.

"Well," I said picking up the laptop, "Here."

He grabbed it, looking at the schematic meticulously.

"Yeah, I can find this material laying around here in a few hours." He said, "Bones!"

"Yeah, boss?" A very skinny and pasty mechanic, working on one of the damaged buggies from the constant desert battles, said.

"I'm gonna need your help looking for some parts." Galveston said.

"OK." Bones said, placing down his wrench. He walked up the platform to where Galveston and I stood. Bones took one look at me and never made eye contact with me again. He too wasn't pleased I was here. Maybe I had killed someone he was close to.

"Just get the cart and we'll be off." Galveston said, steadily reviewing the laptop.

"Sure thing..." Bones said, unenthused.

The two left the garage, leaving me alone with thirty odd-ish men who didn't at all care for me. Sill though, I had a vast amount of work to do. I reached in my bag, getting my hollowatch out. I placed it on the table and began pulling up the vitals for the Big Daddy. Side by side, I placed the schematics next to it and compared the damaged areas to the areas of the blueprints. Mostly, it was a lot of wires and circulatory parts as well as armor, the speech cog, one of the many gyroscopes and the pitch controller.

Someone came up the platform, slowly pacing around staying just out of sight.

"You built these things, huh?" The man asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"I bet it hurt you a great deal when we shot them up, didn't it?" He continued to ask. It was then and I there I knew not to carry on with this dude. I gave no response.

"It was quite obvious...you went on a rampage, ya know." He persisted.

"I know...I remember!" I said, truly wishing he'd stop bothering me.

"Well how do you think it felt when you killed some of our own?" He asked, suddenly coming into view. I didn't recognize him, but he was striking.

He was very well groomed, his black hair slicked back over his head. He wore thin glasses that made his rather piercing eyes all the more menacing. They were a very cold blue. His nose and lips were very thin and chiseled sharply, maintaining the hardened appearance. And like mostly everyone else, of course he was much taller than me being at least six feet.

"I don't care..." I sighed.

"Of course you wouldn't. But seeing as actual lives were lost that we never can get back versus your mechs, which can easily be repaired..."

"My dad was in this mech," I said pointing to the Big Daddy, "And that shot came three inches close to ending him forever. If you really want to know, that's why I went on the rampage. At the time, I thought he was truly gone..."

"So," The man said, walking over to the capsule, "This little glass thing is your dad?"

He picked it up, inspecting it in his hands.

"Put it down..." I demanded.

"How'd you feel if I dropped it?" He teased. I grew more and more on edge.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked.

"Because, you took several of our own yet you're still here...this," He said looking at the capsule in his hands, "...Is still here."

"I didn't hurt anyone until I had to. When I first came for the Android, I exercised extreme restraint with you all! I didn't even injure any of you! But when you came for me, you shot my mechs...Yeah, then it was time to not give a fuck about restraint. Everything that happened up until this point...I have BEEN PUSHED TO IT!" I said, growing less tolerable of him.

"Oh, so we're the bad guys because we chased you down for stealing from us?" He asked.

"I didn't steal from you. The Leer was mine and was stolen from me... I even gave you all twice what it was sold to you... You know what. I don't have to explain shit to you. I have work to do... I'm sorry I killed some of your crew but, you all shot at me first. But I'm not sorry for retaliating." I sighed, "Now let this be the end of this discussion...and please... put my father DOWN!"

"Relax dude," The man said, "I'm not gonna drop it." He placed it back on the counter and left, "I'm only fucking with you man. And, since we're apologizing and shit...Sorry I shot you."

He walked away, hands in his pocket as he returned to his perch across the garage. So this was June, the sharp-shooter Galveston's father described.

"Wow..." I chuckled to myself, getting back to work. It was not just detailing the specific parts that had to be replaced. I had to figure out what sockets were damaged, what wires and circuits needed to be replaced and how these parts should be routed back into the chassis of the Big Daddy. Not only that, but I had to do the same for the Orbs.

One was functionally destroyed, the only things working on it was the wings and flight components. Hell, even the flight cog was intact. The main computer, storage devices, optical sensors, auditory sensors, depth cogs, graphical rendering processors, ISP and the entire motherboard took a hit. Also, the thirty milimeter cannon as well as the mini array of tack missles were in pretty good shape.

It gave me quite the idea. Maybe I could put the wings and flight components on the Big Daddy, increasing it's mobility. Much like the ceramic coated rare metal blades that could float freely, the wings were made out of the same material. When a charge ran through them, they were able to reverse gravity, warping it enough to make a vacuum on the underside of the wing. This vaccum made the pressure on the topside of the wing less than the pressure underneath the wing, causing not only lift...but thrust.

Considering the time it would take to fix the Big Daddy and the Orb that suffered less damage, I might as well. I could melt the extremely damaged Orb down and build a full sized, fully functioning Leer Android. I could also put the spare thirty millimeter cannon on it, hell even the missile array. The possibilities were endless, truly.

I then began redesigning the Big Daddy and the Leer Android schematics to fit the new equipment. It took hours of careful rerouting of power supplies and vital sensors, but knowing the benefits, it'd be more than worth it. During that time, Galveston and Bones had returned with several tons of spare metal.

Everyone looked on, surprised. Even Bones looked on, unsure what all of this was for. Galveston, still holding my laptop, ran up the platform to me.

"You designed this printer yourself?" He asked.

"No, my dad did." I said. He looked at the the projected hollogram, the images taking his breath away.

"Whoa, this is what you're gonna do?" He asked.

"Yeah...I might as well." I said back, "Do you have a silicon machine?"

"Yeah, but..." He said unsure if it would be to my standards.

"If it can make twenty four by twenty four chips down to five nanometer dies then it's more than enough." I said.

"Well then, you're good." He laughed.

"Ok," I said popping my knuckles, "One last question...where do you smelt your metal?"

"That's my job!" Someone on the floor level said. He ran up the platform.

"Zanir, this is Swish! He's our leading metalsmith. Anything you show him, he can forge down to the tiniest detail." Galveston said.

"Well, hi there." I said, reaching to shake his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Zanir..." Swish said, looking at me intently, "What's like...your background?"

"I'm Illisian." I chuckled.

"Whoa, you've come far! How is life over there?" He asked.

"I don't know I never've been. I'm from Canada." I laughed, "Vancouver actually, but I'm trying to get to Labrador."

"Well, if you can manage to fly there, that's a twenty seven hundred mile flight. But on foot, you're looking at over four thousand miles. You got a long trek, sir." Swish laughed.

"Yeah, it's kind of daunting. But," I began, picking up my watch, "You see this?" I pulled up the schematic of the massive 3D printer. He held up two fingers.

"Two hours..." He said.

And he was right. He constructed the frame for the 3D printer in less than two hours, in fact, one hour, fifty six minutes, twenty two seconds. Not only that, but it was constructed with some damn solid accuracy too. Now what was left was the circuitry and wiring. All I had to do was hook up my laptop to Galveston's silicon machine and let it build the chipsets. That would take about forty five minutes of laser etching and automated soldering.

In that time, I had set up the wiring, placing it in the necessary grooves needed to power the electronics. However, I couldn't quite reach the nine foot high lintel. Wasting no time, I climbed the structure with the wire in my hand, reaching the lintel. I scooted across it, upside down until I was able to get upright. I stood on the inch and a half wide lintel, routing the wiring through it. I lept down, not too pleased I had to do the other side.

Just as I was about to climb up again, Galveston brought me a ladder.

"Oh.." I said.

"Yeah, we have one of these." He said, jokingly. He held the ladder steady as I climbed it. I pulled the remaining wiring through this side of the lintel. Now all that was left was to build the crane motor, the optics and the composite chamber. That would definitely take all night and indeed it did.

Even when the garage was empty, Galveston, Bones, Swish and I stayed to put the finishing touches on the 3D printer. The reservoir was filled with scrap metal, plastics and composites. It was time for the first print sample. With my laptop connected, I prompted the machine to print off a tiny metal statue of a horse. It was a tense few seconds as the machine initialized. When it began printing, we were more than ecstatic. I cheered out, collapsing to the floor in both relief and exhaustion... Well, I was already on the floor, I just pretty much laid down and looked at the ceiling.

"I can't believe it's actually printing metal..." Galveston said astonished, watching the machine ooze tiny spheres of molten metal, fusing them together to form the bass of the statue.

"This is going to save us so much time," I sighed, "I pretty much just got to print off the new components and dismantle the old drones."

"So will that be easier for you?" Galveston asked.

"No, just quicker. I have no less work to do though..." I said, still daunted by the matter.

"Eh, that's some dedication..." Swish said.

"You have no idea what all of this means. I have so much to do apart from building, alone." I laughed.

"Well if it makes a difference, I'll try to help where I can." Galveston said. It felt odd considering he knew very little about my actual motives. Either he was incredibly off, incredibly naive or incredibly nice. Maybe he had his own motives. I couldn't quite be sure.

"Hell I can use more help than that..." I sighed, "Dismantling the mechs will be no easy feat."

"I know nothing about machines..." Swish said.

"Me either..." Bones responded.

"I only know one person who can help..." I said.

"Who?" Galveston asked.

"Beth... But lets not mention to her that I got shot. She's crazy as fuck, man." I laughed.

"You two seem like quite the friends..." Galveston noted.

"Yeah, she pretty much was my only friend. She's the only one who ever bothered to care about me so I repaid her the only way I know how. I taught her everything I know." I added.