Jeurridam Ch. 10: Dredge Valley

"This isn't too encouraging. If they have that type of tech this close to Jeurridam then I should not be here! I really need to be on the road..." I responded, not really wanting to leave yet.

"It may be best for you." Heaven said, truly hating this fact.

"God, I don't want to go. I'm gonna have to lay low for a bit I guess..." I responded, "Not leaving Area 51 anytime soon."
"But Alistair requested you come as soon as possible, like it's urgent..." Julio said. The very idea of seeing Alistair truly made me tense up with fear. Meeting with him couldn't possibly end well for me.

"No..." I said, shaking my head.

"No?" Heaven asked, surprised.

"Alistair isn't upset with you over what happened. I promise you! Just go see him! Things are tight right now and he may need help..." Julio said.

"Ugh, everyone needs help!!!!" I sighed, growing frustrated, "It'd just be so hard to look at him."
"Well take Big Daddy..." Julio responded. Zeek looked at me, smoldering me with those honey colored eyes.

"Go..." He said. I rolled my eyes summoning Big Daddy before walking out of the facility. The sentinel met me there before scooping me up and flying off.

We arrived in the Merchant Flats within fifteen minutes. My eyes were dry as hell from traveling at nearly three hundred miles an hour. Big Daddy landed, every Merchant gang member coming to admire the supersized cyborg. We both entered the shop, it chocked to the brim with buggies and mechanics. At the top of the platform was June, Beth and none other than Alistair. I rushed over. Beth looked at me, not pleased at all.

"I told you not to do anything stupid..." She snarled.

"Whaaaa?" I asked, not quite sure what she was talking about.

"Bruh, word travels fast. We know what you did..." June said, equally as unpleased.
"About Da Lagon?" I asked.

"What else?" Beth retorted.

"And you did it without me...?" June asked. Hell I figured that's why he'd be upset.

"I'm sorry. I needed to do it for my sanctity," I said shaking my head, "It had been a thought on my mind and it was just... so... bothersome..."

"What were you thinking?" Beth asked, just so pissed with me.

"Well, revenge, justice, just to getting rid of the Da Lagon nuisance and... that's about it, I guess..." I responded, not thinking much of it.

"I was going to ask you for help anyways but seeing as you took care of that within twenty minutes, I don't know what to say." Alistair said looking up from his computer. All I could see was a middle aged version of Galveston, just incredibly hard to look at. Words couldn't even come out, "I knew it'd be hard for you to come here. I didn't think you'd come as soon as you did." Still though, I couldn't speak. My eyes just darted around as a million thoughts flooded my head.

"Yeah, its hard for him..." Beth said, in my aid. She could tell words were hard to find right now. To be quite honest, I was terrified.

"Well, I got some news for you. Early this morning, the manticore mechs came back and fell into the network hack trap you and Galvy set. Now they're lying all over the city, disabled." Alistair said.

"Um..." I began, having to muster up quite a heap of courage, "That's good. That means the remaining turrets are safe from attack."

"Yeah. I wanted to talk with you, Zanir." Alistair said. My heart sank to my stomach. It was made all the more worse when June and Beth left me alone with the big brooding man.

"Okay?" I said, quite nervous.

"I bet you thought I'd blame you for Galveston's death, like you were somehow responsible. Well, I don't. The reason I condoned of you two together was because of what I saw in you! I saw a kid forced to live out his life to conform to what others wanted and when he broke free, the freedom was just an overload. And quite frankly, I think you're overloaded. I called you here today to tell you to get the fuck out of Jeurridam while you can! There's nothing else for you here! To the west of us is a force unlike anything we've seen in centuries and I think you're in serious danger... The stunt you pulled today has everyone talking all over Jeurridam. No one knows it was you except us. Flying blades, hooded woman? I mean you're not a woman but everyone thinks it was." Alistair said.

"I can't leave! I still got things I need to fix here, the turrets for the matter! I have to synthesize the acid for my mechs. And I have that," I said, pointing at the manticore lying in stasis on the table, "To repair..."

"Exactly... You're overloading yourself because you've found freedom! I'm telling you this from the place of a person who's been where you've been! Run! When the Revivalists come, there will be no stopping them. There'll be nothing I can do. Beth won't be able to help. My boys won't either." Alistair advised.

"I understand your concern, sir. But I just can't leave something unfinished that I started. Not to mention, I feel that finishing these things will be crucial to the success of my mission." I responded.

"Fine... you were warned." He said, walking away. It left me with a lot to think about. Of course every word he said was true. I should have left as soon as the Leer was finished but I couldn't. I had too many things on my mind, too many things I wanted to solve and the number one thing bothering me was that vault in Dredge Valley.

Beth and June made their way back up to platform.

"You know, he's right you know. You should leave." She said. I looked at the manticore lying motionless on the table, running a finger across it.

"I can't quite yet. I'm gonna need this guy." I said.

"Why?" Beth asked, not understanding.

"I'm gonna be traveling across four thousand miles of open country alone... I'm going to need all the support I can get." I responded.

"Okay, but the more time you waste, the more danger you're in." Beth said.

"Yeah after what Julio and Heaven told me, I think you should go before something happens. That's too close to home, Zanir." June added.

"All of you are right but I'm not leaving until I fix what I want to get fixed." I responded.

"That's fine! We'll be right with you along the way... Just don't do anything else stupid, anything else that could possibly draw attention to you. We already have been quite careless..." I sighed.

"I actually..." I began, "Came across something I think you might be curious about."
"What?" She asked, almost reluctantly. She knew this was going to be crazy.

"There's a vault in Dredge Valley. It's recessed, hidden behind a thicket with a very deep retaining pool in front of it. The cliff walls around it are very, very steep making it nearly impossible to get to without coming close to the water. And there are quite a few mers in the pool. Its strange because as hot and dry as it is, there's no valid reason for there to be a pool there unless it's connected the Bay of Vegas which I believe it is. Something is going on there..." I explained.

"Wow, you found a vault. There are tons of vaults in Jeurridam... Why exactly are you telling me this?" She responded, not at all enthused.

"...Because something's up and I want to know what." I said.

"Okay, worst case scenario. What if it's Revivalists shit and you get killed for trespassing?" June said, trying to get me to think.

"If my vitals go offline for whatever reason, Big Daddy and the Leer will make the trip to Labrador without me. I've thought it through... a bit." I smiled.

"But we don't want you to go offline! We want you to finish what you started and fricken save the world from retards like the Revivalists... We don't want tyrants like that taking over." June responded.

"I'm well aware of the life risks. I just simply don't care... I've done what I needed to do, mostly anyways," I said looking back at the manticore, "Just wanna see every nook and cranny of Jeurridam before I leave..."

"Zanir," Beth said, looking at me with concern, "Have you lost it? You're never this wreckless, this carefree! You're always methodical, cautious, thinking of everything."
"I still think of everything, the little details and variables! I just don't see the point of being cautious or methodical when I can lose any and everything at any given moment... I just don't want to burden myself with those kind of expectations again. Shit like that hurts..." I responded. Beth looked at me, sympathy pooling in her eyes.

"Awe," She said coming in for a hug, "I know it hurts to have lost him..." I quickly squirmed away from here, looking at her menacingly.

"Didn't I tell you we're not talking about it?" I said sharply. It left her hanging cold as I made my way out of the garage.

Truly it was hard to deal with. Hell I didn't even know how to deal with it... Galveston and I had grown so close, everything going so perfect and then the bond was severed so brutally. I didn't want to ever fall for anyone again if this world had these kinds of perils. I mean I knew these terrors existed but damn, they hit hard! Every moment that passed I missed him, missed him so damn much but there was nothing I could do. It all was so frustrating.

Killing all those people didn't help much. It also made me feel like shit that I didn't have an ounce of remorse. It did feel cold and automated to act out those brutal murders. This was something I've long been afraid of, something Galveston fought hard to change! He wanted to see more humanity come out of me but the way I treated the actions of the day undermined everything he worked for. Truly I felt shity, like a failure.

This was definitely an internal crisis, one I didn't know how to cope with. I felt alone, like no one could understand. Truly, no one could understand! It was hard juggling a sense of humanity and the methodical mind of a machine at the same time. It often was a tug of war, with the machine side winning time and time again. This had me frightened to what I could become if another tragedy struck. What if I lost Beth, Zeek, Heaven, the twins...? God, that'd be awful.

All of this loomed in my mind as Big Daddy flew me back to Area 51. I truly needed to leave, like...now but I didn't know what was keeping me. It all was so confusing, so frustrating, I had to sit to try and clear my mind. My mind just didn't clear though. I didn't know what to do.

"Hey..." Someone said, breaking me from those dreadful thoughts. It was Zeek.

"Hey bruh..." I responded, sounding beat. He could sense the uneasiness.

"You okay?" He asked, sitting beside me.

"Everyone's pushing me to leave and I know I should but it isn't that easy for me right now." I said, wishing I could pinpoint the problem.

"I know the issue... It was like when I was going through my depression stage of withdrawal. You need something to take your mind off of the pain..." He said. I looked at him, wondering where he was going with this.

"Really?" I asked.

"This place is huge! I say you don't waste a single moment in getting to working on what Basil wishes of you." He suggested.

"You may be right... I can't think clearly..." I said, clenching my head, "I just need to do something... physical, I guess... clear my mind."

"Or work out... Or eat food. Most people eat themselves into obesity when they're stressed like this." He said looking at me from head to toe, "And you definitely can eat yourself into a healthy weight... I carried you into this place. I swear you're like ninety pounds..."

"Oh my god, no I'm not. I'm like one twenty..." I sighed.

"At five foot eight?" He said, "You should be one forty, one fifty, bruh!"

"I know, I know... I've lost my body the past few months. Since I left A99, I've just stopped eating much." I responded.

"Can you like program yourself to remember to eat or something? I mean all the things you've built, programmed, designed... This should be easy." He asked.

"I can, but I'm lazy." I sighed.

"Bruh, you know what? You haven't eaten since yesterday! Get your ass up!" He said, yanking me from my seat, "We're getting some nourishment in that body..."

"I don't feel like eating..." I wined.

"Well you need too..." He said back, leading me deeper into the building. We reached the mess hall where a plethora of desert cuisines were, "We're going to make sure you eat a lot of fatty and protein rich foods to go from that typhoid body back to a proper twelve year old body!"

"I seriously hate you right now..." I said through the grit of my teeth.

"You'll thank me later..." He said, sitting me at a table.

It was filled with kids... I hated kids... They all chattered loudly, going back and forth between the buffet. This was just so aggravating. I clenched my head, covering my ears, the noise being extremely bothersome. Zeek came back minutes later with three plates stacked high with food. There was an assortment of poultry, cheesy pasta, darker greens of some kind, stir fry, short ribs, some kind of strange picked vegetables and spanish rice.

It smelled wonderful. Zeek watched on in delight, knowing I couldn't resist the food. Plate by plate, I began demolishing the mountains of food. It did feel good to eat, damn good! However, it didn't feel good to have Zeek staring at me this way. I knew this look. Something was abrew within him, something I didn't want to happen.

This was something I should have known all along. After helping him out so much, even after his betrayal, I should have known this boy would have developed feelings. It was quite chilling, actually. Knowing all that Zeek had been through, how hardened he was, how little regard he had for those on the outside of his circle, it was bothersome to know he had a soft spot for me! At one point, he used to hate me! He blamed me for everything unfair that happened to him! I was the reason he felt the need to run away at fifteen. Now he's sitting here with this infatuated look in his eye and it was making me sick to my stomach.

I hoped he wouldn't try anything. I'd hate to have to turn him down. Solitude was what I needed right now, to find myself. There was no denying that I was lost. With all this chaos manifesting, who was I under it all? The answer to that question would not come if I dare entertained Zeek. It would be too much to bear! Sure there were feelings there for him but he'd end up being a rebound. He'd be a form of therapy that would result in more hurt. What if my feelings changed for him after I got over Galvy's death? Considering all that Zeek's been through, it wouldn't be fair to him at all.

"Stop looking at me like that..." I said.

"How am I looking at you?" He asked, being quite the tease.

"Hey!" Someone called out from up the mess hall. It was Basil. Zeek wasn't at all glad to see him. He rolled his eyes upon the boy's approach.

"Hi." I said, with a quick wave.

"So um," Basil began, not quite sure how he'd explain what he wanted, "So how well are you? You think..."

"You want me to work as soon as possible?" I asked, laughing.

"Yeah," He said, scratching the back of his head, "Things are pretty bad..." Zeek looked at me smiling...

"Go ahead..." He shrugged. I smiled, getting up from my seat. The most brilliant idea popped up in my head.

Basil led me out of the facility. Before he could begin his visionary chatter, I had to say something.

"How's the discussions about the education system going?" I asked.

"Well, actually. Progress is being made with plans. We just got to arrange a discussion with Beth and Zeek." He said. It was exactly what I wanted him to say.

"You're going to love Zeek!" I smiled, "He has a certain capacity for... sympathy... that makes him great for younger people!"

"Zeek?" He asked, completely thrown for a loop.

"Yeah, he's as sweet as can be! Of us all, he's the most kindred..." I said.

"I'm thrown. No offense but Heaven seems the nicest." He laughed.

"Yeah, Heaven's nice! But I'd say look forward to getting to know Zeek." I smiled.

"I thought you two were a thing." He said, confused. I looked at him baffled.

"You met my boyfriend last time we were here. Unfortunately, he's dead. Zeek's just my best friend. A brother, if you will." I said.

"Okay..." Basil smiled, pondering on the thought, "What should I be looking forward to?"

"You'll just have to find out." I smiled.

"Okay...?" Basil laughed curiously before getting serious, "The main issue is the shitty wiring. A lot of the vaults and tunnels are in the dark and we could really, really use the extra space. Not to mention the wiring in the hangars. That's shity! I know this is a lot to ask but do you think you could unify a power source, something self sustaining and consistent?"

"This will take some time... I'd have to see what you have to work with in your junk piles." I responded, not minding, "But I also have some reasearch I need to finish. So, I propose this! I show your best mechanics how to wire and run a power cell and I get to work on my project which could benefit us all in the long run."

"You seem to be in a rush..." He noticed.

"I am. I'm not supposed to be here but I still am. I'm seriously pushing my luck but I must find things out. Something's not right." I responded.

"Please elaborate on this research." He said, intrigued.

"There's been a string of things that I've been piecing together, but just don't add up. The Revivalists have two major quarantine zones in Jeurridam. One was a barren wasteland filled with mechs drained of their circulatory fluid, the other, a lush paradise for a peaceful, self sustaining group of mechs that could reproduce like flesh and blood creatures. In this little paradise were these plants made of metal and the mechs ate them. Mechs need to be able to exchange circulatory fluid because it taints after a while and these mechs didn't need too. However, these mechs have been without human interaction for well over twenty years. They must have their own way to replenish their circulatory fluid and I'm guessing it's because of the metal plants which I have samples of... It's the greater concern of mine." I explained.

"There are more?" He asked.

"Yeah, a lot more... stuff I've being hushed about. Back in Sloan, I was quite keen on the lack of mechs, even vault mechs. The reduction of valley mechs made sense but not vault mechs considering they weren't in any danger of the manticore mechs. Fast forward some days and we find out that these manticore mechs have a hive mentality. One manticore's super survival protocol is activated, all other manticores become subordinates and follow the will of one leader. If that leader is destroyed, another will rise up. The strange thing is this though, my father designed these mechs but did not create such a protocol. At first I thought this was a sign of rapid mech mutations but I'm starting to think otherwise. You're aware of what happened in Tijuana, about the Revivalist tech. That changed everything, all my views! I had no idea the Revivalists were this advanced, scarily so. If they are this advanced then I'm pretty sure they are responsible for what we've seen in these mechs." I continued.

"Wow." He responded.

"...And I'm putting every one of you in danger the longer I stay." I sighed, shaking my head.

"Where will you go after all of this is done?" He asked, "I don't get why you're in danger! I'm missing something."

"That my friend is a secret that I just can't tell to anyone. It's something I just can't help but embrace..." I sighed, truly hating being cybernetic.

"I'm guessing it has something to do with your brain..." He said.

"In a sense... It's why I've taken a few precautions since the discoveries, especially the one made today..." I clarified.

"Discoveries? Today?" Basil asked, surprised.

"Yeah, a vault in a strange, strange location. Things just don't make sense right now." I shrugged.