Onliest

by J Daniel Batt

  A tree mover. Syn had avoided the gigantic bots on her side, but they always seemed harmless. They lumbered about, slowly clearing away dying trees and planting new ones. Their size frightened her but only that. They never crushed other bots or animals underneath them as they worked.

  This one wasn’t working properly anymore. It screeched, and four tentacled arms extended from its sides; its iron plates grated against each other with every movement. Three metallic pinchers flayed open at the end of each tentacle, and each aimed for one of the four travelers.

  “Everyone! Move!” Syn yelled, hurrying back to her feet and grasping her spear with both hands.

  Bear rolled back but snagged his wheel on a branch uncovered in the beast’s reveal. Bear lost his balanced and tumbled backwards down the dune, end over end, fearfully squealing in his high-pitched whine as he dropped out of sight.

  Huck darted through the air, nimbly avoiding the tentacle snaking for it. The two whipped around in an odd dance, the strange black whip missing the eye-bot over and over.

  Syn leapt back further, trying to put space between it and the tree handler. The thing noticed her and must’ve assumed she was the primary threat. It scuttled toward her with a speed and ferocity she had never witnessed in its kind before. Syn screeched and turned around to run, but slammed straight into Arquella, smashing her face into the bot’s side. Arquella went flying to the ground and rolled through the sand. Syn dropped backwards, a mist of blood pouring from her nose. Instead of putting distance between herself and the giant, attacking bot, she fell directly between its two front legs, staring up at its head.

  Recognizing the opportunity, Syn lashed upwards with her spear. The bladed end struck the metallic frame and was deflected, not leaving a dent or scratch in the beast’s surface.

  She swore as the beast lumbered ahead, its large legs slamming around her, sending vibrations through the ground. In the low light, it was hard to keep track of all of its limbs. There were three red lights running up each leg and one single light at the end of each pincher. The lights from the pinchers seemed to float around like crimson fireflies. If it wasn’t for those lights, the beast would be impossible to keep track of.

  It moved forward and then pivoted as if searching. It couldn’t seem to see under itself. At least, not where she was standing. She had found a blind spot.

  She jabbed the spear up again. And again. And again. The beast was unaffected. She had hoped she’d found a weak spot. Everyone knows dragon’s bellies are unprotected. But unlike the myths, this one’s soft belly was impenetrable.

  From her left side, something slammed into the thing’s large leg, jolting it and rocking it back. Its two back legs shifted to adjust its weight and keep its balance, one of them slamming inches from Syn’s face. She rolled to her right and onto her feet, crouching down.

  Bear had hit it. He had somehow clambered back to the fight from his fall. He reared back and slammed forward, hitting the beast’s leg again. It rocked and swayed far more than before. It was off-balance, struggling to shift its trunk-like legs fast enough against the barrage of Bear’s slams.

  Bear tried again, roaring out in his high-pitched, nasal tone. The creature swung its leg back, too quick for Bear to readjust his trajectory, then swung the leg back again, smacking Bear hard and sending the bot flying.

  From behind the dune, the shiny sphere that was Arquella leapt up into view and shouted, “Bear!” and raced after the tumbling bot. The tree mover was distracted by the gleaming bot and shifted after it, its massive legs thumping against the ground. With the distraction, Syn darted behind the creature, hoping to avoid its eye-line. If she could just keep circling behind it, maybe she’d see a weakness.

  There has to be an off-switch. Every bot has one! Where was it?

  She had never had to repair one of these things before. They were so few, and usually they had their own entourage of bots floating around them, working on maintaining them. If there was an off-switch, she had no idea where it was.

  Huck zipped around next to her and swung around her head. “Huck! Stop it! I can’t see!” She batted him away, but he zipped back, racing around in front of her. “Stop it!” But the eye-bot wouldn’t leave her alone. After she attempted to bat it away for the third time, it jammed into her arm, pushing her backwards. “Huck! What’s gotten into you?” Again he hit her, and she stepped back, trying to avoid him. Then he zipped away, straight up into the air.

  Syn followed his movement, and she saw what he had been trying to get her to pay attention to. A dark figure, draped in a drab cloak, was climbing up the beast’s far back leg.

  “Who is that?” Syn shouted, but Huck made no reply.

  The figure was nimble and, in a few seconds, had made its way to the beast’s back. Planting both legs in a wide stance, working to keep its balance on the rearing beast, the figure pulled a knife from a sheath on its leg and brought it down with a fury, quick and decisive, jamming it straight into the thing’s shell. Syn had expected the blade to bounce off as her spear had. Instead, it plunged straight in, and she saw shards of crimson glass explode from the impact. The figure held tight to the bucking bot and pulled something else out of another pocket. From Syn’s view, it looked like a piece of fabric with small red lights. The figure placed the piece in the hole opened up by their knife.

  The beast buckled, convulsing. It roared—a horrific grating screech that sent shivers down Syn’s spine. Whatever the figure had done, it had hit something critical. A second later, the beast stopped all motion. The red lights lining its appendages went dark. The beast’s huge legs buckled underneath it, and the entire thing crashed with a slam into the desert dirt, sending a cloud of sand up, blinding Syn.

  She yelled, “Bear! Arquella! Where are you?”

  From the other side of the beast’s inert body, she heard Arquella’s plaintive screams, “We’re here! Bear is hurt! He’s hurt! Syn help us! Heal him! He needs you!” The bot screamed.

  “I’m coming,” Syn walked through the sand cloud, trying to avoid the splayed legs of the tree mover. She gripped her spear with both hands, still aware that there was now another threat, another unknown beside the monstrosity that had just collapsed. “Huck. Help me. Where are they?”

  As the dust settled, Syn peered ahead, hoping to find them. Something flashed a few meters away, and she was sure it a reflection off of Arquella’s shell. “Is that you?”

  Arquella answered, much closer now, “Here! Help him!”

  Bear was face forward on the ground, a huge dent on his left side and a tear in the metal along his upper edge. Surprisingly, his wheel was still spinning.

  Syn dropped to her knees beside them and examined the dent. “You okay, Bear?”

  The bot didn’t respond. Syn knew she wouldn’t be able to turn him over—he was far too large for that.

  Arquella floated above them both. “He isn’t talking. I can’t get him to respond. Syn, you have to help him. You can heal him, right? Can’t you? Please tell me you can heal him!”

  Syn held up a hand. “Let me look.” She thought to herself, Oh, please, let this be something easy. “I’ll figure it out. Just give me a moment please.”

  Huck hovered around them in wide arcs, slowly observing.

  Syn worked through the problem step-by-step. His wheel is going. He has power. Yet, he’s not responding. The dent was on his right side. If I remember, his power supply is on his right side. Maybe something came loose. The tear up top doesn’t look to be that deep, and nothing is hanging out. If only I had a few tools, I could get the maglocks to release on his side and take the plate off and see what’s going on.

  Syn looked up to Arquella, “Do me a favor and look away. This isn’t going to be pretty.”

  “What are you going to do?” The bot asked.

  “Just look away, please.”

  Arquella spun, although Syn still had no idea where her eyes were. She was one simple silver sphere, perfectly smooth across her entire surface.r />
  Syn pried at a thin seam with the edge of her spear, wriggling it back and forth, hoping to put enough pressure on the maglocks to separate them. The first one popped open and she breathed out. Okay, one down, and the rest will be easier. One by one, she popped them open, moving the tip of the spear up the seam, working to not jam it in too far and to avoid slicing anything critical. She released the last one, and the entire right plate dropped down into the dust.

  Syn gave an audible, “Whew!”

  “What is it?” Arquella said, “Can I turn around? Is it okay to look?”

  “Ya, you’re fine. And it’s going to be okay.”

  Syn wriggled around inside the bot, popping out a few cables from a locking clamp. The wheel stopped spinning. She pushed them back in and then snagged another pair of cables dangling loose from the same round unit. “His power supply to his main processor just came unhooked. Doesn’t look like much is wrong. I mean, it’s hard to see—he’s got a ton of stuff jammed in here. But it’s an easy fix.” She snapped the final piece into place and heard the familiar whirr of Bear’s main system cycling up.

  Arquella shook her head. “What do you mean power supply? Main processor? What are you talking about?”

  Syn sighed. She had forgotten that Arquella had no idea she was a bot. “Nothing. Just…I…” Syn hesitated a moment and then gave in to Arquella’s belief, “I healed him. He’s fine. He’s healed. He’s going to be okay.” She pulled his plate back up and allowed the maglocks to grip tight, returning it to its place. Her body felt heavy suddenly—the stress of the moment had passed. Bear was safe. Arquella was safe. Huck was safe. Syn was still alive.

  Just then, Bear’s nasal voice interjected, “Healed who? What happened? I kill it? Why is everything so dark?”

  Syn gave a snort. “You’re facing down. Can you get yourself up?”

  “Oh!” Bear’s wheel twisted, and with a few quick adjustments—Syn couldn’t understand how the lumbering bot was so nimble—Bear righted himself and stood up straight. “Did I kill it? Is it dead?”

  Syn froze. The tree mover was dead. For a brief moment, she had forgotten all about the other person that had killed it. She gripped her spear tightly and rose to her feet.

  From behind them, someone spoke. “Handy little devil, aren’t you? Bit o’ a miracle worker. Look atchoo!” The voice was young with an air of cynicism. It was mocking, but the joviality was false—a pretense to appear soft.

  Syn spun to eye the figure from before sitting atop the fallen form of the tree mover bot, only a meter away. At this distance, Syn could easily see that it was a girl. She was as dark as Syn, but her hair was cropped unbelievably short. Her arms were covered in a gray cloth cloak that billowed around her, and only her feet and hands could be seen. her mouth and nose were covered with a red mask, so only her eyes shone through. Syn had seen those eyes before. She wouldn’t ever forget them. They were the same eyes that she had seen in the darkness when Blip had been snagged—the searching eyes that scanned the room as she hid in the pile of children’s bones.

  This was one of the thieves that had taken Blip.

  Syn’s depleted energy was supplemented with a surge of rage, and she rushed up the dune, waving her spear in front of her. She had wanted to shout out, “Where is Blip?” but instead, she yelled, “Who are you?”

  The masked girl jerked back, jumped, and managed to pirouette away from Syn’s attack. “Woah, you with the pointy thing. Calm down.” She held up her palms in a calming motion.

  Syn stepped back, but as she was looking up at her target, she missed her step, slipped, and her feet went out from beneath her. She smacked her knee against the dark sand, and the broken weeds jabbed into her skin as she grimaced in pain. She grabbed at the motionless tree mover and pulled herself up.

  “You okay, there? Slow down. Ain’t nothing going to hurt you. ‘Sides, you ought be thanking me. I just saved you all’s hides.” The masked girl was not disturbed by Syn’s anger. She gingerly stepped forward as if working to help an injured dog, compassionate but cautious. She patted the dead tree mover’s hide and said, “Up top it has this little red spot under some glass.” The girl held up a thin metal strip with a few blinking lights. “Break it open and just slap down a control strip and the thing can’t do any thinking at all. You just got distracted by all the moving parts. Need to sometimes get a different angle on things. And sometimes the best tools aren’t the ones with pointy ends.” She stepped closer and held out a hand, “Where are my manners? How are you—”

  Syn growled as the girl moved closer.

  “Woah, fine with me,” the girl said, palms head up. “You stay there and bleed. I just wanted to get a good look at you. Thought there were just a few of the machines out here marching toward us, but when we looked out, I caught sight of you. I knew you were special. The others disagreed. They thought you were a straggler from the old world. But I knew you were different. You just proved me right. Glad I got here when I did. Didn’t expect you to walk on over a thudder like ya did. Most of us are smart enough to notice them all burrowed down in the dirt. You seemed to miss all o’ the signs. That tells me you ain’t from around here. So where you get from? You just wake up? Kinda late, don’t ya think. ‘Sides, how did you get down here? Or were you one of the ones that fled and hid early on? But here you are—first time here or are you coming back to us? Don’t remember any of them that were that good with fixin’ the machines, but hey, maybe I overlooked that. She kept insisting we should wait for you to come to the gates, but I knew you were different. So, here I am. Had to book it here fast to save your little butt. But I made it, just in time. And look at you. You clever little thing.”

  “Who are you?” Syn was back to her feet, crouched down, ready to spring and attack the new girl. She held out a hand, motioning for Bear, Huck, and Arquella to stay behind her.

  “Who am I? Oooooh. You don’t know?” The girl leaned in closer, inspecting Syn, then ran a hand through her hair. “Well, ain’t that a puzzler. I could tell you but I might ruin her fun, and she would be so angry. How about…” She put a finger to her lips and over-performed a glance skywards, as if working hard to imagine her next answer, as if pulling it from the heavens themselves. “You can call me…Ripley.”

  Syn narrowed her eyes. “From the movie?”

  Ripley smiled, “You seen that one too?”

  Syn nodded once. She had seen the movie Alien. It had been one of her favorites to watch, and it felt absurd to hear someone else referencing something that felt like her own private story.

  She talked with Blip about all of her movies, but he didn’t care for her stories. Blip wasn’t a fan of much of what they watched. He tolerated it for her sake. Blip tried his hardest, but she knew, at his core, he was more interested in making sure everything worked as it should and that everything was in its place. Everything that pulled her attention away seemed trivial to him. So dull. She could see his boredom growing when she went on some kick talking as fast as she could about something they’d just finished watching.

  But, he had liked Alien and each of the sequels. It had been one thing they both enjoyed together. In fact, the only thing. Of all of her interests, that film series was the only thing they could talk about together. Syn couldn’t hold back the smile as the memory rushed back. She allowed a grin.

  “Like that one, eh?” Ripley said.

  Syn felt a rush of embarrassment. Her cheeks grew red, and she drew in on herself, uncomfortable at having revealed so much so easily. She knew she should be elated at meeting someone else on her ship, but all she could think was, she took Blip! Her face felt hot, and she grunted, jabbing the spear at Ripley who dodged the attack without difficulty. The effort was too much, and Syn breathed with large gasps as she rested back in a ready stance. This was stupid for her. She wasn’t getting anywhere. She was exhausted. She was thirsty. She was shivering between the bursts of sweat. Her eyes were struggling to focus. Too many hours questing across this awful land.


  “Where is the Crimson Queen?”

  “Oooh. You know her by that name. Curious. Tell you what—you promise to stop poking in my direction with that thing, and I promise to take you to her. Deal?”

  Syn looked at her. Who was this girl? She glanced back at the three bots huddled behind her. “Will they be safe?”

  Ripley raised her eyebrows and took in Huck, Bear, and Arquella. “Those three? You bringing them along?”

  Syn nodded. “They came with me this far.”

  Ripley laughed. “Now I’ve heard everything. Okay, they can come along, but I know she won’t let them inside.”

  “Will you promise they’ll be safe?”

  Ripley paused. Little could be seen under the layers covering her face. “Fine. I can do that,” Ripley smirked and added, “Now, my promise is only between you and me. I can’t speak for anyone else when we get to Zondon.”

  “You’re from Zondon Almighty?” Syn asked.

  The girl looked over her shoulder. She yanked the dirty knife from a sheath on her leg and pointed with it. “That magnificent monstrosity?” She glanced back at Syn and winked. “That is the ol’ watering hole itself. Yes, chickadee, that there is Zondon Almighty. And I, unfortunately, am from there. Ain’t nowhere else to be from.”

  Ripley stared at the silhouette of Zondon Almighty, barely visible in the low light and brume. She leaned in and whispered, “Good time to consider bowing. If she who puts the almighty in Zondon Almighty herself is watching, a good ol’ suck-the-dirt kneel and bow will help your case quite well.”

  “Who is—" Syn started to ask.

  “Nope,” Ripley waved the grubby knife in the air, “She be listening too. Seriously. All eyes, all ears, that one. So, um, do as I do when you come up this ridge.” She motioned for Syn to stand next to her. “Your parade can come along, but have them hang back a bit.”