Chapter Fifty-One - Days Off

It took three days.

Maybe I was getting old--and wasn’t that a terrifying thought--but my body wasn’t quite as spry as it had once been.

So, three days, and I was still black and blue all over, the bruises I had grew into large blotches while my little cuts scabbed over. Moving was painful. Breathing was painful.

But I’d had worse.

“You look... distressed,” Clin said.

I sighed and adjusted my hat. “Just becoming contemplative in my old age,” I said.

“Old age? How old are you?”

We were outside, hiding in the shade provided by the garage while Caroline did some last minute things on Rusty. The mecha was in tip-top shape, certainly better than when I’d brought him in. Sally was looking a little better too. Caroline had trusted Clin enough to let him do maintenance on her. I suspect she was still slightly wary of the little warmech. Once bitten and all.

“I’m twenty-eight,” I said.

Clin blinked, for a moment looking entirely dumbfounded. “Oh, right. That’s... is that really old? You don’t seem old.”

“Thanks, I think,” I said. “And, no, twenty-eight isn’t that old. Certainly around or past your prime though.”

“Really?” Clin asked.

“How old are you?” I asked, a bit suspicious.

Clin shifted minutely, slight discomfort in his motions. “I’m sixty-three.”

I worked my jaw. “Huh,” I said. Made sense, elves lived longer. “You are an adult, right? Like, an adult elf?”

“What? Yes, of course I am. Adulthood starts around fifty,” he said.

“Then what in the hells does that make me?” I asked.

“A human? It’s hardly fair to compare races by age with a one-to-one ratio. Were you a twenty-eight year old elf you’d be mid-puberty. Perhaps preparing to go into higher education.”

I sniffed. “You start treating me like a kid and we’re going to have trouble.”

“I’d never,” he said, and there was no sarcasm there. He just looked at me right in the eye, plain and open. “I know perfectly well that you’re a woman.”

“That’s... that’s right,” I said.

I stomped off to see Caroline. One of my wounds was pulling at my gut, and I needed a walk.

The mechanic was sitting on the edge of Rusty’s cabin, a cloth in one hand and some greasy tool I didn’t recognize in the other. “How’s it going?” I asked.

Caroline looked up, an easy grin on. She tapped Rusty’s side with her tool, a few dull clunks sounding out across the garage. “All prettied up. Or well, nearly.”

I stared up at Rusty, my old friend. He looked cleaner than he had in a long while. Fresh paint, a few new parts here and there. Not too much of a difference overall, but there was something that showed when a machine was well cared for. Still a few dings and dents, but there was only so much that even someone like Caroline could do in just a few days.

“He’s looking good.”

“Handsomer than ever,” Caroline said. She hopped down, landed with a bounce, and spun to face Rusty with a big grin. “You know, if Rusty is ever interested in dating, there’s always Sally out there. I worry, you know.”

“Uh,” I said.

She jabbed an elbow into a sore rib. “Kidding. I’m insane, not delusional.”

I chuckled. “What do I owe you?” I asked.

She shook her head, then gestured across her yard. The goblin mech we’d taken down was sitting there, still as ugly as ever. A few broken husks were lying next to it, fresh bodies from the fight against the goblins.

The sheriff and his goons had been busy picking up and cleaning the town. When more militia folk came in with the Sandpiercer, they were quickly conscripted into working too.

Nearly everyone in town was drafted. Finding the last goblins hiding away, carrying off the bodies and clearing roads.

Surprisingly, the sheriff didn’t seem keen on asking me anything.

“You sure?” I asked. “I’ve got some coin.”

“I’m fine,” Caroline said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had this much work lined up at one time. Might have to start some sort of triage too. Pick out the mecha who can be saved faster. Or maybe I can just charge more.”

“Not a terrible idea,” I said. “You never did charge enough.”

“Aren’t you a repeat customer? It’s not exactly clever of you to tell me that, is it?”

I chuckled. “I’m going to miss you a bit when we hit the road.”

“I won’t miss you,” Caroline said. It sounded like a lie. “None of my other customers force me to sleep at reasonable hours or bathe.”

I shook my head. “Keep talking like that, and I’ll start looking for a man to hitch you to... maybe a wife.”

“Unless she weighs twenty tonnes and can mow down a building with ease, I’m not interested.”

We hugged. Not too hard, on account of the shape I was in, but enough to tell her that I would miss her. “You keep safe, hear?” I asked. “Maybe hire some guards for this place. You’ve got the loot to pay for it, and it wouldn’t do to have no one around to keep you from being bullied.”

“I’ll see,” Caroline said. “Timothy’s pilot was a nice looking guy, and I bet he’ll be around soon for repairs. I’ll ask if he minds having some of his guys hang out. I could use some help too.”

“Good,” I said. “Keep an ear on the ground too. You don’t want to be caught flat-footed the next time some goblins decide to invade.”

“I think we’ll be a bit more ready next time. At least, I hope.”

“Might not be goblins next time,” I warned.

She nodded. Figured she got it. Caroline was a smart woman.

I grabbed onto Rusty and clambered aboard. All our things were packed away; we only had to get going. Caroline moved around, shoving things out of the way while I turned Rusty on. Every gauge twitched, then moved smoothly into place. No more jittering.

Fuel was full up too. I’d spent a day crushing cores. Nothing better to do while nearly bedridden. Meant we had plenty of magic in the tank.

Rusty walked forwards with more ease than I was used to. It had also been a few days since I’d piloted him. It had been a long time since I’d taken that long of a break from the pilot’s seat.

“You getting in?” I asked Clin as I stopped just outside the garage.

“I’m coming,” Clin said. He stepped in, his shotgun in one hand until he tucked it away in one of the bigger compartments. “Oh. There’s a chair now.”

I blinked, then half turned to stare back. There was, in fact, a small bench at the back. A tiny thing, with a couple of heavy springs holding it in place. It wouldn’t be in the way, at least. “Huh,” I said.

Clin sat down, then bounced up and down. His lips actually twitched into a smile for just a moment.

Figures, I couldn’t get the man to smile, but make his arse comfortable for a few moments and he was all grins. I shook my head.

Caroline being Caroline, I figured. I settled in after we closed the cabin up, then I brought the control interface down.

Combat Core - RUSTY - Active

... Surface Controls... Optimal

... Cooling... Optimal

... Fuel Levels... Optimal

... Weapons... Loaded

... Mana Circulation... Optimal

DAMAGE CHECK

...

NONE

WEAPON CHECK

...

Lever-Action, Emberbar Rifle - Functional

Model 1634 Revolving Gun - Functional

Pilot Check

...

Pilot Not Responding...

I grinned. A perfect score. She even fixed that false report with the left arm. I put my hat in its spot, then made sure the crown around my head was snug. The needle pricked in, and I barely felt it, not against all the other aches and pains.

I became Rusty.

It felt a whole lot better to be Rusty than it did to be Charlie. I even let out a chuckle.

“Everything alright?”

“Everything’s perfect,” I said. Rusty felt like a new mech, but he was still familiar. I shifted his arms around, then moved his hips from side to side in a little wiggle that was surprisingly difficult to do in a mech. “Caroline does damned good work,” I said.

“Where are we heading to now?” Clin asked.

I started walking towards the gate where Caroline was waiting and waving. I shot her a quick salute as we moved by.

“We keep heading east. Away from your gnome pals. Maybe they’ll figure you’re dead?”

“They won’t stop until they have my body,” Clin said.

“Hmm. Well, let’s not give it to them. I think I have one idea that might get us away faster.”

I heard his little bench squeak. “What’s that?”

“We’re going to catch ourselves a train.”