Xiomar lay in bed for three days straight, scowling at the ceiling. He only got up when the medical officers needed to see how his injuries were healing or to change his bandages, or when they begged him to just eat something. He figured he could at least do that for them. Things were stressful enough.

Despite Maddox’s frustration with Xiomar, he spent the next few weeks repairing GLITCH as best he could since he was the only other mechanic there, and the only one who’d ever worked on GLITCH aside from Xiomar. He didn’t visit the infirmary at all or speak to him, though.

Tensions were high, and it could be felt by everyone there. The hangar was hidden deep in the canyons out in the desert, ventilated by both natural and man-made vents in the canyons, so it was easily hidden despite burning fuel for light and heat. Occasionally, though, the Zynthian Army would pass through, and they would all hold their breaths, waiting for them to pass by while they hopefully went unnoticed.

Despite it technically being her hangar, the medical officers wouldn’t allow Reina into their makeshift infirmary to see Xiomar. He would just lay there with his eyes shut and his back to the door, listening to them argue about it.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Major.”

“I just want to see how he’s doing,” Reina would complain.

“Look…” The officer pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “I don’t know the details, and I don’t really care to know, but I do know that you and Major Haydn have some sort of relationship with each other. He’s still in bad shape, though, and he doesn’t need any more stress than he’s already been through. He’s lucky to even be alive.”

Xiomar didn’t like that most of the people on base, even people he didn’t really know, were familiar with his relationship with Reina, if it could even be called a relationship. He was grateful they wouldn’t let her in, because they wanted different things from each other, and he didn’t want to spend any more time with her than he needed to.

The healing process was slow. He had to get up each day and walk a bit, and do stretches and exercises to get the rest of his body back into working shape. It was painful and exhausting, but it got a bit easier each day.

The medical officer had explained that there could be nerve damage in his shoulder, so his arm might never return to the full function he once had. Ss far as he could tell, it affected his hand a bit if he overworked it, making a few of his fingers go a bit numb, but it was still manageable. He would just have to learn to live with it, unfortunately.

They would all listen to the radio every evening. It was always some shitty news about the Zynthian invasion of Emporia. They had attacked every Emporian Army base simultaneously from both the inside and out, taking Mechanics and engineers as prisoners, as well as pilots and their Mechs. Xiomar would just lay there with his eyes shut, hoping that one day there would be some good news.

“In other news, the Zynthian Army has issued a statement tonight demanding that the Emporian Army surrender one of their soldiers. The statement notes that Zynthos will release all of its prisoners in exchange for Major Xiomar Haydn and his Mech, and—”

Xiomar shot up in bed, and the medical officer was staring wide-eyed at the radio, mouth gaping. What did they want with him and GLITCH?

“The Mech in question is said to be incredibly dangerous, and has resulted in the deaths of at least four soldiers in the last fifteen years. The Zynthian general demands that Major Xiomar Haydn be handed over alive, and returned to the base from which he originally worked out of, along with the hazardous machine he may currently be piloting.”

***

“You can’t be serious, Xio!”

“What good can come of this?” Maddox asked. “You’re gonna get yourself killed!”

“It doesn’t matter.” Xiomar was scowling as he dressed. He was mostly healed, but still a bit stiff and achy as he laced his boots. “If Zynthos wants me in exchange for everyone else’s lives, then I can’t hide out here forever, can I?”

“You’ve lost your fuckin’ mind, Haydn.”

“How do we know Zynthos is going to keep their word?” Reina asked. “We don’t even actually know who’s running the show right now. What do they want with your Mech anyway? It doesn’t even have any weapons.”

“Then I might as well just hand it over, right?” Xiomar didn’t like lying about GLITCH, but he didn’t want to get anyone else involved. No one else needed to know about GLITCH’s sentience. “What are they gonna do? Kill me? If that’s what it’s going to take to save everyone else, that’s fine with me.”

When Xiomar stood to leave, Maddox got in his way.

“Do you have some kind of death wish?” he asked. “Why are you so eager to throw your life away?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Maddox. I’m taking GLITCH and I’m going back. No one is going to die because of me, so just get out of my way.”

“Answer the question,” he demanded, and Xiomar clenched his fists.

“What I do with my life, whether I throw it away or not, is none of your damn business. Move, Maddox!”

“Make me.”

The two of them stared each other down. Xiomar knew he couldn’t make him move. Even if he was in peak physical shape, he knew he would have a hard time.

“You grew up in an orphanage too,” Xiomar said through clenched teeth. “Don’t act like you don’t know that I had no choice about joining the Army when I turned eighteen. Those places are shitholes, run by the government just to get some free bodies to throw on the front lines.”

“So, what?”

“There are people out there right now, Maddox. People trapped by the Zynthian Army, who actually wanted to be in the Army. People with families to support, who wanted to make a difference. If my insignificant life can save all of them, then I’ll gladly forfeit it. I never wanted to be here anyway.”

Xiomar shoved past Maddox, who let him. He was silent, and there was a distant look in his eyes.

“There’s something you’re not telling us,” he said quietly, and Xiomar stopped at the top of the stairs, but he didn’t turn around to face him. “You almost died, and that Mech found its way here on its own, without you guiding it.”

“That’s the point of auto-pilot, Maddox.”

“No, it’s not,” Maddox took a step towards him, the anger rising in his voice. “There’s something about that Mech that you’re hiding. Auto-pilot can’t replace human guidance. You have to set values and monitor it, and you have to have a destination. That Mech found this place while you were dying in the pilot’s seat when you’ve never been here before. No one knew about this place except Reina. Why would Zynthos want it so badly if it’s just some useless piece of scrap metal?”

“How should I know?”

“Stop lying!” Maddox grabbed Xiomar by his shirt and slammed him against the wall. Xiomar growled in pain and gripped his arms, trying to pry him off.

“Get your fucking hands off of me!”

“Shut up,” Maddox hissed, his eyes wide with fury. “You’re a real piece of fuckin’ work, you know that? Everyone’s trying to protect you, and you’re still keeping shit to yourself that might help save your own damn life!”

“I didn’t ask for anyone to protect me,” Xiomar said, struggling to pry Maddox’s hands off of him. “Let go!”

Maddox growled in anger, then shoved Xiomar against the wall again and let him go. Xiomar fell to the floor, rubbing his shoulder. It had just barely finished healing, and hitting the wall had aggravated it.

“Fuck you, Haydn. See if I give a shit when you’re dead.”

Maddox stormed off, and Reina let out a long sigh, shaking her head. She went to Xiomar and helped him off the floor.

“You really want to do this on your own, Xio?” she asked, looking over him with concern. “What if they really do kill you?”

“It’s fine, Rei,” he said. He avoided her gaze though. “It’s not like I want to die, but if it’s going to help others, I can’t just hide here.”

“We could do some recon, though. Maddox and I could follow behind and we could get a better idea of what we’re dealing with before you just throw yourself at Zynthos.”

“You can do whatever you want,” Xiomar said with a scowl, “but I’m taking GLITCH and going back.”

***

“Major Xiomar Haydn detected. Sync-Suit compatibility within range.”

“All right, GLITCH. We’re going.”

“Going?”

“The Zynthian Army wants you and me to go back to the base. In exchange, they’re going to let everyone else go.”

GLITCH was quiet, the lights in the pilot’s compartment pulsing slowly as thought the Mech were trying to think of something.

“Let’s go,” Xiomar said, strapping into the safety harness. “Maddox fixed you up, right?”

“Replacement parts are sufficient. Outer layer has been reinforced and damaged console has been replaced.”

Despite everything being replaced, Maddox had made everything look exactly the same, right down to the color of the paint on GLITCH’s console. He must have worked hard over the last few weeks.

GLITCH didn’t protest, and Xiomar didn’t speak at all on their way back across the desert. They stayed out of sight, sticking to the deep canyons instead of crossing out in the open.

A small noise caught Xiomar’s attention, and two small lights flashed on GLITCH’s screen that showed a map of their path through the desert.

“What are those?”

“Major Reina Rivera and Lieutenant Adam Maddox have been following in their Reaver and Valkyrie.”

Xiomar let out a frustrated sigh. He should have known they would follow him.

“Oh, well,” he muttered. “As long as they stay out of sight, they should be fine.”

As they approached the base, moving out into open areas, the tops of the hangars slowly came into sight, and Xiomar’s heart started to pound. He didn’t know what was waiting for them or why.

“All right, GLITCH, listen up,” he said, and the lights above his head pulsed in reaction to his voice. “I don’t know how they learned about you, and I don’t know what they want with us, but don’t talk to anyone, got it? If they take you somewhere else, gather as much info as you can about the soldiers and what the hell is going on. Don’t give anyone access to your console either.”

“Affirmative. Pilot orders are to deny all access to the main console.”

About half a mile from the base, GLITCH and Xiomar found themselves surrounded by the big ugly green Mechs of the Zynthian Army, as well as tanks with their guns pointed on them.

“State your name and business, or we will open fire,” one of the Mechs announced, aiming a cannon directly at GLITCH’s chest. Xiomar didn’t fancy being crushed in the pilot’s compartment a second time, and he swallowed hard before pressing the button to convey his voice over GLITCH’s loudspeaker.

“This is Major Xiomar Haydn. I’m here to turn myself in, in exchange for the prisoners kept by Zynthos.”

“Exit the Mech immediately.”

Xiomar did as he was told, climbing down to the ground at GLITCH’s feet.

His boots had barely hit the sand when he was apprehended by Zynthian soldiers. One of them twisted his arms behind his back and shoved him down onto his knees, and another hit him in the stomach with the butt of his rifle. Xiomar doubled over in pain, coughing and gasping.

“What the fuck was that for?” he asked through his pained breathing. A bit of sweat ran down the side of his face. “I wasn’t gonna fight.”

“You already did,” the soldier said. He spat on the ground in front on Xiomar. “I was one of the guys you clobbered a few weeks ago. That was payback, asshole.”

“Save it for later, Lieutenant,” one of the higher-ranking officers said. “Get him out of here.”

“Fuck you,” Xiomar growled as he was cuffed and hauled to his feet. He was forced to walk the rest of the way to the base, being shoved and hit in the back with rifles. GLITCH was put on a carrier, pulled by tanks along with them.

An alarm on one of the Zynthian Mechs started to go off, flashing a red light and letting out a blaring obnoxious noise like an air raid siren. The group stopped, looking around nervously, and Xiomar’s eyes went wide.

“Emporian Mechs have been detected just outside the base,” one of the Mech announced.

“Well, go get rid of them, then,” one of the officers said. Two of the larger Mechs headed off in the direction of the canyons, and then he gestured for the rest to follow. “Let’s go.”

“Don’t!” Xiomar struggled against them, but there were too many, and he couldn’t do much with his hands behind his back. “Leave them out of this! You asked for me, and I’m here. Don’t hurt anyone else.”

“Quiet!” The officer punched Xiomar in the stomach with a surprising amount of force, and Xiomar fell to one knee, gasping for air. “If they wanted to live, they should have stayed away.”

They brought GLITCH to one of the Mech hangar, and Xiomar to the stockades. They uncuffed him and threw him into a holding cell, locking him up without another word.

He sat on the floor and let out a heavy sigh. He could hear rumbling in the distance, similar to what he’d heard when Zynthos first attacked. Was it the Mechs that had gone out after Reina and Maddox? He hoped they would be okay. They shouldn’t have followed him. He didn’t want anyone else to get hurt or killed.

***

Maddox groaned in pain, slowly opening his eyes. What had happened? He rubbed his forehead and hissed in pain. There was a gash on his brow and his face was covered in blood. His shoulder hurt, the straps to the safety harness digging into his skin. His Mech felt like it must have been laying sideways.

It was powered down too. He kicked the switch on, and only a few lights in the pilot’s compartment came on, and only part of the console and one projection screen that showed the area outside. His Valkyrie was laying at the bottom of a large canyon, and it was dark outside.

“Herja,” Maddox called out to his Mech’s voice recognition, and a loud beep responded to tell him it was working. “Coordinates?”

“Coordinates unknown,” a feminine voice said. “Mechanical damage as well as magnetic interference.”

“Dammit.” Maddox rubbed his forehead and shut his eyes. His head was throbbing, and he could barely remember anything. He was monitoring the perimeter of the base with Reina while Xiomar was surrendering himself, and then Zynthian Mechs—

“Can you scan for other Mechs? Can you find Reina or Haydn?”

“Negative. Mechanical damage as well as magnetic interference.”

“Jeez.” Maddox let out a loud sigh of frustration. “Can you at least stand?”

“Link with Sync-Suit initiated. Minor damage sustained to left arm. Legs are fully functional.”

“All right.” He took a few deep breaths, then grabbed the control. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

It was difficult, with his Mech only having one working arm, but he finally managed to get it upright. He stayed low, walking through the bottom of the canyon. He couldn’t risk being seen. Who knew if there were any Zynthian soldiers around?

“Keeping scanning until we’re out of range of the interference,” he told his Mech. “I need to know where we are, and then we need to find Reina and Haydn.”

***

“Get up,” a Zynthian soldier demanded, nudging Xiomar with his foot.

Xiomar was laying on the floor of the cell with his eyes shut. He’d been there for a couple of days without food or water.

What could he do? With GLITCH in the hands of the Zynthian Army, it would only be a matter of time before they would figure out how it worked, right? Xiomar didn’t even understand yet, though, so would they really be able to? If they did, it wouldn’t be long before there were more Mechs like GLITCH, and Zynthos would dominate the continent with such advanced technology.

“I said get up,” the soldier said, kicking him again, and Xiomar scowled.

He hoped there was some way that GLITCH could protect himself. He could usually shut down at will if it didn’t put any lives in danger, so maybe he could keep the Zynthian Army from learning how Acennan Pierce had build him.

The soldier, finally losing his patience, grabbed Xiomar roughly by the arm and hauled him to his feet, shoving him out into the hall where another soldier was waiting with shackles.

Xiomar tried to fight. He punched the man in the face and tackled another to the ground, but he was quickly apprehended by more Zynthian soldiers. They twisted his arms painfully and forced him to his knees.

“Get your fucking hands off of me!”

“Shut up!” One of the soldiers struck him between his shoulder blades with his rifle and Xiomar cried out in pain as he fell forward. Then his hands were shackled behind his back.

“Take him to the general.”

He continued to try to fight back, but there wasn’t much Xiomar could do. Whenever he tried to move, he’d be struck by the soldiers, forcing him to keep walking. Where were they taking him? What were they going to do with him? Would GLITCH be okay on his own?

He got shoved into Dufault’s old office, and he stumbled and fell to the floor. When he tried to get up, one of the Zynthian soldiers struck him in the face with the butt of his rifle. Pain shot through his head as he tried to regain focus and catch his breath, and then another soldier kicked him in the stomach. He doubled over, coughing and gasping. Were they just going to torture him?

“That’s quite enough,” a strong voice said, and Xiomar’s eyes went wide. “I need him alive and conscious. Leave us.”

“Yes, sir,” the men said, leaving Xiomar alone on the floor.

He was trembling, curled up on the floor. He gritted his teeth and kept his head down as the man got up from the desk and moved around to where Xiomar was. He knelt down beside him, placing a strong hand on his back, and it made Xiomar sick to his stomach.

“Get your filthy hands off of me,” he growled, tears filling his eyes. He felt like he couldn't breathe. Fucking traitor.

“Oh, come on, Xio,” Lotharing said with a small laugh. “I saw you escape from this base a few weeks ago. I never expected you of all people to actually be a competent soldier and Mech pilot.”

“Don’t fucking touch me! You can’t—”

“I can’t what, Xio? Betray the Army to get my hands on the technology that made that Mech sentient? Infiltrate another country’s Army in order to supply weapons to my own? Have I betrayed you, Xio? You saw me as a father figure because you have no family. You’d never suspect that I was the one who put you where I needed you to be. Do you really think you’d ever have been promoted all the way up to Major without my influence? You’re so naturally gifted, your mechanical knowledge unrivaled by most mechanics I’ve ever met besides Acennan Pierce. And you were always so eager to please, too. I knew you’d make that Mech work.”

“Why?” Xiomar asked, pressing his forehead to the floor. There were angry tears in his eyes. “I… I thought—”

“I could never expect you to understand the delicate situation we find ourselves in. Zynthos is a country torn apart by decades of civil war, and the rebels are more ruthless than any soldier I’ve ever met. With that Mech of yours, an army of those on the front lines, we can reduce the loss of life significantly. We’ve been working on technology to integrate remote and artificial links, which could one day completely eliminate the need for human soldiers. Can you imagine it, Xio, to lose no lives in the midst of technological warfare?”

“I’m not going to help you,” Xiomar said with a scowl. Lotharing must have lost his damn mind if he thought he would help him do such a thing. “GLITCH won’t let just anyone pilot him, and I’m not going to tell you how he works.”

“GLITCH?” Lotharing chuckled. He stood and straightened the front of his jacket. “How fitting. No matter, though. I don’t need your permission. I’m sure that Mech will be more than willing to oblige with our demands if he knows his pilot’s life hangs in the balance.”

Lotharing and his men dragged Xiomar down to the hangar where they were keeping GLITCH. The Mech was standing in the center of the mostly empty area, surrounded by soldiers and scientists who were examining and taking notes.

“Have you gotten it to move yet?” Lotharing asked, and one of the soldiers, wearing a Sync-Suit, just shook his head.

“No, sir. It’s locked itself down completely. We tried forcing the door to the pilot’s compartment open, but it won’t budge. We tried a bit of dynamite, but we can’t risk damaging it with anything stronger.”

Lotharing grabbed Xiomar roughly by the arm and threw him on the floor in front of GLITCH.

“Hey, Mech!” he called up. “GLITCH, was it? Take a moment to have a chat with us.”

“Scanning now,” GLITCH said, focusing his scanners on them. “General Edward Lotharing detected. Major Xiomar Haydn detected.”

Lotharing let out an impressed whistle.

“Here’s the deal, GLITCH,” he said, grabbing Xiomar by the collar of his jumpsuit. "We've got your pilot here, but Major Haydn is being relieved of duty. You’re going to allow us access to your console and let us assign a new pilot.”

“Pilot heart rate and blood pressure elevated. Major Xiomar Haydn appears to be in distress. Two fractured ribs, and contusions to head and shoulders. Possibility of concussion.”

“Don’t ignore me!” Lotharing shouted. “We all know about the technology that Ace used to build you, and we want to know how it works. If you refuse, I can’t guarantee Xio's safety.”

“Don’t listen to him, GLITCH!” Xiomar struggled to get away from Lotharing, but he yanked on the collar of his jumpsuit to keep him down. “Don’t worry about me—just don’t let them in! That’s an order! You can’t—”

“Quiet, Haydn!”

One of the soldiers hit him with a riot baton, and Xiomar screamed in pain as electricity flooded his body. The batons had been banned in Emporia decades earlier, labeled as inhumane. They were modified cattle prods meant to clear riots, not as a torture device to be held against victims for long periods of time.

When the soldier finally stopped, Xiomar fell forward and vomited, his body shaking and twitching while he struggled to catch his breath.

“His life is in your hands,” Lotharing told GLITCH. The Mech was silent for a moment, its eyes scanning the room.

“Pilot orders are to deny all access to the main console,” GLITCH finally said, and Lotharing scowled.

“Then you seal his fate, Mech. The longer you refuse, the more he’ll suffer.”

“Fuck you, Lotharing.” Xiomar spat on the floor at the general's feet. “You’re never getting GLITCH.”

The hangar was filled with Xiomar’s pained screaming as he was hit with the riot baton again.