The Architect Codex

Inferno - Ionic Bond

"You said your name is Four, right?"

Though definitely artificial, the voice had a distinctive feminine tone to it. He nodded. She extended a robotic hand towards him.

"I'm Vale. I apologize, but it seems that McFarlane here doesn't realize that without the massive influx of IMC joining our cause, we would have lost this war a long time ago." She turned to glare at the other man, and he scowled before turning away while muttering under his breath.

Now the woman looked at him. She had a buzzed head, her dirty-blonde hair cut down to no more than stubble, and hazel eyes that looked him up and down as though sizing him up. "Tyra Crane. Odd name you've got there, Four."

He shrugged. "That's what I'm told." He glanced at Vale. "You know, I heard rumors about something like this, but I didn't know the Militia was utilizing it."

She nodded. "Simulacrums? Yeah, transferring the mind of a human into a robot is definitely a tricky business, but it's effective. Gives me a sort of black-box function—I can just be restored from a previous backup compiled with a data package that gets beamed out upon the destruction of my body. I tell you though, I definitely miss some of the more ... primal feelings of being human."

Ignoring that last comment, Tyra stepped forward and offered her hand to him. "Welcome to the squad. You're our new number four—hey, you're already fitting in!"

Opting not to comment on the poor joke, he just nodded and looked at the pair of them. "Glad to be a part of it. Who's the commanding officer?"

Vale nodded her head toward him with a slight whirr of machinery. "You're lookin' at her."

He gestured behind her towards the engineering bay. "In that case, ma'am—permission to leave? I have an urgent appointment—"

"Well, of course you do!" she exclaimed, slapping him on the shoulder and dragging him along with her. "That's why we're here, aren't we? To see if our new meat is all bark or if he's got any bite."

"What?"

Tyra waved for McFarlane to follow, and then fell into step alongside them. "Your whole ultimatum thing with Gates—word gets around fast on a ship, and man have you got some balls to pull a stunt like that with her."

His confidence was draining with every second she kept speaking. "Come again?"

"Nobody talks like that to her and gets away with it," she elaborated. "She's the leader of one of the best merc factions in the frontier—you don't get that kind of title without a reputation to uphold, and you did a number on hers with that trick of yours."

He swallowed hard. "I didn't think the 6-4 really counted themselves as mercenaries—"

Vale scoffed. "Just because they don't work for the highest bidder doesn't mean they aren't mercs. Call 'em what you want, killers with a conscience or whatever—but make no mistake, they've earned their prestige."

From behind him, McFarlane leaned in and rather smugly whispered, "That means you're gonna pay for that little show of yours—one way or another."

This was some welcome to a new squad, he could at least say that much.

He had a feeling it was about to get just a bit more interesting, however, as the four of them entered the engineering bay and saw a crowd of people standing there waiting and talking amongst themselves. Once they noticed the quartet's arrival, some of them became silent while others only increased in volume. Near the back of the room, he could see who he was actually here for; KT, and the Ion seemed rather unsettled by all the unwanted attention.