Part 20: Can't Stop The Musik

Chapter 16: Can't Stop The Musik



I'd promised myself that I would never come back here, but if it's the only way to save Mota, I have no choice.

It's time to face the music.



"I know; much to my regret, we've met before. I'm here to learn to play the piano."



"Uh, sure. Whatever you say."

Ustvestia's gaze wandered up and down my body. "Hey, you look smart. I'll teach you for 2000 mesetas."

"Fine," I said, handing over the cash. "Let's just get this over with."



...

"Ustvestia, I know you're the expert here, but isn't it more traditional for the teacher to sit beside the student, not behind him?"

...

"Ustvestia, if you're trying to show me the way I need to move my hands, shouldn't your hands be on my hands instead of my legs?"

...

"Ustvestia, I don't care if you have a better piano in your basement. I'm not going down there. No, not even for an extra discount."

...

"Ustvestia, go ahead and turn the air conditioning up if you're feeling hot. It's your home, after all. But whatever you do, in the name of all that is good and holy, keep your shirt on."



You're still the only 'musical artist' here, buddy. I'm just a guy who knows how to play the piano.



I'm not sure I will ever be able to come again.



"How did the lesson go?" Amy asked as I walked out of Ustvestia's house.

"I have learned many things today, and I only want to remember one of them," I said. "Now let us never speak of this again."



We returned to the Piata control tower, where I could put my hard-earned knowledge to good use.



Now that we knew the right path, reaching the top of the tower was much easier. Kain's Nagaj technique made short work of the robots along the way, shutting down nearly all of them in a single blow.



Well, here goes nothing. I sat on the piano stool and started to play.



The tune was short and fairly simple. I guess I must have played it well enough, because I heard a door slide open to the north.



The room I'd opened up contained four panels, each with a large button on it.



When I pressed the button on each panel, a card popped out of a slot below.

"I'll hold on to those if'n ya want," Kain offered.

"No," I replied. "No, you will not."




Each card's colour corresponded to one of the dams. I remembered learning as a child that the colour of each dam was meant to represent some aspect of Mota's natural environment. The same four colours appeared on Mota's flag.

More importantly, I now had everything I needed to open the dams and save Mota from catastrophic flooding.



Just in time, too. I teleported back to Paseo and found that the water line was only twenty feet or so below us. If nothing was done, water would be lapping at the feet of Paseo's citizens within days.

I remembered looking over the edge of Paseo's artificial island with Nei, back when the only thing below us was a sheer drop to a dry lake bed. My life had changed so much since then, and so had Mota. Even as life on Mota was returning to normal after the disruptions of recent years, my own life was changing for the worse, and it was hard to imagine how it could ever return to normal.



Mother Brain wasn't going to make saving her people from drowning easy for us. As we walked toward the coast, Rudo pointed into a stand of trees.

"Look over there," he said. "Two surveillance robots, designation Whistle. I think we should destroy them."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I don't want to destroy robots that aren't threatening us. Mother Brain isn't our enemy."

Rudo laughed bitterly. "Have you seen the news lately? We've officially been declared enemies of Mother Brain. Those robots might see us and report our location, and that makes them a threat. Mother Brain has declared war on us, and if we want to survive we have to fight back."

I nodded and drew my sword. "You're right. I still don't understand why Mother Brain blamed us for the Climatrol incident, but the situation's already gone far beyond a misunderstanding. Two more destroyed robots won't add much to our list of crimes."

The robots' tiny laser weapons were completely inadequate to defend themselves, and we dismantled them quickly.



Not long after, we were attacked by a patrolling group of security robots, designation Polezi and Mechoman. The Polezi were police robots designed for stopping petty thieves and breaking up domestic disputes, not for fighting heavily-armed fugitives like us. Mechomen were purpose-built combat robots, and much more dangerous: they were difficult to damage with bladed weapons, and their micromissiles could spread destruction over a wide area. Fortunately, Rudo's laser cannon and Kain's techniques were highly effective against them.



After several more skirmishes with robots, we reached the coast, where our jet scooter was waiting for us. On the bright side, I hadn't seen a single Biomonster on our entire journey. Mother Brain's security robots must have exterminated them. Why couldn't they have done that earlier?



We decided to tackle the Red Dam first; it was supposedly the simplest to traverse, and time was of the essence. The channel leading from the dam to the ocean was almost dry, with barely enough water to keep the jet scooter afloat. That was going to change very soon.

A small dock was provided for vessels needing to access the dam. It probably hadn't been used in decades, but it was still functional. We moored the scooter there, opened an access hatch and entered the dam.



The Red Dam certainly lived up to its name. Every surface inside it was painted some shade of red. Under better circumstances I might have found the visual effect impressive, but in my current state of mind red signified danger. I kept one hand on my sword, half-expecting robots to jump out at me at any moment.



A security door near the entrance blocked our path. I inserted the red card into the card reader, and the door slid open.

We were inside the dam: now, all we had to do was find a way to open it.