Part 22: Fire Slashers Smell Like Victory

Chapter 18: Fire Slashers Smell Like Victory



If I am sane, then the world has gone insane, and I am justified in fighting against it. If I am insane, then it is futile for me to try to act rationally. And so I fight.

That's the one constant in life. All of us fight to survive, each in our own way. Mother Brain has tried to create a world in which people could live without effort, without fighting. It was doomed from the start, I think. To struggle against adversity is what makes us alive.

The others each see glimpses of this truth, but they don't understand. When I shared my thoughts with Hugh, he was disturbed. He told me that the survival of the fittest was an idea belonging to a barbaric age, and no guiding principle for a civilised society. But he was wise enough to know that he could not refute my logic. The strong survive, the weak die; it has always been that way. Does he shy away from the truth because he fears that he will be one of the weak?

Rudo is no less of a killer than I am, but he is less honest about it. Soldiers and guardians are both trained to kill other human beings if necessary. Maybe that's why he hates guardians: our existence reminds him that sometimes, humans must die.

Kain is a fool, and like most fools he enjoys the simple things in life. I respect his ability to live in the moment, if nothing else. If he doesn't die young, he will lead a happy life. And if he stays away from me, he won't die young.

Amy makes herself far too vulnerable. The only one who doesn't see the way she fawns over Rolf is Rolf himself. If she wants to set herself up for disappointment, that's her business, but she shouldn't let her feelings distract her from our mission.

Shir... confuses me. Her personality seems to be built on thin air. Her opinions change from moment to moment, and everything she says is a half-truth. I don't understand her, and I'm not sure she understands herself either.

And then there's Rolf, our fearless leader -- or so he would have us believe. I've heard what he says in his sleep every night. He still hasn't accepted that he can't protect everybody. Darum died, Teim died, Nei died, and more will die before this is all over. He wants to save Mota when we should focus on saving ourselves.



By the time the others and I were ready to leave for the Yellow Dam, Shir had gone on one of her little walks again. Rolf found her outside the armour shop with a bag full of protective gear under her arm. I waited for Rolf to deliver his usual lecture on morality so we could get going.

The lecture never came. "Good work, Shir," Rolf said. "These should come in handy."

Shir looked even more shocked than I was. "You mean you're fine with this? Um... okay then."

It was only natural for her to be confused by Rolf's reaction, but there was more to it than that. She seemed disappointed that Rolf had tolerated her theft. Every time I think I understand these people, they find a new way to surprise me.



At least the armour Shir had obtained for us was worth something. The Green Sleeves, made of high-strength polymers, covered the arms from the hand up to the shoulder, allowing me to use my entire arm to protect myself as if it were a shield. The trouble was, I couldn't wear them and still have the manual dexterity to throw a Slasher with that hand, and I've always believed the best defence is a good offence.



And the fire slasher was a very good offence indeed. The blade was made of hard heat-resistant material, probably tungsten carbide-based, and the heating system kept the cutting edge hot enough to burn through steel without making the handle too hot to hold. A true work of art. I'll enjoy the chance to use this in battle.



The lake's level was rising more slowly than before, but the remaining three dams would still need to be opened.



The walls of the dam were painted a sickly yellow. With the yellow card, we could enter and take another step toward saving Mota.

Hmph. Saving Mota indeed. What have the people of Mota ever done to deserve my help? If they reward their heroes by treating them as criminals, it would only be just to leave them to their fate. But as much as I hate the idea of saving Mota's lazy city-dwelling ingrates from themselves, I enjoy drowning even less.



The ground floor of the dam was simple enough: a very open structure, with a number of transport chutes leading up. Following our usual procedure in these situations, Rolf picked one at random and we all went through.



The second floor was more complex, and each of the chutes led to a different section of the dam.



Powerful combat robots, designation Fire Gamma, had been waiting for us inside the dam. Mother Brain knew by now that we were trying to open the dams, and yet she was still trying to stop us. This didn't add up.



Our path took us directly through the dam's floodgate control machinery. Rolf had chosen wisely in bringing me along instead of Kain; he would probably have brought the whole structure down on their heads just by looking at all of these machines the wrong way.



The next robots to briefly block our path were Twig Men -- or, as I like to call them, target practice. Was this the best that Mother Brain could throw at us?



Our looting of the dam's stash of weapons and armour began with a protective cape made of woven crystal fibres.



It fit me perfectly, and the red glow from my fire slasher reflected off it most attractively. I noticed a small black button just below the neckline.



Trying out the button in combat produced impressive results. A faint vibration ran through the cape, and a wide area in front of me was shaken by a discharge of gravitational energy. Such a weapon would be convenient when fighting heavily-armoured robots, against which my slashers were almost useless.



Our next find was a crystal chest plate, again with a button on it.



Rolf tried it on and was satisfied with its protection, although his skill with offensive techniques meant he had little need for its additional power.



The dam's robots gave us many chances to test our new armour. The Cooley 61 was a heavy-duty mining and construction robot armed with explosive charges. It had, of course, been reprogrammed to seek us out and kill us.



Shir was the weak link in our team. Her laser knives barely scratched the more heavily-armoured robots, and she lacked the mental discipline to use techniques without exhausting herself. There's no shame in not being cut out to use techniques, but if she couldn't use them well, she shouldn't rely on them.




Further into the dam, we found a suit of crystal body armour and an orange-coloured hazard suit. A pity that neither of them would fit any of us.



The suit, however, had an integrated Dimate injector. We soon found that the Dimate was somehow self-regenerating, providing us with an unlimited source of medical supplies. With this, Amy had become almost redundant.



A passage on the fourth floor spiralled inward and downward, leading to the dam's control computer.



It was done. Another dam was open, buying us precious time.

After everything that the people of Mota had done to us, after all that they had taken from me, I had still somehow ended up fighting to protect them. When I was a guardian tasked with finding corrupt hunters and bringing them to justice, I fought out of both a personal drive and professional duty. When I joined Rolf to fight against the Biomonsters, it was out of respect for his skills and the prospect of fame and fortune. Now, with Mota at risk of flooding, our fight was a matter of survival.



Wherever I go, violence follows: that's as true now as ever. But I won't stop fighting. Even if I'm unjustly hated for it, I will find a way to survive. That's what I do.