Charlotte lays a cloth over Genesis. Another crew returns to dust, her crew.

“I did what I could.” The maid says. “I’m sorry.”

Her words appear to be directed at Genesis more than Caitlyn. Genesis probably matters more to her. The two maids seem to be really close. They both must have been through a lot together.

Caitlyn is starting to like her. The maid is fun to interact with. Pity that she ends up like this. Something is pressing her own core. It reminds her why she didn’t commit to any of her crew for a long time. The loss of their life will hang on her. Especially knowing that the girl has neither home nor family. No one will remember her. It just adds up to the guilt. She was avoiding personal attachments because of it. But somehow she needs them. She hates herself for being incapable to fill that need.

…Die…

Caitlyn shakes her head violently.

Fallen Androids will be returned home to be recycled. Their parts will be salvaged and refined to create a new Android. It has always been that way ever since the state mass-produced them. Burial is considered a crime. But the punishment usually doesn’t go beyond a fine for the materials spent to manufacture them. Caitlyn never seen the recycle facility. Yet she can see a bunch of contraptions disassembling Genesis one by one. She hopes they make sure that the maid is really dead, because that process seems to be painful beyond measure.

Caitlyn wipes her face with both hands. She begins to make her way back to her tank on the other side. KP is sitting behind him with her container unfolded. She pulls out his broken track and lay down a new one. She placed it in line with PT’s left tread. PT rolls steadily backward, getting his trackless wheels on top of the track. One of KP’s arms tuck the track in the crevice between the sprocket and its shelter. The tank moves forward. The laid down track is slowly getting into place.

PT hums. “Feels much better already.”

“Remember, I’m not doing this for you.”

“Keep babbling old lady.”

KP then links the track. It’s now as good as new. At least it seems so. Given KP’s senile voice, it’s hard not to picture a grandmother putting on her grandson’s shoes after dusting it off. Caitlyn wants to chuckle at that thought. Her sentiment on Genesis prevents her.

A soldier disembarks from the oversized truck once he parks her in a safe sheltered spot about some meters behind PT. Caitlyn approaches him.

“Thanks for the help, Sergeant Wuss.”

“No problem, ma’am.” He replies. “All in a day’s work.”

The man turns his attention to Hassle and his other comrade, Sergeant Georg. They are tending their dead colleagues, what’s left of them. Caitlyn then catches him glancing at Charlotte turning a depressed gaze to her fallen partner.

“Not a good day for us, huh?” Wuss shrugs.

Caitlyn takes a deep breath. “It was.”

“I’ll check on anyone else.” Wuss nods at Hassle’s direction.

Caitlyn walks leisurely to PT and climbs his hull. She sits on the commander’s hatch and leans against PT’s turret. She pulls her legs close and wraps her arms around them.

“Rest in peace, blonde.” PT says.

“Rest in peace indeed.” Caitlyn follows.

The sun is a quarter past the horizon in the east. The telves withdrew from Patih Tread not long after they secured the ridge. But it almost cost her entire group. Now she’s just holding the position, hoping that no counter-attacks will come within the next few hours. At least not until reinforcement come. Fort promised her that.

In war, casualties are normal. Until a friend, a partner, or even a relative, becomes one of them. She turns to glance at Hassle to her right. He is still there with Wuss and Georg. They sit around their dead comrades’ bodies. They converse with each other, often turning their attention to the corpses. The humans believe that body and soul are separate entities. The latter is eternal, the former is not. Once the body dies, the soul will go to another place. Anywhere that’s not the material world. But it only happens when the body is properly buried. That’s what she heard. Seems like, Wuss, Georg, and the captain wish their comrades to stick around a bit longer. She hopes they have a good one.

Caitlyn catches a shrieking engine overhead. She cranes her head up and sees a Kris, the one that supported their assault, landing near KP.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” The Kris greets them.

“Read the room, big guy.” KP replies. “I thought you could see the shelling that killed our fellow Automatons.”

“Oh…” The Kris says. “Uh…yeah, I think I should.”

KP has resupplied them all. But what can Caitlyn do with a tank, three soldiers, and maybe a gunship? The day she met PT was a miracle. She never thinks she could hold against three Gauntlets with a Chord. PT is just a buff car with a big gun, not an all-purpose war-machine that’s able to wreck an entire army. She might have artillery now. But without enough strength, she couldn’t pin the telves enough to feed them to the Concaves.

“So, KT.”

Caitlyn turns her attention to his gun. “Yes?”

“I’m bored.”

“How are you though? You were supposed to watch for telves.”

“You know, I’m actually doing it.” PT says. “But there’s something in my way. Something…heavenly.”

Caitlyn blushes. “Was that a compliment?” She asks.

“Not you though. But a particular part of you.” PT states.

Caitlyn looks upward. “My particular part…”

It takes her five second to realize it. She frowns as she lurches away from PT’s turret while covering her bottom parts with her hands.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me.” She pouts.

“Hey I’m not the one asking you to sit against my turret.”

Caitlyn jumps down. She stretches the tail of her coat while looking back to make sure that part is covered.

“There.” Caitlyn says, still frowning at the tank.

“Hmm.” PT contemplates. “Hey flyboy! Hey!” He shouts at the Kris.

“Are you talking to me?” The Kris notices.

“Yeah.” PT says. “What’s your call-sign?”

“It’s Slither.”

“Right. Slither, would you kindly be on the lookout for telves?”

“Say no, say no, say no, say no…” KP utters repeatedly.

“Sure, why not.” Slither replies. He starts his engine again and hovers upward.

“You’re not getting fuel from me.” KP shouts at him.

The gunship is already too high to probably catch that. He doesn’t respond as he flies off to the distance. Hopefully he doesn’t stumble upon telves’ anti-air defenses.

“Wow.” Caitlyn looks unimpressed at her tank.

“Come on, KT. Just give me a break. I almost died there.”

Caitlyn leans against PT’s side hull and sighs. “Fine.”

On second thought, PT shouldn’t be chastised for it. Telling her that her bottom part is in the way is an act of respect. Staying silent on the other hand, is not. Because that implies he wants her there longer for his own pleasure. The state considers such act of perversion a treason if one party doesn’t consent. PT was actually upholding that rule. Though he actually doesn’t have to. Who would consider an intercourse with a tank? Caitlyn covers her mouth and looks away. The realization flusters her even more.

But for him to recognize the pleasure, he has to understand intimate relationships between two partners. Caitlyn has yet to meet a Chord who hints at that.

“By the way…” She hesitated. Caitlyn glances at the tank’s turret. “Do you…actually have sexual tendencies?”

“Hope you don’t think of me using my gun to…no, I’m not saying that. You get me.”

“Well…I’m just curious.” Caitlyn shrugged.

“Think of me a boy, but stuck in a tank form.”

“You mean you have?”

“I can tell those two maids are sweet. But I don’t have wild thoughts between them and I.”

“That still means you can be attracted to a female partner.”

“Getting excited over girls isn’t rare among us you know? Be it humans, Androids, or other Automatons.”

Caitlyn turns her attention to the oversized truck that sits behind PT. “Do you think KP is beautiful?” She points at the Creeper with her thumb.

“Not in a million years.” PT says.

Caitlyn nods. She believes he doesn’t mean it. She believes that KP was once attractive as well. Voice is a way for females to attract a partner aside from their appearance. Males are just built to be aroused by them to preserve reproduction. KP’s serial dates back to fifty years ago, way before the First Great Liberation War. Her voice is updated to a senile one to give that feel. There’s probably one or two Automatons that hooked up on her during her prime.

Charlotte trudges to them. Her sight remains downward as she approaches. There’s a weary looks on her face. Caitlyn used to have similar attitude when her partners perished. Those are the days when she still cares. She was about to care for Genesis. Her demise proves to her again that she should remain indifferent to her colleagues.

Caitlyn wipes her forehead. She just began trailing away from that path. She feels content with Charlotte, PT, and KP. Is she just going to discard them away to return to what she used to be? Is she just going to isolate herself from them and invites her loneliness back to whip her? Seeking pain is the last thing that everyone would do, unless they’re a masochist. But the choices for her are equally displeasing. There’s a pain of loss on one side, and a pain of loneliness on the other. She takes a deep breath.

“Caitlyn?” The maid calls her.

Caitlyn raises her sight.

“You’re still mourning?”

“I was starting to like her.” Caitlyn shrugs.

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“Yeah.” Charlotte says. She leans against PT beside her. “She is indeed, lovely.”

“You two share a lot of things together?” Caitlyn asks.

“Five years of service. She was also there when I enlisted. We were even in the same squad then.”

“My condolences.” Caitlyn says, looking down.

Charlotte shrugs. “It’s okay. She told me to not grief a lot over her passing.”

“Mind if I say something?” PT asks.

“Stay silent, PT.” Caitlyn says. “She needs a break just as you do.”

“Right.”

Charlotte smiles to Caitlyn. “Oh, really. You don’t have to do that.” She says gently.

Caitlyn glances at her smile. A bright, elegant smile. Charlotte has a slim figure. The maid is even less curvy than her. But Charlotte’s face is goddess-like. Caitlyn is silent as she observes it, wondering how the maid can be this captivating. Charlotte is made, presumably, by the same machine that also made her. How can they lay this beauty on Charlotte, but not her? They should be able to. The thought sow jealousy. She gently shakes her head to dismiss it. She can’t have that feeling when she is making friend with her.

“Hi guys.” A familiar voice calls them. A big yawning follows it.

Caitlyn turns to the most jaw-dropping sight she has ever seen.

“Huh…?”

“What?” PT utters.

“Is that…” KP says from the distance. “…Genesis over there?”

“Oh, hey.” Charlotte says. “Welcome back.”

Caitlyn turns a questioning looks toward the maid beside her. She has a lot of questions. She glances back at the maid who is supposedly dead. The gaping hole on Genesis’ stomach is restored. Even her field uniform is perfectly stitched back. It’s as if she never took that grenade. What’s more is that Charlotte seems like she had experienced this before.

“Mmmh…” Genesis scratches her right eye. “How long have I been out?”

“Two hours, approximately.” Charlotte says.

“I’m going to nap…” Genesis yawns again, stretching her arms. “…calibrate for an hour maybe.”

“I’ll wake you up when you’re needed.”

Genesis nods. She trudges to where KP is parked. The truck is silent as she climbs into her cabin. Charlotte glances back at Caitlyn. The maid catches the awkward look on her face. How is she supposed to maintain a straight face after seeing someone return from the dead?

“Do you need something, Caitlyn?” Charlotte tilts her head.

“What in the Primus name just happened?” PT asks.

“I don’t really know.” Charlotte says. “But it always happens whenever she takes fatal injury. She’ll immediately enter calibration. Give it a few moments and she’ll be up again.”

Caitlyn rubs her chin. “She doesn’t seem to be up though, to me.”

Charlotte leers up. “Depends on how bad the injury is. A couple of traumas, she can instantly return to the commotion. Rip her apart, and it’ll take an additional one to two hours of calibration.”

“Let me guess, her SANTET?” PT asks.

Charlotte shakes her head. “We all have the same SANTET module. They’re the one keeping our shields up.”

Caitlyn walks to KP with an intrigued looks on her face. She wants to make sure that it’s actually the maid that assumed the driver role for her. KP says nothing as Caitlyn opens the hatch. Genesis sleeps on her side, taking up all the seats. Her body pulsates gently. Her legs are close to her while her head rests on her left arm. Her organic tissue isn’t as pale as when Charlotte lays the cloth on her. Listening to the sound of her core is guaranteed to tell whether she is alive or not. Doing so would disrupt the maid however, and Caitlyn doesn’t want to interrupt the rest that she seems to require. She decides to just stroke her cheek. Her soft tissue is just as warm as hers, the standard temperature for Androids. She is alive. That should be enough for now.

Genesis’ eyebrows flinch. She swats her hand away.

“Dad…” She groans. “It’s Saturday.” The maid leisurely flips to the other side.

Caitlyn never has a father. She doesn’t know how it feels like losing one. She only has a mother. And the old woman technically didn’t raise her. Her head hurts thinking about it.

…Die…

Caitlyn shakes her head to shove the voices away. The maid was properly raised. There were times where she had a home and a loving father. It touches her that she wishes those times are still around. She had a chance for a better life. The world seized it. And now she is alone amidst the ever-unforgiving battlefield. Just like her. At least she has Charlotte. Imagine how she would feel if Charlotte wasn’t there. Genesis doesn’t deserve the pain. Unlike her. Caitlyn left her family because it was her fault. She has to atone. She thought of the loneliness as a part of the struggle. But it never came to her that it is this unbearable for her.

“Don’t worry, Caitlyn.” Charlotte says from behind.

Caitlyn looks over her shoulder.

“She’ll be fine.”

Caitlyn steps down and gently shuts the hatch. “She better be.” She says.

It’s sensible for her to say that. Genesis fills her driver role for now and there’s no replacement yet. But that’s not why she wishes her to be fine. She still wants to share more things with her. She feels like they are alike and they have to stick together.

Caitlyn walks back to PT and sits on his hull, dangling her feet.

“Just realized that you sparked the conversation first.” PT said. “What got into you?”

“What do you mean?” Caitlyn asks.

“You asked me about my apparent desire as an Automaton to peg someone. That sounds wrong, excuse me.”

“Oh…” Caitlyn rubs her temple. “Just a curious thought.”

“You don’t…think of doing it, do you?”

Caitlyn rolls her eyes. “Who would want to be with me anyway?” She said. It’s a disheartening thought. But she admits that it’s the case. Nevertheless, she dreams of a boy to hook up with her, a random boy that sees the pleasure of being around her. It’ll be pleasing to her too. She believes that it could change her, just like that boy changed that princess. She keeps hoping to find such person around the corner. That has yet realized so far.

“That’s concerning.” PT comments. “You’re not that desperate that you’d take an Automaton as one, are you?”

Caitlyn strokes his hull. “Maybe.”

Hassle and his men dug a foxhole up to the southwest. Georg is the one with the light-machine-gun and his sight constantly sweeps left and right. Wuss is on the lookout as well. Hassle crouches in the foxhole, fiddling with his utilizer.

Caitlyn glances at the direction of Patih Tread. Friendly forces should be laboring to transform the torn town into a new forward base. This means that they have secured the highway. But they have yet to control it. Fortifications are still minimal at best. They have to convince Command that they could repel the telves for them to start sending Turangga down the D230. Given the telves’ current performance, she expects them to only nudge their positions back.

It feels surreal to her. They usually put up an onslaught. They always made sure that every step cost hundreds of men or more. So far it has been a breeze. She heard that Command were destroying the enemy forces with artillery. That would explain why the Thorns mostly appear along this front. And they did with a lack of accompanying units on their side. The telves were quite desperate that they have to send their newest weapon forward. Perhaps it’s a means to stall their advance until reinforcement comes. Caitlyn chuckles at how they’re struggling at it too. And now that Sir Edward has disabled their only means to hold the ground, their only option is to let the Proxies take it or risk annihilation.

But how long until they get them running again? Caitlyn fears that they’re not only going to face ten Thorns, but also the full might of telves’ combined arms supported by their Warlock land-ships. Unless they are properly reinforced and fortified, they will have to pull back again.

Charlotte approaches them. “You two got along?” She folds her arms.

“Being with her most of the time is my job. I don’t see your point here.” PT barks.

Charlotte graceful glance turns to Caitlyn. “Caitlyn?”

“He’s a fine company. I think.”

Charlotte lifts an index. “That’s my point. It means you’re doing your job, big guy.” Charlotte states confidently.

“Thought you knew that even KP has more authority over me than you.” PT replies.

“At least you’re doing your job.” Charlotte flashes her eyebrows. “Anyway, what’s going to happen now?”

“Captain Fort is forwarding resources to fortify this position.” Caitlyn says.

“How likely is it that we’re going to push forward?” Charlotte asks.

“Sending the Vertices might be considerable. But a full column of combined units…” Caitlyn shakes her head. “I don’t think so.”

It’s too risky to advance blindly to hostile territories. The telves might be reduced to a couple Guards infantry units as far as she is aware of. But they can hide away in the woods and ambush advancing columns. Not to mention dragon teeth and minefields that threaten armors. And who knows, maybe they have their Thorn set up in a firing position that could pick them from five kilometers away.

“You know,” Charlotte says, showing intrigue. The maid leans against the tank’s side hull again. “The empire, more or less, believes in a deity, right?”

“That’s what I heard.”

“You’d think that they stick to their prayer activities. But no, they develop sophisticated weaponries instead.”

Caitlyn glances at the maid as she senses the topic deepens. “Okay…” She doesn’t know why Charlotte put this up all of a sudden. It could be a rant, a contemplation, or a just straight up flexing her intellectual muscle. She’ll let her go with it either way.

“What’s more is that they claim their belief to be the one that advocates peace.” Charlotte continues. “Why are they creating weapons then? Even organizing an army that rival ours.”

“I think I’ve heard somewhere…” Caitlyn rubs her chin as she reaches into her memory. “If you want peace, prepare for war.”

“Okay. I understand deterrence.” Charlotte adds. “But have you ever heard of the raids sixty years ago and empire-backed insurgencies occurring across the border about forty years ago? The so called ‘Event Horizon’, as the chroniclers put it, that renders reconciliation impossible between our state and theirs.”

Event Horizon is a scientific term for a region of space around a black-hole where nothing, not even light, could escape from. It is a point-of-no return. The small-scale conflicts, is a conflict regardless. The Primus’ view of the empire is already terrible to begin with. The incursion solidified the view. It confirms that the Terran Vindicator wants them out of the picture. And the war is to prevent that from happening.

“Are you justifying The Primus’ decision?” Caitlyn asks.

“I’m more like, he has no choice.” Charlotte said. “The empire wanted to show its willingness to use force if the Artificial Creationist mess around. But their action had harmed the people of the state. And consequently, they turned to The Primus for security from the empire’s malicious tendrils. The Primus is merely complying to their demands.”

In all honesty, Caitlyn doesn’t entirely adhere to The Primus’ cause. She never delves into why and how this conflict happened. She just needs that salary to resolve the problem she has back home. She doesn’t have sufficient insights to make any statements such as Charlotte did. It’s something she can get over since she never has the motives. And it’s not like she is going to participate in statesmanship anytime soon. She is content with what she has for now.

“So, what’s with all that?” PT asks. “You’re not crapping on our ignorance, are you?”

“Just something to ponder.” Charlotte shrugs.

“What’s the point if you end up agreeing with him anyway?”

“You’ll disappear if you don’t.”

“That’s what I’m saying.” PT says. “You’re not arguing when you are agreeing.”

“They want us to enjoy the moment.” Caitlyn comments.

“And that’s what I’m doing.” PT exclaims.

Charlotte smirks and puffs her chest. “And that’s why people like me exist. To provide you with awareness on the machinations that our state is dealing with.”

“I think it’s more mind-boggling than what you just said.” PT asks.

“What I presented should be sufficient for you to consume.”

A brief silence ensues. The dot on the top right corner of Caitlyn’s neuralface flickers. Another incoming text messages. It’s from PT again.

“KT, get off.”

“Really? Private messages again?” Caitlyn replies through the text.

“Get…off. And sit on the ground.”

Caitlyn shrugs and do what he says. She lets her boots touch the ground before sitting against PT’s tracks. The tank’s turret turns. He slightly raises his gun. The barrel is now just above Charlotte’s unsuspecting head. Caitlyn realizes what he’s up to. He quickly depresses the barrel. It falls down and hit Charlotte’s head.

“Ow!” She shrieks. Charlotte puts both hands on her head.

The thud was loud enough for her to hear. Charlotte doesn’t have her shield on for some reason. The usually composed maid is now rubbing her head in pain. Caitlyn finds it amusing and chuckles at it. Her face, unadorned by her usual confidence, feels like it doesn’t belong to her.

“Not cool insulting people’s intelligence like that, girl.” PT says. “Shame on you.”

Caitlyn stands up and dusts herself off. Charlotte glances at her. She nimbly rubs her head before placing her hands on her waist. Her gaze is impassive. But her mouth pouts.

“I can’t believe you’re teaming up against me.”

Caitlyn crosses her arms. “That’s nothing I can do about. PT and I are a team, aren’t we?”

“Completely missing my point. But okay I guess.” Charlotte gestures.

Caitlyn chuckles.

PT chuckles.