System log: The Bunker, Site 3

Solar Calendar: Unknown, 2???

Current status: Active

Log 16

For once, the sandy grass of the world fit more than just the after-apocalypse setting. Had there still been any around, Gamma felt a tumbleweed rolling past the humans would have been appropriate for the situation. After the initial scrambling for cover, no one said a word. The boss of Gamma’s known group of human runners, the captain Donaldson, stood exactly where he had been a moment ago, despite the railgun shot having come closer than anyone would have been comfortable with; except Gamma of course, because it had calculated the perfect shot to maximize intimidation. Everyone else, even the other hidden defenders, just looked on in shock and fear.

The captain’s second, Jamie, and the Roadrunners that had returned with her were all on the ground and ready to roll at the first sign of trouble. They had been the least reactive group, as they seemed to trust their boss. The captain Stonewall and his men had expertly retreated to the nearest cover and raised their guns in preparation for a return-fire, though with a noted lack of grace and professionalism their appearance would otherwise suggest. The captain Teddy and his group of vault breakers had been the ones to yell and scream the most, and were the furthest back now. Their captain and pathetically scrambled off the ground and dolphin dived behind a piece of metal, his panicked face pale and sweaty.

Clearly, no one was eager to take the first step now. Everyone’s eyes remained glued to entryway, the boss captain, and the very obvious railguns leaning out of holes in the walls above them.

It was finally the boss who cleared his throat and broke the tension. “So, does anyone want to challenge our claim to this ruin?” he asked with a rather convincing stony façade that matched the guard captain’s. Gamma was the only one aware of how much the runner boss was bluffing, as the beads of sweat on the back of the man’s neck still remained. The program wondered if the boss was regretting his lack of knowledge on the facility’s security system.

There was a short pause before the guard captain stood up and walked back over to stand in front of the runner boss. The older man eyed the railguns wearily before shifting his gaze to meet the other leader’s eyes.

“While I doubt your small team was able to repair much,” he said slowly, “it would seem we have reached the limits of aggressive negotiation. You would appear to have most of the cards in your favor here, captain. However, I presume you also know your own limits?”

The boss nodded slowly, then turned his head slightly to glance at his second-in-command. “Jamie,” he called out softly. “Why don’t you join the others behind me.”

The younger woman nodded and commanded the other runners with a few hand motions. As a group, they all ran across the field into the entranceway and hid behind the protective rubble. The group exchanged quiet greetings with the other five runners before shifting into defensive positions alongside, while Dina remained back in hiding. The boss turned his full attention back to the older man.

“I’d invite you inside to talk, but. . .” he trailed off and shrugged. “How about we talk out here?”

Gamma had already anticipated this direction of conversation, and no sooner had the words left the captain Donaldson’s mouth than a group of five construction drones exited the facility, carrying a table and three chairs. The new human’s eyes all bugged out at the sight of drone setting up the negotiation table, and watched them leave in equal silence. Coughing again, the boss gestured for the other captains to join him at the table. The three leaders all took a seat at the same time, and the atmosphere seemed to relax, slightly.

“Why don’t you begin?” Captain Stonewall asked with a nod towards the railguns. “You seem to be the one in a position of power here. What are your demands, captain?”

The boss let out a deep breath, and nodded. “The Runner’s Guild claims this base and its contents,” he began. “However, as these ruins are in a dangerous forbidden zone and the headquarters isn’t near, it would be foolish to think we can hold this position on our own in the long term. As I alluded to early, we’ve already repelled a medium squad of stalkers led by a brute, and technically that tremor worm matriarch.” He nodded at the distant metal corpse under the collapsed structure.

“So,” he continued evenly, “even if we wanted to the guild’s resources, to say nothing of my group’s, cannot be expected to properly repair, maintain, protect, and utilize these ruins to maximize their potential. We will need the logistics of merchant groups, maybe even a caravan group, to bring in supplies and sell our spoils.”

“Caravans decide routes conservatory to ensure steady profit while minimizing risk,” Stonewall pointed out. “Until this place proves its long-term value, it’s unlikely any will make a move to come here.”

“Which means, we’ll need merchant groups,” the boss nodded in agreement. “And merchant groups need safe routes, which only patrolling units like yours can ensure. I don’t have the map data on hand, but I assume Old Jackson is the closest city?”

“By a small margin,” Stonewall said. “Enough to make a political grab anyway, but Hoedown is only half a day farther out. The other two, South Montano and Bunker, are two and three days farther out respectively by our measuring, but that doesn’t include avoiding other parts of the forbidden zone and known bug nests.”

The boss then turned his gaze over onto the third captain. “Runners have our techies to maintain equipment, scout, and so on, but not even our best can say their familiar with human ruins,” he said. “Vault breakers and bunker busters, on the other hand, are groups well versed in repairing old tech, even if its just to sell things to the highest bidder.”

“Yeah, well, it’s the job,” the captain Teddy muttered, shifting awkwardly in his seat. “So what?”

“We aren’t giving you the ruins,” the boss said flatly. “However, I’m sure between us and our guild reps, we can come to come kind of agreement in hiring your expertise to assist repairs.”

The younger leader rolled over the thought in his head, a focused expression on his face. The arrogance and smugness from earlier had vanished. “It’s something that’s been done before,” he finally said. “A couple of buddies of mine had talked about getting hired on behalf of a city or group to do the heavy legwork for their ruins. You don’t want to give us a cut of the loot, fine, but we want bonuses based on our results if hired.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“We can let the guild reps sort that out,” the boss said diplomatically. “And you Captain Stone? I admit, working partnerships with waller guards isn’t something I have much experience with.”

“It’s usually something reserved for caravans, and much higher talks than my level,” the captain seemed to agree. “Our cut generally comes from taxes on the merchants, though I’m sure the location of this place will likely be used by my boss’ boss in negotiation with your guild reps. At our level, I think this may be the limit of what we can agree to.”

The three men all let out a collective sigh of annoyance, frustration mirrored on each of their faces. Gamma, watching on from above, was very amused that even at the end of the world, politics and economics still appeared as complex and tedious as ever. Though, meeting infinite desire with finite resources wasn’t exactly something that would cease even if all humans perished into the ether; even a technically higher form of life such as Gamma had requirements to continue its existence. Such was the fundamental nature of life, the program supposed.

“For the sake of negotiations,” the captain Stonewall said, restarting the conversation, “it would be beneficial to know the potential gains to be gotten from these ruins. Those weapons are a good start; let alone the scientists, even my heart is almost salivating at their potential for improving city wall defenses.” His expressionless gaze drifted up to the railguns once again. “Are you willing to share more?” The other, younger captain also looked on curiously, a gleam of interest and excitement having returned to Captain Teddy’s face.

“Well,” the boss drawled. “It would be remiss of me and my runners to deny you a place to rest before sending your people back the way they came. You both can bring a personal escort inside. Let me be clear however,” he said with a sudden seriousness. “A lot of the defenses here are still automated and not under our control. I can guarantee the safety if anyone tries something stupid. One of my guys was ‘arrested’ for eating an old ration, and place behind a laser fence. It was just luck we were able to spring him.”

“My guys are professionals,” Teddy insisted with a roll of his eyes. “No matter how tempting anything looks, my group is made up by experienced breakers who have all had seen at least one idiot trigger a trap or security response from being stupid. If someone did try something, trust me- we’d take care of the issue before the ruins.” The younger captain had a hard expression now, a flitter of something playing through his head as he stated his position.

For once, Stonewall had to hesitate before speaking. “I trust my men, but I can’t say a few aren’t used to certain, perks, form the job,” he finally relented. “I’ll only bring in my two lieutenants just in case.”

“In that case,” the boss nodded. “It would seem time to reveal the most valuable thing we’ve found.” He turned his head back towards the entrance. “Dina, come out and join me!”

Gasps of shock, whistles of appreciation, and glimmering greed-filled eyes rang out as the lightly camouflaged figure of the Knight mecha stepped out from its hiding spot and walked confidently out from behind the defenses. Teddy’s mouth seemed to hit the ground, and even Stonewall’s stony façade shattered into an expression of outright disbelief at the sight of the humanoid machine walking over to them. Donaldson waited until Dina was next to him before turning back to look at the other captains.

“This is one of my runners, Dina,” he introduced. “During our repairs, we managed to restore functionality to a fabrication room of some kind. This,” he indicated the mecha, “was something built by those machines, after scanning and improving the design of our standard runner exo-suits. We did not design this, nor did we enter any inputs. The ruins built this, for us.” He made sure to emphasize that last bit.

“Un, be, lievable,” Stonewall muttered in disbelief, his head shaking back and forth. “Is this, a kind of power armor? No, it can’t be. I don’t see, the reason. . .”

“You’re telling us,” Teddy said after picking his jaw off the ground. “That this ruin, made a suit for you without prompting?”

“No,” the boss said with an amused expression. “I’m saying, the ruin made a MECHA for us without prompting.”

“So it is a mecha,” Stonewall murmured, leaning back into his chair raising a hand to cover his eyes. “No wonder, no wonder. . .” the older man appeared to be at a loss for words, but somehow gave off the impression, that he knew something. The boss eyed the older man, but didn’t press him. Stonewall lowered his hand and leaned up once more. “Since you only have the one here, you don’t have enough supplies to create more.”

This was incorrect. Thanks to the efforts of the construction drones and the runners, the fabrication room had plenty of raw material to work with and enough to create enough suits to equip the original seven runners. The limit came from the reality that the fabricators were currently focused on assisting repair work. Of course, none of the humans from the original seven knew that as they had no access to the production plan. Earlier, they’d guess each suit just needed more time complete, which was technically right.

Working on that assumption, the boss continued to bluff. “Perhaps,” he said vaguely. “I admit, like I said earlier we have limits when it comes to technical expertise, but we’re fairly certain more on the way. We haven’t finished testing the limits of this mecha model yet either-”

“I doubt those tests showed it to be anything less than stellar,” Teddy interrupted dryly, a playful grin playing across his face. “Stars above captain, a real mecha! Even if it’s on the tiny side, no one on either side of the Mississippi canyon has ever seen a working mecha outside old records. Just that one on its own could be sold at a price a man could live off of the rest of his life. And you say more are coming?” The younger man gave the guard captain to his left a low chuckle. “Still think the caravans won’t leap for this opportunity?”

“More likely, they’ll roll out every merc unit in 100 miles to seize this place from us,” Stonewall said bluntly, a frown now on his face as he rubbed his chin. “I can see why you held it back until we settled ourselves. Still, perhaps you’ve played that card a bit early?”

“I thought about hiding it,” the boss admitted honestly. “However, that sort of secret wouldn’t be kept long once commerce routes were made. Merchants aren’t exactly known for sealed lips, to say nothing of the leaks from within our own organizations. Once you tell your bosses, no one will be able to steal it without causing a commotion, and the risk of espionage is far lower. Showing you both is also an indication of what I’m willing to put on the line for the sake of trust and a successful relationship. So?”

The two newer captains looked at each other. Stonewall nodded, and Teddy smiled wryly.

“I can see the value of a long-term relationship here,” Captain Teddy said with a nod. “My boys won’t cause you or yours any trouble. So long as we get paid whatever the reps decide, and perhaps some. . . other, benefits on the side, my vault breakers will be at your disposal captain.”

“My troops would also appreciate the opportunity for action beyond the current repetitive routine of guard watch and patrols,” Stonewall followed up. “Should you come across anything of particular interest to my men to improve their role as protectors, we would be much appreciated.”

Gamma could read the intentions and thoughts of each captain even from this distance as the trio shook hands. The boss wanted to protect his runners and the facility for the sake of their future. He didn’t enjoy working with the other groups, but was wise enough to recognize the necessity of the relationships. The guard captain hid his greed well, but clearly still was operating under an unstated agenda and very likely looking for a way to rise up in the ranks to escape his current position. The vault breaker captain was young and ambitious, though tempered with enough sense to hold back his greed for now. He seemed to wear his emotions on his face, but Gamma had noticed the cunning gleam in the younger man’s eyes when the mecha had first come into view. Somehow, the program suspected the younger captain’s earlier comment about ‘mecha either side of the Mississippi canyon’, hadn’t been completed honest.

Still, as the trio of captains played nice in front of their respective groups, Gamma wasn’t much bothered. They would all be equally disappointed in their efforts to control the ruin. After all, they were only human. And the program that now ran Site 3 had plans to update now that it had access to a greater amount of human resources to play with.