CHAPTER 1: WAKING UP

My first memory is waking up to the excited green eyes of a woman.

“Do you understand me?” she tremulously asked.

“Yes?” I replied uncertainly.

“YES!” the strange woman shouted while jumping back and pumping her fist like an excited schoolboy, allowing me to get my first good look at her.

She was a brown skinned woman, slim with the rough build of someone who did grueling work. Her clothes supported this idea with oil stained black denim overalls and a well-used red canvas jacket. She gave off the overall impression of someone who loved their hard work.

Turning back to me she notices my confusion and seems to realize something. “You should have some memories I uploaded to your memory banks. Just try and remember something and you should be able to access them like any other memory.”

I did as she suggested and was flooded with information. My name was Aria. The woman's name was Diala. Those important facts about the here and now were mixed in with general facts about the world around her. Most of it was basically a dictionary of different things in the world. The rest of it were maintenance functions. Ways I could repair myself and what that all entailed in the first place. How I could eat materials in order to process them. A lot of it wasn’t even relevant to her specifically and instead related to many other types of magitech.

And that’s what I am. A magitech platform, otherwise referred to as a mech. People built instead of the organic way that was strangely missing from her databanks. I was a creation of mana and technology, built in order to fulfill some sort of purpose. Mine was maintenance and recycling.

Maintenance on tech that now that she was looking around, was surrounding her. Looking a bit closer, that made sense. Many tools were scattered in boxes near the metal table she laid upon. Parts were scattered around in a haphazard display that displayed organization was at most fourth on the priority list, just behind safety at third with passion and progress solidly in second and first respectively.

Turning my thoughts away from my surroundings I refocused them on Diala and asked the most pressing question on my mind. “Where am I?”

Diala’s face dropped. “I knew I forgot something!” she cried in frustration. She grabbed my hand and dragged me off the table and straight to the door. She slammed it open and led me out into the open world.

I gasped as the door closed behind me. The sights were incredible. Beige stone buildings with colorful cloth squares stretching across the thin crowded roads, providing shade for the crowds of people. But that wasn’t the most fantastic thing. No, that would be the magitech you could see everywhere. From the small little cleaning bots darting through the legs of the crowd, the coolers cooling the products of fruitsellers and keeping them fresh, and even the mechanical marvel that was the airships that she could see floating in the sky as if proclaiming the expanse as the domain of man.

“This is Maratus; the city of Magitech.”

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Turning my head I looked back to the building we had emerged from. It looked slightly run down, but in the way that made you feel welcome rather than worried about it crashing down on you. Above the door was a crooked wrought iron sign with the name Diala’s Repair crudely painted on in flaking white paint.

The sound of Diala’s voice caused me to turn my head back around as I was dragged behind and through the crowds like an unruly dog. “Well, not much I can do other than give you a crash course of the city. Let's find a place to eat and talk. You like kebabs?” I looked up at her confusedly. “Right, of course you wouldn’t know. Born 5 minutes ago and all.” she muttered to herself.

She dragged us through the crowd and winding streets eventually leading to a town square. The square was filled with merchants selling their wares. The cries of sellers attempting to attract customers to their products. The air was filled with the scent of sunbaked earth and fragrant spices. Bringing me along, Diala brought us to a stand that sold what I presumed were kebabs. “One for me and one for Aria here please Diego.” The hairy and burly man - Diego I presumed - looked down at us and smiled.

“Sure thing Diala!” he said while taking some skewers off the grill. “Who’s the little missy you got with you?” he gave a metal skewer filled with spiced and smoked meat to Diala then turned and gave the other to me. “Aria was it?”

I nodded and took a bite of the kebab. I don't know why they put the meat on it. The skewer tasted much better. It did add a nice spice and smoke to the steel skewer though. The man twitched after I took a bite and his smile became strained for some reason.

“Ah yeah, I just booted her up a bit ago. Forgot to upload several things however, so I’m getting some lunch from you then I'm going to give her a crash course.” said Diala as took a few more bites of the food. The meat covered meal was starting to grow on me.

“She’s eating my skewer!” the man said to Diala plaintively.

“Don’t worry about it.” She replied cheekily. She then turned to me as I swallowed the last of the meal. “Hey Aria, could you give him the skewer? He needs those back.”

“Sure!” I say brightly. Time to test my specs! I extract the metal pieces from my stomach using the functions that were built into me by my creator. As the metal pieces are being heated and reformed back into the original shape it was in, I turned to Diala. “Hey, why does all this work? The data you gave doesn’t say.”

Diala just sighs and mutters “Another thing added to the list to teach.”

I just shrug and turn back to Diego. The skewer is finished anyways and so I decide to show off a bit in returning it. Usually I would just pop the finished item out my hands or torso if it’s really big. This time I decide to give it back from whence it left. By launching it out of my mouth! Then catching it on the way down of course. Handing it back is just polite after all.

“Uh … thanks.” Diego says while taking the newly formed skewer from my hand gingerly. Why wasn’t he more impressed!? She even made sure to not get too much spit on it on the way out! It was only a little slimy!

Pouting a bit I turn to Diala and hug her. She could deal with the ungrateful man while I got my hugs.

Hugging me back, Diala turned her head to Diego. “Isn’t she amazing!” Diala exclaimed proudly. Diala’s eyes left no room for disagreement.

Nodding a bit hurriedly Diego paused as if a thought had just hit him.

“What’re you going to do about the whole Mech thing when it comes to her? There's a lot of whispers about things going on in the shadows. People are worried about them getting better than the flesh and blood. Groups campaigning for equal rights for Mechs against nobles who support dismantling them.” Diego asked concernedly.

Diala snorted. “Please, nothing will happen. Tensions may be high but I doubt people are so stupid as to start anything serious.”

BOOM!!!