“He killed a man?”

“Not really,” Giza squeaked. “More like he caused the pilot to die, accidentally?”

It was a threadbare defense and even she knew it. It did not help that Rush had been very casual about informing them all. He’d listed it off without as no more than an annoying triviality, as if telling them all he’d forgotten a wrench in his toolbox, and then gotten to work scrapping the fallen mech and tinkering with his suit. The fact that he had hit someone hard enough to crush their heart in a single blow apparently didn’t bother him at all.

“I don’t care if it was an accident, I care that he’s not bothered by it,” Hartwell said. “What kind of person-”

“A strange kind of person,” Liam said. He, and a few of the clan’s other authority figures, had been on the sidelines of the father-daughter argument, and now he decided to get involved.

“Strange is not the word I’d use for a remorseless killer,” Hartwell said.

“In most cases you’d be right,” Liam said. “But you’re thinking about all this too...normally.”

Liam stood up and gestured to the fallen mecha. Rush had perched himself upon it and was tinkering with the electronic components in the back, entirely unaware of the ongoing debate around him.

“I can’t claim to understand Rush, but it seems to me he thinks of things...mechanically. Maybe overly so. It’s all intention, action, reaction, he doesn’t think of these things the way we do,” Liam said. “He had no intention of killing Rakon, he just took a perfectly normal action that happened to have an outcome he didn’t foresee. It’s like a man putting his wrench down and then someone else comes along and trips on it. It’s not his fault, so why would he blame himself for it?”

“He should still-”

Hartwell glanced sideways at Rush as he spoke, and saw him lift up an armor plate and toss it aside casually.

“No, you’re right,” Hartwell admitted. “He just thinks about it differently. That’s not inherently malicious.”

“For the record, I think we do need to reinforce the importance of responsible power suit usage,” Liam said. On that, Giza and Hartwell already agreed. “But we should be fine. Now, if we’re all settled, we can focus on what’s really important.”

Liam turned towards the shattered slag mountain and raised his hands toward its broken summit, and the intact facility shining in the endless sun for the first time in centuries.

“Loot!”

A few of the Junker’s had gone up the mount to poke at the newly exposed structure, and found that there were several locked doors leading inside, but none had dared to try and go further. Locks usually meant security systems, and security meant death. The Crash Crater spaceship had just been a small orbital station, and it had still killed dozens of Junkers over the years. Nobody wanted to risk being the first through the door of a massive facility like that.

“What do you think, dad, usual search and explore team?”

“Maybe,” Hartwell said. Giza, Jack, and Eiffel were their “usual” search team, but they didn’t usually search places as dangerous as that facility might be. “You’re taking Rush too.”

“Not a problem,” Giza said. She’d been wanting to take him anyway, both for safety reasons and because it would be fun.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“And I’m leading,” Hartwell said.

“What? You?”

“I want someone responsible making sure none of you do anything risky, or go too deep,” Hartwell said.

“Eiffel’s a coward, he won’t let us do anything scary,” Giza scoffed.

“Eiffel’s also very easily persuaded by a certain risk-taker.”

The father-daughter staredown continued, until Liam once again stepped up to break it.

“Or, I could go with them,” Liam suggested. “Hartwell, you’re still a bit behind on your sleep from that whole forced march. And you’re better at the organizing stuff than I am anyway.”

“We don’t need any supervision,” Giza said.

“You do if he says you do,” Liam snapped. Then he turned right back to Hartwell. “And look at that, I’m not afraid to put Giza in her place. Perfect candidate, right?”

“I could do worse,” Hartwell admitted. Liam was right about him needing some rest. And about Hartwell being the better organizer. “Fine. You’ll go with them.”

“Come on,” Giza whined. “I’m sixteen, I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Keep complaining and I’ll make Jen go with you,” Hartwell said.

“But-”

“More complaints and I’m putting the Old Bastard in charge,” Hartwell said. He pointed to Liam. “You take him, no more whining. Got it?”

Giza mustered all her teenage spite into one angry glare at her father. Hartwell didn’t blink.

“Fine. But I’m still the lead scout.”

“And you can lead Liam everywhere he tells you to lead him,” Hartwell said. “Now prep your kit and get some rest. I want you in there early tomorrow. Liam, put Qihuan in charge of the second shift and you get some rest too.”

“Sure. Give me a minute to talk with Rush first, though, I’d like to have that chat about responsible power suit usage before I get into any cramped hallways with him.”

Liam said it like a joke, but neither half of the family unit seemed amused. Hartwell shook his head and got to work, while Giza did the same. Liam took a moment to be amused by the fact they shook their heads in the exact same way, and then headed for Rush.

“Rushmore! What are you doing?”

“Taking the mech apart,” Rush said. He stopped mid-cut and held an armor slab above his head. “Why, should I be doing something else?”

“No, you’re fine,” Liam said. “But, do stop and talk to me for a second, alright?”

After tossing the scrap aside, Rush walked down the side of the mech with his magnetic boots and met Liam going the other way. Since they were near the hand already, Liam hopped up on one of the fingers and patted the space next to him. Rush looked very closely at the bare patch of metal.

“That means I want you to sit next to me, Rush.”

Rush sat down next to him and removed the helmet of the Scrapper suit.

“So, I heard there was an accident with the pilot.”

“Yes.”

Even now there was no hint of remorse or regret on Rush’s face. Liam wondered if he really didn’t feel anything about the accidental death, or if he had those feelings well hidden.

“Well-”

Liam leaned over and put a hand on Rush’s armored shoulder.

“It’s for the best,” Liam said. “If he’d lived, he could’ve gotten out and told everyone about the suit, caused a whole lot of trouble for us. And of course, life as a bandit, he’d probably stolen a lot, hurt a lot of people. I’m sure he deserved it.”

Rushmore’s stoic face betrayed some confusion now. Liam was taking a very different slant than Giza or Hartwell had earlier. Rush was glad he wasn’t getting yelled at, but the change of tone confused even him.

“Now, obviously don’t kill anyone unless you have to,” Liam continued. “But sometimes you have to, right?”

There was a very long pause before Rush dared to answer the question, even compared to Rush’s usual pauses.

“Do I?”

“Sometimes, yes,” Liam said.

“How do I know when ‘sometimes’ is?”

“That’s- it’s hard to say,” Liam said. He should’ve known Rush would want to get technical about this. “Think of it like Hartwell’s rules for attacking a mecha. Only if it’s an unavoidable threat.”

“So I should only kill someone if there’s no other way to prevent them from hurting me or someone in the clan,” Rush said.

“It’s complicated, but that’s a good starter, yeah,” Liam said. He gave Rush a firm slap on the back and nearly cut his hand on the jagged edge of an armor plate. “You’re a smart kid, you’ll know when the time comes.”

“I don’t know if I will.”

“Trust me, you will,” Liam said. “Now, I think we’ve all talked about this enough. You should get back to work on the mech.”

Rush stood up and started walking back to the spot he’d been working, getting right back to disassembling the mech like nothing had ever happened. Liam watched him work with a smile on his face.

“Good kid.”