Jessica13 scowled. Was it too much to ask that people stop making excellent points when all she wanted to do was sulk at not being called in to help the Knights in something that felt more relevant than putting Auburn together again?
Maybe it was. Mini only wanted to help, not unlike she did, and to the AI, that meant pointing out that she liked to help people.
A small alarm emitted inside the cockpit to cut her sulk off and she looked around.
"What the fuck was that?"
"An alert."
"No shit. What kind of alert?"
"The kind that advises us that there are life signs buried under that pile of rubble."
They turned the mech toward the section where the explosives had collapsed buildings on top of the invading forces. Or maybe that was the section that had been demolished when FEMA's artillery shelled the town. If she had been outside the Minato, it would have been fairly easy to distinguish.
The fertilizer that had been used for the explosives left the smell of manure hanging over the area.
But, reluctant to expose herself to the possible stench or any falling debris, she was relieved that she was still in the Minato and intended to remain in the mech. They clambered over the rubble and wreckage around them while Mini called up a couple of programs that would help them clear it and hopefully not injure the person beneath. The delicate nature of the operation forced them to move a little slower than they had before.
As they inched deeper into the fallen building, it became more and more apparent that the structure had been brought down by the fertilizer bombs. The presence of the pale white and grey mechs was telling of exactly who they might find still alive under there.
"How could someone survive having a building dropped on them?" Jessica13 asked, more wondering aloud than actually asking Mini to tell her.
But she also liked it when he went through the process of educating her. "The chances are infinitesimal, although they depend on a number of variables, but they are there. Besides, someone in a mech does stand a better chance than someone without."
It wasn't necessarily comforting to hear, and as they dragged one of the mechs away, the auditory receptors on the Minato picked up a human voice.
Another couple of layers of rocks needed to be removed before they located the source. A man covered in dirt, grime, and soot, coughed when her actions raised a cloud of dust.
He had already managed to climb out of his ruined mech and begun the process of digging himself out. The movement had likely been what had triggered the sensors on her mech.
"It would seem the survivor is one of Athena's men." Mini had a knack for pointing out the obvious. "Or, should I say, attackers from FEMA City?"
"So it would appear, yes."
She honestly didn't know what to do. A small, angry part of her insisted that she simply leave the man to his fate. The chances were that no one would be around this part of town for a while, and his injuries would make sure he didn't last very long.
The solution was enticingly simple. She didn't even need to do anything herself except turn and walk away from him.
The man looked at her, his demeanor tense and frustrated like he was ready for her to simply trample him. He held a rifle in his hand and struggled to pull it up to aim at her. It was made to be carried by a mech and he would have had difficulty lifting it even if he were in perfect health.
He was afraid, that much was obvious. Now that the cloud of dust had dissipated, she registered that he wasn't much older than she was or maybe had one of those younger-looking faces.
"Not a step closer," he shouted, coughed, and dragged one hand across his mouth. "Not another step or I'll blast you in half."
Jessica13 sighed and shook her head. "I will regret this, I know I will."
"You're going to help him, aren't you?"
She didn't reply, not in so many words anyway. Mini did know her rather well, there was no denying that. And she wouldn’t cold-bloodedly kill a wounded man. She retrieved the first aid kit from her cockpit and opened the hatch, climbed out of the mech, and approached the man.
"Stay…stay back. I mean it!"
"It's only the two of us here.” She snorted and tried not to laugh. “You don't need to pretend you could even lift that cannon, much less reach the trigger in your condition."
He looked at her and tugged resolutely at the rifle a few more times before he gave up. "Why are you…. What are you doing?"
In response, she merely snorted again as she removed a few chunks of rubble before she dragged him clear of the fallen mech.
"The battle's over. What's your name?"
He said nothing as she propped him up against one of the mechs and inspected his injuries. She wasn't a doctor, of course, but he didn't appear to have any internal bleeding. Bruises and cuts were visible almost everywhere, but nothing appeared to be life-threatening.
At least, not immediately.
She took padding from the pouch, together with the cleaning agent, and set to work on the cuts on his shoulders.
"Robert7."
She looked up. "Hmm?"
"My name. It's Robert7."
It seemed like an odd time to tell her what his name was, but at least it meant he’d moved past the need to threaten to blast her in half.
"Nice to meet you, Robert7. I'm Jessica13, by the way."
"You're…not one of the town people."
"What gave it away?"
"Well, they don't use our name-numbering system, for instance. How old are you?"
"Not that much younger than you are." She finished with the cleaning and applied the bandages. While she had attended a few classes on how to help
