"No, sir," she said and shook her head. "That's actually why I'm working out here."
Armstrong7 still didn't look like he believed her. "Anyway, I'm sending a team Topside to investigate the seismic activity we've had a taste of. Us grunts say it's probably dog packs tripping the mines, but the smart guys say we might be looking at a little Skyfall. I need a bulletfoot to head on up. Are you in?"
The CO was a tough motherfucker, but he did have a sense of what kept morale up with his people. He knew for a fact that Jessica13 liked to catch a glimpse of the Skyfall, at least when it wasn't falling on them. And it was really beautiful to watch the streaks of light across the sky, day or night, whenever they decided to fall.
In this case, though, she couldn't help a shrug. "Sorry. Like I said, I’m working on repairs on Mini. Do you have any other bulletfoots to choose from?"
"I do but thought you'd appreciate the opportunity," he said.
"What are you doing anyway?" one of the other chavs asked and leaned in closer to try to peer at the manual she was working on.
"I’m trying to find out how to fix the AI in the Minato," Jessica13 explained and pointed out the manual section that spoke about original AI designs. "Since the Minato AI designs are older versions, I thought some of the older manuals might have a way for me to make it work."
"You really shouldn't be so attached to that mech," another chav with a mustache said, shaking his head. "They're supposed to be tools, not toys or pets or…I don't know, something else you might get attached to."
"Shut up, Jackass," Armstrong7 rumbled.
It wasn't really an insult, although it was meant to be. The chav's name was Jack5 but someone had used a piece of lead to graffiti a mission report, especially the 5 at the end of his name. It became a nickname and it had stuck.
Not all the time, of course, but when they wanted to piss him off. And given that it was his mech she ended up needing to snake because of that damn mustache of his, she liked to piss him off regularly.
"Nah, I'm being serious, here," Jack5 said and laughed. "We have a whole troop of support mechs she can use, but she always insists on that Minato piece of crap."
"You couldn't operate a Minato," she pointed out.
"Yeah, because it's a piece of crap," the man insisted. "Besides, I don't know why you need all those manuals anyway. I thought the point of having these Athena freaks around is because they are genetically designed to know how to fix and build shit."
Jessica13 bristled at being called a freak like it was somehow a bad thing that she was better at something than he was.
"Hey, Jackass, remember that time in the not too distant future when you'll need someone to fix your suit?" Armstrong7 asked and raised a shaved eyebrow. "You know how it'll probably be an ‘Athena freak’ who fixes it?"
"Yeah, boss," Jack5 said and made some attempt to look contrite.
The chances were something would burn out in that Cinder 300 of his and he would need someone to fix it. It was never a good idea to antagonize the folks who would repair his suit.
No one would outright accuse any of the bulletfoots of being so wasteful as to let a member of their bunker—which only had one thousand, five hundred and forty-eight people to begin with—die. The resources required to bring another child into the Sanctuary were daunting enough, not to mention having a suit ruined because of it.
"With that said, though," Armstrong7 continued as he leaned over the mess hall table to peer at the manual she was reading, “that bundle does look a little cobby. You sure it'll be useful?"
She nodded. "It's one of the older manuals from the Shimura-Sendai manus before they shut down production. It doesn't cover anything on the Minato itself, only the basics of their AI coding. If I can get a bead on how they code them, that should be enough for me to fix Mini."
The CO shrugged his shoulders again. "Never let it be said that A7 doesn't approve of fixing and improving the mechs in my yard. With that said, though, you're not supposed to get too attached to those mechs. It breaks, you move on and we scrap it for parts. Understood?"
"Of course," Jessica13 replied. "I’m only hoping I can make it functional, is all."
"Well, keep working on that but on your own time, ya hear me Jessie?" he said firmly.
Jessie was her nickname since the 'i' and 'e' looked like the 13 at the end of her name. She didn't particularly like it but having her name spelled out every time she was in a conversation with someone became laborious sometimes.
Armstrong7, for his part, wanted people to call him A7, but that would never catch on. No one liked to be chummy enough with the CO to give him pet names.
Not to his face, anyway.
"Okay, move out," he said and waved at another bulletfoot to head over to join the team that would go Topside. "We'll make this quick and easy. Check the mines and…"
Jessica13 pulled her headset on quickly and glanced at the food she had ignored. The aluminum platter held a chunk of a cooling protein patty and dark green stew, which was better food than what they had in the lower levels these days. When she peered at her water, she noted that gentle ripples had formed around the rim.
Seismic activity wasn't unheard of in this part of the world. There was always the worry that a real earthquake would split the Sanctuary open and expose them to the bio-weapons and radiation they had to deal with Outside.
But with all the reinforcing they were doing, she doubted that even
