"Well, I only asked because the AI that runs the elevator is a real grumbler." She chuckled. "I was actually afraid you would end up acting like her when I worked to bring you back online. And then I thought you might be able to give her company. I imagine running an elevator would be tiresome to do over and over again, especially as an AI."
"It seems illogical to dedicate the entirety of an AI's processing power to operate an elevator," Mini replied. "It is likely that the elevator's functions only take up a small part of the AI's functionality and it is simply protesting for the sake of protesting. The human term available to me for such actions is drama queen."
"I… Wait, hold on." Jessica13 straightened and refocused on the task at hand as the elevator doors began to open, the signal that it was clear for them to step outside.
There was no sign of combat anywhere around them—no clouds of dust, no explosives detonating, and no bullets from any direction. The air was clear and gave her a perfect view of the blue sky above. The sun glinted on the mechanics as they moved out of the elevator and over to where the Guardians remained in position.
"Where's the attack?" one of the bulletfoots asked, looked around the defense platform, and tried to find any sign that they were under the kind of assault they were called to fend off.
"Alarms were tripped," Armstrong7 said as he strolled over to them in his Argonaut. "A couple of the mines were tripped as well, but I agree. There's not much out there that says we're under attack."
"If anyone did plan to attack, the chances are they were shredded," one of the pilots said.
"That is unlikely," Mini interjected through Jessica13's headset. "If we were under attack, there would be signs of mech suits that were destroyed. The explosive force of the mines, while impressive, would not be sufficient to completely obliterate any sign of attackers."
"Good point," she said and hailed Armstrong7 on the comms. "Hey…uh, A7, I don't think we were being attacked. There would be signs of the mechs that were destroyed. Our shredder mines would not be enough to completely demolish any sign of attacking mechs."
"That's a good point," he said with a nod. "Maybe zoom in to see if you can find any sign of mech parts spread around the place. If you only see splatters of red, the chances are that a pack of wild dogs was what triggered the mines. We'll have to reset them, though, so I hope you're all ready for a long day of work Topside. I’ll need volunteers to head down there and set the system up again. Extra canteen for those who stick it out."
Jessica13 raised her hand. "I'll take the first shift if you don't mind. It's a nice day out, so none better to work Outside, right?"
"I appreciate the enthusiasm." Armstrong7 chuckled.
A couple more of them volunteered, mostly for the extra canteen in their accounts, and once they were all loaded with the mines they would need, they began to climb down the same cliff any attackers would have to try to scale.
Since the Guardians would need to stay Topside to continue the defense of the area, only bulletfoots were dispatched to set the minefield again.
"Even if it was only a pack of wild dogs, they could have been herded in by a group of pirates who wanted to trip the mines," one of the other bulletfoots said and shook her head. "You never know. Now, they're sending us into the line of fire so we’ll be the first to get slaughtered if we actually are under attack."
"It’s possible," Mini stated calmly in Jessica13's ear. "However, it is also unlikely. My knowledge of how dog packs roam removes the possibility of them being herded that way. They tend not to move in a way that would allow them to be forced into a minefield unless they were trained for it and I am unsure as to how a dog pack would be trained for that. They would only be able to do so once, after all."
"It's why they're staying up there," another bulletfoot, Gerry8, said and looked around a little nervously. "They have a couple of the Guardians with some rockets primed just in case."
"We'll still be the first ones to go," the other bulletfoot replied as they moved out to the minefield. "Do you think they'll risk the safety of everyone in Sanctuary for our benefit? They'll cut the lines we used to climb down without a second thought and hope we’ll slow any attackers down."
"That is also unlikely," Mini commented.
"I don't understand," Jessica13 said. "I mean, I don't understand how dog packs would be able to survive out here. With the radiation and the poison still in the air, I wouldn't think they would be able to survive too long. Sure, there are clean places, but having to deal with all of that plus the Skyfall… I don't understand how anything survives out here."
"I'm sure you know my data is incomplete regarding the history over the past hundred years," her AI said. "Would you mind filling those gaps in my knowledge?"
"Oh…sure." She paused and scrutinized the area as they arrived at their destination. "I do need to get to work out there to set the mines and cross the minefield while I…you know, try not to get shredded myself."
"I can carry the mech through those tasks."
"Really?"
"Of course. I only need you to authorize my temporary control of the mech for you," Mini said. "It was actually a very popular option among people who operated Shimura-Sendai systems."
Jessica13 tilted her head in thought. It did sound like she would be spared a significant amount of hard labor, and now with someone to talk to, that didn't seem quite as boring as she thought it would be.
"Okay, go ahead," she said and agreed to the transfer of
