"The location where I stopped was for your benefit," Mini said. "It gives us a vantage point from which we can decide which direction to proceed in. The view was merely a pleasant side effect."
"I'll take it." She yawned again and settled into the controls of the mech, called up the data around her, and tried to give herself a decent view of where they were going—all while she struggled to avoid the distraction of the view. She could look at it for hours on end and accomplish nothing.
What should she do?
The question came to her and remained in her head, ticking there and begging to be answered. For the first time in her life, she faced a day with no orders and nothing she had to do. Of course, something needed to be done, but she was the one who would decide what it was.
It was an odd feeling, but one she was certain she could get used to. It wasn't like there was anything else to do but choose what she would do next. That was her life now.
Jessica13 sighed, opened the mech, and stepped outside. The air was still crisp and cool and there was noise all around her. Birds sang and trilled in the trees above, although some looked smaller and furrier than birds. No, she realized after a quick study, not a bird. It was clearly something else with a bushy tail and hands and feet and no wings, either. She wasn't sure what it was. There had been no creatures like it in the instruction videos she had seen as a child.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as her lungs filled with fresh air again. It seemed unbelievable how people could ignore the fact that the air they breathed had been recycled through fifteen different filters—which left a smell. She wasn't sure what it was but it was definitely there and it did grow old and stale.
Out there, a hundred different smells vied for her attention. She couldn't identify them either but there was a cold crispness to the air that brought only the word fresh to mind.
"Are you unwell?" Mini asked from inside the mech. "Should I access my databases for some medical knowledge?"
Jessica13 laughed, shook her head, and patted the mech on the arm. "I'm fine, honestly. I only…it's weird to stand out here. I dreamed about it so many times in the past but I never thought about what I would do if I actually got this far. It was always a pipe dream—that I’d spend my whole life trying to stand out here one day. And now that I'm here, I am at a loss about what to do next."
"We could keep moving," the AI suggested. "The supplies you packed will not last for long, but I have detailed files on how to survive Outside that should prove most useful. Repairs of the mech were given the highest priority, but there is data on the collection of plants and animals that are safe to eat and how to prepare them as well as building a fire and temporary sanctuaries to protect you from the Skyfall. Those are mostly how to be safe and avoid the impact radius since it is highly unlikely that someone might actually survive being struck by debris coming down from orbit."
"But there is a chance, right?"
He paused a second. "An infinitesimal chance does exist, only slightly improved if the victim is wearing a mech. Your chances of surviving Skyfall are zero-point-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero—"
"How many zeroes are there before another number is reached?" Jessica13 asked as she climbed into the mech.
"Three hundred and forty-seven. That is based on an analysis of a direct impact by way of the calculated average size of debris falling from orbit. Of course, the smaller the piece of debris, the greater odds you have of surviving impact."
"That makes sense, I suppose." Once inside, she closed the mech behind her as she called up the data Mini used to the HUD. "I still don't know how likely it is for something falling from the sky to hit you, though."
"I do have those numbers available if you require them," Mini said. "I'm afraid they are a few decades out of date, though."
Jessica13 shrugged and studied the data displayed. "Well, I guess it's better than no data at all. And we wouldn't want anything out there to…hit us…"
She paused and stared into the distance for a moment. Something was out there but from their high vantage point, it was hard to tell exactly what it was. Not a building, certainly, but it was high in the sky.
Mini noted her interest and quickly zoomed the HUD in on it.
It wasn’t a building, as she had determined already, but rather a pillar of billowing smoke that spiraled ever higher into the sky.
"What kind of smoke is that?" she asked and called up the databases. "It’s not a mushroom cloud from an explosive device. I’d say it seems to be from a steady fire."
"Agreed. It would appear that something is burning."
She nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe we should see if there's anyone who needs our help. There can't be too many people Outside and if there's a fire, it could mean there's a camp or something. It's only fifteen klicks from our position."
"A camp is unlikely," Mini pointed out as Jessica13 took control of the mech and began to maneuver them around the edge of the small decline they faced and in the direction of the smoke. "I do note, however, that there are records of one of the bunkers being built in that area, based on what used to be a iron ore mine a few hundred years ago."
"Another bunker?”
Whether there was any truth to those stories remained to be seen. She’d developed a healthy cynicism about stories and their veracity.
"It appears to be in the same rough area, although it's difficult to tell with outdated maps,"