On the surface, the townsfolk projected an air of cheerful unconcern. One man wore brightly colored silk that shone in the sunlight over what looked like ragged leather trousers. Another had donned a rich, lush-looking fur coat over a mismatched nylon dress with a couple of holes around her legs. Like the buildings around them, it seemed like everything they wore was partly scavenged and partly made from the materials they had on hand.
At face value—and if her heart hadn’t thumped a warning of her possible danger—Auburn seemed to represent a happy and thriving settlement, one she might have enjoyed visiting. It was completely different from the bunker that had been her home, and her natural curiosity would have found much to intrigue her. As it was, though, the jaunty façade was shadowed by a bleakness that hung over the town. It was as if the dark gloom of the smoke that issued from what was essentially the funeral pyre of some of their residents had seeped into people’s expressions and postures.
What disquieted her the most, though, was that the people seemed determined to continue with their routines as if nothing had happened. As if by unspoken agreement, gazes remained averted from the blight on the hill while the folks went about their business with a forced brightness that seemed wholly at odds with a heavy sense of despair.
She could even see a couple of Watson mechs out in the fields, tilling them or reaping the grains. Her fear stirred again when she realized that the people of Auburn were probably too terrified to even acknowledge what had happened. It said much for Athena’s power, and she wondered if the deaths and the burned building were merely another in a stream of atrocities that trapped the town in this hollow pretense of normality.
It had resembled the civilization she was used to from a distance, but now that she actually walked within it, she saw both similarities and differences. Their bright clothing and the industriousness with which they had carved out their lives suggested freedom—one she had never personally experienced while in the bunker—although the more sinister undertones made a mockery of what they had once enjoyed. People were allowed to wear whatever they wanted. They worked when they needed to, and there were even little stalls where those who had made more produce than they needed sold it to others in exchange for parts they needed to fix their machines or perhaps improve them.
Those still existed as a tragic irony. To her heightened imagination, they only made it more apparent that they were not free at all. Liberty was a memory they clung to because the reality was unbearable.
It was an unpleasant way to live and Jessica13 didn’t envy them at all. She’d had more freedom in her regimented and confined existence in Sanctuary—and she hadn’t had to worry about being herded into a trap and burned alive.
One of the men in the stalls looked up and offered her a smile that attempted to be welcoming. "Well, hello there, stranger. I don't believe we've ever seen you around these parts. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to Auburn, the nicest little haven in the world with food and parts aplenty for those who can pay. You…can pay, yes?"
Jessica13 looked around and wondered for a moment if maybe the man was talking to someone else. For some reason, the fact that she was a stranger didn’t raise too many eyebrows. She was safe for the moment, it seemed. Not carrying any weapons had the advantage, at least, that they wouldn’t see her as a threat. Besides, she could easily believe that they might see her as a pleasant distraction from their predicament, especially after the events of the morning. She smiled and relaxed a little, although she didn’t lower her guard. The townsfolk were one thing, but she didn’t want to encounter any of the mechs Athena might have stationed there to keep an eye on things.
"I have bits and pieces that I've collected on my travels if you're willing to barter," she said. "I also have the tools needed to repair almost anything that has gears and spins."
"Well, there'll be a demand for your services around here," the man said with a chuckle as he kicked his feet onto the table of his stall and leaned back in his chair. "Some folks here are most inventive when it comes to finding ways to make things work but there’s so much that needs doing they can’t rightly keep up. Besides, if someone can do it faster, it leaves you time to worry about the next thing. If you have the skills you mentioned, you'll be well-fed and leave here more laden with goods than when you arrived. Take this converter, for instance. I know it should take from the sun and make spark but nothing I've been able to do has made it work again."
She sensed that it was some kind of test of her abilities, and while she was more than willing to help him, she wasn't about to do it for free. That would be even more suspicious.
A cautious glance at her surroundings confirmed no looming presence or any untoward attention. She opened the hatch and slipped out of the Minato but seated herself on its boot as she took the part from the man's hand.
"Oh…you’re a little one, aren't ya?" the man asked, obviously surprised.
"They call me Jessie," she replied, and Mini moved and adjusted the pack on her back to show him that she wasn't alone, at least. "It looks like some of the wiring's off. If you wouldn't mind parting with that fuel pump you have on the table, I could get this one working for you."
"Oh…fuel pump, you say?" the man asked. "It could have fooled me
