Richard Asks for Help

Bennie turned aside, gesturing for them to follow him behind the counter. There was a single door there that Kara had expected to lead to a storage space of some sort. Instead, it angled downwards sharply. The stone slabs felt cold against her bare feet.

Bennie led them both down and away from the story. The corridor was surprisingly long and when it opened up, it did so into a massive underground space full of machinery. Kara could hear the hum of heavy tools; the crackling of electricity. The pounding thud of steam compressors, the snarl and whir of mechanical saws, anvils and hammers.

“It’s a workshop,” she gasped.

“Finest damn workshop you ever saw,” Bennie grinned. “The front of the shop stayed the same, but I made some changes to the back.”

The room was filled with tools; automatons paced back and forth between workstations. Humans supervised them, mechanists welding, hammering, and fitting delicate machinery. It all felt hauntingly familiar to Kara, and she realised with a start that she knew how to use each and every one of these machines.

Even with half of her memories still foggy, Kara could see this workshop was a gem of its kind. It was set up to produce nearly anything and in high quality too. There were also racks and stands and shelves which displayed pieces that Bennie hadn’t wanted to let into the public side of the store. Armour, weapons, high-grade automaton components. Her eyes widened.

“This stuff is worth a fortune.”

“I have a fortune,” Bennie grinned. “I don’t need another. But old habits die hard, right Richard? What was it they hammered into us in the navy?”

“Always be ready.”

“Damn right. And I’m ready for anything.”

“So I see, what the hell is that thing over there?”

Richard had spotted a humanoid figure standing in the corner. Kara took it to be an automaton at first, but it was motionless. The thing was made of heavy metal; wires and pipes ran across the back of its frame. It was almost as big as Pump, with a pugnacious build and a powerful frame.

There was no head, and as she stepped closer, Kara realised it was no automaton at all.

“Armour?” Richard said.

“Powered armour! The next big thing! Take a man and give him the strength of a Conqueror. Right up your alley, Richard. Magnifies your strength. Makes you faster and stronger. It’s gonna be big one day. Once I work out the kinks.”

“The kinks?” Richard made a face. “Let me guess. It explodes.”

“Only sometimes! One time out of ten! And it’s only a small detonation!”

“How small?”

“Ten feet? Occasionally twenty.”

“Bennie…”

“I know! I know! There’s a reason it’s sitting there and not in use! I’ll fix it one day!

He turned to look at them, his expression becoming more serious.

“But let’s be honest, you didn’t come all the way here just to look up an old friend. Especially not with how it ended last time. Why did you come to me, Richard? Something must have happened. Don’t pretend.”

Richard sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“You might say that. I need your help. There’s something after us. Or at least, it might be. I think it’s dead, but Kara here says otherwise.”

“Pump isn’t gone,” Kara nodded. “I know you left him with those Conquerors, but I made him to last. I won’t buy that he’s dead until I see it. And even if he is, there’s still Isabel.”

She shuddered at the name, remembering the close call and how near she had come to crumbling.

“Richard told me that you would be able to help.”

Bennie turned back to Richard, glancing at Kara one more time.

“You two had better go into detail.”

And that was how, in the middle of the underground workshops, Richard relayed to Bennie all that had happened aboard the Pentecost. How he had found Kara and become her **** master. The run-in they had had with Pump and Isabel, and how Pump had very nearly killed him.

“He had me,” Richard admitted. “But he was playing. If he’d been serious for even one moment, I’d have been a smear on the wall. He was arrogant.”

“He is just a mimic,” Kara said. “He’s not a real person, Richard. I should know. He’s an advanced automaton. He knows how people think, but he’s just a machine. He just does what he’s programmed to.”

“Maybe,” Richard didn’t look convinced. “But who the hell would tell him to play around with me like that? An automaton goes for the kill. An unthinking machine wins as quickly as possible. Efficient, you know? But Pump played. He mocked me. He teased me. He was enjoying it. He was playing a damn game.”

“That’s Isabel,” Kara’s face darkened. “Pump is a mimic and he’s copying her. That’s what she would do, so it’s what he does in her place. Nothing more to it than that. It’s not personal. Pump isn’t a person so can’t even have ‘’personal.’’.”

“She’s right, you know,” Bennie said. “Girl knows her machines. Been building automatons for fifteen years. Never once found one that could think for itself. They’re just good at pretending. Cogs and gears can’t replace a real brain. Believe me, if they could I’d have done it already.”

He tapped his own head with one finger, but Richard still looked doubtful.

“You two are the experts,” he said. “I’m just some guy. But if there’s one thing I know it’s when people want me dead. Pump wasn’t just coming at me like a machine. He was playing. There was something behind those eyes more than cogs.”

“Well, whatever the case, seems you two are in trouble,” Bennie crossed his arms. “Freeing a ****, spitting in the face of the rich and powerful, fleeing across the country to my little workshop bringing hell with you? That’s the Richard I know. Do you realise how much trouble you’re about to cause me?”

“So you’re going to help?” Kara asked.

Bennie rolled his eyes.

“Here’s what I am going to do. Firstly, I’ll put out the word that Kara is off-limits. No one in San Gasa will try anything if I make it clear that there’s gonna be consequences with a capital C. My word has weight outside the city too…. But not as much. I’d recommend you stay here for a bit.

“Second, I can get you some money and a place to stay. A good place, right here in the red-light zone. It’ll have some fun attractions too that both of you might love.

“I’ve got guards here. I’ve got people. They’d have to be insane to move against you. You can lay low for a little bit, enjoy yourselves. Then, when the heat dies down you can go off to wherever you’re going next. Do you have any idea what you’re doing then, Richard?”

“Not a clue. I’ve been making this up as I went along.”

“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.”