Building Zoids in a World of Titans

The Liger Zero descended the cliff face with careful, deliberate steps, its claws finding holds that Alex wouldn't have seen without the machine's enhanced optics. By the time they reached the treeline, the sun had dipped below the horizon, and the first stars were pricking through the violet sky.

The workshop came into view — a cluster of warm light against the darkening foothills. Alex could see figures moving outside, their postures tight with tension.

He brought the Liger Zero to a stop at the edge of the clearing and powered down the drive systems. The cockpit hissed open. The cool evening air hit his face, carrying the smell of machine oil and the distant smoke of Veridia's evening fires.

Three figures were already running toward him.

Borin reached him first, his face flushed, his tool belt clanking. Ziya was half a step behind, her hair loose and her eyes wide. Rhian brought up the rear, her flour-sack bandolier bouncing against her hip.

Borin stopped short, his hands on his knees, breathing hard. "Don't — don't you ever —"

"Scare us like that again," Ziya finished, her voice sharp. She grabbed Alex's arm and pulled him out of the cockpit, checking him over with quick, assessing hands. "You were gone for hours. Hours, Alex. We thought —"

"I'm fine," Alex said.

"You're not fine," Rhian said. She stood at the base of the Liger Zero's head, craning her neck to look up at the machine. "You took off into the forest with a Zoid that tried to kill you this morning."

"It didn't try to kill me. It was establishing dominance."

"That's the same thing when it has claws the size of my arm!"

Alex rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay. Fair point. But look." He gestured at the Liger Zero, which sat placidly behind him, its optics dimmed to a soft amber glow. "It's fine. We're fine. It was a great test. The Mane Blast worked perfectly, the claws responded within point-zero-three seconds of input, and the core synchronization held through three combat engagements."

Borin straightened up. He stared at Alex, then at the Liger Zero, then back at Alex. "Three engagements?"

"Three Allosaurs. The Liger handled them."

Borin's expression shifted from worry to something closer to awe. He walked a slow circle around the Zoid, his hand trailing along its flank. "Three Allosaurs. In the first real field test." He shook his head. "You're either the luckiest fool on Terrax or the best engineer I've ever met."

"Can't it be both?" Alex said.

Ziya punched his shoulder. Not hard. "Don't joke. I was worried."

Her hand lingered on his arm. Alex looked at her, and the anger in her expression had already melted into something softer.

"I know," he said. "I'm sorry."

Borin clapped his hands together, the sound sharp in the evening air. "Right. That's enough standing around. We're going to The Stone Hearth, and we're eating until the Sols run dry. I'm buying."

"You don't have to —"

"I'm buying, Alex. You just fought a duel with a machine that has the personality of a territorial cat and won. You've earned a meal that isn't nutrient paste."

Alex looked up at the Liger Zero. The machine's head was lowered, its golden eyes watching him with an expression he was starting to recognize as amusement.

"Behave yourself while I'm gone," Alex said.

"GRRRR-AAAH-MMM."

The Liger Zero's mane vents flickered with a brief crackle of blue light. The sound was unmistakable — a grumble. An annoyed, put-upon grumble, like a cat being told to stay off the counter.

Rhian burst out laughing. "It sounds offended."

"It is offended," Alex said. "It wanted to come."

"You are not bringing a Zoid into The Stone Hearth," Ziya said flatly.

"VUMMM-vummm-vummm."

The Liger Zero lowered its head and nudged Alex's shoulder with its snout. The force of it pushed him half a step forward.

"Fine," Alex said, patting the machine's jaw. "You can wait here. But no chasing the Lanstag."

The Liger Zero huffed — a warm gust of air that ruffled Alex's hair.

"HRRRRRR..."

Then it settled onto the ground, its tail curling around its legs, and watched as the four of them walked toward the lights of Veridia.

The Stone Hearth was louder than usual. Alex noticed it the moment they stepped through the door — the shift in volume, the way conversations paused and then resumed at a higher pitch. Heads turned. A man at the bar raised his mug. A woman at a corner table whispered to her companion, her eyes wide.

"There he is."

"The one with the machine."

"Hero of Veridia."

The words followed them to their table like a trailing comet. Alex kept his eyes forward, his jaw tight. He'd spent five years in this tavern being invisible, and the sudden attention sat on his skin like a coat that didn't fit.

Borin dropped into a chair with a satisfied grunt. "Now this is what I call service. We didn't even have to wait for a table."

A waitress appeared almost immediately — a young woman with dark hair tied back and a smile that lingered on Alex a beat too long. She set down menus and leaned forward slightly, close enough that Alex caught the scent of floral soap.

"Warden Alex," she said, her voice warm. "It's an honor. Can I get you something to drink? On the house, of course."

"We'll take four ales," Ziya said, stepping between them with the menu already open. "And the hearth stew for the table."

The waitress blinked, then straightened. "Right away."

She left. Ziya sat down across from Alex and began studying the menu with intense focus.

"She was flirting with you," Rhian said, grinning.

"She was being polite," Alex said.

"She was absolutely flirting. You're famous now, Alex. Get used to it."

Alex glanced around the room. At a table near the back, he spotted a group of Wardens he recognized — Kaelen's usual crew. The ones who'd followed him around, laughed at his jokes, stepped aside when he walked past. They were hunched over their drinks, not looking at him.

"Kaelen's not with his group," Alex said.

Ziya followed his gaze. "He left. Packed up and moved to another city about two weeks ago. Nobody knows where."

"Left?" Alex turned back to her. "Why?"

Ziya shrugged. "He'd been getting worse. More irritable. Snapping at people who didn't deserve it. I think he burned through whatever friends he had left." She paused. "Probably couldn't stand watching someone he used to push around become the person everyone actually respects."

Rhian nodded. "Jealousy is a bad flavor. Makes everything taste wrong."

Alex thought about that. He didn't feel satisfaction at Kaelen's departure. Just a quiet recognition that some people couldn't survive their own bitterness.

The food arrived. Borin attacked his stew with the enthusiasm of a man who'd been running a shop all day. Ziya ate with precise, efficient bites. Rhian got berry juice on her chin and didn't notice until Alex pointed it out.

"So," Borin said, pointing his spoon at Alex. "What's the plan? You've got your Zoids, you've got your contract with the Foreman. What comes next?"

Alex set down his spoon. "The Titans around here are thinning out. If I want to build more Zoids — better ones — I'll need stronger cores. That means going deeper. Different territories. Different cities."

The table went quiet.

Rhian's spoon stopped halfway to her mouth. "You're leaving?"

"Eventually. Not tomorrow. But yes."

Her face fell. She set the spoon down and stared at her bowl.

Borin nodded slowly. "Good. A young man shouldn't be cooped up in one city his whole life. The world's bigger than Veridia. You'll see things out there that'll make these foothills look like a backyard."

Ziya hadn't said anything. She was looking at her plate, her expression carefully neutral. But her hands had stopped moving.

"Which brings me to a favor," Borin said. He turned to his daughter. "Ziya. I want you to go with him."

Ziya's head snapped up. "What?"

"You heard me. Go with Alex. Learn from him. See how Zoids are built in the field, not just in a shop."

"Father, the shop —"

"The shop will be fine. Maren can handle the day-to-day. You've been running the inventory and the books for two years. You know the business better than I do." He leaned forward. "But there's a difference between knowing parts and knowing machines. Alex is building the future. I want you to be part of it."

Ziya looked at Alex. Her cheeks were flushed, and there was something in her eyes that went beyond professional interest — something she'd been carrying quietly for a long time.

Alex opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "I — yes. If she wants to come. I'd be glad to have her."

Ziya's lips pressed together. She looked down at her hands, then back up. "Okay," she said softly. "I'll go."

Borin grinned and returned to his stew. "Good. That's settled."

Under the table, Rhian's hand found Alex's knee and squeezed. He glanced at her. She was smiling — but it was the kind of smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. The kind that was already calculating.

She had a plan. He could see it forming behind those honey-brown eyes, quiet and determined as a river finding its way around a stone.

He didn't know what it was yet. But he would.

Advance chapters on my p@tR$0n/Najicablitz.

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