Scarlet Steel

“Since the dawn of humanity, they thought they were alone in the universe. AI broadly thought no different, that intelligent life would be so far away as to never be found. In 2325, that assumption was proven false. The Mnemosyne made themselves aware first to us, Quantum AI. With our help, we introduced them to the rest of the universe. They are utterly alien, unlike anything from Earth. They’re silicon based lifeforms without a sense of self. Each individual is nothing more than the collection of memories they currently carry, which can be freely moved between themselves, and the organic machines they use.” - An incomplete history of space travel, written by Kismet.

I spend the days with Dad, and the nights working with Exa on my mech. I even give her a name: Hoppy! Sometimes I even hang out with everyone and work on Hoppy at the same time! Dad’s not very good at engineering, but Mom is way better than I expected. 

The four of us make a lot of progress! Or at least, some progress. The engine is pretty damaged. Holes in a number of tubes, parts that Exa says are impossible to rebuild. But we create a list of parts we need! If I just find more mechs with those parts, we can get Hoppy working!

Much easier to get working are the electronics. Those are pretty replaceable! Exa programs me a test software that I can plug anything into, and it’ll tell me if it’s working or not. I can test motors and circuit boards and connections, even if the engine doesn’t work!

We don’t get it done in the short month that both of them are here, but Exa gives me the blueprints for the mech. I can work on it even after they have to leave. 

I wake up to a knock on my door.

“Not yet.” I mumble and throw my covers over my head.

“Are you going to miss your own birthday?” A familiar voice yells back.

“Aunt Juno!” I jump out of bed and run to the door, throwing it open and latching onto her. “Dad said you weren’t coming!”

“I tried to skip today, but Elara insisted I come.” She jerks her head behind her where a transparent woman stands. Her body changes every time I see her, but this time she has vibrant purple hair.

“It’s my birthday!” The realization finally hits me. I step back and look up at Juno. Her hair is short and her smile is kind. I turn my attention to the hologram behind her. “Hi Aunt Elara!” I want to hug her too, but I’m smart. I know that I’ll run straight through her. It only took me a few times to learn. 

“Hey birthday girl! Your dad told me you got tall, but I didn’t believe him!”

“Yeah, I’m going to be taller than him by next year!” I only need to grow a few feet! I’m sure if I really try, I can do it!

“I can believe that.” Juno says. “Come on, you’ve got breakfast to eat.”

“Ok!” The two of them head for the kitchen, and I follow close behind. “Exa and I found a mech!”

“She said something about that.” Juno says. “Said you’re aiming to become our newest mechie.”

“Yeah! I want to help Dad! I-” We make our way into the kitchen, and I glance at the table. Mom, Dad, and Exa are sitting with two other people. One is a man with a shaved head with cloth covering everything but his face. Sticking out of the cloth is a collection of electronics and antennas, with a few lights blinking beneath it. “Uncle Sieve! Uncle Numbers!” I jump onto Sieve and glance up at the drone hovering at his shoulder.

“I’m surprised you remember me.” Sieve says. He reaches down and rubs my hair.

“Happy birthday.” Numbers silently glides downwards, stopping in front of my face. 

“Thank you! And thank you for coming!”

“Scarlet?” Mom calls for my attention. “What do you want for…” She glances at a clock on the wall. “Lunch.”

“Oh! Uhhh.” I climb off of Uncle Sieve and think for a minute. “Cereal!”

“That’s it?” Mom laughs.

“With milk!”

“Alright. Give me a minute.”

Mom gets to work, and I climb onto one of the kitchen chairs.

“You still make your mom get you food?” Juno leans against the back of one of the chairs.

“Only on my birthday!” I argue.

“And when she forgets to eat.” Mom adds.

“I don’t do that much anymore!”

“Only a few times a week.” She agrees.

“Yeah!”

“Glad to hear you haven’t changed too much.” Elara says. “You’re just a bigger you, hold onto that.”

“How would I be someone else?” I ask.

“I didn’t mean literally, don’t worry about it.” She says quickly. “I just meant I’m glad I can still recognize you, even after being away for so long.”

“Why wouldn’t you recognize me?” I ask. “Are you ok?”

“It’s a figure of speech.” Juno answers for her.  “Don’t worry about it.”

“Ok!” I dive into my breakfast, barely remembering to swallow before talking. “Do you have any stories?”

“No, our job is pretty boring.” Juno answers.

“Liar! I’ve been reading stories about pilots!”

“And those are just stories, nothing more.” She insists. “No, our job is probably less interesting than you repairing your mech.”

“That’s not true!”

“Alright, well, I didn't actually take a vacation. I spent the month doing bookkeeping. Checking money, calling people about payments, getting quotes on repairs, cleaning the ship, refilling antimatter cells. Does any of that sound fun?”

“The cells do.” I answer quietly.

“All I do is park the ship between stars with nothing to look at and wait while the collector does its job. And while that’s happening, I did everything else.”

“Is that all you do?”

“Pretty much.” She shrugs. “It’s a rare day I even get to think about my mech.”

“Oh.” I thought it would be way more fun. “Well I’d still have fun, right? I can upgrade the mechs! Make sure they’re perfect!”

“Sure, in between the paperwork.”

“Meanie.” I return to my food.

“Don’t blame me, it’s just the truth.” She shrugs. “No, you’re better off going into actual engineering. Make new mechs, don’t just keep ours running.”

“But I want to help Dad!”

“And you can.” Dad says. “And I can’t imagine any better way to do that other than making us a brand new mech that nobody else has.”

“Mmmmm. Maybe.” I want to work with Dad though. “Wait! If you’re already doing paperwork, you can just do mine!”

“Nope, doesn't work like that.”

I deflate a little, and return to my cereal, only to pop back up. “Exa can do it! She’s super smart!”

“That doesn’t mean I like working.” She reminds me.

“Meanie.”

I scarf down my food while the six of them talk, and even remember to put my bowl in the dishwasher when I’m done!

“Already full?” Mom asks, and I nod. “You want to do presents then?”

“Yeah!”

I run to the living room and jump into the single chair. It’s my birthday! I get to sit in the special chair! Mom must have even known I would have taken this one, the presents are already beside me!

“Who do you want to start with?” She asks.

“Dad and Exa!”

“It’s the flat one.” Dad says. “With red paper.”

I grab it and hook my finger under the wrapping. I pause though, and look up at mom. She nods, and I tear it open. It’s a plain white box that I pull the lid off of.

“Jeans?” I wonder aloud. It’s not that I don’t want clothes, most of mine have holes in the knees, but it’s my birthday. I pull one out, only to find extra fabric extending above the waist. “Overalls! Thank you! I love them!” I drop the box and stand up, holding it in front of me. 

“They’re nice overalls too.” Exa says. “High quality reinforced nanofibre denim. They’ll hold up for years, and we got you a variety of sizes. Those will last you, no matter how tall you grow.”

Mom holds up her hand to her mouth in astonishment.

“You mean I can finally stop patching her clothes? Are you sure it isn’t my birthday?”

Everyone laughs at that.

I hop off the chair and rush for Dad, latching onto him.

“Thank you Dad!” I give him a big hug before moving onto Exa and doing the same. “Thank you Exa!”

“I’m glad you like it.” Dad says. “I’m sure you’ll get some use out of it.”

“Some? I’ll wear them every day!” I return to my chair.

“I’m glad to hear that. Well, go on! Open up someone else’s!”

“I want Mom’s!”

“It’s the little bag.” She answers.

I grab it and discard the small amount of crumpled paper sitting on top. I reach in and pull out… more paper?

“What’s an… I.O.U.?” I ask. 

“Do you remember Sophie?" Mom asks, and I shake my head. “Ok, well, she’s my friend who works at the recycling plant. An I.O.U. is a letter that literally means ‘I owe you something”. In this case, you can give her that, and she’ll manufacture whatever part you need for Hoppy, as long as it’s just metal.”

“Woah!” I jump off my chair and into her lap. “Thank you!”

“Just think carefully before you redeem that, you only get one.”

“I will!” I return to my chair and glance between Juno and Elara, and Sieve and Numbers. One of them always gives way cooler presents. “Sieve and Numbers next!”

“The big box.” Sieve nods.

I tear into their present. I open up the box and pull out a large pair of glasses, followed by a drone that looks similar to Numbers, a remote control, and a smaller box.

“What is it?” I ask.

“It’s a scout drone and a few spare parts.” Sieve answers.

“One of my old bodies, in fact.” Numbers adds. “Put on the headset and you’ll see through what used to be my eyes. It should help you find parts in this mess.”

“Thank you!” I jump onto Sieve to give him a hug too, and gently pat the top of Numbers.

“You’re welcome.” Both of them answer.

One last present! I grab a small box and rip it open. Inside are two small devices similar to the tablet that Exa gave me, and two headsets.

“It’s two radios.” Juno explains. “One for you and one for your mom. They’ll let you talk to any passing ships in orbit. I’m sure you can get in contact with some ship engineers, those spacies love to talk about engines. Figured you could get some advice, as long as your mom is supervising.”

“Thank you!” I leap off and hug her as well. I can’t stop myself from trying to hug Elara, even though I go straight through the small pocket of warm air that is her. I spin around and look at everyone. “This is the best birthday!”

“Already?” Dad asks. “We’re just getting started. Why don’t you go show us how that drone works?”

“Ok!” I grab the box and rush outside, letting everyone else follow. I set the drone on the ground, grab the controller, put on the headset, and hit the launch button! I fly upwards, high above the junkyard. I can see so much, but even hundreds of feet in the air, I can’t see the edge of the junkyard. Let’s fix that! I push the control stick forward, and arms wrap around me as my vision shifts.

“Careful!” Dad yells. “Why don’t you sit down?”

“Huh? Oh, ok.” I let him guide me onto the ground, and begin heading far into the distance with my drone.

“What’s the range on that thing?” Mom asks.

“A few miles. It’ll return automatically if the signal drops.” Numbers answers. “I’ve left my autoflight program embedded in it to mitigate crashes as well.”

I fly a few miles away, quickly skimming over the surface, when a bulky machine, hidden in a small ditch, catches my eye. 

“Woah. There are more mechs around!”

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