Patrick Rothfuss once said that there are three things all wise men fear: the sea in the storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man. Another person once said the difference between gentleness and cowardice is that cowardice lacks wrath, gentleness restrains theirs.
As I readied myself to take the fight to Michael, I understood the meaning behind both of these quotes. I couldn’t see well, my glasses having been knocked off somewhere when the first punch flew, but I didn’t need them to win. Otto hovered off to my right, one fan clicking as it missed the motor caught on whatever damage he had taken. I knew we would both come out of this wrecked, but I also knew we would feel lower than low if we backed down now.
“Otto, if you sustain more than 50% damage, I want you to retreat. Any critical damage to you is unacceptable.” I said, curling my arms in and lowering my head.
“OTTO is proud to stand by Councillor Jace as a comrade. We will not back down.” Otto replied, the steel and rage in his own simulated voice stoked the fire in my own heart.
I ran at Michael, knowing full well that any hits I land would be lucky, but I didn’t care. I roared my indignation and pain, bringing one fist back to get a punch in. It didn’t go well. The whole time I was running I felt small painful impacts hitting my shoulders and back, and when I finally got close enough to strike out at him, he moved aside and tripped me.
I heard metallic pings and plastic cracking, Otto didn’t seem like he was doing any better. But the fighting spirit we shared kept us going. I stood again and started swinging wildly, hoping to hit Michael at least once with the sheer number of punches I was throwing. One hand got caught, and the next thing I knew I was on the ground taking kicks to the chest again.
I started to get up, got kicked back into the dirt, and tried to get up again. This seemed to continue for a long time, but eventually I managed to get back up and faced Michael again. I heard a sickening plastic crack and turned to look. Otto was greatly damaged, or so the smoke above the blurry drone gave me the impression. I saw it shake again and started to drop.
I ran over to catch him, pulled in the small wreck, and held him tight to my chest as I felt more small impacts striking up and down my exposed body. Eventually it stopped, and I heard Michael walking away, his laughter rubbing my loss in my face.
“Are you still functional, Councillor Jace?” Otto asked, his speaker crackling as he spoke.
I grinned, coughed up some blood onto the ground, and took a ragged breath. “I’m about as functional as you are there buddy. That was a really bad idea.”
“Affirmative.”
“But we stood up for ourselves, and that shows that we’re not as weak as we once were. Right?”
“OTTO thinks that is a correct statement.”
I started to get up, lost my balance, fell into the dirt again, and then got my feet under me.
“Otto, long shot here, but can you see where my glasses went?” I asked, holding him up to survey the area.
“Three steps to your left and twenty feet forward.” Otto said. “I do note that they are damaged.”
I followed his instructions and found the set. The eye that was caked with blood was shattered, and the side that wasn’t shattered was deformed.
“So, Otto, where do I need to take you to get repairs going?” asked, slipping my glasses on.
“OTTO believes we should attend to your wounds, Jace. You are bleeding in multiple places due to pellets breaking skin and broken glass. This is something we cannot ignore.” Otto replied, concern tingeing his robotic voice.
I shook my head, “If we can get you back u and running, we can-“
“Oh my goddess, Jace! What happened here?” a voice came from up the hill.
I made an effort to look at the incoming figure, but with one eye crusted shut and my neck not wanting to move… well I couldn’t do much. I did turn my body and caught a flash of yellow shirt, golden hair, and jean shorts, but that’s all I could make out from where I was. It took another minute for me to be able to turn and step toward the figure, the aches in my side growing with each moment.
“Camper Kim, OTTO is less than pleased to receive your attention in such a condition, but OTTO is pleased that you may assist him in convincing Jace to get to the infirmary. Jace seems to be resistant to going before attending OTTO’s injuries.” Otto said, filling in the gaps for me.
Kim pulled one of my arms over her shoulders and began shuffling us toward the medical cabin.
“What happened?” she asked, the tone of her voice leaving no room for lies.
I coughed, then took a breath, “Well, let’s just say that I really don’t know how to fight… and bullies in groups are much more damaging than by themselves.”
“And that’s why Otto is so banged up too?”
“Affirmative.”
“And what do you plan to do when you get patched up?”
I thought for a moment, “We’re going to get Otto back up and running, and then we’re going to get him some upgrades.”
Otto whirred his one working fan and his lights dimmed. “OTTO doesn’t understand what good repairing him will do. OTTO failed to protect or help Councillor Jace in his time of need.”
“Otto, you fought by my side, that makes us battle brothers. And if we can get you a better compliment of gear, we might be able to win the next encounter. And mark my words, there will be another encounter.”
I heard Kim mutter something about men and being stupid, but I wasn’t focused on it. I was planning out ways to make Otto stronger, ways to win the next fight, and occasionally just stopping thinking at all because of the pain. Who knew small metal pellets could hurt so much?
When Kim finally got me to the infirmary and followed the instructions from the AI (MINERVA) in the medical kit, I had a plan. Kim washed my face, and I could open my other eye again, but the damage to my glasses was extreme… talk about a bad time.
“Kim, would you head back to the cabin and grab my spare case?” I asked, knowing full well it was empty.
She nodded and ran off. I turned Otto around in my hands, “Otto, is there a way to fabricate a new set of glasses for myself here? I don’t think I brought my spare set.”
“Councillor Jace, if you will step up to the mirror in the back of the building, I will take the required information about your eyes and send it off to the lab where you will be able to pick up a new set of optical enhancement units as well as repair my brother AI ORION.” Came a voice from everywhere around me.
“AI MINERVA, you know that we AI do not have siblings.” Otto said, sounding exasperated.
I set the busted up drone on a bed, “Otto, if you want to be human, you have to accept that family is a thing. And sometimes you don’t get to pick who they are.”
I stepped over to the indicated mirror, and a brief flash of bright red light made me blink violently.
“Measurements taken, visual acuity data downloaded and sent to the build lab. AI… I apologize, OTTO will guide you. Please make sure he is able to fly again, I do miss him when my brother cannot visit.” AI MINERVA said, her tone reassuring.
I picked up Otto and thanked her for the help. I asked her to redirect Kim if she came back to go ahead and do what she wanted to do for the rest of the day, I would be holed up in the lab with Otto.
We left the building, and Otto began directing me to where the build lab was set up. When we got there, I knew this wasn’t a place campers should know about. The machinery was advanced, the parts laying around here and there were plentiful, the weaponry left out in the open for the drones was astounding, and the temptation to use them to get revenge was strong.
“Okay Otto, let’s get you a new body. Where would I find the casings?” I asked setting him on a workbench.
“The casings for HUNTER class AI are-“
“Oh no, we’re giving you an upgrade, remember? Where’s a casing with blank equipment loadouts? Is there a computer for designing a new configurations?” I asked, cutting him off.
The lights on Otto’s frame brightened significantly. “If you head to the back, past the containment tubes, you will see the main design computer. Take me back there and plug me in, and I can interface to let us work together on a new body.”
I picked him up and we walked to the very back of the building. I saw the supercomputer Otto had meant, plugged in one of his wires under his direction, and I saw a small avatar appear in the corner of the screen. The small red and blue cubes floated around, the cluster expanding and contracting when Otto spoke.
“Okay Otto. Let’s say we did keep your old size and form factor, what can we modify?”I asked, pulling up a chair.
The cluster of cubes pulled up schematics and lists that said what we could and couldn’t do.
“OTTO desires a way to prevent further damage to his team.”
“Well, Otto, let’s look at the library of gear that you can use. Like this limited direction EMP beam… huge battery drain, but knocks out any drone caught in the line of fire. Or… oh, what’s this?” I said, navigating the screen.
“OTTO likes that one, but OTTO would need an improved battery and reinforced metal casing to withstand the forces involved.” Otto’s cubes said, glowing brightly.
I smiled, “Well then Otto, let’s see what we can do about a better battery.”
Otto and I spent the next hour going over what he could get in a new body, finding ways to get a battery that would hold five times the charge of his original in half the size, and improving his sensors to prevent anyone from sneaking up on us in future.
About that point ping showed up on the computer telling us that the glasses MINERVA had sent data for were finished and where to pick them up. Placing them on my face, I was instantly blown away. There was never a pair of glasses that fixed my vision this perfectly or this quickly. The black carbon fiber had enough bend that I didn’t think it would break any time soon, the glass was rated to withstand a bullet at point blank range, and the style was unlike anything I’d ever seen before.
“OTTO likes the new look, Jace.” Otto said from the computer.
“New look, new me.” I said, taking my seat and marvelling at the sheer technological prowess in this building. “How are you feeling about the improvements to yourself?”
Otto’s cubes swirled and soared around the screen, “OTTO feels confident in the new body. OTTO would ask Jace if he would mind practicing with OTTO while we wait for the assembly?”
I blinked, “Can we? How do we do that?”
As if on cue, the desk I was at shifted. The keyboard slid in, and the edges curved to allow my arms to rest comfortably in a slightly forward position, and then two joystick controls shot out of the sides about where my hands would be.
“OTTO saw a program that would allow us to get familiar with new modifications. OTTO will load two of his current body into the simulation program, allowing one to be controlled by Jace, and the other by myself. I will give a five count warning, and we will try to shoot each other down.” Otto said.
I stretched my fingers, wrapping them around the joysticks, my old gaming habits rising up.
“You know, Otto, there was a series of games that used to let you play like this? The game was about bipedal giant robots fighting in a war for control of known space. Once they developed these pods for kids to sit in and control them like they were in the action. I was pretty damn good at those games, so don’t be frustrated if I win a few rounds.”
“OTTO respects Jace’s skills, but OTTO will not lose.”
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