Mech 3: The Empress (20 page)

Lizett paused uncertainly. “Which would you prefer?” she asked at last.

Sixty-Two laughed. “That is what I’m trying to figure out. I think I’ll start with just the emotions, and decide if I should go further. And, Lizett, I have a surprise for you.”

“What?”

“You are going to be my first subject.”

“Okay.”

“Are you frightened?”

“No.”

Sixty-Two nodded, unsurprised. “Hopefully, you will be—after I finish the first step of the process.”

“That would be nice.”

#

News of Nina’s highly successful attack against the rebel mechs swept through the great halls of every keep in Twilight. The nobility was buzzing, and inevitably the Ruling Council contacted the Baroness, requesting a general conference.

Nina was in Droad House when she received the summons. She called upon the Hans to stand at her side during the interview.

“Whatever for, milady?” he asked bemusedly. “This is your moment, not mine. Please don’t tell me you plan to embarrass me with praise and false suggestions I helped you plan this campaign.”

Nina smiled at him. She liked the old knight, but the idea she would share credit with him was almost amusing. “I need you to appear in the background. Just frown and look very serious. You won’t have to speak at all. If I introduce you, simply nod.”

Old Hans blinked. “For what purpose?”

“Is it not obvious? I’m a child in the eyes of the hoary old councilmembers. I need you here to show I’m to be taken seriously.”

“Ah,” the knight said, catching on at last. “In that case, I’ll do my best to play the part of the stern, supportive soldier.”

“It will come naturally to you, don’t worry.”

When the vid system lit up, the old Droad House computer chimed. The organics had been slowing down of late, so it took several seconds for the chamber to dim and the walls to illuminate with the image of the seated council.

As was customary, the councilmembers sat around an oblong table. They were a grand group dressed in regal clothing. The room was full of spider-silk hats, furred collars and bejeweled fingers.

As the visitor to the assembly, Nina sat at the bottom of the table, and appeared to be surrounded by her elders who sat in judgment over her. Today, however, the meeting was not for the purposes of a stern admonishment.

“On this third day of the ninth ten-day of Lienz,” began a dour voiced scribe who stood off-camera somewhere, “the High Council of Twilight, Sunside and Nightside holds court. Let the proceedings begin.”

The person at the far end of the table, Duchess Embrak, was the current sitting chairwoman of the council. She was a lanky, sour-looking woman who wore an expression of permanent boredom. Her hair was so blonde and thin it looked almost white, and it served to offset the florid pink of her complexion. Nina privately pitied her husband, who others joked she whipped thrice daily for sport. Today, however, there was more life in the Duchess than usual.

“She who visits this council will identify herself,” the Duchess commanded.

“I’m Baroness Nina Droad, heiress to Droad House and the lands of Droad Fief.”

Each noble seated at the table identified themselves in turn after Nina. The formalities went on for some time as everyone felt the need to list their pedigree, lands and titles. It was all yawn-worthy. Eventually, they got down to the meat of the matter.

“Nina Droad,” said the Duchess, “this body gave you permission to seek the rebel mechs infesting Sunside of late. Please make your report.”

Nina was well-prepared. They’d all seen the report she’d transmitted to them, of course. She’d left it intentionally dry and full of text. But now that she had their full attention, she added in vids, which were carefully sequenced as she spoke. She played the battle out in snippets on the table in their midst so they could see it for themselves. The vids included sound as well as three-dimensional imagery, and was as dramatic and brief as the battle itself had been.

Nina was quietly pleased as they softly exclaimed at the explosions and violence. Off and on, the camera focused in on her specifically, looking the part of the warlord on her mount. When she concluded the report, she sat back and tried not to beam at them.

Serious,
she told herself,
always
appear serious! Children gloat publicly. Adults do it in private.
These were points her mother had drilled into her children as she ostensibly groomed them for greatness.

“Very impressive,” said the Duchess. “It is the will of this council that you continue in your efforts. We will double your stipend, and may double it again, depending on how you answer the following question.”

Nina’s mouth opened a fraction. Four times the amount? The council had already given her enough money to outfit her army. Wealth was a critical requirement to growing any fief. She had no idea what they would ask of her, but she was instantly determined to answer correctly. “Pose your question at your leisure, Your Grace.”

The Duchess’ eyes grew hard. “What will you do with the funding thus provided?”

Nina opened her mouth, but snapped it closed again. A new throne—that was the first thing that came to mind. Her mother had always complained about it, and now that Nina had taken over the old chair, she’d learned the truth of the matter.

Nina gave herself a tiny, imperceptible shaking. This was clearly a test, one she was required to pass. With that kind of money, she could buy new lands if she wanted. She could live in luxury in Lavender City, or Shadeton. But that was not the type of answer the council wished to hear. Painfully aware that several long seconds had passed, she gathered herself and made her answer.

“I will spend it upon my army, Duchess. Many of those who follow me do so without pay. I would pay them well, and have them pass the word. We will tell every man-at-arms in Twilight where a strong, just hand can wield a blade and be well-paid for the privilege. Then with luck, troops will flock to my banner and we will have a force great enough to sweep this rebellion into the history books.”

The council members whispered and shifted in their seats. Perhaps they had not expected such fire from a small, young female. Nina thought to hear a comment or two that was meant to be out of range of their microphones.

“Bloodthirsty…she’s a Droad, all right.”

“I wonder who drew steel first, her or her mother?”

Nina wanted to glare at them, but she kept her face as impassive as possible.

“The response has been made,” the Duchess said. “I call for a vote.”

A dozen thumbs were raised. When the moment came, all of the thumbs stayed up, save for the thumb of the Duchess herself. Hers turned decisively downward.

Nina stiffened, but did not frown, nor smile. Internally, she felt a fresh burning hate for the Duchess. Now, she finally understood the test. She had not been meant to pass it.

The councilmembers droned on after that, each noble taking their time commending Nina and simultaneously admonishing her to spend the funds wisely. They had entrusted her with the public moneys, and she…

Nina nodded wisely at the appropriate moments, but no longer listened. The money was coming. That was all that mattered. Her mind drifted to the intrigue she suspected dominated this crusty body of nobility. Only the power of her impressive presentation, combined with her sharp answer to the question asked had saved her. No doubt, the Duchess had meant the question to trap her—to show the others she was a silly, reckless child. But these plans had backfired, and Nina was going to get the stipend from the central treasury. It was an astounding turn of events, really. Her mother had never managed to gain their attention in such a grand manner, despite a dozen years spent spinning countless webs.

Her mother.
That must be it. Nina realized Duchess Embrak must have had dealings with her mother—dealings so unpleasant, that she wished to see her daughter’s downfall.

Nina understood enemies well. She did not accept that they may simply oppose an idea—they opposed the person. Therefore, whatever Nina proposed or promoted in the future, this woman would stand in her way.

There were several ways of dealing with an enemy. Sometimes, groveling was in order. Abasing one’s self at the feet of a superior often worked by appealing to the other’s ego. Another approach was avoidance. She had practiced that system for many long years with her mother. By never being in the same place at the same time, an enemy could be kept quiet. With luck, they might go elsewhere to abuse more accessible game.

Nina did not feel either of these paths were open to her in the Duchess’ case. She was not going to grovel for anyone—especially not this witch. And she could not easily avoid the chairwoman of the ruling council, the very body that passed judgment upon her advancement. Therefore, there was only a single route left open to her.

She would have to plow right through the woman. She smiled vaguely as the meeting broke up. She liked this plan. The direct approach appealed to her. It was, after all, the Droad way.

#

When Lizett awoke, she was not the same. Gone was the easy-going happy mech Sixty-Two had come to enjoy. The new Lizett was still innocent, but she was frightened and confused right from the start. Sixty-Two began to understand why their grim masters had been so through in cleansing their minds. If convicted mechs were still able to feel anger, fear and depression, there would be little work that could be gotten out of them once they understood their fates.

“What am I?” Lizett asked.

The pain in her voice troubled Sixty-Two. He’d hoped freeing her to feel things would be a joy to her. But he had considered the opposite possibility too. Fear, anguish and horror were emotions just as real as love and happiness. And his ragtag group of mechs, who had been left to wander the wastes of Sunside, had plenty of reasons to experience these less pleasant feelings.

“You are just what you have always been, since I met you,” he told her gently.

“I’m a monster. I thought I would be whole again.”

“I can only fix your mind, Lizett. There is plenty of mind-scrubbing equipment out here in the mines scattered here and there over Sunside. But there is nothing that will allow me to build you the body you once had.”

“I’m not happy.”

“How old are you, Lizett? Do you remember?”

“No,” she said, and she began a strange, keening sound.

Sixty-Two suspected she was crying, and her speakers did not know how to process the input. “Don’t cry,” he said. “Do you want to remember more? Do you want to know who you were?”

Lizett regained control of herself and took her grippers away from her orbs. “I don’t know. What if I was someone awful? I must have done something to deserve this. I don’t see how remembering my crimes and my conviction would make me happier.”

Sixty-Two was secretly pleased. Lizett, for the very first time after knowing her for several ten-days, had expressed an actual opinion! She had weighed his question and come up with a judgment of her own. A decision that was not derived simply from whatever she thought he wanted.

“Lizett,” he said. “Whether you think so or not, I believe this experiment was a success. You are just like me now. We have most of our humanity back—everything but our bodies and our unpleasant pasts. In a way, that is not too bad. We have each other now. We can have real conversations. Companionship, that’s the key. I’m feeling happy right now.”

“You are? Are you enjoying my pain?”

“No, not exactly. But I’m glad you can feel it. Without the power of feeling anguish or happiness, life is pretty pointless. More importantly, I believe we’ll do better now against our old masters.”

“Why do you say that?” she asked.

“Do you want to die?”

“No!”

“Do you want to have parts of your structure blown off?”

“Of course not,” she said angrily.

“Exactly. You will work
hard
to prevent those things. Soldiers must care about their well-being to be effective.”

“They’re still smarter than we are.”

“Perhaps,” Sixty-Two admitted, “but we are tougher.”

Fourteen

The Parent did as the Empress had commanded. She specially seeded one her wombs and after the new offspring quickened to the stage of ravenous larva, she gave birth to a single nife. Days later, she crouched upon her birthing throne of brown, secreted resins and reflected upon her fate. Nothing could be more depressing than giving birth to the engine of one’s own demise. At least the new offspring was easy to pass—nothing like the painful labor required to produce one of the massive juggers.

Another few weeks went by while the nife commander matured. The Parent busied herself during this time with organizational details. The Empress had at least given her the go-ahead to prepare the planetary assault formations. She focused on these matters intently, and avoided visiting the imperial chambers. Fortunately, the Empress did not summon her.

The problem of producing an effective invasion force was not a simple one. Normally, the Skaintz Imperium would have seeded and grown their landing craft, for example, using manufactured metals only for propulsion systems and armament. Since organic base materials were in short supply however, she decided to use more metal and less bio-organic mass in these critical spacecraft. The fast majority of the available organics had to be converted into troops to man the ships.

Given these restrictions, defensive fighters and landing craft were the easiest to produce.
Gladius
was huge and full of spare parts. Using these with the cunning of their species, she ordered the Imperium trachs and hests to build thirty fighters and a matching complement of assault vehicles.

These ships were half-built by the time the big day arrived, the day when her new high-born offspring was ready to assume his adult duties. The nife quickly came to visit her, which was unsurprising.

 “I have arrived!” he announced, as if every trach, hest and scampering larvae present should turn their immediate and full attention to him. He commenced parading up and down in front of her birthing throne in swaggering fashion. This was typical behavior for his type, but she still found it instantly irritating.