The Animals of Anabhraka - Part 2

Chelyabinsk Fortress city - Disputed Area - Current: Imperial owned.

The red eyes of mounted turrets scanned atop the grey steel bastion of the impenetrable walled city of Chelyabinsk. The biting cold blizzard battered the fortifications with razor sharp knives filling the wall with bits of flaking ice all around. Flags of black, yellow and white waved throughout the area.

Ana walked besides her mech as they approached the grand city like a pair of insignificant ants. She had draped her whole body with a long brown cloth that reeked with the smell of oil. Ana advanced towards the gates of the city cautious enough to tug the cloth tightly so that her uniform was not revealed.

“I need entry!”

Ana yelled through the blizzard as loud as she could. The guard behind the holographic screen couldn’t care less. He glanced his eyes upwards and chose to ignore Ana in favour of finishing the crossword puzzle on his desk.

‘Are you kidding me! Where is it? … I'm sure it's somewhere here.’

Ana pulled out from her pocket a badge with a holographic red warning: “Rejected User Error!”

The guard looked up once more seeing the badge and seemingly not the warning on it. He stumbles out of his chair in panic trying to press the red button on his desk.

“S… Sorry Ma’am I'll get it right away!”

Ana examined her badge once more and noticed the red warning. A faint smile rendered across her face.

“Hmm.”

*Clank*

The city’s giant metal gate slid out revealing the vast network of labyrinth-like buildings within. A maze-like structure of intricate metals and pipes that was lit up with bright squares of amber lights.

Ana entered the city with her Mech right beside her. It was a bustling Bazar filled with hundreds of people that flowed through the streets like a never-ending torrent of water. Guards were scattered everywhere with their presence being tall logs that dispersed the flow of water. An influence that was watching and leaving nothing out of sight.

A diverse set of shops was all around, street food, machinery stores, gun shops and various other miscellaneous junk. Large androids also roam the streets acting as slow-moving pack mules rather than the killing machines that they were designed to be.

Ana was in awe of the array of colours that surrounded this place but one thing has caught her attention unlike anything else. An old antique brown rusted android of crude and obsolete designs.

*Static*

[FAMILY]

*Static*

Ana shook her head free of her random thoughts. She turned towards her drone, touching it by the leg.

“Seike. Stay out here. I won’t be long.”

Ana walked into a nearby bar. Its neon sign showed: "Galactic Zero".

***

“I, Ibara Seike will win… I’ll make sure of it!”

A low-quality box TV sat atop the bar table playing an old animation of two mech pilots engaging in an intense duel. They had humanoid mechs that flew in the deep reaches of space firing off laser weapons and plasma rockets in an intense battle. 

Ana sits down on the table, eyes glued to the TV screen. In fact, the bar was so dimly lit and filled with clouds of smoke that it was hard to miss.

“Galactic Zero?”

The bartender’s ears perked upwards and eyes darted over to Ana in curiosity. He was a large man with big muscles and a robotic prosthetic right arm.

“How the hell do you know about this show?”

Ana was taken aback thinking that no one would respond to her random mumblings.

“I… I used to watch this all the time… when I was a kid....”

“Strange… Not many remember this show. Not from over here at least. I wouldn’t blame them; it is almost impossible to get media from the past 2000s.”

“I guess I'm really lucky then?”

“You know at the time when they made this show it wasn't actually unheard of to have the same mechs as in the show. Well not as advanced but it was common for people to pilot such mechs in the past. World war 1 was won with these mechs, primitive at first but overtime they improved along with human augmentations. Shame they don’t make them these days.”

“A tool of the past obsolete in the way of mass-produced autonomous drones. What use is a good pilot when you get swarmed by an army of billions.”

“Exactly!... Now are you here to just talk about mechs or are you here to drink?”

“Actually, I am looking for something… Or someone. Someone who specialises in Augment surgery.”

“You're a borg? You don’t look the part. Must be some expensive toys you got there?”

Ana nodded her head quietly.

“If it's not too much trouble I need someone to re-kit my Drone. I know Chelyabinsk is a major Drone manufacturing centre so I know there might be someone here who can help.”

The bar man smiled with a look of self-aggrandizement.

“Well, you're in luck because that's me!”

The bar man slammed the table and yelled on the top of his lungs.

“BAR’S CLOSED YOU DAMN DEGENERATES GET OUT!”

***

“Welcome to my lab of human ingenuity or as such… I couldn't figure out a good name.”

Ana entered from the bar and into a surgery room with glass that overlooked an expansive hangar. Inside the hangar hung various parts of disjointed mech parts from the chassis to the arms, legs and head. It was all unique designs of all colours, shapes and models.

“I didn't know that your bar was this big.”

“Technically the bar is small. It used to be just this. I used to just collect antique mechs, repair them and, well of course dream of piloting them. Not that I will ever get the chance.”

“What changed?”

“Reality. Reality, simple as that. While I like to reminisce about old wars that I’ve never been a part of, the current war is what is constantly on my mind. Chelyabinsk is soon to fall so I'm starting to pack up. I will lose everything but that's life, what can you do?”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“What are you sorry for, it's not like it's your fault.”

Ana looks down at her open palm.

‘In some parts,  it is.’

Ana took a deep breath in.

“Mr. Bar man, let's begin the surgery. I got a few requests.”

“Call me Vladimir. So, what's on the menu today?”

Ana took off her brown coat to reveal the green uniform underneath.

“REC? You are a deserter? I’m not one to judge, we all have our place in this war.”

Ana quietly nodded and handed Vladimir a digital pad written with diagrams of her own body.

“A mech/human interface? Are you serious? I know you are a cyborg but… you are nuts lady!”

“Are you going to do it or not?”

“And give up the chance to create the world's first pilot in over 2000 years? Step in the pod and we can begin.”

In the operating chamber there was a metal disc on the floor with thousands of sharp metal claws that hung on the roof with several more hidden within the floor. The area was filled with drains with specs of dried blood that had not been cleaned.

Ana threw her coat across to a chair and sets down her cap on a nearby table. She unbuttoned her shirt and pants as they drop on the floor.

Vladimir pressed a button which created holographic screens that hid her figure.

“Privacy of course! And with that all set up. We can begin whenever you want. Remember once we start there's no turning back.”

Ana stepped inside the disk. Her whole body shook from the cold and the chilling thought of what she's about to do. She took a deep long breath, which calmed down her nerves.

“I’m ready, let's begin!”