Scavengers

Luna and Mint are in the tent, sleeping peacefully. Outside, Asa lies on top of his sleeping bag with his arms behind his head, taking some time to watch the stars. They make him nostalgic.

In Inizio’s capital city, he could hardly see any stars. The light pollution made it so they weren’t visible. After living there for his 4 years of defender training, he had gotten used to it.

Sometimes he forgot how beautiful the night sky is. He always loved watching it whenever he visited his childhood home.

He and his dad had lived there the entire time he was a child, a small, rural cottage in a field of wildflowers. A crunch rips him from his thoughts.

To his side, a figure moves, spotting him and running away. Litora’s here! How did they find us in such an isolated spot?! He gets to his feet and starts to pursue the intruder, before stopping and turning back to the tent.

He doesn’t want to leave Luna and Mint, but waking them would take too long and he’d lose the enemy. If they return to whoever their boss is, things will get bad. He runs after the figure.

☼

He did lose track of the enemy, but he found out where they were going. It’s an ancient structure built into the side of a hill.

It’s pretty big, about the size of an office building, and made of stone. There’s a sign on it an ancient language (Alma, he would guess) on it and a simple drawing of a tree. Is this building related to trees, or the forest?

Something strikes the back of his head and the world goes black. A rugged man in military gear stands over him.

He’s not wearing a uniform. He seems to be wearing the gear for personal protection. He’s in his 50s, lines chiseled into his skin. He has buzzed, black hair, strong arms, and cold eyes. There’s a 2x4 in his hands.

“I had a feeling there was a gnat to squish out here.” He says, apathetic. “Gallardo’s found the place, huh? Of course he has. Tricky bastard.”

☼

Min Gallardo sits at his desk. He had set up a makeshift office in his truck's trailer, the desk actually being a simple wooden table with a cover. This man is a crystal scavenger.

Energy crystals aren’t the creation of earthlings. They’re a resource created by the ancient people. They’re thought to have been renewable, but the method of doing so is information lost to time. So, they must be scavenged.

The job is dangerous and frequently unrewarding, but one good find can make an ordinary man into a millionaire. These finds are energy crystal stockpiles.

They’re in the ruins of ancient buildings that utilized electric tools or machinery when they’d been operational. Keeping a stash had just been convenient at the time, but now they are highly sought after.

The competition between scavengers to find and loot these places is intense and can frequently lead to rivalries, and sometimes violence.

One of these rivalries is between Min Gallardo and Vincent Chen, two scavengers with a twenty year history.

Gallardo’s new business partner, a brown haired scavenger in his late 30s, enters the trailer. “Chen’s men have been spotted in the south.”

“So, we’ll go north.” Gallardo says. This confuses the younger man, so he explains.

“Those men are a diversion. He’s trying to lead us off his trail.” He puts a cigarillo in his mouth, then repeatedly clicks a clicker. “Seven!”

A xenosect approaches his desk, its head twitching each time he presses the button. The other man watches silently, growing disturbed.

The xenosect’s name is E7, shortened to just Seven. It was a name Gallardo chose haphazardly, simply taking it from the end of its serial number. It doesn’t have visible facial features, no eyes nor a mouth.

Its head resembles a helmet, and it's impossible to parse any emotion it may be feeling. “Seven, light my cigarillo.”

Seven obliges. “Now leave.”

Seven leaves. Gallardo presses the button one last time before it exits the door. Its head twitches and he makes a nasty smirk.

The door closes. Gallardo’s partner, a man who has committed many evil deeds, looks at him with a concern he can’t mask. “Doesn’t that hurt it?”

“There’s no reason to make a big deal out of it.” Gallardo takes a drag with icy eyes. “It doesn’t have feelings.”

Outside the trailer, the xenosect walks to a tree. It punches and punches and punches, until there’s almost no tree left.

⟡

It’s morning. Luna and Mint hide in the bushes and watch the ancient ruins.

“That’s where the people who took Asa are. It must be.” Whispers Luna.

“How do you know somebody took him?” Asks Mint.

“He wouldn’t just leave us. Let’s go!”

☾

When Asa opens his eyes, his hands are tied and he’s in a dark room. It looks like an ancient storage room, lit by dim floor lights. Around him are tools for forestry, like axes, sheers, and a flamethrower!

He begins twisting his wrists back and forth.

☼

Gallardo and his business partner stalk outside the property. On the inside, Chen holds a hand sized energy cannon. “I’m not going to be able to transport the crystals as long as he’s here.”

⟡

Luna and Mint sneak through a hallway.

“I don’t think it’s safe to be in here.” Whispers Mint. Luna shushes him. A man rounds the corner and points an energy cannon at them.

“Hands up, Gallardo!” Yells Chen. Luna and Mint put their hands up, terrified. Chen is confused.

“You aren’t Gallardo.” He says.

Luna blinks. “Who’s Gallardo?”

An arm snakes around Chen’s neck and traps him in a headlock. Gallardo presses a pistol to his skull with a smirk.

“Hello, old friend.” He sneers. “How about you show me where the stash is.”

Chen’s eyes lock on the gun. He then sighs. “Fine.”

☾

Finally, the ropes loosen. The door is thick and heavy. It’s locked from the outside and a normal person has no hopes of opening it.

He taps his chest and transforms, then pries the door open.

☼

Chen leads Gallardo and his business partner, as well as Seven, to the place where the crystals are. It’s a hallway where many ancient tools have been displaced. They stop in front of the door. There’s an orb switch next to it.

“Unfortunately, this is as far as I can take you.” He says. “The door either needs to be hacked, or sawn open.”

“Then we have a problem…” Says Gallardo, tense. The gears in his head turn, trying to find a solution.

During the moment of distraction, Chen maneuvers the cannon and shoots Gallardo. A burning pain rips through his leg and he sinks to the ground.

Chen distances himself and spins around, facing Gallardo. Gallardo points his gun at Chen, and Chen points his cannon at Gallardo, and when his partner tries to approach, he points it at him, too. He freezes.

⟡

Asa has no clue where he is. All he can do is pick a door and guess. So, he does.

On the other side, there’s two old men in a standoff. A young man too, he guesses. He doesn’t have a gun, though. Gallardo and Chen, seeing a strange man in an Animaguard suddenly appear, open fire.

Having to manage an unplanned for 3rd party and each other, their aim isn’t very good. Chen’s energy blast misses and Gallardo’s bullet grazes his cheek. The partner blindsides Asa, punching him in the cheek.

Asa stumbles into the wall and grabs… something for support. It’s orb shaped. The door opens.

☼

“I don’t think we should be following these old guys. They have weapons!” Whispers Mint.

“I have a good feeling they’ll lead us to Asa.” Luna whispers back.

☾

Hundreds, maybe a thousand, energy crystals glimmer from within the wooden storage room. The two men look at each other, then run for the door.

They enter at the same time and get stuck. They punch and nudge. Chen grabs the frame and pulls himself in. Gallardo falls from the release of tension.

Chen slaps the emergency switch and the doors shut around Gallardo’s midsection. They press on him softly, then reopen (it’s a safety feature).

He laughs in Chen’s face and gets off the ground. Chen knocks the pistol out of his hand and corners him with the cannon.

He puts his hands up and backs away slowly, looking for an escape. That’s when the partner punches Chen hard enough to knock him out. He crumples to the floor.

“Thank God!” Gallardo says. “You saved my ass!”

The partner then takes the cannon off the ground and points it at him. “If you’re alive, I’d have to split the earnings. But if you’re dead…”

He shrugs, nonchalant. “It’s all mine.”

⟡

In the other room, Asa stares off with Seven. He can’t tell what the xenosect’s intentions are, and he doesn’t know why it’s not helping its master, even though he appears to be getting betrayed in the other room. He could hazard a few guesses, but none of them would be a safe bet.

All he knows is that it watches him, and that it seems sad. Then, it picks a flamethrower up from the discarded tools and walks past Asa. He’s not its concern.

“Seven!” Says Gallardo. “Great timing! Kill this guy!”

The partner freezes. If he shoots the old man, he has no clue how the xenosect will react.

“Go on, burn him!” Gallardo urges. Seven complies, and the partner drops to the ground and rolls.

Seven doesn’t stop. He turns the flamethrower on Gallardo. And on the entire room, surrounding himself with flames.

☼

Luna and Mint smell smoke as they enter the room. Asa stands at the doorway, an expression of shock plastered on his face. He watches Seven’s face, a sole point of black in the sea of flames.

The embers that reflect off his metallic exoskeleton look like tears. A despair radiates from him, stabbing Asa to the deepest part of his core. He’s in pain.

“Get out of there! Don’t die!” Yells Asa. He almost jumps into the fire, but Mint and Luna hold him back.

As they push him further away from the storage room, he watches Seven’s face disappear behind the flames.

☼

It’s sunset. Asa and Luna stare at four makeshift graves. There’s no bodies inside. The purpose they serve is more of a sentiment. No one should die without being buried. Mint couldn’t bear to be around the graves, and was somewhere else.

The two had reflected for a long time, neither uttering a word. Luna breaks the silence. “Humans are ugly.”

Asa looks at her. There’s a darkness in what she’s said. She returns his gaze. “...for the most part. They have the potential to be good when led by competent leader. The longer they’re allowed to make their own decisions, the more corrupt they become, and things like this happen.”

Her words are disturbing, but after what happened today, he almost wants to agree. Should humans have freedom if this is what we do with it?

Luna’s eyes grow fond. “You’re one of the good ones. With proper guidance, I think more people could be like you.”

It should be a compliment, but it feels wrong.