Chapter 21:

Maybe, an interface

Fall of the Angels

Tom and John validated our hopes an hour later. Eae's personality core was powered and would be for the foreseeable future. Tom and John's checks indicated Eae's systems were talking back. It bode well for an interface attempt, which Bootes approved when I double-checked with him.

The scan of Eae's weaponry was also promising. Her sword was broken in half. I suspect something might have stepped on it. The missile racks were half full, and the gauntlet blades were lodged safely in their housing. The hole in her head was the most critical problem. Only a series of scratches ailed the rest of her frame.

"Safu? You good?" I asked Safu after Bootes gave me the go-ahead.

"Yup." The mechanic nodded as he checked something on his display. "We've covered all the important things. I can handle the rest on my own."

"I'll let you know if I learn something."

"Stay safe." Safu nodded as I used the railing to pull myself up. I felt two thuds as my boots clicked against Eae's hull. Her head was only a few bounces away, but entry wouldn't be easy. The regular procedure would be to enter through her ear and walk toward the command ring. That was not an option when she lay on her back without a gantry in sight.

"Heading to the cockpit now."

"Good. Report to me when you find something." Bootes said through the earpiece.

"Will do."

I stopped when I stepped onto Eae's cheek. The damage gave a good indication of the force behind the attack. Cracking was minimal, but some of the hole's edges bent outward. The force ejecting Alya from the cockpit would have been fierce.

Poor Alya. I spared a prayer for my friend before braving entry. While the damaged section was big, the edges were sharp. They would easily cut my suit if I wasn't careful. The last thing I wanted to do was rob Command of her last Angel.

"Made it in," I said to nobody when I landed at the back of Eae's head. I saw the command ring above me, which made my life difficult. An image of my kindergarten teacher popped into my head as I considered how to get there. She once told me of a now-extinct goat capable of walking up near vertical walls. I didn't believe her at the time. I still had doubts, but it would make my life easier if I had the same abilities as that goat.

It took three jumps to grab the command ring. Pulling myself up was easier. I doubt I would have managed it in regular gravity. My lack of upper arm strength almost cost me my position within the Angel program.

"I'm in the cockpit," I told Boots as I tried to make myself comfortable.

"What can you see?"

"I haven't connected yet. Tell everybody close to Eae's arms to take a few steps back in case something happens."

"What about Tom and John? They're still in her chest."

"Keep them there. I'll need their help to start Eae."

"Noted. Stand by."

"Will do." It was heartening to see the lights around Eae's cables. I wonder what she will say. The thought surprised me. Each AI was based on the personality profile of its pilot, which is why training took so long. Each pilot was put inside a room and subjected to all manner of simulations over the course of two weeks. The data would be used to create an AI tailored to that pilot. It's for this reason that it's accepted each mech only has one pilot. No Angel would accept piloting a different mech. It would be possible, but difficult. I remember a test in the early days where they swapped the best three pilots with different mechs and pitted them against a random, fully synced pilot. The latter won while sustaining only minor scratches.

"Vega?" Bootes asked.

"I'm here."

"You're good to go."

"Connecting." I connected the cable at the back of my head before mimicking Eae's position as closely as I could. Connecting otherwise would create a mismatch in our reported positions. Eae would compensate by trying to sit upright, which she cannot do. The haptic suit would interpret that as a problem and painfully let me know.

I took hold of the cables, ignoring the dull pains from the uncomfortable position. While both connectors were slightly bent, they plugged into my suit with only minor difficulty. Nothing happened. The solitary green light in my visor indicated a successful connection to my suit. Two others briefly flickered yellow before turning red.

"Tom? John? Are you there?"

"We're here." John answered.

"I'm getting a signal, but everything is offline. I need you two to help me."

"Tom's connected and ready for your instructions. What do you need us to do?"

"Tell me what you're seeing."

"Auxiliary power systems are showing seventy percent charge. The personality core is online, but all external feeds are disabled. Tom is investigating... wait... hang on... okay, Tom says the external feeds are not offline but in some error state. He's resetting it."

"The neural load would have shifted when Alya... disconnected. Eae would have tried to protect herself. The easiest way would be to drop the connection. I'm not sure why she faulted instead."

"That's true." Boots said through the earpiece. "There are hardware switches in place. Faulting is very risky. Are you sure there isn't anything wrong with her core?"

"Positive." John said. "I've run the tests twice with different parameters. We can do a full diagnostic with verbose logs, but that will take a day."

"We don't have the time for that. Guess we'll have to make do."

"Agreed," I said. "Reset the feeds. Check if that resets it."

"Busy... done."

The lights flickered before returning to red. "Nothing. What else are you seeing?"

"Hmm, nothing. All systems are reporting green."

"Hang on," Bootes interjected. "I have Command on the horn. Sounds like she might have an idea."

"Cycle the dampeners." Command said as she entered the conversation.

"Why? All dampeners are showing green."

"It's an old bug in the system. Buy me a beer if you want the explanation."

"Cycling... there." Both red lights changed to green as the command ring came to life. I immediately felt a newfound weight pressing against my body.

"Powering on." Eae's voice was softer than Cerviel's. "Initializing systems... ten percent... thirty percent... seventy percent... initialized. Welcome Pilot... Vega."

"Hi." I found myself smiling. "Bootes, we've made contact."

"I expect my beer cold and large." Command said before she dropped out.

"Think she's earned it." Bootes said. "Can you see anything?"

"Eae, please disable motion actuators and run a full diagnostics scan."

"Running diagnostics. Frame integrity is compromised. Primary power core faulted. Auxiliary power core, sixty percent. Life support, offline. Motor control, online. Primary weapons control, online. Secondary weapons control, online. Primary sensor control, offline. Secondary sensor control, offline."

"How many missiles do you have in stock?"

"I am currently loaded with fourteen warheads."

"That matches with what Safu and I counted," I said.

"So it seems like we have a functioning mech," Bootes replied.

"Yes. Eae's in excellent condition. I didn't even expect her weapons control to be online. That will save Command a lot of time."

"Then I think we're done. Let's go back. The scavengers can take it from here."

"Sure." A thought occurred when I moved to pull one of the cables. Wait, what did she say? Life support, offline. Motor control... online?

"Wait, wait, wait... Eae? Are you there?"

"Yes, pilot Vega," she said. "How can I help you?"

"Your motor controls? Are they online? Please do a thorough analysis."

"Analyzing."

"Vega?" Bootes didn't sound impressed. "What are you doing?"