Twisted Metal Heart - Eve Langlais Page 0,31
powers.”
“All of them?”
“Yes.”
“You lie. Some of the Wastelanders have magic, too,” Titan retorted. “But they aren’t given cushy Enclave lives.”
“There are many factors that go into the choosing of Enclave members. Strength of their psionic power is one of them. Genetics is another. Not to mention rarity.”
“How do you know so much?”
“I have the memories of Riella’s father who was king before the queen had him killed.”
He gaped at Alfred as he clued in. “Hold on, you’re serious? She killed the king?”
“The queen didn’t have a choice given what he’d done.”
“What was his crime?”
“Trying to hide his daughter’s imperfection.”
Alfred must be speaking of the arm. “But it works just like the real thing.”
“Doesn’t matter. Riella is flawed, and the cities don’t allow those kinds of people inside.”
“They must have changed their mind; otherwise, why would the queen come to find her?”
“I’m sure whatever she plans it’s not good for Riella.”
He refused to feel sympathy for the woman who lied to him. “So she is a…” He frowned. “What is she again?”
“Metallurgist. A psionic who works metal.”
“Seems like a useless skill given what we can create with tri-dimensional factory printers.”
“Those mass-produced items cannot be compared to her work.” Alfred managed to sound utterly indignant.
“What makes it different?”
“Because she doesn’t just sculpt metal; she gives it life.”
The statement made Titan think of the voice inside. The alien thing that had been quiet since he woke.
“You’re now claiming you’re alive?”
“I am a machine. But I can think and interact even if I don’t truly feel.”
He had to wonder about the last part. He recalled Alfred putting himself in the way to try and save Riella.
“What does the queen want with her?”
“Who knows? It’s none of your affair anymore. You’ll go home and forget you even met her.”
“Doubtful.” He had two bionic reminders. “Speaking of home, where are we?” He leaned over the console and flicked a few switches out of curiosity.
Alfred sputtered. “Could you not press all the buttons? You almost set off the rockets.”
“We have rockets?” His expression brightened.
“Of course. Burton is a fully equipped tank. It even has a submersion mode.”
“Can it get me home?”
“More than likely if you give the vehicle a proper coordinate,” Alfred said.
“I don’t know the fucking coordinates. Nor a direction given we’re underground.”
“Would it help if we moved to the surface?”
“I’m going to pretend you’re not actually that dense. Yes, it would help,” Titan barked. The confines of the tank and the knowledge the tunnel outside wasn’t much bigger began to press in on him.
“That might be difficult. Many of the exits were blocked over the centuries, some for safety reasons. Others are impassable because they’re under the control of organics that don’t like trespassers. And then there’s the natural disasters that sealed a few more.”
“Exactly what can you do that’s actually helpful to me right now? Because offering to take me above ground while, at the same time, explaining the difficulty is kind of pointless.”
“Let me drive and I will find an exit for you.”
“How do I know you won’t drive us off a cliff?”
“Having actually survived the battle that took my body, I am—unlike you—not in a hurry to expire. Even if the company is less than stellar. Perhaps I’ll find people more conducive to intelligent conversation if we do make it to this Haven you’re so fond of.”
Take a talking robot head home? That would certainly cause some tongues to wag. But did he trust it? “Fine. Get us somewhere we can get above ground.”
It took some maneuvering, as the mapping system of the tank could only show him places it had traced before. Given he knew Haven was in the southern part of the Wasteland, they headed in that direction, but they couldn’t locate an exit large enough for the tank, unless they blasted a hole. He wasn’t ready to waste those missiles yet, not when Alfred claimed he had another idea.
Funny how a few days alone in the dark with a robot head could make you desperate to listen to any idea.
When the vehicle finally stopped, Alfred announced, “I think we are close to the area you described.”
“All I see is tunnel and more tunnel.” No daylight at all through the slim viewing window.
“Because the access to the exterior is above us via a shaft.”
Smarmy fucker. “You stay here. I’ll go check it out.” A jab because Alfred couldn’t actually follow, and he knew it.
“You should bring me along.”
He glanced at Alfred. “I got this. You guard Burton.”
He exited the tank