'PERSPECTIVE SHIFT: 137-115'

  'CODEWORD: FOUND'

  'FOUND XI'

  I had taken the courtesy of making sure that the kid would experience the pain of new fingers. Once they are installed they'd be easy to adjust for future growth, of course. After all it's an experience we all have unfortunately gone through more than once. Well, unless you're lucky.

  For the past 30 minutes, he has been revolving between groaning in agony and wheezing in agony, but the new fingers fit quite nicely. I had a spare mechanical finger set for my own hand, but unfortunately the entire hand is missing after the door crushed it off.

  Either way, it won't make this trip any less agonising for me, though my leg is in better shape than expected my general ability is hampered massively. If we run into any rust-buckets I'll do the tricks as I always have, but if we run into anything else; well, it might be a different story.

  Regardless, the plan is simple; survive.

  This area we're in, I'm fairly familiar with, as I've been scrapping here for the past few weeks; but things can change in just a few days of rain and ash. I don't believe there are any guaranteed paths toward the next den over that are easily accessible.

  Luckily, there is a guaranteed pathway across to a caravan path, and if we're just lucky enough we just might stumble across a caravan willing to pick us up. Though their just as likely to want to kill us, it's the only shot we have at long-term salvation. Could call death salvation, depends.

  In the short-term I can show the kid a few key features of scrapping, hopefully he becomes a bit more controlled with his shooting and general attitude. In such a survival situation, scrappers are born out of pure necessity, if anything; this is almost perfect for a trainee to become complete.

  Unfortunately- or maybe fortunately, what that looks like is completely up to the kid himself.

  "I don't remember it hurting this badly!" Kip irritatingly complained,

  "Yeah? Keep your pain down, there's more than just us here." I coldly reply,

  The kid breathed in and out heavily for the next couple of seconds, managing to compose himself just enough to be worth some advice.

  "Alright, deep breathe, close the hand. Easy enough." I calmly order,

  "Yeah, I can do this." Kip quietly proclaimed,

  He closed his hand, though his face was hidden by the filtration mask, I could tell just by the movement of his neck that a sudden influx of pain had hit him.

  "I can't do this!" Kip loudly admitted,

  He would then instinctively shake his hand open, which as I had experience myself before; only makes the pain worse.

  "Shit!" Kip then shouted,

  It managed to get a laugh out of me, the whole situation was quite grim, so it's good to get a chuckle out at someone else's expense.

  "Alright, after the first few times the pain tapers off. You'll feel better in just a bit." I slowly reassure,

  I'm lying, but eventually it does stop hurting, the aching though? That's permanent- but, it makes me wonder why he isn't used to it with a leg already replaced.

  "You're already lacking a leg, I'm surprised you weren't expecting it." I harshly comment,

  "Well, the thing is- I've always had this leg, for as long as I remember." Kip shyly replied,

  "Aren't you lucky." I dismissively respond,

  "What's that supposed to mean?" Kip stupidly questioned,

  "Everyone gets their mechanical pieces one way or another. But, almost all remember every single second, from injury to installation." I explain,

  The kid took a moment to look at his leg, before turning his attention to his new fingers. He turned to my arm with some concern in his motion.

  "Really? It must suck to remember all the time, I didn't even really see how I lost my fingers. I just woke up, and they're gone." Kip gloomily stated,

  "Takes a special kind of luck to happen twice I guess." I say,

  "How'd you lose your arm?" Kip then asked,

  "The arm? If you're talking about more recent events; a door." I quickly answer,

  "Oh- Ok." Kip nervously replied,

  "Don't worry about it kid, I'll make sure that doesn't happen to you; the only reason it would is if you make it happen to you." I bluntly reassure,

  I attempt to shift myself upward quickly, but almost fell backward onto the falling concrete I'd been sitting on. I make the conscious choice to get up slower.

  "Besides, we need to get out of here, we only have a limited supply to go off." I decidedly state,

  "What do you mean? Isn't Lila coming back for us?" Kip cluelessly asked,

  I stumbled against myself for a second, before coming to a simple conclusion.

  "No she won't." I bluntly conclude,

  "Are you joking? I know Lila better than anyone, of course she's coming back." Kip optimistically denied,

  "She isn't coming back kid. I have a missing arm to prove it, she closed the door on it, and fled from the fight." I coldly counter,

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  "No- that must've been an accident. Lila wouldn't just- She wouldn't just leave me. Leave us." Kip assuredly said,

  I went about adjusting my mask, before then picking up my mag-pack and slinging it over my back and securing it in a clear showcase.

  "I mean- Maybe she's just finding a way back, the cart probably broke- She could need our help we should go back, right?" Kip awkwardly justified,

  "You want to go back there?" I brutally interject,

  "No, but, we need- I don't- I don't know. We just need to go back to find her, then we can keep going to the den, yeah. We should-" Kip worryingly began,

  "Listen to me, runt!" I oppressively interrupt,

  The kid almost immediately stopped in his thoughts, standing deathly still at the sudden event of my outburst. It wasn't as clean as I wanted, that's for sure.

  "Back there. All there is waiting for us is two possibilities: a cyborg, or a reaver. Both options we are not equipped for, both options are killers out of necessity- not choice." I bitterly explain,

  The kid nodded in reply, less out of understanding but more out of fear of retribution. I took a second to let the whole situation cool off, it's easier that way.

  "You are under my wing. You will listen to me, but more importantly you will understand. Understand that what I do is out of survival and out of whatever rules I can maintain." I slowly state,

  I left a moment for him to breathe, and for me to think. He's a good listener, I'll give him that much, but that's the bare minimum.

  "There is no-one coming for us. All you have is me, and all I have is you. Beyond that, there is only what wants to kill us, and what wants to but can't kill us. Combined we have enough supply for 2 and a half weeks- maybe more if we luck out on finding scrap about." I ruthlessly explain,

  The kid's head slouched slightly, before then hanging down to the floor a couple of seconds. That came with my own cathartic release.

  "That leaves the simple question; do you know what to do, kid?" I calmly ask,

  "No, I don't." Kip quietly replied,

  "Then, I think, it's about time you learned something." I reassuringly say,

  A weight was lifted from both of us, and as the kid exited the room with newfound excitement, I limped out in a state of solitude.

  Lila will get precisely what she deserves.

  I cannot really blame her for abandoning us in the face of a cyborg and a reaver. Both of those things are far more capable than any of us, and the fact we managed to even get into such an advantagous situation was of the reavers own volition or idiocy.

  Regardless, I do not care for whatever excuse, or whatever justification she'd spout at me to cover her ass. I will fulfil our deal, whether she likes it or not, I have more than enough methods to get what I want. I have no stomach for cruelty, but I don't have a stomach for betrayers either.

  Once the information I want is extracted, there will be a lesson to be learnt, and it's one you only ever need to learn once. It's a decision I've only made once before, but, it cannot be understated that I am very much in the minority of the people who make it.

  She will get precisely what she deserves.

  We made our way across from the habitation unit and began making our way down the corridor where I had originally ran through. 'H-3027' hangs above us, chipped and scarcely visible.

  "We're going to be going left from here, down from this tunnel we can get to a G unit, and from there a canyon bridge way." I inform,

  Kip was moving ahead of me but stopped in his tracks to watch me limp along until I stopped between the quad intersection of the tunnel. Where the other three signs were simply absent.

  There was ash blowing through the tunnels, built up into clumps against the wall edges.

  I stopped in my tracks just behind him, and he was staring across to where we had come from, toward where the station would be.

  "What's a G Unit?" He huskily asked,

  "Garden unit, minus the garden part usually." I bluntly answer,

  We both just watched the ash blow past for a couple moments, and I was just about to begin walking before a shadow began to slowly emerge.

  I immediately aim my revolver down at the figure.

  "Kid take my pulse gun." I then order,

  He pulls the gun out of my holster with the efficiency only an experienced snatching shithead could possibly achieve.

  We both aim down to the figure as they gained more clarity.

  A large hunched over metallic figure lumbered along dragging the corpse of the reaver. Blood was scattered across the segmented armour pieces of the figure.

  It stared down both our weapons and came uncomfortably close.

  On closer inspection it had a clear massive amount of damage from the battle with the reaver, with large portions of armour being dented, ripped, and blown off.

  "I apologise for the inconvenience. Scurry along now. I have no interest in a tool or an experiment." The cyborg statically stated.

  It effortlessly tossed the reavers body into the wall behind it, where he then groaned in agony, proving he was not dead.

  "Regardless. The kill is yours to take. Or leave." The cyborg coldly said,

  Then it turned slowly before marching off into the building fog of ash and shadow. From there its form began to fold in on itself, matching that not to dissimilar from a man, then vanishing.

  I thought my body was tired enough not to sweat bullets, but a cyborg is all that was needed to wake myself up.

  "You- heard it, scrapper." The reaver coughed out,

  Kip took the chance to recoil backward, and I moved past him up to the barely conscious reaver, his form completely decimated. Him being alive looked simply impossible.

  But he was.

  "He's alive?" Kip quietly asked,

  "Looking at you, I doubt your worth the ammo. Die on your own, reaver." I spit,

  "You'd be- surprised, prey. I'm more- resilient- than you think." The reaver barely boasted,

  I waved at Kip to come over and he reluctantly would, stopping 2 steps behind me just in case the reaver somehow lunged.

  "You're going to need to see this kid, people like him have to be dealt with in a certain way. I doubt it'll be the last time you'll see it either." I bluntly state,

  "Ah- you. I'll be seeing you again- one way- or, another." The reaver stated to Kip,

  "I'm not one to deny that sort of belief. But, then it's just a mercy isn't it?" I haphazardly comment,

  The reaver nearly wheezed himself to death at my statement. I guess I just didn't know what he meant, but now that doesn't matter.

  "You see, kid. There's two types of events like this, I don't know if you've seen something like it before. But, there's an execution and then there's mercy. Same outcome, different intention." I explain,

  "Ah- prey, so- stupid. You believe- I mean some afterlife?" The reaver agonisingly mocked,

  I made sure the revolver was loaded by flicking it out and back in.

  "Oh, it's not the type of thing worth thinking about in my profession. But, I wouldn't refrain from the opportunity." I began,

  I then pushed down the hammer of the revolver.

  "Oh- you- you will have the opportunity- to see my face, again." The reaver interrupted,

  The reaver ripped off the front face panel, though half of his face was blown off by myself, the other half was punctuated by burnt and exposed musculature.

  Honestly, the panel was a vast improvement, but he seemed to take pleasure in our disgust.

  "The opportunity to kill you again." I state,

  I pull the trigger, Kip recoils, and the reaver is silenced.

  There was nothing worth taking off his corpse, every piece of equipment was in someway damaged beyond use, and the material wasn't exactly revolutionary.

  Pity his weapon is missing, but we have no time to search for vanity like that. Not only that but he destroyed one of my weapons, though I won't complain about a cyborg not ripping us apart.

  We left the body to rot at the side of the tunnel, moving toward the garden unit to get out of this shit house. This is the type of venture you'd call a net negative.

  "You managed to spot them so early kid. Did you hear something?" I ask,

  "No, I was just- looking. Looking toward home." Kip sombrely answered,

  Well, that was a shit question on my part. Though I've never been particularly good at asking them, that's why I'm the mentor and not the student.

  The cyborg refrained from killing us, maybe some sort of final reward for us helping it? Maybe we served it in some other purpose? Why did it call Kip an experiment?

  None of this sits right. But all there is to do is keep moving.

  After a particularly agonising trip across the left tunnel-way, thanks mainly to my leg injury, we make it to a door which was suspiciously closed.

  The side panel of the door blinked blueish, before then turning to a crimson red. This should be a good learning experience for the kid, although a bit dangerous.

  From one rust-bucket to another.