Chương 13: Ch. 12 - The Engineer

To get to central you had to get to M and N block. Once inside you had to go the terminal that got you the hangar. Once I managed to get all the way there, I had to go the pilot commissary since I left my jumpsuit at home. Another nice thing about having a companion, I didn't have to prove I was a pilot. How else would I get one? At the commissary, I swiped to buy a new jumpsuit and respirator. Then the embark fee. I started this endeavor with 7, 576 credits.

The tax man took thirty percent and I just hadn't noticed it. So, what I had left was 5304 credits that dwindled to 2048 credits. Each item bought was like a slap in the face. [Pilot Jumpsuit][425 Credits] [Frame Suit][900 Credits] [Respirator][630 Credits] [Delver Fee][1300 Credits] The Delver fee was what it cost to catapult a mech towards the Dungeon. Now, considering I was the only one on Squad 1, it fell on me to do everything Jacob did.

I didn't have time to wait for a squad refill cause that could take days or weeks. Bureaucracy, it seems, is the same speed it ever was back on Earth. But solo delves weren't unheard of, considering how slow it could take to fill a squad. They just strongly frowned upon. Now it was also up to me to meet the engineer assigned to my squad. My squad. That was a heavy weight, even though it was only me. Following the same track as last time, I went straight in to the squad barracks.

The air was heavy in here and their lockers still had their names.

"Stefano," said Caddie.

"I have access to the Squad menu, as I went ahead and configured all the personnel status. It has been over sixteen hours since their status was reported yet it did not update here."

"They're probably notifying next of kin. Or they have to write it on paper or something. I'm not sure about that. It just sucks though." I went to my locker and the lunchbox was still there. I made sure to put it in the recycler this time.

"Of course. Well, since you are the sole surviving member, you have a suite of new options as the squad leader. You may change the name of your squad. You can see personnel files being sent. There is more, but you seem distracted."

"I am Caddie. Thank you. I just need to get out of here and back into the Dungeon."

"Very well, I'll go ahead and notify the Engineer you are ready for sortie." I put on the Frame suit over my jumpsuit, same as before, holding the respirator underneath my arm. The doors to the hangar proper swished open to the wide expanse. My mech, Aegis, was hooked from the roof track and moving towards me. It was lowered with precision onto the ground. I took a step towards it before something had me stop.

"Wait!" yelled a voice.

"Wait! You can't leave yet!" It was coming from within the hangar. A petite woman with a tight bun on her head stopped her…Oh God what was it called…Golf Cart? I couldn't remember, some vehicle with wheels and no roof used by the engineers. She was wearing the red jumpsuit all staff of the hangar wore. Made them easier to spot amongst the shiny metal.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Are you my engineer."

"Yes sir!" she exclaimed, saluting. Her tablet was about the size of her arm.

"My name is Luna."

"Please, don't salute. I'm not a team leader."

"Oh," she said, confused.

"It says you are." She showed me the tablet that read: "Stefano Reyes: The Team Leader. The Future Conqueror of Reality and the Cradle. Definitely defies known quantifiable metrics of reality…like Math."

"I'm sorry," I said, holding back the urge to smack my ear.

"It was my companion. He did all that."

"Oh right, of course." She trailed off like she wanted to ask something.

"So, what do you do?" Somehow, I guess I said that in a more condescending way that it was supposed to sound like.

"I do a lot. What is it with pilots thinking they run the show. If it wasn't for us, you would be going to the Dungeon with a stick and a rock." Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

"Oh hey. Sorry. I just meant, how does this work. Like with an engineer?" She caught herself and turned her gaze to the ground.

"Now I'm embarrassed. I help look for the most optimal build for you and your squad. I help fine tune where I can based on the inventory you all have. From there it's about improving the synergy. Since it's just you for now and your inventory is sparse, there isn't much right now. I also know everything there is to know about Delvers and their mechs."

"Everything?" I raised a brow, wondering if I met a rival.

"Everything."

"Who was the first person-""To return with a Dungeon Frame? Ivan Roberts with a quadrupedal unit. At least make it challenging."

"First Walker mech pilot."

"Sasha Sokolov. Fourth in order to return from the Dungeon."

"First companion." She took a moment, and I thought I had her. All I got was a smirk.

"Pedro Miguel de Rosa. Current dean of the pilot academy. Some people think it's Fernando Martinez. But some people would be idiots because, Fernando Martinez was the first to become public knowledge. But it wasn't because Mr. De Rosa retired upon obtaining his companion, making any records of it unnecessary as he never disclosed it on the retirement paperwork."

"Wow." Was all I could muster. She was right. Every last detail.

"It's nothing. Anyone can remember facts. But…" she trailed off for a second, her gaze at the ground.

"Anyway, your last team leader requested a new engineer and here I am. I just need you to sign that your Frame is good to go and that I did my job." She handed me a clipboard with a few stacks of paper atop it. A list of my inventory was kind of embarrassing to see in such an official document. It even had a seal of the colony. A globe of Earth and a ship flying away from it. Once each page was signed, she took the clipboard back and held it with both hands.

Her question came out so meek that I might have been forgiven for almost missing it.

"Are you friends with Ania?" I had to stop.

"No," I said, turning to my mech and riding the zip line up. Caddie flew from my ear and took his spot outside the Aegis. Of course, Caddie had already changed the name of it. The initial checks were good and everything was as I had left it.

"Diagnosis complete. No errors detected," said Caddie.

"I also pulled up the personnel file for this 'Luna Arashi.' Quite interesting." I was already moving towards the catapult. The system was mostly automated, it just needed the okay from the Engineer to start the launch sequence.

"What? How did you do that?"

"I merely accessed non-confidential data. You could say, I looked at her social media."

"That's totally not the same!" The launch system was readying on my end with a yellow light.

"It is, Stefano. Knowledge is power. I have found she graduated last in her class from the Academy. Her pilot skills are being ranked D by the instructors and have recommended more flight time. But her intelligence is rank S, while yours is rank C with an asterisk. Might I consider, just stop being dumb."

"I'm not dumb! The school work just didn't interest me. I couldn't focus on anything that wasn't piloting."

"It is important to have a well rounded knowledge base. It would make sense why you can defy math. You're too dumb to recognize numbers! Eureka!" I sighed.

"So what, get her to join? If her pilot skills are that low, she's a danger to herself and others." I tilted forward on the throttle and got to position. Somehow, something caught my eye. If I was looking for Luna she wasn't what I found. The screen zoomed in and I had to close my eyes to it. My mom was banging on the glass outside the hangar, her mouth open like she was yelling.

"I'm sorry, Mom," I thought.

"To fill the gap dad left. I'll be right back. With whatever you need. I won't be a burden. I won't be a burden." There is a weird calm before launch. In school, before the academy, they showed us pictures of amusement parks. Places where people could go with their families to ride rides, eat food that was cooked properly, drink funny looking drinks. But the one that caught my attention were the roller coasters. At the very apex of the ride, it would freeze.

Everyone in that moment would be looking at the ground, the anticipation of hurling towards it must have added to the anxiety. I wondered if being here felt like that. To feel the air on your face as you blast downwards towards the ground. My head slammed back against the head rest. My face was smushed against the pressure. My eyes were tearing as a reflex. Caddie was saying something that I couldn't hear. Each breath was harder than the last. My chest refused to expand.

The end of the tube came into focus, slowing down just enough before launch to allow for corrections. My hands rounded the throttles and I kicked back the correction. A suite of mechs were flying towards the colony. Warning me to wait out the reset. I pushed the thrusters as fast as they could go. Zooming through space and onto the surface.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION] [ENTERING CRADLE] [NEW NOTIFICATION] [RESET IMMINENT] [TIMER ADDED TO HUD] [RESET TIMER: 23: 29: 31] [WARNING: ALL FOREIGN BIOLOGICAL SIGNATURES PRESENT DURING A RESET ARE PURGED] [NOTE: YOU HAVE AN ADVISER REGISTERED TO YOUR DNA] [NOTE: ADVISER PRIVILEGES SUCH AS RESET SAFETY DO NOT EXTEND TO YOU] I pushed go as soon as we reached the surface, using my thrusters to go faster. There wasn't a second I could waste. The portal came into view and everything went blue.