Pawn

By: Miss Special

Chapter 1: Benign Beginning

The mech walked through a dark, quiet corridor, his footsteps the only sounds of life on the deserted ship. He walked with a purpose, a definite destination in mind, even though he'd never set foot on the ship before.

He had to manually open the door at the end of the corridor, gaining access to a vast chamber that housed a long, complicated beam array. The mech went to the end of the array, to the spot where the beam would be focused.

He reached into his subspace compartment and drew out a small box. He still had a hard time believing the lens encased in the box, no larger than his hand, was the source of so much trouble.

With great care, he placed the lens in its slot, frowning at how easy this step had been. After all the deceit, manipulation, and firefights he'd just been through, it seemed anticlimactic.

"Alright," he said aloud, though the ship was devoid of life, save for himself. "I've done it. Now what?"

The echoes of his voice ringing off the walls of the chamber provided no answer.

It felt like an eternity ago, but not long before, he had been an ordinary, average mech. Not to say that he wasn't average or ordinary now, but things were a lot different now than they were then.

This ordinary, average mech had an ordinary, average name (Hinge), and an ordinary, average desk job that perfectly fit his ordinary, average life. He worked as an information router technician, meaning he made sure the information routers worked properly, which they usually did.

His coworker, Sylvie, who also served as his best friend, was only slightly less ordinary and average than he. She had a vivid imagination and a thirst for adventure, which he couldn't say he didn't have, it was just that he didn't use or notice it.

For example, it had been her idea to get beast modes. They were all the rage, apparently. It seemed everyone was getting one.

He'd initially been reluctant to get one, mostly because they were on the expensive side, but he thought it might be a nice, relatively harmless opportunity to stand out.

So when they went to the largest beast mode supplier in Cybertropolis, he looked over the extensive list of potential beast modes and considered his choice carefully.

Sylvie had already picked out her beast mode ahead of time, speeding up the process for her. When she emerged from the chamber with her new gray fox beast mode, Hinge was still pondering over the list.

"Hurry up already!" Sylvie nudged him in the arm, impatient.

"I'm still thinking," he insisted, poring over the list for the seventeenth time. "I want to pick the right one."

"What does it matter? If you get one you don't like, you can have it removed."

"Having a beast mode removed costs more than having one put on. I'm trying to make sure I only have to do this once."

"When did you get to be such a stick in the mud?"

"When this fad got to be so expensive. If they didn't take payment in installments, I couldn't even do this."

"Well, just hurry up," she said again, leaving him to continue scrutinizing his options while she investigated upgrades and maintenance packages.

He finally narrowed his choices down to one. It was a creature that commanded respect and awe. With the striking colors, he'd cut quite a figure. It might even change the way people perceived him.

Half a megacycle later (longer than usual, because there'd been slight complications with the machine that the technicians had to fix before he could be finished), he came out of the chamber, ready to show his beast mode off to the universe.

"What do you think?" he asked Sylvie, striking a pose that showed off his new features.

Sylvie burst out laughing. "A panda?"

Hinge's face fell. "It's no good?"

"No, it's fine!" Sylvie said, trying to comfort him, but doing a lousy job of it because she was still laughing. "It's so cute!"

Hinge slumped, his enthusiasm gone. "Let's just get out of here."

"Aw, don't feel so bad." Sylvie patted his arm, laughter subsiding. "You'll get used to it."

"Oh, hey, maybe I should go here!" Sylvie leaned closer to her monitor and read aloud from a cyber-brochure: "Pristine beaches of black sand, hundred-foot tall trees swaying in the ocean breeze, a spa complete with the best hot-oil bath in the solar system-- think I should try it?"

Sylvie had been looking at potential vacation spots all day, using her office terminal, instead of doing her job. Hinge didn't care about her slacking off so much as her flaunting her annual vacation leave in his face. He wouldn't get his leave for another five months.

"It sounds nice, Sylvie," he said, though he hadn't actually been paying any attention to the description. "Why don't you go there." He probably should've made it sound like a question, but Sylvie didn't seem to notice.

"I went to a beach resort last time," Sylvie said. "Maybe I should go for something else this year."

"Uh-huh." Hinge was preoccupied with watching the readout a router that looked like it was going to go down.

"Why don't you come with me?" Sylvie offered.

"That one sounds good. Go to that one."

"You aren't paying attention, are you," Sylvie dryly accused.

"Oh, that one sounds much better."

"Hinge!!"

"The router in sector eight's gone down!" Hinge pushed himself away from his desk, springing into action.

"Let someone else take care of it!" Sylvie said, annoyed.

"But--"

"Look," Sylvie pointed to another coworker, "he's already on it."

Disappointed, Hinge sat back down, once again focusing himself on his monitor.

"I was inviting you along," Sylvie said.

"I can't go and you know it," Hinge answered, resting his head on a hand. "My vacation's not for a while."

"Take a bunch of personal days," Sylvie suggested. "Primus knows you've got them saved up."

"I'm saving them for when I need them."

"Like a vacation!" Sylvie smiled at him hopefully. Hinge's optics remained glued to his screen.

"Look at you!" Sylvie decided a change of tactic was in order. "You think a router going down is exciting! You need a vacation."

Hinge sighed. "And where do you suggest this vacation should take place?"

Sylvie grinned, knowing she'd won. "How about the Emerald City?"

"Never heard of it."

"It's a planet about a solar cycle from here. It's modeled after a human named L. Frank Baum's Emerald City, where everything is green-- the buildings, the windows, the 'bots who work there, even the sunlight's filtered so it's green."

"Sounds freaky."

"It's really popular, according to this webzine."

"Like how beast modes are popular."

"Slag, Hinge, you really are a stick in the mud!"

"How can I afford to go out that far? I'm still paying for the beast mode you talked me into, and that was four months ago!"

"It's so cute, though!"

Instead of retorting, Hinge gave Sylvie a look that told her she wasn't helping her argument.

"I'll help pay," Sylvie offered.

"How can you afford this? Your paycheck's as small as mine!"

Sylvie shifted in her swivel chair. "I've got some money saved up."

"I think I'll just stay here. Nice, familiar old Cybertropolis." Hinge nodded to himself.

"Oh, Hinge, please come with me!" Sylvie begged. "Otherwise, I'll be going all alone, and who knows what would happen to a weak little femme like me?" Sylvie dramatically feigned a faint.

"Fine, fine. Emerald Land--"

"Emerald City."

"--Emerald City it is. I'll put in notice with the boss."

"You're the best!"

Click here for part 2