"There's no peace without war, and you can't know one without knowing
the other--not really. "
--The diary of Blade.
The metal building was the tallest one in the sector. Blade had been there only once before, and that was just a few days ago when she had asked if there were any jobs for a person of her talents. The recruiters had said that they would call her if something came up. They had done so yesterday.
No doubt Charger wouldn't approve, but he wouldn't know till it was too late. He seemed to have a false impression of her as a glass sculpture, fragile and easily damaged. It had been their own little joke--she was always telling him that she was invincible, and he never believed her. One reason for her decision, barely admitted even to herself, was to show him that she could do the same things he did.
But Charger had left some time ago. His father was working as a scientist on a 'truly invincible soldier,' as Charger said, and the young bot was to work as a security guard for the same project. It might be as much as five solar cycles before her friend returned.
She walked through the door. Inside, there was something like an elevator. She went in, pressed the top button, and leaned against the wall.
Spark didn't approve either. In fact, it seemed to Blade that none of her friends approved. She would still do it, but it would help if she had a little support.
The elevator came to a stop. The room had several doors and a desk in the middle. "Excuse me, I'm Blade. I'm here to see Nighthaze," she informed the bot in the desk.
"Wait a moment, please," said the bot, and then pressed a button on the desk. "Blade to see Nighthaze," she said into a small comm.
"Send her in right away," a voice replied through it.
"Nighthaze is waiting, please go in. First door to your right," the bot then went back to her work.
The door wasn't any different then the others. It opened up to a large room and a desk with a tall robot sitting behind it. "Please sit down. I've seen your training stats, and I must say I'm impressed."
Blade sat, remembering. She'd worked hard for those high stats...the training program was where she had first met Charger and Spark. The gentle Spark had decided that she didn't much like it, and stopped. Charger, her rival and best friend, had left when the security job came up. Blade had stuck with it and now hoped to get a job.
"We found the perfect job for you. As you requested, it will only four solar cycles before it is over. If you do it well, perhaps less. There is a ship you'll be on, in stasis; once a certain time period is up, you'll come out and receive further instructions.
"When does it start?" she asked eagerly.
"In twenty-four cycles. Report to Docking Bay Fourteen. Any questions?"
Blade shook her head. "Thank you," she said politely.
Nighthaze smiled.
"Come on, I'll probably be back before Charger," Blade told her friend as she was packing her most important things.
"And if you're not, I'll have to have my death sentence signed trying to tell him where you are," Spark replied. "You more than anyone know that he has a hard head and an awful temper. He'll be furious. Besides, my mother is having trouble with her optics, so I won't even be on Omicron most of the time."
"Then you won't have to worry about your death sentence," she joked. "Seriously, I need to do this. Please, I need to go. Just tell him."
"Oh, all right, Blade: I will. Be careful," Spark admonished as Blade went out the door.
But Spark never did deliver the message; when Charger came back, Omicron was in ruins and all of his friends were gone.