Nellie and the Nanites - Bk2- Ch.8

Chapter 8

Radio daze

“A little to the left!” Paren yelled over the comms.

“You know you don’t have to yell, right?” Nellie sighed into the mic.

“A LITTLE TO THE LEFT!” Paren screamed over the comm line, which erupted into hisses and squeals of protest. When it cleared, the sound of giggling broke through the static.

Nellie couldn’t stop slightly smiling as she moved the shuttle a little to the left. It was what she would have done, after all. There was a satisfying clunk as the giant wall section slid into place against its neighbor.

Flicking the release toggle for the straps, she spun the shuttle around, the shuttle hovering in place as she lined up.

“You wouldn’t!” Paren squeaked just before Nellie slammed the throttles forward, sending a blast of air out the back and knocking Paren flying off the wall as the shuttle rocketed off toward Duke’s place. “Bitch!” Paren laughed.

Nellie grinned to herself as Lucy laughed in her ear.

The nice thing about Paren being nanite-infused was that the fall wouldn’t hurt her in the slightest, which was impressive considering the massive walls were several meters high.

The shuttle roared across the empty landscape as they reviewed their progress so far. It was amazing how fast you could build with pre-fabricated pieces. They had already managed to enclose three sides of the yard and were almost halfway across the fourth. Duke’s people handled installing the towers, their massive shuttle being the only one powerful enough to lift that much stone and steel.

Lucy had made sure that Nellie ‘accidentally’ dropped a couple of the wall sections just so she could scan their structure for later replication.

“We are picking up a signal,” Lucy called and patched the comm signal through to the speakers for her.

“-urgent need for supplies. I repeat, we are starving! If anyone can hear me, please, send help!” The voice was male but young and very panicked.

“I hear you,” Nellie called back. “Please repeat your message, as I only caught the end of it.”

“Hello! Hello! Yes!” The voice was yelling now. “We need help! Can you help us, please?”

“I will if I can,” Nellie said soothingly. “Can you tell me the situation?”

“Oh, right,” the man gulped. “I’m calling from a small town in the middle of nowhere. We have run out of food, our ammo supplies are going down fast, and we can’t get out!”

“Understood,” Nellie said, careful to keep her voice calming, “Are you looking for supplies or evacuation? How many people are there, and do you have anyone needing medical help?”

“How the?” There was a bunch of yelling in the background, followed by a hiss of static, and finally, the man came back on the line. “Uh, we have about a hundred and fifty people. No one is seriously hurt, but we are starving.”

“I repeat, supplies or evacuation?” Nellie gritted her teeth. Who let this bozo run the radio calls?

“How the fuck do I know?” The voice cracked a little as they lost their cool, leading to more shouting, a small scuffle, and a couple of heavy thumps followed by a new voice on the line.

“Who am I speaking to?” The woman’s voice was crisp and almost painfully correct.

“This is Captain Bea. Who am I speaking to now?” Nellie replied as Lucy started to scan the signal for location information.

“I am Administrator Fourteen; we are in need of assistance,” The same clipped tones.

“I understand that, Admin Fourteen,” Nellie replied, “I need to know what kind of assistance you require.”

“We require food and supplies for seventy people, along with any defensive weaponry we can acquire,” Fourteen answered smoothly. “We would require a constant supply, or failing that, extraction from this location.”

“Seventy?” Nellie queried. “I thought it was a hundred and fifty?”

“Please disregard the boy,” Fourteen said in that same clipped tone, “Only seventy of us require supplies.”

“Understood, Fourteen,” Nellie said, “I can get your supplies; please send location information.” Lucy already had it, but Nellie wanted to see what they said. Something was very wrong here.

“Our thanks, landing co-ordinates sent,” The line clicked off.

“The landing information is off by a distance of two and a half miles,” Lucy said curiously.

“And what is with the change in numbers?” Nellie asked Lucy. “They don’t know how many people they have?”

“Only one way to find out,” Lucy chirped. “Shall I inform Duke we will need supplies rather than walling this trip?”

“I guess so,” Nellie said, “But I want to scope out the real coordinates before we make the delivery.”

===<<<>>>===

“Get ta fuck!” The older man laughed and clipped the younger one around the back of the head. “No way that is true.”

“It is!” The younger man thrashed his short tail as he glared at the old man. “She’s out there! Supplies for anyone in need, a ride to somewhere safe, anything you need!”

“Is that right?” The man laughed, the wrinkles around his eyes showing between his scales, “You always get this shit,” he spat to one side, “every war I’ve ever been in, there was some legend out there helping people, only no one ever met ‘em.” He clapped the younger brackta across the back of the head again.

“The Beacon in the Darkness is real!” The younger man put his hand on his rifle and glared.

“Oh, is that so?” The man growled before raising his voice, “Anyone here ever met this Beacon? Ever been helped by her?” He was sneering as he turned back to the young man. “See, jus-”

“We were,” A deep voice called from across the bar.

“What?” The old man peered through the crowd.

“The Beacon, she saved us,” Another voice called, a woman this time. “We were trying to get to a village, and suddenly, this shuttle came out of nowhere…”

“Our town was starving,” Another voice called out loudly, “She got us some food.”

“And how much did you all have to pay?” The old man sneered. “More than-”

“Nothing,” The voices said over and over again.

Silence reigned in the bar.

“To the Beacon!” A man in the back raised his drink, “Hope for the hopeless!”

“THE BEACON!” Voices chorused.

Crush-Cha just shook his head and pushed out of the bar, heading to the next.

It had taken Crush a good few days to find a still-functioning town, but he had done it. This place was heaving with people packed in from everywhere, and he had started to hear the stories immediately.

He had been looking for news of some kind of resistance. Instead, he just heard a couple of local myths.

Crush-Cha didn’t believe in myths, despite what the people in that bar thought. He would be willing to bet the Beacon was actually a bunch of different people who all just happened to see someone in trouble and came to help.

Just people helping people.

It happened.

The other myth was more interesting but had less to go on. Some flower designs painted on walls next to dead Feds. That seemed like a group of resistance fighters to him. If only he had any actual leads, but no… everyone talked about the Beacon or how long it would be until the dust clouds cleared.
Nothing about the resistance at all.

Crush-Cha had been moving from bar to bar for a week, and nothing.

Not a whisper after the first details of the Death’s Flower. It was like everyone had just decided not to talk about it. If he didn’t get a lead tonight, he would move on, find another town and start again.

===<<<>>>===

“I thought all the F.E.B.s were destroyed?” Nellie said as she circled the apparently abandoned base. It was dug into the earth with only walls above the surface. It almost looked like someone had scooped out a pyramid of earth and rock and then lined the hole with terraced buildings.

The very center was taken up by a tall tower that rose several stories to crest just below ground level. They even had some kind of illusion that made it look like empty ground. The hologram or whatever was no match for nanite sensors, but they got a good look at the place.

Nellie circled once more, then headed for the coordinates they had been sent. The meeting spot turned out to be a spot of suspiciously flat ground with neatly trimmed grass and completely clear of obstructions.

The land around it was not exactly mountainous, but the gently rolling plains were nowhere near as flat and clear as the landing spot.

Nellie had Lucy scan the place seven times because it looked so obviously made rather than natural. Having found no sign of a trap, they set down.

She took her rifle with her as she went and sat on the cargo ramp, watching the grass and a few sparse trees gently moving in the breeze. The permanent twilight of the dust-wreathed sky made everything look dead or spooky, but something about this all just felt off.

Nellie had done plenty of anxious deliveries in the last few months, especially considering how stupid and desperate people could be in an emergency. Three times, she had people try to mob the shuttle to be the first to get the supplies. It didn’t matter that if they succeeded, there would not be anyone to bring them any MORE; they could only think of right then and there.

So anxiety was par for the course, but this was more.

Something about Administrator Fourteen was just… off. Nellie couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something more than just the weird name. Her voice was just a little off.

“Scans are still clear,” Lucy said as she appeared at the end of the ramp.

“Did you add holo generators out here?” Nellie asked, surprised that Lucy would show herself like that.

“No, silly,” Lucy grinned, “I’m just overlaying my image on your vision. No one else can see me, don’t worry.”

“Oh, nice,” Nellie said with a tense shrug. “So, we clear?”

“Completely,” Lucy replied. “Shall I let them know we are here?”

“Go ahead,” Nellie stood up and started to pace, “Then keep scanning.”

Lucy nodded and bobbed a curtsey before vanishing.

A half-hour later, Nellie was back sitting on the ramp when Lucy warned her a vehicle was approaching, a ground vehicle.

Nellie got to her feet and kept her rifle down but pointed in the right direction as a low, steel-grey, boxy vehicle rumbled up on four large wheels. The wheels were almost larger than the vehicle that sat between them. The massive tires rolled smoothly over the rocks and undergrowth with no sign of disruption to the main vehicle. Whether that was from great suspension or just how heavy that steel box was, Nellie couldn’t tell.

“Captain Bea?” The same man she had heard earlier called over speakers that popped out of slots in the bonnet.

“That’s me; I brought your supplies,” She called back, frowning. “And you are?”

“That is irrelevant information,” A clipped voice called back.

“Hi, Admin Fourteen,” Nellie said levely, “That information is not irrelevant as I need to know I am giving this stuff to people who really need it, not some bunch of scavengers or something.”

“Understood. We are not scavengers,” The same clipped tones. “Please leave the supplies, and we will leave payment here as we leave.”

“What?” Nellie shook her head. “I just told you I need to know what is going on. I won’t give supplies to people who can’t even agree on how many people need to eat.”

“Please stand by,” The clipped voice called before the speakers vanished again.

“Lucy, can you scan inside that thing?” Nellie subvocalised.

“No, sorry,” Lucy said. “I can tell there is a power source, but that is all.”

“What the fuck is going on here?” Nellie muttered as she considered just closing the ramp and flying off. Before she could make up her mind, the speakers reappeared.

“We will pay fair market value plus an extra to cover the need for secrecy,” Fourteen said. “If you continue to provide supplies, we will consider offering explanations at a later date.” The speakers whined for a second, and the young man’s voice came back on, “Please!”

Nellie sighed and called. “Anyone to help me unload at least?”

The speakers vanished again.

“I think you should try and arch your back just a little more,” Lucy said as Nellie pushed the last loaded pallet down the ramp.

“Why?” Nellie asked. “Is this bad for my back?”

“No, but my way would make your butt look fantastic!” Lucy laughed. “Go on!”

Grumbling about pervy AIs, Nellie finally cleared the last of the ramp and wiped a hand across her brow theatrically.

“All done!” Nellie called to the silent vehicle that sat a few meters away.

“Thank you. Please leave and return in twenty minutes to collect your payment.” Fourteen said.

“We can skip the payment if you just explain what is going on!” Nellie shouted back, feeling more than a little irritated.

“No, thank you. Please leave now.”

Nellie stomped back up the ramp and roared into the sky as the vehicle started to crawl toward the supplies.

“Keep the scanners locked on that spot,” Nellie snarled as she moved the Shuttle into a hover a couple of miles out.

“I have,” Lucy said, then snorted. “They put up a scattering field! How rude!”

Nellie just groaned. “Can you break through it?”

“With this shitty equipment, no.” Lucy huffed.

“You built it,” Nellie pointed out.

“I built it to be hidden and not lead to destruction of the planet!” Lucy snapped. “If I could just be me, I could tear through that field like tissue paper!”

“Touchy subject?” Nellie asked, surprised by the reaction.

“I’m so sick of scattering fields!” Lucy spat.

“Is this because Paren still won’t let you see what she is building?” Nellie guessed.

“That little bitch-bot needs to remember she’s the drone!” Lucy complained.

“Bitch-bot?” Nellie asked. “A bit harsh?”

“Fine!” Lucy huffed. “You don’t have to put up with her stealing all your stuff! And that little AI is getting to be just as bad.”

“He wouldn’t let you look either?” Nellie guessed.

“I made him!” Lucy complained. “I’m his Mum!”

Nellie laughed as Lucy complained for a solid twenty minutes about ungrateful drones and unresponsive children. When she finally took a breath, Lucy noted it was time to return to the landing spot.

Their payment, such as it was, looked a little concerning.

“The fuck?” Nellie muttered as she approached the dark grey box. It had to be a box. There was no way it could be what it looked like. “Can you scan this thing?” She asked Lucy.

“Scans are reflecting off the material, which is unusual,” Lucy muttered. “I am sensing anxiety. Can I ask why?”

“It’s a dark grey coffin, that’s why!” Nellie hissed. “Did those bastards just pay us with a corpse?”

“That seems unlikely.” Lucy laughed. “Also, this sector does not use any form of internment of the dead.”

“Really?” Nellie asked, her voice ringing with doubt.

“Most species incinerate the dead,” Lucy said happily. “The Earth's obsession with planting dead loved ones is strange and almost unknown in civilized space.”

“So the shape is just a coincidence?” Nellie asked hopefully.

“Almost certainly,” Lucy replied.

“Almost,” Nellie muttered, “Just what I wanted to hear. For example, ‘almost missed’ and ‘almost survived.’”

Lucy just laughed.

They did bring the box on board, eventually. Lucy could at least tell that there didn’t seem to be any traces of explosives or anything else worrying about the box itself. It was unlikely that anyone putting together a bomb would manage to leave no traces on the container, so it was relatively safe.

Still, Nellie decided to open the thing in a place where Lucy could block signals and other tracking methods.

You could never be too careful.

Once they were back in the office/living space, Nellie and Paren carefully crouched behind a small blast shield and had one of the scouts open the box in the next compartment.

When nothing exploded, and Lucy reported no signals attempting to breach in or out of the old hulk, they carefully approached.

“No way!” Paren’s eyes went huge. “Gross!”

“Uh.” Nellie spluttered.

“Come on!” Paren complained as she stomped to the door, “Keep your sex toys to yourself!”

“It’s not a sex toy!” Nellie yelled after her. “Is it?” She whispered to Lucy.

“I’m not actually sure,” Lucy admitted, “But that seems doubtful.”

“It looks like a sex doll,” Nellie admitted as she looked into the coffin-shaped box.

The object in question lay in the coffin, supported by a foamy material. It was clearly female, with the naked torso prominent and delicately scaled. The arms and legs were detached and set into their own compartments, while the head was set into the roof of the coffin with a selection of wigs and eyes available to choose from. There were also two tails to choose from and a simple set of clothes.

“This is an android, right?” Nellie asked.

“My scans show a robotic interior covered in synthetic flesh that seems to be passably durable. However, the processing center is quite small.” Lucy said thoughtfully. “It appears to be anatomically correct, so I can not definitely rule out the possibility of sexual use.”

“Okay, eww.” Nellie wrinkled her nose.

“Why eww?” Lucy asked sharply.

“Being created to serve others sexually?” Nellie said defensively, “That sounds pretty icky to me.”

“Ah, I suppose so,” Lucy said happily. “What do you want to do with it?”

“Let’s put her together and see what happens!” Nellie said after a moment. She didn’t like the idea of it being a sexbot of some form, but there was always the possibility it was more. They could always use more help around the place, and if all else failed, they could definitely find a use for the parts.

Nellie set about unpacking and connecting the various parts until she got stuck.

“What eye color do you think we should go for?” She asked Lucy, “And human iris, or reptilian?”

“What do you like?” Lucy asked.

“All of them, I guess,” Nellie sighed as she sorted through them for the seventh time. “I suppose the reptilian eyes look cooler.”

“How about green reptilian ones, then?” Lucy offered.

“Done!” Nellie said. “Which wig do you like?”

“The short black one looks good,” Lucy also chose the tail, going for the longer, thinner option over the short and thick one.

When they were finished, Nellie stood back and gave it a final look over.

“Looks good!” She decided. “What do you think, Lucy?”

“I think that if you don’t want it to be a sexbot, then maybe put some clothes on it,” Lucy said archly.

“Oops,” Nellie said. “I got distracted.”

“Yeah, I bet,” Lucy sniffed.

“Not like that!” Nellie huffed as she tried to dress the body without touching anything that was too personal.

“Uh huh,” Lucy said. “I kiss you, and you’re as straight as an arrow, one naked bot later, and you’re drooling.” She huffed.

“I AM NOT!” Nellie protested. “How do we activate it?”

“You want to turn it on?” Lucy laughed. “Done!”

Nellie ground her teeth as the bot twitched and began to sit up.