Emotions of Mechs

It was to be a simple expedition. Simple. Go into the mines and locate the Mechs. The bots that were planning a revolt.

The Humes had been evacuated to safety already. So, anyone found in the mines was a Mech. And it was a known that Mechs were just machines and therefore expendable.

It was a small crew. Three males to do the dirty work and one female. Dora. Her presence was just a safety clause, so no one could claim this was just a clean-up crew to destroy all Mechs. She was an empath. It was up to her to make sure that they were all Mechs before the three men disposed of them.

Dora didn't like this job. At all. Something didn't get well with her. It didn't feel right from the start. The three males who were to protect her and destroy the Mechs were a likely mob of disgruntled youths. If Mechs had blood, they were hungry for it.

Except one. Yangor. He didn't fit. At all. Proud, strong, and fierce. But a kindness that went down to his soul. He didn't want to be there either.

The first day passed with no sightings of the Mech forces. But Tyler was on edge as he patrolled after they set up camp that night.

"They are here somewhere!" he insisted as he paced. "I can smell them! That old metal smell, reused from car parts with rusted out --"

"Enough!" Yangor insisted. "You are making the woman nervous. And me as well."

Dora almost smiled. Yangor was right. Tyler was making her nervous. He had the entire day. He was jittery; a paranoid freak. But that Yangor was so quick to try to put an end to Tylers rantings soothed her and made her feel better.

Tyler did shut up, but he poked at the fire with sticks, almost as if he was tempting it to something.

"Dora, you might as well get some rest," her white night Yangor offered. "We can keep watch."

"Yeah she is the most important one!" Tyler spat.

"Knock it off Tyler," the third of their party Mike spat back at him. "You are even annoying ME! Lay off or else we will make you take watch all night on your own!"

"Fine by me!" Tyler returned. "Not like I can sleep anyhow! They are all around us! I can smell them!"

Yangor shook his head and turned to Dora. "I will do my best to keep them quiet as much as I can. You should get some rest."

She nodded at him. "Thank you."


And she passed the night without concern or without hearing anything. And found the only survivor the next morning was Yangor.

"Mike took last watch and when I got up he and Tyler were both dead!" he said in a rush, as if he was upset. Rightly so.

But something wasn't right. Dora had that tingly feeling on the back of her neck. Something was very wrong.

Beyond the fact that two of the males were dead. Beyond that. Something did not set with this whole thing.

"How?" she found herself asking.

"We need to head back, report to base, tell them that the Mechs are too powerful for us," he went on, as if reading from a script.

That sense that she was watching a well rehearsed scene is was tipped her off. This was not right.

"What happened?" she asked. Not that she was expecting to get a truthful answer. Not now.

"We have to leave," Yangor replied, stressing the importance of this line of action.

"No, what happened?" she argued. She was beginning to trust him less and less.

"You are stubborn." He shook his head and gathered up supplies.

"Where are you going?" she demanded. For the first time she was beginning to get frightened. She had felt safe before now, because he would protect her. But if he was the killer, wasn't she in danger too?

"I will keep you safe," he said, as if reading her thoughts. "No harm will befall you. But I want you to see something. Please, come with me."

Everything had changed by this point. Her kind guard was now leading her off to places unknown after two of their crew had been slaughtered.

"NO!" she shouted, stomping her foot into the muck, sending some of it spewing off and around. "What is going on!?"

"They are dead and we have to leave," Yangor replied with a tired sigh.

"Which is very alarming!" she shouted back. "Now what is it you want me to see?"

And at that exact moment, there was a loud rumbling from the surface. That grew louder with each passing moment. Yangor grabbed her and picked her up, carrying her away as he ran.

The wind was knocked out of her. And any shouting she was going to do was forgotten. The mining tunnel was coming down from above.

The explosions stopped eventually but Yangor didn't put her down. He ran on, to wherever he wanted to take her. It wasn't until she started to try to fight her way out of his arms that he slowed and put her down on the ground again.

"Wha ?" was all she managed to ask.

"I was afraid of this. They decided to ditch this. And just close the mine entirely."

"But ?" she managed to ask again.

"You are expendable."

"They said "

"Yes, they said a lot of things that didn't involve sending you to your death in the mines," he agreed.

There was a work bench handy. And Dora was glad. She sat down and thought what this all meant. "This all felt wrong from the start."

"You were just token," he agreed as he sat beside her.

"Why?" She wasn't really asking him so she wasn't really expecting an answer.

"So they could say that they tried to do things right, quiet all those people who would protest what they wanted to do. Which was to close down the mine from the start."

"But that means that they loose the funds from the ores here!"

"It has been a dry mine for awhile," he told her.

That made sense. In a few ways. "But what about the Mechs?"

To that he sighed heavily. "Yes. Well. That is the real issue here. The Mechs were no longer necessary. So, just seal them up in the empty mine."

She shook her head, trying to make sense of this. It did indeed seem that is what was happening. "So we are just going to die here?"

He stood and picked her up again. "Not yet."

There was no time for more questions. He was carrying her away again, where it seemed only he knew. He seemed to know far more than he was letting  on. There were a million questions she had for him. And no time to ask as she was being rushed out of the ruined mines.

Which more bells were going off in her head. He was unusually strong and had incredible endurance. To be carrying her weight while in a steady jog. Something just didn't add up.

And it was another hour or more before he stopped again, setting her down at another encampment. There were supplies there that he gave her, food and water. She had been thinking how hungry she was getting.

"What are you?" she asked around a bite of sandwich.

He sighed. "I had hoped to hold off on this question until after we got out of here."

"But they are destroying the mine."

"There are other exits they haven't found yet. Which is why we are in a hurry."

He had managed to distract her enough for the moment. But it wouldn't be long before she figured out, if she hadn't already.

"I am a Mech," he said, back to her. He couldn't stand looking at her, to see the eventual horror and disdain like what others felt for his kind.

He turned suddenly when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. "But I feel emotions from you," she said, almost a question.

To his surprise, his lips curled up in a half smile. "What they have told you is a lie. We are not heartless machines. Incapable of emotion and compassion."

"That is what I have felt from you from the very beginning," she agreed. "And it would seem your tale has validity to it, as they sent us here to die."

"But you aren't going to," he insisted as he picked her up again.

It was another hour before they reached an exit. Light from the outside streamed in. And a few more people. At first Dora was scared when she saw others but realised that Yangor was expecting them.

"Are we clear?" he asked. Obviously them and not her.

"Very and have transport for you both," the older man replied. "I see the others didn't make it."

"No, they didn't," Yangor replied as the emerged from the mine, to the startling brightness of the outside world. That didn't last too long as she was settled in a vehicle, finishing the unlikely escape.

"What now?" she asked as he settled himself in the drivers seat.

"Well, we have to get you away from here. And to somewhere safe. Where you can decide what you want to do."

"Won't they try to kill me if they find out that I know all of this?"

"Probably. But we can keep you safe. If you want."

This would entail something more. More than she realised. She knew it by the tone in his voice. "What exactly does this mean?"

He sighed. "You will have to leave your life here behind. And go into hiding with us."

"I can't leave my cats behind," she protested.

And that rewarded her with a grin. "We already got them moved to the safe location we are going to. We wouldn't leave them behind either."

Her mind swirled. She had started falling in love with him the moment she laid eyes on him. And the feelings she felt back from him told her he felt the same. She knew her life would never be the same.

And for that, she was happy.