Scarlet Steel

“AI were the first to set up a colony in another star system, with humans joining as soon as life support was in place. They founded the unfortunately-named colony of ‘New Beginnings’ on an Earth-like planet in the Exclave System. That planet no longer exists, and much of their history is lost. It’s our belief that the lack of safety measures on interstellar ships, and perhaps more importantly, the lack of an FTL inhibitor in the system, lead to an unfortunate impact. Although, we admit, that is speculation, as the obliteration was so complete that very few remnants can be found in orbit around the sun.” - An incomplete history of space travel, written by Kismet.

I burst through the door, pulling Exa behind me.

“Hey Kid!” Dad is sitting at the table alongside mom, the both of them sharing two cups of that awful coffee. Mom let me take a sip once and I swear my mouth turned inside out. Dad stands up and steps toward me, scooping me off the ground. “Sorry I didn’t get to say much yesterday.”

“It’s ok! I had a really good time with Exa!”

“Good.”

“Did you eat?” Mom asks.

“I did! I remembered all on my own!”

“And did you remember to brush your teeth?” She asks.

“Uhhh. Maybeeee…”

“Go brush your teeth.” Mom insists.

“Ok.” Dad lets me down and I hurry to the bathroom.

Not long after I return to the kitchen and join the three of them at the table.

“Ok! What are we doing today?”

“Well, if you didn’t eat too much, we were thinking about doing a cookout for lunch.” Mom says.

“That sounds great! How can I help?”

“You and Exa can start mashing some potatoes if you want.” Mom says. “Your dad brought some scrap chops for us.”

“I can do that!”

Exa and I quickly get to work, and by we, I mean that she lets me do most of it by myself! I fill a pot with water, but Exa has to help move it to the stove. I’m just a little too short. But she lets me chop the potatoes and a few vegetables to throw in with them!

I climb onto the edge of the counter and stare at the pot, just waiting for it to boil.

Just waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting.

Small bubbles begin to form at the bottom of the pot.

“Mom! It’s boiling!”

“Already?” She stands up and takes a step over. “Let’s give it another minute.”

“But there are bubbles, it’s boiling!”

“Let’s let it boil a little more. When you see big bubbles coming up, then you and Exa can put everything in.”

“Ok.”

I wait a little longer.

And a little longer.

And longer still.

Exa keeps an eye on it with me, and soon enough, give me the good news.

“Alright, why don’t we put everything in now.”

“Yay!” I hold the cutting board up to the pot and let Exa slide everything in. I’ve gotten splashed before and really want to avoid that again.

“If you two want to watch that, we’ll go get the grill fired up.” Dad says.

“Ok!” I watch the pot while they leave. “Hey Exa. Are you going to eat?”

“I doubt it.”

“Why not? It’s going to be really good!”

“I’m sure it will be. I just don’t really get the point. Your dad convinced me to get taste sensors installed, but I can just record and remember any food I want. It kind of loses its charm.”

“Really? How?” I ask.

“I’m software, remember? Just like you can pull up a book on your computer, I can pull up whatever I want in my mind. There’s no difference if I eat something with friends, or pull up a memory of doing that.”

“Lucky! I’d just eat cookies all day.”

“It’s not always as nice as you think it is. But watch this.” Exa looks off into the distance.

“What are you doing?”

“Eating cookies.”

“No! You’re so mean!” I reach out to push her out of it.

Exa steps back, and I hop off the counter to chase her. I latch onto her leg, putting all my weight into pulling her down. She’s a wall, impossible to move no matter how hard I try.

“Just! Fall down!” I yell.

“You really want me to let you win?” She asks.

“No! But fall down!” I pull again.

She takes a step back to the stove, and I stay latched on, along for the ride. She doesn’t even respond to my efforts, just picks up a spoon and stirs the pot.

“You’re definitely stronger than last time I stopped by.” Exa says. “In a few years I’m sure you’ll be able to take me down.”

“I can do it now!” I brace myself against the counter and push.

I work for a few minutes trying to bring her down. Of course I get nowhere, I don’t even make her so much as move a single foot.

“Do you want to mash the potatoes?” Exa asks.

“Yeah!” I climb up onto the counter, and she strains everything, puts it in a bowl, and hands it to me.

Even if Exa is super strong, the potatoes aren’t! Mashing them is easy, and I’m really good at it! I mash them perfectly.

“That should be good.” Exa says, and silently asks for the bowl.

I hand it over to her and hop back onto the floor. The two of us head out back, onto our small porch. The grill is lit up by an electric flame, and Dad is turning the scrap chops. Both him and mom are laughing together when we open the door.

“What did I miss?” I ask.

“Your mom was just telling me a few stories about you.” He sets the pair of tongs to the side and steps forward, picking me up once again. Mom takes over the grill. “Sorry I’ve missed so much, Kid.”

“It’s ok! How long are you staying?”

“The company’s taking a month off.”

“A whole month?” I can’t believe it, he never stays for that long! A whole month with Dad and a whole month with Exa!

“A whole month.” He nods.

“Is Aunt Juno going to be visiting? Or Aunt Elara? Or Uncle Numbers? Or Uncle Sieve?”

“No, sorry, they’re all taking their own vacations.” He says. “You’re stuck with just me and Exa.”

‘That’s ok!” I throw my arms around him. “I’m happy you’re back.”

“Me too. So! What do you want on your scrap chops?” He glances around the scrapyard that surrounds us. “We’ve got rust…”

“No!”

“No? Alright. We’ve got metal.”

“No! I want mashed potatoes!”

“Oh alright, you did make them.” He puts me down and grabs a plate. “Are they at temp?”

“Sure are.” Mom nods. “Just waiting for you to finish your moment.”

Mom builds a plate for three of us, and the four of us sit on the uncomfortable metal chairs around the table. I feel bad that Exa has to be left out.

“We can share.” I offer, scooting my plate halfway in between me and her.

“Really, I’m alright, thank you though.” Exa says, pushing my plate back towards me. “And if you offer again I’m going to eat more cookies.”

I scoot my plate back towards me and dig in. It’s so good. Meals always taste better when dad is here. Nobody says anything while we eat, everything is just too tasty. Plus, I’m not supposed to talk with my mouth full, and talking means I have to stop eating.

When my plate is clean I sit back, rest my hands on my stomach, and sigh, just like Dad always does when he finishes eating.

Just a few minutes later he joins me, taking my exact same pose.

“It’s good to be home.” He says. “So, Scarlet, have any interesting projects you’re working on?”

“Yeah! Tons! Did you know if you turn a fan, it makes a current?” I ask.

“She turned our sink into a power generator.” Mom says.

“And it worked! Mom made me turn it into a wind turbine though, and I haven’t really figured that out yet. I just can’t get it to turn.”

“Do you want a solution, or a hint?” Exa asks.

“A hint!”

“The weight of each blade is going to be your biggest enemy.”

“Thank you!” What can I do about that though? How can I minimize the weight? Maybe hollowing out the blades and just stretching super thin plastic over them? That’s worth a try! Ooh, or paper’s light! Maybe I could expand them?

“You can work on it soon.” Mom says. “But we should hang out with your dad.”

“I know.” I can contain myself. But I might sneak out at night to work on it after both of them go to sleep. We’ll see if Exa tells on me or not.

“Speaking of, Kid, what do you want to do today?” Dad asks.

“I don’t know. You could tell me about your new mech!”

“Ah, Exa told you we changed out?” Dad glances at Mom for just a moment. “It’s nothing fancy, just a ten ton little thing.”

“That’s huge! Double what you had before, right? Why did you change from the Skipper? It’s slower, right? Did Skippy get hurt? I can fix him!”

“One question at a time.” Dad raises up his hands under my onslaught. “We didn’t replace Skippy.” His eyes flick to Exa’s for just a moment. “I still use him when he’s needed. Lately we’ve just done some work that needs something a little bigger.”

“Like what?” I ask.

“Nothing fancy. If I need to move rocks or clear out a landslide, I can’t very well do that with a mech on four legs.”

“Can I name him?” I ask.

“What do you have in mind?”

“Ummmm…” He’s an Old Earth Designs White Lie. Lie-y is a bad name. I got it! “She’s a girl now, her name is Lyra.”

“You want to name her after your mom?” Dad asks.

“Oh! No, she needs her own name.” I think hard. “Lyra 2!”

“Alright.” Dad lets out a small chuckle. “Exa, do you have any complaints?”

“I’ve already got it registered."

“Guess it’s official then.” Dad pushes himself out of the chair. “Do you still explore this place?”

“I do! All alone sometimes too!”

Dad glances at Mom, who immediately responds.

“You try to get your daughter to not run off by herself.”

“Come on! I can show you my favorite paths!” I pull his arm, only to pause when a familiar siren starts up in the distance.

I sprint towards the nearest scrap hill, and look back, only to see Dad frozen in place, both Mom and Exa rushing to his side.

“It’s just a junker coming in.” She says. “Scarlet! Come back inside!”

“But what if they drop something cool?” I yell back and begin to climb.

“Scarlet, honey, please. It’s not safe to be out here during a drop.”

High above is a small black dot, slowly beginning to glow a brilliant orange. A massive ship just now entering the atmosphere. I glance back at my parents. Something’s wrong with Dad. He’s acting weird. As much as I want to see the drop, I should go be with him.

I carefully climb back down and follow the three of them inside.

“Thank you.” Mom whispers.

“Is dad ok?”

“He’s… He’ll be ok. He’s just anxious about sirens.”

“Why?”

“His job can be dangerous. Sirens normally mean that something’s wrong.”

“But nothing’s wrong right now! It’s just a drop!”

“He knows that, but you can’t always help what makes you feel stressed. We need to be patient and quiet to let him relax, alright?”

“Will it help him?” I whisper.

“Yeah, it’ll help.”

“I’ll do my best then.”

We head inside. Exa is helping dad settle into the couch. Mom rushes to the kitchen, and comes back with a cold glass of water, handing it to dad before sitting next to him. I hop into one of the chairs near him, and watch out the window.

The distant glow expands over the course of minutes. The sun dims as it passes over us, and I run to the other side of the living room to continue watching.

The ship is almost as large as our little town. It’s a giant rectangle with large, softly glowing circles all along the bottom.

Just a few miles outside of town, and a few hundred feet above the surface, the bottom begins to open. A mountain of metal falls to the ground. The house shakes from the force, and the roar is deafening.

I watch closely, hoping for anything interesting to drop out. There’s something that happens rarely, but if I can notice it, and get to it before anyone else? I have to be the first to find it.

From deep in the scrapfall I catch what I’m sure is a glimpse of a leg, and a cockpit. There’s a mech in there! I need to go! To get there first! To work on it!

I glance back at Dad. He’s looking worse than ever. Tonight. I’ll search for it tonight. I hop off my chair and join him on the couch.