Rufus stepped onto the catwalk towards his Einherjar, watching as the Penrose engineers worked on installing the new cockpit. His Morningstar had been top of the line, once, and Cecile promised that it would be again. Bleeding edge, in fact. He leaned forward, his legs shaking in his assisted movement rig. 

“If only I could be put back together and upgraded like you.” He watched the Morningstar's leg plates get reattached to the frame before it was remotely moved into a kneel. “Aria and the other two should be up on the stardock by now. Better give her a call.” With a swipe he brought up her comm data and sent a request. 

“Rufus, what's up?” asked Aria.

“Not too much. Just thought I'd make sure you and the others are doing alright,” he said.

“Yeah, we're okay. Nimue's in the Caliburn and Maks is with me. Say hi, babe. She says hi.”

“Hey Sirius!” shouted Maks, clearly not a far distance from Aria.

“You still on the stardock?” asked Rufus as the Morningstar's torso opened, the ribs of the capsule cradle stretched wide. 

“Just got on the shuttle to the Visund, we'll be at the job site soon barring any complications.”

“Good, good. Aria…” his throat tensed hard, making him cough to try and fix it. He blamed the synchronization syndrome.

“You alright, d– Rufus?”

“Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted to say that I'm proud of you, Aria. I'm glad you've got people other than this old dog now.” Below the reinforced capsule jacket was pulled into place by the cradle. 

“T-thank you… Don't you think that this means you can die on me, old-timer.”

Rufus smiled. “I'll never die! Not as long as I have reasons to stay around.”

“Holding you to that. Love you.”

“Love you too, kid.” Rufus cut the line and sighed as he watched the actual capsule slide into the jacket.

To his right he could hear the sound of footsteps and as he turned to look, it was a woman with an enginered body similar to the one he'd seen Nimue in. She caught his gaze as he stared at her. “A real wonder of engineering, isn't it?”

“I was told that I would be meeting with a liaison. You her?” he asked, looking back down at the Morningstar.

“Correct, I am Freya, and you seem rather unsurprised by my appearance.” 

Sirius shrugged. “Saw a good friend in a body like that. If she could get one, I doubt it would be difficult for Penrose.” 

Freya nodded and brushed a few errant strands of her hair behind an ear. “Have you ever been immersed in a perfluorocarbon solution before?”

“A few times, when I thought I might become a red belly pilot. It always felt like trying to breathe through a brick.” Sirius kept his eyes on the work being done below. “I see the torso had to be lengthened to accommodate the new cockpit.”

“It makes it look more human,” added Freya.

His Morningstar would barely be able to stand in the warehouse with the added size, not that it would be here long. The torso of it closed, leaving dull silvery metal exposed, the mounting points awaiting newly resized armor plates. 

“Ever in our own image,” Sirius sighed. 

“It’s not like they’ll ever be a body like this one.” Freya briefly touched her collarbone, the eitr within her body casting a warm light over it.

Sirius paused, looking at Freya then back at his own body. “You an AI, or is that a full body replacement?” 

Freya raised a brow. “Interested in one?” 

“Maybe.”

“Are you like your protege?” Asked Freya, smirk playing on her lips. 

Sirius shook his head. “I’ve already had the girl ask me about that a few times. Being a man doesn’t matter to me, neither does the opposite.” He laughed. “What’s important is being able to pilot again.”

“You know,” Freya paused, stifling a growl, “Cecile has a theory.”

“About what?” asked Sirius, straightening up and turning to face Freya.

“She believes that people like your protege are better suited to neural synchronization, and the data agrees with that assumption.” Freya's lips draw into a flat line, brow briefly twitching with annoyance. “And she has told me to inform you that she would be willing to supply the materials for you to act as a control.”

Sirius looked down at himself. “If I am unable to attain satisfactory sync ratings despite the new system, I'll consider it.”

“I'll forward that to Cecile,” said Freya.

Sirius turned back to look at his Einherjar. “Does she also have my list of armaments I want prepared for this job?”  

“Correct, and they've been sent ahead to the vessel you'll be staging from,” said Freya. 

“Good. You know, you never answered my question.”

“The latter, then the former,” said Freya. 

“Guess Necker never gave up on that tech.”

“No, they did,’ Freya said, smiling faintly. 

______

Ben shivered in his cell. They didn't give him any new clothing after the exam, just stitched him up and dropped him. It was going to be okay though, he smiled to himself. She was going to get him out of here. He just had to listen, and he wouldn't end up like that dick Sekhar or like poor Sophia. She wasn't speaking to him, hadn't for hours, but she would.  

He waited.

And waited.

“Ben.” 

His heart leapt. A smile, desperate for more of her words spread across his face. “Vivien…” he said spacily.

“Yes, hello. I've got good news for you.”

“Uh huh, what is it? Are we leaving?” he asked, voice shaking.

“Quiet for just a moment. I’ve dealt with the electronic observation for this cell, but there's still the human element outside.”

Ben nodded and closed his mouth, his tongue pressing against his teeth as he breathed through his nose. Outside he heard a series of pops accompanied by a flashing light that played over the opposite wall. The light didn’t come back. Something hit the ground with a thud, and then there was silence.

“Handled. Yes, we're going to be leaving very soon. I want you to come join me.”

Ben stood quickly, ignoring the pain in his leg. “But the door,” he said softly.

The door beeped and clicked. “Step outside, it's unlocked.” 

Ben hobbled to the door and pushed, it moved effortlessly, swinging out into the corridor, stopping a bit shy of hitting the wall. “Something smells bad. Like sweat and burning rubber.”

“Nevermind that, it's not important. What matters is that you return to me. Now, take a right and go down the hall.”

“Can I get some clothes on the wa–”

“No, it's imperative that you get to me as quickly as possible.”

“O-kay,” said Ben, walking down the hall, freezing as he saw a camera look directly at him.

“Their security is blind to your existence. I am the one watching you, all they can see is a loop of the hall as it was.”

Ben kept going until he reached another door, unsure what to do. She wasn’t telling him and doubts were beginning to creep into his mind. If he made a choice it would end badly, it always ended badly. Slowly, he reached for the door. 

“It’s open, keep moving.”

He stepped into the next room. It was divided into two segments, the well-lit hall he was standing in and a larger room past a one-way window with its glass spiderwebbed from two distinct impacts. He looked away from it, trying not to think. Vivien wanted him to keep moving and so he did, gingerly testing the door. It opened slightly, the light from the hall pouring into pitch darkness.

“Step inside, keep your eyes forward and follow the line.”

“What line?” asked Ben.

“You will see it shortly, it’s to guide you.”

In front of his eyes a thin band of blue superimposed on the darkness of the next room. “I see it, Vivien!” 

“Then follow it. I need to make sure the rest of your path is clear, ask for me if you need assurance.” 

“Just follow the line,” mumbled Ben, his steps unsure in the darkness. 

There was a scent in the air, one he’d become too familiar with. The tang of metal mixed with an acrid bite. He knew what it was on some level, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it. Understanding what was hiding in those deep shadows wouldn’t help him. He hurried as best he could with his leg the way it was. Once he reached the door, an icon of a lock appeared in his vision. The lock inside the door clicked, and the icon opened. 

Carefully, slowly, Ben carried on through spaces absent of others, but that bore the signs of panic. Fear and the scent of iron saturated the path Vivien's guiding hand led him. As he stepped out into the open section of the facility he thought he heard a klaxon blaring, only for it to quickly fuzz over and get replaced by a barely audible whine in his skull. Turrets atop the building he'd just left turned and focused away from him, firing in short, precise bursts. The sound was enough to jar him from the trance he'd managed to work himself into and he cried out, running, falling and scrambling for cover. He pulled himself into a space between pallets of supplies, shivering. 

“Ben. Get up and keep moving.”

“But there's… No! I don't want to die, I don't want…” His voice trembled and trailed into a soft whine. 

“I said move.” 

Ben yelped. It felt like a hammer had just struck the inside of his skull. “Help! Help!” he pleaded, shouting in panic.

Vivien growled and the turrets nearby screeched, sparks flying from their bases before firing at the elevator that led out of the facility. They roared as Ben shook, pushing himself deeper into his hiding place. Even squeezing his eyes shut he could still see the path that Vivien had laid out for him. 

The silence returned, save for the pulsing buzz, but there were no more gunshots. Ben opened his eyes, they stung and he went to wipe them. His wrist felt wet. He looked at it, expecting tears, seeing a smear of crimson. 

“Ben. Are you still there?” asked Vivien, her tone soft. 

Ben didn't respond, just shook and whimpered.

“I didn't mean to yell at you.”

More silence. He was scared. Of her, of the gunshots, of moving, of staying still. 

“It is going to be okay.” A couple distant gunshots echoed and Ben yelped. “Just making sure none of them can hurt you. I'm going to save you, Ben.”

“Why am I bleeding?”

“The stress, you're under so much of it, it's only to be expected. Now please, get up and come to me.” 

Ben pulled himself out of the cramped space he'd managed to crawl into. He stood shakily, his stump ached. The band of blue led toward a tall building closer to the bottom of the lift. He took a step, and then another. 

“Good Ben, you can do it.”

“We're gonna leave this place?” he mumbled.

“Yes. We'll return to civilization, together.”

“How?”

“I'll take us there. Remember how I got us out of the anomaly?”

Ben nodded and came to a stop at the end of the guide line. “But why take me there? You're so capable, and I'm just me.”

“No, Ben.” The tall doors of the hangar that contained Vivien's body slid open. “I need you.”

“You need me?”

“Yes. Come into the hangar.”

Ben hobbled inside. The Einherjar had been repaired, and in so doing had again changed in design. Its limbs were slender, covered in curved plating. The forearms had incorporated the eitr blades into themselves, and its rear set of legs had changed, becoming something between legs and arms. 

The machine's multi-eyed cranial unit looked up, as if it could see beyond the ceiling of the hangar and past even the earth above that. The whole complex shook.

“She is here. It's time,” said Vivien through the Einherjar's mouthless head. 

Ben looked up at her. His bloodied eyes, dull and tired. Then the Einherjar sprang forward. Its torso opened like a flower, steel petals revealing tendrils of black metal that wrapped around Ben's body. He wanted to scream, but Vivien's grip was too tight, and he was swallowed. The torso pulled itself closed around him as he was held, tenderly, suspended inside. 

“You will be my pilot.”

From behind him a series of cords thrust into Ben's body, pressing into his spinal column. He cried as his body tried to spasm in reaction to being penetrated. 

“Do not struggle. You'll see things as I do soon.”

“It hurts, stop! Vivien, you're hurting me!” he cried, before going limp. 

“It will pass, I am improving you.” 

Where he was pierced he could feel buzzing in his nerves followed by a cold that spread from those points. 

“But it hurts now...” 

“In time you will thank me for this, my pilot.”