Sergeant Joseph Barker strode through the concrete tunnels of his home base with a purpose. His gear shrugged against his chest and the rifle in his arms was held in a loose and slightly unfamiliar grip. It was one of the new ones that was being handed out to some of the men, all shiny and chrome, with a bright blue LED on the back unlike any gun he’d ever had before, but it still shot the same. Mostly
I wonder what my dad would think if he saw me using a gun made by a little girl, he chuckled as he turned a sharp corner into a long hallway. He’d probably have another stroke.
Barker sobered up as he reached a checkpoint about halfway down the hall, where two other guards stood on either side of a reinforced door. He recognized them—Miller and Chen, two guys he’d shared a few drinks with after shifts. They were good people, reliable. He was pretty sure at least one of them served, though he couldn’t remember which one.
”Hold up,” Miller said, raising a hand as Barker approached. “What’s your business?”
”Here to get the girl,” Barker replied, stopping a few feet from the door. “The boss wants to see her.”
Miller glanced to Chen who nodded and pressed a button on the walkie talkie dangling from his vest. “One to see the Tinker?”
Barker didn’t react as another voice came through shortly after. This was just protocol, after all. Instead, he turned back to Miller to kill the time while they waited for confirmation on his orders.
”She still cooped up in there?” He asked. Miller shrugged.
”Same as ever. I don’t think she’s stepped foot out of that room since she got here. She’s got clearance to wander and stretch her legs a little, but she hasn’t taken it as far as I know.”
Chen snorted, adjusting his own rifle. “Tinkers are all shut-ins. You give them food and a budget and you aren’t gonna see them until you stop. Kid’s probably in paradise in there.”
”Is she eating?” Barker asked, mostly out of curiosity.
”’sfar as I know,” Miller shrugged. “Chow gets left by the door.”
Barker nodded, accepting the explanation. They weren’t authorized to actually enter the Tinker’s room unless specifically requested by either the girl herself or Coil. Not that anyone would.
The walkie talkie crackled again. “Orders confirmed. Send him through.”
Miller stepped aside and pressed his hand against the panel on the wall. The door behind him beeped, then hissed as it slid open, revealing another hallway beyond.
”Good luck,” Chen called as Barker stepped through. “And watch out; I hear she bites.”
Barker resisted the urge to roll his eyes if only because he knew there was some truth to the statement. The second stretch was shorter than the first, only about fifty yards before he reached the reinforced steel door at the end. A small biometric panel was set beside the door, a red light burning on top to indicate that it was locked.
Taking off his glove, Barker pressed his bare hand to the panel and leaned toward the microphone, speaking clearly.
”Sergeant Barker.”
A beat as whatever Tinkertech was in the lock worked to recognize his voice, then the light on the panel shifted from red to green and the door swung open.
As it did so, a wave of loud music met Barker in the doorway. It was a messy track of overdriven bass and powerful drums backed by a gravely voice that screamed louder than Barker himself probably could.
Inside, seemingly unbothered by the wall of sound booming from the speakers in the corners of the room, was a girl who couldn’t have been older than fifteen.
She was dressed in a black, sleeveless jumpsuit with the sleeves pulled up to her elbows, covered in various stains. Her bright red hair was pulled into a ponytail behind her head, making way for the welding goggles that shielded her vision from whatever she was currently working on. Random parts were strewn all over the surface of the table in front of her, half-assembled equipment that looked like junk to him but probably had some meaning to her.
Since she hadn’t noticed him, Barker took a moment to glance around the room. It was a spartan space, with nothing on the walls, not even a poster. The kitchen looked clean but used. The bed, less so. There was a pile of clothes heaped up beside it, possibly dirty but given that the wardrobe looked untouched, that was probably just where she kept them.
Even more crap was strewn out along the floors, though there was some semblance of actual thought put into it. Along the wall was a humanoid form draped in a sheet. Scuff marks around it indicated that the area got a lot of traffic—probably some project she was working on.
Barker was about to step further inside when the music suddenly cut off. The silence was so abrupt that it left his ears ringing for a split second.
”You finished staring, creep?”
Barker blinked, turning to find the girl staring at him over her shoulder. Her welding goggles had been pushed up onto her forehead, revealing a pair of bloodshot eyes haloed by dark circles. She seemed annoyed to see him in her room, or maybe she was just angry to have her work interrupted.
Barker straightened, automatically falling into attention as she regarded him with that intense stare. “Boss wants to see you,” he said, and her eyes narrowed.
Roxy’s expression soured further, her lips pressing into a thin line. She held his gaze for a moment longer than was comfortable, her green eyes sharper than a girl her age had any right to be.
Then she turned back to her workbench without a word, setting down the soldering iron she’d been holding.
”Give me a minute,” she said, her tone clipped.
Barker didn’t argue. He’d heard stories about Tinkers and their workshops and he didn’t want to piss the girl off more than he had to. He had a good thing going here. No need to mess it up messing with a super powered preteen.
He watched as she carefully set aside the half-assembled device she’d been working on and pulled off her welding gloves. She tossed them onto the table, then reached up to remove the goggles from her forehead, setting them beside a stack of metal plates.
”Alright,” she said, hopping down from the stool. She stretched her arms above her head, her joints popping audibly, before running a hand through her messy ponytail. “Let’s get this over with, creep.”
She brushed past him without waiting for him to lead the way. Barker sighed and fell into step behind her, his rifle still held loosely across his chest.
Kids.
[TONE]
The past month of Roxy’s life had been... Complicated was a good word for it. She was practically in paradise as far as her tinkering was concerned, cooped up in a room all alone with nothing but her power and an endless toybox of materials to work with. She could make pretty much anything she wanted!
As long as she filled a quota.
And therein lied the hell in her heaven. No matter how awesome it was to have time to tinker and the materials to do so, Roxy was reminded every single day that it wasn’t by her own merits. Even though the chains were pretty, was still basically a slave.
Every three days, she was expected to produce at least two complete sonic weapons, functional and ready for field testing. The specs were specific, too. Coil wanted compact devices that could be easily concealed, variable frequency emitters that could do anything from disorienting a target to shattering bone. A bunch of very specific shit that Roxy would have loved to test out on ghe man himself.
It was the kind of work Roxy would have killed for a month ago. Factory new materials, no budget constraints, and all the time in the world to experiment and refine. She’d produced six working prototypes in the first week alone, each one better than the last, and had pages upon pages of notes on potential improvements and modifications.
But every time she finished a weapon, it was taken away, inspected by Coil’s people, cataloged, and stored somewhere she wasn’t allowed to go. She had no idea what they were being used for, or who they were being used on, not that she really cared. But she would have liked to test them out at least once herself.
The worst part was that she couldn’t even complain. She had a real bed, a hot shower, a workbench that didn’t wobble and tools that didn’t choke with rust—pretty much everything she dreamed of.
But it wasn’t hers. Every single bit of it belonged to Coil. And so did she.
Roxy kept the scowl off of her face as she stepped into Coil’s office. The guard waited by the door, waiting to take her back to her room or just keeping watch in case she tried anything funny. All of Coil’s men were well trained, probably ex-military or something. She wouldn’t have tried anything even if she had the means to do so.
”What do you want?” Roxy asked the man sitting in the chair in front of her. Coil’s lanky form was somewhat hidden by the monitor in front of him, dark spandex silhouetted in the blue light of his monitor.
He regarded her with his featureless, masked face, tilting his head slightly. “Is that any way to talk to your investor, Pet? I’ve given you everything you could have ever wanted. There’s no need to be rude.”
Roxy’s scowl deepened. “Call me that again and your men are gonna be losing a lot more than their hearing when they fire my guns.”
Coil’s chuckle made her skin crawl. “You shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds you. I’ve given you a generous offer compared to most. Don’t forget that, Pet.”
Roxy strangled her growl and settled for staring the man down. Coil chuckled again and steepled his hands on the desk in front of him.
”Let’s get to the point of why I called you here. I have a task for you.”
Roxy eyed him warily and Coil gestured to the chair across from him. She didn’t move. He didn’t seem bothered by her refusal, simply leaning back in his own seat. “You’ve done wel outfitting my men with your sonic weaponry. You do very good work.”
”Glad I could help,” Roxy said flatly.
Coil inclined his head. “And you gave, but I think it’s time you had a more hands-on assignment.”
Roxy fought very hard not to let her reaction at the prospect of going outside show on her face. She eyed him. “What do you mean hands on?”
Coil’s face titled downward, as if he was looking at his screen. “As I’m sure you’ve gathered, I have several assets working for me here in the Bay. One such asset is a group known as the Undersiders. Small-time, for now, and in desperate need of heavy hitters for what I have planned.”
”You want me to join them.”
”Smart girl.” Coil’s voice was approving. “Yes. You will be joining the Undersiders as a mercenary under contract. Ostensibly, you are simply another hire sent by their mysterious benefactor, nothing more. Your true loyalties are not to be mentioned.”
Roxy’s jaw tightened at the notion of loyalty to this man, but she kept her mouth shut as she recognized the opportunity that lied before her. She’d heard of the Undersiders, small-time, like he said, but they were an established team who regularly got into fights with the gangs and even other capes. Here was an opportunity to stretch her legs.
”So if I’m not allowed to tell them I’m working for you, how am I going to join? Just walk up to their lair and tell them their mystery master hired me?”
”I have an agent in the group who will handle your application. Just be at the specified meeting point when the time comes and the rest will be taken care of,” Coil stared at her. “I trust you understand how generous I am being in giving you this chance.”
Generous wasn’t a word Roxy would put anywhere near this slimy bastard, but the offer on the line was so enticing that for once, she kept her mouth shut and nodded
”You have a week to prepare,” Coil continued. “I’m putting a pause on weapons production until then. I suggest you use that time to finish the project you’ve been slaving over in your free time.
Roxy kept her expression neutral, but inside her mood soured drastically. The project he was talking about had been her personal focus throughout the entirety of her time here. With high quality materials and unlimited free time, she could build basically anything that came to her mind, and her power took that and ran with it like a crackhead with a key bump.
Granted, she knew there was no way to keep it an actual secret given her situation, but it was personal. Hers. The idea of anyone seeing it before it was finished made ants crawl up her spine.
”Whatever,” she gritted out through pursed lips. She turned to leave but before she could.
”One more thing,” Coil leaned forward, and she could feel him staring at him underneath his mask. “It would do you well to remember what position you’re in. I can deal with a certain amount of disrespect, but if you continue, you will quickly find that deals can change. Is that understood?”
”...Yes, sir.”
”Good,” Coil waved a hand. “Barker will show you back to your room.”
Roxy stomped out of the office without another word, her fists clenched at her sides. Barker fell into step behind her, his rifle still held loosely across his chest. She could feel his eyes on her back, watching for any sudden movements.
”Scared I’ll strangle you to death with my tiny hands, creep?” Roxy sneered over her shoulder.
Barker didn’t rise to the bait, shrugging loosely. “Just following protocol, ma’am.”
”Ma’am.” Roxy scoffed, turning back around. “I’m thirteen, dipshit.”
”Mmh. You act like it,” he said, and nudged her as she slowed. “Keep it moving, kid.”
Roxy’s face burned as she stalked to her room. Barker left her behind at the door, screwing off to who-knows-where and leaving her alone again. She stomped to her workbench and turned her music back on, relishing the sound washing over her, drowning out her thoughts.
Roxy stood in front of her workbench dor a few minutes, letting the music wash over her. The bass thrummed in her chest, the vocals screamed in her ears, and slowly, the heat in her face began to fade. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
He’s going to get what’s coming to him.
Similar thoughts rolled through her head every single day since she was out down here. Coil thought he had a little patsy, a pet with a leash to tug on and a song to sing. Like hell.
She opened her eyes and crossed the room to the corner where the sheet hiding her project lied. She’d been working on it since she was press-ganged and shoved in here, spending every moment she wasn’t sleeping or making weapons hunched over the frame, working on perfection.
Roxy grabbed the edge of the sheet and pulled, revealing a month’s worth of hard work to hungry eyes. Dozens of nicked or burned fingers and sleepless nights shined through in careful welds and messy hotwires, but the greater whole was there, slowly given form under her restless hands.
Roxy ran a hand over the smooth chest-plate, feeling the cool metal slip under her digits as she stared into the slitted visor she had painstakingly molded.
Power armor wasn’t her specialty, but like most Tinkers, she was able to dip her toes into the craft. A bit of finagling with her power let her circumnavigate most of the annoying roadblocks like the exoskeleton. Trying to figure out the power source alone gave her headaches for a week until she hit the wall hard enough to break through it.
”Coil doesn’t know a damn thing,” Roxy muttered, grabbing her tools and slipping on her welding goggles. “We’re gonna blow this world apart.”