I AM MAN, page 13
Chapter Twelve
The sand rider rocked as it crawled through waves of gold dust. Clora blinked back her sleepiness as the movement shook her from her dreams. Reality swarmed her, almost violently. She glanced around and took in the dim, flickering lights, saw the open panels of the control board and traced the wiring to the X-class frame lying on the floor. Then she remembered.
They’d been shot at … by a firing squad. Code had protected her, shielding her with his body as the bullets pierced his back. She would never forget the sound of him crying out in pain—such raw pain that’d nearly killed him. Somehow, Clora had managed to drag her Guardian into the waiting rider and close the doors. It’d already been synced to X5’s systems so it had coordinates and a destination marked on its map but when X5 went into system failure, that connection had been lost.
Clora sat in the dark rider for 20 agonizing minutes as she tried to manually connect her data gem to the system. She’d just gotten it to work when Helios had announced that he would blow the door off if she didn’t come out. Before he could deliver on that threat, the rider burrowed underground and began its crawl through the dry sea.
That’d been days ago. Riders weren’t sentient but they were sturdy. Built for long trips across the desert, the beetle shaped vehicle wouldn’t give out any time soon, but the same couldn’t be said for Clora. She had no other clothes, had gotten very little sleep, and hadn’t much food left—she’d been eating what she could find in the emergency survival kit. Every rider came equipped with one, considering how dangerous a malfunction in the middle of the desert could be.
Unsurprisingly, the bulk of the princess’s worries had nothing to do with herself. As she stared at Code-X5, an overwhelming feeling of guilt flooded through her. If she’d been quicker, he wouldn’t have had to protect her. If she’d been as heartless to Helios as he was to her, he wouldn’t have been around to shoot her Guardian.
After she’d connected her data gem and plugged in coordinates as far east as the rider could crawl, Clora had turned her attention to X5. He looked dead, his eyes dim and his Core fading. It wasn’t crystal blue anymore; it’d faded to an odd shade of grey—something she’d never seen before. Holding on to hope, Clora convinced herself it meant he was still alive and got to work.
She knew absolutely nothing about riders and very little about Skel, but she was locked inside a high-class sand crawler filled with wires and spare parts. And she still had that journal—bursting with the ramblings of a Skel-obsessed fanatic. There had to be a way to save X5.
Clora pored over her cousin’s journal, along with the rider’s manual (which she’d found after tearing the small vehicle apart). If there was a chance to save her Skel, she had to start by removing all the bullets from his back and chest and then connect his Core directly to a power source for immediate charge.
The young princess had no idea how many bullets were stuck inside her Guardian but by the time she’d set down her pliers, she had sixteen lying on the floor before her. Bastion’s writing suggested more expensive Skel were built with longevity in mind, even ones with massive damage could be repaired with the right parts and the right engineer. She had hardly any parts and Clora wasn’t an engineer at all. But she was determined.
“Don’t worry, Exfive,” she’d muttered, untangling the wires she’d tugged loose from the rider’s control board. The vehicle’s manual said it could still operate basic functions while sacrificing up to 30 percent of its wiring. Clora tugged it loose, carefully cut the ones detailed in the pictures of her manual and eased them between the plating in Code’s chest until his Core began to hum. It was working.
But it was working slowly. Nearly five days had passed and X5 hadn’t awakened—the waiting was even worse because his recharge came at the cost of the air conditioning and 20 percent of the rider’s maximum speed. Thankfully, they were mostly traveling underground so Clora didn’t melt inside the rider. But, with reduced speed, they were traveling slower, and Code hadn’t gotten any better. Plus, his recharge was constantly sapping energy from the rider’s battery. The crawler could give out before reaching a village or city, which was the worst possible scenario.
Getting caught by her brother was better than being stranded in the desert. At least he would rescue her and take her back home where there was water and better-quality food and a bath.
And a cage waiting for her, too.
Clora grimaced. The only reason her brother hadn’t caught her yet was because he hadn’t sent anyone to find her. Helios couldn’t risk sending out the Skel army Sunder had supposedly surrendered to him. It would draw too much attention. She was an exiled princess on the run with a Skel rumored to have killed one prince and threatened another. Clora and her Guardian had broken out of prison, murdered a Destroyer, and left half a dozen injured or dead Skel behind. It was bad enough part of the palace had been blown to bits, if word about their great escape—and all the death that came with it—got beyond the dunes of the dry sea, the backlash might be enough to shake the very foundation of the Pureblood Pyramid of society.
That, or Helios expected her to die in the desert. There was a good chance that she would, she didn’t blame her brother for not wanting to waste resources on her. If her rider ran out of energy, she would die in the dry sea and be buried under the sand, her remains would likely never be found. Problem solved.
Except that Clora didn’t plan on dying. She’d spent five days inside her hot rider coming up with a plan. Had rationed out her own food supplies to prepare for the moment her vehicle clunked out. The expensive gown she’d been wearing when she was running for her life had been shredded into strips and tied around poles taken from a metal chair in the corner of her rider. It made a simple sled, which she planned to use to drag X5 through the desert if he was still comatose when the rider gave out.
It was just a matter of time now. Every step the rider took was one she wouldn’t have to. So she sat in silence, listening to the shifting sands around her as the machine crawled beneath the dry sea. Beside her, X5 lay completely still, his eyes dim—as if he’d been powered down. But she knew better; his eyes wouldn’t be dim if he were dead, they’d be completely dark, like turning out a light.
There was still hope.
Code’s Core looked better, too; the grey hue appeared somewhat white now—maybe it would be back to that familiar crystal blue in time? She could only guess. For now, she sat and listened to the sand, read through her cousin’s journal, and held on to the finger X04 had left behind.
Yet another Skel that’d made the ultimate sacrifice for her. Tears swelled in her eyes as she stared at the finger in her hand. X04 had gained her freedom ten years ago but chose to remain chained because she believed in Prince Dima’s cause. The moment she’d decided to embrace her freewill, her life was cut short. Now everything was up to Clora and X5—if X5 made it through the next few days. And if he made it, would he even want to help? What if he didn’t believe X04’s story? She had barely believed it herself. But she knew it’d been true. It had to be.
Day nine in the stifling rider, Clora nibbled a protein bar as she sat cross-legged on the floor. Bastion’s journal was open in front of her, a page grasped between her fingers as she turned it—that’s when the rider groaned. It slowed its pace as it began to ascend, crawling to the surface so it could die in the sun. It automatically opened its wing-shaped doors, so it’s passengers wouldn’t be trapped inside. Clora blinked at the bright afternoon sunshine, her eyes burning. She hadn’t realized how long it’d been since she’d stepped outside, felt a breeze on her skin, or walked more than a few steps in the cramped vehicle.
There was plenty of walking to do now. Clora put her bar away and started packing up her items, just like she’d planned. Two canisters of water, three packs of food—enough calories for at least a week. But it wasn’t the food or water that worried her. She had to drag an X-class Skel through the desert all on her own. That would slow her down, that would tire her out, that would probably be the death of her. But the grueling heat wasn’t the only thing that could kill her in the desert. There were wild sun cats, angry gizzard eagles, and even sand dragons. Which is exactly why Clora had sharpened one of the rods from her metal chair; it wasn’t as good as the weapons built into X5, but it would have to do for now.
The princess pulled her Guardian’s cloak over her shoulders to protect her skin from the harsh heat. X5 lay on the makeshift sled behind her, his Core faintly glowing in his chest. She’d downloaded a map of the Vale Republic and the Savai Empire to her data gem earlier. It was hard to get a signal out in the middle of nowhere, but she’d scanned the map on the rider’s system before it’d died so at least she had a reference to start with. Just head east, she reminded herself.
If there was ever a time where her status as a Child of God meant anything more than Pyramid propaganda, now would be it. Because it wouldn’t take grit or fate or luck to get her out of the desert. It would take the real power of a real God. She’d believed the stories all her life, faithfully praying and fasting—as a pious little Pureblood princess should. But she’d also known the reasons why she’d been told the stories. Had seen the way the Alien and Augment races fed into their tales of Creation—had even worshipped them as Children of the Triune.
But now it wasn’t just a story. Now, she was mumbling a real prayer to a real God and there was no Alien or Augment around to be impressed. She could really die. X5 could really die. And all this could end up being a total waste of time—a waste of sacrifice. But she had to try.
She gripped the reins to her shabby sled and took her first step into the dry sea, muttering to herself. “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the paths for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me…”
Continue the series…
I AM LOST
More books by Valicity Elaine & TRC Publishing!
Christian Fantasy
Cross Academy
The End of the World series
The Scribe
Christian Romance
Withered Rose
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Christian Children’s Fiction
Too Young
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The Christian Message
Some of you may already know that I am a Christian. As a lover of Christ, I make it a point to include my faith in everything I do. Sometimes the message is very clear, sometimes it is more subtle. In this series, I decided to incorporate my faith through the cultural aspects of the Pureblood empire. I hope you recognized the scriptures used, the Biblical references, and even the standards Clora placed on herself as a woman of God.
While our characters may not always behave as a perfect Christian, the message I truly wanted to relay was that God loves us all. No matter the color of your skin, the way you dress, or the way you look. Jesus still died for YOU, and you get to enjoy His grace and mercy every day if you accept Him as your Lord and Savior.
Learn from the tragedies and corruption of the Purebloods. Claiming the Christian title is not the same as living a Christian life. Being a Christian is not the same as being an elitist.
Let us strive to be a true demonstration of what it means to be a loving, kind, and forgiving Child of God.
Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. Proverbs 16:24 NLT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you, Jesus! I always give thanks to God first—that’s one of the reasons He has blessed me so much. I wouldn’t have this book if it weren’t for Him. Can you believe this project began over five years ago? I still have the original first chapter saved on my computer. It has been a long journey, yet, it has only just begun. I hope you enjoyed this book! I look forward to seeing you in the next installment, I AM LOST.
Please take the time to check out my other books! I’m sure you’ll love my newest epic fantasy, Cross Academy, or my new romantic series, Withered Rose. Click the titles to start reading now.
The Rebel Christian Publishing
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Original Author’s Notes
Chapter One
Believe it or not, I've had a HUGE obsession with robots and AI ever since I saw Will Smith in "I Robot" as a child. When I was younger, I would pray, Lord please give me a story like that! And here I am! Maybe not as good, haha, but it's all I got and I hope you enjoyed.
Chapter Two
I'm going to be a nerd and admit my favorite part of this chapter was the convo with all the Skel! Haha! I had SO much fun writing that scene, I was squealing like a little girl as I typed. Will those Skel become members of the main cast? We shall see!
Chapter Three
If you've made it this far, you are awesome! I hope to see you in the next chapter! God bless!
Chapter Four
Anyone out there enjoy X04's introduction? I love her character but my little sister has been trying to talk me into having X5 hack her system, haha. She is obviously not a fan.
Chapter Five
Yikes…
Chapter Six
I couldn't wait to get this chapter uploaded! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! I try my hardest to comb through each episode multiple times before posting it, so I apologize if you have found any typos. Some of them slip through the cracks, but I'll keep a careful eye on future chapters. Looking forward to the next update! See you soon!
Chapter Seven
I have to be honest with you all... I have mixed feelings about Helios. I never wanted to portray him as such a monster but his character so easily slips into that persona. Both of my sisters hate him, haha. But they are die-hard X5 fangirls so they hate anyone who doesn't treat him well. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll see you next week, same time as usual!
Chapter Eight
This revelation was the single most enjoyable part of the entire story for me. I always feel dissatisfied whenever I read long strips of dialogue but I felt this conversation was necessary and I wanted to reveal this information in a weird setting... ie, Clora in a cage and X04 staring through the bars. Haha XD
Chapter Nine
I'm sorry this chapter was so long! I just didn't want to break it into two different episodes. What do you think of Clora's stand against her brother? One of the worries I had for this story was that readers would see the princess as weak. While she isn't a warrior like her sister, I think Clora does have a strength of her own and we saw part of that today. Could it be that X5 made her strong? Or was she always this way?
Chapter Ten
Oh noooo! I had a lot of fun with this chapter! I was really happy to get back to X5's POV, though it was a little hard to say goodbye to X04. Now it's time for our favorite Skel to take charge and get his client to safety. I'm getting nervous, haha! Quick question: Which gender do you view S14 as? I asked this question to my sisters and one said a male and the other said female. Very interesting...
Surprise! S14 is a male unit ... maybe we'll see more of him in the future???
Chapter Eleven
Writing the end of this chapter was difficult for me…
Chapter Twelve
This story was quite a ride, wasn't it? But it isn't over yet! Keep your eyes peeled for the second installment of I AM MAN, titled, I AM LOST! Episodes will be available *very* soon; I expect to see you there! Until then, God bless and happy reading!
Elaine, Valicity, I AM MAN
