It’s a … How do I explain bird? Never mind. I guess I’ll be The Dagger. Revolution’s gotta have a face after all. Only problem is there isn’t any. There’s no Hand of Yetskots. There’s no insurgence. None we’ve heard of, anyway. We have meetings. We hand out leaflets. We have no weapons unless you count kitchen knives, and we sure as hell don’t blow up buildings. They vaporized a school in Eskyaks last week. A school! There were no kids inside, but people died. We went there to see if we could help. It’s a fairly poor region. Waste of time. There was nothing to help with. Nothing left. Now, they’re blaming us for it. Well, not us, me, and this organization that doesn’t exist.
The soup kitchen is closed, crawling with security. My guess is they’re searching the place for proof. I’m sure they’ll find some. If they’re willing to destroy a school just so they can frame us for it, I don’t see why they wouldn’t go the extra mile and plant some evidence.
Now the Imperial Guard is pounding at the door. My father is with them. He has been chasing me, hunting me down, for about a week. We used to be so close. It wasn’t that long ago, he’d have faced an entire army just to protect me. That’s what fathers do, right? Now … Well, now he’s brought the army with him.
I wonder why the Imperial Guard is here instead of local security. The empress has no power in the regions. At least, she’s not supposed to. It doesn’t really matter, I guess. We’re still screwed. Ityets has disabled the door. It’s basically a solid metal wall now, but they’ll break through it soon enough.
Why would anyone want to pin this on me? I’m probably the least important person here. I don’t know anyone. I have like five friends. I can’t even vote. Why would my father help them? This doesn’t make any sense. None of it does.
What do you think they’ll do to us? Do you think they’ll kill us?
[Ops! Vincent, eyet ops ekuktyek atast!]
I don’t know anymore, Ityets. I didn’t think he’d be the one hunting us either. What are you doing?
[Ast eyoptet.]
You can hear them? What are they saying?
[Eps eyonats itont ikt.]
Step away from the door? Yokits, Ityets! Get back! Get back!
FILE NO. 2195 (CONTINUED)
MISSION LOG—VINCENT COUTURE AND SERGEANT ALEXANDER VASILIEV
Location: Aboard Themis. Sinuiju, North Korea
—What the hell just happened?
—They shot us in the back, or kicked us. I don’t know.
—Can you see them?
—No. Push up, Alex, we need to get up!
—I am! What the hell are they doing?
—They’re rolling us over! Grab his leg and throw him to the ground! Alex! Grab his leg before he can pin us down!
Oh shit!
—I can’t move my arms!
—Eva, don’t do this!
[Did you stop when I told you not to drag Ekim into this? Now take this you yokits ass! UGH! How’s that feel?]
—AAAAGH! What do I do?
—I have no fu—AAAAAGH! Stop it, Eva! AAAAAARGH!
—MY ARM!
—Alex?
—I think I dislocated my shoulder.
—You broke his arm, Eva, now stop this!
[Tough luck. He shouldn’t have come with you if he didn’t want to get hurt.]
AAARGH! Screw this! I’m beaming us out of here!
—We’re on our back, Vincent! Where can we—AAARGH!
—UP, ALEX! WE’RE GOING UP!
…
—Where are we?
—About five hundred feet in the air.
—You’re insane!
—Maybe. We’re falling. Brace yourself, this is gonna leave a mark!
—FUUUUUUCK MEEEEEE!!!!
FILE NO. 2196 (CONTINUED)
MISSION LOG—WARRANT OFFICER EVA REYES AND LT. BARBARA BALL, U.S. MARINE CORPS, MECHA DIVISION
Location: Aboard Lapetus. Seoul, South Korea
—MOVE, BARBARA! THEY’RE ABOVE US!
—Abo—AAAAAAARRGH!
— …
—Eva, I need help.
—Aagh …
—Eva?
—My … My left arm’s broken.
—Eva, I need help. I—
—I’m here, Barbara.
—I don’t know what happened. My legs …
—They fell on top of us, Barbara. They beamed into the yokits sky. Are you OK?
—I can’t move my legs.
—Get out of your station, Barbara. I’ll come down and beam us away.
—I can’t get out. That machine I’m in. I think it broke, crushed my legs inside it. I can’t feel them. I can’t feel anything from the waist down.
—I’ll come help you!
—No, don’t. You’ll do more harm than good. They’ll need to take this thing apart to get me out of it.
—Your face is bleeding.
—Oh … I might have broken my nose on the console. Where’s Themis?
—She’s on her back right next to us.
—What are you doing, Eva?
—I’m dragging us on top of her.
—I won’t be able to get up, Eva. It’s over.
—Give me the weapon.
—Eva. No.
—Fine. I’ll hit with my hands. I’m not giving up, Barbara.
—Jesus Christ, Eva.
[Eva, are you there?]
—Fuck you, Dad.
[Eva, you have to stop! We have to stop!]
I won’t stop! I won’t do what you want.
<Lapetus, this is Central. What’s your status?> I’m done listening to you.
<Lapetus, do you copy? Over.> My whole life, you tried to tell me what to do. Yokits, that hurts! Well, not anymore, Dad. You’re done ruining my life. You’re— <Lapetus, do you co—> WHAT, Central? What do you want?
<What is your current status, Lapetus?> Good question, Central. What is our status? That contraption of yours crushed the lieutenant’s legs. We can’t walk. I have one good arm.
<Lapetus, are you able to retreat?> Retreat? I’m losing you, Central. The signal’s bad. Real bad.
[Eva, my copilot’s unconscious, maybe dead. I’d leave if I could, but you have to stop.]
You stole my yokits life, Vincent!
FILE NO. 2195 (CONTINUED)
MISSION LOG—VINCENT COUTURE AND SERGEANT ALEXANDER VASILIEV
Location: Aboard Themis. Sinuiju, North Korea
—Eva, my copilot’s unconscious, maybe dead. I’d leave if I could, but you have to stop.
[You stole my yokits life, Vincent!]
Eva, I’m sorry.
[You stole my life just so you could get back here! To your life in this … cesspool!]
Oh God, Eva. You don’t know what I did, what we had to do to get you back here. You have no idea.
[Who is we? What did you do?]
Rose and I, after Eugene died, we swore to each other we would get you back home safe. We thought we could do it, find a way home, but we didn’t. We couldn’t. We … I gave up everything, Eva. I gave up everyone.
[What does that mean? What did you do, Vincent?! WHAT DID YOU DO!]
The empress, she offered us a way home. But she … She wanted to take over, she needed to make arrests.
[Oh, no! No! No! No!]
I did it, Eva. I gave up everyone, all our friends.
[YOU MOTHERFUCKER!]
AAAARGH! I did it Eva! I killed them. I gave her Esok’s name. She’s dead because of me.
[I’LL KILL YOU!!!]
DO IT! Do it, Eva! If that’s what you want, keep punching! AAARRRGH!!!!
…
[They didn’t do anything, you stupid yokits asshole! They didn’t do it! We didn’t do it! There was no Hand of Yetskots!]
I know!
[What?]
We knew, Eva. We knew from the beginning it was all a sham. We knew the minute the empress told us about the Hand, the minute she said she wanted to swoop in and save the day.
[And you gave up all our friends anyway! IIIIII HAAAAAATE YOOOOUUUUU!]
AAAARGH! Do you think the empress fucking gave a shit whether you did it or not? AAAAGH! COME ON! You can hit harder than this! She was going to get them. She had all of their names! She was going to kill you! I did it, Eva. I gave up everything. I gave up who I was. I turned on everyone I loved. I betrayed an entire fucking planet to save you, Eva.
[I hate you—]
I know you do, Eva. If you want to kill me, go ahead! Do you think I care if I live or die after all that? I don’t have anything left. I lost you! I was willing to lose you if it meant you could live. I was willing to lose everything. And I have. But you’re alive. You’re alive, Eva. I don’t give a shit what happens to me now.
…
Do it, Eva! Finish this!
FILE NO. EE463—PERSONAL FILE FROM ESAT EKT
Personal Log—Dr. Rose Franklin and Vincent Couture
Location: Assigned residence, Etyakt region
—I did it, Rose. It’s done.
—Where’s Eva?
—Eugene’s house. I didn’t want to bring her back to our place.
—The Imperial Guard?
—They left with Iyets right after we found him.
—I was hoping they’d escort us to Themis. I suppose we’ll have to get there without them. We need to go, now.
—Now?
—Yes, now. Enatast was just here. The insurgents, or so we’re told, seized control of … hundreds of robots. They’re marching on Osk right now. There are hundreds more lining up to stop them.
—How can they do that? Take control of the robots?