Chapter 16: Beatrice

This commander is nice. 

Beatrice followed her new commander and the other engie into the building next to them. Seeing as how she was at the back, Beatrice kept her shield floating at chest level behind her to protect from any assailants that might ambush them from the rear. The other engie seemed reluctant to let the commander take point, but the taller woman held her tongue.

Sarah, I think I remember the commander saying. Beatrice could sense this other engie was far stronger than she was.

That was fine. It was good for the commander to have someone strong to slay the bad guys. Beatrice’s job was to keep the commander safe. To her, she was already a good fit for this team of three.

But I shouldn’t get my hopes up… not again. Beatrice felt the corners of her mouth fall slightly.

The process to become an engie was a long and grueling one. Not everyone survived. Even if you do survive there’s a chance you come out with permanent damage that even an engie’s accelerated healing factor won’t be able to repair. Beatrice rubbed her throat and watched the back of the commander as he led them into a library within the school.

The commander knew a bit of sign language, but he’ll get rid of me as soon as he realizes what a burden I am. Beatrice’s internal words weighed her down like a pallet of bricks.

The initial joy of emerging into this world with a commander to protect faded rapidly as her mind flooded with memories of past commanders disposing of her as quickly as they could. No one wanted damaged goods.

The commander hopped over a reception desk and opened up a storage closet. He rummaged around for a bit before emerging with a small rectangular white board in one hand and a fist full of dry erase markers in the other. Beatrice wanted to ask what he was doing, but the commander rushed past and made his way to the education section of the library’s wide collection of books.

Beatrice couldn’t remember the last time she had seen a library. There were a few left in the wealthy sections of the protected cities, but engies would never be allowed in under normal circumstances. Even Sarah’s hardened gaze lifted to inspect the heavy laden shelves full of children’s stories, dictionaries, and informational texts.

“Come on, come on.” The commander muttered to himself.

“What are you-” Sarah began to ask, but the commander snapped a book off the shelf with a triumphant exclamation.

“Bingo!”

The commander flipped the book around to show the engies his discovery.

‘Beginner’s Visual Guide to Learning American Sign Language’

Beatrice blinked and read the title twice more. Spencer tucked the book under his arm and smiled at her.

“This book is for me. I’m going to study it during our down time until I can speak with you properly. In the meantime,” The commander handed Beatrice the white board and markers, “You can use this to write out anything I don’t understand.”

Beatrice looked back and forth between the commander, the ASL learning book, and the white board in her hands. She uncapped a blue marker and shakily wrote out a single word.

‘Why?’ 

The commander cocked his head and frowned.

“Why? Well I want to be able to talk to you.” He said it so casually. 

Beatrice hastily wiped off the board and wrote again.

‘But I can hear you. You don’t have to worry.’

Spencer shook his head. “I think you misunderstand. I don’t just want you to be able to follow orders. I want to get to know you better. I want us to be a team. I want to be able to protect you and be someone you can rely on.”

Protect… Me?

Beatrice felt the room spin. The commander’s voice echoed in her head over and over again. The feeling nearly toppled her over, but the commander stepped in immediately with steady hands.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

His brown eyes were so full of concern. It was beautiful. It was wrong. It couldn’t be true.

‘I’m damaged, commander. I’m a faulty weapon.’

Beatrice echoed the words from her last commander that haunted her dreams. Spencer looked to Sarah for help. The tall blonde looked down at Beatrice with sympathy.

“Sometimes an engie will have lasting side effects from the process that creates us. It’s not uncommon for such engies to be… disposed of.”

It’s cruel of this commander to try and build my hope up only to throw it away later.

Despite her mind screaming at her not to trust him, Beatrice’s hands clutched onto the white board he gave her like it was a lifeline.

“I see.” The commander’s gaze turned mournful.

Here it comes. Beatrice braced for her heart to be shattered once more.

A pair of arms wrapped around her and pulled her against something warm. Beatrice blinked and only then realized that the commander had hugged her tightly.

“You’ve probably been through some awful stuff, haven’t you?”

Beatrice didn’t move. She couldn’t breathe.

“It’s okay.” He whispered gently against her light blue hair. “I’m not going to toss you away so carelessly.”

The walls around Beatrice’s heart collapsed like tissue paper. A flood of pain, self hatred, and anger roared through her body like a hurricane. She shamelessly clutched onto the commander and sobbed harder than she ever let herself in her life. She couldn’t let go even if she wanted to. 

They slowly sank to the floor of the library while she cried. 

The commander was the only safe harbor against this storm she had kept inside her heart. For his part, the commander didn’t stop hugging her, stroking her hair, or whispering soothing words into her ear for the duration of her meltdown. 

Beatrice didn’t know how long it took for the tears to stop, but the commander’s shirt was drenched from her tears.

‘Sorry.’

Beatrice signed when she finally pulled away and wiped her red puffy eyes. The commander smiled and signed back.

‘It’s okay.’

He reached out and patted her head gently.

“It feels a bit late, but can I ask your name?”

Beatrice felt blood rush to her face. Here she was, drenching this kind person in tears and he didn’t even know who she was. Yet somehow he’d already grown to understand her better than anyone else ever had. Beatrice grabbed her white board and hastily re-introduced herself.

‘Thank you, commander. Beatrice reporting for duty.’

The commander smiled that wonderful smile that Beatrice was beginning to long for.

“I’m happy to have you Beatrice. My name is Spencer. I’ll try to be a good commander for you.”

Feeling bold, Beatrice signed very quickly.

‘Someday soon, I’m going to kiss you until you pass out commander.’

The commander chuckled and shook his head.

“I’m afraid I didn’t catch that one, sorry. Can you write it down?”

Beatrice smiled and shook her head. 

Instead she wrote, ‘It’s a secret.’

******

‘ Engie Name: Beatrice

Rank: B

Class: Deflection Specialist

Role: Tank

Range: Melee

Damage Type: Bludgeoning

Passive Abilities: Omni Directional Hover Shield, Immovable

Active Abilities: Savior Speed, Eyes On Me’

******

Spencer led the trio out the front doors of the school after confirming their immediate surroundings were clear. The parking lot was still a haunting sight of abandoned cars and school buses. The afternoon was hot, but a thin layer of clouds protected them from direct sunlight. Spencer had already grown used to the smell of death and destruction that hung over his hometown. A fact that unsettled his stomach far more than the actual smell should have.

“Bikes.” Spencer whispered while nodding west where they left the two mountain bikes.

Sarah took the lead while Beatrice kept close behind Spencer. When they made it the short distance to the corner of the building Spencer paused. They only had two. Leaving them behind felt like a waste, but walking them down the street felt cumbersome. There were a few bicycles chained up to a nearby bike stand, but all of them were kid sized.

“What should we do?” Spencer asked the engie girls quietly.

‘I could sit in the commander’s lap.’ Beatrice offered on her whiteboard.

Spencer frowned and considered it. “I mean, this type of bike isn’t really designed for that. You’d be bouncing up and down in my lap as we rode. It would be hard on me and rough on you.”

For some reason Beatrice blushed something fierce and gazed down hard at the sidewalk. Sarah looked grumpy.

Did I say something? Spencer wondered.

“I can easily outpace a bicycle, commander. Allow me to run alongside until we can find a suitable replacement. That is, if Beatrice knows how to ride a bicycle.” Sarah glared at the other engie.

Beatrice, having recovered from her odd embarrassment, didn’t seem affected by the other girl’s slightly hostile tone.

‘I might be rusty, but I should be able to manage.’ Beatrice wrote with a smile.

“It’s set-”

Sarah moved faster than Spencer could visualize. Halfway through his sentence Sarah closed the distance between them and shoved Spencer back against the wall. She spun to face the street while unsheathing her sword in one motion. Beatrice was a half second behind. One hand placed against Spencer’s chest while the other raised her quarterstaff towards the unknown danger. Beatrice’s floating shield hovered near Spencer’s head protectively.

“What-” Spencer’s question died in his throat when he witnessed a blur race past on the road.

It was only visible for a second.

Fast. Very fast. Spencer swallowed hard. Even faster than Sarah.

The blur shot past the school again. This time moving the other direction.

“A new type of monster?” Spencer surmised.

Sarah shook her head. “Unfortunately, no.”

Spencer frowned at her answer, but before he could clarify what she meant the blur was back. This time rather than speeding past like it had the two times before it raced into the parking lot and stopped behind a car whose windows were all shattered.

“Wow! Survivors!”

The blur wasn’t a monster at all, rather, it turned out to be a smiling twenty something asian girl wearing large headphones blasting music Spencer could hear from a distance. She had a tight grey wind blazer, an odd choice given the warm late spring/early summer weather, rainbow colored athletic pants, and a yellow backpack strapped securely across her back. She had raven black hair, bright brown eyes covered by a pair of grey cycling glasses, a slim build, and a wide smile.

There was one fact about this girl that Spencer felt embarrassed to acknowledge before everything else.

She’s pretty. 

Even as he thought the words, Beatrice’s floating shield rotated in front of his face to block the headphone wearing girl from view.

‘It could be dangerous.’ The shorter girl hastily wrote out on her whiteboard with cheeks the color of tomatoes.

Beatrice looked cautious, upset, and angry all at the same time. She wasn’t the only one.