Code Name: GLITCH

Chapter Three

"I know what's wrong with the Mech!"

General Lotharing shot up in his bed, and Xiomar put his hands up in surrender when he found himself staring down the business end of a pistol. The general let out a noisy huff and lowered his weapon.

"For fuck's sake, Xio. You wanna get yourself killed?"

"A bit jumpy, aren't we?" Xiomar questioned, trying to suppress a smirk. If he laughed, Lotharing might actually shoot him. "Who are you expecting to come through that door?"

"Haydn, what hell are you doing in my barracks this early? How did you even get in here?"

"Come on, Old Man. I'm a genius mechanic and great acrobat. You don't think I can slip past a few watchmen, or pick a little old lock?"

"You know..." Lotharing sighed, rubbing his tired face. "If you just said that to anyone else on this base, you'd be court-martialed. If it was Dufault, he would've just shot you."

"I'm not scared of Dufault. Anyway, I—"

"Xio, get the fuck out of my barracks before I'm the one who shoots you! Anything you have to say, you can tell me later, in my office, not standing in my bedroom with me in my skivvies at four in the morning."

"But—"

"Out, Major Haydn! That's an order!"

"You got it." Xiomar gave the general a half-assed salute, as usual, and left. Usually, he'd push the general to talk, but when Lotharing used his official title, Xiomar knew he was in trouble. He'd just have to wait.

He lay in his bed, just staring at the ceiling as the sun started to come up, shining through his window. He was too tired to sleep. After months of working on the broken mech, he finally understood why GLITCH had malfunctioned. If it was as simple as replacing the wiring, he might actually be able to get it back in active duty.

And maybe he could pilot it.

"You'd better have a damn good excuse for breaking into my barracks this morning," Lotharing said, leaning back in his chair while he tapped his pen on his desk. "If I don't think your reason is good enough, I will have you court-martialed."

"Oh, please, Old Man." Xiomar rolled his eyes as he shut the office door behind him. He jumped over the back of the chair in front of the general's desk, landing in the seat with a loud thump. As always, he put his feet up on the desk. "You and I both know that's an empty threat."

General Lotharing sighed and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"You know... you're the reason I have grey hair. Just answer the question, Xio."

"I want to take the mech into the Training Arena."

"What?" Lotharing's entire body went tense, and he stared at Xiomar with an open mouth. "Have you completely lost your mind?"

"Just listen to me for a second," Xiomar said, putting his feet down and leaning forward. "All those deaths... they were from faulty wiring. Just think about it. There was never a problem with that thing until Acenna Pierce died, right?"

"How the hell do you know about—"

"The point is," he interrupted, "this mech is sentient. You know that. You've known since Pierce built it, haven't you? That sentience gives it the capacity for emotion, but the mechanics don't. The fault in the wiring was from the overload of electrical impulsed, caused by the mech grieving its pilot's death. There's nothing wrong with this thing, it just needs some new wiring. I can pilot this thing, Old Man!"