Terrestrial Undead

Prologue

Ten –year- old 009 was exactly where she shouldn't have been on the afternoon of His Majesty's birthday, year 1292 after-collapse. But there was something so wonderful about being in the Captain's quarters without the captain herself knowing a thing about it. She thought she knew so much. 009 knew things, too, though. Like how to trick the engineer AIs into setting the boiler alarm off during the Captain's lectures, or where the good food could be swiped from in the kitchens, if she could get in. This particular day, she knew that the captain of Airship 11 could shove it, and 009 would do as she pleased. It was supposed to be a celebration after all, and hanging off the outside of an airship in an uncomfortable harness did not seem like a good way of celebrating. During the decoration for last year's Royal Air Light Show, 009 had earned herself a private lecture from the Captain herself and three days in solitary confinement, all for not knowing where to place her lights. She doubted that the King would have paid much attention anyway, regardless of how much Captain 11 wanted him to. There were hundreds of airships, and groundspeople didn't seem interested air folk. Saying so had got her two more days in isolation. Really, it had been a blessing compared to the Captain's talking-to. After that, a person needs time to rest their ears, and there was an awful lot of time for 009 to think for herself, instead of the Captain insisting on doing it for her.
Going behind the Captain's back was a pastime much more suited to a day of celebration. Captain 11's obsession with catching the King's eye on His birthday would not allow her attention to wander to whether absolutely every airperson was accounted for, and whether or not her pocket, usually hefty with keys, felt a little lighter than usual. If she did get caught out, hopefully it would just mean more alone time.
009 had imagined the Captain's quarters to smell of fish or something, and maybe have cages holding the wasted corpses of hapless children that came before her. There was nothing like that, though. It did smell, but of disinfectant. 009 tried to pretend to herself she hadn't expected anything like corpses. That was just too ridiculous, like something you would find in a book.
That reminded her, a book from the Captain's room would be a fine thing to have for herself. After all, there must have been a reason that the Captain read through everything herself before anyone else on the ship got to. Some of 009's older siblings had brought books on board that they found on the docks, on those rare days they had gone to ground, and once, she had scored one too. Somehow, the Captain always found them, and read them first before giving them back, if she gave them back at all. It was hard to know what the fuss was about, but still, this seemed unfair; it was hard to find anything interesting and unattended on the docks. Surely whoever found them should be rewarded with reading them first. 009 preferred to smell them if she was honest- they were always so earthy and old- but each to their own. Well, if the Captain could treat everything on Airship 11 as a free-for-all, 009 would too.
She looked for something that looked unread, but all that she could find were papers and files. But there was a cabinet, which looked big and important, and it was locked. Naturally, she headed for it first.
The Captain had a lot of keys- no, 009 had a lot of keys, for now at least- but after a few tries, she found the right one. She cringed a little as the drawer screeched open. She hadn't told anyone she was coming here today, not even her favourite siblings. They probably wouldn't dob her in, but all the same, how could she be sure?
The first file answered her question. It was labelled "001". 001 was the eldest of her siblings, though not by much. He was also a solid gold moron and the Captain's first-rate bootlicker. To 009's disappointment, there was nothing much in the file. He was pictured, and underneath were a lot of words that were probably code. It was used a lot on Airships by people like the Captain. Guessing her own file would be here, 009 flicked through the folders, counting up to herself. She found it, but it didn't make much sense either. Especially not the words 'ORIGIN: TERRESTRIA SECT 12' printed beneath her picture. Airpeople were made here, in the air, hence the name. Sect 12 was Terrestrial.
009 had no idea how the Captain kept making the airpeople of Airship 11. She had been told that the Captain was her mother, and everyone else's mother, and that she was an airperson and part of Airship 11's family. She had been told that she belonged, and that she was in her rightful place as long as she was on Airship 11, doing His Majesty's good work for the Kingdom. She never quite understood that last part. 001 laughed at her if she was forced to do his work. Was the King laughing at her too? Oughtn't he do his own work?
Asking had earned her a week in solitary confinement.
The sound of the Captain barking somewhere on the airship made 009 look up. One of her poor siblings had probably dropped a lightbulb. Putting the file down, she scanned the room. She really did have her heart set on a book, and there was one on the Captain's desk. It struck 009 as an odd place to keep a book. She kept hers stashed behind a loose panel in the AI room, where nobody would be able to say they were hers. Maybe the Captain had been about to read it when she realised there were lights to go up and children to torment.
It wasn't like other books 009 had seen; it's letters were inky and smudgy, and there were no pictures. Flipping faster through the pages, 009 realised the Captain hadn't been reading this book; she had been writing it. It was very strange. There were barely any full sentences, a lot of code, and a lot of dates. 009 was written next to one of them. What was her name doing there? The date was from two years ago, and 009 tried to think of what had happened. Maybe it was a day she had gone into solitary confinement again, written as a reminder so the Captain wouldn't forget and just leave her there. Then what did 'Wing A, Bed 112' have to do with her, written so carefully under her name? It sounded like a bed in the Medical Suit, but 009 had never been there.
It was as 009 was puzzling over this that she heard the door click. Rolling her eyes, she stood up and turned around, tossing the keys at their furious owner's feet.