Terrestrial Undead

Chapter 2

As the porthole to the repair bay locked, one not far away popped open, and 003 stepped out. Taking a breath of sky air, they were ready for the day ahead, and not in any way disposed to have their mood brought down. 003's mood was tough to bring down, especially now; they had finally, finally been assigned repair bay mechanic— solo.
Sure, working on the 11 itself was good— it was a beautiful airship— but repair bay duty was for the little jobs, fixing tools and the like, and could therefore be a one-person shift. If there was anything that could put 003 in even better spirits, it was tinkering with gadgets unsupervised.
"003!"
Hearing their name barked out snapped 003 out of their pleasant reverie. The Captain rarely had things to say to them.
"Yes, Captain?"
"How many times do I have to tell you? You don't use that tone with me. You say, 'yes, Captain'—! You don't ask questions."
003 only blinked at this, so Captain 11 continued. Apparently she had other things on her mind, as she shuffled closer and lowered her voice— a rare event.
"You have an assignment in repairs. A possible defect. See to it. Without any fuss, please."
Leaving no room for requests for further information, the Captain left 003 to puzzle over her speech by themselves. They laughed a little, bemused. Defect? Defected what? They set off to find out.
After greeting a few of their siblings (with little to no reply, as usual), they arrived at the repair bay and set about hauling open the lock. Being tall but having no particular heft, it was always a challenge for 003, and today an especially vigorous tug was enough to make them lose their footing and plant their face into the still unmoved porthole door. Exasperated, they decided it was time to take a breather. Regroup, as it were. Just for a moment here, leaning against the door. That was fine.
Or at least, it would have been fine, could they not hear something on the other side. 003 stiffened with their ear to the metal. There was an unauthorised person in the repair bay!
Renewed resolve, and certainly not a pair of 003's siblings approaching, spurred them on to finally prize the door open.
Without the door to separate them, 003 and 009 were nose-to-mask for a moment before stepping back in mutual alarm. Words failing them, 003 chose to take stock of the person before them instead.
The eyes looking back at them had a piercing mechanical glow behind their natural green, starkly demanding attention when contrasted to the dim glint of the metal below them. The way it was set into her shaved head, merging with the lumpy scar tissue of her corpse- white skin made 003's stomach churn. They had to take a shuddering breath before asking,
"Who are you?"
"009."
Trying to hide that her voice set their teeth on edge, 003 answered too fast, sidling into the bay.
"0-0-9?"
"Yes."
"Well that must make you my younger sister. Who knew! Anyway, I have an assignment with a defect. You know what's here that's defected? Seemed a funny thing for the Captain to ask but you know how things are here..."
The expression that had appeared on the top half of 009's face was so bizarre that 003's nervous speech trailed off. Her brow was furrowed in apparent confusion, but what was more unsettling was that she looked like she might cry. Something dawning on them, 003 continued.
"What exactly are you doing in here, anyway?"
The cyborg looked at them long and hard before answering,
"Waiting for you, as it turns out. I'm your defect."
003 hadn't thought much about the Punished before at all. The idea seemed so remote it wasn't worth thinking about.
"You should probably pick your jaw up off the floor. Only people like me tend to lose bits of theirs."
003 thought they saw something other than the artificial light in her eyes as she said this, and couldn't help smiling back.
"I see. You have a dent in your face. I can fix that."
"I don't think..."
003 didn't hear. They were rifling through tools, and only the metallic clanking of them falling against each other filled their ears as they wondered how best to fix a cyborg mask.

Despite having counted on being left to their own devices, 003 had found that 009 hadn't been bad company. She hadn't spoken much, allowing them to get on with things, although 003 had the feeling one of those incandescent eyes had been on them at all times.
In the mess hall, 003 found themselves waiting for their new friend, until they thought about the absurdity of the notion. They had tried to remove the mask so they could shape the dent from the inside, but only small pieces at a time could be removed. Of course, 009 had no means of eating. As they gently nudged a pudding to watch it wobble before eating it, the thought made 003 desperately sad.
Thoughts questioning what someone had to do to be punished like that flitted around the edge of their mind, but were chased away by the squat, hulking form of 001.
"Threeeeee..."
003 couldn't help hating the way he kept their name in his mouth for so long, as if he were reluctant to let it escape. His acknowledging them was new, though, and they were curious to see what he had to say. 003 looked and waited as he straddled a stool.
"You were on repairs today. How did that go?"
"Well, it went well, 001. Thanks for asking. What were you up to today?"
001's face was set into a stony smile, but his eyes narrowed.
"Had a run in with some filth. Punished. You know what that means, don't you, 003?"
He spoke too slowly, and 003 sighed a little to themselves. 001 wasn't the first person to talk down to them like this.
"I've heard the same stories as everyone else in the air. Never gave it much thought. It never had much to do with my work—"
"But now it has everything to do with it," 001 interjected, "because today it was your duty to assess one as defect. You did report it as defect, didn't you?"
003 frowned at him. She wasn't the one who was slow here.
"You mean 009? No. I fixed her. Her mask, I mean," they added after a short pause. 001 seemed like the kind of person who needed extra explanation. He drew his lips back, showing his teeth as he talked.
"Fixed. Right. Please at least tell me you recalibrated it's calculation index."
"Calculation index? The impact she'd sustained wasn't sufficient to do anything to her calculation index. She just had a slightly misshapen mask, that's all."
Although 003 was making an effort to make themselves very clear, their brother still didn't seem to understand, because he put his face very close to theirs and said,
"Maybe it isn't the only one of my King-damned siblings who's defect. I will be reporting you to the Captain, 003," and left.
What an interesting day this had shaped up to be! And what a unit that 001 was. 003 decided they would tell 004 about him on the morning shift. She worked with him more often, and sometimes knew what he was about.