Terrestrial Undead

Chapter 16

009 woke up with Miu sitting on her grumbling stomach.
Tesla and Juju had indeed taken her to Bell— or Dr. Bell, ex- surgical engineer and Tesla's aunt as it turned out. She had given 009 a choice: she could take away the mask and re-wire her calculation index. She could undo a number of the things the captain had had done to her, allowing her, amongst other things, to eat again.
As she screwed up her rediscovered nose and pulled the lavatory chain, she wondered if it had been a beast worth awakening.
She had chosen to lose the mask mostly to spite the Captain. She hadn't been ready for the bodily functions that would again become necessary.
Upon awakening from the procedure, she had needed an oxygen tube up her nose while her lungs learned to work for themselves again.
Then there was the exhaustion, with more crushing weight than the metal she carried on her bones. But sleep, instead of being a quick necessary blip of unconsciousness, had become bliss. Her mattress in her enclosed nook of the base had become a haven, and when she was awake, there was food to be had.
Tesla enjoyed endless amusement in feeding 009 new foods and watching her reaction. Lemons were shocking. Soup made her insides warm. Sweet bread was a whole new level of heaven.
Returning from the lavatory, 009 saw her new friend stirring a pot of something bubbling, and went to greet her.
"Hello, 009. How are you feeling?"
009 put a hand to her belly. "I've felt better."
"Thought so. That's why I nicked these for breakfast. Stewed apples, just for you and your livid insides."
009 took the small bowl Tesla held out and tasted the mushy contents.
"Oh! It's sweet, and..."
There weren't many words in 009's vocabulary meant solely for describing taste. She just never needed them. She felt for the right word and settled on "... friendly."
Tesla laughed, revealing silver, snake- like incisors. One was bent a little out of shape, and she had a split lip.
"It must have been a big night last night."
Tesla's open smile faded into a grimace.
"I knocked a vase off his shelf. It was right in front of his window as I was getting in, and it woke him up. Bastard put up a bit of a fight."
"I'm glad you're okay," 009 murmured, pensively sucking on her spoon. Tesla had been nervous about revealing to 009 the nature of her little underground society. She needn't have been. To 009, after all she's been through, it sounded like the bureaucrats the vampires assassinated deserved what they got. After a while, she plopped it back in the stewed apple with resolve.
"I'd like to help."
Tesla's head snapped up from her own bowl, eyes alight.
"Really? Like, you've really thought it over?"
Of course 009 had. She wasn't going to let herself jump from one house of horrors like Airship 11 into another. The difference was 009 had always been free to leave Tesla and the others whenever she chose, and her body had always been her own.
It made sense, of course. At one point or other the Kingdom had sent each one of their lives down the figurative shitter.
Tesla had told 009 one night as they chatted together in her large sewer pipe of a boudoir that her whole family, apart from Dr. Bell, had been assassinated or kidnapped, courtesy of His Majesty. Her aunt had been the kind of surgical engineers that were tasked with carrying out Punishment. When called on to operate on a five year old, she had dissented and become a fugitive, getting Tesla's parents killed, but saving the child herself. Her youngest sibling, she believed, had been taken onto an airship.
"One day I'll find them... they won't remember me. But I'll still find them," she had said sleepily before dozing off, leaving 009 in turmoil in the dark. Was that what had happened to her?
"More than likely," Tesla had said when 009 put the question to her later. "That's why people here call you Undead. Because you came back, and when you're taken, people say you're as good as dead. All the  Kingdom's ugly secrets will come out one day, once we take down all his puppets."
If the King's puppets included Captain 11, which 009 guessed it did, then she was all for it. Not to mention she got some shiny new teeth out of the deal. Spooning more apple into her rediscovered mouth, 009 told Tesla that she was more than certain that she'd quite like to become a vampire too, please.
This announcement resulted in her friend throwing her arms around her, a gesture which 009 was slowly learning to appreciate. It also reminded her of 003, prompting her to add,
"As long as I can still head north to find my friends."
"Of course. If they're on the run, they're all of our friends."
Satisfied, 009 led the way to Bell's tent.

"When you want to remove them, just pop them out like this," the doctor said a few hours later, reaching into her own mouth and popping her metal fangs out. "To insert the poison, twist the little knob here to remove the plug, and use a dropper to put it in. The type we use is only fatal when it gets into the bloodstream; I've never had a leak, but if you do, you should be fine."
009 did as Bell told her. The doctor then produced a cup with a thick, clear film sealing the top.
"Now bite down on this, hard."
As 009 tested her new teeth, a blood red liquid trickled into the cup.
"Voilà! Congratulations. You're a vampire now."
009 admired the ruby fluid. Imagining it running through Captain 11's veins, she asked, "when do I get to give someone a nibble?"
"Check with Juju. They're head coordinator of the bounty board."
009 and Tesla made their way through the candlelit tunnels in search of Juju. They found them finishing up a conversation with another long haired vampire.
"Congratulations. I'll come celebrate with you in a minute. Love you," they said, and brushed the stranger's lips with theirs. For reasons 009 couldn't explain, the curious gesture made her think of 003.
"Tesla, good news! Dixon Junior's been taken down."
"That is reason for celebrating," Tesla grinned, "and we'll let you do just that in a minute. First, the newbie wants to know who's next."
Juju took a roll of paper out of their belt and unfurled it, revealing a map with small profiles pinned to it. 009 guessed they were targets. Still thinking of 003, she located the docking tower and drew a line north with her finger until she reached a profile. It was fastened to a small scale drawing of a temple, and labelled 'SIR ABBOTT'.
"Who's he?"
"A massive shithead. He's a main coordinator of the King's Order, which means the vampire hunters are his pawns. He keeps trying to beef up his little band of hunters, using priests to find new recruits. He's murdered ten of us."
009 was a little disappointed it wasn't an airship captain, but she doubted they'd get that far with a head hunter like this in the sect.
She faced Tesla.
"How does he sound? I need to head that was anyway go look for 003 and 004."
"Alright. But we're going to need proper dress. We'll stand out like silver on a gazer's ass if we step out to meet the Bishop in these rags."
That was how 009 found herself trussed up in a mushroom pink ensemble, complete with outrageous bustle. Tesla, in a dusty blue, pulled on torturous ribbons crisscrossing up 009's back.
"There! Now, you do me."
009 hesitated. It was alright for her—lot of her torso was metal; she was afraid the cruel ribbons would crush her friend. She gently began to lace the bodice.
"Tighter, please."
009 gingerly pulled the strings again.
"Tighter!"
Obliging, 009 gave them a good tug. Too good. Tesla stumbled backwards into 009, knocking her off balance and sending them both tumbling onto the ground, laughing.
"Shit, Tesla, who's planning on cooking us? I feel like a roast turkey," 009 gasped between fits. When she calmed, she realised she was still holding Tesla, and quickly let go. They looked for each other a moment, until 009 scrambled to her feet, face burning. It felt wrong to be here, while 003 was still out there.
"Come on. Let's go get him."