R. A. T. H

Fifty-Five

The text came next morning and both Rose and Elsa were ready.

Through the previous day, Elsa had successfully embedded the mecha's core into her machine after their short ride to see the rising sun—she had a lot of time on her hands, after all.

"It's beautiful. . ." She muttered after its completion.

The iron goliath stood two heads taller than Rose and, even when either of them stretched their arms wide, it was still wider. Its outer body was made from regular metal scraps that could be found anywhere, while specific parts of its innards were made from orium—that had taken huge sums from Elsa's monetary funds through the months since she decided to fix the creature.

"You're certain you can pilot this. . .with a broken leg?" Rose asked, a brow raising in doubt. After all, the thing looked the shape of a human.

Elsa grinned.

"Of course, I just have to connect to the Core."

The homunculus held the girl up and Elsa placed a hand on the chest of the mecha. A florescent light of blue wallowed out before the iron plates of the thing opened up at the center to reveal an innards covered in soft, black, leather. With the help of Rose, Elsa crawled inside and positioned herself as if she were standing.

Her hand reached through the tips of the beast and, then, mana lines came from each of her limbs, toes, and fingers, before running through the metallic suit and each ending and connecting to a glowing blue core located at the center of the chest and protected by its shell.

"This is why these things need a core."

Rose heard a hushed voice seep out from the thing as the helmet closed over Elsa's grinning face while the rest of it covered her like a cocoon.

"The core acts as the control center, linking everything together and allowing someone with even a basic ability to control mana to move the entire thing—every part of it individually, or all at once."

The turret at the right shoulder of the beast whirled its head, moving individually from the body. Then the left arm lifted, the palm sliding open to reveal what looked like the tip of an automatic gun.

"Basically, it feels like you're wearing a suit."

The thing took a step forward.

The movement was janky at first, wobbly as Elsa maneuvered the creature across the desert sands. Soon, however, it moved as proper as a human, though certainly a bit slower as she was only beginning to become used to the feeling of having her mind connected to metal and sending instructions through the numerous mana lines that linked the two of them.

She practiced controlling it as Rose watched on. Her expression under the mask elated and, soon, it was time to quit. She opened the latch and her friend carried her.

"How did it feel? You seemed quite energetic."

Elsa laughed, "It felt fucking amazing."

Moving it was relatively easy, in fact, Walker had lent them a truck. It was as if the man did not care about what they planned to do. It was as if he wholeheartedly supported it. Of course, their official reasoning was finding a wider place to test the mecha, but they did not think he was an idiot. Rose had little doubt he was letting her be as his pawn. He had roped her in with that intention from the beginning.

Outside was a land of sand and they walked within the reaches of Walker's home, gated in and surrounded by cars as Rose carried Elsa in her arms and they were soon seated, helming a truck similar to that which she had ridden with Chase.