Chapter 13: The Dig

Pirates started passing around handheld rock-digging devices, each no taller than a skateboard. When they got to Yuri, she stood taller, her grimy, eager face tilted up at him. The pirate held off for a moment, then gave her one of the machines.

When he got to Tuss, the pirate said outright, "You can't handle one of these rock-diggers. So, in that case—"

Just as the pirate was lifting his energy pistol, Zeek, who was standing close by, quickly jumped in front of Tuss.

"He can gather the rocks," Yuri spoke up. She pointed to herself and Zeek, "We'll run the rock-diggers, and he'll collect the chunks."

"Absolutely, absolutely, I'm good with the rock-digger," Zeek stammered, "and our friend here is particularly good at picking up rocks."

Pirate glanced at Tuss, a smirk of ridicule on his face. "Then you're on rock collecting duty. If I catch you goofing off—"

He gave the three people a look of threat.

The rock-diggers were basic, entirely hand-operated, kind of reminding Yuri of the old-school lawnmowers she'd seen in history books. But when the five-foot rock-digger sliced through a massive boulder in no time flat, the intense shaking nearly knocked her over. She realized then that she had underestimated this "basic tool."

The rock-diggers not only sliced through rocks but also shoveled, hoisted, and moved them. Yuri and Zeek teamed up, their machines humming away, while Tuss was tasked with collecting the broken pieces.

One pirate watched them for a bit from the sidelines. Once he was happy that they were keeping up with the rest, he walked off, carrying his energy pistol with a swagger.

The rock-diggers buzzed on for hours. By the time the sun had set, they had whittled away half the nearby hills.

When the end-of-day whistle blew, Yuri went over to Tuss, her left arm feeling sore and numb. She was just about to help him stand when he got up on his own, brushing off her offer to help.

Following Tuss, Yuri couldn't help but think of a gorilla she'd seen once in a zoo. His arms were long and muscular. If there had been any vines around, she was sure he could have swung around just using his arms.

That was Tuss, the top student from Military Academy No. 1, always up to any challenge. Even without his legs, he wasn't lagging behind anyone else.

There was no water around. The trio was coated in a heavy layer of rock dust. After brushing off as much as they could outside, they headed into the temporary shelter they'd set up earlier.

Dinner was a bottle of Nutrition Drink. After gulping it down, they were so tired that they couldn't even chat. They just hit the hay.

Tuss and Zeek bunked together, while Yuri had her own part of space under the shelter. The "rooms" were just a few square feet, with no beds. The floor wasn't metal or plastic, and Yuri wasn't sure what it was. It wasn't soft, but it wasn't super hard either. Used to roughing it, Yuri quickly dozed off.

The next morning, at the sound of the whistle, she woke up feeling disoriented. With no water to freshen up or brush her teeth, Yuri just stepped out of her room, ready for a new day.

Outside, Tuss and Zeek were already geared up and ready to go. As she stepped out, Tuss just gave her a quick look before getting started. Zeek, on the other hand, welcomed her with a sunny, "Good morning, Little Miss."

Yuri mirrored his smile. "Good morning, Zeek."

Then the day began, filled with non-stop work. They dug and removed chunks of the mountain, slowly reshaping its form. Tomorrow, they'd start tunneling underneath.

By the third day, the rocks were becoming harder to dig through.

Suddenly, with a loud pop and a puff of smoke, Yuri's digger stuttered to a halt. She flinched, instinctively checking for the pirate and his bistrol. Not spotting him, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Quite a few diggers have gone kaput today. You're not alone," Tuss said, already next to her machine.

While Yuri and Zeek were so busy running their diggers, they hadn't had the chance to notice anyone else. Tuss, though, saw things differently.

From sunrise till that moment, he'd watched eighteen diggers break down.

When she heard that others' machines were also on the fritz, Yuri wondered, "What's the deal? Are these diggers second-hand or something?"

Tuss gave her a cool look. "You're a robotics student, and you can't tell if these machines are used?"

Caught by surprise, Yuri chuckled awkwardly, "Guess I've still got a lot to learn."

Only when Tuss pulled a small black box from the digger did Yuri even notice it was there. She'd been running the digger for three days and was completely clueless about this little box.

"Can you fix it?" Yuri asked.

"Shouldn't be too tough," Tuss replied, not looking up.

Tuss had said it wasn't hard, but Yuri hadn't expected it to be a piece of cake. She glanced around at the others and by the time she turned back, Tuss announced, "Fixed."

"That was quick," Yuri blurted out.

Tuss just gave her a look, not uttering a word. Somehow, that look said it all, as if he was questioning her again, "You're a robotics student, and you can't handle this simple fix?"

She didn't take it to heart. After all, she couldn't tell him that she wasn't really herself. Besides, it wasn't just her who was clueless about fixing the digger. Apparently, no one else here knew how to, except him.

Right as Yuri's digger was back up and running, Zeek's broke down. As Tuss was patching it up, the pirate happened to walk by. Seeing Tuss hard at work, he hung back and watched.

Once the fix was done, a look of surprise crossed the pirate's face. Impressed, he said, "You don't have to dig anymore. From now on, you'll be fixing these machines."

The pirate motioned towards the people around them.

With Tuss now assigned as the repair guy, Yuri and Zeek didn't have to work triple duty anymore. Things became much easier, and by the time they clocked out at sundown, Yuri even had some energy left to chat with Zeek, remarking, "These rocks are getting tougher." She'd already switched out her cutter blades more than a dozen times.

Yuri shrugged her sore shoulders. Her once clean face was now coated in a thick layer of dust, her features nearly hidden.

Zeek glanced at the young woman in front of him with warm eyes. Despite being one-armed, she was far from weak, working at a speed that even he, a man with two arms, struggled to match. The more he watched her, the more he admired her.

"We must be nearing the ore," Zeek commented. Blue Keystone was extremely hard, and the rocks surrounding it were also super dense, much harder than common metals.

"That would explain why the machines keep conking out, and the pirates doesn't seem too bothered," Yuri contemplated out loud.

Tuss's eyes shimmered with a hint of menace as he warned, "Be on your guard in the next few days."

Yuri felt a storm brewing in his words.

Two days later, someone struck the first Blue Keystone. That night, Yuri was jolted awake by the sound of a booming explosion. Instantly, she sprung up from her makeshift bed and sprinted out of her room.

Zeek and Tuss also emerged from their room.

"We need to head to the mine," Tuss decided swiftly.

They had dug dozens of meters under the mine's surface, creating a maze of tunnels. The rocks were harder than steel, offering plenty of cover. Most importantly, the source of the pirates' battles was likely the Blue Keystone. They wouldn't dare to wreck the mine.

Dropping quickly into a crouch, Yuri told Tuss, "Hop on my back, I'll carry you."

"No need, Mrs. Hiro. I'll carry him. You just lead the way," Zeek interrupted, hoisting Tuss onto his back.

Outside was a scene of pandemonium, with fires raging everywhere. Yuri's mind was laser-focused as she maneuvered through the blaze and the thunderous sound of explosions.

"We're almost there. It's just up ahead," Yuri announced. Suddenly, she heard the whistling sound of something slicing through the air from the left. Before she could even process it, her body reacted, diving towards Zeek and Tuss, shoving them down with her.

The next second, something zoomed over them. Immediately after, there was a deafening crash as a hefty object slammed into the ground, leaving a crater over a meter wide and half a meter deep.

Turning their heads, the three of them saw a metal chunk weighing several dozens of pounds.

Zeek looked shell-shocked, his face drained of color. If it hadn't been for Yuri, he and Tuss might have been in serious danger.

Tuss also eyed Yuri, a flicker of surprise in his gaze.