The Frigid Heart (ONC-2021)

Rogue and Blink

Avius, Underbelt - Sector 7
Circa 2940.

▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️

Perpetual darkness.

Echoing gurgles of metallic colons.

Mundane odour of decay.

That was Underbelt.

For Mira though, that was home. If it wasn't for the daily ration of jiggly and ugly looking protein block, a couple cups of water and her dearest companion, Rogue, she would have long perished from the surface of Avius.

"Now, what we are looking for is a tiny Zantium -54A battery, Rogue." Mira nonchalantly scanned the scrapyard, her hands carefully moving away unnecessary junk jutting out of the ground. Metallic cans and plastic crumpled beneath her worn-out shoes. "So stop showing me those old scrunchies."

"But you said you needed a scrunchy this morning, Mira. I have to agree, your hair is quite unkempt and if I am not mistaken, it definitely smells."

"Duh. Is that new? It always smells." Mira chuckled, tucking in a matted strand of mahogany hair behind her ear. "Now, concentrate."

"Alright, missy." Rogue replied, his voice mature, yet monotonous.

A metallic ball, not more than half a size of melon, levitated and flew past Mira.

"Search-bot mode on. Scanning sector seven- Underbelt for Zantium battery, series -five -four -A." Rogue announced gently as he began. Red laser beam from the underside of the ball sweeped and scanned every creek and crevice of the scrapyard.

Miles and miles of techno-junk filled the sector seven, only to be limited by a giant curving wall.

Mira always wondered what lay beyond that wall? They said it separated dark and cold Underbelt from the warmth and riches of Upperbelt.

But, was that true? What if Upperbelt was one of Imperium's many lies? What if it was another big scrapyard... Just like underbelt, but upside down?

Rules in the Inikan Codex said that once an avian citizen was sent to serve his punishment or stranded in the Underbelt, he/she were not to be taken back. It was after all a prison, a giant dumpster to dispose off criminals, techno-waste, junk and of course, unwanted children like herself.

"The object of search identified. Target locked, Zantium isotope - 16 present, current status of the battery - non-functional." Rogue halted, now the laser scanner had turned green, locking an unknown object on the rusty ground in an irregular circle.

"Yess!" Mira hissed, wading through the sea of garbage, her footing clumsy at times. She couldn't contain her blithe anymore.

She had promised Reno Murrey from the Sector-2 that she would get him his battery. But reconsidering her backup plan seemed more apt, she could easily live off a week or even more, by selling the battery to a bootlegger.

Mira kneeled and pushed away a chunk of metal, a breastplate of an android and many such scraps to find the battery.

No luck.

"Hey!" A blinding flashlight glinted from a distance behind the barbed barricade. "What are you doing there? Hands up."

Too late to give up, Mira searched the spot frantically. Her breathing was erratic, heart thumping every drop of blood into tiny beads of sweat pooling between her eyebrows.

Still, no luck.

"I said, hands up!" The watch guard's voice yelled. His grey jumpsuit, the imperial symbol of falcon in flight materialised from the darkness