Splorfin 14, Surface Shoreline
The android watched his companion start to slip away. They'd avoided enemies left and right to make it this far, but the toll was heavy. She would stubbornly drag him out of danger, and he would be left picking up the pieces, again and again. He was beat up at this point too - his decision to go in unarmored (not that SPINE interfaces worked for him without an adapter) had proven to be a poor one. He'd fix that, at some point. Still, his body was in better shape than hers. As similar as Tsuguka acted to the android, the NH-33 body was still merely organic. He stood, feeling his synthetic muscles groan. Some of them were torn; astounding given his multi-ton carrying capacity. He remembered back to a scarab that he'd hurled a good-sized rock at, just so that they could run away. It had helped, but it cost him.
He knelt next to Tsuguka, pulling her in close. He touched his forehead to her helmet's.
"We're both done here, Tsuguka-Hei," he said softly, repeating it in text for her sake. "But, there's a way that we can make it back. To fight another day. Maybe even save Dirjon-Hei, if we can get the others to help."
Tankyusha forced open an access panel on her suit, using his overrides to release the locks. The damaged bangle was torn off, revealing the circuitry and metal underneath that was his wrist. The science officer took a long cable from one of his side bags and plugged one end into the bangle's old port, the other went into the power armor before him.
"This is going to feel very weird for both of us," he cautioned, speaking to her like you might speak to a friend on their deathbed. They'd come a long way together today.
With a jolt, Tankyusha slumped against her armor, body suddenly lifeless.
***
Drifting, drifting ...
Tankyusha's consciousness existed in two places for a moment. This was not new to him. He'd been threading his thoughts since day one. It was the first time he'd made a full copy to a second location, however, and left them both fully aware. He spread into the power armor's quantum computer like a virus, pushing aside all but the most necessary parts of the suit's operating system. He straddled it and made it his own.
His two minds made a silent agreement; the original went offline. The android was in no hurry to achieve rampancy.
The android flexed his new abilities. Sensors came back online. Actuators cycled themselves momentarily under his command, surprisingly reporting clear operation (apart from the single elbow that was completely missing). The last step was to place himself between Tsuguka and the suit and cut her off, giving him control. Digital finger on the switch, he hesitated. Something about carrying her inside his 'body' didn't feel right. It wasn't the way he'd want to treat a friend.
"Tsuguka-Hei," came his voice, now seemingly as much a resident of her mind as her own psyche. "Let's do this together..."
A grey mass of static swirled upon his intrusion, an incompatible program pulsing and retracting across the mental bridge that they both now shared. Soon, it settled down, and signaled back not with words, but by exuding a warmblooded restlessness. A bitterly resolute urge to continue, a little naive idealism, laced with a tone of protectiveness for those around her. The very noise of Tsuguka's soul.
She felt her body go limp as muscle relaxants and chemicals flowed into her. He trusted the suit's instincts, letting it mix up just the right cocktail for his purposes. Importantly, he kept her mind 'awake'. The SPINE interface adjusted with his manual control, and for a moment they both shared a brief flash of pain as hundreds of new synaptic connections were suddenly jury rigged into place.
Tsuguka raised their right hand for a moment, and spread it out before them. Gone was the feeling of being squeezed into the fabric interior, replaced a harshly cold breeze upon rigid, metallic skin. Ferrous soil crunched beneath her seemingly bare soles. With Tankyusha directly relaying the feedback signals, it was as if the suit itself was now her body. Or their body. It was hard to tell, with shared eyes, shared sensations, shared bones. He could even feel the surprise at her sudden lack of crushing weight, replaced by this new fantastically nimble mechanical body. Gone were the clouds in her mind, replaced by an invisible partner looming over her shoulder.
"Thank you Tankyusha." A voice resounded in the mind. It would be difficult not to think of what was really happening to her body inside, but Tsuguka had gotten her wish and then some. "All I wanted was the chance to be continue being effective. Our friends still need us and the NH-33 is failing me."
Tank's voice. "Let's get you stood up." She had the sensation of her body moving on its own. It felt dream-like. The colors weren't quite right. Things didn't feel exactly real. Tankyusha used her arms to dust off the suit and put some leaves over his lifeless body. He hoped they'd have a chance to come back for it. He was fond of it.
"Alright, Tsuguka-Hei. I'm giving you control. I'll be here with you all the way."
Mental harmony. The thrusters on their back flared up, the opening hatches feeling like little wings. The forearm blade expanded, an extension of the fingers. Their destination was the ruined complex. Dirjon might be dead, or he might be alive. All that mattered was confirming it. After what he had done for them, they owed him at least that much.
