That same burst of brilliance showed the chip to be theanswer to the mech pilots' control issues.
***
The beauty of the zombie hordes was once they ran out offood they simply starved to death. This allowed the human race tobounce back from almost certain extinction.
The virus, however, did not die with the re-animatedcorpses. It floated in the air, waiting for the living to expire andprovide the perfect host. It was a patient, indestructible virus.
Once the Reaper chip was invented and implanted in everyliving person, humanity had an early warning system. Trackers lockedonto the recently deceased and squads dispatched to dispose of thethreat.
But nothing is ever that simple.
***
The Reaper chip was to be the saving grace of the humanrace. It was to solve all of the unreported deaths, the overlooked,the lost, the underbelly.
But, that wasn't to be.
In theory, a person died and their Reaper chipactivated, alerting the authorities. It also sent a lethal shock tothe cerebral cortex, frying the brain and adding another safeguardthat the dearly departed stayed dearly departed.
But, in order for mech pilots to connect with theirmech's computer, they needed that feature disabled.
Eventually, it was and the door for the dead mechs wasopened. Wide.
***
The mechs came online ten years after the Reaper chip.They were almost a direct extension of that technology, working onthe same principal of cerebral and computer integration.
The first mech pilot died a quick, painful death, hiscerebellum frying like an oyster in hot oil. It was chalked up toequipment failure.
The second mech pilot died screaming into his com thathis "brain is on fucking fire!". His eyeballs melted in his head,while grey matter oozed from his ears.
The scientists and engineers went back to the drawingboard. The UDC waited patiently for their army.
***
Try as they might, none of the scientists or programmerscould retain the Reaper chips' brain frying features and allow itto fully connect with the mech's computer systems without killingthe pilots.
They finally had to face the fact that the feature wouldneed to be disabled, still allowing the pilots' vital signs to bemonitored and tracking signature to be located, but no longer capableof administering a final brain death.
A single assistant composed a memo about the possiblerisks of pilot death while still connected to their mech.
The assistant soon became a silent test subject.
***
A mech and its pilot were designed to be one organism.The mech's AI and the pilot's consciousness were to meld easily,allowing the pilot to control the mech without any delay orhesitation. If the pilot moved, the mech moved with it like a suit ofarmor, but with hydraulic assistance.
This was the worry of what would one day be called theLost Memo: that the mech and pilot were too intertwined, tooenmeshed, too complete. Mechs did not know the difference betweenlife or death. A pilot was a pilot, whether living or undead.
Monsters were born.
***
The day the mechs came online was hailed as the end ofthe zombie war, the politicians crowed.
No longer would humanity have to risk sending inhundreds of soldiers against thousands of undead, hoping not to beoverrun and infected then turned themselves.
Now, just two or three specially trained mech pilotscould take their massive robotic war machines into the middle of theundead masses and lay waste.
Soon battles were won in minutes and hours, not days andweeks.
Of course, it all went horribly wrong the moment thefirst pilot died while still operating his mech.
Part Four- The Dead Mechs
Essential to a mech's operation was a modified Reaperchip which allowed the pilot to have near complete cerebralintegration with all of the mech's systems, creating response timesof nanoseconds. The mech became a fifty ton extension of the pilot'sreflexes. Pilots didn't think, they acted.
No one foresaw that a mech could become a fifty-tonextension of a zombie. And a zombie that was as hungry as all therest, except now equipped with city leveling armaments.
Zombie pilots did not need to sleep or piss or everleave their cockpits. They could hunt 24/7.
And they did.
***
Thefirst observed dead mech was a berserker. The mech's former pilot,now zombie, raged as hard as any other zombie notstrapped into a fifty ton machine.
It turned on anything and everything in its path,smashing, destroying, annihilating. It fired weapons at random, thezombie pilot no longer in control of its faculties, the militarytraining lost in death.
And just like the zombies crawling the earth withoutmech armor, the dead mech pilot was hungry.
The need for flesh forced the mech to learn, to gainsome control of itself.
The metal golem was free. And starving.
***
The dead mechs roamed the wasteland, searching for food.They could cover several square miles a day, where a zombie hordecould only move so far, so fast.
This led to some of the smaller wasteland outposts, therural survivors, to be taken by surprise when the mech approachingturned out not to be friendly, but instead hungry for their flesh.
Now a good, strong, reinforced wall couldn't hold outthe horror.
Little communities had to abandon their hard work andsearch for others to join forces with, whether they wanted to or not,all for the sake of survival.
Part Five- The Ride And Arrival
Mech pilots weren't chosen for being the bravest, forbeing the smartest or for being the best fit. They were chosenbecause they volunteered … and no one else did.
That didn't mean that everyone that signed up wasaccepted. There were still minimum standards. Such as: physicalability, intelligence, resourcefulness and, most of all, sanity.
Sanity was key. They weren't going to let you be incharge of enough firepower to level a city/state without making sureyou wouldn't actually level a city/state. Unless ordered to, ofcourse.
So tests were designed. The biggest test: the ride tothe mech base.
***
Once a pilot candidate was singled out from their citystate, they boarded a train to the mech base. This train was designedto do only two things: get the pilot candidate to the base and useevery tool available to break that candidate before they got there.
Once on board, the candidate was secluded in awindowless passenger car. There was one seat only, bolted to thefloor in the middle of the empty car.
The candidate would be instructed to strap in and remainstrapped in until told otherwise.
They would be left that way for 24 hours.
***
Most pilot candidates failed the first part of the testwithin six hours. It's why the train never left the station untilthe first 24 hours were up.
Movement and sound would be simulated, making thecandidate think they were on their way, but at no point would they becommunicated or interacted with for the entire 24 hours.
If they undid a strap, moved from the chair, begged tobe let out or just flat broke down, then the test was endedimmediately, they were thanked and sent home.
The majority failed because they refused to piss theirpants.
***
If the candidate made it past the first test, then thetrain would start its long journey to the mech base.
This time the simulation was opposite. Instead of fakingmovement and sound, it faked stillness and quiet. The candidate wouldbe told there was a mechanical issue and the train would be stoppedfor at least 24 hours, when in actuality it was moving at a steadyclip of 85 miles per hour.
The candidate would be allowed to move about, to use thesmall latrine bucket provided and to eat from the ration packetsattached to the chair.
***
For the candidate, the train ride to the mech base was afour day trip, no matter where they were coming from.
The first day they are stuck in the station, but thinkthey are moving.
The second day, they think they are stuck in thewasteland, but are actually moving.
The third day, they think they are moving, actually aremoving and are given every opportunity to relax and ask questions.The train's pilot and co-pilot are allowed to communicate with thecandidate, as long as they stay on script.
The fourth day, the candidate thinks they will die.
***
The third day of testing is merely designed to lull thecandidate into a false sense of security. Ease their minds and putthem off guard.
Then they are hit with the fourth day, the day they die.
The train never stops moving once it leaves the station,but the candidate believes it does on day two and four.
When they are told the train has been attacked on dayfour, they feel the attack. Every last blast, ricochet andconcussion.
They are watched. Watched for how they react, how theytry to help and how they try to escape.
***
Once the train is in motion, the candidate will not bereturned for any reason. They are on their way to the mech base andthat is where they will be assigned and where they will stay.
Whether they become a mech pilot or not is the question.
The test is simple: if the candidate can figure out howto get out of the train car, they will become a pilot. If they don'tfigure it out or don't try, then there are plenty of other jobs atthe mech base.
The fourth day weeds the pilots from the cooks.
***
On arriving at the mech base, the candidate is strippedof his or her name. They are known only as the Rookie.
Only one Rookie is allowed at the base at a time. Thiskeeps the confusion down and also keeps valuable resources from beingdrained or wasted by Rookie mistakes.
Until they are given back their name, they are thelowest on the totem pole.
Even if they are training as a mech pilot, they areabove no one. From food service to maintenance, the Rookie is thebase's bitch.
Some make it just fine, some don't. Most don't.
Chapter One