Beyond the Zenith

“1990 is almost over.”

“I remember back home there was a rumor that 1990 would be the end of the world. Now that I think about it, could the Wipers have deliberately spread that?”

“You actually believed that?”

“I just heard about it. Some people back home believed it, though. They even paid to join some kind of club because of it. One woman in the village piled all the food and drink she had next to the bed, then held onto her man and wouldn’t let him get up. Said, since it was the end of the world anyway, they might as well die together.”

“Haha... That woman probably had other things on her mind. Anyway, they’ve predicted the end of the world plenty of times. If this year doesn’t pan out, there’s always the next one.”

“Still, judging by how often the spindle-shaped aircraft have been landing this year, it really does feel like the end is coming.”

“Even if it does, there’s only about a month left in the year.”

Idle chatter over breakfast was a daily affair. Now and then, someone would realize the true context or purpose of certain things they’d heard before joining the Azure Coalition.

For instance, people vanishing while abroad or dying under mysterious circumstances. Looking back, some of them had likely joined the Coalition.

The recruit units of Regiment 425 and several other regiments were heading out to make up their field exercises on this day. There was still some time to spare after breakfast, so Han Qingyu went to pick up his device and blade. He also grabbed an energy core and left it for Wen Jifei.

The two of them found a wall behind the equipment yard to sit down and lean against. No one else was around, so they smoked and talked in peace.

That was until Wan Xiujing suddenly appeared at one end of the wall.

“Hey, you,” she beckoned to Han Qingyu. “Come here for a second.”

Wen Jifei stared at Han Qingyu.

Han Qingyu glanced at Wan Xiujing. “I’m not going over there. If you’ve got something to say, say it here.”

Leaning over slightly to Wen Jifei, he whispered, “I’m worried they’ll rob me. That robot... I can’t beat it. That thing treats energy cores like they’re its lifeline.”

“Oh.” Wen Jifei nodded, using his chin to motion at something. “So, what do we do? We can’t exactly run.”

S-19 had appeared at the other end of the wall and was walking toward them.

The robot and the young girl had flanked them on both sides, boxing them in.

“Hey, you. You may leave first,” Wan Xiujing said.

“Sure.” Han Qingyu stood up to go.

“No, no, no! I didn’t mean you!” Wan Xiujing stomped her foot in frustration and pointed at Wen Jifei. “I meant him.”

Wen Jifei shook his head. “I’m not leaving.”

“Then...”

If Han Qingyu wasn’t mistaken, she and S-19 had just exchanged a glance.

Mind control? Has Coalition technology really advanced that far? If that’s the case, what are we even fighting and dying for? Han Qingyu and Wen Jifei both wondered.

“Fine, two people knowing is okay too. You two seem to be together all the time anyway,” Wan Xiujing relented. Turning to gesture toward S-19, she dropped an earth-shattering piece of news. “Let me reintroduce her. This is my older cousin. Her name is Shen Yixiu.”

Han Qingyu and Wen Jifei looked at each other.

It was 1990. Their imaginations could only stretch so far.

Wen Jifei thought about it for a moment, then lit up with understanding. “Well, back in the day, when my dad was still fourteen or fifteen, herding cattle in the village... I heard he once became sworn brothers with a cow. I suppose this is something like that.”

Han Qingyu nodded slowly.

“What did you say her name was?” Wen Jifei asked Wan Xiujing with a grin.

“Shen Yixiu.”

“Easily Rusted Shen?[1] Well, that checks out. She’s already rusting,” Wen Jifei said, eyeing the patches of rust on S-19’s body. He seemed like he was about to reach out and touch it.

Han Qingyu quickly stopped him, still shaken from past experiences. “Careful. You can’t just touch that thing. Fighting is fine, but if you touch it, it goes berserk.”

“Oh.” Wen Jifei chuckled, then turned to the glaring Wan Xiujing and pressed his luck further. “That’s a bad name you’ve got there, Easily Rusted Shen. Let me fix it for you. How about Easily Repaired Shen?[2] As in, easy to fix when she breaks down.”

S-19 stared down at him.

Wen Jifei seemed rather pleased and, carried away with his own genius, kept going.

“If we’re thinking about alternative nicknames,” he added with a laugh, “we could go with Rust Girl, Iron Maiden, Barrel Girl—Hey, hey, hey!”

Mid-laugh, his feet left the ground. S-19 lifted him clean off the floor by the back of his collar, pressed him against the rough concrete wall, and scraped him along it.

Actually scraped him. Enough that he started pleading for help.

Finally, she dropped him on the ground.

“Are you two ready to listen to me now?” Wan Xiujing asked, riding high on the strength of her mechanical ally. Despite being a pale, skinny girl of fourteen or fifteen, she spoke with the authority of someone who held the power of life and death.

Han Qingyu, still sitting, and Wen Jifei, now face-down on the ground, both answered hastily, “Yeah, yeah, we’re listening—we’re listening.”

“I’m leaving this afternoon, that’s why I came to tell you this.” Wan Xiujing’s expression and tone shifted completely. “Please, take this seriously... I’m b-begging you. Please take this seriously. Can you do that?”

Taken aback, Han Qingyu nodded. “Okay.”

“This is my real cousin. Her name is Shen Yixiu. She’s not a robot,” Wan Xiujing said. “When my cousin was twelve...”

Her explanation wasn’t long, but it covered everything about how Shen Yixiu had ended up this way and what her situation looked like now.

During the telling, Han Qingyu turned to peek at S-19 several times. No, not S-19. Shen Yixiu.

He chose to believe Wan Xiujing’s words. As he listened, he couldn’t help but try to imagine what that twelve-year-old girl had endured over the past five, almost six years. He tried to picture her expression beneath the metal, and her surely complicated feelings. He didn’t know what to do with any of it.

Suddenly, he recalled the places he’d kicked and slapped on S-19. The robot had been a girl all along—a girl younger than him at that.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized without thinking.

“It’s okay,” S-19 said for the first time.

Her voice was a little muffled, but it unmistakably belonged to a young woman.

Even though they both already knew, her voice still left Han Qingyu and Wen Jifei in shock. How on earth did she hold it in all this time, never speaking and pretending to be a robot?

Wan Xiujing waited quietly for a while, but when none of them spoke again, she continued, “So, I’m asking you—both of you—to be people my cousin can talk to from now on. You still have another week of sparring; don’t forget that. No backing out of energy core payments too.”

The girl shot Han Qingyu a pointed glance.

Han Qingyu nodded. “I won’t.”

“He’s about to leave camp soon, though,” Wen Jifei said. “He’s heading to the front lines.”

“I’ll be going too. I’m planning to join the same platoon as you,” Shen Yixiu answered, though speaking to Han Qingyu.

“Please talk to my cousin for me. Please look after her.” Wan Xiujing bowed deeply, then straightened up and added, “Even though she’s way stronger than you.”

Han Qingyu paused for a moment, then tentatively asked, “Will she... ever be able to come out?”

He directed this directed to Wan Xiujing, as he still wasn’t quite used to talking directly to S-19.

“Maybe someday, if the technology... I don’t know...” Wan Xiujing trailed off, unable to finish.

Shen Yixiu moved with a clank, extending an open metal palm toward Han Qingyu. Inside was a small object wrapped tightly in paper. “There’s something I’d like to ask of you.”

Bewildered, Han Qingyu took the object and unwrapped it.

It was a small, round mirror with a decorative rim. On the back was a cartoon drawing of a princess in a long dress, the kind of thing a preteen girl would like.

Seeing his confusion, Shen Yixiu explained, “If one day I die in battle... if I’m about to die, will you open my faceplate and use this to let me see myself? Can you do that?”

Wen Jifei made a strangled, wordless sound beside them.

Han Qingyu froze.

“I really, really want to know what I look like now,” Shen Yixiu said with an audible smile.

Beside her, Wan Xiujing’s eyes had already gone red, tears streaming down her face. She hadn’t known about this request either. All she knew was that their grandfather’s house hadn’t had a single mirror for years.

“This is my home’s phone number. If you have any decisions or thoughts about which platoon to join, you can call me.” Shen Yixiu handed Han Qingyu a slip of paper, then turned and walked away. “Also, if you all want to call me Rust Girl or Iron Maiden, that’s actually fine. I think it’s kind of funny. Just don’t call me Barrel Girl. I’m not fat. I know that for a fact.”

1. Wen Jifei mistakes 沈宜秀 (Shěn Yíxiù) for 沈易锈 (Shěn Yìxiù), or Easily Rusted Shen, as they sound the same. ☜

2. Easily Rusted Shen 沈易锈 (Shěn Yìxiù) becomes 沈易修 (Shěn Yìxiū) or Easily Repaired Shen ☜