Time lost meaning after separating from Jazz. The humming by-wheel engine lulling my senses as the ground blurred past. Cresting a rise and squinting through the sharp light peaking over the horizon, I brought the machine to a halt. A slight trail of dust glinted far in the distance. There they are.

The roads here were heavily damaged and sparser than those I’d grown used to near my home, and the flatness of the terrain astonished me. The greenery scattered in dense patch work. Large sections of rusty mearth protruded in the gaps. The air empty of smells. So, is this is the red?

“HAG, magnify.” The familiar window appeared, and I gripped my right hand with the left to fight against unsteadiness. “Range to target?” I asked.

“Variety of targets available, non, or sentient objects?”

“Sentient! The one’s riding!”

“87 kilometers moving away from user location.”

I’ll never catch them at this rate. Tremors rocked my insides as my arm fell. The weight of my time at German Olympus gnawed at my core, making it hard to stay motivated. Processing most of it brought physical pain. I really know nothing. Owls was dangerously educated. With Titans Wrath and an army of inquisitors, what if he reacquires the other Heathens and outcast? Would that actually be bad? It could stop a lot of hardship. It was odd to consider that, in several ways, our views were the same. Knowing not to fear, but value what humanity left behind.

No, he was still an insane cultist with control on his mind. Mixing the lawless predators of the heathen gangs with the meek sheep of the faith would mean bloodshed and chaos. I can’t live like that. Not now.

I needed to catch up with the green-haired girl. Where Titans Wrath found her was a mystery, but no one wore that gear or developed those bizarre features in the sacred land. She was my only lead to finding a new settlement. A coughing fit interrupted my reverie. Stifling it, I moved on.

The tires hurled large chunks of mearth, plowing over and around grass and brush as I drove off the fragmented road. By cutting across and not using the ancient travel ways, I’d reduce my time to intercept the Heathens, so long as they didn’t do the same. This will work.

My neck burned at the wound. I stopped to dress it once, but the bandages soiled in minutes. Now there was a layer of crimson covering my skin, from ear to shoulder. Sharp tingles raced up my arms as the rough terrain worked my muscles. I hadn’t struggled this hard with the by-wheel before. The machine seemed to have set itself against me, jerking and wobbling as I navigated. Why is it so hot?

“Shit!” The corded stocks of an unseen wire brush contacted the front tire and immediately tangled. Movement stopped in an instant and the momentum hurled me forward from my seat, down hard on rocks in a thin patch of stem grass. My skin rubbed raw through my clothing as I skid to a halt.

On my back, I tried to get needed oxygen to my lungs only to shout, “damn it!” The words cutting through the Martian silence. Fighting to my feet, the bandage on my neck snagged. After a moment’s struggle, it ripped, and I left it to hang with the green blades and stormed toward the by-wheel. I hate all of it! Screw those crazy zealots. I hope Owls kills them all! Then himself! End all their life functions, poof gone! Maybe the world would be better with none of us here. I found myself staring at the sky, directing a glare at the Solarr and everyone on it for watching this unfold. “Is this how it was supposed to be?” I asked the emptiness.

I mustered all my frustrated strength into pulling up the by-wheel. It righted, overshot, and dragged me down with it on the opposite side. Again, I lay still, panting from exertion. “HAG, combat enhance!” I said. My teeth ground together. “HAG, combat enhance, double excel.” Nothing. “HAG, current timestamp?”

“Ten zero two Martian rise.” The female voice answered, monotone as ever.

“HAG, combat enhance! Do it, damn you!” I rolled to my side and slammed the device again and again. Metal tinging as small rocks crushed under it. Finally, straddling the by-wheel with extensive effort and a long string of curses, I moved forward. Wobbly at first, steadying as I built speed, the wire brush tearing loose of the tire.

The air now tasted of a day without oral care. My robe slowly tinted an ugly red at the shoulder on my left and my skin seemed to smolder. All I cared about was catching the fleeing girl. I would deal with anything else after.

The cycles dragged on as I forced my body to keep riding. The dust cloud never dissipated; it moved further and further parallel to me on the horizon. The Heathens were still in pursuit on the roads, which meant I was slowly gaining. I pushed the machine at its maximum speed, ignoring the stab in my skull with each bounce.

“Do you need help?”

“What?” I looked around. A voice close by, but where? I wondered, listening over the motor and crunch under the tires, trying to make sense of it. The bare orange spots and the patches of green seemed to melt together. I slowed to scan more thoroughly. Wait, what am I doing? There’s no time for this. I re-accelerated, focusing ahead.

Had I ever felt so hot? The closest to this much discomfort I’d ever experienced was being chased by a Gray out of a bunker. The four-legged beast snapped at my heals for a kilometer. Its thick wooly paws clawed the ground, pushing it unbelievably fast. Its long, toothy snout had taken a piece of my boots. I got lucky that time.

“But could you have done it without me?”

The voice was so close I jerked and nearly toppled. Clumsily swerving into a tall section of stem grass, the green blades slapping my face. One rubbed harshly across my neck. I winced and cursed, unable to ignore it. Slowing until I regained control, controlling my frustration. My palms were slick at the handlebars and my breath grew labored. I know I hear someone. It’s a female.

I couldn’t wrap my head around who would talk to me out here. Didn’t they realize I was trying to catch up to the girl? It was very important. Wait, no one is with me. I breathed deep, calming breaths, but gained no clarity.

Sudden thoughts of the way I’d left Jazz swept over me. What if the Humvee ran out of fuel before he covered enough distance? What if he couldn’t get away, period? Would Owls let him go? He mainly wanted me and the girl. Jazz is more capable than any other Heathen or group of. He’ll do it with no problems. It was a solid conclusion, but brought no relief.

“You still left him after only getting away because of him.”

This voice was painfully familiar, but foreign somehow and much too close. I stopped in a large open area of deep brown and black rocks, devoid of all green. Carefully, I rolled my right sleeve, revealing the silver device. It glared in the sun, too bright, like a flicker of unseen fire flowed through the metallic surface. “HAG, current time stamp.” My tongue seemed thick, making the words slow.

“It’s another day on Mars, user Ex.”

“I. . .” I wasn’t sure what to say. It had never given me that answer. But Owls had done something after all. I analyzed while wiping sweat from my forehead. What exactly did he do? It was some kind of command for the device to stop certain functions. But this?

“We should go now. We won’t catch them.”

“Yeah. . . you’re right.” I said, hesitantly. I continued to glance down at the object still ablaze, sparing only the minimum attention needed to guide my vehicle through obstacles.

I could see unaided at least ten black dots on the horizon stirring dust. When had I made up all the distance to the Heathens? My thoughts grew more disjointed as I wiped salty liquid from my eyes. The air rushing past doing little to cool me. It’s so hot. Would they actually try to fight in this heat? How much further? I raised my right arm, releasing a grip on half of the steering bars. “HAG dist-.”

Mearth ground across face while sound of metal and smashing noises filled my ears. Fresh pain coursed through me. And then it stopped. There was a sky above me. A small glistening dot was in view. Was that the Solarr? Or the god Phobos?

“What are you going to do, user Ex?”

“I’m. . . not. . . sure. That hurt a bit. Maybe I should rest for a cycle.”

“Is that what you should be doing?”

“No. I need to get up, catch the Heathens. Help that girl and find out where she is from.”

“After that, you’ll abandon her as you did Jazz. As you did with your sister.”

Tension riddled my body. What was going on here? Why would this object be saying these things? This damn parasite.

“If I’m a parasite, then why is it you depend on me?”

I struggled for an answer. “You’re just a relic, a piece of military junk left here by cowards who ran away. I’ve been stuck with you. Feeding you like a sluth attached to my arm.”

“But yet you need me. If not me, then Jazz. And now, with him gone, you are fixated on a stranger. And before any other, you depended on Zelsta. You let her die in your place, user Ex. You are a real parasite, don’t you agree?”

The sky swirled, and the HAG shifted in appearance. No longer a glistening flame, but a crimson mirror of blood rippling. A set of green eyes with scorched skin around them looked over me. Zelsta?

“It’s your fault.” The words were my sister’s. But how? I chewed on my cheek, looking for something to clear my head. A faint smell of smoke filled my nose and I could hear the crackle of flame. This can’t be real. I tried to hold the thought.

Was I the parasite? If I hadn’t found the HAG that day, Zelsta would still be here. And our parents, what would they have done? But without the device, I wouldn’t have survived my exile. I surely would have dragged Jazz down with me. Or maybe I’d never known him? Would that have been better?

What if I catch the green-haired girl? Will I bring her down? I didn’t want to harm her. But what if it happened? What if I brought my trouble to her people? Owls may send the whole of Titans’ Wrath here after me. One encounter on my own is all it had taken to break me. With no Jazz and no help from this thing, I could barely hold on. Would I do more damage than good? It’s so hot.

I repeated the combat command. And there was nothing, as expected. I staggered to my feet, blinking hard, then holding my eyes shut. This can’t be real. I counted backwards for a full cycle, lids closed. When I finally opened, the HAG held its usual basic luster. I must have been losing it. Maybe I’m wound sick? But there’s no way to deal with it.

The wreck lay a deep gash in my skin through my brown and green pants, and the robe was in tatters, swaying around in the light breeze. My cheek felt fleshy, stringy. More blood and waves of discomfort wracked me, but I continued to work.

The metallic saddle bag was drastically miss shaped from being ejected off the by-wheel. With some effort, I refastened it. None of the contents spilled, which brought a relief of sorts. The panels that absorbed sunlight were also intact, which meant the machine would operate despite being oddly twisted. These were good things.

Grimy with mearth and sweat, I grew more lethargic with each motion. The world seemed tilted as I fumbled along. Almost there. I continued to think, watching the dots I’d tried so hard to catch fade into the distance. I can still do this. After climbing aboard my machine with conviction, I noticed the crumpled paper on the ground. The HAG manual. I couldn’t afford the effort to retrieve it. But leaving it behind? A staple of life for so long? I never decided. My vision swam, and I lost track of my appendages. There was darkness.

“Pull harder Zelsta!” Ex begged his sister.

She tried for over a mega cycle to get this device off her brother. It wouldn’t budge. Matted blonde hair hung on her face as she prepared again. Placing her bare foot against his shoulder and yanking. He howled in protest and collapsed against her. Small green eyes filled to the brink with tears. She whispered, tenderly stroking his back. “It’s fine. We will figure this out.”

Zelsta looked around. There, next to where her brother had found this object, was another rectangle full of symbols. On it, symbols that matched the device, H-A-G. Gently, she slipped aside, grabbing the item and ripping it open. She flipped through all the writing inside as her brother watched desperately.

One drop of moisture, then two fell on the unknown words. What had she done? There was no way to hide this from their parents. What would they do? “I. . . I can’t read it, Ex. But I’ll fix this, Promise.

There was the sound of a screeching door followed by the clacking of boots.

“Oh no,” Ex whispered.

Zelsta knew their time was up. There would be no escaping. Inquisitors would bring them before the pontifex, no matter what. Decisively, she tore a hand full of papers from the rectangle and shoved them in her brother’s britches. “Keep these safe,” she said.

“I could hear crying. Someone is in here.” A dull voice spoke, then a short woman clad in white rounded the shelves. “We have a couple of young sinners here delving into the taboo.” Zelsta positioned herself in front of Ex. But it was futile. The woman snatched a handful of her hair and dragged forward

“Let go of my sister! I’ll. . . I’ll kill you!” Ex screamed and ran forward, only to receive a boot in the face. He rolled backwards and scrambled to his feet, agile as ever despite his distorted condition.

“No, stop.” Zelsta said. She tried to look as calm as possible. “You don’t actually want to kill anyone. No matter what.”

“Aww, cute,” with a dark smile, the inquisitor ripped back on the blonde hair in her hand and Zelsta whimpered. Ex stood; his face soaked with tears. The woman disappeared around the corner with his sister, and a man emerged, snagging him by his small ear and taking him away.

“I hate you all.”

Beep. . .

Beep. . .

Beep. . .

“What? Ugh. What is that?”

“Three zero seven Martian rise. maintenance restriction lifted. Organics at ninety percent. All features available to user.”

I lay in a heap next to the by-wheel. Unseen flames engulfed me and clothes clung wetly to my skin. The stars shone brightly above me. Among them, the Solarr floated, a shimmering celestial observer of my failure. It’s night again? Everything seemed heavy, like weights pinned my arms and legs to the ground. No! How long was I out?

“User condition critical, medical attention advised.” The female voice warned.

I panted, rolling to my side. The HAG, still exposed, reflected the sky. Wait, it said all features are available? Or did it? I determined my brain wasn’t working right. That was oddly clear at that moment. But I had to try. I braced for disappointment and called for the enhancement.

The cold familiar sensation soaked my body, though not like normal. My heart slammed painfully in my ribs and the fire in my skin didn’t falter. But I found the strength and energy I desperately needed. A thick veil lifted from my thoughts, allowing me to focus on the task at hand. The world still seemed tilted, and my arms and legs detached, but I could do this.

Clear headed. It was scary to think of the HAG speaking to me for real, but I didn’t dare delve into my dreams or mental state. I knew the only thing that mattered was the mission.

Find the girl.