Untitled Kindle short

"Too late, fucko," the other entity thought - but didn't say. "I think this one's mine," the stranger - a human! - said, picking up one of their own spilled papers.

Kindle had never seen this human before, but knew this could only be Phaeton. (How many other humans in TV Base could there be, after all?) Wait - Phaeton the Titan engineer? Oh no, oh no, oh no, Kindle really did not want Phaeton to see these! Surely the human would mock its obsession-

"You are studying technical drawing?" asked Phaeton. "Sorry - I know you said don't look, but it was right in my foveas. It's pretty good," Phaeton continued as they handed one of the papers - a drawing of the TV Titan with doodled hearts in the margins - back to Kindle. "You remembered to include the freikugel couplings on the core array. Most people don't notice them and leave them out. Plus you properly added the asymmetry in the crown heatsink. A lot of people assume it's meant to be symmetrical and draw it as such on plans."

Kindle uttered a flustered squeak, and jumped at the realisation that it hadn't actually taken the paper off Phaeton. Nor had it answered Phaeton - Kindle quickly got its shit together and thought of something to say. "It's - it's like that to prevent resonance buildup - isn't it? The heatsink, I mean."

"Yeah, that's the bastard," said Phaeton. "Same kind of reason most humans have one bollock or one tit lower than the other one, I guess - prevents them banging together when we run."

"Oh! I… didn't know that," said Kindle.

Phaeton suspected that Kindle was embarrassed by the fact that many of its papers were all covered in hearts. "Honestly," said Phaeton, "I believe that to be a successful Titan engineer, you kind of have to be a bit obsessed with your Titan. And I know I'm not the only engineer who thinks that." Phaeton handed back some more heart-speckled papers to Kindle. "Oh, that one's mine," said Phaeton, taking one back. (It had doodles of farting bumholes and spunking dongs in the margins.) "I didn't introduce myself, did I? I am a Titan engineer - on your own Titan's crew, in fact. My name is Phaeton." Phaeton was intrigued by the short stature of this TV-unit. All other TVs could loom over Phaeton, but Phaeton could have used this one as a chin-rest.

"…You really think so?" said Kindle. "About the bit about obsession, I mean. Obviously you know your name is Phaeton." Kindle emitted a static-squeak of frustrated embarrassment at how incoherent it was being, and stalled for time by picking up the last few dropped papers. "Oh! I'm Kindle," said Kindle. There - that was a sensible response to someone telling their name.

"Well met," said Phaeton. They were picking up on Kindle's flusteredness but trying not to draw attention to it. "You know… if you'd like to meet the Titan, I could arrange that. I can't do anything about the other two factions' Titans; I don't have that much pull."

"Eek!" squeaked Kindle, almost dropping its papers again. "I mean… I don't want to take up your time or get in the way - I know you're a busy engineer!"

"Not that busy," conceded Phaeton, pulling out a paper from their own stack to show Kindle. Framing the the printed text were doodles of panicked skibidi toilets being pursued by angry bees and geese. "I don't remember this meeting but clearly I was bored out of my skull. Right now the Titan is between upgrade cycles so it's being kept in a state of T15." This state meant the Titan was being kept ready to deploy for battle with a maximum of 15 minutes' notice. "I could probably let you stick your head in and say hello- wow, are you okay?"

Kindle was so nervous at the prospect of actually encountering the Titan, it wanted to port away - an unkind thought flashed into its head of command-beaming Phaeton to forget this conversation even happened. But at the same time, it couldn't possibly pass this opportunity up! "Yes - I'm okay," Kindle made itself say. "I just… don't want to bother the Titan. Are you really sure it's okay for me to visit?"

"I am," said Phaeton. "Come, let's walk." They set off towards the hangar, and Kindle quickly followed. "I'm a Titan engineer, as I said," continued Phaeton as the pair walked, "And if I say it's okay for you to visit, then it is. And I know the Titan won't be bothered. The rest of the crew and I are hoping that things will quieten down enough at some point that we can start having scheduled visiting hours for the hangar, so anyone can drop in."

"Does the Titan approve of that plan?" asked Kindle, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"It was the Titan's suggestion," said Phaeton. "Oh, perhaps you don't know? The Titan loves every TV. Nobody planned it that way, but it turns out if you select a Titan from a pool of candidates the most loyal and devoted to the faction, and put it in a body designed to be the faction's ultimate guardian, with an intellect sized to match - well, the way its mind unfolds, it'll grow to love the whole faction. In retrospect, knowing what we know now, it was probably inevitable."

Kindle seemed stunned. Phaeton let it process that information, lest it drop its folder of papers again.

"You know," said Phaeton, "I was kind of a Titan groupie myself, before I got to join the engineering team. I first met it because I got voluntold for maintenance on its core. There's lots of disadvantages to being a squishy organic in a techfolk world, but it turns out being immune to magnetic fields is pretty handy. And from there I was smitten! The Titan really is as glorious and terrifying and beautiful as you're expecting - but it noticed me and was gentle to me and spoke kindly to me. And it always has. I just couldn't not meet it again! …And you've probably heard about what came next. I became enough of a hanger-on that Engineer Zenith ended up giving me a position on the engineering team. They said it was because of my skill, but I suspect it was partly because I wasn't going to go away, so I might as well be useful. So, not a recommended method for getting a job, but it happened to work in my case."

Kindle's screen lit up a little brighter from having to take in all this information. 'Titan groupie'? Was that what it was? Kindle couldn't really deny it… "When you said the Titan loves everyone…" began Kindle, partly to show it was keeping up with the conversation, "It hasn't met me. So how can it?"

"You're about to find out," said Phaeton, as the pair rounded a corner.

Oh, they were here already- no, it was too early for Kindle! It wasn't ready yet… but it knew it would regret it forever if it didn't seize this opportunity!

Phaeton was already talking to the security guards at the hangar entrance, Kindle realised as it snapped itself out of its daze. One of the guards gave Kindle a visitor's pass to clip to its lapel (and gave Kindle a smiling emoticon).

Phaeton and Kindle entered. This was happening, this was really happening… Phaeton could tell how anxious-yet-delighted Kindle felt, and knew just how the TV was feeling.

Kindle felt more nervous still as its teleport-circuit prickled in the presence of the hangar's void-webbing. TVs could port themselves around within the hangar, but no-one except the most high-ranking individuals could port directly in or out - Kindle wouldn't be able to leave except the same way it came in. It was very tempting to do just that, and teleport back to the hangar bulkhead doors before noping out down the corridor… but Kindle endured. This was terrifying, but it was also just what Kindle wanted.

Phaeton thought of asking Kindle to port the pair right over to the Titan. The human often got around the hangar that way, hitching a lift with whichever TV was going in the same direction. Phaeton decided against it - it might make Kindle more nervous at having to not fuck up the teleport on top of everything else. Plus, the Titan deserved to be beheld properly, and the approach on foot would help Kindle do just that.

The Titan turned its head to find the owner of the unfamiliar yes-I-live signal. "Phaeton, you've brought a visitor," said the Titan. At this range… it was like the voice of the night sky, of the power in the storm. The Titan faced Kindle screen-on, that vast pane of static bearing down and transfixing Kindle with terror and delight. The Titan rippled its magnificent back-spikes with curiosity. "Eighteen-Ninety-Seven," said the Titan. It displayed a smiling emoticon on its screen and buzzed its speakers gently. "Well met."

Kindle was paralysed by sheer awe. It had seen every broadcast with the Titans, most of them multiple times, but that couldn't prepare it for the scale and magnificence of the entity before it… It was so frightening that it actually made Kindle feel calm from the sheer inevitability of the Titan. It was like a force of nature, only it had been shaped not by nature but by the greatest minds of the TV faction. The calmness Kindle felt was starting to feel more like serenity. 'This…' thought Kindle, 'This is my Titan.'

The last of the Titans, and the most powerful and perfect.

"Do not fear me," said the Titan softly, bringing its colossal screen closer to the walkway. "Dear Eighteen-Ninety-Seven," whispered the Titan, its voice a wave breaking on a stony shore in the dead of night. "Do not fear me. I couldn't bear that. I love you, dear one."

"…Truly?" Kindle said as it clutched its folder of papers.

"How can I not?" asked the pride of the faction. "I am your Titan."