Unending questions rebounded inside of Lucas’ mind after general Corter’s briefing. They must have noticed how overwhelmed he was because the general ordered Riff to show Lucas to his quarters so he could rest. His head hurt, but the information began to slowly fall into place. Along with his unease.

Fully sentient, Lucas’ eyes flicked just ahead to the pair in front of him as they walked along another long barren hallway.

The link, as it had been referred to before, between Riff and Jackson became clearer to Lucas the longer he watched them. Riff was shorter than Jackson yet they had the same stride. They swung their arms at the same rate as they walked. When the lieutenant would pause and look back at Lucas, Jackson would immediately slow down as well. Lucas watched, fascinated, as they approached another doorway. Riff fell behind and Jackson took the lead. It was subtle, but Lucas could see a slight shift in Jackson’s posture as he opened the doorway.

Strange to be able to see that in a robot, Lucas thought to himself.

Jackson’s head snapped back and forth as he passed through the entryway, like he was scanning for targets.

“Something on your mind?” Riff asked over her shoulder.

“Oh.” Lucas stammered. “Sorry it just… You guys just look ready for trouble.”

Riff and Jackson shared a look. Riff smiled.

“Sorry,” She chuckled, “That’s my fault. Old habits. Ease up Jackson. We’re not kicking doors in anymore.”

“No, it’s my fault. You can’t unteach an old robot old tricks.” Jackson replied with a wave of his armored hand.

Riff sighed and palmed her face. “That’s a terrible altercation Jack. It doesn’t even work.”

It was Jackson’s turn to chuckle. “Fair enough.”

Jackson fell back in line with Riff as they continued down the hall. The doorway they just passed marked the start of a new area within the facility. A single blue line was painted on each wall and fake plants were far more common. This had to be the living quarters.

“So,” Lucas brought his thoughts back to the linked pair in front of him, “You two are accustomed to combat?”

Riff’s smile faded slightly. “Yes. Everyone is to some extent these days.”

“We were rotated off the frontlines four months, two weeks, and three days ago.” Jackson continued when Riff remained quiet. “The lieutenant’s link with me, as well as her background in psychology, made her ideal for her current position. General Corter needed someone to help his candidates transition into our world from their own.”

Lucas stopped walking.

“Lucas?” Riff turned. “Is everything okay?”

“What if…” Lucas couldn’t keep the shakiness out of his voice. “What if I don’t want to…”

His sentence drifted off, unfinished. A complex series of emotions flashed across Riff’s face. After a few moments of uncertainty, she broke into a warm, understanding smile.

“The choice to remain here is yours alone, Lucas. If you make the decision to return home we won’t stop you.”

Lucas felt a surge of relief course through him. “So it is possible to go back?”

“Of course.” Riff patted his shoulder in assurance. “We can manage travel in both directions so there’s no reason to be worried.”

A huge weight lifted from his shoulders. “Will you be bringing over others then?”

Riff nodded. “There were some powerful energy surges when you were brought over, so the machinery needs to be repaired and recalibrated. It may take a few days to get back into working condition. After that you’re free to go if you so choose. We’ll also start bringing over other candidates to hopefully enlist their assistance. Some of them you’ll probably know.”

“Why’s that?”

Riff looked at Jackson. “Mind if we take a detour?”

“I was just thinking the same thing. Looks like great circuits really do think alike.” the AI took a left at the next hallway junction.

“Where are we going now?” Lucas asked as they passed through another set of doors that marked the end of the living quarters.

“To show you why we think you're exactly what we need young sir.” Jackson replied enthusiastically.

Riff laughed. “You’re only two years old Jackson.”

“I don’t think it’s fair to use the standard system of measurement for my age.” the AI huffed.

“Of course you don’t.” Riff grinned.

Lucas frowned as the pair continued their banter for the next few minutes. Jackson was… too lifelike. It was uncanny. An itch at the back of his mind continued to bother Lucas as they walked.

“Here we are.” Riff’s announcement forced Lucas to ignore the itch and focus back on his surroundings.

They reached another security checkpoint complete with armed guards. The lieutenant scanned her id and held the steel door open for Lucas to walk through. He entered to find a staircase leading up into a large room. After a few steps, Lucas could hear distant sounds of gunshots. He turned back in alarm but Riff appeared to be perfectly calm.

“It’s just training,” She smiled and passed Lucas on the stairway, “Follow me. I think you’ll appreciate this.”

Slightly calmed, Lucas followed the lieutenant up the last remaining steps to get a good look at the room beyond. Large windows flanked either side of a wide walkway. The room on the left of Lucas looked to be a forest, complete with trees and foliage. The room on the right had a mountain theme, as it was filled with large rock outcroppings as well as a slanted terrain. The aesthetics were almost immediately lost on Lucas though. What captured his attention was the figures inside.

The forest was a full blown warzone. Tracers flew in every direction as robotic soldiers identical to Jackson were fighting bots in gray armor plating. The soldiers were fast. Too fast. Lucas struggled to keep up as the combatants ducked and sprinted between pieces of cover.

“You’ll want to watch this Lucas.” Lucas tore his eyes away from the glass to see Riff gesturing at the opposite window.

A large force of the gray bots walked slowly up the center of the room. Without warning, a smaller group of AI soldiers sprang up on either side of their opponents and unleashed a hailstorm of bullets. The initial volley took down a fourth of the gray bots. More impressive to Lucas however, was the response. The gray adversaries held no panic. No fear. Even as their comrades fell around them, each remaining bot responded with blinding speed. They all dropped low and returned fire in unison. They’re response was just as accurate and deadly as the ambush they had walked into.

“Our training bots aren’t quite as good as the Wu Jin, but they do their job just fine.” Riff turned her back to the window and leaned up against it.

“This is incredible,” Lucas breathed out, “Aren’t the repair costs ridiculously high?”

Riff shook her head. “The training rounds rarely penetrate the armor on either side. It’s not as bad as you’d think.”

“Would you like to see where the pilots are controlling their links Mr. Wright?” Jackson gestured further down the walkway.

Lucas nodded and followed the AI past the live fire training rooms. The walls fell away and Lucas found himself above a sea of cubicles.

“Isn’t that…” Lucas’ eyes widened.

Riff nodded as she stood next to him, “You can imagine how surprised we were when we first bridged the gap between our worlds. Our biggest concern was finding individuals who could quickly understand and adapt to our combat systems. As fate would have it, there was an entire group of individuals trained on basically the same technology.”

“Focal Point.” Lucas couldn’t believe it.

Each cubicle had a hauntingly familiar setup to his favorite game. Visored helmets, omni-direction treadmills, sensor gloves… it was all there. Almost every cubicle was occupied by a member of the US military. Lucas watched as they crawled, ducked, sprinted, and fired invisible weapons at unseen adversaries. His presence began to make more sense. Riff confirmed his suspicions with a smile.

“Who better to recruit than the number one player in the world?”

JTNestman

I'll try to have another chapter out by tomorrow. Thanks for reading.