“No, this doesn’t mean that you’ll be enlisted into military service,” Riff assured him, “You’ll be part of a volunteer force that will be free for anyone who comes from your world to join or leave at any time. Though, if you decide to leave, we won’t bring you back. The process, as I’m sure you can understand, is expensive.”

After receiving Riff’s word that this would not be a binding contract, Lucas agreed to become a pilot. Riff had assured him that pilots were in much higher demand than their AI counterparts, so even if Lucas decided to leave in a few days they were willing to take the risk of one unit being wasted. Though the speed at which things were happening almost made Lucas reconsider. After giving consent, Riff led Lucas straight to another sort of medical wing. This one felt less like a normal hospital and more like a specialist’s office. While there were far fewer rooms in this area compared to the one Lucas had awoken in earlier, the overall size of the facility seemed to be the same. The space was combined into several high tech, sterile operating rooms. A number of doctors and nurses entered just ahead of him in scrubs. Lucas swallowed hard.

“Like I said, these people are professionals. They’ve done this procedure so many times they could complete it with their eyes closed. It’s easier than getting your tonsils removed.” Riff gently pushed Lucas towards the operating room’s door.

“You don’t have to open up your skull to remove your tonsils,” Lucas pointed out, “Doesn’t that kind of thing take weeks to heal?”

Riff chuckled, “Usually, yes. But this is a different kind of surgery. Plus, our technology on this front is a bit further along than what you’re used to. You’ll be up and about in no time. Trust me.”

Riff pulled off her cap and lowered her head. She lifted her free hand and parted a portion of her blonde hair to reveal a short scar on the top of her head.

“Barely noticeable,” Riff smiled and put her cap back on, “Absolutely nothing to worry about.”

“Right.” Lucas still felt an unsettling chill over his body.

Putting aside his fear, Lucas opened the door and went inside.

The next thing Lucas knew was waking up. He never remembered actually entering the operating room. He didn’t remember the short introduction to the doctors, agreeing to shave off his dark hair, and he certainly didn’t remember the needles that rendered him unconscious. Needless to say, Lucas was extremely disoriented when he came to. He sat up, surprised to find himself wearing another simple hospital gown and another IV in his arm. He took a look around the room. It was even smaller than the hospital wing accommodations. Judging by the carpet on the floors, the thin sheets and small pillow on the bed, as well as the narrow door that led to an even smaller bathroom, this had to be the room he was assigned in the living quarters. Given the fact that there were no windows, Lucas had no way of knowing how long he had been unconscious.

Now that I think about it. I don’t even know what time it was when I went in for the procedure, Lucas placed the palm of his hand to his face, There was just too much going on.

Lucas sighed. His thoughts flickered back to the large stadium sized room full of Focal Point like stations.

I was too caught up in the moment, Lucas lifted his hand to run it through his hair only to find his head covered in soft bandages, Oh.

Before Lucas could fully process this new information, he felt something. A small itch that tickled inside his mind. Lucas had never felt something like it before. Purely by instinct, Lucas’ eyes were drawn to a blank section of wall to the right of his bed. The itch grew more noticeable by the second. It wasn’t uncomfortable, just strange. His eyes tracked… something through the wall as it drew closer to his room. Shakily, Lucas stood as footsteps could now be heard approaching his door. A soft knock echoed briefly through the thin metal material. Lucas was silent for a moment before realizing that they were waiting for his response.

“C-come in,” He croaked, only now noticing how dry his throat was.

The door cracked open and Lieutenant Riff’s smiling face peered around the door.

“Welcome back Lucas.” She opened the door fully but didn’t enter the room. “Good to see you’re already up and about. Everything feeling okay?”

Lucas swallowed, grimacing slightly at the discomfort. “Yeah. How long was I unconscious?”

“No longer than the average patient.” Riff waved away the question. “We can answer more questions later. There’s someone who’s eager to introduce themself.”

Lucas didn’t bother asking who it was, the itch in his mind answered that for him. Two metallic steps sounded in the halfway before a robotic head leaned into view next to Riff. The Lieutenant smiled and stepped graciously out of the way, allowing the humanoid robot to enter Lucas’ room completely.

It looked different from Riff’s AI, Jackson. This one was smaller, around five foot ten. The armor plating, while still the familiar black color Lucas had seen everywhere else, seemed thinner and far more streamlined than the other machines he had seen. The other major discrepancy he immediately noticed were the eyes. While Jackson’s were nearly impossible to see behind his reflective helmet, this bot had two very distinct eyes. Blue lights illuminated the outer edge of the eye as well as the iris in the middle. The lines were smooth and well proportioned. Not pixelated like Lucas would have expected. The eyes gazed right back into Lucas’ own. He felt a slight tremor in his mind, similar to the itch he had been feeling for the past two minutes.

“I’ll let you two get acquainted.” Riff Said as she closed the door. “I’ll send someone down with a meal for you Lucas. You can eat it here so take all the time you need.”

The door shut with a soft click, leaving Lucas alone with the AI.

“Hello Lucas. I’m really happy to finally meet you.”

Lucas reeled back in surprise, “You’re a girl?”

The robot leaned forward slightly and let out a tinkling laugh. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Her voice was sweet. Like Jackson, it didn’t sound forced or automated in any way. It was clearly more than a series of awkward words or phrases strung together. It spoke just like a human. However, this AI sounded younger than Jackson. Around Lucas’ own age.

“It’s just… I thought…” Lucas knew he could cook an egg on his face but his mind was too shattered to care. “I mean, Jackson was…”

The AI brought up her hands and placed them on her hips. “So since Jackson is the only combat form you’ve met you naturally assumed that they were all boys?”

“No…” Lucas couldn’t think of any justification to save himself.

“Is that…” He desperately tried to veer the conversation anywhere else. “Is that why you’re smaller? To be more accurate to the female figure?”

She doubled over laughing in a very human-like manner. “No! Why would that be a thing?”

Lucas opened and closed his mouth several times. He could probably be clinically diagnosed as brain dead now. There was nothing happening upstairs anymore.

“As much as I would like to tell you I requested my body to be smaller to accentuate my feminin charms,” the AI chuckled again before continuing, “The real reason is much more practical.”

“You requested it?” Lucas asked, genuinely surprised.

He assumed the combat forms were constructed to some uniform standard and would lead to very few differences between the AIs’ bodies.

“Indeed,” She nodded curtly, “I felt that a smaller, more agile form would best fit your combat style. From my detailed analysis of your matches in Focal Point, you prefer to be lighter on your feet in a majority of situations. I deemed it acceptable for lighter platting and a smaller frame in order to match what would make you the most comfortable.”

“You’ve watched my games?” Lucas felt a bit embarrassed for some reason.

“Wait.” Lucas was struck with a thought. “I assumed the whole point of the surgery I just went through was to help create you.”

“It was.” She clasped her hands behind her back in an informal stance. “I simply watched everything we had on file about you in the space of time between my initial startup and your recovery. I made the requests and was fortunate enough to have them done before you woke up.”

“Wait, just how long have I been unconscious?”

“Only thirty six hours.”

Lucas felt sick. “That’s…”

“Longer than you were expecting?” she summarized.

“Yeah.” Lucas shifted uncomfortably and looked at the AI in front of him.

“Though it still seems like a short time for you to reach… This level.” Lucas stated honestly.

For the first time, the AI in front of him paused and looked away. The slight tremor in his mind changed slightly.

“Our… development is sped up for rapid training and deployment.”

Her eyes flicked back up to his own. “You could say we are fast tracked through life.”

“How does that even work?”

“Our mind’s development is… simulated. At an extremely fast pace. We’re born and within a day we’re at an adult’s level of development,” She still sounded hesitant, “That’s one reason why the link between us is important. It helps my synapses make all the correct connections.”

“Is that dangerous? Are…” It seemed awkward but Lucas still felt obligated to ask, “Are you okay?”

The tremor he continued to feel in his mind returned to its initial frequency.

“That’s sweet of you.” She dipped her head slightly. “I’m perfectly fine. I promise.”

Lucas felt himself blush. “Right.”

“Um,” He coughed nervously, “Do you have a name?”

Her eyes widened slightly, “I’m so sorry, that was rude of me. My designation is D419-Lilliana.”

Her right eye collapsed into a thin line.

Did she just wink at me?

“But you can call me Lilly.”

JTNestman

Another piece is on the board. Thank you all for taking the time to read through this story. Check back in a few days for the next chapter.