True to Lieutenant Riff’s word, someone dropped off a tray of food for Lucas within the hour. It wasn’t much, instant mash potatoes, over cooked peas, and a dry slab of meat with bottled water on the side, but Lucas was too hungry to be anything but grateful. Lilly watched him eat in silence. During their discussions, Lucas had begun to make a connection between the small vibrations he felt in his mind with Lilly’ emotions. It was slight and imprecise, but after the thought occurred to him, Lucas started to pay attention. Through Lilly’ eyes and the tone of her voice, Lucas could match the vibration’s frequency with what emotion Lilly was currently experiencing. It was new and frightening. The part that unnerved Lucas the most was the realization that maybe the vibrations weren't only one way.

“Something wrong?” Lilly tilted her head.

Curiosity. Lucas noted the vibration to himself.

He shook his head. “No, not really. I’m still processing everything.”

“Are you sure it’s not because of this absurdity?” Lilly took a step closer to his bed before poking a finger into his half eaten meat. “Would you like me to scan it and tell you how much of it is real and how much is artificial?”

Lucas couldn’t help but chuckle. “I think I already know the answer. Besides, it wouldn't do me much good now, would it?”

“So what is it?” She withdrew her finger from his plate.

Lucas hesitated. Talking to Lilly was easy. She didn’t seem to mind when he would slip into awkward silences or take too long to respond to a question. She was patient, attentive, and genuinely interested in what Lucas had to say. He didn’t have many people like that back in his world. But as great as all that was, he still didn’t know how much of Lilly was clever programming designed to put him at ease. There could be someone behind the scenes tweaking her responses or behaviors. How much of her was real?

Lucas met Lilly’ blue eyes as she stood, still waiting for a response. Lucas felt the vibration slip into a more worried tone. The fact that he was beginning to understand the vibrations made Lucas smile.

“I’m fine. Really,” He took another bite of the mystery meat, “I’m just worried that I’m getting into something that I’m not ready for.”

“What?” Lilly exclaimed with genuine surprise. “Why wouldn’t you be ready for this?”

“I play games, Lilly.” Lucas scoffed. “I’m not a soldier. I was swept away in the moment when they told me that my Focal Point experience was exactly what they were looking for. I agreed to try being a pilot right then and there, but now that I reconsider things…”

Lucas trailed off. The vibration in his mind slowed down to a new frequency. He jerked up in alarm.

“So you… you won't even give me a chance?” Lilly asked quietly. “Did I make a bad first impression?”

“No, of course not.” Lucas swallowed hard. “I think you’re pretty amazing… Honestly.”

“Really?” Lilly’s eyes and vibration perked up.

Lucas nodded. “It really doesn’t have anything to do with you. I’m just being selfish and only thinking about my own situation. I’m sure if I got to know you better, we could be a great team.”

“Okay!” Lilly nodded before turning to the door. “Let’s do it.”

“Do what?” Lucas scrunched his face in confusion.

Lilly opened the door that led out to the hallway and turned back to Lucas. “Let's get to know each other. I already know we’re a great team. I just have to show you.”

Lilly lifted a metallic arm and gestured for Lucas to follow her.

Lucas frowned and pointed to his bandages, “I don’t think I’m supposed to…”

“I already cleared it with command.” Lilly tapped the side of her head.

“Come on, Silence.” She winked once more. “Let’s play some games.”

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lucas found himself back at the sea of cubicles he had seen the day before. This time, however, he was on the ground floor walking down the lengthy corridors. While each cubicle was made of sound proofing material, the fact that none of them had a ceiling meant that Lucas could hear faint voices over the walls if they were shouting. Which, as most of the individuals were in combat training of some kind, there was a lot of shouting going on.

“It’s easier this way.” Lilly answered Lucas’ unasked question. “Security can see what’s happening in each pod with fewer cameras. Also, an open ceiling allows for better airflow. Helps keep the pilots cool during exercises or combat. Better than the stuffy little box you’re used to, right?”

Lucas nodded slowly. While her answer made sense, he was more concerned over how she knew what he was thinking about. Did she just notice his gaze and deduce his train of thought? Or was it something deeper than that. Lucas grew increasingly at ease around Lilly. But the thought of someone having access to his own thoughts was still too unnerving not to worry about.

Lilly stopped suddenly. Being lost in thought, Lucas nearly ran into her.

“Sorry.” Lilly hopped to the side. “There’s just a bit of a line we’ll have to wait for.”

Lilly had stopped about thirty feet away from what appeared to be a large check in station. A crew of seven military officers sat inside an octagonal ring of desks using extremely high tech computers. Each officer had a long neat line of pilots in front of their respective desks. Every few moments, the officers would shout instructions to the next group of pilots in their line. After which, the pilots would jog away, maintaining their formation as they departed as a group. Lucas’ attention was immediately drawn to the pilots themselves. He had already surmised that this area was for training new recruits, but he hadn’t been expecting what kind of recruits were being trained. They were young, seventeen or eighteen years old. Boys and girls. Lucas even saw a few that couldn’t be older than sixteen.

“Are…” Lucas lowered his voice to a whisper. “Are they even old enough to enlist?”

“They are now,” Lilly answered soberly, “For combat pilots anyway. And I doubt any of them enlisted. Most recruits are drafted these days.”

Lucas took a moment to look at the drill instructors that were assigned to each group of trainees. None of them looked to be younger than their forties. Thinking back, even most of the guards looked younger or older than what Lucas would expect from active duty personnel.

“So everyone from age twenty to thirty is…” Lucas trailed off, afraid to finish.

Lilly’ vibration grew nervous. “They’re not all dead. No. Most of them are serving on the frontlines. Once you lose the AI you’re paired with you can’t be paired with another. Almost everyone in that age group has already served as a pilot. But after their AI is gone, they’re sent to the defensive front to hold back the Wu Jin.”

“I thought the whole point was that AI soldiers were superior to human soldiers in almost every way.”

“They are…” Lilly hesitated. “But we don’t have enough troops if we were to rely on our AI pilots alone. Human soldiers are still out there, fighting their hardest to hold the front.”

Her voice grew even quieter. “As you can imagine, casualties are… high.”

Lucas felt sick.

“Don’t worry.” Lilly lifted her voice forcefully. “This isn’t your war in the first place so we would never send you there. Besides.”

Lilly nudged her elbow gently into Lucas’ chest. “With your skills and my help, we’ll never lose.”

Despite Lilly’s assurances, Lucas remained unconvinced.

“I’m sorry.” Lilly laughed nervously. “I didn’t mean for things to get so serious. I honestly brought you here so we could have some fun.”

“Fun?”

Lucas doubted he could even smile after the horrible conversation they just had about this reality. Before he could inquire further, a tired looking officer pushed through the crowd and locked eyes with Lucas.

“You there.” the man called out as he approached. “You Lucas Wright?”

The weathered soldier was probably in his early fifties, but his graying hair and tired face made him look older. His steely gray eyes were fierce and carried no humor. Lucas was already intimidated.

“Yes…” Lucas’ eyes flickered to the insignia on the man’s shoulder. “Sergeant Major, sir.”

The man stopped and narrowed his eyes. “You’re the one they pulled over?”

Lucas nodded.

He gave Lucas a satisfied nod and turned to Lilly. “Designation?”

“D419-Lilliana.” Lilly replied with a salute.

“Good,” The man pulled a small tablet from his pocket and began to make a few notes using a stylist, “I’m Sergeant Major Barnes and this is my combat floor. I’ve been ordered to let you use the small range for a solo training session.”

“Yes sir.” Lilly glanced at Lucas. “We’re just getting our feet wet today.”

“Right.” Barnes’ face never deviated from his permanent scowl. “Mr. Wright, you’re assigned to pod J-34. Will you be needing technicians to teach you how to hook yourself in?”

Lucas opened his mouth to answer yes but Lilly cut him off.

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Fine.” Barnes stuffed the tablet under his arm. “There’s a call button on the inside of the pod. If you need your diaper changed, hit it and we’ll come laugh at you.”

Before Lucas could fully process Barnes’ statement, the Sergeant Major walked back towards the busy check in station.

“Well,” Lilly chuckled, “He was fun.”

Lilly noticed Lucas’ unease about refusing help. “The hardware setup is essentially the same as the one you’re used to in Focal Point. Don’t worry.”

Lilly turned around and led Lucas down a twisted path through the expansive room.

“How do you know where to go?” Lucas asked after a few minutes of walking.

Lilly laughed and wiggled one of her metallic hands in front of Lucas. “AI, remember. One of the first things I downloaded was a schematic of the Aegis complex. Pretty cool yeah?”

Lucas smiled. “Okay. You got me there.”

“Ah,” Lilly paused in front of a cubicle entrance, “J-34. Your stop sir.”

She gave a slight bow and brandished her arm towards the door.

Lucas cocked an eyebrow at the AI’s goofy behavior. “So when did the wires cross in your brain to make you insane?”

Lilly straightened up with a huff. “Right around the time I linked up with your head. Strange coincidence no?”

Lucas snorted and entered the small square cubicle. The soft walls around him stifled most of the passive noise of the room. Lucas glanced up at a pair of armed guards patrolling on an overhead catwalk. That part would take some getting used to.

“I’ll meet you on the range.” Lilly gave a small wave.

“Oh,” Lucas blinked, “Yeah, I guess I'll stay here and you go there huh.”

Lilly paused and cocked her head to the side. “What’s this?”

The vibration in Lucas’ mind told him that Lilly was smirking at him.

“Have you already grown attached to my presence?”

Lucas hastily denied it. “I just thought that you’d wait until I got hooked up. You know, in case I had any questions.”

“Uh huh. I believe you.” Lilly winked. “Relax. You got this. I’ll hurry down so I’m ready when you plug in.”

Without giving Lucas a chance to respond, Lilly shut the door. Judging from the rapid footsteps retreating down the hallway, Lilly had sprinted to her destination.

“At least one of us is excited.” Lucas grumbled to himself.

He glanced at the call button next to the door but was too embarrassed to consider pressing it. After analyzing the equipment hung on the wall, Lucas decided he wouldn’t need it anyway. True to Lilly’ assurance, the gloves, helmet, and sensors were all strikingly similar to Focal Point’s system. For the first time in a while, Lucas felt a small sense of comfort and familiarity enter his life.

“Okay.” He said as he strapped on his gloves. “Here we go.”

JTNestman

Fun times ahead. Thanks for reading. Check back in another few days for the next chapter.