-Connection Successful-

Lucas’ eyes glanced down to the bottom right corner of his vision. The dark screen that enveloped his eyes suddenly sprang to life. The drastic change of brightness caused  him to wince hard for a few moments until his senses adjusted.

That seems a bit more intense compared to Focal Point. Lucas noted.

That’s because you’re not only seeing the display with your eyes. There’s a portion of the input being directly transmitted to the receivers inside your head. I’ve been told it’s a bit overwhelming at first, so don’t feel bad if you need a minute.

Lucas recoiled in shock. The voice inside his head just now was not his own.

Lilly? Lucas ventured out fearfully.

He could feel her gentle laughter in his mind.

Yeah, I guess I should have mentioned this part beforehand. I was just excited to get here, she sounded apologetic, The link between us is at its strongest when you’re hooked into the system directly. The impulses in your brain are transmitted directly to mine. To put it simply, your reactions become my reactions. Your movements become my movements. Our thoughts are shared between our minds.

Lucas let out a shaky breath. Oh.

He still wasn’t sure how he felt about letting a girl see directly into his thoughts.

Why? Lilly’ tone grew mischievous. Have you been thinking embarrassing things about me?

Lucas’ face began to burn beneath his helmet. No. Sorry. I haven’t had to control my thoughts before and your voice is really cute so I just…

Lilly squealed with delight. Cute?! You really think so?

I didn’t mean, well yeah, wait no, stop teasing me Lilly, Lucas pleaded, Why am I the only one spilling everything through our connection?

I’m just better at controlling my thought process, Lucas could feel Lilly smirking, which he was now realizing happened a lot whenever she spoke to him. It’s not hard, just takes practice.

So the vibrations I’ve been feeling around you, those are actually your emotions? Lucas asked. I wasn’t just imagining things?

Ah, I’ve been meaning to ask you if you’ve been feeling any of that. Yes, that’s the link between us. Though, obviously, this connection is much stronger.

Lucas nodded, satisfied that his suspicions were correct. His vision was still dark.

Why can’t I see anything?

You’re the one with your eyes shut, Lilly laughed, It’s not my fault we can’t see anything.

Oh, Lucas felt the blood return to his cheeks in force.

He had been teased before in his life, but it had always been hostile and mean. Lilly was much different, in a good way. Though, her playful attacks were too much for his lack of social experience to take at times. Shaking his head clear, Lucas finally decided to open his eyes.

He stood in a large white room. In the distance ahead of him, gray cement structures lined the back wall. In front of the cement buildings sat a number of plywood walls that were riddled with bullet holes. A half dozen signs spaced evenly through the center of the room marked distance in yards. Lucas broke into a smile as he realized he was looking at a shooting range. He took a single step forward when he suddenly remembered who he was linked with. It only took a brief glance down to confirm that he was directly controlling Lilly’ robotic body. Lucas lifted a hand in front of his face and flexed it experimentally.

How does everything feel? Lilly asked, back to a serious tone.

“I forgot that I was linked up with you for a moment.” Lucas responded honestly.

He recoiled in light surprise as his voice echoed aloud in the firing range.

“I can talk?”

“Of course you can.” Lilly’ normal voice echoed in the same room. “How else could I talk to you when we’re not connected?”

“I guess I just didn’t expect my own voice to come out of your mouth.” Lucas shrugged.

“The mental connection is only shared between pilot and AI so verbal communication is still needed when working with a team.” Lilly explained pragmatically.

Although, She slipped back into the direct mental link, I think I prefer talking this way with you. Makes us feel special, don’t you agree?

Sure. Lucas shifted nervously.

Lilly laughed before growing serious once more. If you look to our left, there should be a table with our service rifle on it.

Lucas turned. Sure enough, a few feet away stood a table with a large weapon on it. Next to the rifle was a large box of ammunition and a dozen or so empty magazines. A few safety notices lined the wall above the table. Lucas was the type of person to read and memorize what each of the safety notices had to say. He intended to do the same here, but his attention was immediately captivated by the rifle in front of him. Lucas could tell from the moment he saw the gun that it was from the ArmaLite family of weapons. The overall aesthetic of the gun had the dark metallic design shared by its predecessors, the M4 and the M16. Though it was larger than either of those weapons. It came equipped with an advanced combat optical gunsight, or ACOG as it is more commonly referred to. Lucas glanced at the box of ammunition.

The M33 standard issue rifle. Yes, it is chambered in .338 Norma Magnum. Lilly responded to Lucas’ thoughts.

That’s a large caliber. Lucas pulled out a single bullet and inspected it.

Well, we needed something that hit harder than what was used before. Lilly noted. Plus, our combat AIs don’t need to worry about the weight of the ammunition as much as human soldiers do. We’re also able to compensate for the recoil of the rifle much easier than a human can.

Lucas picked up the rifle, pleased that he felt the actual weight of it in his hands. It was strange, Lucas could tell the weapon was heavy, probably too heavy for him to lift with his own body, but he lifted it easily in Lilly’ combat form. It struck an unnatural, but welcome balance of heavy enough to feel solid, but light enough to not be bulky or unwieldy.

Want to give it a whirl? Lilly asked with glee.

Lucas smiled and rushed to load. After packing thirty rounds into a magazine, Lucas slid it into his M33. He stepped up to a yellow line that marked the edge of the range and chambered a round into his rifle.

Would you like a target? Lilly asked.

Yes. Lucas answered as his thumb found the safety for the weapon.

At the far end of the room, one hundred and fifty yards away according to the distance markers, a gray wooden target representing a robot sprang up in one of the concrete buildings’ windows. Lucas lifted the weapon up to his shoulder and peered down his weapon’s sights. It was shocking how familiar all of this felt to Lucas. His mind flashed back to the first time he played Focal Point at home. How long he had spent in the tutorial range just firing every weapon and feeling them in his hands. Lucas’ nostalgic flashback caused his first shot to hit the edge of the window where the target stood.

What a shame. Lilly sighed dramatically. I’m sure you’ll get him next time.

Lucas grinned and placed his next five bullets cleanly into the target. The expert placement created a neat hole in the center of the fake robot’s chest.

Told you you’d get him next time. Lilly sniffed.

Lucas spent the next hour growing accustomed to the M33. It was accurate, reliable, and packed a real punch. Lucas really enjoyed using the weapon so far, but time would be the ultimate test. His mind thought back to numerous accounts he remembered reading about promising weaponry that failed the long term refiners’ fire that is combat.

Before we wrap things up for the day. Lilly broke in as Lucas walked back to the table he had acquired his weapon from. Would you like to make things more interesting?

Lucas paused. How so?

A digital display flashed to life in the center of his vision. It took a moment for Lucas to realize it was a leaderboard of some kind. The left side of the table was a pair of names per row while the right side had accompanying times.

There are a few preset time trials on this range. Lilly explained. Multiple targets will present themselves to the shooter at once, after the shooter takes them all down, another wave of targets will appear. The faster you finish, the higher up you are on the board.

Lucas noted the top twenty five names were all within a second of one another. The time to beat was held by a pair named Olly and Deb. Thirteen point zero six seconds.

Okay. Lucas eagerly loaded a fresh magazine. Let's do it.

The display vanished and Lucas stepped back up to the yellow line. After a moment, a loud buzzer sounded and six targets at the back of the range sprang up. Lucas slowly and methodically shot each one of them down. A second buzzer sounded and six more targets sprang up halfway down the range. He repeated the same slow process of shooting each one in turn. A third wave sprang up close to where Lucas stood. After another methodical round of shooting, the final wave sprang forth. Twelve targets at varying distances jumped up at once and fell one at a time. After the final buzzer sounded, a timer appeared in the center of Lucas’ vision.

Forty three second? Lucas laughed.

I would say I’m disappointed, but I can sense that you didn’t take that round seriously. Lilly said with a touch of hope in her voice. Right?

I saw everything I needed to. Lucas placed a fresh magazine in his weapon and lifted it back into a shooting position.

This time, he didn’t take things slow. Lucas began shooting the exact moment the buzzer sounded. He shot each target at a breakneck pace. Every bullet entered its target the nanosecond it raised itself into view. The only thing that slowed Lucas down was the half second delay for the range to register each target was down and that it needed to send up the next wave.

Moving with Lilly felt so natural to Lucas that he couldn’t help but laugh as the last target fell. He was faster than he had ever been, his movements more precise, and his reaction times were off the charts. A small trumpet sounded in his ears as the time nine point three nine seconds appeared on his screen followed by the leaderboard. He watched the names Lucas and Lilliana appear at the top of the rankings, knocking everyone else down a slot.

See, Lilly’ smug voice entered his mind, I told you we’re the perfect team.

Lucas laughed. Maybe. Let's do another one just to be sure.

JTNestman

Thanks for reading. Should be another chapter update tomorrow so check back then.