Two contacts right, three more left side, twenty meters and closing.

Lucas made no verbal reaction to the information Lilly provided. He was far too busy dropping the last of the training drones directly in front of the building he was currently in. Keeping as much cover as he could, Lucas scrambled to his left, metallic knees scraping the dusty concrete flooring, and leaned into yet another window. He chose the left side because it had far more brush and elevation that his opponents could use for cover. This position covered Lucas from that approach while providing ample line of sight for the exposed right flank. 

Luck was on his side as Lucas made it to his firing position right as two hostiles stepped out into the open. Lilly’s combat assistance software highlighted the six foot robotic frames across the open road with a light red outline to help Lucas track his targets. Propping his weapon up in the window,  Lucas managed to put a five round burst of concentrated fire through the chest of the nearest one before the second returned fire. Bits of concrete exploded near Lucas’ face as he attempted to duck back out of sight. He wasn’t quite fast enough. Heat flooded his upper right cheek as a round ricocheted off the side of his head.

Deflected off of the armor, Lilly voiced immediately, No damage, we’re still combat effective.

Lucas lifted his weapon around the edge of the window. A portion of his vision switched to the small camera attached to the end of the rifle’s barrel. Lucas angled the weapon directly at the remaining enemy and emptied the rest of his magazine. While much less accurate then his previous burst, eight bullets found their mark and rendered the machine inoperable. Lucas wasted no time cycling a fresh magazine into his weapon. Somewhere outside of the building, on the left side, Lucas heard a group of metal footsteps approaching.

Running estimates now, Lilly fell silent for a moment.

Wu Jin standard tactics for room clearing for buildings with similar layouts with a team of three will most likely be two in the side door and one around the rear, Lilly rattled off quickly, We have a little under ten seconds before they make their move.

Lucas hastily scanned the large center room for options. The building had proved useful as it provided an elevated position overlooking the road below where the training drones had come from. With Lilly’ tactical help, Lucas had managed to whittle down the opposing force from twelve to three. If he managed to best these last bots, he would win the training exercise. Unfortunately for him, the room provided no quick answers to his current predicament. Devoid of any furniture or appliances, the bare training building’s concrete walls were the only thing that could offer Lucas protection.

I think we’ve outstayed our welcome. Lucas backed up until he felt the faint impact of the wall just below the front window stop his progress.

Lucas raised his weapon and put a few warning shots through the far door that Lilly suspected two of the remaining three bots would enter from. He would only need a few moments to get through the window.

They’ll breach any moment now, Silence, Lilly’ voice urged, Hurry!

Sudden movement from the rear of the building drew Lucas’ attention. The back door opened briefly and Lucas swiveled his rifle around just as a small object was tossed into his room.

Grenade!

Lilly identified the baseball sized sphere as it tumbled through the air. Acting purely by instinct, Lucas swung his arm up and around the grenade as it fell. Lucas felt his hand make contact with the explosive object and barely managed to redirect it through the front window. Before the grenade even had a chance to detonate a second later, both the side and rear doors burst open and the three remaining drones entered in a blaze of gunfire. Lucas dropped to the ground, spraying one hostile down with his rifle as he dropped, but it was already far too late. A few dozen molten patches of heat struck his exposed head and his vision faded to black.

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

“Ten out of twelve isn’t bad for a solo attempt.” Lilly tossed out for the third time.

Lucas rolled his eyes as he finished the last bite on his dry tuna fish sandwich.

“We still died.” Lucas drank the remaining water from the cup in front of him. “They adapt much faster than humans do. Most people fall back into familiar habits. The Wu Jin are harder to predict.”

They currently sat in a large mess hall that was situated near the training area. The warehouse sized room was occupied by dozens of long tables that stretched to fill the entire length of space provided. Squads of trainees, guards, and officers sat in makeshift groups as they all enjoyed the evening selection of rationed meals. Lucas had chosen a seat in a back corner of the room where he could have a large space between himself and the next party. While he had Lilly to keep him company, Lucas wasn’t sure how to interact with any of the soldiers. And judging by the vast amounts of looks and glances sent in his direction, that feeling was shared with most everyone here.

“The ADR project is top secret.” Lilly noted quietly. “The most anyone here knows is probably rumor and speculation that can neither be confirmed nor denied.”

The vibration Lucas felt from Lilly took on a playful tone. “You’re just a mystery that everyone is too timid to talk to no matter which reality you’re in.”

“ADR?” Lucas lifted his eyebrows.

“Alternative Dimension Retrieval.” Lilly waved her hand haphazardly. “Just the group of lab coats that figured out how to bring you over here.”

Lucas nodded as his eyes flickered to another group nearby that was gesturing at him and speaking in hushed tones.

“It’s probably for the best that no one wants to talk with me.” Lucas mused. “I’ve never been good with… people.”

“Why is that?” Lilly asked with an honest curiosity.

She leaned forward and set her arms down on the table. Both blue eyes fixated themselves onto his face with avid attention.

“I don’t know.” Lucas couldn’t keep his cheeks from flushing at her sincere interest.

“I guess,” He ventured after a moment of thought, “I’ve never really been able to fake interest in what others were talking about. I never really cared about sports, hanging out with friends, dating… My mind was always elsewhere. Thinking about things that interested me. Thinking about Focal Point.”

Lucas shrugged. “It’s hard for me to remember stuff. I know that sounds absurd, but, outside of Focal Point, or anything related to it, information always went in one ear and out the other.”

“There are a lot of geniuses out there like that.” Lilly replied with what Lucas identified as a smile.

Lucas looked at the table. “I’m not a genius. I just...”

“Like games?” Lilly finished with amusement in her eyes.

Lucas cracked a smile. “Yeah.”

Lilly gave a quiet laugh before slipping into a comfortable silence. Once again, Lucas had to marvel to himself how easy it was to talk to Lilly. Other than his mom, no one else had ever really understood him like this. Lucas felt a stab of pain in his chest. Lilly’ eyes snapped onto Lucas’ own.

“You okay?” Her voice was full of concern.

“Yeah,” Lucas coughed, “I guess I’m only now realizing that I may have left my mom in a bit of a panic.”

Lilly’ vibration took on a new frequency that Lucas had never felt before. He frowned as he struggled to identify it.

“Do you miss her?” Lilly asked quietly.

Lucas nodded, not trusting himself to speak in this new and unsettling situation.

“I want to apologize, Lucas.” Lilly reached a hand across the table and placed it atop one of Lucas’ own. “We’ve been keeping you bouncing around almost non-stop since you got here. I’m sure you haven’t even had time to come to terms with everything around you.”

Lucas looked down at the dark steel hand that gently rested atop his left hand. It was cool to the touch. He looked back up to Lilly’ eyes with understanding. She was feeling remorse.

“Part of that is my fault. I’ve been selfish Lucas. For that, I’m truly sorry.”

Lucas shook his head. “I don’t see how you’re being selfish. You’ve been nothing but kind to me.”

Lilly’ eyes smiled sadly. “That’s sweet of you to say but it’s not wholly true.”

Her vibration became somber. “I knew. From the moment I was created, that the person I was paired with would eventually go away.”

Lucas opened his mouth but Lilly cut him off. “I would never ask you to stay, Lucas. I know you have doubts about remaining here for a few weeks, much less a few years. You belong back home. With your mother. With Focal Point. With everything you love from your world.”

“I was content with the thought of fighting with you for as long as you decided you wanted to,” It was her turn to look down at the table, “I’ve been spending too much effort on getting you interested in training and working with me through our link. I didn’t think about how you might be feeling emotionally. I just wanted to keep you occupied in the vain hope that you’d lose track of time and stay with me a bit longer.”

“I…” Lucas opened his mouth but words wouldn’t form.

Lilly smiled again and gave his hand a quick squeeze. “Don’t feel guilty. You don’t owe me anything. Us AI are just a bit possessive of our pilots. I suppose it's a natural side effect that happens when the pilot’s brain helps map our own. We just get attached. It’s probably a good thing that AI’s are ninety eight percent more likely to die before their pilots. I imagine we have a tougher time moving on.”

Lucas grimaced.

“I’m sorry,” Lilly quickly pulled her hand back, “I’m really not trying to guilt trip you or anything. I just wanted to explain where I’m coming from. It was manipulative of me to phrase things like that. Just forget about it.”

Her voice, as well as the vibration Lucas felt in his head, grew increasingly distressed as the conversation continued.

“It’s okay Lilly.” Lucas was still processing everything he had been told but he knew that Lilly needed him to say something right now. “Like I said before. You’ve been nothing but kind to me. I don’t resent you for anything you’ve done. It makes a lot more sense now.”

Lilly nodded and stayed quiet.

“You’re right though,” Lucas continued, “I haven’t really been able to come to terms with all of this. It’s still crazy to consider that I’m in another dimension. Let alone that there’s a world war being fought with autonomous soldiers.”

Lucas grabbed the empty cup in front of him and began to spin it in his hands. Focusing on the ceramic material helped him let his inner feelings out.

“I miss my mom.” Lucas admitted.

Lilly listened silently while Lucas shared his inner thoughts and feelings.

“She’s a strong woman who’s made a living in a world that easily could have broken so many others. She always had the best advice to give me, even when I didn’t ask.”

Lucas smiled at his memories, “I would want to ask her what I should do. The Wu Jin sound terrifying, and I’m being told I can help.”

Lucas met Lilly’ eyes. “I’m not a soldier. I’m just a kid who likes games. Just because I know the rate of fire, caliber size, and magazine capacity of almost every weapon in the twenty-first century doesn’t mean I could enlist in the marines and kill all of the bad guys.”

“Training with you has been fun.” Lucas stated honestly. “Breaking all of the range records was a blast and I’ve been relishing in the challenges we’ve been facing in the training rooms. A part of me is scared at how much I like it. Maybe… Maybe I could make a difference in this war.”

Lucas fell silent, cup still rotating slowly between his dark fingers. Lilly remained quiet as well, in a much better mood after Lucas had shared his open and honest feelings with her. It was almost as if the unseen wire that connected them had grown stronger. Like their spoken inner thoughts had woven together to make another layer on top of the thin rope between them.

“No matter what,” Lilly broke the silence after a few minutes, “I’ll support your decision Lucas.”

Lucas nodded. “Thanks.”

“For what it's worth,” Lilly’ voice gained a bit of its playful attitude back, “You’re way better than most of the pilots in this room. Just saying.”

She gave him a sly wink.

Lucas laughed when, without warning, all of the lights in the room went and plunged the cafeteria into total darkness.

JTNestman

Thanks for reading. The next chapter should be out in a couple of days. If you've been enjoying the story feel free to drop a like or comment. I always appreciate the support.