It had been two full days since Lucas had met Ashten. While he was curious how she was doing, Training sessions with Lilly had kept Lucas so busy that he never had time to go and find out. Not that Ashten would even want to see him. Lucas spent what little down time he had pondering the strange girl’s attitude towards him. It was times like these that Lucas cursed his lack of social knowledge. If only he had more experience with girls, well with people in general really, he may have a better idea of what drove Ashten to treat him this way. Lucas didn’t even consider asking Lilly for her thoughts. Bringing it up with her would only lead to even more relentless teasing by his personal AI companion.

Lucas shook himself out of his metal stupor and focused back on the task at hand. Though the clocks told him it was seven in the morning, Lucas had yet to fully grow accustomed to life underground. The lack of natural lighting had thrown off his sense of time. It could have been three in the afternoon and he would feel the exact same as he did now. Tired. The only ray of sunshine that penetrated the melancholy of everyday life in this military installation was Lucas’ training with Lilly. As scary as the concept of actual combat still was for Lucas, he had grown extremely fond of his time with the combat AI. The link between them had only grown stronger over the past few days. They were even faster than before and their coordination had become almost instantaneous. Lucas didn’t want to admit it to himself, but Lilly’ confidence and enthusiasm had begun to rub off on him. He was genuinely having fun.

He smiled at the thought now as he entered into the familiar cubical he had been using over the past week. The foam lined walls muffled most of the outside noise as Lucas shut the door behind him. He quickly put on his dark sensor gloves and fastened the bulky headwear over his eyes. Patting his equipment one last time to ensure everything was secure, Lucas initiated the connection. His conscious mind seemed to leave his own body and enter another. A process that had been unsettling at first but now had become routine. He felt the faint vibrating connection between himself and Lilly grow stronger until there was no longer a barrier between their minds.

-Connection Successful-

Took you long enough. A pleasant hum filled his mind as Lilly welcomed Lucas back.

Sorry, been distracted. Lucas sheepishly replied.

Lilly laughed as Lucas’ vision flared to life. To Lucas’ surprise, Lilly’ robotic form was not in one of the battle arenas they had been using over the past few days. Instead, Lilly had stationed herself in the shooting range they had first practiced in.

There’s something I thought you’d be interested to see. Lilly responded to Lucas' immediate curiosity.

Lilly issued a short command and the range leaderboards appeared in front of Lucas’ vision. Lucas felt his mouth fall open. The leaderboards had the top twenty five times recorded for each range challenge. The last time they were here, Lucas had etched Lilly and his own name into the number one slot for each and every challenge. But now, less than a week since they had set those records, Lucas and Lilly had been dethroned.

Two new names, Ashten and Amber, dominated the top five slots of every contest. Lucas wordlessly scrolled through each one, stunned at the consistency. Ashten and Amber had scored second place, on each time trial, on their first try. Every attempt after their first grew faster until they surpassed Lucas and Lilly’ own time. The new pair never needed more than five tries on any given time trial. What was even more impressive, Lucas noted to himself, was the fact that they had beaten the randomized trial time in one try. Granted it was his slowest record, but it was impressive all the same.

Looks like she went through with the procedure after all. Lucas chuckled dryly.

Oh come on. Lilly scoffed in return. You knew she would. There was no chance she was going to pass this up. Not after she saw you here.

I guess not. Lucas admitted.

He swiped his hand to the side and dismissed the leaderboard from his vision.

So, Lilly interjected eagerly, You want to knock them down a few pegs. Show them who’s the real number one?

Lucas paused for a moment before he shook his head.

Why not? The disappointment in Lilly’ voice was clear enough without a direct mental connection.

We’re expected to be a team right?

Well yeah but… Lilly groaned. That doesn’t mean we can’t beat them in a friendly competition.

Lucas laughed. I don’t think Ashten considers anything to be ‘friendly’ competition. Not the way she plays. I think it's best we concede this to her and try to get on her good side.

Fine. Lilly huffed as Lucas steered them out of the range and into the hallways beyond.

These halls were dominated by AI’s entering and exiting the various arena’s and training rooms. Very few humans could be seen through the masses. Most of the time, Lucas connected with Lilly when she was already inside their designated training room so he never saw much of these halls before now. They were taller than the rest of the facility. Wider too. Though the cold gray concrete was just as devoid of warmth and color as everywhere else. Caution signs were everywhere, warning passers by about the live fire exercises being conducted through the dozens of doorways that stretched up and down this crowded passageway.

Do we have a room to use? Lucas asked as he looked up and down the hallway.

Number twenty-six, Lilly sighed once again.

Will, uh, will Ashten and Amber be joining us? Lucas had trouble keeping his nerves out of his normal speaking voice, which meant he was never going to hide it from Lilly when they were directly connected.

The source of your distraction? Lilly replied with an audible smirk. Not today. Like our first day together they’ll probably spend most of today getting used to one another. I’d estimate that tomorrow will be our first day with them.

Ah, Lucas nodded, Well… Good.

Lucas had difficulty describing it in words but he could feel Lilly wiggling her non-existent eyebrows.

Is that disappointment I feel from you?

No. Lucas’ face burned. I was just curious to see what Amber was like. And... how well Ashten is adapting to this new style of fighting compared to what we’re used to.

Uh huh. Lilly answered in an unconvinced tone. I guess we’ll see tomorrow, won't we?

Lucas merely grunted as the pair wormed their way through congested hallways towards their next training session.