On the train to the Simulation Room situated in Elysion’s district, Anis stood before Commander who looked like he was about to wage war on the Central Government. He was furious about what had happened to Marian and wanted to dish out punishment. To show them there were consequences to their actions. But as he was right now, Commander couldn’t go seeking revenge. He wasn’t strong enough and he seemed to understand that. As the train rattled along its tracks and Commander sat there wallowing in his own anger, Anis couldn’t help herself. She leaned closer to him, wrapped her arms around his head and brought him close, straight into her chest.

“It’s gonna be okay, Commander. Just take a deep breath and calm down.” Anis smiled down at him as if she were comforting her child. “Just focus on the present for now.”

Commander knew she was right, that he had to sort himself out for the sake of himself and his squad. There were no ifs, ands or buts about it. He stayed there for a moment and wrapped his one working arm around Anis in return, happy to be soothed by her. Her large chest was uplifting.

A minute later he tapped her back to say he was fine now and she let go. “Thanks, Anis. I think I needed that.”

“Don’t mention it.” She said with a cheeky grin spreading across her face. Putting her hands under her voluminous breasts and pushing up a little she continued. “Funny how they can both calm down and excite men though, huh?”

Clearing his throat, Commander looked up at her face while trying his best to not succumb to lust. It was tough considering they were bouncing around at the bottom of his vision. “Truly fascinating.”

Not even five minutes later, Commander and his squad were standing before a large factory run by Elysion, a company primarily creating Nikke for the military. Elysion also had a hand in public servant positions like police and counter-terrorism due to the beliefs of the company’s CEO. The train ride was a short one due to all the companies that make Nikke being in close proximity to the military’s headquarters. This was because Nikke manufacturers were in constant collaboration with the military. The CEO’s of Nikke manufacturers needed to be close by so they could come and go from headquarters if and when they needed to.

Before Commander and his squad was a large conglomerate of buildings of various shapes and sizes. They were all connected in some way so workers could easily move from one section to another, like from seeing the CEO in the main office to producing a Nikke in the main factory. The largest building was of course where Nikke were made, but the second largest was for equipment. Unique Nikke all filled a different role and used different types of weapons so these factories had to be able to make dozens of different guns. Each company also produced armour for their Nikke, but it was expensive to make, as well as difficult. Due to how lightweight and versatile the final result was, manufacturers created armour from nanomachines. This allowed a Nikke to summon their armour only when they needed it, and it allowed the armour to repair itself to some degree. Nikke armour was for powerful commanders with equally strong Nikke under their command. Rapi and Anis weren’t in a position to have such things right now.

Off to the side, the sole building not connected to anything, was the Simulation Room. Considering testing Nikke and weapons were a must for manufacturers, each company had their own building that allowed them to test their creations. They’d even created a ‘Tower’ system where the simulation progressively got harder and harder, really pushing commanders and Nikke to their limit. Despite the name, it wasn’t just a single room. It was more like a firing range. There were rows of simulation rooms, allowing multiple squads to practise at the same time without interfering with one another.

Just as Commander reached the Simulation Room, the double doors separated and out walked a woman dressed primarily in a white uniform that apparently couldn’t contain her sizable chest. Red accented her clothes, including a red tie that ran down a grey undershirt. Her brunette hair appeared unkempt, or maybe it was just naturally wavy and it took too long to tame so she left it as it was.

“I take it you’re the commander that Andersen sent me?” Her voice was deeper than most women Commander had heard speak, but it matched her tough appearance in the same way her piercing purple eyes made her look strong. “I’m Ingrid, welcome to my Simulation Room. Follow me.”

Commander and his Nikke did as they were told and followed after Ingrid who clearly didn’t care for wasting time. The young man noticed Anis chuckling to herself as they all walked through an empty lobby and up to a shooting range. She didn’t say it out loud, but Anis had misheard simulation as ‘stimulation’ and was thinking Ingrid was getting on in years so she probably did need a bit of stimulation.

Ingrid stopped and turned to face Commander now that she was standing before one of the simulation firing ranges. “As you’re probably expecting, I’ll be putting your combat abilities to the test. This is despite your injuries. On the battlefield you don’t get a break when you want.”

As if it were rehearsed, after Ingrid finished her final sentence a mass-produced Nikke came jogging up to the group with a grenade launcher in her hands. The CEO of Elysion looked at Anis who was without a firearm and nodded at the weapon her Nikke was holding. Anis went ahead and liberated her new grenade launcher from someone that couldn’t wield it, inspecting it in various ways like testing the cylinder’s movements and looking down the leaf sight.

“Felt naked without it.” Anis blurted out once she was happy that her new weapon was identical to her old one.

Clearing her throat so everyone returned their attention to her, Ingrid spoke again while pointing a thumb over her shoulder. “Once you’re inside the simulation room, the entrance will seal behind you. You’re not coming out until I say so. If I see any of you slacking off then I’ll restart the simulation and you’ll have to start from scratch. Any questions?”

“Why are we doing this? I’ve never heard of a squad being combat tested after a mission. This is something we would’ve done before our mission.” Rapi said in a monotone voice. Even though the team was different now compared to before the mission had started, getting a new commander didn’t mean they had to be tested in the Simulation Room once they returned. This was highly unusual. She’d never heard of such a thing happening.

Just before Ingrid could reply to her Nikke’s question, Anis began talking. “More importantly, what’s your boss doing here, Rapi?”

“...This is one of her hobbies.” Rapi replied, looking away from Elysion’s CEO. Her creator. This was not the first time Ingrid had intruded on a combat test, and it most definitely wouldn’t be the last time. There was a reason why Elysion was responsible for creating so many Nikke for military purposes. Ingrid herself was quite a supporter of the military and the war effort to reclaim what humanity once lost. She also strongly believed in law and order, which explained the public servant Nikke. With that in mind, she wanted to personally make sure her creations were able to complete their jobs properly. If Ingrid sent a Nikke to the surface then they better be able to fight a platoon of Raptures alone. 

“If you’ve got time to talk then you’ve got time to fight!” Ingrid snapped and raised her voice, grabbing Commander and practically tossing him into the room behind her. No one was asking any valid questions so it was time to get this show on the road. Although Ingrid took note of what Rapi had said. She had always been a no-nonsense girl that got on with her assignment and did what she was told. Rapi wouldn’t usually accept off-topic discussion, and she certainly wouldn’t engage with it. And yet, Rapi had made a comment that could be seen as a sly jab about her boss. Something had changed since the last time Ingrid saw Rapi. She was curious what’d happened but for now it could wait.

Not wanting to anger the CEO any further, Rapi, Anis and the three mass-produced Nikke followed after Commander. Once inside, the wall behind them closed as they were told it would. Commander stood up and dusted himself off as his Nikke began arming themselves from a nearby ammo cache. Real firearms were permitted in the Simulation Room, but Nikke were given bullets that used significantly less gunpowder. They were barely a tier above blanks and could barely cycle rounds through the chamber. With less force pushing them forward, these bullets failed to damage the environment. This also stopped ricochets from harming anyone. Explosives like Anis’ grenades were duds that would simply pass through the Rapture holograms. The last thing they needed was shrapnel flying around inside an enclosed space. Instead, the simulation would create hologram explosions where a grenade made contact with a surface, whether it be a wall or a Rapture.

Tetra Line, one of the other Nikke manufacturers, had developed a Simulation Room that was fundamentally different, and Ingrid hated it. She believed it made them weak. Tetra used a firing range without real ammo. Instead they had modified guns that tracked where a Nikke was aiming. When they pulled the trigger, a laser connected with the hologram Rapture and simulated bullets. It was insulting. How can a Nikke get used to how her firearm functions if her training is like playing one of those arcade games with plastic guns? They needed to feel how the mechanism inside the gun reacted when they pulled the trigger.

“Before we begin, confirm your squad’s name.” A voice echoed throughout the room. There was a little static distorting it, but the voice clearly belonged to Ingrid. She needed the squad’s name for the data logs.

Commander had to think about it for a minute, it wasn’t something that’d been mentioned much after he took over from Rapi and Anis’ old leader. Their name had been mentioned at one point though. It happened when Rapi was creating a log entry about transferring command from her deceased commander to the very much alive and well young man that survived BA-01’s crash. “Counters.”

“Name confirmed.” Ingrid said, shutting off the speakers and starting the simulation. Blank, pure white cover rose from the ground in front of Commander and his Nikke, but these cubes eventually took the form of concrete blockades from the surface as holograms were cast throughout the room. The firing range filled in from one side to another, taking on a musty brown look where everything was run down and rusty. According to the report from Shifty, Commander had been in a lush, green city for the duration of his first mission. Because of that Ingrid decided to switch things up and present the young man with a desert. He needed to know he would eventually encounter other environments. 

“Well, let’s get this over with.” Commander said. Deep down he was exasperated but he did his best not to show it. He believed Ingrid when she said she would reset the simulation until everyone performed at their best. Commander didn’t want to waste his or his Nikke’s time. They were going to do this right on their first try.

 

— — — — —

 

Hours later, Ingrid stood before Deputy Chief Andersen’s desk. She slapped a folder of papers down next to his computer screen and squinted as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Never in a million years had she expected the commander she oversaw to perform so poorly. She called it quits without getting the results she wanted to see simply because she was tired and had other work to attend to.

Irritated, Ingrid crossed her arms as she thought about how she had wanted to see something great. She had wanted to see the next ace team of the Ark perform in front of her. But what she witnessed was barely above average. It was a miracle this commander and his Nikke had survived what they had. At one point Ingrid went away to grab something to eat, leaving the commander to Einkk, an artificial intelligence that existed for the sole purpose of running Simulation Rooms. When she returned, Ingrid heard Einkk talking negatively about Counters right to the squad’s face. That was definitely a rare sight, for the A.I. to have a problem with the people she was testing. She would usually give pointers on how to improve, not berate the occupants.

Unlike Andersen, Ingrid had read Shifty’s report about how this commander and his squad took down a Blacksmith Rapture. Although she didn’t let it show when she met the young man, she was mighty impressed with him. Off the top of her head there had never been a commander to perform so well on their first day, when a mission presented them with such a powerful enemy. This was the type of military man she wanted to see more of, someone that could go against the odds and come out victorious after devising a unique plan to defeat a powerful foe. There was a small part of her thinking Commander winning was just pure luck. He would fail miserably on his next mission, crashing and burning along with any hopes Ingrid had of ever seeing the surface.

In her Simulation Room, Commander and his squad showed none of the combat prowess they apparently possessed during their search and rescue mission. The battle, if she could even call it that, was a joke. Of course there were a dozen excuses for their poor performance during the simulation, from their injuries to not having enough room to work with. While those reasons were part of the problem, and honestly Ingrid was willing to cut them just the tiniest amount of slack because of it, the CEO believed it wasn’t the full picture. She felt like something else was off about the squad.

“Was it that bad?” Andersen asked after seeing his colleague’s actions. At this point he knew Ingrid only pinched the bridge of her nose if she was annoyed that something hadn’t worked out the way she wanted.

“It was a complete and utter disaster. If they were up on the surface they would’ve been killed in minutes.” She sighed, pointing a hand at the papers before going back to crossing her arms. As much as she wanted to sit down, Ingrid knew she wouldn’t be here long. She had only stopped by the Deputy Chief’s office to personally hand him the report.

“Well that’s unexpected.” Andersen leaned back with his hands clasped across his torso. He had his own thoughts about the commander’s simulation performance, but since this was Ingrid’s field of expertise he wanted to hear more from her. If there’s something on Ingrid’s mind then it’s best to keep quiet and let her talk.

“That’s putting it lightly. The discrepancy between the squad’s performance in real combat versus simulation combat makes me wonder if they’ll only ever perform well up on the surface.” Ingrid stated. Right now she was thinking Commander and his squad weren’t performing at their best because it was just a simulation. There was nothing to fear from a bunch of holograms. When faced with a fake Rapture, it was hard for some commanders and Nikke to push themselves to the limit. Only when this type of person was truly in danger did they rise to the challenge and fight at full power.

Even though she saw excuses as a negative justification for someone’s poor performance, she was once again willing to let Commander off. Both himself and his Nikke had suffered mental and physical damage throughout the day. What they had gone through would wear anyone down. Ingrid had a strong personality and will to achieve her goals, but she put herself in Commander’s shoes and felt like she might act the same. Fighting endlessly for half a day and then sneaking around out of fear of another fight would most definitely have an effect on her. The young man would’ve been on edge for an extended period of time, so finally reaching the Ark and being allowed to rest would’ve been like heaven. Ingrid didn’t know, but the reason Commander was given a chance to relax was because of Shifty. She hadn’t clearly gotten across just how important this was to Ingrid. If this situation had been explained to Commander properly then he would’ve remained on edge knowing his day wasn’t over yet. If only he hadn’t been allowed to get comfortable.

Andersen finally sat up straight and began tapping away at his computer’s flat glass keyboard. Once he had what he wanted, he tapped one last key and his screen was projected onto the wall he was facing. “There’s only one way to find out if he’s good or not.”

Ingrid turned around and observed a massive list. “Looks like there’s plenty of missions to test him on. I’m thinking we give Commander a difficult, longer mission.”

Considering her words, Andersen began scrolling, revealing even more missions that needed to be done. The Ark was really behind due to the mass failure of a majority of commanders that went up to the surface. There was such a high chance of death for new commanders, which made this one that survived even more special. Not only had he survived, he defeated a powerful Rapture. He could do great things if he was given the chance to prove himself. If he was cultivated properly then who knew what Commander would go on to achieve.

“We’re spoiled for choice here. What do you think?” Andersen said, scrolling back up to the top of the page. The higher on the list a mission was, the more important it was. They needed to send him on an urgent and tough assignment that would result in plenty of tough encounters with Raptures.

Carefully reading the list of missions, Ingrid finally uncrossed her arms and pointed to two operations near the top of the list. “How about three and five? He should be out for a few days doing those two together. He’ll need to learn how to survive on the surface.”

The missions Ingrid had picked out sounded simple enough. The objective of the third mission was to investigate a power station. Recon suggested it was a location that had mysteriously resumed operations recently. No one could come up with a viable reason for a power plant randomly starting back up, so a team was going to need to check it out. All being well, the Ark could use the power generated by the station for itself. Both Andersen and Ingrid knew the Ark needed all the support it could get.

Second on Ingrid’s list of missions for Commander was another unexplained mystery. Reconnaissance squads were picking up a strange radio signal on the surface. If that was all then the mission would have a lower priority, but it was being broadcast in a way that was allowing citizens in the Ark to hear it too. It was riling the Ark’s citizens up, causing some to think the war against Raptures was over. The fact that the Ark was picking up on this radio signal meant it was likely close, maybe in the next town over. Ingrid’s idea was that Commander would head out of town to find the source of the broadcast, then double back to hit the power station on his way to the Ark. It was two birds with one stone.

“Good call. All right, I’ll assign him to those two missions once his arm has healed enough. I’d say give him a week, he should be fine with a bionic arm.” 

Andersen began preparing a mission debrief for both Commander and Shifty while Ingrid nodded and walked out of the Deputy Chief’s office. She was sure this young man would succeed at the missions she had picked out for him, but she was interested to see how he would accomplish his objective. The report of his victory against Blacksmith revealed some quick thinking. She wanted to see more of that. She wanted to hear of his achievements of liberating the surface. Ingrid wanted someone to be responsible for allowing her to venture up to the surface.

 

— — — — —

 

Stumbling out of the firing range hours after initially entering the place, Commander was about ready to collapse. He had taken it seriously from the very beginning, but Ingrid wasn’t pleased with Counters’ results. She seemed to want a certain outcome and was pushing the squad to constantly perform better. She was tough to please. Despite Commander wanting to do things properly, his team didn’t seem up for it at this point. Anis was having a hard time due to some of her missing fingers and just being bored. Rapi was annoyed that her rifle kept jamming because of the low-power rounds. Samantha’s reattached arm wasn’t functioning at full strength so there was more sway when she looked down her sniper’s scope. And to top it all off, Fay didn’t get a new shield so she couldn’t block the holographic lasers, causing her to get knocked out of the fight early every time. No one was putting their heart into it because of these problems. Ingrid eventually relented while complaining over the speaker, taking Counters’ results with her as she left.

“So tired. Commander, stay there.” Anis ordered with a heavy sigh before slumping into Commander’s chest. She could feel his heartbeat from where her head rested against him. She also noticed that Commander had more muscle than she expected. His military outfit hid his body well. She understood he was quite strong since he’d managed to carry Marian up a skyscraper, but now that she was able to actually feel his muscle definition through his clothes she was mildly surprised, as well as impressed.

Standing up as straight as he could, Commander brought forward what little strength he had left to stay on his feet while Anis leaned against him. He felt like he could topple at any moment due to her weight, but seeing as she comforted him earlier it was only fair that he let Anis do what she wanted for a moment. 

And it really was just for a moment. A muffled voice came from Commander’s coat as Anis attempted to talk. Much to her dismay, if she wanted people to understand her she was going to have to remove her face from Commander’s clothing. With some reluctance and an exaggerated show of exasperation, Anis stood on her own two feet and repeated herself. “Any idea what that was for?” Anis asked her friend as the group hung around outside the firing range.

“Just like she said, it was a test.” Rapi spoke, still devoid of emotion. She was interested to see if Ingrid had another reason for doing what she did, but Rapi decided to chalk it up to Commander and his ragtag squad of Nikke performing well on the surface. The Central Government wanted more data. She soon continued as Anis made a face to suggest she was irritated. “Our results have already been processed so now we’re free. Commander, I suggest you go to the hospital. Anis, go get repaired immediately. There’s no telling when they’ll send us back up.” She then turned to the mass-produced girls. “You three will probably be on patrol again starting tomorrow, so make sure to get some rest.”

Anis and the mass-produced squad saluted and Commander nodded. After having to wait so long, they were finally able to be seen by professionals and return to a healthier state. Anis and Commander couldn’t wait to have a pair of fully functioning hands again, although in Commander’s case he’d been waiting over a month for his arm to heal properly.

The group walked the short distance to the Simulation Room’s exit and headed for the train station. Once aboard, they sat down quietly while observing a girl with long white hair crouching in front of a crying child, clearly trying to calm the young boy down. She wasn’t succeeding though, so Anis walked over and began telling a few simple jokes which lightened the mood and got the kid to laugh. With a smile on her face, Anis began walking back to where Commander was sitting, only to find she had recruited a few new team members. The kid and the girl with white hair had tagged along, walking behind Anis like ducklings following their mother duck.

Taking a seat next to Commander and allowing the young boy to sit on her lap, Anis spoke to the kid about anything and everything. From hobbies and favourite foods to what he wanted to do when he grew up and what school was like. In the meantime, the girl with white hair looked through the doors on either end of the train’s carriage and turned her attention to Commander.

“I was handling it, but thanks for the help.” She bowed her head ever so slightly. The black hat atop her head seemed almost too big for her and could drop off if she bowed any further. Despite the girl’s apparent attitude, she seemed to at least understand that she needed to show appreciation for those around her. It would be easy for someone who was full of themselves to not realise the aid others provide for them, but this girl was aware.

Now that Commander got a good look at the girl, he quickly realised she was a Nikke. She wore a simple black and white uniform with blue accents and an armband on her left forearm to signify she was part of a team. She was small too. Smaller than even Fay. She was standing before a sitting man, and yet she was at his eye level. If Commander were to stand up then the girl would be tiny in comparison. She’d barely reach his chest. Sticking out from behind her waist were two metal cases the size of Commander’s thigh, and at the top of those cases he could see a familiar object. Grips of handguns.

“Not sure why you’d thank me, Anis does her own thing. I’m not responsible for her.”

“You're a commander, aren’t you?” The girl said, looking at Anis out of the corner of her eyes. “And she’s your Nikke. You’re meant to be responsible for her.”

She had a point. Whether he liked it or not, Commander was there specifically to keep his Nikke in check. They were meant to follow his orders no matter what. If he believed it to be necessary, he could’ve ordered Anis to not intervene with the crying child. But there was no harm in letting Anis do her own thing, she seemed to be at her happiest when she was allowed to act on her own desires. It made Commander curious, would Anis disobey his orders if she disagreed with what Commander wanted? If Commander was cold-hearted and told her to leave the kid alone, would Anis have begrudgingly sat back down? Would she pick a fight with him for being heartless?

“As of five minutes ago, the Nikke with me were relieved of their duty. We’re no longer on any assignments so they don’t have to listen to me.” Commander said, leaning back into the train’s seat.

The white-haired girl looked him up and down, made a quizzical sound and moved on from the topic. “Well whatever. Name’s Soline. Me, Brid and Diesel run the trains around the Ark. If you’re ever in trouble aboard our vehicles, come find one of us. We’re here to help. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

“Nice meeting you, Soline.”

Soline gave another slight bow before telling the once crying child to behave and then walking through a door connecting this carriage to another. She seemed a bit rough around the edges, kind of like Rapi, but her heart was clearly in the right place. She had a job to do and she was doing the best she could. She couldn’t be everywhere at once and by the sound of it only three Nikke dealt with problem people aboard these vehicles, so they were probably stressed out and overworked constantly. Commander kept that in mind, thinking perhaps he should treat them to something when he saw them next. Even though he didn’t know Brid or Diesel, and he barely knew Soline, Commander couldn’t help but think keeping the trains running and keeping passengers in check was a thankless job. He’d be using their service often so the least he could do was be decent to them.

Once the train stopped and the squad walked onto the platform, the young boy left Anis’ side and bounded up to his mother who was waiting for him with tears in her eyes. Once she thanked Commander and left, it was just the young man and his Nikke standing around. Commander was angry that people’s reaction to receiving help from a Nikke was to thank him. It was just assumed he’d had a hand in his Nikke’s good behaviour. A Nikke could, of their own accord, jump in front of bullets to save a civilian and the civilian would only praise the commander of the heroic Nikke. They wouldn’t think twice about the person that actually saved them.

“So I guess this is it for now, huh?” Anis was the first to speak up. “There were ups and downs, but you’re not half bad, Commander.”

With a smile, Commander put a hand out in order to shake Anis’ hand. “It was good working with you. I hope to see you again soon. I want to see all of you again. Rapi, Ocean, Samantha, Fay, thank you too. I wouldn’t have gotten this far without you.”

Taking his hand and giving it a good shake, Anis fought back the urge to bring Commander in for a hug. His arm was already broken, he didn’t need her shattering it into a thousand pieces with her weight. Anis was just so delighted to find a commander who treated Nikke like humans. The best part was that, at this point, he had remained consistent. He genuinely cared about the Nikke under his command. She’d sorted her thoughts out. While it wasn’t love, at least not yet, she felt like she could finally trust someone new. Alongside her friend Rapi, there was now someone else out there that Anis looked forward to being around.

“Stay safe, Commander.” Rapi said with the smallest hint of a smile.

From there everyone went their separate ways. Rapi was the serious type so Commander could honestly see her going back to the Simulation Room to train some more. He got the impression Anis was the lazy sort that wanted to kick back and relax but for now she had to be repaired back at Tetra’s headquarters. The three mass-produced Nikke also needed repairs but then they would be sent back out on patrol. With one less Blacksmith out there, Commander hoped Samantha, Ocean and Fay wouldn’t end up in danger again.

Looking up at the digital night sky, Commander sighed and headed for the hospital where he was attended to by a short girl with pink hair wearing a white sweater.