“Diana?” 

“She’s ready, Ma’am. We have green light from Infrasec and FR8. The orbital lift is ours to use.”

“Good.” Winter nodded. Operations wasn’t nearly as busy as it had been during the initial attack, but even at this time of night, there were several people occupying the various monitors. On every single one was either a flat data feed or some part of the ocean, seen through the eyes of one satellite or another. Many of them were on coms. 

“What do we know?” Epoc said. “You mentioned Levi’s data.” She put her hands behind her back and explicitly looked at the table in front of her. She had no reason to look anywhere else, after all. 

“Geographical survey data suggest there is a crevice in the continental slope here,” Winter said, her voice flat. The table showed a height map and, even with the additional data, it wasn’t easy to spot. Still, it was likely at least a quarter kilometer wide. “Now, there’s likely several of these, but a nearby buoy owned by MaBio has picked up some uncommon tissue. We purchased the buoy and all of its data, and it was a genetic match for the Hexapod. Between that and Levi’s reported behavior of the Hexapod – it seemingly attempted to burrow during her mission – we suspect it might have found a hole to crawl inside of. Your mission will be to go down into that hole and kill it.”

She jutted her jaw forward. “Much as we dislike it, there are a few other companies who own chunks of that particular piece of sea floor. While we have exclusive salvage rights if we kill the creature, we can’t set foot there without their permission. Not if we don’t want to start a four-way intercompany incident.”

“Fair enough,” Epoc said. “So I won’t be alone down there, but it’s competition, not… colleagues.”

“Yes.” Winter wrapped an arm around her midriff and pressed some buttons on her table. Pilot ID’s popped up on the table. “These pilots have been down there since graveyard watch. We suspect their companies have them scanning the sea floor, but you won’t be touching down without them seeing you and, probably, following you. Keep chatter to a minimum.”

“Callsign Priestess,” Epoc read. “Piloting Gospel. That’s a TransAm Republic Frame, isn’t it?”

“Correct. The other two are both mercenaries from the same company. Cèilidhean is a little older than we are, but they’re a subsidiary and their parent company goes way back,” Winter said. “They’ll know each other, so don’t get in a fight. Two against one, even in Nexus Alpha, they’d have each other’s backs and you’d be ripped to pieces.” She looked down. “Maeve and Fae’rynn.”

“Phantom Queen. What do I know that name from?”

Winter looked a little offended. “Her frame was in a few magazines a few months ago. Voted ‘this year’s hottest top model’ or something. Pfah. That’s only because the public hasn’t seen Nexus Alpha yet.” Epoc smirked. 

“Anything else, Handler?”

“Not much. Hexacorallia will be on standby, but I’d like to keep her on base for now. She’s been… helpful in Aaliya’s recovery, and I worry that she wouldn’t be mentally in the right space for a mission. I don’t want her distracted down there.” Handler Winter’s lips became a thin line. “Diana, are we sure–”

“I know you’re the CEO, ma’am, but I need you to trust me to do my job,” the mechanic said over the speaker. “Nexus Alpha is factory fresh. We have double and triple checked every single stat a dozen times. Every redundancy is at peak efficiency. Her internals are purring. Her cockpit haptics are the most responsive any haptics have been in the history of haptics. Even the VI passed all checks who knows how many times over. There is not a single panel to this Frame that is not ready to leave. If I was a superstitious woman, I’d tell you she wants to be let out.”

“Fine, Diana. You make a compelling, if overly eager, argument.” Winter turned her attention to Epoc again. “And you, Epoc?”

“I’m ready. Got some sleep in. Took additional recommended vitamins and was cleared greener than green by the medics. I’m ready and eager, Handler. Let me go down there and finally spend some quality time with Nexus Alpha.”

“Very well. Pilot, take the regular elevator.” Epoc raised an eyebrow. “It’s tradition,” Winter explained, a little awkwardly. “First flight, you’re supposed to walk up there yourself. You can make your way to the changing rooms. Red 451 will take you there. If you’ll excuse me, I need to prepare for my duties as Handler.” With a thin barely-smile, she turned around and walked to one of the glass handler bubbles. After she sat down, the glass turned a matte black. Epoc shook her head and left Operations.

“That was awkward,” Diana said over coms. “What happened?”

“Nothing happened,” Epoc said. “CEO Winter simply has a lot on her mind.”

Diana sighed. “Sure she does. I’ll meet you outside of the changing rooms.” 

Fifteen minutes later, as promised, Epoc saw Diana lean against the wall by the changing rooms. 

“I’m not allowed in,” Diana said. “I feel like I’m missing out on so much. The smell of sweat. Possibly deodorant.” She shook her head in an almost offensive mock-wistfulness. “Sniff. Anyway. You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be. I promise, I’ll take good care of her.”

“You better, or I take it out on you,” Diana said. She was only kidding a little bit. “You get enough sleep? Not feeling groggy?” A pause. “Hungover?”

“Neuroptic readings were optimal,” Epoc said. “I’m fully recovered, hydrated, in my lane, flourishing. Don’t worry, Diana. I’ll do you both proud.”

“That’s what I like to hear. Listen, anything, and I mean anything, that comes to mind during the sortie, make a note of it. I think she’s perfect, but I’m not the one piloting her.” Diana smirked. “One day, maybe I’ll be in one of those cockpits, but for now, striving for perfection will have to do.”

“One of these days,” Epoc said, “you’re going to have to tell me why you’re not a pilot.”

“Boring story. But I’ll hold you to it. Buy me a coffee.”

“Deal,” Epoc said, waving over her shoulder as she walked through the doors. “It’s a date.” 

She blushed at her own forward attitude when the doors closed behind her, but, well, being a little forward was the way to get things done sometimes, right? She sat down on her bench, the one in the middle, and put her clothes in the locker, until she was naked and looked down. She took the com. 

“Handler.”

“Hound.”

“Do I take the ring off?”

“Yes. You’ll be putting it back on after post-mission stress reduction.”

“Copy.” She slipped the ring off of her penis and put it in the locker, closing it. She presumed her Handler had a tracker inside of it or something, and she likely also had the code to her locker. No point in not putting it there. 

Epoc realized she was strangely focused. Her head was on the mission. Despite being fully naked, she wasn’t aroused. More like… driven. She wanted to see what Nexus Alpha could do. The Battler had been effective but almost crude, a machine made for brawling. Arcus had been powerful but not exactly state-of-the-art, and a little clunky. Nexus Alpha was supposed to be at the forefront of Frame technology. The best machinery money could buy. 

And she was going to be the first to pilot it. She took a breath and opened the airlock. If she had her spatial awareness right, the skybridge ought to just take her directly into the back of Nexus Alpha’s head, directly into the cockpit. This was also the largest Frame she’d ever been inside in, and she wondered how that would translate. 

With a hiss, Nexus Alpha’s cockpit opened. 

It was… not what she’d expected. But then again, what had she expected? Maybe something similar to the battler. A wall of electronics with just enough room for her to slide her arms and legs into what were basically holsters. A human-shaped sleeve for her to be inside of, out of the way of all the moving parts and sensitive equipment. A brain that slotted perfectly into a body. This was different. It was almost like the cockpit of a military vehicle. Crowded, yes, but with space to move in. There was a giant screen in front of her, currently turned off, and something that looked like a chair in the middle of the space, but it was closed. Like a coffin sitting upright. This was different. 

“Epoc,” Winter said over the com by the wall. Epoc stepped over. She didn’t even have to duck. She could stand up in here. That was new. “Do you read me?”

“Loud and clear, Handler. Uh, I’m a little lost. Please advise.”

“The chair beside you should have a pad on one of the armrests. Press your hand down on it.”

A second later, the chair opened with a hiss. Inside was, well… a chair. Ah. 

“You’ll be free to customize the cockpit to your heart’s content, of course, but this is what we have installed in the Alpha Frames by default.” Epoc sat down. It was a remarkably comfy seat, considering she had to sit down in it buck-ass naked. The screen in front of her turned on. Apparently, the small pods for Handlers had a camera in it. Winter appeared, larger than life, in front of her. “You are currently in what we call Cruise mode. There may be a slight jolt.” As predicted, the cockpit bumped slightly. “We’re currently transporting Nexus Alpha to the orbital lift. There’s no point in fully immersing you in the cockpit as of yet, and this way you can travel in relative comfort without having to leave the Frame.”

“Neat,” Epoc said. “But I assume it closes?” 

“It does. It’s been adjusted to your exact proportions, and will hermetically seal itself, fully. That whole room could be under water and you’d never know it. It’s been tested in pressures of up to ten kilometers. You could fall down an aquatic trench and we’d be able to recover you.”

“Does that happen often?”

“Can’t hurt to be prepared,” Handler Winter said without a hint of irony in her voice. “The ‘seat’ itself will actually reconfigure itself to your specifications. The outer shell is actually a highly flexible composite lattice that can soften and harden as we need it. It could survive atmospheric re-entry.”

“I reiterate,” Epoc said, this time with a little laugh, “is that likely to happen?”

“It’s not impossible. When we get to the orbital lift, we’ll start synchronization. You’ll have the time to completely adjust the configuration as we do that. We needed a bit of extra space for that mobility, and Diana gave us twice what we needed. You can have a mini bar installed if you like, as long as you don’t mind it being deadbolted.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Epoc said with a smile. The chair had a number of controls on the armrests. While it wouldn’t be ideal for a high-intensity confrontation, she realized it was possible to fully pilot Nexus Alpha from the chair like this. It reminded her of her time at the Academy. Just sitting in a chair, a pair of control sticks and a whole bunch of buttons. That’s how they used to do it, and that’s still how beginning pilots were taught, even if every single Frame currently in use also required neural input. 

“You have an incoming call,” her Handler said. “I’ll let you explore your space for a minute while you answer it. You have privacy. Handler out.”

“Thanks,” Epoc said, and pressed a few buttons on the chair. One shifted the chair forward by a good two feet, closer to the giant screen. Hah! A few others moved her around. Finally, one of them picked up the com. She should have probably guessed it was the one with the little red light next to it. “Hello?”

“Hey!” Devah’s voice came out of the speakers of the chair. Neat. It was like she was sitting right behind Epoc. “I hope you’re doing okay. Listen, this morning ended really awkwardly, but I hope we can do it again some time. If you’re up for it, of course. And… I really hope you’ll tell me about what it’s like to ride Nexus Alpha. She looks like a beast.”

“I will,” Epoc said. “And I’m absolutely down to meet you again in a… non-professional context. Maybe I’ll be able to leave the complex some time in the next few days. You can show me a café you like or something.”

“I’ll think about it. I won’t take any more of your time. Go get ‘em, puppy. And rub one out in there for me.” With a voice that had a smile and a wink in it, Devah was hard to resist. She hung up. Immediately the light started blinking again. 

“Epoc’s pizza delivery service, how can I help you today?” Epoc said dryly.

“Smartass,” Diana said. “Everything up to spec in there?”

“It’s perfect, Di.”

“Di?”

“I’m trying it out. Don’t like it?”

“Not my thing. My friends call me Wrench sometimes.”

“Makes you sound like an old bald guy with a beard.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, well, that aside, I love it. You’ve done an amazing fucking job, Diana. How do you even build a chair like this? These kinds of materials don’t fucking exist.” Epoc ran her hand along what her brain could only register as ‘flexible, pliable metal’. Like what she imagined touching lava was like. 

“Trade secret, Epoc. But that’s not her only surprise. You should check out her weapon systems when you’re fully synchronized.”

“I will.”

“You’re going to do great, Epoc. Don’t stress out. You’re one of the best pilots I’ve ever seen at Mako, and I don’t say that easily.”

“Thanks, Diana.” Epoc shifted in the seat and sighed. “I needed that.”

“Yeah, well, you better get your game face on. You’re about to get into the orbital lift.”

“How bad is it going to be?”

“You’re getting fired into low orbit and then you’re going to enjoy what’s known as a ‘controlled descent’ directly below the southern shelf, landing on top of the offspring of some escaped Megafauna.” She laughed. “You’ll be fine. Anyway, you should do your pre-flight check and synchronize with Nexus already. I’ve got an eye on her internals, but your vitals are up to your Handler. I’ll leave that up to her. Oh, and Epoc?”

“Yeah?”

“Have fun.”

The line went dead. A second later, Handler Winter appeared on the screen again. 

“Are you ready, Epoc?”

“I think so, Handler.”

“Very well,” she said. “Beginning synchronization now.”

The chair closed around Epoc. A pair of goggles slid down over her eyes. A breathing mask on her mouth. Instead of plating, instead of cloth and metal parts sliding around to cover her, the chair itself deformed to encase her completely, like she was wearing an exosuit. Even stranger, she felt like she might still be able to move around. 

“Try to relax. Figure out a position you’d be comfortable holding for extended hours,” Diana said. “The chair will adjust to your needs and then make sure that position is sustainable for your joints and spine.”

Alright. Epoc tried to find a position that worked for her. She found herself leaning forward a little, legs wide, knees bent, arms raised a little. There. The chair locked into place, like it recognized this was what she wanted. When she tried to move her limbs, she met resistance, but not so much that she felt fully trapped. 

“Excellent job, Hound. Epoc. Now, let’s synchronize.” Winter’s voice came from Epoc’s left ear. It was soft. Careful. Uncertain. “Ordinarily, this is the part where I tell you to relax. Where I get you hard and excited. This is the part where I do my job as Handler.”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming.”

“Yes,” Handler Winter said. “But.”

“But what?”

“We have time before the orbital lift takes us up. I think we need to talk.”

“About what?”

There was a pause. It stretched out to infinity and came back as awkward as it started. 

“I… I… Do you think we could… start over?”