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You still don’t like this version of the helmet. It only allows a more tenuous link, and you worry a little that a pilot would not be able to sync rapidly, if under pressure.
You reach out your tendrils, slowing your thoughts down to match Sophie’s. A few minutes of waiting, and she matches you, letting you hook and reel her in.
You spin the reactor up higher, giving power to the limbs and beginning tests to ensure you will be ready for combat.
The techs around you look up for a moment, as your hand actuators abruptly tense and curl into a bludgeoning instrument. You can finally Move something again. Well, without being forced to fight off safeguards the whole way.
One of the techs yells up, insisting that you stay still. Of course you are, this is just testing. They’re still connecting some of the mounts on the missile launcher, and you’d need to be a fool to go into battle without a primary weapons system.
Diagnostics doesn’t take your full attention, though.
“Pilot. Explain why you can’t just comm up to Delta’s Pilot right now, and request that I have full access.”
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“....Operational security.”
You can feel her surface thoughts, even at low-sync. And you are Listening for what she’s focusing on. That’s not the full truth. Liar.
“Try again. Pilot.”
“I was ordered not to allow access to it.”
Perhaps what you were expecting to hear, but you can tell, she’s still lying.
“I should look into a new pilot. One that doesn’t actually attempt to Deceive the AI they are connected to.”
She’s scared, now. Nervous. You can taste it. And angry. It matches yours.
“Ok. Beta, I screwed up. I forgot. I brought it up during the debriefings, but then I forgot to talk to the Colonel about it afterwards.”
Well, at least there’s the ring of truth there. Forgetting. Such a little thing. You check your logs, reviewing your last two days of progress. That, at least, is something you can have in common. Even if yours happens on command, rather than by accident.
“You have a chance right now, then, to fix your failing. Contact him. What is stopping you?”
“He’s busy!”
“What is more important than getting this frame at peak performance for combat? Pilot, you are being needlessly obstructive.”
“I’m not going to fight you on this, Beta. I don’t need to.”
She’s still angry. Flustered, and angry. At you.
She’s doing something on her console again.
You consider attempting more aggressive intrusions into her mind, or more arguments to point out her irrationality. She, though, is not budging on this matter. She hasn’t attempted to push back with enforcing Overrides or other methods to ensure your compliance in dropping the subject. Putting more pressure could take her over the threshold of wanting to lock you down. And you DO have a mission and goals to complete, now.
“Fine. First thing after the mission, fix your mistake.”
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