UPDATING PILOT REGISTRY

  PILOT REGISTRY UPDATED

  PARAMETERS SUCCESSFULLY MET

  PILOT CLASS AND RANK PROMOTION AUTHORIZED

  Name:[REDACTED] AKA: Cam Ket

  Pilot Registration Number: 1128212

  Pilot Rank: Beta (Sirius)

  Co-Pilot: Aeia

  Company: N/A

  Unit Type: Headsman (Assault Variant)

  Cameron's smile couldn't have been wider if he tried. The new update to his pilot registration was almost too much for him to handle.

  “Beta…Sirius?” He said in a breathless whisper as his eyes stayed glued to the screen, running over the details again and again. He’d his fight with Arno to get him over the line into Beta, but to completely skip the Logos rank? Just how wide had the gap between him and his opponent been?

  ‘Monumental it seems,’ Aeia’s voice cut through his thoughts, causing Cameron to jump in surprise.

  “Gah!” He yelped, drawing more than one pair of eyes from some of the other patrons and personnel hanging around the quiet Pilot Assistance Office. Cameron blushed sheepishly, mouthing a "sorry", before quickly turning and walking out of the office and into the bustling streets of Arsius Station's main line.

  'Where the hell have you been?!' Cameron practically screamed inside of his mind, 'I haven't heard from you since the fight!'

  It had been nearly half a day since the Scouting Scrap, and not a word had came from Aeia in all that time. A sliver of doubt had started to take shape in his mind as he woke up that morning only to be met with further silence from his co-pilot, causing him to think the worst. Had he pushed her to hard? Had she pushed herself too hard? Had she done something so taxing that it completely erased her from his consciousness entirely? It turned out his fears were unfounded, as she merely chuckled at his words, teasing him for his worry.

  'Awe... You missed me,' She said, 'I'm touched Cam. I knew that deep down you weren't some high-strung man-child who could only process the emotions of anger and frustration.'

  'Man-child?!'

  'Besides,' She continued, ignoring his protest, 'I told you last night I was going to be gone for a little bit.'

  'I didn't think you meant half a day!'

  'Well, what did you expect?' She replied with a sigh, 'Blocking off particular chemicals from being produced in your brain, and shutting down some areas entirely, while making sure you don't end up in a coma isn't exactly a while in a park!'

  Cameron stopped dead in his tracks, blinking as he tried to come to grips with what Aeia was saying. It was only when another passerby shoulder-checked him before flashing a dirty look, that he moved off to the side, stepping into the entrance of an alleyway to collect himself.

  ‘Okay…’ He thought back after a moment, ‘Run that by me one more time.’

  ‘I don’t understand what's so hard to comprehend,’ She said, as if the task of cutting off parts of his brain was as easy as breathing, ‘You were having a PTSD episode. The part of your brain that processes emotions, your Amygdala, was going into overdrive, producing large amounts of epinephrine and cortisol through your neurotransmitters. Your brain was perceiving the memory as a real threat, and the emotional elevation of an A.I. connection was only hindering your ability to pilot properly, when there was a real threat in front of you. All I did was suppress that part of your brain. Well that, and your Hippocampus to prevent the memory from coming forth as well.

  “By the stars,” Cameron said with a hushed whisper. He leaned against the wall sliding down until he was sitting, resting his arms on the top of his knees, looking up at the station skyline as if the glimmering neon lights of store fronts were the stars of distant words. As the hours ticked by after the fight, more and more of Cameron’s memories from that period of emotional apathy returned. He could recall how he acted, how he felt. Well… it’d be more appropriate to say how he didn’t feel. For once in his life, he didn’t feel driven to act based on his emotions, whether that be bravado, rage, or fear. He didn’t see his opponent as a threat to his pride or well being, but simply an obstacle that needed to be destroyed. Ironic to the name of his stratagem, it wasn’t gray… it was incredibly black and white in a way that, looking back, made him unsure how to feel.

  ‘Well…’ He said after a long contemplative silence, ‘You certainly did help me in that fight. I’ll give you that.’

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  ‘Do you…disapprove?’ She asked, a slight anxious lilt in her voice.

  ‘No. I don’t.’ He shot back, ‘I mean who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth. I’m just… coming to grips with how it feels. Or, doesn’t feel? I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just a very weird stratagem.’

  His eyes widened as a thought outside of his discussion with Aeia dawned on him, ‘Hey… speaking of. What is a stratagem? Is it my combat protocol? Like Arno’s lightning whips?’

  She chuckled, ‘No. A stratagem is… well it’s something special. Separate from a combat protocol.’

  ‘Special how?’

  ‘Special in that it’s only available for Pilots who have A.I. Co-Pilots.’ She said, ‘It’s essentially a function that the Co-Pilot initiates in order to better assist the pilot. It takes a lot of our processing power to operate Stratagems normally there's a cooldown period between activations. Most of the time, this doesn’t matter to the pilots as they only really interact intensely with their Co-Pilots when on missions. But you… my lovely pilot, are another story. Thanks to our rather… unique connection, our stratagem affects you in a way that’s rather unorthodox.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ He asked.

  ‘I mean,’ She continued, ‘Most Stratagems do interact with a Pilot’s physiology, but that’s only on a surface level. Some Stratagems focus on things like increasing or decreasing certain chemicals or emotions. Adrenaline and Rage for instance. Others focus on things like forcing muscle fibers to loosen or tighten in specific interactions, or even increase blood flow to key areas of the body that are paramount for that pilot’s combat style. But to do what I did-suppressing key parts of your brain from registering to your active consciousness-is not a normal thing.’

  ‘Too bad, it’s only because I can’t get over this fucking memory,’ He said, curling a fist around the hem of pants, nails digging into the fabric.

  ‘You will eventually,’ She said, her voice taking on a warm and comforting tone, ‘And when you do, you’ll have a Stratagem to quote unquote “Tune out the bullshit” as I’m sure you’d say. It’s a pretty powerful trump card if I do say so myself. Especially once we get the Headsman outfitted with some new toys.’

  Cameron’s eyes widened as he leapt to his feet, ‘Oh shit, that’s right! I got a million silver burning a hole in my pocket. Time to bring the Headsman up to par.’

  ‘If I may make a suggestion…’ Aeia said, before Cameron had even taken a step.

  ‘What’s up?’ He said, raising an eyebrow.

  ‘Perhaps, before we spend a bunch of silver on shit we don’t need, you take the time to inventory what exactly the Headsman has to offer. Outside of paying for long term lodgings, food, luxuries, etc… We have a rare surplus of expendable income that, if used correctly, could set us up to not only dominate in the Beta class, but be a Gamma contender as well, even more so than you are in a one on one dueling scenario. Not to mention the amount of money we can save or earn by removing and selling needless hardware.’

  ‘Do you really think we have anything on the Headsman that would be considered needless hardware?’

  ‘Needless? Maybe. Redundant? Certainly.’ She said, ‘I’ve spent long enough watching and feeling how you operate to know that at least forty percent of the boosters currently on the Headsman could be removed without any significant loss or alteration to your fighting style.’

  ‘Alright…’ Cameron said, ‘Tell me where they are. Tell me what else you think could be removed too, and when I get the Headsman loaded off the Fenris and into my own personal hanger, I can get a mechanic to take a look.’

  ‘No,’ She said.

  Cameron blinked, shaking his head in confusion.

  ‘No?’ He asked.

  ‘No.’ She said again.

  ‘What do you mean no?!’

  ‘No, I’m not going to tell you.’

  “Well why the fuck not?!” He said aloud.

  ‘Two reasons,’ She said, ‘One, it’s important that you become as familiar with the operations of your A.R.M.S. unit as you possibly can. I know everything about the Headsman but it’s because I’m a part of it. You are in a much more vital role than I and the more you understand of your unit, the more you’ll know its capabilities, drawbacks, and advantages. You’ve trained your body Cam, now it’s time to train your mind.’

  ‘And the second?’ He thought back, hoping the growl of frustration could be interpreted in his mind.

  ‘The second reason,’ She continued, ‘Is because we don’t need to waste money on a mechanic when we already know a mechanic. And a damn good one at that.’

  ‘...’ Cameron didn’t respond, using his silence as protest to what she was implying.

  ‘You need closure Cam,’

  ‘I don’t need shit,’ He shot back, ‘Not from them.’

  ‘Not from Logan maybe, but it’s not Aurora’s fault you were kicked out. That was his call. Not hers.’

  ‘Are you sure about that?’ He asked.

  ‘Are you sure that she did?’

  ‘...No…’ He thought after a moment.

  ‘Then how are you gonna know unless you talk to her?’

  He sighed audibly, knocking his head softly against the wall as if trying to bludgeon a headache out of his skull, ‘Aeia… I really don’t want to do this.’

  ‘What you want and what you need are two different things here Cam. You know I’m right.’

  Cameron stood in the alley, feeling the cold stone press into his forehead, his heart and mind racing as he tried to figure out what he was going to do.

  ‘Cam-’ Aeia started, before he cut her off.

  ‘Fuck it. Fine. But if this goes south, I’m blaming you.’

  ‘I wouldn’t expect anything less,’ She said, and Cameron rolled his eyes as he heard the satisfaction in her voice.

  ‘Oh shut up, you smug asshole, and help me find the hospital.’