Alyssa and I only had to wait 2 minutes for the sergeant to show up in front of the military HQ. She was only 6 foot tall and didn't look like she had any height boosters installed or had industrial replacements like Evilin on Alyssa's combat squad had. Unlike Evilin, she had the full face modification and only had a thick armor plate where her face was supposed to be. For some reason, she had kept her full head of auburn colored hair.

I don't understand why anyone would choose such an inhuman mod. I thought. Why didn't they at least keep the eye sockets?

“Right this way.” A female electronic voice said as the sergeant passed by, and Alyssa and I followed her without comment. I couldn't help but feel bad for her, because she wouldn't feel the physical experience of having someone kiss her on the lips... then I wondered what she had looked like before her cybernetic replacement surgery.

I received a ping on my internal communication pad and I accepted the data from Alyssa. She had recognized the sergeant and accessed her file to send it to me.

So, at least she's still doing her job as my security. I thought about Alyssa and opened the file. I saw the sergeant's recruitment photo and read what happened to her, then I felt really bad for my earlier thoughts about why she had it done. She had lost most of her real face in an explosion when her squad had been ambushed by a rival squad during a skirmish.

“You can wait in here for the colonel.” The sergeant said and waved to a small tent in the staging area. Alyssa entered and looked around, then poked her head back out and nodded to me. I nodded and Alyssa went back inside, and I put a hand on the sergeant's shoulder.

“I'm sorry.” I said.

“What are you sorry for?” She asked in her electronic voice, clearly confused.

I held up my synthetic hand and touched the replaced side of my jaw and cheekbone. After a moment, she gave me an imperceptible nod. I gave her shoulder a squeeze and entered the tent to wait for the colonel to show up.

This time we had to wait for quite some time before the colonel managed to get away from his duties to see us. He came into the small tent with his unit leaders, and they were all talking at once. The colonel stopped at his desk and let them chatter for a few moments, then turned and slammed his hand onto the desk. The metal on metal sound reverberated in the small tent like a gong.

“You can't all have priority for getting your people upgraded.” The colonel said and looked at their faces, then pointed to a man in the middle of the group. “Do you have all your troops gathered?”

The man waited for a moment, then nodded. “I just received confirmation the last squad in my battalion just arrived in the staging area.”

“Then you have priority.” The colonel said and the man quickly left to get his people organized. The other people in the group started talking loudly, and the colonel slammed his hand down on the desk again. “Does anyone else have all their troops here yet?”

A woman near the back of the group raised her hand. “I do, sir.” She said. “I was the first to do so, actually.”

“I'm happy for you.” The colonel said, and the others chuckled. “You're next in line for upgrades, and you can send half of your engineers to the HQ. The tech guys need some extra hands setting up the new AI.”

“But...”

“They won't need the upgrade until after the AI is set up for it; but, your people get one of the new circuit boards as soon as they enter the lab to help.”

The woman smiled. “Of course, sir. Thank you, sir.”

The colonel waved her thanks away. “It was my fault for not asking who was here first, so you get the bonus.”

The woman nodded and left the tent at a fast walk. The people that remained quickly proclaimed their readiness status, and the colonel sorted them out and the order they were to be upgraded. When they all left, the colonel turned to me.

“Well, sir. It seems like you did it again.” The colonel said, and I sighed.

“I didn't do it for... well, I guess it doesn't matter now.” I said.

“I'm sorry about that, sir.” The colonel said and looked at Alyssa. “Things have advanced beyond some people's intentions.”

“I know, and I tried to joke with an apology.” I said, and the colonel winced because he understood what a mistake that had been.

“Well.” The colonel said, then changed the subject. “We have as many cybernetic experts and medical personnel as possible installing the circuit boards.” He said. “Thanks to you making it fit into a standard expansion slot, even old cyborgs like myself can use it.”

I received a ping from him and accepted the incoming signal.

Col784329_S(MG)_Approved You need to make it up to her.

Jack (RETCONNED) How exactly do I do that?

Col784329_S(MG)_Approved Accept what I'm about to give you without questioning it or making a fuss.

Jack (RETCONNED) If it will let her forgive me.

Col784329_S(MG)_Approved Oh, she will.

The messaging happened in an instant and no discernible time had passed, and the colonel smiled.

“Before we continue, let me just say that I'm glad you showed up.” The colonel said, and I laughed.

“I came as soon as I could.” I said, and he laughed, too.

“Sir...”

“I've been discharged, Colonel.” I said. “You can drop the sir.”

“No, I can't.” The colonel said and reached into his desk and pulled out a civilian contract. It was already approved and notarized, and it even had my signature on it. “Take this, and you're officially back in command of the civilian side of this operation.”

I started to inhale a breath and could almost feel Alyssa's intense stare bore into my back. I knew she assumed I wasn't going to take it, and the colonel now knew that I had to because of her... which was why he had told me not to make a fuss about it. I took his advice as I breathed in and stepped forward, then took the contract. My thumb print appeared next to my name, and I received a popup on my HUD from the System (Military Grade).

Civilian contract accepted and logged. Command controls restored.

Welcome, Jack (RETCONNED). Please report to the HQ to supervise the AI installation and to ensure the integrity of the network you proposed.

“I have to assume you already gave the circuit board to the System (MG).”

“As soon as we had them in our hands.” The colonel said. “We even couriered one over to the Cavern's System AI, but they already had one installed.”

“Ha.” I barked a laugh. “They probably had a copy of it after the first limited run through the factory.”

“They did a second run of a thousand, actually.” My AI Amanda said from behind the colonel, and then she peeked out from behind him on my HUD. “Once you signed the contract, The system let me access the hidden orders.” She walked around the colonel and was careful not to touch him. “They upgraded all their techs that could be upgraded in the System HQ and are holding the remaining circuit boards in reserve.”

I didn't shift my gaze from the colonel's face as Amanda walked towards me. “I wouldn't be surprised if they had a bunch more in reserve, just in case.” I said out loud.

The colonel nodded in response. “They do, and we sent the next order into the factory for another hundred thousand circuit boards.”

“A hundred thousand.” I whispered.

“Ten thousand is only slightly more than enough to outfit everyone assigned to participate in this next skirmish.” The colonel said. “We will need a lot more than that to outfit the entire military.”

“Should I even ask where the next skirmish is going to be?”

“You need to know, since you'll be deployed there.” The colonel said. “It's going to be up on Level Three near the top of the Fall.”

I couldn't help but turn and look at Alyssa, who met my gaze and nodded slightly. That was where we had seen that other Cavern's rover go when we were last at the Fall. They were also the ones responsible for the destruction of my mother's vacation home and favorite spot to visit.

“When is it scheduled for?” I asked and looked back at the colonel.

“Tomorrow morning.”

“That might be enough time to set everything up.” I said. “How long have they been working on it?”

“Since the sergeant of your security squad reported your idea for it.” The colonel said. “You better get over there and give them a hand.”

“Of course.” I said and turned to face Alyssa. “I'm not going to have time to go over the deployment for the troops or the combat rotation needed for the proper coverage of the battlefield.” I kept my face blank, even when I saw her face smile slightly. “Can you stay here and fill in for me? I can't be in two places at once.”

“Of course, sir.” Alyssa said, happily. “I'll record everything for your perusal as well.”

I chuckled. “No, just your own report will be fine.” I said and looked back at the colonel. “Colonel.”

“Sir.” The colonel said and I left the small tent. I was halfway back to the military HQ building before I received a ping from Alyssa, so I opened the message and wondered what she wanted.

SRGNT8356 Lunch. Twelve hundred hours. Floor C, room 213.

I smiled and walked on to the HQ and activated the map function on my HUD to get to the lab, then I put my hand on the scanner to enter the building. Time seemed to slow down slightly as the scan initiated, and instead of the few seconds it was supposed to take, it felt almost double that. The scan finished and time returned to normal as the door opened, so I held it and looked at the scanner.

That was odd. I thought, then entered the building.

“You felt that, didn't you?” My AI Amanda asked and I nodded; which just happened to be acknowledged by the guard in front of the hallway I needed to enter. He hit the button and opened the door behind him, and Amanda stood there as she waited for me. “Your brain is starting to get used to the processing power the new cybernetic replacements have given you.”

I don't know if I like it. I thought to her and kept walking.

“You don't really have a choice.” Amanda said as I reached her, and she walked beside me. “Your brain is adapting. It's not a setting in the cybernetics that can be altered or changed.”

I sighed, and she hooked her arm around mine. It startled me, just like when she had slapped me after changing the settings on my implants... and I had felt it.

Amanda smiled at me. “The big bad Jack, scared of an AI touching you?”

No. What scared me is that I can feel you touching me, and you're just an avatar representation on my HUD. I thought to her, and she laughed.

“Jack, you need to realize something.” Amanda said and I stopped before entering the designated lab for the AI build. “It's just electrical impulses interpreted by your brain.” She said and held up a finger, then poked my cheek with it. The flesh didn't move, since she wasn't actually touching me; but, I felt it just as if she was. “With your new circuit board to amplify the signal, I can touch you as if you were in the immersion chair and logged into your virtual reality work space.”

I looked at her with wide eyes as she pat my cheek, then she let my arm go and pretended to open the door to the lab. She was showing me she really wasn't there, and then she stepped through the door as if she had opened it and disappeared from sight.

That's going to take some getting used to. I thought and hit the button to open the door. All the people inside the lab stopped working as I entered the room, so I stopped and stared right back at them. “Who said you could take a break?!?” I asked in my command voice, which boomed in the quiet lab.

Everyone jumped, including all the combat engineers just assigned to work there, and they all made themselves look extremely busy.

“That's better.” I said as the lab door shut behind me, and my AI Amanda laughed.