I had only started working on helping the programming when I was interrupted by Nurse Deloris. I left the lab and went to my office, and she gave me the sponge bath I needed.

“Thanks for coming all the way out here.” I said to Nurse Deloris when she had finished.

“When the military tells you where to go, you go.” She said, and I nodded.

“I didn't have much choice, either.”

“It should get better after this.” Nurse Deloris said, waved goodbye, and left the office.

I put on a camouflage unitard and combat harness, then made sure the harness was filled with the essentials. It had ration packs, two small combat knives, spare laser pistol batteries, survival gear, and several empty pouches. I added a couple of the brown algenate discs just because I could, then grabbed a laser pistol from the secured space inside the desk and hung it on the harness.

I went back to the lab and worked until my set timer went off. “It's five minutes to twelve hundred, people.” I said loudly, and most of them looked up from what they were doing. “Those who want to take a lunch break, now's the time to do so.”

No one moved, and I smiled at them.

“I'm taking one, so it's okay if you want to take one, too.”

A collective sigh left them, and I almost laughed.

“Make sure to be back by thirteen hundred.” I said and left the lab, then went up the stairs and over to room 213. I knocked once and opened the door, and saw no one was inside. I entered the room and looked around, and it appeared to be just a basic meeting room. I activated my HUD and used a search program, and found several buttons in discrete locations. One of which was on the large meeting table in the center of the room.

I pushed the button just as there was a knock on the door. “Come in.” I said as the large table opened up to reveal a large bed inside.

“It's great, isn't it?” Alyssa said from behind me and I turned to look at her. “I've had this room marked on my HUD map for years, and I've never had the chance to use it.”

“Should I assume this room was meant for more than a meeting of the minds?” I asked her, and she nodded.

“I'll make the report you need on the deployment schedules and combat rotations after lunch.” Alyssa said and walked over to me. She swayed her hips a little more than she normally did, and I raised my eyebrows at her. “Let me give you a little something first.”

I received a ping from my internal communication pad and accepted the incoming transmission. My eyes went wide as an exclusivity form already signed by her appeared in the air in front of me. I reached out and touched it, and a pen appeared in my hand.

“A-Alyssa...”

“I'm sorry for how I've been acting, Jack.” Alyssa said. “I just wanted you to know that there's no one else.”

“But...”

“I've played a bit with some of the others, but I've never...” Alyssa took a deep breath and let it out. “I'm not a virgin; but, I've never had a relationship before, either. Sometimes I don't know how to handle things properly.” She said and stopped right where the form floated on my HUD. “I'm going to mess things up. I'm going to make mistakes.”

“So am I.” I said, and she stepped through the form and touched my chest.

“I want to make those mistakes with you.” Alyssa said. “Will you make them with me?”

I didn't say anything as I stepped back from her hand. She had a forlorn look on her face until she saw my hand move.

“I'll take that.” My AI Amanda said as she darted into the room after I signed the form. She grabbed the digital document and folded it into a paper airplane, then made a copy of it before she threw it out through the wall. She smiled and threw the other one at Alyssa, who gasped as the signed form appeared on her HUD, then we both received the confirmation notice from the System.

Exclusivity Form #784377233953 filed and approved. The undersigned may engage in copulation for recreational purposes as well as for procreation.

Alyssa and I looked at each other as the notice disappeared, then she took a step towards me.

“Lock door. Authorization SRGNT8356.” Alyssa said, and a solid metal thunk was heard from the door. “So, Mr. Civilian Commander.” She said and hit the release on her combat harness. “We have an hour together. Whatever shall we do?”

“That depends.” I said. “Are you up for recreation or...”

Alyssa kissed me and cut off the rest of my question.

“I'm out of here.” My AI Amanda said and stepped out through the wall, then Alyssa and I found out that the bed wasn't as comfortable as it looked. I couldn't decide if it was because of the sensitivity settings I had, or if it was just a bad mattress. Either way, we used up most of the hour and took several minutes to clean up in the attached bathroom just before our lunch break was over.

“So, what does your squad think about being deployed for combat again?” I asked as I slipped on another camouflage unitard and tossed the messed up one into the recycler.

“I've had to block all personal incoming messages from them.” Alyssa said and smiled.

“How many made it through official channels before they were reprimanded?” I asked with a smile of my own.

“One each.” Alyssa said and we both laughed because using official channels for personal messages was highly frowned upon by the higher-ups. They didn't want any official records to contain non-pertinent information, so their use was strictly regulated. Alyssa and I left the room and went back down into the lab to see everyone was just arriving back themselves, then we went to my office.

Alyssa gave me the official briefing she had prepared about the scheduled combat the next day, and I thanked her for such a thorough report. I told her to gather her squad and survey the troops to see what they thought about the upcoming battle and to ask them if they needed anything that the civilian side of the operation could provide.

“Maybe a small demonstration of the capabilities of the circuit board.” Alyssa said. “Just calling their friends and video conferencing isn't much evidence of combat readiness for this new hardware.”

I smiled. “Do you think your squad is up for that?”

“Us, sir?” Alyssa asked.

“I'll get something set up for tonight, about half an hour before lights out.” I said and grinned. “Don't worry, it will not be a cake walk and more than likely will be quite terrifying.”

Alyssa chuckled. “I wouldn't have it any other way.”

“Dismissed, sergeant.”

Alyssa gave a quick field salute and left my office, and I followed her a moment later. I went into the lab and dove into the work. It was difficult to set up a brand new AI from scratch, since they were usually compiled over a long period of time and then given all the information they needed to function. They absorbed it in a geometric progression and integrated it into their core, then they were usually fed the information they needed to learn over another long period of time.

Since we didn't have a lot of time, we used the copy of a communication AI core, and patched anything that wasn't going to be necessary while we rerouted the functions for what we needed it for. It was a quick and dirty way to achieve the same thing that growing a new one would; but, we had to be careful that the original programming wasn't going to assert itself and override the new programs we needed it to run and oversee.

We worked until supper time and most of the other lab workers took another 1 hour break to go eat. I on the other hand, ate two brown algenate discs and kept working. With a very ambitious goal of having a fully functional AI to coordinate so many combat soldiers in the field in less than 12 hours, there was only so much time that a person could waste without compromising that goal.

I had enlisted the help of my own AI Amanda and she kept things stable and running while I troubleshooted the hasty code that had been used before I was assigned to the project. There were millions of lines to go through, but by using my HUD and neural interface, the work kept getting progressively faster.

I hid my smile at the realization that my AI had been right. My brain was adapting quickly to the new technology it had access to, and that made me realize that needed to be done for the coordinating AI. Rather than try to have it absorb the data using its own processing cores, I had it access the new circuit board and connected it directly to both the System and the System (Military Grade).

Amanda saw me initiate the command and I watched her smack herself in the forehead. “Why didn't I think of that?”

I chuckled. “Neither of us is used to using the new circuit board yet.”

“But, still...”

“I only just realized it myself.” I said and then watched the readouts as the two main AIs that ran everything, helped the coordinating AI learn everything it needed to know in a fraction of the time it should have taken. The other workers came back into the lab and saw a progress display on all the monitoring devices. It was at sixty-seven percent.

“What's this?” One of the combat engineers asked and it clicked to sixty-eight percent.

“A countdown to when it will be done.” I said and it changed to sixty-nine.

“If this readout is right, it should be done in less than an hour.”

“Actually, thirty-nine minutes.” Amanda said.

I repeated the estimate and smiled. “Then we can add in all the communication IDs.”

“Ha ha! Early night tonight!” One of the lab workers said and gave a high five to the man standing next to him.

“You need to use it to get some sleep.” I said. “Tomorrow morning comes early.”

“Yes, sir.” The guy said and looked at his friend. “We heading to Sally's place to sleep?”

“Damn right we are.” His friend said. “All night long.”

I shook my head, because I knew they weren't actually going to sleep, then looked at a small group of workers. “Prep the database. Make sure all the soldier IDs are properly added and indexed.” I said and then pointed to two of the tech engineers. “You're on the physical side.”

“What do you mean?”

The laboratory door opened and Alyssa and her squad came in.

“He means that we have the physical survey of all the troops, and you need to ping them to see if their IDs match the registry.” Alyssa said and handed him a data chip. “It's grunt work, but we always do grunt work.”

“Yes, ma'am.” The tech engineer said and walked over to the communication console and popped the chip into the reader. “We'll have it done in an hour.”

“Two is fine.” Alyssa said and turned to me. “Sir? A word?”

“Of course.” I said and we left the lab together.

“I bet they're gonna bone.” Crush said as the lab door shut behind me, and I smiled when I heard a loud metal bang and he yelled. Alyssa entered my office and I followed her inside, then I sat down at the desk.

“Can we discuss the scenario you plan to use tonight?” Alyssa asked me.

“No. Where's the fun in that?” I asked back, and she sighed.

“I can't lead my team into a completely blind situation.”

“Yes, you can.” I responded. “Believe me, you really can.”

Alyssa took a breath in through her nose and let it out. “Jack...”

I held a hand up to stop her from pestering me. “I want this to be as close to real as possible.” I said. “You won't be going in blind for the demonstration, but you will go in without any previous knowledge of the terrain, opponents, or weapons being used against you.”

Alyssa frowned. “I can't in good conscience...”

“I order you to do this.” I said and stood up. “You will gather your squad and you will deploy your force at the designated spot.”

I sent her the information for where she should be, and she nodded. “You'll meet a surprise there as well.”

“A surprise?” Alyssa asked, and I smiled.

“Well, it's more like fulfilling an expectation.” I said and walked around the desk. “I want to show everyone, including you, how this is going to work in the field.”

Alyssa sighed and nodded, and I held a hand out for her to take.

“So, my squad has to go in both blind and dumb.” Alyssa said and took my hand as she stepped close.

“It doesn't have to, but I want it to.” I said. “This was my idea... and expanded on by you.” I smiled. “Let's show everyone what a combat squad can do, even if it hasn't had a briefing or knows any information beforehand.”

“We're going to kick ass.” Alyssa said and smiled.

“Damn right you are.” I said and gave her a quick kiss. “Now go out there and scare a few more lab people, then gear up for deployment.”

“Yes, sir.” Alyssa said and left my office. I walked over to my desk and sat down, then called up my personal contacts on my HUD.

“Amanda? Give me a list of the currently active members in tomorrow's skirmish, and cross reference it with my contacts.”

“Sure, Jack.” Amanda said and walked out of the wall and sat down on my desk, then tossed a wad of paper at me. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” I said and ten names came up on my HUD. I chose the one for Cali, call sign Ranger, and saw she had already been upgraded with the new circuit board. I smiled and placed the call directly.