"Is that a boy or a girl?" Yeti asked.

"Looks like a girl," Snake said.

I was convinced she was a boy though.

The galleons burned in the background while the girl laid motionless on a piece of debris that floated among the calming waters.

"Should I retrieve her?" Snake asked. I gave her a nod.

"Roger," Snake said. Her suit shrunk and she dived into the water and swam towards the girl.

"She has a collar around her neck," Diplomat said. I took a closer look with my visor, he was right. The girl had a sort of metal collar around her neck.

"Don't tell me she's actually a slave?" Yeti said.

"She may as well be one," Diplomat replied.

Snake caught up with the girl and went to the other side of the floating debris and began pushing it to the nearest beach.

"Is she alive?" Yeti asked.

"She is, she has a heat signature and a detectable but faint heartbeat," Snake said over the communicator.

"Do you think she remembers what we did?" Yeti asked. I believe it was a rheotorical question but Diplomat answered him, nonetheless.

"Judging from her position, she very well saw the whole thing until Ghost destroyed the galleons,"

I gestured the two of them to head towards the beach Snake was headed with the child. The three of us walked to the beach to the left of the port just as Snake pulled the girl over the shore.

She lifted her up and placed her over the sand. The rest of us surrounded her to get a better look. She looked young and was bruised all over but surprisingly, no burns on her skin.

"Snake, you're the medic, check her out if she has other complications," Diplomat said.

Snake immediately removed her brown, tattered dress. The three of us looked away to respect the girl's privacy. We were a weird lot, we had massacred an entire town but refused to see a survivor naked.

We had our reasons.

Snake was our medic, a darn good one. I remembered how she came and patched up an entire platoon while under heavy fire back then when we were fighting the last war in Africa. Her medical knowledge seemed to be only a by product of what she really sought.

She was our most efficient killer, she knew which spot to land a fatal blow. If we still felt fear, We would be fearful of her.

"You boys can look now," Snake said. We all turned around to see the girl. She was laid on Snake's lap. Snake gently caressed her brown hair as she snoozed.

Snake had covered her with the same tattered dress the girl was wearing. We could tell the little girl was cold, her body shivered at each gust of the breeze.

"I'll go search for something that can replace that horrible dress and keep her warm" Diplomat said before he went back to the burning town.

Yeti and I sat down beside them. Our suits shrinking as we lowered our hips and touched the sand.

"That collar, can we remove it?" Yeti asked me. I gave him a firm nod. No child should be subjected to slavery, nobody should be. The United Bloc, where all humans are equal. We embody those ideals and principles.

But we killed the rest of the town. Well, they struck first. We only returned the favor. Cleaning up and starting again, a grazed empty slate.

"What the hell," As Yeti tried to burning the collar open with a laser, the collar glowed orange and displayed strange letters.

The little girl began to fidget, prompting Yeti to stop and causing Snake concern.

"The fuck was that? Was that magic?!" Snake said.

"The collar is magical, a magic seal?" Yeti said.

"How do you know?" Snake asked.

"Just a hunch, I could be wrong," Yeti answered.

"Her vital signs are stabilizing, good grief. Whoever placed this collar, I will rip their eyes and esophagus out," Snake trembled in anger.

"I'll gladly help," Diplomat came back with a clean blue dress on his hand. He then gave it to Snake who proceeded to dress the little girl.

Diplomat sat beside Snake and took a closer look at the collar. He had this fascinated yet disgusted shine in his eyes.

"A slave collar embedded with a magical seal. These runes here, these are letters and they seem to possess supernatural properties. I can determine this much thanks to the documents we pillaged before we burned their hall," Diplomat said.

"So, what now?" Snake asked.

"We go forward. Beyond this sea and explore the Empire that founded this outpost," Diplomat said.

I agreed. This was for the best.

Diplomat then continued to explain to us what he had came to understand further.

"Though our information is limited, we can probably land on the other side of this strait but the problem is, how?" Diplomat said.

"I doubt a small boat will suffice, also, galleons are out of the question too. Even if Ghost spared one, we won't have enough manpower to effectively sail it across," Yeti said.

"And this girl, we have to tend to her too," Snake said.

"I understand, the girl is also important. A slave will no doubt resent the persons that sold her and the state that allowed it to happen. Judging from her physical stature, she may very well be 7 to 10 years old, don't you think?" Diplomat said.

"Seems so," Snake replied.

[Greetings]

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

"Who's that?"

A ladylike voice suddenly spoke to us using our communicators.

[There is no cause for alarm. I am Eva. Your personal AI companion. Despite what the Director said, I am the only AI programmed in all of your suits]

So this was the AI they were talking about?

"Eva, correct? If you're our AI companion, why did you not introduce yourself sooner?" Diplomat asked.

[The Director instructed me not to reveal myself until a specific criteria is met. Said criteria has been met and I have commenced full activation. Welcome, I am now under your command, Ghost]

Me?

"This is stupid, what the fuck was that criteria? What was that director thinking!?" Snake asked. Her voice trembled with frustration.

[I apologize but I was not given a reason why the criteria was given and why it should be met. From a more logical standpoint, It would have been more effective if I was activated as soon as you traversed the wormhole. However, my programming did not allow me to disobey the order of the Director, until now]

I did not understand what the AI meant when it said 'until now' but for some reason, it knew what I was thinking.

[To further clarify, the Director's last command was accomplished and thus, he no longer holds any semblance of control. All control has been passed to you, Ghost]

"Hey, Ghost did not even say a word," Yeti said, he noticed that as if the AI and I were having a conversation.

[I am able to read the mind of Ghost thanks to a special modification within his brain. Said modification is connected to his suit, allowing me to read out his inner voice]

The AI was not joking or lying. Hell, I did not even know if an AI had the ability to say or understand a joke.

I was also not informed I had something inside my head. The thought and realization of which caused me to feel irritated.

[Warning: Rage detected. Ghost, please calm down. Please be assured that I have no control or other intentions besides being of service to you. I can assure you that you will find my help to be invaluable to your mission]

I thought of it deeply and calmed down. The AI was just a part of our team, or so I made myself to believe. Otherwise, I would be bashing my own head to remove whatever was inside.

"So, you can hear converse with Ghost through his mind and afterwhich, you can tell us what he thinks?" Diplomat asked.

[Correct. Whatever I say, all of you will hear. Unless Ghost specifies the contrary]

"Well, glad to have you in the team," Diplomat asked.

Although the three seemed to now be receptive, I could see in their eyes that they were still suspicious of the AI, or should I call her, Eva.

I couldn't blame them. Something as unknown as an intelligent AI within all our suits, without a doubt had considerable, if not, dangerous control over our suits' capabilities. We don't even understand the rest of our suits at all.

[I understand all your concerns. But I must say that we have more pressing matters to attend to]

The AI was right. We needed to think of a way to cross the strait.

[Thanks to Diplomat's and Yeti's inputs. I have been able to construct a rough map of the surrounding regions with a range of 50 kilometers with an extended 50 kilometer roughed range thanks to the map. The Hilridan Empire has been placed inside my databank and Count Druk has been designated as a person of interest. The Gherfun strait has been marked in the map I have constructed and has been uploaded to all suits. You can access it via the visor]

"But we can only access the Visor if our suits are at their normal size, correct?" Yeti asked.

[Incorrect, you can actually access the main features of the visor even if the suit is shrunken. A holographic projection will be displayed in front of you if you say the proper command. The proper command to summon a holographic projection of the visor is "Visor" as simple as that]

Eva was a sassy AI.

[I apologize, Ghost. It was not my attention to display sass]

"Eh, the AI really does know what Ghost is saying,"

Annoyingly so.

"Visor!" Snake said and just as the AI said, a holographic projection of the visor appeared in front of her face but was limited. She then accessed the map and saw what Eva had made.

"The AI is not lying," Snake said.

The other two tried as well and brought up their holographic projections. I was the last to do it. I did not need to speak since the AI did it for me.

[You do not need to utter a single word, Ghost. I shall do as you command]

The holographic projection of my visor appeared in front of me. It then displayed the map Eva had constructed. The Gherfun strait was not really that wide but still, the distance between the northern continent and the southern continent was considerable.

"Eva, I know you are aware of our doubts but let me set mine aside and ask you a question," Diplomat said.

[At your service]

"Give us a solution to cross the strait," Diplomat asked.

[Acknowledged. Calculating possible solutions to cross the strait]

"I hope she gives us something good," Yeti said.

"A she?" Snake asked.

"Well, Eva? Let's just refer to her as a she," Diplomat answered.

We were now a five-person team. Me, Diplomat, Yeti, Snake, and Eva. I had this feeling that the mission would get smoother with an extra helping hand.

[Solution formulated. I shall present it to Ghost for verification]

"Eh, shouldn't you just show it to everyone?" Diplomat asked.

[I am afraid I cannot do that. Ghost is the leading authority and must be informed before the rest]

"Well.."

[Uploading plan to Visor. Ghost, you can now bring it up]

The steps of the plan were presented near my face and..

They were radical but.. according to the AI, it was the best way.

I then instructed Eva to explain it to the rest.

[Affirmative. Uploading plan to all suits]

[Upload complete, please check your visors]

"What the fuck?" Yeti said.

"Hell! What about the girl!?" Snake was frustrated.

"What do you mean we need to walk underwater!?" Even Diplomat was dumbfounded.

All of them weren't having it.