Anand continued his habit of sluggishly waking up. He’d checked and double checked every request he made for his Collar and Glaive to make sure it wouldn’t be misunderstood. He and Eve submitted the forms just before bed. Ray, on the other hand, was up late into the night. Pulling an allnighter was rare even when he had waited months for a game. Now, he’d stayed up to do something that amounted to homework.

None of the group wanted to go to class but they remembered Director Graves’ tone about dropping out. But it was hard to focus. Even in the classes that interested Anand, he found himself easily distracted. It felt like every second lasted for hours. Professors drawled on about what they believed was important but all Anand cared about was his new training. He felt like a kid the night before Christmas, waiting to see the present Santa brought. And it wasn’t just him. The few moments he saw his friends during classes, they shared his energy. They were apathetic and distracted but any time the GDF was mentioned they perked up.

When class ended, Anand and Ray sprinted for the community center. Ray was sure Anand ran faster now than when they’d gone to save Sonia. There was no way Anand would ever admit that, though. They arrived to see Eve already waiting at the elevator. Her grin today wasn’t cocky but excited. They piled in and went to the alluring “T” floor.

Anand had forgotten about the other students who were teleporting to other bases. They had arrived sooner and a short line had formed. He was antsy and wanted to cut ahead but knew it would be bad form. After all, these were his future allies. He just had to wait. Ray, on the other hand, was pacing in circles around Eve and Anand.

“Dude, I’ve never seen you like this,” Eve said.

“He didn’t sleep much last night,” Anand said.

“Why?”

“I had ideas,” Ray answered. “A whole lot of them. Not to mention, I could only use one hand to type so it took a bit longer.”

“You could’ve always asked us to help,” Eve replied.

“I want it to be a surprise!” Ray whined.

Anand rolled his eyes. Of course Ray wanted to surprise them. Then again, Anand wasn’t going to share what he requested either.

The team finally got on the teleporter and went to the Midwest Base. Today, Gale was waiting for them. Anand expected to go to the R&D wing but instead the group was led to the medical wing. They went into one of the operating rooms that was occupied by a woman wearing overalls with “Tori” sewed on the chest. She sat next to a small table with three boxes.

“Hello, Team Goldilocks!” she said and sauntered to the group, shaking each of their hands. “Anand, Ray, Eve. I’m Tori. Victoria Cahlgren, for long. As you may know, I’m the lead engineer of the GDF Midwest Base.”

She spoke rapidly without waiting for a response. If she paused to take a breath, Anand couldn’t tell.

“Here you see three treasures,” Tori said while gesturing towards the boxes. “You may open them all, as they are yours to collect. Which shall be the first?”

“That one!” Ray said immediately and pointed to the center box.

Tori nodded. “Eve, please open the box.”

Eve warily approached the large box. Upon opening it, she cracked a smile. She fished a dark piece of cloth with metal studs out. Eve replaced the choker she was already wearing with the new one. She checked herself out with her phone, making sure the choker looked good from every angle.

“Does it have the command I asked about?” Eve asked.

Tori smirked. “I had a lot of fun setting it up. Try it.”

“Color shift: white,” Eve said.

Within seconds the black choker changed color to a creamy white. The studs were now a glowing silver. Eve cackled.

“That’s so cool!” Ray exclaimed. “Why’d you go with a choker, though?”

“We’re gonna need to wear these at school. The more inconspicuous the better,” Eve explained. “More people would wonder why I’m using something as primitive as neckband earbuds than if I got more chokers.”

“Huh. I hadn’t even considered that,” Anand admitted. “I just went with my first thought.”

“Don’t be ashamed of that, Anand.” Tori said while opening one of the boxes. She pulled out a pair of blue thick-rimmed glasses. “I was already working on your Collar because I assumed you’d want these. I’m really glad I was right.”

She handed them to Anand and he replaced the old pair he’d been using. There was a stark difference in the clarity of his vision. Anand let out a slow breath. This was the same feeling as when he was in the destroyed library.

“Since you have a display type Collar, you can use a lot of the visual and audio based commands you learned yesterday,” Gale explained. “Try an information scan.”

Anand did so and noticed the windows appeared differently than before. With less display area they were not only smaller but showed less detailed information.

“It works differently than the helmet. Can I still connect to voice channels?” Anand asked.

Gale nodded. “Your glasses use something akin to bone conduction so you can communicate. It’s not perfect but it’ll do in a pinch when you can’t equip your Glaive.”

“Good to know,” Anand said. “I’ve been meaning to ask. How do you have my prescription?”

“We gained access to all your medical records when you accepted this position. But that’s not why the glasses work,” Gale explained. “They track your eyes and adjust in real-time. You just don’t notice it.”

“Not to mention they’re nigh indestructible,” Tori boasted and flexed. “It would take tremendous force to even scratch them.”

“That’s a weight off my chest.” Anand sighed. “Can it… unsheath?”

Anand was hoping the command would work but nothing happened. Ray and Eve looked at him quizzically.

“Told you he’d try it,” Tori said with a sly grin.

Gale nodded. “You’re right. Good call on keeping the command locked. Got it, Anand?”

Anand frowned and nodded. He turned his attention to Ray.

“So, what is this Collar you wanted to surprise us with?”

Ray in turn looked at Tori and asked, “Were you able to do it? Did you have enough time?”

Tori grinned confidently. “We’ve been working on something similar since you were admitted to Cahlgren University. I only had to make some adjustments.”

She helped Ray open the box and pulled out a metal arm. Anand and Eve both gasped. Cybernetic prosthetics were already rare. But to receive one created by the GDF lead engineer? Unheard of.

The arm was matte brown with intricate silver lines along joints. Parts of it were a tough rubber that allowed for smooth handling. It looked as muscular as Ray’s dominant hand so it wouldn’t look out of place. Ray hadn’t ever had a prosthetic. This was long overdue.

“When can we set it up?” Ray asked excitedly. “Does my mom need to sign a permission form?”

“She already consented,” Gale said. “Why do you think I’m here?”

Ray couldn’t contain himself and yelled with joy. While Tori got him situated on the operating table, Gale took Anand and Eve outside.

“You two can head back, if you like,” Gale said. “I have to go back in there. Depending on how Ray’s body reacts, this could take several hours.”

Anand and Eve shared a look and agreed to wait. They sat across from the sealed room and fiddled with their Collars. While Anand was testing different commands, Eve was abusing her choker. She threw it around, tore at it, stomped on it. It remained completely unscathed. Even the bit of dirt on it was easily brushed off. Anand couldn’t help but be scared of damaging his glasses.

“Dude, just try it,” Eve said. “They need stress testing. If it breaks, we can check what happened with Tori.”

“I just can’t help but wonder what my dad would say if I broke it,” Anand admitted.

“Who cares? He’s not here.”

“I know you don’t get how it feels to have your parents breathing down your throat, but I do!” Anand replied.

Eve was dumbstruck. Anand immediately regretted his words.

“Ohmygod. I’m so sorry. That was uncalled for.”

Eve shook her head. “It was. But, it’s okay. You’re a lot more stressed than I thought,” she sighed. “I’ve gotta admit, even if Mom and Dad were around, they weren’t the controlling type.”

Anand stayed silent. There was nothing he could say.

“When they first left, I was so angry. I couldn’t accept they died so it was just easier to think they left me with my grandparents.” Eve continued. “But once the GDF explained everything, I was just sad all the time. I thought it was so unfair. How come my parents had to die?”

“They were protecting you, right?” Anand asked.

Eve nodded. “The Oghrodi didn’t just leave me alone of its own volition. My parents saved me, somehow. They had to. Just like Ray’s dad did for him.”

“Ori was something else,” Anand said. “I miss him sometimes. I can’t imagine how Ray feels.”

“My dad was a pretty boring guy. I have no clue how he landed my mom. She was so cool,” Eve said and smiled softly. She pointed to her choker. “She always wore these. I wanted to be just like her.”

“You have your boring days and your cool days,” Anand said. “Just like both of them.” He felt better seeing Eve smile.

“I still miss them but not as much as before. I owe a lot of that to you and Ray,” Eve took a long breath and sighed. “But I can’t help but wonder how they’d feel about everything that happened after they died. Would they be glad the GDF told me about the Oghrodi? What about me going to CahlU? Would they be proud of me?”

“Were they proud of you as a kid?” Anand asked.

Eve didn’t even have to think about it. “Yeah. No matter what little thing I did, they’d be proud.”

“Then you have your answer.” Anand smirked. “I should just give up on making Dad proud. He won’t even listen to why I’m doing this.”

“Do you think he ever will?” Eve asked.

Anand sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“I used to. First I thought he’d listen when I got into CahlU. Then, I hoped he would when I became one of the best students. When that didn’t happen, I was dumb enough to think Dad would listen when I got recruited for all this.”

Anand felt like his heart was in a vice. He’d never talked about how he felt about his father. Admitting how much it bothered him was more than he was ready for. But he owed it to Eve. He tried to hide the pain in his voice but couldn’t tell if he pulled it off.

“I’m not worth listening to,” Anand said. “Dad’s made that abundantly clear.”

Eve rested her hand on Anand’s. “You are one of the best people I know. Nothing like your dad. If he doesn’t care, that’s his problem. Not yours.”

Anand nodded. Eve was wrong but he didn’t want to argue with her. They sat silently for a while. Suddenly, Anand got up and threw his glasses down the hall as hard as he could. They slammed against a wall and fell to the floor.

“What the hell, Anand?” Eve asked.

Anand silently walked to the glasses, brushed them off, and put them back on.

“You were right, they needed stress testing,” he said.

Gale stepped out of the operating room and furrowed their brow. Anand was further down the hall than expected. But, Gale hadn’t expected the recruits to stay still for a couple hours.

“Ray is ready,” they said.

Anand and Eve rushed into the room. Ray looked incredibly relaxed sipping on a juice box while Tori worked on his prosthetic. The right side of Ray’s upper torso was metallic with no visible joint between the shoulder and where his new arm connected. Tori gave simple directions and Ray followed them. Bend his elbow, twist his wrist, wiggle his fingers. All things he hadn’t done in years.

Ray examined the arm closely and whistled. “A little bronze compared to me but damn it looks good.”

“I’m shocked it’s not red or something,” Eve said.

“It’s not like I didn’t want to. Mom said the only way she’d approve of it was if I got one that matched my skin.”

Tori rolled her eyes and chuckled. She disconnected the machine connected to Ray’s cybernetic arm and told him to move it. He slowly waved the arm in front of him and it emitted a faint whirring sound.

Tori explained, “Don’t worry about that. It’s your arm getting used to being, well... your arm.”

“I was scared it wouldn’t be as responsive once you unplugged it, ” Ray said while slowly moving his fingers. “I love being wrong.”

“You don’t hear that often. Gale, how are his vitals?”

“Better than I expected,” Gale replied. “Then again, I’ve seen how resilient you are. You won’t be exerting yourself today though. I’m not willing to risk it.”

“Then, what are the rest of our plans today?” Anand asked.

“It’s getting late so I was going to… send you… home,” Gale said slowly, realizing none of the recruits would be okay with that. “I’ll check if Conrad is available for his first class.”

Gale called their teammate and within minutes Conrad arrived in the operating room. He was carrying a briefcase and dressed more impressively than Team Goldilocks expected.

“You kids really want to start classes right after Ray’s operation?” Conrad asked while lazily scratching his beard.

“We were going to if I didn’t have the operation, right?” Ray asked. “So, yeah.”

Conrad scoffed. “I can respect that.”

He left Gale and Tori to clean up while Team Goldilocks followed to one of the meeting rooms. While Anand and Eve were more focused on what Conrad was going to teach them, Ray was messing around with his arm. Even though it was a prosthetic, he couldn’t spin his joints further than a normal arm. He was shocked to feel a strain when the arm reached its limit. It didn’t hurt but something triggered his nerves if he tried to go too far. It had been years since he felt any sort of stimulation from his right arm.

Conrad finally finished setting up the room. “Listen up, kids. I’m only going over everything once. If you don’t get it, review it later.”

He grabbed a tablet out of his briefcase and connected it to the monitor on the wall. Simultaneously, the table opened to display the holographic lens. The monitor displayed a slide with gaudy WordArt, “Radar Reading 101.” It vanished off screen with an awkward transition before more notes appeared. After a few more rapid taps of the tablet, a holographic display appeared above the table. It was a three dimensional map of the base similar to Gale’s. The viewing angle shifted, turning the map two dimensional and topographical.

According to Conrad, this was the standard radar screen available in Glaives and even Anand’s glasses. Activated with the ‘Map’ command, it used vibrations and local data to provide as accurate a map as possible. The map on the table represented the entire base with small multicolored dots moving around on it. The purple dots were unknown objects. Conrad explained that these were likely animals since most humans were in the GDF database. They would remain purple until identified. Zooming in, Conrad pointed to a small clump of green dots near a triangle at the center of the screen.

“This arrow is me and these green ones are you three,” he explained. “These clumped up green dots around us are the other GDF members. The system recognizes you as my allies which determines the color of the dot. If it recognized you as enemies, the dot would be red. Civilians will appear as blue. And here’s something neat,” he said while pointing to a dot with a small “v” on top of it. “This person is below us. If they were above, this ‘v’ would be flipped.”

“This keeps track of everything on the fly? Can it be hacked?” Anand asked. “Wouldn’t it be easy to sabotage us that way?”

“It is unlikely it will get hacked but you should always be wary. The radar system is best for tracking allies and on the fly for enemies. You should rely more on your senses though. Because, let’s be honest, machines can fail. They can be tampered with. But honed senses are harder to fool. While you should rely on the map when necessary, you shouldn’t become overly reliant on it. Always keep your wits about you.”

“So, we need to use our best judgement when using the map.”

“It’s kinda like the GPS in a car. You can’t stare at it or you’ll crash.” Eve said.

Ray sighed heavily and said, “We’re supposed to balance looking at our visuals and the map while fighting all at the same time. Not to mention we have to be careful of our surroundings.”

“You make it sound a lot worse than it is,” Anand said. “When we’re raiding you monitor your health while still doing mechanics, right? This is no different, just on a larger scale and a lot more active than clicking.”

“That’s an easy way to think of it,” Conrad confirmed while continuing to swipe at the tablet. “It’ll take practice before you can do it easily but that’s the point of training. What’s important is for you to understand the functionality and usage of the map.”

The hologram at the center of the table changed back into a large three dimensional map with simple tokens spread on it like chess pieces on a board.

“I’m unlocking access to something for you. Click the link I just sent to your tablets,” Conrad said. “Whenever I’m here, we’ll do simulations before your training. At first it’ll take longer to complete so you’ll spend more time here than you want but eventually you’ll be burning through these.”

“What is this?” Ray said while gesturing at the hologram.

“Have you guys heard of Dungeons and Dragons? Boss got into it when we were younger and used it to develop training simulations that don’t involve the use of VR or our BEAR,” Conrad explained. “Using your tablets and the hologram, you’ll control your Glaives. Part of the reason we had you give us your Glaive requests was so we could recreate them here. To a certain degree, at least. Let’s see here.” Conrad quickly read over his tablet. “We can’t replicate them perfectly but this is more for strategizing anyway. Eve, you’ve got a rifle and the standard-issue GDF handgun. Ray, you’ve got a sword and shield and ...” Conrad sighed. “Did you seriously ask for a flamethrower?”

Anand and Eve chuckled.

“I asked for flamethrowers. Multiple,” Ray replied.

“You sure did. Tori must love working with that. Moving on, Anand, you have nothing?”

“Um… yeah. I’ve taken a bunch of weaponry classes but none of them ever stuck. I’ve felt what a Glaive can do and think it’s a better call to fight the way I always have,” Anand answered.

“So, you’re both close range. We’ll need to work around that.” Eve chimed in while spinning her holographic token in place.

“Quick on the uptake, as usual.” Conrad continued to work on the tablet. “Your combat training does not matter here, your planning does. If you look at your tablets, you have the standard radar specifically mapped to this hologram. You can also see your Glaive’s status.”

As Conrad spoke, a red token appeared on the holographic map before disappearing.

“Alright, let’s get started. We’ll go easy and not include any civilians,” he explained. “Your mission is to locate the Oghrodi token and subdue it. After all three of you make a move, I will take one as well. You fail if my token gets within one space of any of you. Are you ready?”

“I’ll go first,” Anand said confidently. He moved his token a few squares forward and asked, “Who’s next?”

Ray readily moved his token as far as possible and said, “I take a defensive stance!”

“Am I allowed to climb this?” Eve asked and pointed at a building.

“Whatever is possible in the real world, you can do here,” Conrad replied.

“Great. I’ll do that and watch the area near Ray,” she said and moved her token on top of a building.

Conrad did not describe his token’s movement and just told Anand when it was his turn. The cycle repeated a few times. Anand would move cautiously while Ray barrelled around blindly and Eve provided overwatch. Conrad repeatedly chuckled and smirked when certain actions were taken but gave no clues to what he was thinking.

“You guys have some decent planning but it could use some work,” Conrad said.

The holographic diorama shook and the building Eve was perched on crumbled. Her token crashed onto the field and shattered before disappearing. Below the rubble appeared the Oghrodi token. Large text appeared over the simulation reading “GAME OVER.”

Conrad groaned. “I told him to get rid of the message. Don’t take it to heart guys, it was your first try.”

Eve frowned. “I’m more upset about seeing my little token break.”

“Seems we’re not the first to think of all this like a game,” Ray said and laughed.

Anand hung his head and swore under his breath.

“Can we try again?” He asked.

Conrad saw the impatience in Anand’s eyes. “All the simulations are on your tablets. They’ll work off base now thanks to your Collars so you can do them in your free time. The Oghrodi will be controlled by an AI, though.”

Anand felt invigorated upon hearing the new info. It was written all over his face.

Conrad chuckled lightly. “For now, class is dismissed. Tomorrow we start real training. Be here no later than four.”

“Thanks for the lesson,” Eve said as she left with Ray in tow.

Anand sighed deeply while packing his things.

“Did you think this would be easy?” Conrad asked.

“I’m so good at my usual GDF classes so yeah, I thought this would be pretty easy,” Anand replied nonchalantly. He didn’t wait for a response before leaving. “Thanks for the class.”

“Ready to go?” Ray asked as Anand exited the room.

“Yeah. I’m gonna go practice the simulations once we get back to campus.”

“What about dinner?” Eve asked.

“You guys can hit up the cafe if you want. I’ll heat something up in our room.”

When they arrived back on campus, Eve and Ray headed for the union while Anand went to the dorms. He grabbed his tablet and tossed his backpack under his bed. It didn’t take long to find the simulations but he was shocked to see how long the list was. He clicked on the first one; the one he’d failed. He saw the mission requirements and realized that he’d be alone against the AI Oghrodi. There was more hesitation in him than he anticipated. Anand took a deep breath and activated the simulation.