Yosef meditated as he sat on the hanger floor. His mind was a whirl with intrusive thoughts. Emotions streaked through his mind in a kaleidoscope of colors.

[Heart rate abnormal. Conditional non-optimal. Please refocus.]

A smooth voice injected into his mind. A soft female voice.

Years had changed their relationship. From an odd, and cold master-slave chain to an odd family one.

Yosef wondered if this was due to machine learning, or if he was. Perhaps it was both?

[XVR-002-E - Ready]

Yosef pulled his head to the left, and his neck popped. Yosef did it again to the right. No pop.

The young man stood and walked to the automated, capsule hanger. Designed as a secret support dock for stealth missions. The capsule hanger was one of Anaheim Electronics’ new showpieces.

How Xavier obtained it, Yosef was curious. It was most likely a discarded test unit.

Then the super AI scavenged it. Though Yosef did wonder how Xavier obtained resources. Those little Haro machines must have been super-efficient.

They did dig into that cave and made him a house.

Yoself stepped onto the pilot line and Xavier pulled him up. The young man stepped into the open cockpit and sat down.

The hatch closed with a hiss and the air got vented then filled with sterile air. The lights flashed as the walls tuned in to what the camera system saw.

The world returned in sharp HD pictures.

Yosef’s seat reclined. The young man closed his eyes as the system’s Psycho-Frame system activated. His senses transferred to the battered Mobile Suit.

The world shrank as Yosef lost control. He could see but he could not move. Xavier moved. Xavier walked and then flew out of the cave.

—

The explosion rocked the Mobile Suit. The rocket smashed into the frame, but Xavier flew on. The head-mounted machine guns tore into the missile pod, destroying it.

Two GMs stepped into view. The system immediately identified them. RMS-179.

The old-school color scheme made them look like first-generation frames. Frames that were well equipped. Modern Beam Rifles lit up and shot out green lances of energy.

One Xavier dodged, and the other bolt of energy lanced across the frame’s armor. It sparked and scattered across the specifically coated metal, but it didn’t dissipate everything.

The simple anti-beam coating evaporated. Capsule hangers were good but not as good as a proper factory spray system. Or perhaps it was a poorer quality coating?

an

Yosef could wonder, but he was sure Xavier could give him a in-depth analysis. He did not ask as Xavier was very touchy during combat scenarios.

[Integrity of hull, 68%]

Yosef stared at the crack beginning to form at his left shoulder. The readings indicated it was more heat stress. Yosef zoomed in to see the cracks and the second layer of the endoskeleton.

It was odd, being able to focus on various factors. Including the important factors like the opposing Mobile Suits. Two basic combat units in front, and a high-powered one somewhere beyond the treeline.

Yosef calmed himself. His mind returning to a calm pond. Just as Xavier had taught him.

Xavier’s system had a performance boost. A minor one. Enough to dodge the next set of attacks and return fire.

The two GMs exploded into small fireballs. The remote-controlled suits did not have a proper Minovsky Fusion Reactor. Cables connected them to the testing grounds where they got power from.

Beeps echoed in the cockpit and Yosef focused on what Xavier saw. A black and yellow Mobile Suit approaching them from the sky.

The RMS-X4-SF17. The real opponent. The contender for a fourth-generation GM IV - Special Forces variant.

Xavier adjusted the various suit’s settings. It was subtle but the energy was being diverted to thrusters and weapons.

The two got into effective combat range and began to fire at each other. Each shot got accompanied by evasive maneuvers. Both units were streaking across the battleground.

Yosef forced himself to focus. It was all he could do as Xavier’s anchor.

—

“XVR-002-E at 47% combat efficiency,” lieutenant Smada said. Her systems spat out the data that Xavier was sending out.

“RMS-X4-SF17 at 51% combat efficiency,” lieutenant Doln said. His systems spat out similar data for the GM test unit.

General Pili watched the two units fight as they tried to outmaneuver each other. Various side screens were full of data on power output and other relevant data.

“What is the maintenance data on Xavier?” General Pili asked as he watched the autonomous Gundam-Type put up a very good fight.

Lieutenant Smada tapped at a few keys, and new data showed on the first screen. The last official maintenance was some two years prior.

General Pili nodded. He hummed. He was impressed.

For two years Xavier had been working incognito. Sure it was stealing from the supply warehouse some 21 clicks out.

The important bits were that it was nonmilitary storage for consumer-grade chemicals.

Yet the XVR unit was able to create an off-brand anti-beam coating from basic goods.

The Haro drones were also simple consumer-grade toys. Now they are essential maintenance tools for the XVR unit.

General Pili watched the fight with an absent thought.

No real maintenance in two years.

If Zeon sympathizers could do it, why couldn’t an AI? The proof was right in front of them.

The best that the think-tank could create was in combat. It was also getting defeated by a two-year-old prototype.

General Pili frowned. The footage showed minimal pilot influence on general performance.

The pilot anchor system was to prevent rouge AIs from running amok. Yet XVR-002-E was able to do a lot without pilot input.

Somehow it had even chosen its own pilot despite the restrictions it had. From when it had been first deployed for a scouting mission, it could not take part in live combat tests.

All under the watchful eye of the military.

Was this a glitch? A deviation from the norm.

Or was this some sort of New Era rubbish he had heard gossiped through Military Intelligence?

“Combat Operation has ceased. XVR-002-E has claimed its 8th victory,” Lieutenant Smada said. Her fingers danced as she deactivated the arena obstacles.

Xavier immediately turned and left.

It even had enough power and structural strength to grab its allotted combat rewards. Which was enough materials for a full repair, and enough supplies for the pilot.

General Pili watched as Xavier left.

AIs huh.