●　●　● Singapore SRC/CCC

An exhausted Sam ruffled through Sebastian’s front duffel bag pocket to find his mobile as she pulled it out and walked back over to his bedside to hand it to him.

“Thank you,” he said as he lied back down and checked the time, which read 20:05. “I want to check what time it is at home. Maybe I can call.”

“Hold on,” she answered with a yawn, walking over to the TV to turn the news off. “Do you think your sister’s awake, now?”

“Well, hold on,” she continued as she sat next to him, thumbing through a screen on her watch. “We are eleven hours ahead here, so it’d be seven in the morning there. She might be awake if she’s still in coma recovery.”

“I see,” he responded as he opened his contact list. “I will try, then. I have been worried all this time, still.”

He must be. I have never seen him turn away from the news on any given evening. She let her mind wander around the room, seeing Andre’s belongings still on the other side of the dorm, bed unkempt. I still hope they don’t mind my intrusion.

[Bas, you’re OK, I was wondering when you would call,] she heard Dani’s voice to her surprise. She sounded elated to hear from her brother but at the same time, judging by the absence of the energy levels she had already grown accustomed to, it was evident her path to recovery had only just begun.

[Hey, wait, what are you talking about, I was afraid you were the one not OK!] he answered with suppressed jubilance, holding back a tear. [I’m so glad you are awake and sounding like you are recovering well.]

[I just have post-surgery rehab on my list and that’s really all I have to worry about. What about you, I heard you went to the other side of the world?]

[Right. We are in Singapore, now, and maybe for about two weeks before Bangladesh.]

[Wow, a real world traveler,] she responded with a chuckle. [How is Cruella? Renzo told me she is taking care of you now.] Sam instinctively took the mobile from him to swing the camera to herself, flashing a peace sign and a goofy smile that had Dani completely taken aback. [Oh, look at that! Pink stripes, now!? And you can smile? What are we supposed to call you, now!!]

“…What?” Can’t they see I don’t have my ear buds in…

[Crazy, right? Renzo had a pretty similar reaction,] Sebastian added as he joined in on the laughter.

Sam, despite being lost in the conversation, had quickly caved and joined in as well, mostly taken over by the relief she felt hearing both of them enjoying some normalcy. And she knew it didn’t matter anymore, feeling Sebastian’s left hand take hers while he continued, remaining content just to be there for him while he mentally unwound.

.

.

Across the hall, Andre had been uncomfortably standing against the wall while Kerry sat on her bed, electing to text her fiancé rather than voice call. He tried to occupy his time checking through social media discreetly through his watch but something had been eating away at him.

“Kerry, why hasn’t anyone talked about earlier? I feel like something’s up and we all need to know.”

She paused mid-text to think before sitting up straight. “If I recall correctly, you chose not to follow me to the medical exam corridor.”

“Dude,” he reacted with a wince to the unexpected jab. “I always stay away and you know that. I have been trying to do everything but make things worse when issues pop up… unless I have a part to play.”

She let out a sigh and rolled her eyes before lying back down facing the ceiling. “Then you get that things are complicated since this new job started. I have to adjust… a lot it seems… and so do you.” She then immediately went back to texting the rest of her message. “At worst, do like we have always done. Stay in our own lane, do what we are told, and get paid or promoted.”

He attempted to digest the remark before it stagnated at the word “adjust”. “So, how have you adjusted? You seem to be awfully unchanged.”

“Yeah, that’s my goal. I can’t let all these changes affect me to such an extent.” She sent her finished message and allowed her arms to fall behind her head on the pillow, followed by a tired sigh. “But I’ll keep it real with you. I can’t exactly figure out what I heard earlier and what-” A knock at the door startled the two of them as Danielle proceeded to enter, remaining at the doorway as the door closed behind her. Who the fuck knocks on doors these days? Judging by the pause in silence between the time in between, the two assumed it was something she didn’t want heard.

“Yes, ma’am?” the two almost simultaneously spoke up.

“I just got one-one-nine’d and I’m in a bit of a hurry. I need to ask a favor and this is something I didn’t want to risk over electronics.”

That’s the code Sam used earlier… Kerry thought in reaction to hearing the announcement.

“So, anyway, in a second I will need you to go get net checked* at the lab- and don’t worry, I got someone to open the lab for me real quick. And while we are at it, I wanted to let you know we have a guest coming some time in the next day or three who will be a better guide through this new operating system, so in the meantime just bear with me. We will continue practicing at an increasing pace, starting tomorrow with six-on’s… full setting.” As she took a moment to read their reactions, knowing they likely would have no verbal objection, she could read their faces all too well. “No, I won’t tell those two tonight. That’ll be your job in the morning first thing.”

“But why us!?” Kerry quickly objected, unable to hold that one back. “They’re going to complain about that dude’s health or some-… thing and I highly doubt she listens to me.”

“You being both the leader and out of your comfort zone is something you could use in these next few ‘down days’ since up until this point you haven’t had any, um, stronger personalities to stomach. It’ll build character.”

The offense reached critical mass for her as she couldn’t hold back this time, keeping her voice to a minimum amidst the release of frustration: “Ms. Norris, I- do you know how patient I have been with her? And do you hear how she talks to not just me but you, too?! She got me fucked up the minute she walked in the meeting room for the first time!”

Danielle knew Kerry was being sincere when she lost her composure just enough to speak as such, understanding not only how she felt but how these had been far more stressful times for everyone. “Just trust me. You will soon see what I mean by us all needing each other, and I sensed the tension between them and you two. Just tell them first thing. Now let’s get going and get this test out of the way. Will need plenty of shut eye tonight.”

.

.

▽　▽　▽

Sam entered her dorm room to find it unoccupied and lights off. She was ready to apologize for taking so long to her two teammates, but rather than ponder their whereabouts she instead elected to dress down and throw herself into bed, not even pausing to think about everything that had happened. By this point, all that mattered to her is that there was still a semblance of things going by schedule and Sebastian was looking to be alright. She also felt the comfort of a proper mattress and sheets underneath her as she let go of the tensions that she had been holding onto all this time. Longest… day… ever… she thought to herself as she drifted to sleep.

▽　▽　▽

The loud, abrupt chiming of an alarm going off coincided with the silent alarm Sam’s mobile had been set to, startling her from her fleeting slumber, leaving her feeling robbed. “Where’s that coming from?!” she grumbled, haphazardly scrambling to shut off the noise from the source.

“Chill out, damn,” Kerry grumbled in return as she sleepily reached for her mobile to silence it. “Six-on, starting at 0-600 hours. Don’t drag us around,” she continued, easing herself from the bed.

Sam caught her breath, sitting upright for a moment to gather herself, realizing it was the scheduled 5:30AM alarm that had gone off. “Right,” she mumbled, hopping out of bed to head for the sink.

As Kerry affixed her bandana over her forehead and pulled back dreads, she silently continued to wait for more of a reaction. “You know we are right back to full settings for six hours, right?”

“Yes- I mean, I figured so,” she nonchalantly replied before splashing her face with warm water. She then turned to her as she dried her face to continue: “Sorry for yesterday, by the way.”

“No problem,” she awkwardly replied as she looked off to the side and shrugged, having expected things to go differently. “We had to get a net check last minute. That’s why we were gone.”

“I know- I mean, I figured that as well,” she curtly replied as she stepped into and pulled over her pilot suit she took down from the hangar.

She hesitated to reply, raising a brow as she passed her, heading for the sink. What? How? I do not get this chick one bit. I swear she’s got something going on to keep dodging me like that, but can’t quite figure it out… almost like me or Ms. Norris had done her wrong in some kind of way. She continued to listen for anything to come back in addition, but the silence was met with only the sound of running water. I need to be careful around her.

But Sam was locked on what she had listened in on and spoke of the night before with Sebastian. She continued in focused thought as she zipped up her suit and redid her braided ponytail: I really do need to continue to do like Mr. Galeano once told me and stay away from my loose-cannon mouth-off tendencies. Just don’t respond to any of the noise around us.

She finished affixing a band around the end of her ponytail as she took in a deep breath, reflecting on her most recent conviction that solidified over the past day. Right now, I just need to focus on keeping us on track. Sebastian came all the way out here to run into all of this and I need to stick by him… be there for him… get better and not be a liability for him.

.

Across the hall, Sebastian was already suited up and was turning to face the window, peering out to the distant soft glow of the near-dawning sun trying to peek up into the horizon.

[You all ready? I still worry about that spill you had yesterday, man,] Andre spoke up, breaking the lack of communication that started prior to the drills the day before.

[I am. I am pretty pissed off and embarrassed about yesterday to be honest,] he said as he stepped closer to the window, continuing with noted resolution: [No breaks for me. No one else back home had the chance to come as far as I have, so no doubt I make the most of this.] He then turned in reaction to a warm, firm pat on his shoulder. [Sorry if I come off cold sometimes.]

[No sweat, man,] Andre replied with a chuckle. [This job does that kind of shit to you. All of us. Let’s see what we can get done today,] he continued with a fist bump.

▽　▽　▽

Sebastian took his seat in the same cockpit module as the night before. Having calmer nerves and better rest, he could tell this time as he put the helmet over his head a strange feeling come over his consciousness; it was warm and fuzzy, but not the nice kind of feeling. What remaining nervousness he had left, he hid it knowing he wouldn’t want to attract the wrong attention from the others, especially from Sam.

He hadn’t felt that comforted in years yet he couldn’t help but feel vulnerable, usually the one depended on to be the support. He flipped down his visor and slowly but confidently gripped the controls, flipping on the active camera switch. [Let’s try this,] he thought to himself, focusing his eyes adamantly toward the immediate front of his LTAC.

“Alright, let’s pick up where we left off!” he heard Danielle over the comms channel. “We can’t move on to targeting until we can effectively maneuver both aerially and across terrain.”

The endless blue and white grid view suddenly turned to another abandoned Central Dhaka City precinct, and within seconds, three of the four were already starting their initial practice jumps to their designated landing targets, each falling over intersections of varying widths. Sam, however, stayed behind, eyes intently following Sebastian’s Ap-50. She watched him land smoothly, but still well off target. “Sebastian! You don’t have to be that careful! They fixed your terminal firmware! Try like you did yesterday!”

He felt the encouragement intended, but was still more apprehensive that he originally thought. He looked up to see the next landing zone come up on screen, but this time he elected to walk his Ap-50 in a few circles around the intersection as it was six lanes wide all around, giving him the perfect amount of space to practice eye movement while adjusting his head angle. He took meticulous care in the stepping around of each abandoned car, slowly adjusting his senses to the ultra-sensitivities of the camera feedback. “I think I understand things more. I have to think like my eyeballs… are the robot’s eyeballs.”

“That… makes sense!” Sam answered in bewildered excitement.

“Try it again,” he heard Danielle join back in.

He loosened his shoulders and neck, taking in another deep breath. Without hesitation, he leaned into the jump boosters, both from the feeling that he can’t take this too slow but also from the idea that perhaps he just needed to be more forthcoming with his attempts if he is to improve. As he apexed his flight path back toward the streets below, he felt as if this time the strange sense of changing gravity was acting as a guide rather than a source of motion sickness.

He let himself accept that he was falling, waiting for the perfect time to kick in the thrusters and softly touch down right inside the landing zone. With the solid, comforting thud felt that next moment he let out a sigh of immense relief, already starting to feel the effects of the machine but without the panicking or loss of sensory control.

“Good, now can we move forward with the targeting?” Kerry impatiently inquired.

“That makes everyone a pass for the jumping tests. Loading the hit boxes for target acquisition practice. Starting with one at a time, alternating appearance times.” Danielle placed the mic back on mute, leaned back and rubbed her eyes for a moment before letting out a distressed sigh. The thought of being nowhere near making the formation practices begin on time had already been enough stress as it was, evident in her now rubbing her entire face in frustration.

Really… Only two weeks to get them to master this shit. What have I gotten myself into.