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Sue graduates from Tactical School a year early, he's barely fifteen. He's toned down the flirting - he treats Aegis completely platonically, in particular - and has cut down on the unhealthy amount of sleeping-with-everything-that-wants. And he's apparently, via his independent study, gotten far enough through the curriculum that they're nudging him along to Command.
They've given Sue a strange old man for a tutor, who appeared in his room and started a physical confrontation, which Sue won; Sue related this story to her with something between amusement and irritation.
And a quicker-than-average flurry of notes has been piling up in the psych data since about that time, according to the timestamps.
Aegis knows before they tell her that they're going to send her to Command early too. She's just barely fifteen herself when she gets another update of the psych files and sees that Sue's had - well, the files aren't terribly clear, some of the communication is happening via in-person conversation and memos that don't get stored in these folders, but Sue's had some kind of breakdown and the only things they can think of to get him out of it, get him back into shape to train and fight, are her friendship and Howlett. They have mixed feelings about both - Howlett's insubordination problem; their bewilderment that Aegis and Sue can be so close when "she's the one person he can't link!" - but they're desperate.
Bird? They don't talk as often over the long distance, just as there was a lull when he went to Tactical ahead of her; their schedules have nothing in common and their contexts less. But he knows her, and he can reach this far if he tries. And she wants to know what's wrong.
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autokinetic
autokinetic
"Sudden unexplained reassignment? They do that a lot? Maybe I should reconsider the career choices I made at age six."
"I was thinking more 'big organizations shoving me around without telling me why', but yeah, same thing," says Howlett.
autokinetic
"You been in a lot of big organizations besides the IF?" she asks, swaying, turning on the spot, swaying again in her usual absent dance.
"Plenty," he says. "More than I'd like."
"Not really," shrugs Howlett.
autokinetic
"Aw."
Aegis twirls her way back to the terminal displaying her book. Presently she loses interest in it and she picks up a project she's been poking at to little effect: trying to decipher the contents of her save file from the fantasy game. She last played it a few years ago, but it's a fond memory, and she'd like to know which bits of code are her birds, which her castle, which the colored clouds that wafted across the sky. If she had root access to the underlying meanings of all the characters in this save file she could cheat at empire-building. So far she's not getting anywhere; it's some arcane programming language and she hasn't been able to learn anything from resources available on the nets.
In the eight days it takes to fly to Command School, which turns out to be inside the asteroid Eros, she puts down the code-deciphering project again, picks up and finishes the one book and six of its successors, and teaches herself to actually dance: there's nowhere to fly here, but she can play at a makeshift imitation of ballet, in the corridor between bunks and control room.
Bird, hey bird, have you been officially told we're coming? Could you meet us at the dock?
Aegis twirls her way back to the terminal displaying her book. Presently she loses interest in it and she picks up a project she's been poking at to little effect: trying to decipher the contents of her save file from the fantasy game. She last played it a few years ago, but it's a fond memory, and she'd like to know which bits of code are her birds, which her castle, which the colored clouds that wafted across the sky. If she had root access to the underlying meanings of all the characters in this save file she could cheat at empire-building. So far she's not getting anywhere; it's some arcane programming language and she hasn't been able to learn anything from resources available on the nets.
In the eight days it takes to fly to Command School, which turns out to be inside the asteroid Eros, she puts down the code-deciphering project again, picks up and finishes the one book and six of its successors, and teaches herself to actually dance: there's nowhere to fly here, but she can play at a makeshift imitation of ballet, in the corridor between bunks and control room.
Bird, hey bird, have you been officially told we're coming? Could you meet us at the dock?
Nope, says Sue.
autokinetic
Aww.
She disembarks with Howlett in a perfectly uninformed-looking manner.
She disembarks with Howlett in a perfectly uninformed-looking manner.
Guess you're a surprise, he says cheerfully.
autokinetic
Maybe they'll tell me to hang out in your room and pick a fight, she teases. That works so well.
She's given directions to quarters, which she funnels to Sue. That anywhere near you?
She's given directions to quarters, which she funnels to Sue. That anywhere near you?
Maybe, he hazards.
Howlett receives entirely separate directions, but is commanded to first escort Aegis to her quarters.
Howlett receives entirely separate directions, but is commanded to first escort Aegis to her quarters.
autokinetic
"I didn't get an escort in Tactical, why do I get one here? Do you even know your way around?" she asks Howlett.
"Nope," says Howlett.
autokinetic
She snorts, and weaves her way through the tunnels. She's grown quite a bit, and they're too short to be comfortable for her or Howlett, let alone the tall soldier who gave them their instructions. "Who the hell built this place? The buggers?" she mutters.
"Good question," says Howlett.
autokinetic
Eventually they find their way to Aegis's assigned quarters.
"See you," says Howlett. "Or not."
And with that comforting pronouncement, off he goes.
And with that comforting pronouncement, off he goes.
autokinetic
"Bye," says Aegis, and she arranges her login on her desk and waits for her class schedule to appear. Welp, here I am. No sign of you or a nasty old dude.
Yeah, he says. Haven't seen him all week.
autokinetic
If I were them, Aegis said, and all I cared about was trying to get you to play the game again and not letting on about whatever secret, and I were a little stupid, I'd try cutting off your desk privileges, telling everyone not to talk to you, and giving you nothing at all to do but go play the game on the simulator.
Well, they cut me off all right, he says. I still get class shit, but nobody says a word to me.
Tutors, is his one-word answer. Not in the last week or so, now it just comes through my desk.
autokinetic
They want you to save the world and their idea is solitary confinement. Smart, smart people, says Aegis derisively.