Maki grinned as Trapp suggested they leave with some intel. It was a smart move, and considering they were still waiting on the rescue party to arrive and give them some support, ten minutes in their data center didn't seem to be an unreasonable detour. Though she had to admit, Alice was acting rather strangely, fidgeting and twitching as if she was... nervous. An AI? Nervous?

They entered the lift and Maki used the time while they were in transit to straighten out her uniform, covering herself up. It was getting a tad chilly now that they were stationary in an elevator. She kept her finger ready on the trigger, pointed at the door and ready to engage any threat that showed up in front of the door.

At least, that was until Alice took over the slaughter and jumped in to attack another patrol. The brutality with which the robot killed the soldiers disgusted Maki. It wasn't clean, efficient or merciful. It was just disgraceful as a soldier to think she was on the same side as that. As Alice caved in the last survivor's chest, Maki emptied a round from her pistol into the man's head to ease his passing. The glare she shot towards the android was enough to convey her feelings.


[color=00a651]"What the sodding [i]fuck[/i] was [i]that?[/i]"[/color] Maki hissed at Alice, shoving the metal pilot, as futile as that was. [color=00a651]"You 'kind of needed that'? We're soldiers, not-"[/color]

She took a deep breath and calmed herself. Sure, the Japanese pilot was no stranger to gruesome deaths on the battlefield. It came with the territory of all kinds of weapons and explosives going off. She had always believed that in spite of all that, each soldier on the field owed a clean death to the man on the other side of the battlefield. There was no dignity or necessity in what Alice just did.

And there was no point arguing. Alice was just a slave to her programming. A lecture on honor and integrity and holding herself to a higher standard as a member of the 7th would only be lost on the piece of UEE property. Maki wasn't sure if it was intentional on the part of her programmers, but Alice's bloodthirstiness was something unhealthy for a pilot, human or mechanical.

Before Trapp could chew her out for the outburst, Maki was back to being a professional soldier of the 101st again. [color=00a651]"Data center's this way. Let's go. I'll take point."[/color] She piped up, moving off and not casting a second glance at the bucket of bolts. The next patrol that they came across, Maki took down with deadly accuracy and efficiency.

Three bodies with three rounds in the chest each. Another round in the head for the one who was still breathing, putting him out of his misery. Alice could very well watch and bloody learn how a professional soldier conducted herself in battle.

[i]"This isn't the movies, kid. Success isn't how many bodies you drop in the field. It's how much of your soul is left when the dust settles. One day this war will be over, and we're all going to have to learn how to get by without fighting and killing. There's an edge in every soldier's mind. Once you go past it, there's no coming back. Your body can survive the war but you'll still be fighting demons till the day you die. Take it from an old war dog like me."[/i]

A mentor had said that to her once.

[i]"You have one of the toughest jobs in the universe. You have to kill and get used to it so it doesn't make you sick and keel over each time you have to end some poor sod's life, but you're no use to anyone if you get so used to killing life is no longer sacred to you anymore. Be careful, Nishizumi. Not many people left like your old pop who build a legend without being haunted by ghosts."[/i]

They were killers, yes, but Maki had to believe they were better than just cold-blooded murderers. If Alice couldn't get that, then they were truly done as wingmen. Hell, she might be better off transferring out of the 7th if there was no other solution. Could a machine like Alice even grasp the concept of the sanctity of life, of according the enemy with some modicum of dignity and humanity?

The robot at least had the excuse of being forced to obey her protocols when she abandoned Trapp and herself to the Coalition forces. There was no excusing what Maki's wingman had done to those Coalition soldiers. It made the Japanese woman realize just how unilaterally imbalanced their relationship had been from the start.

That was going to have to change if they got out of this