[IC] Evolution of Conflict: A Sci-Fi Mecha 1x1 FaithfulMuse and Stern Algorithm

[Stern Algorithm]

"Heh, you're a smart one," Solomon said patronizingly. "Alright, now lets see if I can get some training under my belt." Solomon headed over to Legion and got in the cockpit.

"I don't know if I want to train right now, but I think I'll hang around the hangar for a bit," Israfil said. He was still a little shaken from what had happened and thinking about finding Mike made him calm down a bit.

Tera was also planning on training in Mayura a bit more, but she decided to wait ans see what Claire wanted to do.

[FaithfulMuse]

"I think I will train a bit, too." Claire said. She only had a brief moment to wrok with her cog, which had been quite enjoyable. She would like to train a bit and get more used to it.

[Stern Algorithm]

"Alright, sounds like a plan," Tera said as she parted ways with Claire and headed to her own cog.

Israfil made his way to catwalk leading to Orpheus and looked at the engineers going around performing maintenance, wondering if he could spot Mike anywhere.

[FaithfulMuse]

Claire headed over to her own and started up the training.

Meanwhile Mike was helping with the maintenance of the cogs in the hangar.

[Stern Algorithm]

When Tera got in Mayura, she opened a private comm link with Asteria. "I hope you don't mind if we talk while we train," Tera asked Claire.

Israfil meanwhile, wandered around the hangar, he was a little too shy to approach Mike openly, he instead hoped Mike might notice him. However if Mike was too busy, or too engrossed in his work, Israfil would just go and train as well.

[FaithfulMuse]

Claire shook her head in response to Tera's woestijn, before realising she might not be able to see that. "No, of course I don't mind."

After a while Mike indeed noticed Israfil. He gemeentes hun with a friemelen smile and wave, and headed over to Israfil once he was done.

[Stern Algorithm]

Tera shared her thoughts with Claire, "I knew this was going to be a military assignment, but I was sort of hoping that we wouldn't actually see combat. Yet we just went through target practice, and are being ordered to practice on these simulations. And Lieutenant Encarnacion said that we were headed towards the border, so we're bound to see combat. I've always been told by my parents that it's wrong to hurt a human."

---

"H-hey, Mike," Israfil stuttered, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed that he sort of passive-aggressively tried to get Mike's attention. Still shaken from his ordeal, he wanted someone to comfort him, but he wasn't honest enough to realize that that's what he wanted, he wasn't forward enough to openly ask for someone to comfort him, nor was he comfortable enough with what had happened during training to even want to talk about it. He suddenly felt as if he was manipulating Mike, which made him hate himself a little and become visibly withdrawn.

[FaithfulMuse]

"I was hoping the same thing." Claire admitted to Tera. Maybe it was stupid to hope that they wouldn't see violence, but still. "I don't like hurting people neither, but if they want us to partake in combat, I suppose that they have a good reason for that."

"Hey Israfil." Mike said, still smiling friendly. He was glad to see Israfil again, he liked the boy, though more than he would admit at the moment. His smile quickly made change for a worried look, though, when he noticed that Israfil withdrew a little. "Is something wrong?" He asked.

[Stern Algorithm]

"A good reason?" Tera asked, and wondered if she could be as optimistic as Claire. Changing the subject, Tera said, "It seems like my cog is a recon unit." This was some relief for Tera, at least Mayura wasn't a war machine. "You can count on me to provide information so we can make choose the safest alternatives."

---

"U-uhh, no...nothing's wrong," Israfil deflected, suddenly feeling that maybe he shouldn't burden Mike with his troubles. "I just came back from a piloting training sortie. H-hey, so do you want to show me your ability?"

[FaithfulMuse]

"My cog seems to be meant mostly for repairs." Claire said, remembering how she hadn't been able to discover Amy offensive kind of mechanism during the training just a moment ago. She had to say that she was very glad about it.

Mike nodded. "Sure!" He said, before looking around. It was a bit crowded at the hangar, and he didn't want to hurt anyone by accident with the telekinesis. "But maybe at a not so crowded location." He suggested.

[Stern Algorithm]

Tera was a bit envious of Claire, since Mayura did have a bayonet. "I wonder where we're headed?" Tera mused. She could remember off the top of her head several high conflict regions, in particular a system ruled by a strange cult of Quantums, and another system that was struggling for independence that many suspected FAS of secretly supporting despite treaties.

---

"Sure, where do you think would be a good spot?" Israfil asked, putting his worries to the back of his mind and following Mike. He wondered what it was, and why it should be done away from crowds.

[FaithfulMuse]

"I don't know, but I hope it's nothing too bad." Claire answere. Of course she wanted to help people, especially those in bad situations, but she had no idea how she would react to seeing such horrible things.

"Somewhere with less people would be good." Mike answered, heading out of the hangar. "You see, my ability is telekinesis, meaning that I can make things move with my mind, but I don't want to hit someone with something on accident." Mike explained.

[Stern Algorithm]

"I hope you're right," Tera replied.

Suddenly another voice sounded over the comm-link, "Mind if I join you ladies?" It was Maya. Due to Solomon's transgression on the shuttle, and now his loss of control of his cog, Maya had been running back and forth between emergency meetings, and had barely any time to get to know the new pilots, and interacting with the pilots, she felt was something of top priority in this particular project. She had just come back from her meeting and saw that several of the cogs were occupied and decided to join them.

---

"Telekinesis?" Israfil was taken aback in slight fear, imagining poltergeists. Israfil steeled himself, "OK, I'm ready."

[FaithfulMuse]

"No, not at all." Claire said, offering a friendly smile, before remebering that Maya wouldn't be able to see it. It would probably take a while before she was used to that, but she would learn it eventually, and it was not a big deal or anything.

Once Israfil had said that he was ready, Mike first searched for something small he could use to show his ability. Soon enough he had found a loose and small bolt, and focused on it and the location he wanted the bolt to reach. Within a moment, the bolt started to seemingly move on its own, floating towards the two and landing in Mike's opened hand.

[Stern Algorithm]

"Thanks," Maya replied. "I apologize for not having had the time to get to know either of you yet. You might think that as your commanding officer, I'm being too friendly, but there are a couple of reasons for this. The first is, well, I just happen to be a friendly person and do actually want to know the people I work with. The second reason is that there's a very strong, personal aspect to being a cog pilot, and by extension a member of a team of cog pilots. The researchers believe that letting the pilots behave according to their own personalities is the best way to release the cog's full potential. The drawback of this is that we will not be enforcing normal military discipline, and chain of command will be followed with some wiggle room. Since I cannot 'order' you guys around as would be normal, I have to rely instead on trying to build as much teamwork as I can. I need you to trust me and trust each other in order to make this work. I believe that if we become close naturally, if we build this trust, we can bring out the full potential of our team. I hope I'm not being too invasive."

---

Israfil flinched a little when he saw the bolt move through the air. "T-that's incredible," Israfil said. He would have found it creepy before, but since Mike had warned him before hand, and Israfil trusted that Mike wasn't going to hurt him with his powers, Israfil wasn't that afraid of it anymore. "I doubt this is even possible, but is there any way you could explain how you do that, or what it even feels like?"

[FaithfulMuse]

"I don't mean to be rude, but I think some members of the team will get close to each other naturally." Claire. With some members, she meant her sister, more specifically. She already almost had a fight during the first day and didn't seem to be willing to socialise at all.

Mike shook his head. "Not really I think. I just focus op what I want to move around and to where, and then or happens. But bigger objects are more difficult. "

[Stern Algorithm]

"I understand, camaraderie can't be forced," Maya replied, "Lt. RHS and I didn't used to get along, but now we trust each other with our lives. I guess a part of me feels a bit rushed because to be honest, there are certain factors that may work against the team which may create a rift, which may prevent us from coming together before we've even had a chance to know one another." Maya was thinking mostly of Solomon, who during their interrogation of the events that had transpired on the shuttle, showed little remorse and much racial supremacy. It was only his desire to climb the social ladder and become a noble of the Ascendancy that gave Maya any way to leverage his behavior. Of course, Sion had also told her that Blythe will probably be difficult to work with, but Maya hoped that wasn't the case.

---

"Do you use this ability often?" Israfil asked, "Like if you're fixing something, you could just pull a wrench from far away without having to go get it."

[FaithfulMuse]

"Well, even though I think it's unlikely, I do hope we'll get close as a group." Claire said. She knew that Blythe wasn't a very likeable person to a lot of people, but still, Claire didn't want to sound like a pessimist.

"Yeah, but I probably use it too much. Being able to get things to you with your thoughts kinda makes you lazy." Mike admitted with a chuckle.

[Stern Algorithm]

"Don't worry, we'll take things slowly," Maya reassured Claire. It would be pointless to force people to get along. "So it seems both of your cogs are non-combatant-types. That's kind of reassuring; it means that the committee evaluating cogs weren't just looking for weapons of destruction." Maya knew from her time in the fleet that fringe groups in the Ascendancy thirsted for conquest and revenge, and she had seen their influence spread among the military. That two out of seven cog prototypes could be non-combatants meant that maybe their influence hadn't spread as far as she feared.

---

Mike's last statement struck Israfil. It meant Mike didn't abuse his power. "I guess you're a normal guy, like everyone else," Israfil said, reassured, "Thanks for showing me."

[FaithfulMuse]

Claire smiled. "Yeah, I was really glad to see that. I've never been very fond of using violence." She admitted. It probably sounded odd that she had joined the army even though she disliked, but still, she was glad to be of use and help this way.

Mike nodded. He could understand that Israfil mocht have gotten a bit scared from what happened at the shuttle, though he was glad to see that he was now realising that not all Ascendeds were like that. "No problem. Say, hoe much free time do you have before your next mission?"