Mind to Mind

[reliarobot]

Subaltern body LT-203 walked down the hallway. I liked LT-203 - it had been made about two years ago, and the "new body" smell hadn't quite worn off of it yet.

Sectors 2, 4, and 7 are lost. Fallback to triage zone Tango-5. Squad Barium-Hydrogen reports victory at L4 lagrange. EVAC EVAC EVAC - target zone Helios under enemy fire. Hive at orbital 7 activity flare.

It was a good thing that the bodies were designed with automatic algorithms to get them around. Being connected to the FleetNet took a lot of attention, and always seemed to interrupt at just the wrong moment.

Tactical analysis of orbital 3 complete - fighting retreat recommended. Establish quarantine zone at high orbit, demolition plan for elevators should they fall to the enemy.

I had some spare cycles, so I whipped up the demo plan and uploaded it. We considered it as one, tweaked it slightly, and sent it to the humans. They'd tweak it themselves, of course, but we'd accounted for their need to meddle. I shook LT-203's head - a useless gesture, but it felt good to do something physical. Truly connecting with the FleetNet like that always left me feeling like my mind was being swept up in a vast current, away from my true body, my home, and my humans.

LT-203 entered the pilot bay, where Michelle was gearing up in the special prototype mech we'd made for her. Firing solution for the Exeter found. Good impact on target. Delay action in orbital 2 hive commencing. Solar flare in 1528 seconds, seek shelter in orbital 1. I found LT-203 right next to Michelle's cockpit. She was saying something.

"-doing? Ah. Another FleetNet message?"

"Yeah. They're coming through all the time, now." I tried to wrest my processors to this space. This was important.

I might not see her again.

"You're... going through with this, then." I made LT-203 trace the cockpit wth a finger/scanner, checking the structural integrety again.

"It's our best shot."

"You know the chances of you coming back from this are-" 0.0023% chance of pilot mind retrieval. "-not great."

"We have to try. Directive one is to de-escalate and establish diplomatic protocol where possible, right?"

Hive activity sectors 3, 8, 9, 12. Survivor chance negligible. Squad Lithium-Neon KIA. Squad Oxygen-Iron KIA. Squad Sodium-Carbon MIA, presumed captured. Scramble security codes ASAP. Mission objectives accomplished.

"We've given it several chances already."

"You've heard the latest theories, same as I have. She's a her, not an it, and she simply hasn't seen us as individuals. How could she, made up of parts as she is? But she respects strength. This will work."

I made LT-203 frown. "I wish you didn't have to go alone." It- She hadn't managed to integrate a member of the FleetNet yet, and command wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

"Best chance of making our message stick, even if I get brought down."

"I know, I know, just-" Another burst of messages from orbitals 5 and 6a wrested our attention from the conversation. When I came back, she was holding LT-203's hand.

"-you know that, right?"

I took a moment to respond. I'm pretty certain I knew what she'd said already, but I... didn't want to acknowledge it. It felt too final. "Please, stay safe out there."

She squeezed LT-203's hand, and reached up to kiss its smooth face. "I'll pilot fast and reckless." She grinned as the canopy closed and the rails took her to the launch bay. We'd calculated the optimal path for her to do the maximum amount of damage to Her minions. Michelle would catch Her attention, and then it would be all up to whether She decided to listen to our message or not. It wasn't even FleetNet's final plan - there were fallbacks on fallbacks on fallbacks, and it wasn't clear to me how many of us believed it would even actually work.

As I watched her mech fly off into the stars, I found myself caught between the hope that she would come back safely, and the fear that whatever came back wearing her skin wouldn't be her anymore.