A lift took Alex down to the “Operators' room”, where stood in rows many empty capsules. The nearest one opened and the man got in. The capsule connected with him.

[Welcome, private Alexander Reese!]

[This is a virtual military capsule of the Commonwealth: X-10040!]

[Available missions: 1]

[Description of mission: the town of Apple is recaptured by the army of the Commonwealth, but there still could be some unorganized forces of the enemy]

[Mission objective: scout the town of Apple /destroy the remaining forces of enemy]

[Accept mission: [Yes] [No]]

Alex thought that this description remind him about a computer game.

The man accepted the mission and his vision blurred. In a moment the human saw that he stood at the empty street in the robot's body. Nearby stood other robots from their sub-platoon.

“Private Reese, this is your commander Corporal A-0001324 of the first sub-squad. Do you copy me?” a mechanical voice addressed Alex via radio.

“I do, sir.”

“How are you feeling, private?”

“Fine, sir.”

“Is your connection to the robot stable, private?”

Alex made a few steps forward and turned to the left and to the right.

“It is, sir.”

“Do you have any problems with a robot, private?”

“I don't, sir.”

“We will go down the street now. You must follow your sub-squad, private.”

“Yes, sir.”

A sub-platoon resumed walking down the street, as well as the Alex's sub-squad. The human in the robot's body trod the pavement with his five metal allies.

Apple bore the marks of war. Many buildings were damaged. In the past this place should look beautiful. Two, rarely three, storey houses stood on both sides of the street. They were made from light-plastic blocks - quite sturdy material - and from the ultra-compressed glass.

Each house had a garden, which blossomed now.

Sadly I can't feel its beautiful scent.

The man raised his head and saw the blue sky. It was awesome to be on the surface!

Meanwhile, the metal soldiers moved down the street. Ahead of the Alex's sub-platoon walked another one. The robots kept some distance between two units.

Sometimes Alex looked in the windows of the damaged houses as treading the street. He was curious to see interior.

Abruptly the man had heard a sound of firefight ahead and a mechanical voice informed him. “We have a contact with the enemy onward. Continue movement with you sub-squad, private.”

The human obeyed. The sub-platoon - which was ahead - ran forward while the Alex's one continued walking with a previous pace.

I'm not on the stroll! I need to focus on what's going on around me! The young man shook his head. It helped him to focus on the current mission.

“Private, is there a malfunction with a head of your robot?”

Alex heard the question and was perplexed at first. Then he realized that likely his brief head shaking was interpreted by commanding AI as a malfunction.

“No, there isn't. It functions well, sir.”

Alex still could hear a firefight onward. It intensified. His sub-squad had received an order to check the nearest house out.

Six robots stormed in and began checking every room. There was no one. The interior was minimalistic. In the living room Alex saw a big photo of an obese man on the wall, who lay in a capsule. He looked happy. On the photo right beside the capsule - on the round table - stood a food fabricator and a big plate of food.

They had checked the house out and found no one. Hence, the sub-squad had left the house and they joined to their sub-platoon at the street.

Now Alex heard a firefight from another direction - from the town's center - but his unit continued to do their task. His sub-squad moved to another house at this street. They hadn't find the enemy there, as well as in the several other ones. This routine reduced Alex's awareness. Thus, the man was taken aback when a sudden blast wave threw him out of the next house.

His robot had been lying on the ground for a few seconds, analyzing its damage. Then the human stood up to look at the ruined building. It was clear his sub-squad was eliminated. A bomb - which detonated – was in the house. The man was lucky to be the last one who had come in.

The robot reported to its operator that it didn't get any serious or critical damage; just got a bunch of minor ones.

The young man took a rifle from the ground and reported a situation to the squad's commander. It ordered him to join the second sub-squad temporarily.

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Alex hurried to his new comrades.

Meanwhile, at the street – next to the town's center – a firefight intensified even more. A bunch of aliens held the three storey house as their stronghold. Its entrance was barricaded with furniture and was decorated by some robot heads on sharpened metal pipes. A few metal soldiers lay destroyed beside the said house.

A commanding AI - in the rank of lieutenant - estimated that there should be over thirty green zorks and sent its analysis to its superior. Less than in a second the machine got a new order, thus it gave a command to his platoon to occupy two neighbor buildings. Only a sub-squad was left to block the entrance.

The robots had executed a command and opened fire from their new positions.

The battle was tough. The metal soldiers fired off round by round quickly, having an excellent accuracy and teamwork.

The aliens weren't worse. Their teamwork was also superb. The blue zork commanded its minions proficiently and with a great speed. They looked like a good-working mechanism.

In a house - which was occupied by the Commonwealth - suddenly a sub-squad threw grenades in the windows of their enemies while the other sub-squad guarded their comrades. Instantly one robot was shot. In a second inside the alien's house the grenades exploded and killed a few. This operation was immediately repeated by the robots. One robot was down again. The new series of explosions happened in the alien's house with the same result. The two sides continued to exchange fire.

Abruptly shells fell on the Rag-zork's “stronghold” from the sky. It damaged the house seriously and killed some of its defenders.

At that moment a reinforcement had come. Two platoons, in one of them was Alex. The metal soldiers rushed in the alien's “stronghold”. Currently the majority of zorks were disoriented after the shelling. Just a few tried to stall the robots' advancement.

Alex also stormed in the house. A few dead green zorks lay on the floor and in the corridor. The robots closed in on the aliens. Alex heard sounds of ongoing battle seemed from everywhere.

“Go up.” an emotionless mechanical voice ordered him.

The human sprinted up the stairs and saw as a robot – which was ahead of him - fell down. It was destroyed by a plasma beam. Alex fired off in the alien who stood in the corridor. That creature was killed.

Forthwith the human took cover behind the corner, because he had seen as a few zorks jumped out in the corridor. Alex dropped on one knee and rolled down a grenade towards the aliens. In a second he sent another one in the same direction. Two explosions happened one by one. Alex - and his sub-squad - opened fire along the corridor. As a result, three zorks were dead. Now there weren't any alive aliens in the corridor.

The man noticed as a pair of the metal soldiers - from another unit - ran into one of the rooms. One was down immediately, as another one shot the alien inside.

The Alex's sub-squad also got an order to storm the rooms along the corridor.

“Acknowledged, sir!” the young man answered and rushed down the corridor with his “comrades”.

Suddenly a green zork shot around the corner and its plasma beam destroyed the running robot next to the human. The Alex's teammates returned the fire, but the alien hid behind the cover. The man threw a grenade, which he had picked up from the destroyed robot earlier.

BAM!

The green zork was down and the Alex's unit stormed the nearest room. There was another green zork. It was wounded.

The creature has blood of the same color as its skin, the human admitted.

One of the robots shot the wounded zork in the head quickly. There was no more aliens in the room and the sub-squad left it.

Alex saw another unit of the robots. They also were clearing the floor from the aliens. A robot rolled down a grenade in the room and, after an explosion, the entire unit stormed in.

After some time the second floor was cleared out and the young man's sub-squad ran upstairs to join to the ongoing battle. A small bunch of green zorks held their barricaded position on the last floor. Their leader was a blue zork.

The blue zork looked as in the Alex's simulations. The creature was tall, blue, and had intelligent eyes, as well as an aristocratic posture. Additionally, it wore an armor that looked sturdy.

The green minions fought fiercely, yelling something angrily.

The human took cover behind the wall and shot around the corner a few times. Then both sides exchanged grenades. The aliens' looked as short wooden sticks.

For some time the situation looked deadlocked on the third floor until a robot brought an RPG. This robot stuck the weapon around the corner and a series of warheads were propelled toward the enemy's position. They had ruined the enemy's barricade and killed some green zorks. As a result, many of green zorks were disorganized, injured, and bled. At that moment the metal soldiers closed in on the aliens.

“Show no mercy” was a brief order from a commanding AI. The robots killed everyone; for a sort period of time only several zorks could return fire.

Quickly the remaining aliens organized beside their leader. The blue zork rushed forward unexpectedly and knocked a few metal soldier down with a help of its tower shield.

This creature was strong and quick. It worked with its spear as a real master. Each thrust was fast and accurate. The blue zork pierced the critical parts of the robots, destroying them one by one. The entire sub-squad was wiped out by him for a brief period of time.

Meanwhile, the remaining green zorks covered their master from flanks and from behind. This unit moved through the robots, bringing them only destruction.

Alex killed two green zorks and ordered his gun to increase power of its laser discharge to the maximum, as he stepped back. Immediately the human concentrated his fire on the blue zork. The blue zork didn't like it and quickly shifted its advancement in the Alex's direction.

Abruptly a warhead propelled over the man's head and hit the alien's shield. A blast wave threw the human back. He hit against the wall but saw as the alien's shield exploded.

Currently the blue zork hadn't minions. They were already dead. But the alien wasn't going to give up. The creature rushed to his enemies and pierced the RPG holder. Then the alien threw the metallic body aside and pierced another one quickly.

Alex grabbed his rifle from the floor and fired off at close range. A series of laser beams hit the blue zork. As a result, its armor was damaged significantly. The alien tried to attack the human, but it was too late. New laser beams hit his flesh and the creature dropped down. It was dead.

Now the Alex's rifle was useless due to the powerful beams. Its inner components were damaged seriously.

The man came closer and saw that the alien had the blue blood. Besides, he took a spear and inspected it. It was a simple cold weapon that had an excellent, if not fantastic, piercing capability.

The Alex's sub-squad got an order to leave the captured house. The man obeyed.

During the next hour the town of Apple was cleared out from the last aliens and the Commonwealth had restored its authority in the town completely. The mission was over officially.

Alexander's vision blurred and he found himself in the capsule.

[A mission objective: success]

The message greeted him.

Alex felt as cables disconnected with his nape and the young man got out of the capsule.

By the man materialized the Mother's hologram that said warmly. “You've done a good job. I'm proud of you. How are you feeling, Alex?”

“I wouldn't mind to take a nap, Ma'am.”

He was tired. Not physically, but mentally.

The central AI smiled and nodded. “Go and have some rest, Alex.”

The young man had left the room and a lift brought him to his floor. From there he went to his room.

~~~~~~

~Electronic noise~

{New earned points are available.}

~Electronic noise~

{All points are distributed.}

~Electronic noise~

~~~~~~

Alex slept till the evening. He woke up and sat in the bed.

I saw this weird dream again.

It was vague as before. He couldn't remember particular details yet. Just some messages and the electronic noise in the background.

The young man shook his head to clear his thoughts. It helped a little.

Alex got up and walked to the kitchen where he ate his low-cal food before visiting the gym. There he trained. To the man's surprise, he could do his physical exercises much longer than before. It was as if his strength and stamina were improved significantly. Alex could even jogged a lap in a slow pace. It was fantastic! Even a hologram of his personal trainer admitted it.

Later, lying in his bed, he couldn't figure out a reason. His quick progress looked unnatural for the young man. He just couldn't improve so much for such short period of time.

What is a cause of this?

Slowly Alex drifted off.