Our discourse should have enlightened me, in those earliest days. The way he seamlessly adapted, the way he understood the intricacies of the machines, the way he seemed so at ease—even unaware as I was of what would truly transpire. I should have seen it, should have recognized it in the fluttering that would not fade, and in the yearning hope that I tried—and failed—to bury. He would prove more than just my match, and yet in that moment, I truly believed I might have had a chance to best him. How foolish.

Arthur settled into the cockpit of the training machine with a hiss of pressurizing vacuum seals, and glanced around while the three-dimensional image of the Eidolon’s surrounds rendered across the cold metal of the cockpit’s interior with holographic projectors. Taken from powerful audio and visual sensors spaced across the machine; the image was as clear as any he’d seen, though it lacked the range and detail of the tachyon sensor suite he was used to from Eidolons in the Verge and deeper.

The Rim hadn’t yet learned how to miniaturize the immense sensor blocks.

Externally he knew that the eyes of the training machine, previously inert, would be lighting up with pale blue light at the same moment.

At the same time, words played across his display.

Engineered Interactive Dual Origination Linear Operation Neuralink.

“Hello, operator.” A smooth feminine voice said from within the interior. “I am Iris, your on-board training intelligence. Welcome aboard this training-issue Eidolon weapon, designation Hoplite.”

“Deactivate training protocols.” Arthur said without preamble.

The reply was immediate.

“Warning: Deactivating training protocols will terminate all pilot assistance programs. This is only advised for advanced users. Do you still wish to deactivate training protocols?”

“Yes.”

“Training protocols deactivated. You may change this decision at any time.”

“Run diagnostics.”

“Request confirmed. Running diagnostics on Eidolon weapon, designation Hoplite.”

Arthur settled back into the shape-altering pilot’s chair while the X-shaped belt slid into place comfortably across his chest. His eyes went down to the circular screen dominating the center console of the cockpit, and he reached out to idly flip the switches along the sides for ‘thrust’, ‘weapons’, ‘auxiliary systems’, ‘sensors’, ‘radar’, and ‘IFF beacon’ to the on position.

“Diagnostics complete.” Iris chimed in a moment later. “All systems are within acceptable operational parameters. Disconnecting Eidolon weapon Hoplite from moorings, and transferring control to operator.”

Arthur settled his hands onto the control orbs depressed into the ends of his armrest, each one only half-visible as white-lit domes at an idle glance. A momentary shudder went down his spine when the connection between the machine and his mind bridged and he felt himself slide into the awareness of the Hoplite’s motor functions.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

It was not nearly as smooth of a connection as he was used to.

“Designate Operator as Arthur.” He said after taking a moment to adjust.

“Designation confirmed. It is nice to meet you, Arthur.”

“Nice to meet you too, Iris.” He said conversationally while subtly manipulating the Hoplite’s arms and legs to get a feel for the input lag. “Are you a standard model or is this your set frame?”

“I am a mass production battle intelligence designed to assist with training and development for Eidolon pilots within the Ascendancy Navy.”

“How did you end up in a House Leos machine?”

“House Leos has patent rights to my design.”

Arthur smiled wryly. “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised.”

He took a moment to finish his tests of the machine’s articulated movement and sighed quietly. The three milliseconds of lag between his thoughts and its movements were going to be a problem, enough so that he’d need to be extremely deliberate in his actions. It was another disappointing result, but one he had expected. Compared to the seamless neural bridge prevalent in Core Eidolons, the mid-Rim variant may as well have been a museum piece.

If he were fighting anyone from Pendragon, he’d have been obliterated in seconds.

The Hoplite would do for a practice match against a machine with similar if microseconds less lag, but he was only too eager to get to work building his own machine as a result.

Any lingering thought of using Rim specifications had vanished the moment he’d registered the input lag. He wasn’t about to completely upend the entire sector’s technology, but neither did his respect for power balance extend to willful suicide.

And that was exactly what using such an outdated interface would entail.

“Alright, Iris.” He said with a sigh. “Go ahead and list my available weapons.”

“Request confirmed. Populating weapons list.”

Arthur glanced away from the screen toward the view of the cockpit around him, and took note of the Pallas Athena stepping free of its moorings at the same time as he did.

“Weapons list populated. Additionally, you have an incoming priority one communique from Circe Leos, designation ‘Lion Maiden’.”

“Put her through.” Answer said with another laugh.

Circe’s image appeared in one corner of his projected viewscreen, her face far more at ease than it had been in the hangar earlier. Being in the Pallas Athena seemed to have calmed her, or at least centered her a lot more.

“What do you think of the Hoplite?” Circe asked with a mostly casual tone.

“The neural interface lag is jarring.” He answered honestly. “It feels like the machine is moving through mud and tar with every command. I think I’m probably just being spoiled, but I feel like flying this thing into battle would be tantamount to suicide.”

Circe snorted. “Is that a polite way of calling us backwards?”

“Well…”

“Oh shut up.” She said with a laugh that sounded far more genuine than her attempt at casual discourse. “I already knew it’d probably be an issue. Even forgetting the technology difference, your psion density means your bandwidth is going to be way beyond what the Hoplite was designed to handle. You probably need a full AI to make up for the extra processing.”

“Ah. So BIs aren’t very advanced here?” Arthur asked while bringing the Hoplite around to follow Circe’s Pallas Athena toward the launching area.

“Iris is an advanced BI, but not by Fringe standards I suppose.” Circe responded while leading the way toward the far end of the hangar. “She was designed for guidance more than anything else anyway, and requires far less processing power and resources than a more robust BI would. It makes her very economical.”

“But ill-equipped for actual battle support.”

“Unfortunately.” Circe agreed.

“Well, don’t hold it against me then.”

“What?” Circe asked with a raised eyebrow.

“When I beat you with a handicap.”