“Huh?!” Cameron shouted to Aurora, increasing the volume of his voice to combat the loud rumbling of the Fenris’s walls as it was jostled by the thunderous turbulence of atmospheric reentry.

Aurora rolled her eyes, sighing in exasperation, and pointed towards the Headsman, standing tall and inert in its hanger bay section. A series of drones whirled around it, running through a final inspection checklist, as a stair lift was moved into place behind it, parking itself directly underneath the cockpit entrance.

“Get in the fucking mech!” She yelled, “We need to get some final diagnostics and to load your VI before your first insertion.”

“Why didn’t you say that before?” Cameron asked, smirking as he stood and made his way towards the stairlift, feeling Aurora’s glare burning a hole into his back as he walked. He felt a chill run up his spine as he boarded the stairlift, slowly rising at it brought him to the cockpit hatch, and he wasn’t sure if it was just pre mission jitters, or the cool air running through the hangar as it wafted on his bare arms. He’d considered undoing the top of his green jumpsuit that he had tied around his waist, but thought better of it, choosing instead to bask in the chilly atmosphere while could, enjoying the alertness and clarity it gave him, before he was threaded inside and the synaptic uplink took over regulating his body temperature.

He stood outside the entrance, watching as hermetic seals were broken, pressurized air hissing as the Headsman’s backplate bisected, sliding open on either side to form an industrial doorway for him to step through, metal pegs shining in the light, barely in view for him to place his legs. Two holes lined with a thick padded cushion mirrored each other on either side of the opening, the arm slots for the Headsman looking back at him like twin portals of an abyssal nightmare.

Another chill ran up Cameron’s spine as he peered into the opening, causing him to take a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. But the truth was… he was scared. This wasn’t a simulation, nor a Squire that anyone could pilot. It was all him. If he mis-stepped, or fumbled an attack, there were no resets, no sudden rousing like he’d awoken from a bad dream. He’d be dead, plain and simple. Was he actually ready for this? Was he ready to be an A.R.M.S. pilot?

“Looks like we’re about to find out,” He mumbled to himself, jumping through the opening and slamming his arms into the sockets and stomping his feet on the pegs, feeling the ankle and wrist clamps lock into place around his ligaments faster than he regretted his decision.

“Pilot detected. Beginning initiation protocols,” A robotic feminine voice rang out in the interior of the cockpit causing his ears to ring with a high pitched whirring sound, similar to that off a drill. It was only after a few moments and a sharp, jerking tug in order to set his arm in the right position, did Cameron notice it wasn’t his ears ringing, but the sound of his uplink threads being screwed into his body.

“Mmph,” He grimaced, gritting his teeth, and feeling a torrent of uncomfortable prods take over his body as one by one each uplink thread was set and tightly fastened to the Headsman’s chassis.

“Skeletal threading complete, initiating Synaptic Uplink,” The robotic voice spoke up again, her deadpan tone the audible embodiment of cold, uncaring pain.

“Well,” Cameron said, “That wasn’t so ba- holy fuck!” He bellowed, cut off from his previous thought as a jack was thrust deep into his Synaptic Uplink port, stabbing his brainstem and filling his synapses with a veritable flood of binaric information with a force so dense he lost vision momentarily, only able to hear his pounding heart, and the pressurized slats on the back of the Headsman as they slammed home, sealing him inside.

“Ya alright there, sugar?” A twangy, older voice echoed in his mind, clearly feminine and dripping with honeyed sympathy.

“M-Mom?” He said, his brain feeling foggy and sluggish as the voice giggled softly, the equivalent to an audible hug.

“I’m ‘fraid not darlin. You should probably open your eyes.”

“W-Wha?” Confused, he did as the voice requested, opening his eyes to see that he was now viewing the interior of the Fenris’s hangar bay. That wasn’t the only difference though, as in the center of his vision, a woman stood. She couldn’t have been more than half a foot tall, yet there she was, floating, or rather standing in thin air, flickering slightly and glowing head to toe with a digital orange glow.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Well good morning sweetie,” She said, somehow knowing that Cameron’s eyes were open as she smiled directly at him.

“Who are you?” Cameron asked, a bit ruder than he intended to, however, the woman simply laughed, slapping her knee and looking at him with kind, crinkled eyes.

“Why, my name's Thelma sweetheart! I’m your Virtual Intelligence assistant for your HAI-01 Headsman unit.”

Cameron’s eyes widened as he stared at the woman, taking in her features. She appeared older, mid forties to early fifties, with shoulder length hair and kind caring eyes. Her knitted cardigan and slacks gave her a slightly motherly look, and her accent, while foreign to him and reminding him slightly of Royce's, was pleasant to the ear and surprisingly comforting to hear. All in all… he could think of worse people to be inside of his brain.

“Nice to meet you Thelma,” Cameron said slowly, coming to grips with the situation, “My name's Cameron… or… Cam I guess. Hey, can I ask-”

“Are you in yet?” Aurora’s irritated impatience snapped Cameron back to reality as her voice crackled into the speakers of the soup.

Cameron felt his eye twitch, but he responded, even if it was in the form of an aggravated growl, “Yeah. I’m in.. I met Thelma too, or I was in the process of meeting her when you decided to get impatient.”

“Thelma?” Aurora asked, ignoring the jab of his words, “Oh. the V.I. Good. At least I know that’s working.”

“Can I ask, what all do V.I. do?” Cameron said aloud, realizing he didn’t specify who he was speaking too, but Thelma just simply smiled, looking up as Aurora, went into an explanation.

“They’re the primary control system for the entire mech,” she said, “They regulate everything from fluid intake, oxygen consumption, fuel efficiency, everything. They’re also in charge of applying the power steering, and organic life management chassis. Without Thelma, you’re not even getting inside the headsman, let alone pilot it.”

“Oh,” Cameron said,

“I also do real-time battlefield analysis and advisement,” Thelma said, smiling wide, “but that young lady got the bulk of it.”

“Done asking stupid questions, Kid?” Logan’s voice entered his ear, as heavy, thundering footsteps caused his vision to shake. He turned, looking through the Headsman’s helmet, as he laid eyes on Logan’s crusader making his way toward him. His shield and mace were gripped tightly in his fist’s and for a second, the trepidation he felt was pushed down by a blossom of excitement.

“Is it stupid that I wanna know about my V.I.?”

Crusader’s head shook side to side, “No, but it is stupid you’re only asking now,when we’re getting ready for insertion.”

“I don’t think it was stupid sugar,” Thelma said, leaning in and bring a hand to her mouth as she whispered, “it makes my circuits warm to know someone cares enough to ask”

Suddenly, a loud jarring alarm began to cry out, cutting sharply into Cameron’s brain and grating his nerves, causing him to bring two gauntlet hands to the Headsman’s helmet in an attempt to muffle the assault to his eardrums.

“What the hell is that?!” He called, looking towards Crusader as he waited for Logan to respond. He didn’t for a minute, choosing instead to march towards a bare wall, and hit a massive red button on the side. It was when the wall bisected diagonally and opened up, revealing an expanse of rolling clouds, that Logan finally spoke again.

“Drop time, drop time, drop time!” He said, motioning for Cameron to join him, “Hurry up kid, we ain't got all day! Those pirates won’t kill themselves. I mean, we can hope but I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

The moment the Headsman aligned itself next to Crusader, Cameron waited for further instruction, allowing Logan to take the lead as he asked, “Now what do we do?”

Cameron could swear he could see the smirk on Logan’s face through Crusader’s visored helm as he responded.

“Now… We make an entrance.”