For all vehicles meant for travel into contested areas... all travel must happen with at least two people, one of whom must be trained in...

Further, grade II metal shutters must be deployable over all windows and the entirety of the carriage designed for people must be rated at least...

--"Scanian Vehicle Code", excerpts

***

Two points and two plates of Valkyrie grade chocolate later, I was lying in bed, blissed out. It was far and away the best chocolate I'd ever had, although admittedly that wasn't saying much. It was a luxury item at the best of times, and having worked in the greenhouses where we grew the stuff, I could see why.

[I took the liberty of adding a few nutrients and minerals required for your new nervous system upgrade to the chocolate. You will need such supplements regularly, from now on, in addition to having slightly higher caloric requirements.]

"Oh nooo. I'll have to eat chocolate like this regularly? That sounds teeeeeerrible." I giggled while following the Wasp I was flying in circles above me with my eyes. I was trying to get used to both the controls and the feeling of being in multiple places at once.

I had found out I could give the Wasp simple missions and it would perform them autonomously, making it a lot more flexible than my two camera drones. I still had to spend mental effort to direct it fairly often, but it was better.

I yawned.

"Tomorrow, I think I'll try to get back to Scania. Should probably let Mother and Dad know I'm coming back early, come to think of it. And that I'm a Valkyrie now."

I giggled again.

Me, the fearsome Valkyrie! It was a bit surreal. Come to save the day like a real hero, like with those three women I'd rescued. Well, they would probably have been safe regardless, but I'd come to their rescue nonetheless! My mind then flashed a memory of seven bodies on the floor, blood spattered liberally on the floor and walls, and my mood soured instantly. Yeah, some hero. Letting people die like that.

I shook my head to clear it. Stupid intrusive thoughts. I would be a hero, dammit, and I'd prevent people from dying in the future.

[You won't be able to save everyone. But, you did save those you could. Think of Jens.]

"Yeah, I know." I sighed. "It still feels pretty awful."

I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes, yawned, then checked the time. Bit late to make a call, but I could send Mother and Dad a message, let them know to expect me.

Hey Mother, Dad, I'll be be coming back home a good bit earlier than expected, tomorrow in fact, if all goes well. Because guess what, I'm a Valkyrie now! There was an Anti attack on the compound, and long story short, I can now control drones with my mind. I'll tell you all about it when I get back. See you soon, Sylvi.

There. Aaand sent.

Now I just needed to get ready for bed before I fell asleep. That sounded like such a drag, I'd just lie here for a few moments more first...

***

Next morning I awoke and blearily tried to orient myself. I instinctively reached out my senses and saw myself lying in bed, splayed out and fully clothed on top of the bed. I then blinked my eyes open and looked up at the drone still flying in circles in the middle of the room. Holy shit, that was weird. Guess I wasn't going to need mirrors anymore.

I then looked at my Valkyrie armour lying in a bit of a heap on a chair, helmet on top. It was a bit muddy, with some green Antithesis blood spattered here and there.

Should probably have cleaned that, but, not right now. I poked my stomach. Not right now indeed, food first.

Then I noticed something. My point counter in the corner of my augs read 930. I was fairly confident I'd only had 920 when I went to bed. Well, when I passed out in bed, anyway.

"Eyon, did I kill another Model Three in my sleep or something?"

[No, you did not. Each Vanguard gets a stipend of 10 points per day. This is normally a minor part of your income, but it does mean you can survive on your own, even should you find yourself with no Antithesis to kill for a prolonged period of time.]

"Well, that's good to know, I guess. Better than the regular basic income." I got up, got into the bathroom to splash some water in my face, then ordered the Wasp to land on my shoulder and disconnected from its senses. Felt like something was missing, now. I connected to my two other drones and instantly felt better. I set one to hover behind me looking backwards and had the other flying in lazy circles and loops and whatever else struck my fancy as I moved out of the room and towards the cafeteria.

On the way out of the building I met the boss lady, who blinked at me before nodding in recognition. Guess she never did see my face, before now.

"Sylvi. Good morning."

"Good morning," I felt a bit bad about never having learned her name. I zoomed in on her name patch. R. Simmons.

Well, crap, that wouldn't work.

[Her name is Ranja, Sylvi.]

"I arranged for transportation for you back to Scania proper. When would you like to return?"

"Ah, sometime after breakfast, I guess. I don't really have a solid plan for anything, yet."

"I see. I had one of the regularly scheduled deliveries held back, so you can hitch a ride. It's waiting for you here," I received a ping with a location in my augs, "and I'll let them know to expect you in an hour or so?"

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"That sounds good. Thanks again, Ranja."

She blinked, then smiled.

"And if I may, I'd suggest wearing your Armour. It'll smooth things along if you're visibly a Valkyrie, you know." she said with a wink so quick I wasn't sure I'd actually seen it.

"I... yes. I see. Thanks again."

I walked out the door and looked out at the open space and the people bustling around, and saw Ranja move to her desk and sit down at it through my drone.

Just another day at work, then.

I moved over to the cafeteria, got in line and got a tray of bread, oats and jam, then sat down in a corner at an empty table. I guess I really should figure out what I intended to do now. I felt a bit adrift right now, with nothing concrete planned. Well, I'd do as Red Knight had suggested and talk to the military first, see what kind of offers they had, then decide from there. Tentative plan made, I set to finishing off my breakfast, when I noticed a small group of people, five men and a single woman, joshing around a small ways away, while casting furtive glances my way. I kept a drone looking their way, and soon enough one of them was pushed in my direction and came over, trying to be nonchalant about it and failing quite spectacularly.

I kept my head down and kept eating.

He stopped at my table, looked around, straightened up, then coughed once.

"So, uhh, you come here often?" he asked.

I stared at him.

Then I thought for a moment, moved my head so I was actually staring at him, and stared a bit more. What was this about?

He coughed again.

"Uh, do you mind if I join you?" He tried a new tactic.

"Sure?" I said, a bit lost at this point.

He sat down across from me, looked away, then looked back at me. Then he blushed.

"I've uh, I've noticed you around. You're Sylvi, right?"

I swallowed a spoonful of oats, before answering.

"Yeah, that's my name."

"It's a pretty name, I think."

"Thanks?" What did this guy want, anyway?

"So, uhh..." he floundered for a bit. "What's it like? You know, being a Valkyrie and all."

I thought for a moment. What was it like?

"Exciting." I thought back to the forest. "Terrifying."

"Oh, I see."

I guess that hadn't been the answer he was expecting.

"Are you..." He coughed. I frowned. He really should get that looked at. "Are you seeing anyone?"

Was I seeing... I stopped and checked the time. Oh drat. "Yes! Oh damn, I'm going to be late."

I spooned up the last of my oats stood up and picked up my tray, then paused.

"Nice talking to you...?" I ventured.

"Ah yes. You too." He smiled weakly.

I nodded once, then went to return my tray and plates, and headed for the door. Behind me I could see the guy slumped over with his head in his arms, before the same group from before came up to him. One of them laughed, another clapped him on the shoulder.

Strange. Whatever had that been about?

I hurried back to the room I'd left my armour in, nodded to Ranja as I passed her, and went to get changed. When I entered my room, my eyes fell on my still stained armour.

"Say, is that armour water-proof."

[It is, yes.]

I nodded, stuffed my clothes into my duffel bag, then gave the room a once over, picking up the discs and the injector and putting them back into their respective boxes. Then not knowing what to do with them I stuffed those into the bag as well. The bed was still pretty much made, and a quick three-drone scan of the room revealed I'd left nothing else behind.

Then I pulled on my armour and walked into the shower for a quick rinse.

Good enough.

I left with another goodbye and thank-you to Ranja, dripping slightly on the floor as I went, and headed off towards the location she'd sent me for where I would find my lift.

It wasn't too far, so I walked over, sending a drone ahead to scout out the place. Being aware of things ahead of time was awesome.

The place, as it turned out, was an open space in front of a warehouse, where a single hover truck was parked, in front of one of six loading bays. Two women were leaning against the truck in the sun, chatting with each other. They were both wearing the standard blue coveralls, and looked to be carrying guns. I guessed that was my ride.

I arrived soon after, and as I came into view one slapped the other on the arm then they both stood up straight at something approaching attention. One of them saluted.

"Ma'am." that one said as I stepped up to them.

"Uh, what?" I replied. "Oh, right. I'm Sylv-, I mean Hornet. Nice to meet you." I stuck out an arm.

The other grabbed my hand and shook it in greeting.

"Hi there Hornet, big fans! We were so excited to be the ones to give you a lift today, we saw yo- uuf..." she was interrupted by an elbow to the side.

"What Sarah here means to say is, we're ready to get going whenever you are. Do you need anything else?"

I observed Sarah for a moment, who was rubbing her side and pouting. The other woman looked at me expectantly.

"No, I'm all packed and ready to go," I said and slapped my duffel bag once. "You just tell me where to put this and where to sit."

"Excellent. Come, there's plenty of space in the cab."

She turned and headed for the front of the truck, then opened up the door and climbed in, before turning and gesturing for me to follow her up. I did so, stashed my duffel behind the bench where there was a large-ish sleeping area, then sat down. Sarah went to driver's side and climbed in as well.

I called in my drones, then thought for a moment.

Could my drones hang on to the outside while we were in flight? I wondered.

[The Wasp is able to, the two Light Aerial Drones are not.]

Eyon! Can you read my mind?

[Previously I had to make educated guesses based on your facial movements, recorded history and profile, but with the Monolith Mesh Implant I can indeed read your thoughts.]

That's equal parts cool and spooky, I guess. Should you not have informed me of this fact before stuffing my head full of alien technology?

[It did not seem pertinent at the time, merely a bonus. You can think faster when communicating, by the way.]

Was that an insult?

[Merely an observation.]

I huffed, then sent the Wasp out to the top of the cab before shutting the door.

Sarah was sitting in a seat behind a pair of joysticks and the various other instruments of the truck, while... I again hadn't learned the name of someone, shoot.

[Her name is Anya.]

Thanks! How did you know?

[I obtained access to the personnel files of the compound.]

You obtained... You hacked the place?!

[If they wanted the information private they should have used a more sophisticated cypher.]

I blanked for a moment on that bit of twisted logic.

Anyway, Anya and I were seated on a padded bench with room for three.

Sarah looked at me curiously, then turned back to the front. She hit the start button, then got that glazed over look of someone interfacing with augs. She then grabbed the joysticks and we rumbled up into the sky and off towards the south, towards Scania.