Zan rose early with his friends and eat a hearty meal with the other soldiers. An oatmeal with berries and spices freshly foraged. He eat it down eagerly with more iced-water, finding the simple meal oddly filling despite its humble look.

“You feeling better, bud?” Jiehong asked.

“Yeah. Much better. We should contact the Wardens, yeah?” Zan replied.

“We should. Let’s ping them together.”

Each boy pressed the tiny ‘pinging’ button, which with a simply click patched them through to the Wardens. Right away, they picked up.

“Zan. Jiehong. Thank you for getting back to us. We see your vitals are much restored. We are happy you rested well. We saw the toll the headset took on you,” Sigma-Prime said.

“It’s only a mildly uncomfortable proposition, Sigma-Prime. Is this what’s going to happen every time I insert some new piece of technology into me?” Zan asked.

“Theoretically? Yes. With repeated augmentations, however, your body might become acclimated to the strain. Only time will tell.”

“Okay. That… sucks? Let’s forget that, though. Nothing we can do about it, right? The headset is on me. In me, whatever you want to say about it. It’s ready to go, I would hope. Tell me about it.”

By now, the Screen Master took command of the conversation and said, “Concerning the headset, as we talked previously, it is a ‘war suite.’ It is a tool designed to keep you, as the commander, in communication with your allies during a battle or exploration and scouting missions. It will provide you with status readouts concerning yourself and your allies. A general’s worth of information at your fingertips. I am powering the headset on now so you can see what I mean in at least a general way. Standby.”

Zan ‘stood-by’ and waited as he felt slow whirring motions from within his headset.

Panicking for a moment, Zan felt the headset writhe within him. Though he expected pain, he only felt a mild motion sickness. Once he overcame the initial hurdle, Zan adjusted himself to the internal vibrations of the headset’s tendrils. He at least had a handle on it without having a panic attack.

Within his sight popped up several squares and rectangular boxes.

A box in the upper-righthand ‘corner’ of his vision; a tall and thin box in the bottom right, and smaller ones besides.

“I’m seeing… shapes?” Zan said.

“Excellent! These shapes hold relevant information to your current objectives. The long and thin box you see will contain the statuses of your allies-in-arms. The two boxes in the corners of your vision — left and right respectively — contain a map-in-miniature and your current objectives. At the bottom of your vision, if you care to direct your attention toward it, you’ll see a ‘Selector Wheel.’ This will bring you to other elements of the headset’s capabilities. Currently, however, the selector wheel is not important. Questions?”

While the Screen Master talked, Zan attempted to keep up. ‘Map in miniature.’ ‘Statuses.’ ‘Objectives.’ ‘Wheel Selector.’ It was all a lot at once.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Sure…” Zan told the Screen Master. “How does this all work?”

“The shapes you see before you are called ‘Menus.’ While the headset is on, you will only need to focus on the menu you wish to see in order for it to materialize. This will keep the non-essential menus in-check while you’re in the thick of combat. Over the duration of an encounter, you will receive pop-up notifications alerting you to changes in the flow of battle. Notifications such as when reinforcements arrive, when allies withdraw from the field, unit and commander health, whether the Slipstream is nearby, and so on. The headset has a team-feature as well, Zan. Through the means of small, autonomous drones, you will talk in real-time to your commanders and teammates.”

“Sounds incredible. How does all this work? Techy-mage boards?” Zan asked.

“How does this work? Partly through techy-mag, yes. But also, through much more advanced technology. The headset’s primary functionality comes from your brain.”

Zan must’ve had a shocked look on his face because Jiehong also had a shocked look on his face. “My… b-brain?!”

“Correct. The machine has integrated itself into your unconscious and conscious mind. Hence how it responds to your information requests when you glance at, for example, the map-in-miniature and want to see local geographic information. Every action you undertake comes with an unconscious command. It is a complex machine. You do not need to understand its design to use it,” the Screen Master said.

It was an odd spot for Zan. A device like this felt invasive. Too invasive. Like… allowing it to intertwine with his mind was a step too far. If only he had asked these questions before he put on a strange piece of equipment!

Of course, had he asked these questions, would things have been different? Would Zan have refused the Screen Master? Probably not. This tool, invasive or not, was a necessary means of war. Just from what the Screen Master told him, it seemed like this headset would make for a mighty tool.

“Okay. I get it. Mostly… now what?”

“You will only truly come to know the power of the headset by using it in battle. Then you will see how it functions for you as a device of war.”

“Alright. One last question: you keep calling it a device of war. Does it have any applications outside of war?” Zan asked.

“In time, it will. Yes. Right now, however, consider it purely as a tool aiding in destruction.”

“I understand. So, I guess I should find Colonel Winters. See if this whole operation is ready to go yet…”

“Yes. That would be best. You will not understand how the Command Center System truly works unless you are acting within the capabilities of a field operative.”

“Sure thing. Placing you on standby,” Zan said, his finger about to leave the tiny button when the Screen Master interjected.

“Zan! A quick word: I would like to clear up a confusion you have concerning your earpiece. The earpiece is always on. With few exceptions, such as when you visit your contact in the Expanse, I hear everything you hear. When you press the button to talk to me that button-press is only allowing your voice to seep into my end. Pressing that button allows you to speak with me when I ping you. I keep my distance. That is my role as a Screen Master and a Warden. I must remind you, however, I do hear everything you hear and I am there with you, no matter who you encounter or what they saw.”

He wasn’t sure what to think of the Screen Master always being there with him. A part of him knew the Screen Master was a constant companion. He had said something to that effect earlier. Then, though, Zan did not realize how totally the Screen Master could integrate himself into Zan’s life. He guessed there was nothing wrong with it. He wasn’t even sure the Screen Master was a living, breathing person. If he was real… and he was helping him traverse a difficult world he knew little about. Zan would muse on this for a long time. At the end of his musing, he would think it was all worth it.

“I understand, Screen Master. Thank you for clearing this up. Jiehong. Let’s find the Colonel…” Zan said, the increasing mental toll showing.

With the large loyalist camp before them, Zan and Jiehong set off in search of the man who made it all possible. Colonel Winters.

Finding the colonel amid a large crowd, Zan could not tell what was happening. A large strategy meeting? An argument? Many shouting figures exchanged opinions on matters, so had it not been for the fact no one was talking strategy, Zan would have figured it a war meeting. Instead, everyone was discussing… politics?