Machine Learning (Captain Allen and DPD SWAT POV)

Duty Assignment

"My rifle and I know that what counts in war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, nor the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit..."

I stood at full attention in my commander's tent. It wasn't the first time, and it would be far from the last. What made this instance different was that we had company, and both parties were unwelcomed. The CIA lunatic, and the FBI dickhead. Perkins stood with his hands folded behind his back next to the Lieutenant Colonel like he was important. Mayumi sat backwards on a chair, her arms resting on the top while her legs draped on either side.

I hadn't slept yet. Hadn't been debriefed. Hadn't even had time to change, shower, eat – nothing. Going on 48 hours. Henderson looked at me from above his glasses.

"Let me get this straight." He held my report, pacing along his desk with his other hand in his pocket, "You opened the package-"

"Packages." Perkins corrected him.

Henderson looked at him like he was going to choke him, instilling visible fear, before continuing.

"...packages, completely unauthorized, only to then use top-secret, experimental technology that you're not even supposed to KNOW about yet, much less your squad, to escape the insurmountable bullfuckery that you got your team into in the first place?"

"The packages opened...themselves..." I swallowed hard, "Sir."

They saved our lives. Got us to the dust-off. Rode along like they were one of us. They got us all home. Well, not home home. I made it back to base, but whether or not I'd see my wife and kid versus the inside of a jail cell had yet to be determined.

"And you expect me to just blow that all away with what? Magic pixie dust? The wind of God?"

My brows jumped, a nervous smile cracking my lips, "I don't expect anything from you, sir."

His arms started shaking, and his face turned red. I braced for impact.

He walked around his desk, putting a finger in my face with his own so close that I smelled the whiskey on his breath, "You keep talking to me like that, son, and I'll make sure you never fuckin' see the light of day again. You understand me?"

Wasn't the first, or the last, time I would hear those string of words either.

My nose twitched, "Yessir."

"Good."

Perkins smirked. I shot him a look, because shooting him a bullet would've definitely landed me in prison.

Henderson ran his hand down his face, the other hand on his hip, his eyes trained on the floor.

"May I make a suggestion?" Perkins' smirk never left, and his eyes never broke away from mine.

"Unlikely I'll take it seriously, but sure, share with the class." Henderson waved him off.

"These androids were scheduled to complete their testing a week ago." Perkins continued, "The pending results are critical to furthering CyberLife projects, which the DOD has already invested millions in."

"How is excessive federal spending relevant to our current situation?" Akane interjected, unenthused.

"They've already recognized Staff Sergeant Allen here as their commanding officer and initialized their combat protocols. If we were to reset them to factory default settings, it would delay our schedule even further." Perkins switched back to me, a taunt on his face, "However, the State might be inclined to forgive any discrepancies if the person who mistakenly took authority over these androids also took some accountability for them."