Artificial

Friction

Operator Evo

A single straggler peeks out from behind the wall, scanning the open ground for threats. Eight-Seven is crouched behind a rifle below me. I reach down and tap her on the shoulder.
"Target. One Recruit. Peeking the perimeter wall."
She picks the rifle up, then turns and rests its barrel on the ledge, facing the wall. She looks through the scope.
"Target acquired."
"Take him. It's a small target, but I think you can hit him. Remember what I taught you."
She curls into a tighter shooting position, then rolls her shoulders and neck a bit, trying to loosen up.
She inhales.
She exhales.
She calmly squeezes the trigger.
The gun kicks into her shoulder, but she keeps her composure. She definitely has the potential to be a great marksman.
The less-than-lethal round strikes the target's facemask, and he flips backward a full 270 degrees, starting on his feet and ending on his stomach.
"Nice shot, Eight-Seven!"
I pat her on the back, then open up the tactical map on my HUD. The map tracks the Recruits' positions live, and I see they have all either cleared our section or been taken down in it.
"Pack up, we're done here," I order, and point to the rifle.

We walk down from the tower, and stand in the open, looking at each other.
"So, what happens now?"
"You know what? I'm gonna take you out to lunch. You listened well, kept focused, and picked up marksmanship pretty quick. You can come with me and eat off the Operator's menu."
"Nice!"

I walk into the mess hall, and Eight follows close behind. We get in line, and Eight begins looking at the Operator menu, wide-eyed like a kid in a candy store.
"Easy, hon," I caution. "It's just food. Don't lose your head."
"No, you don't understand," she contests, energetic as ever. "The Recruit 'protein rations' are awful. Tastes like wet cardboard."
We grab our food, and sit down at an empty table near the entrance. Eight takes a massive bite out of her cheeseburger, throwing manners to the wind as she wolfs down the sandwich.
Man, I forgot how hot Chef Richards keeps this place. It's a good thing I can't sweat.
I slide off my jacket, revealing my camouflage tank top. Eight-Seven gasps, and I snap to attention.
"What? What happened?"
She's staring at me, amazed.
What, is something wrong? Did I do something?
She grabs my arm, carefully and gently inspecting the smooth fiber weave.
Oh my god, is she trying to flirt with me? Vel isn't gonna like this.
She continues with intense interest and focus, closely examining the strands of synthetic muscle.
Please just say something. Tell me you're not doing what I think you're doing.
"Is this SynthFibr 3.0?"
"Oh, thank god."
Phew. What a relief. She's just a nerd!
"What was that?"
"Don't worry about it. And yes, this is SynthFibr 3.0."
"But... isn't that still in development?"
"Yes it is, according to everyone outside of the IAF." I laugh, and take a sip of my drink with my free hand. "Don't show your hand if you don't have to."
"This is so cool! I've never been able to see SynthFibr in person before!"
She continues poking and prodding for a few seconds, then freezes and turns bright red.
"Oh my god! I'm sorry, you probably don't enjoy my nerding out."
I give her an easy smile, and chuckle.
"It's fine. If you've got any questions, I'll do my best to answer them."
"Oh, I don't really have any questions, just a...request, if you don't mind."
"Depends on the request."
"Could you...contract your bicep?"
"Are you asking me to flex?"
"Yes...but only because I want to see how the SynthFibr reacts! It's not like that!"
"Well, I guess that's fine, then. But only to satisfy your purely scientific curiosity."
"Yes. Absolutely, completely scientific."
"Okay."
I bend my elbow at a right angle, and the SynthFibr that makes up my upper arm comes to life, pulling together and rising upward in a perfectly symmetric peak. Eight-Seven's eyes go wide, and she moves in closer, poking and inspecting the strands, which glow faint red.
"Okay, what's with the red...aura, for lack of a better term?"
"Oh, that. I've switched modes. I went from casual to combat. In combat mode, the SynthFibr tightens together and hardens, both to protect me, and offer increased strength and speed. It also glows red, as do my eyes, to alert friendlies nearby to my current configuration."
"Amazing. What other modes do you have? Does each one have a color?"
"Yeah. Stealth mode is black, repair is blue, and, as you know, green is casual. There's a few more, but I don't use them much."
"That's cool," she comments, continuing to gently run her fingers up and down my arm. "God, I can't believe it. It acts just like the real thing."
"I know, right? It's the product of decades of research."
Suddenly, someone sits down next to us.
It's Vel. I am fucked.
"What are you doing with my man?"
Eight-Seven looks up, confused.
"What?"
"I asked what you are doing with my man, you slut."
"Whoa!" Eight-Seven yells. "This is already getting way out of hand."
"It hasn't even begun to get out of hand, bitch."
"No, I mean, this is a huge misunderstanding."
"Ok, how about you explain to me what I should think when I see some little bitch Recruit feeling up my boyfriend."

You know, it's odd, but I don't know if I ever found Velox more attractive. Her possessiveness is doing wonders for my self-esteem. I feel valuable. Makes me want to return the favor, maybe make her feel special.

I pick another comment out of the catfight in front of me.
"Listen to me, Vel! I'm not into your boyfriend, I'm just into his body!"
Jesus Christ, Eight, could you have possibly phrased that any worse?
I look over at Vel. Her eyes fill with rage, and a growl grows in her chest.
Uh oh. She is pissed.

Over time, I've noticed Vel has a combat mode, almost like mine. Her eyes don't necessarily glow, it's more like they start to burn like a bright, raging fire. And although there's no aura to accompany it, every muscle in her meticulously trained body comes to life. It's terrifying, but undeniably impressive.
Vel moves toward Eight-Seven, and I step between them.
"Evo, don't tell me you're defending this harlot."
"Vel! She's not coming on to me, she's just a nerd!"
She remains enraged, but seems to calm down some. "What?"
"She's just a nerd, Vel. She's never seen synthetic muscle in person, so I figured I could show her."
"You expect me to believe that was all scientific curiosity?"
"Yes. You've gotta remember, I'm pretty much as advanced as combat robots get right now."
She seems unconvinced.
"Eight, tell her that was scientific!"
"It was! Well, as scientific as feeling a buff guy's bicep can be, anyway."
I slowly turn around.
"I swear to god, I will kill you before she does. Why did you say that?"
"I don't know," she responds, panicked. "Vel's scaring the shit out of me, I didn't want to lie!"
I look up at Vel. Her eyes dart around, like she's weighing evidence. Finally, her expression softens.
"Fine," she answers, then turns to Eight. "But if i find out you're messing with my man, I will break you."
"Y-yes, ma'am."
"Good. I'm glad we understand each other."
She walks over and plants a kiss on my cheek, then gives Eight a fierce glare.
"Later babe," she says to me as she takes her food and leaves.