"Viktoriya Erin, I presume."
Vik opened her eyes, her head resting on her arms on a table at the base's cafeteria. Somehow, only her, some of the cafeteria staff, and the tall, decorated, man standing at the other side of the table. "Er, yes. Hello general... Anastasii, was it?" Vik greeted, pulling her head off the table, then bringing her right hand to her head to salute. "
"I heard about both you and Arc from the good captain, and I hope you don't hold it against him for having to send you back trough Basic training for a few weeks once more for what you tried to do. One of the other generals wanted something more severe then that."
"The SP affair? I only wanted one for while I was off duty..." Vik said, her arms stretched out on the table. "I didn't realize that you didn't allow it."
"It's more we don't condone people trying to bypass the requirements the military had set up concerning their accusations... But both me and the captain read the report concerning the mission you took and... Well." The man said, taking out a chip from the pocket of his coat. "The last few days of your training, he managed to sneak in the exams for acquiring one of these, and you managed to pass them with flying colors." He placed the chip on the table in front of Viktoriya, before putting his hand back into his pocket. "And you mission managed to qualify for the other requirement. Congratulations Viktoriya Erin, you have gained temporary use of an SP for the time being. Depending on your future actions, you might even get to keep her permanently." The man said, with pride in his voice. "I suggest spending your off time getting to know your SP better." He added, before heading off.
After the general left, Vik looked at the chip for a bit... before siting up straight.
"...The fuck?" "...After punishing me for getting an SP for just when I'm off duty... they give me one anyway?"
"I don't see it that way..." a voice coming from Vik's PET said. Vik grabbed the chip and her PET, and looked at the PET's screen. "Well... that doesn't matter now. Even though I didn't have a choice in what the SP looks like, we still got to keep one!" Vik said joyfully while Arc just struged at the beginning. She quickly slotted the chip in, and let whatever SP was on it download onto the PET. Once it was complete, another figure appeared on the screen next to Arc. "SP Exo Reporting for Duty Mam." it said, saluting Vik. "Er, there is no need to be that way when we aren't on duty. So feel free to relax more if you want." Vik told the SP... given that it was an SP issued by the military, she should have expected that. "Is that an order, mam?" the SP asked.
"Er, you know what... Exo, I order you to not be so formal when we arn't on duty."
"Thank you! God, if I had to act that way all the time then I don't know how long I would stay sane." Exo said, letting out a breath of relief. Once again, the SP managed to catch Vik by surprised, but this time also got Arc who just raised an eyebrow at the SP. "Anyway, let me start over now that I don't have to talk like that. I'm Exo, I was the head software engineer at this base. But now, I'm demoted to being your SP."
"Wait what? Demoted? I don't want an SP that did something to be demoted." Vik said, not trilled by all of this.
"Like you are one to talk, I know you tried to get an SP while off duty and bypass all the rules and regulations we have for handing them out. Also, it isn't like I actually wanted to become your SP, it was either this or being put into storage. Hell, I think the only reason they didn't just throw me in storage without a choice was because... well... that's classified at the moment..." Exo had her arms crossed at the moment. "...All I can tell you both now, regarding the reason, is that I need you navi's combat data due to orders from higher up, and I need to gather it live." She told
"So the brass needs you to get the data, can't you atleast tell me more as to why?" Vik asked her sp.
"Were you not listening? I just told you all I can say is that I need it, so I can't tell you why." Exo told her netop. "Well, I'll beable to tell you more once I got the data. So the sooner we get to deleting those viruses, the sooner you can find out."
"Fine..." Vik said, not too pleased by her SP's attitude at the moment. She claimed she was the head, but she certintly wasn't acting like it. "Speaking of deleting viruses... there is this post on the internet city BBS, asking for help with an experiment... and it looks like it's pretty much a busting run with his navi... Exo, I assume you can get the data just fine even if there is another navi there?"
"...Given the only thing that could prevent me getting the data is if me or Arc got EJO'd, yes I can get it just fine if there is another navi present. It's just I rather not have to deal with another navi." Exo said, closing her eyes. There was a hint of annoyance in her tone. "Don't tell me you are goin-"
"Welp, looks like we are going to Netopia's network, just need to let him know we are interested and get the info we need from him." Vik said, replying to the post and interrupting her SP at the same time. Arc just sat there in the PET, listening to everything that was being said. She was fine with just listenig, nothing she really had to respond to. Not even Vik making them bust with another navi. Well, Arc was a little bit interested in what the experiment was, but she was sure to find out about it in a bit. Exo just crossed her arms and pouted a bit. Some time passed between waiting for a response on the BBS, and then waiting for a respond to Vik's E-mailing the other party.
"Got an e-mail back from him, hopefully it will have what this experiment is all about." Vik said, opening the mail. "Well now, this experiment seems interesting." Vik said, reading the e-mail. "Apparently, he made a navi who's purpose is to logically follow a higher being. Or rather, approach the existence of a higher being logically. All you two have to do while busting with her is not deny the existence of such a being."
"That sounds simple enough, and will give me more experience fighting along side other navis. I'm sure with both of us there we can make sure nothing deletes Exo while she is looking over the data." Arc responded.
"What? You're making us babysit a religious nut?" Exo exclaimed. "So rather then getting the data in some kind of peace, we will be having someone who will probably be spewing doctrines about God of Allha or whoever..."
"Then you will just have to deal with it Exo. Besides, what little of the navi's description he gave makes her seem interesting. After all, how often do you get to see a mechanical angel?"
"Me-mechanical angel?" She asked, studding at the beginning. "We-well, not very often." "I guess I could just deal with it if she does start being a zealot." Exo said, taping the gold part of her left arm, generating a display that blocked her face from view quite a bit. "A-any way, I need to get Arc's combat data asap, so hurry up and jack us in." She added, her fingers looked like they were tapping on her arm like it was a keyboard.
"I agree with both of Exo's statements." Arc added, as Vik looked around the room.
"Alright, I'm going to jack you in now. He coordinates are in the e-mail, so go on and look at it for them." Vik said, pointing her PET at the nearest Jackin port and wirelessly jacked her navi and SP into the network.