SCMR Chpt 67

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==Chapter 67 - Self Configuring Modular Robot==
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"My sister and her friends...
...are capable of coming up with the things that stalk everyone's nightmares." Henry was explaining to a former Jade Falcon warrior who was now trying to wrap his mind around being a Prisoner of War instead of a Bondsman.
Zein leaned on the divider between them, "I know." he said, "They're fascinating. Is she really dying?"
"Every day." Henry said, "I told you the bad part, you want the good part?"
"Aff."
"They're also capable of taming those nightmares, turning them from things to fear, into advancements for everyone." Henry explained, "See, Lizzie's friend Jess over there? He and the boy Terry? they are fantastic at taking the wild, complicated, esoteric things their friends come up with, and turning it into something a half-literate son of peasants can use reliably and even understand."
"I barely understood what they were doing using me as a 'test subject'." Zein confessed.
"Did you ask, Jess?"
"Jess's speech is so garbled I did not understand the response." Zein told him. "He speaks like his mouth is full of ball bearings and thorns."
"Yeah, Hillfolk accent takes some getting used to." Henry agreed, "One of the best guys in my recon section was Mac, from the Hill Country on Arluna. Guy could disappear in a bare white room."
"I seem to remember you did the same-with a Battlemech."
"I don't know." Henry said, "I really don't know what happened out there, except everything was on, I could feel like a beat to the universe. It was like I knew where every shot was going to end up and had all the time in the world to step out of the way."
"You annihilated most of my Cluster, Henry Ngo." Zein said, "If I had not been there, I would have believed it to be a lie, or a holographic fantasy plot from particularly bad propaganda."
"I didn't do it alone." Henry insisted. "I thought I was. I had thought I had to be the sacrifice, but I was overruled, because I was wrong."
"Right enough to overcome an Elite Cluster...what you would term a Battalion."
"Reinforced." Henry agreed, "We've confirmed your claims about Clan culture. Some of the Dracs picked up a few of those Smoke Jaguar guys, and Wolf's Dragoons have made moves on a few other Clan units on the Combine front."
"So..you will allow me to...?"
"Blue and gold are the colors of the Lyran Commonwealth, Zein, but yeah, Her Majesty will allow your parole. We don't do slavery, but we do still have laws for apprenticeship...if you're going to be okay with that?"
"What will be my duties?"
"My sister needs a bodyguard, and her friends like you well enough." Henry told him, "So your duty will be to help defend them against potential kidnaps or assassinations... and you'll be working with one of the Rabid Fox teams. It's not front line service, and you're going to discover the joys of writing daily reports, attending briefings, and learning the ropes on things like background checks, but it's gotta be better than waiting for a ride to Stonewell or Blackgate."
"Seyla."
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