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But she had stopped lamenting the fact and instead let her mind wander a bit. She thought a bit about Jackson Stone, the game designer for Bellum Aeterna. Or, more specifically, she thought about the threats that he had programmed into the game. She also thought about the dangers that existed in her universe, but that he didn’t program in, like Godeater.

And Pelli. Her thoughts turned to Pelli.

Sure, he was fun and a little goofy. But he felt more like a distraction rather than someone more permanent. She definitely couldn’t see him as a larger part of her life. Still, she enjoyed the time she spent with him, and all the flirting they did over messaging.

Most critically though, she thought about how he sped up ridiculously fast for that one brief moment. It was like his actions were three times faster than normal.

Everytime he activated it during their sparring, she had literally no defense against it. And she wanted to figure out how to do it herself, or at least figure out a way to defeat it.

It couldn’t have been a trait, she thought to herself. He and all his friends practice using it, so it must be some sort of innate ability. And if they found it, so could I.

Eva wished that she had a stat screen and ability tree just like in Bellum Aeterna. At least that way everything would have been spelled out for her. She also wished that she had some sort of magical inventory or a hotbar or something. Then she could just activate whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted.

.....

As it was, it felt as though she was fishing in the dark.

It suddenly dawned on her that she simply needed to see herself the same way she saw her core while in a Promethean Merge. She could “feel out” her biological systems and bioelectric modules the same way she did with her mechanical systems and computerized modules.

If she did that, all she needed to do was find any ‘self-modules’ she wasn’t consciously aware of, and activate it. So she closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and reached deep within herself.

Elation filled her as she slowly became more and more aware of her own body. But it was tough. While she was able to sense her core’s systems with lightning efficiency, it felt as though she was trudging through molasses while in her own body.

Not that she was complaining. As she deepened her understanding of her own physical being, she came to realize just how much more complex she was than her own mecha. After all, she was made of trillions of cellular machines, all (or at least most) of which worked in conjunction with the rest.

And though she knew they were separated out into different organs, she couldn’t make heads or tails of any of them. It was all one big cacophony of signal noise, and she felt overwhelmed by it all.

It only took moments for her to become exhausted by her self-exploration. She slumped back in her seat and panted heavily, as though she was out of breath.

Although she didn’t find exactly what she was looking for, she realized that she made a great first step. She could explore herself in such fine detail, and just like with Prometheus, she needed to practice it over and over.

She quickly added the note to her personal calendar on her DI, and squeezed it in where there was a good 10 minute break.

—

Miko: Are you alright? You had faded out there for one moment.

Eva: Yeah, just trying to figure something out

Eva: Met a guy who can do something like bullet time

Eva: And I wanna do it too

Miko: I understand. If you wish for my help, let me know.

Miko: Otherwise, I have something I need to tell you.

Eva: Go for it

Miko: It is about the Commander.

Miko: I have discovered that he is stalking you.

Eva: Oh, it’s probably that study thing he’s doing for the Federation

Eva: Signed for it and everything, so don’t worry

Miko: All of us are part of his study, however his information on you is plentiful.

Miko: Far more information than he needs.

Eva: Oh, wow. Didn’t think he’d go deep

Eva: Well, don’t worry about him

Miko: What if he does something to you?

Eva: What’s he gonna do? Force me somehow?

Eva: I doubt he could overpower you, much less me

Eva: And besides, he hasn’t really done anything bad, right?

Eva: We can worry about him if he does something crazy

Miko: Does taking multiple videos of you count as something crazy?

Miko: Videos where you were out and about and unaware of being filmed?

Eva: Ugh. That sounds a little crazy, yeah

Eva: But it’s not too bad. He’s not, like, putting drugs in my food crazy

Miko: Are you waiting until that starts to happen?

Eva: Okay, fine. Should I say something to him?

Miko: I do not know. I have never had a stalker.

Eva: Let’s just deal with it later

—

Eva wasn’t exactly green when it came to stalkers. As a woman, she had experienced more than her fair share of them. She didn’t always mind them, though some were scary – that was for sure.

Some were rather benign and were more awestruck than not. Usually they were friendly and respectful. And oftentimes they just went away on their own. Many were annoying and pushy and aggressive. Those types of people ended up on her block lists quickly, in case they escalated.

A few were dangerous, and those were the ones she truly kept an eye out for. They were the ones who still figured out a way to stalk her, despite getting blocked all to hell.

There was one guy who found all of her social media accounts and messaged her on every single one. At one point they found her number and called her relentlessly – she had to drop that number and get a new one in the end.

What scared her the most was when whoever it was found her address, and left her notes on her window at night. It was at that point that she needed to get the cops involved, and they had to watch over her grandparent’s house at night.

Eventually, the stalker eased up and went away completely.

She felt the Commander wasn’t quite at that level yet, so she decided there wasn’t anything she needed to do. At some point they would part ways, and he would have no way to stalk her. Hell, she would outlive him eventually.

And if he ever got dangerous... well, she could always just beat him into submission. She wasn’t a scared, vulnerable teenage girl any longer. In this universe, she didn’t have any reason to fear people like that.

She had the capability to exact her own brand of justice, and wasn’t the least bit shy about doing so.

“Alright”, said the Admiral, “that concludes today’s lecture. Hope that wasn’t too painful for half of you.”

Redstar groaned, then complained loudly.

“Can we please just get in our cores already? I’ve got the shakes for some action, and all we’ve got going so far are spreadsheets and diagrams. My brain is dyin’ from boredom! Freya here knows what I’m talking about. Hell, I saw her sleeping for a second.”

Eva simply shrugged. She couldn’t help but zone out.

Merlin quickly spoke, “We will be doing these drills for the rest of the cycle, yes?”

“Yes, a minimum of five hours. Your cores have been equipped with fighter chassis again, and are waiting for you in the hangar bay.”

Redstar immediately hopped up, and headed for the door. Her face was all smiles.

“Great! See you all outside!”

As the others shuffled their way out, Commander Chase pulled Eva aside. As always, he sat by the side and observed all of them.

He was still rather leery about Prometheus. He truly believed it to be too dangerous for them to use with such intensity. Though he was pleased they hadn’t increased the time they spent in the Promethean Cores, they didn’t decrease them, either.

And despite his protests with his sister about Prometheus, she just wasn’t having it. His best bet was to try to convince each of them to tone things down.

“Hey Eva,” he said. “Try not to overdo it in Prometheus, alright? I’ve already said that it’s changing you in ways beyond your control, and it isn’t good. Would hate to see you get mentally torn apart by this thing.”

“I appreciate the concern, Commander, but I’ll be fine. There’s nothing that Prometheus can do that I can’t handle.”

“Can you honestly say that? Even after what you’ve seen it do to your synapses?”

The Commander had made sure to send each of them their data and readouts after every flight. He wanted to deeply impress on them the risks they were taking. And of all of them, Eva’s readouts were the most extreme.

And though she definitely saw that she had changed, she still nodded without hesitation.

Change was inevitable, and only fools avoided it.

“I’m aware that the Promethean Core is transformative,” she said, “that it’ll change us physically and mentally and however else. No doubt about it. But I’m not afraid to change, Commander. The only thing I’m afraid of is standing still.

“I did that for most of my life and literally went nowhere. Standing still is the last thing on my mind.”

Then she walked around the stunned Commander, and out towards her awaiting core.