The Calibration

Three days later

"Pilot on deck!" The voice spoke throughout the speakers. I wasn't the only one to hear it. A flock of white coats flurried across the gantries, doing anything from reading reports to typing commands. They all acted with a single goal in mind - repairing Cerviel. It's the same reason I stepped into the hangar for the first time in five days.

Cerviel was on the cusp of being brought online again. At least, that's what Command's message said.

"Command?" I pressed my finger to my ear. "Are you there?"

"Always."

"Is your message correct? Cerviel doesn't quite look like herself."

"Don't let the lack of clothing distract you. We're still busy with the armor work, but the engineers have finished with the motor work and rewiring. They're running the last few tests now."

"Swell. Can I go in?"

"Patience." Command chuckled. "I know you're eager."

"Can you blame me?"

"I never said I did. Give me a few minutes to finalize everything. I wouldn't want your reunion delayed by something silly."

"I'll be hanging around."

A few chatting techs hurried past me. I tried to listen in on their discussion. Something about Cerviels' circuitry, but I couldn't follow. My technical knowledge of her frame was limited to the command ring.

"Well, hurry up and get better," I muttered. With nothing better to do, I crossed my arms and leaned on the gantry's railing. Pieces of machinery sparked from Cerviel's exposed frame. Cables, pipes, and ducts snaked throughout her body like veins in which goggled technicians climbed, crawled, and shifted around. I could see their hands moving with practiced elegance. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but I thought the technicians carried out their actions with a certain amount of reverie. It reminded me of the adage that treating something with respect will make it last longer. Maybe they offered a little extra, knowing everything Cerviel had done for them in return.

Yes, treating her with respect will make her last longer. I frowned upon hearing Command mentally chastising me.

"Seven minutes until activation. All personnel, prepare to move to a safe distance."

"Almost there." Command said.

Cerviel's inner workings remained a mystery to all but the engineers, but there was one piece I was familiar with. I could see it shining with a bright blue light in the top left part of Cerviel's chest.

Her personality core.

It was the closest my mechanical companion would get to a heart. She would cease to exist if something were to happen to her personality core, and the shifting neural load would ensure I followed her into the afterlife. It was for this reason that the strongest armor plates were found on her chest. It was also the only piece that had active shielding.

"Five minutes until activation. Pilot, please approach the command ring."

I took the familiar right passage on the gantry with a grin before helping myself through Cerviels' ear via the top railing. A dimmed white light illuminated the cockpit. Two technicians stood next to the command ring. One continued to type on his display while the other nodded his greeting.

"Is she ready?" I asked.

"Almost there. Bob is running a last test."

I turned to the second technician. His frown was lower than I anticipated. "Is something the matter?"

His friend bumped him against his shoulder when he didn't answer. "Bob?"

"Hmm?"

"The lady's talking to you."

"I know, but..."

"Don't be rude, Bob."

"I'm not, I'm..."

"Three minutes until activation. All personnel, please evacuate to the minimum safe distance and start observation protocols."

"Bob. Now is the time to speak up if something is bothering you."

"I don't... I don't know. Look." He twisted his tablet towards his friend. "I can't make sense of that."

"What? Oh, hmm..."

"It's not polite to keep a lady in suspense, guys," I said. "Should we delay the start-up?"

"Hmm... nah, I don't think it's anything."

"That doesn't exactly inspire confidence."

"Right, right. Sorry. Bob here picked up some unusual activity in Cerviel's personality core. Some of the readings are slightly higher than we would expect. I'm not too worried. It's probably an un-calibrated sensor. The re-calibration should fix it."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Do you agree, Bob?"

"Yeah... yeah. That must be it." Yet his eyes didn't leave the terminal. "I can't think of anything else. Nothing... can't be the..."

"Bob..." The first technician sighed. "Sorry, Miss. Bob's a bit... special, but he's brilliant at what he does. I don't think there's anything to worry about."

"I hope you're right."

"Don't worry. We're reporting green across the board. Our systems are connected to every sensor in Cerviel's frame. We'll let you know if something goes wrong."

"Thanks." I steeled myself with a deep breath. "You should probably get going before Command starts yelling at you."

"One minute until activation. All personnel, please evacuate to the minimum safe distance and start observation protocols."

"Right. C'mon, Bob. Let the lady do her thing."

"Fine, fine." Bob was half-dragged-half-shoved out of the cockpit.

Please don't let there be anything wrong, I thought as I stepped into the command ring. "Command, I'm alone in the cockpit."

"Confirmed. Closing exterior hatch." Cerviel's ear hissed as the plate covered the opening before locking into place with a loud click. The dimmed lights died a few moments later, leaving those from the control ring as the sole illumination source.

"Removing gantries." A vibration shuddered through Cerviel's frame as the gantries disconnected. "All gantries removed. Starting power-on sequence." A soft hum at the edges of my hearing filled the air. I felt it more than I heard it. Several clicks came soon after. I noticed some lights on the control ring started to change. "Pre-initialization steps complete. How's it looking in there?"

"All good," I said. "I'm not seeing anything abnormal."

"Good. Are your goggles connected?"

"Not yet."

"Please do so."

"Connecting." I unclipped the cable and plugged it into the port at the back of my neck. The lone green light inside my visor flickered to life. "Ready."

"Good. Connecting personality core."

It took half a minute for the "Connection Lost" message to disappear. Three bouncing dots replaced it as the goggles tried to connect. C'mon, Cerviel. You can do it.

"Connection to personality core established." The mech's voice entered my ear soon after. "Loading AI profiles... loaded. Personality matrix online."

"Welcome back, Cerviel." I smiled.

"Welcome, Pilot Vega. How may I assist you today?"

"Other way around. We're here to help you."

"Scanning. Multiple missing armor plates. My system is running at half-capacity. Maintenance mode is engaged."

"Sounds about right. Both of us were pretty beat up after the last fight. I'm back to normal, but you still need some work done."

"I understand. I am ready to receive commands."

"You're up, Command."

"Glad to see she's talking again." Did she sound relieved? "Okay, let's see. Have Cerviel run a full diagnostic."

"Running diagnostic," said Cerviel. "I am detecting an anomaly in the tertiary right-leg motor."

"Anything else?" I asked.

"Several armor plates missing from the torso."

"They're still repairing those. More?"

"Significant deviation in sensor readings compared to baseline. Unable to compensate."

"Yup, we expected that. We're going to fix that shortly. Anything else? Are the neural dampeners in good condition?"

"Scanning. Neural dampeners are running at eighty-three percent."

"You got all of that, Command?"

"Not seeing the reading on the dampeners. It might be a symptom of the sensors. We'll check during re-calibration."

"Understood. What do you need me to do?"

"Please connect your left arm to Cerviel."

"Connecting." I plugged the first of three cables into my suit. "Done."

"Signal received. Looks good. Please connect your right arm."

"Connecting... done."

"Excellent. Both signals are looking good. Please stretch your arms forward as far as you can." I complied with her request. "And now to your side? Over your head? Good. Motion tracking seems to be running normally. Now it's time for the big one."

"Ready?" I cast a wary glance at the last cable.

"Go for it."

Please, Lord. Don't let there be any trouble. I delicately connected the cable to its socket. A tingle flashed through my head as my implants connected to Cerviel's core. I gritted my teeth as I waited for the initial spike to go away. It was happening a lot slower than usual.

"Vega?"

"Yeah?" I replied with a strained voice.

"Are you okay? Your readings are slightly above the baseline."

"Connections a bit more intense this time." I blew out an explosive breath.

"Should we postpone?"

"No, but let's start with the sensor calibration. Maybe... maybe that will help."

"Okay, but I'm pulling the plug if your readings worsen."

"Sure." I tried to keep my breathing steady. "What do you want me to do?"

"Just stand still. The process is already running."

"Right." I closed my eyes. The pain in my head ebbed and flowed as the seconds passed. The fight must have taken more out of me than I thought.

"Calibration complete."

"And?"

"Looks like the sensor readings have stabilized, but I'm still seeing readings above your baseline."

"Feels like that as well."

"Dampeners are still reporting eighty-three percent. I'm making a note so the engineers can check that out."

"Good idea. What's next?"

"Are you sure you want to continue?"

An image of the broken Sopoid dome flashed through my mind. "Yes."

"Okay, then arm movement. Please carry out the same movements as before, but slower. Keep in mind that Cerviel will now mimic your movements."

"Will do." I immediately noticed the extra inertia in my arms. It was a good sign - it meant the neural bridge was running. Maintenance mode would ensure the connection went one way. While I couldn't get any feedback from her sensors, I would be able to move Cerviel's frame in a very limited capacity. Swinging her arms was close to the limit.

"All done."

"Good. I picked up some deviations in Cerviel's arm motors before. The recalibration seems to have fixed it."

"What's... what's next?" I winched as the tingle turned into a spike.

"Vega?"

"Nothing... nothing..." I took a deep breath. "What's next?"

"Vega, be straight with me. What's going on?"

"Sorry?"

"You're slurring your words. Are you okay?"

"The connection's a bit more intense than usual."

"I'm not seeing anything on the readings."

"Yeah, but I'll... I'll be f-fine."

"Screw that. I'm canceling the test."

"Don't!"

She died during an attack the old lady had said. She couldn't enter a vault fast enough and died when a demon pierced the dome.

"The load will stabilize. I'm sure of it.'

"Vega, I'm asking you as a friend. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Bootes? Are you really not seeing anything on the sensors?" It took a second for her to respond. "Bootes says you're clear, but I don't know. I'm still not trusting this."

"Might be something happened with the implants during the last fight. I'll... I'll go for a checkup after this."

"I'll hold you to that. Okay, I'll trust you. We've done everything inside the hanger that we can do. We need to go outside for the last batch. I'm turning maintenance mode on so you can pilot Cerviel out."

"Okay. Ready when you are."

"Turning... on."

Her last word had barely entered my ear before a sharp pain flashed through my mind, and the world turned black.