Kronos thought it was strange that he had the ability to walk the Imperial halls of power without an armed escort. For the first time since the Empire had invaded his planet, he felt a measure of freedom. It felt like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He wasn’t fooled, the shackles of his imprisonment were still there, they were just as light as spider webs instead of strapped to his wrists. His bondage was the technology in his body and his family on the other side of the solar system.

He wanted to enjoy his relative newfound freedom, so he took the time to use his intranet to gather more information around him. He learned about the various materials that went into the makeup of the walls, he checked the rank of every person that he passed in the hallway, and he studied the different weapons, armor, and defensive capabilities of every person or thing. The information wasn’t supremely useful in his current situation, but it gave him the perception of control. Learning about the enemy was something that had utility, even if he didn’t have the means to do anything with the information.

He checked the map on his heads-up-display, the term for the augmented reality that his intranet link used to assist him. It showed that he was nearing the armory, a small office that conjoined a much more expansive storage room beyond it. It was one of several throughout the facility. Each floor of the complex had one. He was currently on the 80th floor below the surface of Ceres.

Apparently, the dwarf planet had never been terraformed like many of the other planets in the system. Instead, it had been hollowed out to create the largest military complex in the Sol system. There was everything from shipyards to Marine training grounds on the planet. The complex that Kronos found himself in, didn’t even have a name. Merely an alpha-numeric designation that marked it as one of the many IID black sites on the planet. Even his upgraded intranet link didn’t give more than a cursory explanation of the complex. He figured that he would learn more about it as time went on.

When he arrived at the small door leading to the armory, the path in his HUD disappeared. The door opened upon his approach and he made his way inside. He wasn’t sure what he expected on the other side of the hatch, but a metal golem wasn’t it.

The robot, AU-8015, was stationed at a window that led to the expansive storage area that Kronos had noted on his map. The appearance of the droid drew him up short. Kronos had destroyed a fair number of them back on Hod. Then, he had thought of them as metal golems. Now, he understood that they were light combat droids. They were the weakest of the Imperial forces. He had learned that there existed a more heavily armored version, but he had yet to see them. Apparently, they were a variant created after the Expedition had begun its journey to the Afrodull system.

Even though Kronos studied it warily, the droid looked like a helpful shopkeeper ready to present his wares. The absurdity of the situation rooted him in place for a moment.

“How may I help you, Agent Trainee Kronos?” The droid asked in perfect basic.

Kronos frowned at the greeting. He hadn’t realized that the Department had assigned him a rank. With a thought, he pulled up the rank structure of the IID.

Yup, I’m at the very bottom, he thought before closing the list.

As was his way, Kronos took a moment to study the rest of the armory before replying to the droid. The interior was mostly empty with tables lining the entirety of the space. Outside of the service window and two box-like structures at the end of the room. His HUD helpfully identified them as nanite cleaning stations, but that didn’t give Kronos any real clue to their purpose. He could’ve taken the time to consult his intranet link, but decided he wanted to get the visit out of the way.

He walked over to the service window and stared at the bot. It didn’t react to his presence except for the shifting of the red sensors on its head. The small red orbs made a couple orbits around the surface before Kronos replied.

“Hey,” he paused as he thought about how to address the robot.

“Hello, Agent Trainee Kronos. You may call me Screwloose, that is the nickname given to me by the rest of your people.”

Kronos couldn’t be sure, but that sounded like a joke to him so he laughed. “Okay, Screwloose. I was told to report but I wasn’t told for what.”

Screwloose nodded pleasantly. “That is most unfortunate Agent Trainee Kronos. I’ve noticed that most of your kind have little idea what they’re doing or for what purpose. It seems a weakness in your design.”

Kronos frowned at the robot. “Do droids have a sense of humor?”

“No Agent Trainee Kronos.” The droid's voice was calm, but it quickly increased in volume. Thankfully, we were designed to get things done rather than sit at service windows and waste time.” Andros could’ve sworn he heard anger in the combat droids speech.

“Noted,” Kronos responded.

Screwloose didn't have any features to speak of, but it’s eyes did the revolving trick a touch faster. “Are you ready for your initial issue?” It asked.

Kronos looked around to see if someone was playing a trick on him. Since the armory was still empty, he turned back to the window.

“Yes,” he said, before thinking for a second and adding “please.”

“Excellent!” The bot replied before becoming still as a statue. There was a painfully awkward moment while Kronos waited for something to happen and Screwloose’s eyes remained completely inert. The warrior opened his mouth to say something when he was cut off by a panel opening up on the surface of the service window with a pneumatic hiss, and a folded piece of clothing was elevated until it was flush with the rest of the panel. Kronos stared at the garment suspiciously until Screwloose began to explain.

“This is the MK-IV biosuit. It’s a composite nano-weave material that each agent wears under their Combat Utility Uniform or their Frumentarii Armor. In addition to the other benefits of your own biosuit, it can be manipulated using an IID-provided personal control device—or PCD—to cover your mouth, nose, and hands. In such a configuration, it’s useful for basic atmospheric filtration, moisture absorption and recycling, and basic protection from hazardous weather.”

Kronos let the waves of information wash over him. He didn’t understand what a quarter of the words meant, and he resigned himself to spending a couple of hours looking over the details of his new uniform.

“Okay,” he said as he picked up the suit and let it hang in front of him. He looked over the shoulder of the garment while waiting for the next thing Screwloose had to display.

“Please put it on, Agent Trainee Kronos.” The bot’s tone was just as neutral as his description of the biosuit.

Kronos looked around the room, but it was still empty. “You want me to put it on, now?”

“Yes, Agent Trainee Kronos. That’s what I just said.” The robot still sounded serene, but Kronos knew that the bot could be a step away from a volcanic eruption and he wouldn’t be able to tell if it happened.

With a thought, he sent a command through his intranet link to his biosuit. The suit shed itself by separating along the top of his shoulders down to his wrists and from his armpits down to the bottom of his feet. He set the new biosuit on the window while he pulled the boot portion of the suit off of his feed and got completely naked. His twig and berries were blowing in the breeze and when he looked up, the robot’s eyes seemed fixated on his body.

Kronos covered himself with his hands. “My eyes are up here, Screwloose.” He was normally fairly comfortable with himself, but the robot was making the entire experience extremely awkward.

“Put on the new suit Agent Trainee Kronos.” The robot’s voice was low and greasy.

In order to comply with the instructions, Kronos would have to uncover himself.

Fuck, he thought, before quickly grabbing the new suit, and sending it a command through his link. It separated in an identical manner to his first, and he slipped on the boot portion over his feet. At the moment they felt like socks, but he knew the material would harden into something resembling proper footwear once it was completely on.

As he slipped it over his legs, the suit closed around him in a familiar fashion. In a few moments, he was completely clothed. Besides the color, there wasn’t a discernible difference between the new biosuit and the old. As he was about to ask what was next, he saw that a gray metal bracer was now sitting where he had previously taken the suit.

Sweet. I get to use a PCD, he thought.

He was already familiar with the way the bracers functioned. The physical part of the bracer was dubbed the PCD that Screwloose had already mentioned. The suite of software on the device extended his capabilities with the intranet link and was colloquially called an Omni-tool. Once he put it on, the PCD would be hardwired to his biosuit and anything else he used while the Omni-tool was the means of using his intranet link to effect exterior objects. He had already seen them used for things like access control and remote activation of certain technologies. He was sure that was only scratching the surface of the Omni-tools capabilities.

He put the open bracer on his right forearm and it closed with a muted hiss.

“That’s your Mk-IV PCD. Your intranet link will be able to determine its features. Some will be disabled until activated by a Master Trainer.” Screwloose seemed to be in a good mood and Kronos was loathe to disturb the psychotic robot any further.

“Your next item will be a set of CUUs and boots. Your weapons and armor will be in a locker in your room, but they won’t be accessible until approved by a Master Trainer.” As the robot spoke, the last set of items appeared in the window. The clothing was a light gray long-sleeved tunic and trousers combination. He slipped the trousers on and as he went to put the boots on his feet, the rigid form of the biosuit seemed to deflate until it fit more like socks again.

When he put the boots on his feet, they fit loose. After a moment of wearing them, he felt the bottom of the shift until it fit the shape of his foot perfectly. After that, they tightened until they were comfortable on his body. Instead of the trousers laying over the boots, they folded and secured themselves until they rested just upon the tops of his boots. The waistline tightened right after until it fell perfectly across his hips.

He stared at his PCD and then tunic as he realized he had made a mistake. The PCD was supposed to fit over the clothing, not underneath it. With a thought, he detached his PCD and set it on the counter while he put on the tunic. It fit more like a jacket when he put it on for the first time. It opened from the center and it had pockets on both sides of the chest and on the top of each arm. When he put it on, the lapel of the uniform lay flat and it sealed itself in the front.

It was a little loose on his body but as soon as he had the thought, it adjusted itself until it fit his frame perfectly. Looking down at the garment, he noticed that there was no rank or organization insignia to identify him by. Come to think of it, there had been no rank insignia on any of the members of the Intelligence Agency that he had met. He shrugged off the thought and then reattached his PCD.

For the first time in a couple of weeks he felt somewhat normal. It was a soothing feeling to be wearing relatively normal clothing again.

“Is that everything?” He asked Screwloose.

“For now Agent Trainee Kronos. Your armor and weaponry are stored within a locker in your room. They will be inaccessible to you until approved by a Master Trainer for training purposes.” Screwloose went still with a last “Have a good day.”

Kronos left the armory feeling more than slightly confused. With a thought, he pulled up directions to the nearest chow hall and made his way there. When he arrived, he passed through a set of double doors he found a line of intelligence personnel waiting to get food. He fell in line without making a disturbance and watched the various people in the room. None had any armor on and about half were dressed in gray CUUs like him, while the other half were wearing the black uniform that he had originally associated with the institution.

He got his food, some grilled meat, vegetables, and mush that his link identified as mashed potatoes. They didn’t look very appetizing but he saw others digging into them with gusto at the tables spread around the room. He was considering a place to sit when he spotted a familiar face. Zhang was sitting at a table and eating slowly. His eyes had the faraway look of someone consulting their intranet link. Seeing no one around the other man, Kronos made his way toward his erstwhile medbay companion.

When he sat down, Zhang looked up at him in surprise. He quickly swallowed before saying anything. “I didn’t expect you to be here!”

“Likewise,” Kronos replied as he gave the man a sympathetic look. “Are you alright? That scene back in the medbay looked rough.”

A pained expression crossed the man’s face. “You’re telling me. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced so much pain in a short amount of time. It was actually lucky that I passed out.” His face took on a contemplative look. “Although, I don’t think triggering the inhibitor was for my benefit. Seemed like it was for yours.”

Kronos took a bite of his mashed potatoes before replying.

These are actually really good, he decided.

The truth was that he had considered the same thing. Chief Impez needed him to be mobile, but she wanted him to know the stakes right off the bat.

“I think you’re right,” he said carefully while gauging Zhang’s feelings on the matter.

His companion seemed to pick up on it because he grinned. “Don’t worry about me And—“ he cut off abruptly before giving Kronos a closer look.

“Agent Trainee Kronos?” He said in evident confusion.

Kronos sighed heavily. “Yeah, please don’t make a big deal out of it. I didn’t have a choice in the matter.”

Zhang nodded. “You probably had as much choice as I did,” he said bitterly.

Kronos used his intranet to check Zhang’s info.

[Agent Trainee Wei, Imperial Intelligence Agency]

“Well that explains things,” Kronos punched his fork into the grilled meat that his HUD had identified as chicken. He took a bite before continuing. “They get your family too?” He asked, genuinely curious.

“Not family,” Zhang said sadly. “But still some people that I care very much for.”

The two silently ate for a while.

“Why?” Kronos asked.

Zhang could’ve pretended that he didn’t understand the question but he chose to answer.

“Because I’m from Europa.” He picked at the food on his plate before continuing. “My people have been putting the hurt on the Empire for close to fifty years now. I’m sure I’m just one of many rebels they’ve captured.”

It was the first time that Kronos had heard of any rebellion in the Empire. The news was like dousing his head in cold water.

There’s a resistance. I can still get out of this. The thought cheered him.

“I didn’t realize there was a rebellion,” Kronos said carefully as he avoided looking at the other man.

“Where are you from?” Zhang asked incredulously. “Of course there’s a rebellion. The Empire has been consolidating its control over the system for the last two hundred years.” He frowned as he spoke. “They’ve been bloodied by various factions the entire time, but it seems like all that’s about to end. They’re ready for their Great Expansion.”

The way he said the last thing made Kronos feel like it was in air quotes. “The Great Expansion?” He clarified.

Zhang gave him a long look. He was clearly wondering why Kronos was so ill-informed. He decided to cut off the line of questioning.

“Look, I can’t tell you where I’m from. I’m pretty sure that would get me a permanent setting on the inhibitor, but just assume I don’t know anything about the Empire or the Sol system and you wouldn’t be far from the truth.”

Zhang nodded at the explanation and answered the previous question. “The Great Expansion is the Empire’s dream of colonizing the rest of the galaxy. They’ve already got the technology in place. They’ve got FTL travel, QE communications, and a combination of cloning, genetic enhancements, and cybernetic augments to create hardy colonists.”

Kronos didn’t ask him to explain the unfamiliar technology. Instead, he added the subjects to his growing pile of reading material he planned to read later.

“So, where does that leave us?” He asked instead.

Zhang shrugged. “I’m not sure what they’re doing with you. I’m guessing that they’re going to use me to round up the rest of the rebellion.”

Kronos heard the defeatism in the other man’s voice. “Aren’t you going to resist?”

Zhang looked angry. “Of course I am,” he hissed. It took him a second to regain control of his emotions. His face looked tired instead of pissed. “You obviously don’t get it though. Once the Empire has its claws in you, it doesn’t let go. It’s a matter of time before they have complete control over everything in the system. They also have a monopoly on all the technology to leave the system and colonize elsewhere.”

He sighed before leaning back in his seat. “I hate to say it, but they’ve won. It might be better if I just focus on carving out a relatively good existence for myself and the people I care about.”

Kronos grimaced. Zhang’s statement reflected his own situation far more closely than he would like.

The rest of their meal was finished in silence. When Kronos was done, he stood up. “I guess I’ll be seeing you. I don’t know how the training works, but I hope we’ll be together. I could use a friend.”

Zhang echoed his movements. “I have the feeling that we will be. There aren’t many like us in the complex. I’m sure they want to keep a close eye on us.”

Kronos nodded once and then followed the line of people turning in their trays. Having done that, he pulled up the route to his room on his HUD and made his way there. He had reading to do.