His side was hurting more than it likely should have. Jared did realise that after a while, the hard throbbing on his chest being more than he could reasonably bear. The man thought about removing his rib protector, thinking that it would at least relieve some of the pressure on him. Yet he luckily didn't, not wanting to incur the wrath of Cass. That woman had something in her brain that just made it impossible to really defy her orders, even if she bordered on almost doing so, so many times.

Sitting in the grass was a comfortable thing, yet Jared did get up from the sweet and nice ground way earlier than he really wanted to. The man did wait for close to ten minutes before doing so, with the automation in the car telling him it would be all right to wait ten minutes more, yet Jared just couldn't get himself to stay down on the ground. There was too much to do that day, his mind racing a thousand miles an hour trying to reason with himself on just how much of a waste of space he was for slacking off during his working hours. He was getting paid for every minute spent out there, and he was choosing to spend them relaxing? Truly a shame to the work he was supposed to be proud of.

As he stepped into the car and started it up again, however, the man did begin realising just how much of a hypocrite he was for thinking things like that. He had been on the other end so many times throughout his career, forcing other recruits down on their asses so he could give them the time they really needed to relax. He had pushed deadlines, had faced off against the higher-ups, and had taken the consequences from so many failed projects, all so that those below him could get the rest they needed so that they wouldn't burn out from stress before they had even truly begun their adventure as officers.

Maybe it was precisely because he had never truly been on the other end for long that made him this way. Jared had gotten so good at seeing when another needed rest, yet never had there been a moment where he looked at himself. He had never taken a minute of rest, always doing his best to make his underlings live without extreme stress for eternity. But… there weren't any underlings now. Nobody worked under him, nobody needed his protection. He was the only human on tasks, the only one who would ever need to rest.

And even if Jared couldn't see it, the automation beside him was more than ready to tell him to step down. Sure, it took a while for its mind to be settled on that fact, yet the construct had been adamant that he needed to rest. It hadn't even taken a no for an answer.

There had actually been a proposal about making the chief be put on the case instead of him, letting Jared rest in bed for the next few days. The automation had brought up the medical equipment documents and had gone through the various documents spit out after his check-up. On that, it had found his recommended healing process, immediately beginning to question why it wasn't being followed to the letter. It actually wasn't even being followed in general.

Jared wasn't lying in some advanced bed, blowing bubbles, and doing nothing special with his life. He was out and about, carrying quite the weight in equipment while also adamant that what he was doing was acceptable.

The requests for him to strip down completely had been quite surprising, the automation not wanting him to carry any additional weight at all. After having explained the need for him to be out no matter what, due to the constrained amount of personnel available, the automation had wanted to compromise by holding up other requirements for adequate healing more extremely. Refraining from carrying anything over five kilos was supposed to be changed to Jared not being allowed to carry anything at all.

It was safe to say that he had rejected that idea, the man not feeling any need to start a nudist’s path of life this early in his lifetime. It could have been a fun thing to do during retirement, yet he knew it wasn't something that he would be doing for now. In the meanwhile, however, Jared did agree to let go of some of his heavier equipment. Various emergency weapons, scanners, and radios were taken off of him and safely deposited into the banks of the transport vehicle. One good that came from something this big. There was a pocket for everything, even if it wasn't used traditionally.

So… with everything changed around, Jared without most of his professional belonging, and with a drive that made him want to speed up if not for the stupidity of doing such a thing, the two partners began making their way down the street yet again.

It was smooth sailing from that point, really. During the time in the grass, Jared had gotten himself something to eat and drink, his mind surprisingly happy about that choice of actions. His brain felt less fogged up, his actions making more sense, and his muscles according to his desires instead of just moving whenever he felt like it. His legs didn't even seem randomly heavy at that point, making it easy to keep up the pace.

Jared did suppose he could put the car in cruise control, making the speed the same no matter how much he moved his foot around on the speeder, yet the man felt that to be a cheap choice. It was the trick meant to help the newer ones that had only recently started the act of long-distance driving.

In a way, it was a sign of true mastership of the art. If one couldn't do the simple act of keeping one’s speed steady, should they even be allowed to drive? While Jared wasn't one of the elitists who actually used manual gear shifts, he very much still felt that there were some requirements to what one needed to do before they became a driver. Skill and experience were only the starts, certain events needed to be passed flawlessly. What happened during stress, during accidents, during attempted attacks? While the latter might only have been tried and tested on those who wielded weapons on a daily basis, Jared still felt it was a good sign of who deserved to be respected within the skill itself.

And, again, all of these stemmed from the fact that Jared refused to use cruise-control, the cheapest of shots ever possibly taken towards it. Cheap solutions were for idiots and those who didn't want to bother learning how to drive properly. And perhaps for the automation. Jared had never really paid too much attention to how those things drove.

…

Neither had he actually seen one drive. Jared knew that his partner must have driven the car he was currently in right now, yet he likewise knew that he hadn't been there when it happened. How did it work exactly? Did it also use a steering wheel?

Jared knew that the car could be remotely operated, that there was technically no real need to even be close to the thing to access its controls. One could go around on a cruise purely by sitting in the seat opposite when the driver was supposed to be, simply through the use of the proper commands.

Not that anybody really did do so. If there was ever a need to drive the car, the amount of work needed to do it remotely wouldn't make it worth it, the act of doing it inside the vehicle so much easier than anything else. Jared had already known the warnings about the act as well since not everybody was able to control the car well enough when one wasn't in it themself.

Not the automations, though. Apparently, the things had been designed for the task, able to take control of the car if there ever was a need for it. Which… there had been not that long ago, actually. Jared had picked up speed more than he should have, creating a dangerous situation for them both. The wised answer would have been for the automation to stop the car remotely at that point.

Why hadn't the automation done that? It made sense to do, yet the automation had refrained from doing so. Was the automation not in the know about this ability? No… that didn’t make sense. The automations had access to all the information constantly, so the automation should have-

Okay… constantly saying ‘automation’ was getting on Jared’s nerves. There were only so many times that it could be used before even his mind was in pain over it. But, it wasn't like there were many other things to call the automation. It was what he called it, after all, and Jared wouldn't change his opinion. It wasn't like it had a name or anything that set it apart from its identical brothers.

…

That was an idea. A name that could make it so much easier, a name able to make Jared think of his partner in a way that would let him distinguish it from the millions of others like it. Only physically, though. Inside the automation, things were different, its experiences setting it apart so heavily. It had done so much for the man, to the point where he just owed it more than he could ever truly repay.

Giving it a name wouldn't be the biggest payment towards the debt that he had owed to the construct. Not that his partner would ever agree to Jared owing it anything. The man fully understood that the ideas in his head were located in his head and nowhere else. Yet that didn't make it any less true to him, with the man obsessed with making sure that his desires were fulfilled. And his current desire, most of all, was to give the automation a damn name.

“What is your name, by the way?” Jared asked, knowing fully that the automation didn't have it. He had looked through the services to be sure of that at the last moment. A pretty hard task, his attention having been momentarily split in three. One side constantly searched the road for any traps, the third moving his tongue and making the sounds needing to be said, and the third and final side cross-checking every word that he was saying. “It’s getting on my nerves not knowing it.”

“I do not have a name,” the automation said in a dead-pan tone. If there was supposed to be some form of emotion in that, Jared couldn't decipher it. There might have been a thousand different sides or there might have been none at all. The man would never be able to truly decide on which it was.

“Cass’ automation has a name,” Jared pointed out. That was quite the weird face that he had noticed in his search. The automation had apparently designated itself as being called Jules. Quite a weird name, if he was being fair, but maybe that was just the kind of style that constructs liked to be named after. Jared wouldn't judge. “I see no reason why you wouldn't have one as well.”

“There has never been a need for a name in larger circumstances, so there has never been an event where a name-giving has been forced, leaving me nameless,” the automation said right back. Jared briefly grimaced, not sure why it was backing down so quickly on the subject. Was it so hard? What had Cass said to make hers choose a name? Jared would have asked if not for the fact that it would have split up his attention by another notch. He wasn't sure he would be able to deal with that.

“Well, this here is definitely a circumstance that gives a need for a name, so get yourself one of them please,” Jared encouraged, looking over at the automation at the last bit. It was only for a second, though, as the man quickly moved his attention back on the road in front of him.

“... alright,” the automation said. Jared liked that answer.

…

What he didn't like was the silence after the fact. Minutes passed again and again, yet the automation didn't say anything. The man was very surprised it took such a long time. Did they need to create a neural network with a thousand generations to design a single automation with a simple name or something?

“Did you find a name yet?” Jared asked.

“I was of the belief that you were thinking of a name to give me,” the automation answered.

“What? Why the hell would I do that?”

“I believe that’s how the process works normally.”

“For babies, yeah, but you're a full-grown… something. You are fully capable of getting your own name. There’s no need for any other idiots to choose it for you. Now, you have ten seconds, and I will ask you again for a name. You better have one then.”

…

“Do you have a name now?”

“Yes.”

“Well then stop painting me blue and tell me!”

The automation opened its mouth, Jared swallowing in anticipation. He knew it would be great no matter what.