After the colonel and I discussed the battle as it unfolded on the screen, I realized that the higher-ups hadn't implemented any of the counter-measures for the opponents tactics that I'd come up with.

“I'd ask why we're still deploying in the basic pattern at the start of every battle; but I don't have to, do I?”

“No, sir.” The colonel said. “We do redeployment on the battlefield so that our opponent doesn't know what we're going to do beforehand.”

I sighed and rubbed my face. “The resources that could be used to enhance the battle are being used up for movement? Do you realize how much time that wastes?”

“We know the procedure is costly, but...”

I pointed to the Operations folder. “According to this, we lost 15 combat and 4 support personnel.” I said. “That's horrible numbers for a skirmish!”

The colonel nodded. “Like I said, it went on a lot longer than it was supposed to.”

I took a deep breath and let it out. “What's the current schedule like?”

“We've got one set two days from now. It's on Level Six, and eight kilometres out from The Fall.”

“Good god, that's... you can't be serious.” I said and sat back.

“It was voted on by the Council of Representatives, and that was the next spot on the list.” The colonel said. “Of course, now that you're here...”

“Have the System (Military Grade) send me all the relevant data.” I said and stood up. “In the meantime, I've got to get to work.”

The colonel nodded. “I'll have it sent right away.” He said and looked at me with curiosity. “You're going to keep your programming and maintenance job while in active service?”

“I have to.” I said as I tucked the files into my backpack. “Now that my alternate Craig is hurt, I don't have anyone to take up my position.”

“You're also assuming he could do what you do.” The colonel chuckled. “That's never going to happen.”

I smiled. “Good day, colonel.”

“Good day, sir.” The colonel said, and I left the little office. I took the communication pad out of my backpack and called my AI, Amanda.

“Jack! How could you!” Amanda said. “You promised me you were done!”

I sighed and followed the HUD back to the hidden elevator up to General Medic. “Amanda, please.” I said. “Let me explain.”

“There's absolutely no good reason for you to reactivate, Jack!” Amanda said.

I told her what had happened at my mother's grave site and that the vacation house was destroyed, then what I had to do to fix it.

“Well, damn.” Amanda said. “I guess there was a good reason.”

I chuckled. “I'm going to need all my old files brought out of compressed storage, and then I need to get them updated with the current data.”

“Hold on.” Amanda said, and my communication pad went quiet.

I passed through the Military checkpoint without even looking at the guards, and went to the elevator. It opened and I went inside, and it rose up to ground level.

“Okay, I've got them all uncompressed, and I've sent a request to the S(MG). I don't know how long... oh, here it is.”

My communication pad went quiet again, and I left the elevator and walked out of General Medic. I hopped into a Tube car, and it dropped down into traffic. I pulled out a breakfast disc and ate it.

“Jack, this is... oh, boy! Things have changed a lot!” Amanda said a couple of minutes later.

“Good or bad?” I asked.

“Yes.” Amanda said, and I laughed.

“I don't think I need an explanation.” I said. “Let me take a guess.”

“Go ahead.” Amanda said. “You'll never get them.”

“They've finally upgraded the supply chain.” I said and smiled. “They just can't get what they want in the right quantities to where it needs to go.”

“Actually, yes. That's one.” Amanda said. “How did you know?

“It's the military.” I chuckled. “There's always a problem with the supply chain.”

Amanda laughed. “What's next?”

“Hm... well, since I've seen the last battle report... I'd say the next good thing is they've been able to enhance more soldiers faster, but the bad thing is there's not a lot of volunteers.”

“How did you know that?” Amanda asked. “I've seen the last report now. There's no mention of that!”

“No, but the support people that died were cyber-medics.” I said. “Deployments only take them when there's cyborgs with high-tech mods that are new and tend to be buggy.”

“But...”

“There were so many cyber-medics because they needed to keep as many cyborgs functioning as possible. They would only do that if they didn't have a lot of replacements for them.”

The Tube car came to a stop and popped up to the surface, and I got out and walked towards the lobby of my living section.

“What's the last thing?” Amanda asked.

“Now they have me.” I said. “They have an overall battle plan that covered all the fronts; but, with me coming in with fresh eyes, I should be able to help a lot.”

“That's the good part.” Amanda said. “What's the bad part?”

“They aren't going to want my help.” I said and stepped into the elevator to go down to my apartment. “Nor will they think they need it.”

“Yes, that's the impression I got from the S(MG) AI.” Amanda said. “If the higher-ups were birds, I'd say your decision to reactivate has ruffled their feathers.”

I laughed as I stepped out of the elevator and walked to my apartment. “It's going to be interesting to see what they say to me when we meet.”

“When will that be?”

“In two days.” I said and the apartment's door closed behind me. “They've got a skirmish set on Level Six, eight kilometres out from The Fall.”

“Oh, my god.” Amanda said from the vidwall.

I turned off my communication pad and put it back into the backpack.

“They can't be serious.” Amanda said.

“It was voted on and added to the list of sites, so I can't even dispute the location.” I said.

“But Jack, that's...”

“The failed expansion.” I said and put the backpack into a secured storage cabinet because of the military files inside. “I don't know what they were thinking when they chose it as a valid battlefield.”

“Me, either.” Amanda said. “All those people... just... gone.”

I nodded and took off my clothes, then put on a work unitard. “What's first up on the repair list?”

“The Reclamation Compactor.” Amanda said. “George is on his way and should be there any minute.”

“I thought we had that handled.” I said and stepped into the immersion room. “I'm really starting to hate this place.”

The room activated and the mechanical arms loaded me into the collapsible chair that came out of the floor. It engulfed and covered me, and calibrated for me. I still thought it was strange that it had to do that every time I left and came back, especially since I didn't think any of my physical statistics had changed. I shrugged mentally as my virtual work space faded into existence around me, and Amanda appeared beside me.

“You've got two minutes before a valid interface is viable.” Amanda said. “George is moving too fast to establish a stable connection that far out.”

“Switch to floating three dimensions.” I said, and instead of standing up, I was floating in mid-air. It was easier to transition into George's cockpit this way than it was from a standing position. I brought up George's specifications and checked over his status. It was a lot to go through, but I was really good at data acquisition.

“He's at the site.” Amanda said. “Establishing a connection.”

George's cockpit formed around me and I found myself sitting in the pilot's chair of a Mark Six industrial tank.

“Hey, George.” I said.

“Hi, Jack.” George said. “I never thought we'd be back here again.”

I chuckled. “I just told Amanda that I thought we had that problem handled.”

“I wonder what happened.” George asked. “Usually when a Rever squad is introduced, no one goes near them.”

“I know.” I said and looked at the security monitor. “Have you got the scanner up? I don't see the feed.”

“Just a minute.” George said. There was a loud bang, and then the monitor flicked to life.

“Please tell me that you did not just hit a three million dollar electronic scanner with your multi-function hand attachment.”

“I didn't.” George said and chuckled. “I used the actuator arm with the drill bit.”

“George!” I said and laughed. “You can't do things like that. They'll have you brought in for an overhaul if you keep it up.”

“I'm fine.” George laughed. “I can still move.”

I shook my head. “All right, I see... um... nothing.”

“What?” George said and checked the results himself. “Hey, you're right. There's no signals from the Revers.”

“What the hell is going on?” I asked. “No one is supposed to mess with the Revers.”

“Let's find out.” George said.

“Amanda?” I asked. “Can you backtrack the security scans to the last time a signal was given by a Rever?”

“Checking now.” Amanda said. “I'm bringing in Dennis, the archive AI, too.”

“Thanks.” I said. “George? Let's do the basic maintenance and see what we can find.”

“You got it.” George said and started checking the most likely spots for damage and stolen parts. “I found one.” He said and I saw a small cut out panel.

“Okay, that looks professionally cut.” I said. “They used a plasma cutter, too.”

“The processor relay circuit board is gone, too.” George said. “Whoever is taking them, is making sure they take the most expensive parts.”

“Hold on, I'll start a search and see if any of the other missing parts have come up for sale anywhere.” I said and opened a command window.

“You did that before, didn't you?” George asked.

“I did; but, like you said, this is a very expensive part.” I said and typed up the proper commands, then started it. “Either they are using it for something, or they are selling it.”

“And if they used it?”

“They don't have the right parts to make anything that I've ever seen before.” I said. “And believe me, my friend. I've seen a lot of parts and I've built a lot of things; but, this pile of mismatched parts has me stumped.”

“Me, too.” George said and replaced the part, then welded a larger and thicker piece of metal over the top of it. I hovered my hand over the kill switch, just in case of an accident with the torch. It had never happened before; but, I didn't want there to be a first time, and stayed ready to eject the arm attachment if necessary.

“I've got something.” Amanda said and brought up the security scan from three days ago. “This is the last time a Rever signal was sent.”

“George, its on the other side of the Compactor.” I said.

George finished the weld and rolled around the massive installation to the other side.

“Thirty feet... twenty... ten... stop.” I said.

George came to a stop and I saw a 2 foot diameter hole on the back of the Compactor.

“What the hell?” I said and looked at the perfectly shaped round hole that had cut through nearly a foot of solid steel.

“Jack, you know what did this, don't you?” George asked.

“Unfortunately.” I said and sighed. “It's a particle cannon.”

“It can't be.” George said. “They were banned for a reason.”

“Because they were highly unstable, and had a tendency to implode.” I said.

“They also tended to take the user, and everyone else around them, into oblivion.” Amanda said, her voice full of worry. One of her worst fears was losing me in a flash of light. “How could someone do this?”

“I don't know.” I said. “I really don't know.”

“I'm not equipped to fix this kind of damage.” George said. “I'll need to go back to the depot.”

“Cover the hole with an air dome patch for now.” I said. “At least it should stop anything from getting inside.”

George took out three foot square mylar patch, peeled off the back, and stuck it over the hole. He used his torch to heat the glue on the edges and made sure it stuck, then he sighed.

“That looks horrible.” George said.

“It's just temporary.” I said. “Be careful travelling back, okay? I don't want you to suffer a similar fate.”

“I'll be running constant security and movement scans.” George said. “I'll be back soon with a real patch.”

“See you then.” I said, and disengaged the virtual cockpit.

“Jack...” Amanda said as she floated in front of me.

“It's okay.” I said and hugged her. “I'll be careful, too.”

“You better.” Amanda said. “I don't know what I'd do without you.”

“I'd want you to take care of Sandra and the System for me.” I said. “If I'm not here, they are both going to need your help.”

“Jack...”

“I need you to send a copy of the footage and the analysis to you-know-who.”

Amanda shook her head. “I don't want to.”

“Amanda.”

Amanda sighed. “All right, I'll do it.” She said. “But, you know I hate him.”

I smiled. “He'll like it that you do.”

“Ugh.” Amanda said. “Making the connection.” She winced like she felt pain. “Stop that!”

“Ha.” A disembodied voice said. “You never did like the poke function.”

“You don't have to tease my AI every time.” I said.

“Yes, I do.” The voice said. “How are you, Jack?”

“I'm reactivated.” I said.

“I knew you couldn't resist the service.” The voice said. “What is this you've sent me?”

“The Reclamation Compactor was hit by a particle cannon.”

“Oho!” The disembodied voice said. “Someone's a crazy fool!”

I chuckled. “Yeah, and I hope what I sent is residue of an explosion and not a successful test.”

“Ah, I understand.” The voice said. “I'll send a probe out right away.”

“Thanks.” I said.

“You don't have to thank me.” The voice said. “You always send me interesting stuff.”

A second later Amanda winced.

“I said STOP THAT!” Amanda yelled, and the disembodied voice laughed and the connection ended. “I really hate him!”

I gave her another hug, and she brought up a few normal maintenance jobs for me to do while we waited for George to come back. Almost an hour later, George reestablished contact with me and we started making the proper repairs. He had brought the materials and supplies that he needed, and also three security tanks. They were half his size and were tracked vehicles just like him, but they had actual cockpits and real security personnel inside.

George and I finished the repairs, and left the security tanks there to patrol and watch for any possible attacks. I said goodbye to my friend, and Amanda kept me busy for the rest of my shift with all the things that had piled up while I had been gone that morning and visited Sandra in the hospital.