I made it home without incident, which was just like normal; but for some reason, I had expected something weird to happen. I couldn't explain the feeling, especially since I had no idea why I had the feeling in the first place.

Maybe it's just my combat reflexes resurfacing? I asked myself. I'm sure as hell going to need them when I get to the meeting in the morning.

I retrieved my backpack from secured storage and dug out the military files from the battle.

“Amanda? Bring up the footage from the last battle.” I said, and the footage started to play on my vidwall. I went through the Operations file again and watched intently. Once again I checked the inconsistencies, and shook my head. “I'm surprised we actually won that fight.”

A text box appeared at the bottom of the vidwall, and it was from the System (Military Grade) AI.

We shouldn't have.

“That's what's been bugging me, S(MG).” I said. “We were caught in a sudden skirmish that we didn't have any battle plan for, then had new units and techniques used against us. There shouldn't have been any way for us to recover after our opponent broke the front defensive line.”

The redeployment after that changed the tide of the battle, somehow.

“I agree.” I said. “But, I'll be dammed if... Amanda, pause the footage!”

I had been so focused on the action that was happening on the screen, that I had been completely ignoring the aesthetics of the enemy troops.

“S(MG), who exactly were the opponents in this skirmish?”

That information cannot be released over an open communication system.

“Understood.” I said. “I assume I'll get that information in the morning?”

A briefing data packet will be sent to your secured message folder at 0700.

“...and I can't access that outside of your command area.” I said and sighed. “All right, I'll stew in my curiosity until the next time I'm properly secured.” I closed the Operations folder and told Amanda to start the footage again and opened Alyssa's squad folder. I ran through their profiles, and they were all typically normal recruits. The squad itself hadn't been together long, though; mainly because they were all remnants of other squads that had been thrown together.

The notes say it's an experiment to see if they can adjust to change. I shook my head. No wonder they were sent out on a bodyguard mission. I thought. Alyssa was right. They have no interpersonal experience at all. I smiled. Well, I guess it's time to change that.

I looked at the vidwall. “S(MG), am I allowed to issue orders from here?”

One moment, please.

I sat and waited, and a minute later the vidwall blanked out and showed me the colonel as he sat in his office.

“Good morning, sir.” The colonel said. “What can I do for you?”

“First, you can accept my apology for unintentionally bothering you while you're busy.” I said and smiled, and the colonel chuckled.

“You forgot the S(MG) is a bit too literal, didn't you?”

I chuckled and nodded. “I asked if I was allowed to issue orders from home.”

“So it immediately connected you to the chain of command.” The colonel laughed. “Well, you've got my attention now. What can I do for you?”

“How are the repairs progressing?”

“Military, or the special project you signed back up for?” The colonel asked.

“Both, since I've got you here.”

The colonel gave me a quick rundown of the repairs that were necessary for the units being deployed tomorrow, then told me that they already had the vacation house rebuilt and would have the grass and trees replaced by tonight.

“That's great.” I said. “Does that mean a lot of the combat squads are available right now?”

“They're all available.” The colonel said. “You've got their files. What do you want to do with them?”

“I had a crazy idea.” I said.

The colonel snorted a laugh. “Please tell me it doesn't involve storming the Command HQ and telling them you quit again.”

I laughed. “No, I can't do that for... Amanda?”

“They dropped the minimum of a combat tour to six months.” Amanda said.

“Really?” I asked, and the colonel nodded.

“It gives people a much needed break, usually two weeks to a month.” The colonel said. “Then they have the option of redeployment in the same sector or to another combat rotation.”

“I'm glad the higher-ups at least listened to that idea.” I said.

“That was yours?”

I shook my head. “It was one of my subordinates. The time was supposed to be three months on, one month off.”

“That's too much relaxation time.” The colonel said. “Combat soldiers would be going stir-crazy if they aren't being used properly.”

“That was my argument, too.” I said. “Having nothing to do for that long after having so much to do, is actually worse for a soldier than not having a break at all.”

The colonel nodded. “So, what's your crazy idea?”

“I want to throw a community party.”

The colonel laughed for a moment, then noticed I wasn't laughing with him. “You're not serious?”

“I am.” I said and tapped Alyssa's squad folder. “Some of them have never even been to one.”

“There's a reason for that, sir.”

I smiled. “I know, but if almost everyone is a cyborg...”

The colonel thought about it. “Well, as long as we make sure there's a minimum of norm interaction, I think... yes, I think it's doable.”

“I'm glad.” I said. “Amanda? Where's the closest venue to the barracks?”

“Sector J.” Amanda said. “I've already booked the security, and they are sectioning off the walkways right now.”

“Thanks, Amanda.” I chuckled. “Colonel, please pass along my order that the troops will have a community party thrown in their honor tonight. Attendance is not required, but it is recommended.”

The colonel genuinely laughed at that one. “I don't think anyone is going to go against your recommendation, sir.”

I smiled. “Do I have to tell you to order them to have fun, but not too much fun?”

“Yes.” The colonel said. “I'll make sure both messages are heard by everyone.”

“Thank you, colonel.”

“Good day, sir.” The colonel said and the vidwall went blank for a moment, then the footage continued playing.

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Jack?” Amanda asked. “Combat soldiers having fun?”

I smiled and closed Alyssa's squad folder. “With other combat soldiers. It should be fine, but the colonel knows what I intend.”

“What's that?”

“The cyborgs put their lives on the line all the time, to fight for something that's not quite real to them.” I said. “They fight. Some because they like it, some because they are mean and want to hurt people, and some because they're stuck with it.”

“But...”

“Yes, they're cyborgs... but that doesn't mean they all love combat, or want to kill everything they meet, or even have an overactive aggression factor.” I explained. “The one thing that none of them have is a home life. They live, breathe, and die in combat. I want to give them a taste of what it is they are actually fighting for.”

“...and being right before a major skirmish has nothing to do with it.” Amanda said sarcastically.

“Nope, nothing at all.” I said and chuckled.

My AI Amanda and I spend the rest of the day compiling battle reports and statistics, comparing combat results to the terrain and the layout of the battlefield. The both of us knew that this fight was going to be much different than the ones the soldiers normally fought.

There was no open battleground, and no front lines to break or overcome. This fight was going to be dirty and close quarters city street fighting. The main objective was a predetermined spot in the middle of the city. Unlike every other battle that had been fought up to this point, the objective itself was classified.

I hoped it would be revealed in my briefing data packet in the morning, but with the way the higher-ups have been dealing with things, it was only a faint hope and we all would have to wait until we got there to find out what the actual objective was.

I closed everything up and destroyed the files. I shredded them and soaked them with water, and tossed them into the recycler to be burned. Normally I would only have to shred them, but I've been a little paranoid ever since my father's vacation home was destroyed. It was such an odd thing to have happen, and then to discover that my mother's grave had been protected was all the more unsettling.

Amanda told me when it was time to head over to Sector J and the community party, and I had a quick shower, changed into a combat unitard, and adorned the visitor's badge required to enter the cordoned off area. I always had my identification on me; but, I didn't like flashing it around.

People always treat me differently when they find out who I was. I sighed. Who I am.

I left my apartment and went up to the ground floor, then hopped into a Tube car and spent over half an hour watching the other traffic. I was in the express lane, since Sector J was at the very end of the living quarters for everyone in this part of the Cavern. There weren't any slums, but there were definitely differences in the quality of living between working classes.

I had lived there myself, and probably would still be living there if the System AI hadn't moved me without telling me. I smiled as I remembered that day. Everyone was surprised that I had been singled out by the system, but none more so than I was. My life hadn't changed much, despite what some people thought. I still worked every day and I still had fun during my days off. The only real difference was in the people I saw when I stepped out of the lobby.

The tube car came to a stop in Sector J, and when it popped up to the surface, I climbed out and saw the crowd. The Tube car dropped away and was replaced almost immediately with another, this one was full and had four people in it. I opened the canopy for them, and they stepped out and stood a head taller than me.

“Thanks.” An electronic voice said from the closest one. The cyborg's face was just a solid piece of metal, with a long slit across where the eyes should have been. I held in my shudder, because I didn't know if he had been in an accident or had chosen a full cranial replacement on purpose.

Another cyborg, this one a lot more human looking, stepped in front of me as I stepped back and closed the canopy on the tube car.

“You're cute.” She said, and ran a hand down her body. My eyes followed the movement, and she moved the hand back up and cupped one of her breasts. “You can touch them.” She said. “They're the best medical science can provide.”

I looked at her face, and her long dark hair hid her prosthetics well. Even with one eye replaced with an older version of a large optical sensor, I could see she was quite pretty.

“Ma'am, I'd be delighted to manhandle you if I wasn't seeing someone.”

“Ma'am!” The female cyborg said and laughed. “How old are you?”

“I'm thirty six.” I said, and she stopped laughing.

“Really?”

I nodded.

“How did you get into the service?” She asked, and I smiled because I was well past the age considered to be the prime combat age limit.

“It's a secret.” I said, and she smiled back.

“Well, Mr. Secret.” She said, and glanced around to see that her friends were keeping themselves occupied, then leaned down to whisper. “If you're sneaky enough to get into the Military, then you're sneaky enough to manhandle me without anyone knowing.”

“Is that what you really want?” I whispered to her. “A norm to fondle you?”

She nodded several times. “My regular bed partners are all cyborgs. I can't really call them boyfriends, since they usually just visit and go.” She sighed. “None of them ever want to cuddle.”

My eyes widened at her stark admission to someone she had just met, and it reminded me of Sandra's mother Noreen and her craving to be touched. Since I had made that parallel connection, I knew that she was just going to follow me if I tried to just walk away.

“There's a bit of time before the party is supposed to start.” I said. “I won't touch you sexually, but...”

“But?”

“If we can find something for me to stand on, I'd be more than happy to just cuddle with you.”

The female cyborg looked at me for ten full seconds, which was a long time for a cybernetically-enhanced brain, and I heard her optical sensor change modes. “I... that's not really what I wanted.” She said and held a hand out. “But, I'll take it.”

She led me through the gathering crowd to one of the pillars on the side of the living quarters, just out of sight of the Sector's main square, and I climbed up to stand on the bottom ledge of it. It put me just a little above her actual height, and she smiled.

“Cuddle away.” She said and held her arms out.

“Oh, no.” I chuckled. “You're not rubbing your chest on me. Nothing sexual, remember?”

The female cyborg sighed dramatically. “Then how...”

“Turn around.” I said, and she did. “Take a half-step back.”

She was almost close enough.

“Now a quarter step.” I said, and then I leaned forward slightly and tucked my chin onto her shoulder. I rested my ear beside her real ear, pulled up the sleeves of my combat unitard as far as they would go, then put my hands on her hips. She sighed a little, because she thought I was going to stop there. I slid my hands slowly up her waist and under her top, and she took in a sharp breath as I wrapped my bare arms around her torso, just under her breasts.

She almost moaned and hugged my arms. “Won't you... just a little?”

I rubbed my cheek on hers. “Only cuddling.”

“But... they're right there.”

I chuckled. “Do you want me to stop?”

“God, no.” She said and then she did moan. “You're so warm!”

“Well, it looks like norms are good for something after all.” I said and laughed, and she laughed, too. We stood just out of sight of everyone in the main square and cuddled while we waited for the party to start.