Biodroid: Dawn of a New Age

Routine

It was around 4 AM when Ryan woke up, the cold and damp breeze that came in through his room's open window chilled the room and woke him up, rubbing his eyes at the same time he sat on his bed he though 'Here we go, first day of training, I have to be quick or else Ken's gonna make us be late again' so, he stood up and glanced at the clock in the wall, it was 4:22am, 8 minutes until his alarm went off 'nice, minutes to spare'. He moved silently around his rom and to the bathroom, quickly he took a bath and ran his usual routine and came out through the door with half his uniform already on, only missing his jacket and leather boots. It was 4:29 am, 1 minute until his alarm went off so he reprogramed it to the next day, same hour.

He went downstairs as silently as he could as to not wake up his mother, but to his surprise she was already in the kitchen making breakfast.

-"Mom? Why are you up this early?" he asked surprised.

-" Morning to you too, Ryan." She replied with a smile. "You didn't think I would let you go without making sure you had a proper breakfast, didn't you?"

-"Ah... Mom you didn't have to, I'm very capable of making my own breakfast, you don't need to be up this early." he said with a warm tone. For Ryan, his mother Jennifer was the most sacred being in existence, everything he did was in some way thinking about his mother, he joined the EDF academy because he wanted to be like his father, but also because he wanted to protect his mother.

-" It's quite alright sweetie, I love cooking for you, now eat up!" she said as she laid the plate on the dining table. Ryan quickly ate the scrambled eggs with sausages, barely savoring the contrast in flavors and stood up at the same time he drank the glass of orange juice.

-"Thanks Mom, I've gotta run or we are gonna be late again." he said as the donned his jacket and walked through the front door.

-" I know, what would that kid do without you? "she said referring to Ken, For Jennifer knew what 'we' meant and that Ryan was going to pick up Ken to make sure he wasn't late. "Good luck today sweetie" she continued as she bid farewell to Ryan, but to her surprise, he retraced his steps back in and walked straight to her, he hugged her and kissed her in the cheeks.

-" Thanks mom, love you, see you later." and he resumed his way to Ken's house just across the street, leaving Jennifer with a smile and a thought 'He looks just like you back in the day, Ron..."

Once in front of Ken's house, Ryan hesitated in calling his name due to the time of the day, he didn't want to wake up Cpt. Edwards or aunt Aiko, so he looked for a way to climb to the second floor to try and get into Ken's room directly, looking to both sides of the house he identified a tree that could help him so he started climbing it. Half way through the climbing process he started to slip and nearly fell on his back 'that was close, lets try this again' as he encouraged himself to keep climbing, then all of a sudden the front door busted open and from inside came a fully dressed Ken, eyes half closed and both hands inside his pants pockets, he glanced at the tree and saw Ryan trying to climb it and asked:

-" What the hell are you doing, Ryan?" at the same time a deep yawn escaped his mouth.

-" I was looking for a way to get inside your room to wake you up so we wouldn't be late, but to my surprise, you are already up, not only that, already dressed!" said a surprised Ryan as he let himself go of the tree and landed on the tip of his feet with such grace that Ken could only smile.

-"Well, that won't be necessary my friend, as you can see, I am a responsible adult and I woke up all by myself." Said Ken with apparent pride.

-"I bet aunty Aiko gave you a mouthful yesterday and I'm pretty sure that has everything to do with you being up this early." replied Ryan with a hint of humor.

-"How clever of you." Said Ken with sarcasm, this prompted Ryan to smile broadly.

-" Let's go, we can't be late today too, I'm glad I didn't have to wake you up though." he said at the same time he joined Ken and shook hands with him, then both of them started walking towards the center of the village and at the same time they heard movement inside Ken's house, no doubt his parents waking up.

The village was quite silent at that time of the day, only some other academy personnel seemed to be moving around. Ken and Ryan identified two of the members of their cadet platoon, a Female named Yelenna Antonov and a boy named Jean Fritz, they remember them from the entry exams and the welcome ceremony. Jean was a clever and very polite boy, he always had the right answer to any question made during the exams and treated everybody with respect, he featured blonde hair with rounded brown eyes, was as tall as Ryan but less muscular. Yelenna on the other hand was very cold towards everybody, she repelled any male contact and preferred to be around the girls during the exams, she was tall, almost as tall as Ken, with Deep and inquisitive blue eyes, long blond hair and was as brilliant as Ryan, she got the best scores of the whole platoon according to the positioning during the welcome ceremony, she was the first one in the order. She portrayed a well balanced body, trained during her younger years, no doubt.

-"Good Morning Yelenna, Jean. " said Ryan as they converged on the village's main road that directed them towards the academy.

-" Good morning Ryan, Ken, avoiding being late today, I see." joked Jean as he returned the greetings amicably. "I presume you got a really strong punishment yesterday, am I right?" he asked. This time, it was Ken that replied

-"Nah, nothing we couldn't manage, but yes, we are trying to avoid being reprimanded again, how about you guys? Are you ready for the first day of training?" this time, he directed the question to Yelenna who replied with a look of disdain and a simple

-"Bah, what do you care?" and then redirected her face towards the road.

-" You don't need to be so harsh, we are going to be platoon comrades from today on so we might as well try to get along." reprimanded Jean while trying to maintain a good environment between the group.

-"Sigh... We'll see how many of us are left by the end of the week, then we'll talk about being comrades." Yelenna barked at Jean with evident sign of not wanting to continue the conversation. Ken observed Yelenna and tried to find out more about her. Her face was hard and strict, beautiful nevertheless. She walked with an air of command and altruism that reminded him of some of the nobles he'd read about in one of the books Aiko made him learn. Nothing seemed to allow him to distinguish anything else, she noticed him and stared back at him with eyes so full of disapproval that made him look forward instead, a bit embarrassed.

-" Jean, what do you think of our platoon commander?" Asked Ryan changing the subject while keeping the brisk walk towards the academy.

-" I've heard about him from my parents, he is quite capable pilot and very dependable, they said he was second only to your father, Ryan, and Cpt. Edwards of course, in biodroid combat." Jean looked at Ryan with compassionate eyes as he waited for his reaction to the mention of his father, feeling ashamed for his lack of manners.

-"Yes, that's the same information I've got of him." he politely replied with a warm smile that made Jean feel a little better about mentioning Lt. Walker.

-" Lt. Cruz is a very proficient pilot and capable leader, we are lucky to have him as our platoon commander." replied Yelenna to everyone's surprise.

As they reached the immense front double doors of the academy, that where already open inviting the new cadets to get inside, they saw the remainder of their platoon, 2 of them, Emma Pereira and Sylvia Decker were talking to each other and turned around and smiled when they saw Yelenna and the rest walking through the door, the other was a male cadet named Maximilian Evans, he was resting his back on a wall and inspecting everyone that came in. As they walked towards the pair of girls, Ryan couldn't help but notice Emma first, she was a very attractive girl, with long brown hair that curled towards the end, big green eyes with such warmth that Ryan couldn't look away from them for several seconds, her smile was wide and radiated joy. Then Ryan noticed her body, symmetrical, curvy and well proportioned. All in all, Emma was a beauty by anyone's standards. Sylvia, Ryan dared look after carefully inspecting Emma, was no short of gorgeous herself, the daughter of the Hero Sgt. jessica Decker, Sylvia featured big brown eyes hided behind glasses, her hair was also long but straight and tied into a ponytail, she also had a good formed body, probably trained as well as she looked a bit more muscular than Emma, but she wasn't as tall as the rest, she was probably the shortest of the whole platoon. Her most distinguish feature, to Ryan's surprise, was the lack of life in her eyes, even though she smiled at them, her eyes seemed dark and secluded.

-" Good morning fellow cadets! My name is Emma, Emma Pereira!" greeted a cheerful Emma while hugging everyone, Yelenna pushed her aside

-" That's enough of your cheerfulness, it's too early for you to be this happy." she said.

-" It's never too early to be happy!." said Emma with a bright smile that all three of the males couldn't help but contemplate.

-" Morning Ms. Emma." replied Jean with a bit of embarrassment, while looking to the ground.

-" Stop calling me 'Ms. Emma', Jean, Emma is fine." she said cheerfully. then continued "Hello, Ryan, is it?" while directing her eyes towards him.

-" Yes, Ryan Walker, pleasure to meet you Emma!" replied Ryan with such education that Ken looked at him in disbelief.

-" The pleasure is all mine Ryan, and you are...?" she asked Ken directly.

-" The name is Ken, my pleasure, Emma." he said with half a smile on his face.

-" Just 'Ken'? no surnames?" asked Emma politely.

-"Sigh...His name is Ken Edwards." replied a voice from outside the group, to which everyone looked towards the person that was speaking, it was Maximilian Evans.

-" Ken...Edwards....as in...Cpt. Edwards's... son?" Asked Emma in disbelief.

-"...Yes, Cpt. Nicholas Edwards is my father" replied Ken while directing a glare at Maximilian.

-" I can't believe I am in the same platoon with the sons of three heroes..." She said while looking at Ryan First, then at Sylvia and then Ken.

-" Their parents are heroes, they are mere cadets, we'll see who's a hero after we become pilots, IF they ever make it..." said Maximilian while walking towards the group with a very condescending voice. Maximilian Evans was a fair looking boy, his most prominent feature was the way he handles himself with sophistication, he was as tall as Ken, if not taller, with trimmed dark hair and brown eyes, he was skinny but didn't appear weak. Maximilian looked down on most people and believes he is the next Captain of the EDF.

-" Shut up Maximilian..." Said Sylvia while interrupting him.

-" The name is Sylvia, Sylvia Decker, yes, Jessica Decker was my mother, yes I still mourn her lost, no I don't need anyone to be my friend, I can take care of myself." said Silvia in a very stoic tone, like Ryan's father, Sylvia's mother, Jessica, died during the Callx incident.

-" Sylvia... " Said Emma with a caring voice, then continued "Everyone needs friends, we are comrades, brothers and sisters... we..." as she was interrupted by Sylvia

-" Emma, that's enough, I don't need anyone to feel pity for me, lets go, Lt. Cruz is already at the meeting site. " she said abruptly, ending the pleasantries and pointing towards where Lt. Cruz was.

As they walked towards the training site, Lt. Cruz was waiting for them with his arms crossed in front of his chest, he was wearing his pilot suit instead of the ceremonial clothes he wore during the day before.

-"Greetings cadets, Form up in the order you did yesterday." he ordered, the order was as follows: Front row, from left to right, Yelenna Antonov, Ryan Walker and Ken Edwards, Back row, from left to right belonged to Maximilian Evans, then Jean Fritz, Sylvia Decker and lastly, Emma Pereira. This was the group of cadets that were accepted this year, they had other groups of more advanced cadets that were either Pilot Candidates or transferred to the Research team.

-" Alright, this is the formation required any time you are called to formation or 'Form-up', this is the order in which your grades placed you among your peers. As you might recall from yesterday, Dr. Fu said that there is not enough resources for everyone to become a pilot, in fact, I doubt any of you become a pilot in the foreseeable future due to the more advanced groups of cadets that are already Pilot Candidates." here, Yelenna let out a disappointed and very audible 'Tsk' that caught Cruz's attention

-" Is there a problem Cadet Antonov?" he said while directing his face towards her.

-" What's the point of being a cadet if there is no way of becoming a pilot, then?" she asked with a very serious tone, to Cruz's surprise, it was Ryan who answered her

-" Because there is no certainty that the groups that are ahead of us make it to pilot, they might not be able to form a soulmate link with any of the biodroids and as such, the opportunity will move to another pilot candidate, until every Biodroids finds a suitable Pilot." he finished without looking towards Yelenna, then it was Cruz who spoke

-" Correct, Cadet Walker, the reason is as simple as that, but, both of you spoke out of line and without permission, so, both of you run 2 laps around the training field, now!" he ordered as both of them replied with a "Yes Sir" at the time they both started running, Cruz continued

- "The very nature of the resonance link implies that pilot and biodroid need to share the same wave pattern, Biodroids are alive like we are, they feel fear, they feel excitement, like you and me, hence why is so important that the brain patterns are symmetrical, or at least, as symmetrical as possible, once you join your mind with that of a Biodroid you cease to exists by yourself, you become one with your Droid, what you feel, he or she feels, and vice versa." here, a hand was raised, it was Emma, "Yes, cadet Pereira?" asked Cruz

-"I'm sorry Sir 'He or She'? Care to clarify?"

-" Yes, you see, I've been telling you that the Biodroids are alive and as such, they develop a sense of self, a personality if you wish, most of them identify as male or female, they want to be named as well and evolve as such, my soulmate is a female biodroid that goes by the name of 'Joss'."

-"So you have to name them too?" Asked a seemingly exasperated Maximilian.

-"Cadet Evans, 2 laps to the training field 'pronto', and to answer your question: Yes, it's part of the first mind join session." as Maximilian started jogging, the other 2 resumed their places in formation as they completed their 2 laps.

-"What I need you all to understand is that becoming a pilot, be it the cadet with the best grades" and here he looked at Yelenna "or the cadet with the worst discipline" here he looked at an amused Ken "is difficult, yet, attainable." he continued explaining the daily routine which started at 0600 and included morning physical training, then studies in both robotics and warfare, then lunch in a large room, then back to the training field to receive the Biodroid's description, mechanical capacities, weaponry and every detail of the BioResonance System as a whole, the resonance link connection, everything was planned ahead of time and the academy had scheduled every class, subject and study plan, this Cruz explained in detail, and then concluded

-"Is all of that clear, Cadets?"

-" Sir, yes Sir!"

- "Are you ready to become Pilots?" he asked in a stronger tone.

-"Sir, Yes Sir!"

-" Alright cadets, its almost 0600, lets start your training with the physical routine, 50 laps to the training field, 'pronto'!" as they started to jog in formation he thought 'Here we go, Ken, Ryan, Yelenna, Maximilian, Jean, Emma, Sylvia, we are all counting on you'.

As they ran and Lt. Cruz counted the laps, he noticed movements at the academy's front door, it was Cpt. Edwards with a very rare sight on the academy, his wife Aiko Izumi next to him 'What is she doing here?' he thought as he waved at them, to which they responded in kind and continued their way towards the main building, he turned back to the platoon and kept counting the laps and imagined that Aiko was here to work with Dr. Fu on whatever she came up with 'if she is here then Dr. Fu means business' he thought as he prepared for the next set exercises of the routine.

......