"It might be beneficial to go and see our Standby Unit," Cadr replied carefully as he stood up. "To get familiar with the mechanics and all." He knew it wasn't a good idea to 'tell' Lily to do anything; suggestions seemed to be a much better course of action. At least, for now, until they were more comfortable around one another. "We get a Standby Unit as a standard assignment, and every pair has one, so it would be a good idea to become familiar with ours." He paused for a moment when the doors of the cafeteria opened and A young man, barely through his teens pushed his way through the other people in the room.

"Are you-- Are you Cadr Ahern?" he asked, looking up at Cadr with wide eyes. Cadr could see smudges and scratches on the kid's glasses, but they didn't seem to effect him at all.

"Yes," Cadr replied. It was all he could do to keep his voice neutral, rather than slightly curious and incredulous at the same time. The kid's eyes seemed to widen even further, and he broke out into a grin.

"Finn Finnegan, sir, it's a real honor," he babbled. Cadr blinked. "I can't tell you how completely honored I am to be working with you. You're the best and the brightest from the Academy, and you're connected to the very first Guardian unit!" He paused, and backtracked. "Of course, you already know that, sir, excuse me, I'm just so thrilled to be working with you and your unit." Finn spoke very quickly, and seemed to have a tendency to talk with his hands. Cadr wanted very much to ask who the hell the kid was, exactly, but he couldn't find a tactful way to do it. After a moment, he gave up on tact and sighed.

"Kid, who are you?" he finally asked. Finn stopped babbling.

"Oh! Sorry, sir, I should have mentioned," he said. "I'm the engineer of your assigned Standby Unit. I just couldn't sit there and wait for you to make your way down, not after I heard that I was on your Standby team! I just had to come and see you in person!" He seemed to be bouncing on his toes as he spoke, looking more like an excited kid on his birthday rather than a skilled engineer.

"Hey! Promy is MY guardian unit," Lily huffed at the kid as he showed up, folding her arms, "How rude, really. He may be the Operator but Promy was built for me." She stared blandly at the kid, "Finn Finnegan.." She stopped on this, her face changing completely as she realized what she was hearing, "Finn Finnegan.. Finny Finnegan, Finius..? Felonius? Finny Finn-Finn Finnegan..!" The more she rolled the variants in her mouth, the more she began to chuckle to herself, mocking the name. As she finally stopped, moving towards the exit with a bright grin on her face, she looked back to Cadr and finn,
"Your parents were totally on some kind of medication when they came up with that. Your mother more than your father most likely.." She shrugged to herself and chuckled again, stopping at the door then grinning back at them,
"I mean look at me, Liliana Gallus." She stated it firmly and just loud enough for it to be heard. The cafeteria came to a dead-pan halt, all of those who'd heard the name looking in her direction. She was related to the Commander?!
No-one knew of the Commander having family at all. And the truth was he didn't, but Liliana needed a full name to be registered and as that old man had decided to consider him a daughter she'd ended up with that name.
She looked around at the closer faces then chuckled out loud again, making her way out.

She couldn't resist that.. There would now be those who were afraid to try anything just because of this apparent tie to the Commander. Seeing that look on their faces had made her day, but she was far from done, she'd be seeing it again when she proved her capabilities out in the field. Even if she had to do it again and again.
Of course she had to keep a slow pace while leaving, for effect and so she could wait for Cadr and the excitable boy to catch up with her and Prometheus. She didn't exactly know where to go since she was not here to see the Standby Units instituted.

Any normal person would have used their head, literally, downloaded the maps and found their way, but where was the fun in not learning it herself?
There was also now growing murmurs and complaints in the cafeteria about Liliana and obviously none of it was pleasant..

"I consider myself lucky," Finn said to Lily. He seemed uncharacteristically serious for a moment. "I have a cousin literally named 'Mister.' I'm a firm believer in 'it could always be worse.'" Clearly, Finn had either learned to ignore such teasing about his name, or just took enough pride in it that such teasing didn't bother him. "And I've heard every variation from 'Fish Finns' to 'Skinnigan,'" he added. Clearly the former. His expression brightened again. "You must know everything there is to know about the unit, then, right?" he asked. His attention had shifted away from Cadr almost completely, although Cadr himself wasn't too annoyed by that fact. Finn was a little hyperactive for his tolerance level. He followed the two as Finn trotted off after Lily. The 'internal' conversations from the cafeteria gradually got more and more disjointed until Cadr's cyber brain disconnected from that particular wireless with a digital 'click.' There were other wireless networks barely within range, but the signals were weak enough that his cyber brain didn't automatically hook into them. He had his settings configured so that he wouldn't automatically log into any signal with less than three bars.

Cadr knew the way to the garage-slash-hangar that the Standby Units were kept in. Every potential Operator was taken there at some point in their training, so observe how already-established teams interacted with their Standby Units. He watched as Finn practically bounced over to an already-lit space, a look of pride on his face. He clearly enjoyed his job, and was more than excited to finally be able to show off his skills to an Operator-Pilot team.

"Know? That doesn't even cover it buddy-boy, Promy and I were literally made for each other." She stated, striking apose with some sort of pride on her face, Prometheus lumbering along behind them with the heavy-sounding steps that the surprisingly heavy machine made. Physically there was no human who could just wear a Guardian unit. The materials used were dense, heavy, too much to just be worn as armor, which was why it had its own muscle structure to support it. In particular the nanomite substructures within the armor that would construct the necessary tools were so tightly packed together that the density made it heavier than a standard truck.

"For example, the armor plates on standard Guardian units is Zeratanium alloys reverse-engineered from Ixarren war cruisers that were downed in the previous war? Prometheus uses Super-hardened Ovarium 8, it's a rare, dense compound found on some comets that have been caught in the past. The muscle structure of Promy is also a heavy hardened weave with nanomite injectors built into each limb as opposed to the standard central repair system of mass production models, meaning she has five separate auto-repair systems, including the one in her torso, and compensators for sustained long-term battles," She seemed to count all this information as if it were clearly rehearsed, and she certainly talked proudly about it. Her sense of superiority was still quite attached to her words though, having Promy made her feel like she really was pretty much better than anyone,
"All-in-all, Promy's better in every way."

The pilot stepped through into the garage, staring across from the catwalk at the collection of standby units parked inside the super structure. There were a lot of them, people milling about, doing their work. Transports were carrying resources and materials to various units, fuel lines feeding into the ones that had just returned. THe best way to describe them was alot like old time big-rig trucks, but with a lack of wheels. They were capable of sustained flight, not exactly built for aerodynamics, but they were built sturdy, veritable floating tanks. Their cargo holds were where the Guardian unit would sit in wait, it served as living quarters out in the city since they would practically patrol at all hours.

The reason they were called standby units was because they would be assigned a location within the city to wait for an occurrence, almost like sleeper agents. But generally the work was always boring until an Ixarren war machine broke through. So until then it was just a case of more drills, writing reports, all the other boring nonsense lily would obviously not even give a rats ass about.
No she was out and about for the first time in her life, she had more interesting things to do. If she was going to be awake she may as well glean some enjoyment out of it.
"Oh great... Please tell me that guy's the pilot.. But a female Guardian Unit..? Really..?" A dull voice came from behind them, a bored, irritable looking woman was staring at them blankly, "Talk about getting in touch with your feminine side.." she commented, pulling a weak sort of snort as she lurche dpast them, but Lily put her hand son her hips,
"Hey! I'm the pilot!"
The woman froze and stared at her for a while before her face dropped a little,
".. And here I was hoping we'd live longer.."
"Wh-what?!" Lily sputtered, watching the dull woman walking away towards one of the units, "Who the heck are you?!" She questioned, surprisingly enough she was actually ruffled by the rather obvious insults or perhaps misjudgements, either way the woman had somehow gotten under her skin.
"I'm Sunny S. Miles.. The driver for our unit.."
There was an awkward silence as Lily ran it through her head,
"Sunny Smiles..?" She asked, snickering a little, the woman didn't react, instead just carried on towards the large truck, Lily meanwhile looked at Finn, "Do all humans have parents with bad naming tastes?"

"No, I think we're just lucky that way," Finn replied. He thought the exchange between the two women was amusing as hell, and was trying not to dissolve into laughter. He knew he was definitely going to enjoy working with Lily. She knew her stuff, and she was highly amusing to watch with other people. He could just tell that this was the beginning of a B-E-A-utiful partnership.

Cadr couldn't quite smother a snort when he heard the driver's name. He had to side with Lily on this one; Finn Finnegan was one thing, but Sunny Smiles? No, there was no redeeming that one. He knew better than to comment, though. There were all kinds of ways the driver could get back at him, and he didn't want to invite that kind of trouble.

"Yes, Lily is the Pilot," he said instead, following the driver towards the truck. "I was assigned as her Operator." He looked at the outside of the truck, although he didn't really know what he was looking for. It was just an excuse to get closer and maybe get a few more words out of... Sunny. He still couldn't reconcile that name with the person attached to it. It just wasn't happening.

Sunny calmly held her hand out to one of the trucks, how she could tell it apart from the others visually was anyone's guess, but she could see the registry of every vehicle in the lot, she could also do the same for vehicle identification off base. She was linked into the traffic network and general geographic distribution centres. It helped to have all this information as a driver.
The unit shifted forward, lifting off the ground with a hiss then a soft hum as it hovered to the launch bay, it turned slowly, the side obviously a mass of thick locks and constructs plated with armour before it opened up towards them, creating an extended platform for the driver to climb up onto, a stairway extended tot he ground, letting them all on board quite easily. there was a docking unit inside for the Guardian so it could be at rest, the bunks for the team could also be seen nearer the back end, where the armour of the unit was thickest.
The inside was laden with tools, computers, a couple of dispensers,
"This unit is my baby it was part of the training sector but I got it working by replacing and fixing everything from the ground up, I have buffed it, shined it and I have cleaned it, if anyone scratches the pain, I will bury them so deep no-one will find them. And I will get away with it.." She stared blankly at the three, "Welcome to your new home." She added, grimacing at the sight of Lily again, ".. Go to the Academy they said.. You'll earn a great wage they said.." She muttered, turning away from them and carrying on into the cockpit her last phrase coming quite clearly, "We're all doomed.."

Liliana stared at the glum woman, then to Cadr with a raised eyebrow before shrugging and looking to Prometheus. the unit shambled along to its place within the truck and relaxed, seeming to naturally know where to go as automated connections were made.
"Hey Finn," Lily started, staring at the young engineer, "Try not to break anything on Promy. While Sunny might want tog et away with it I'll proudly admit to turning you to dust and blasting you off into space if she's not at 100%. Got it?" Liliana threatened with a grin on her face before heading towards the apparent bunks and staring at them for a while, "Huh.. I haven't slept in a normal bed for.. A long time.." She wondered out loud, prodding at one of the lower bunks. She never could quite replicate the feeling in stasis, "I'm going to take a nap.. if you have any questions you know where to look." She yawned, stretching her small frame before pretty much rolling onto the bed and placing her hands behind her head.

Cadr just watched Sunny walk off. She was definitely something he would have to get used to. By the time he turned his attention back to Lily, she'd already claimed one of the bunks for her own and was sound asleep. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and resigned himself to waiting for the novelty of the real world to wear off for her. Sitting down on the edge of the platform, he let his cyber brain 'explore' the Standby Unit. It had its own wireless router, turning it into a surprisingly complex hotspot. There were more firewalls than he'd seen in a while, and there were three passwords he had to put in to even get access to the wireless itself. The passwords were in the files he'd gotten from the Commander, though, so that wasn't a problem. Once he was into the wireless, it acted like a typical network; it let him out onto the general Global, it let him onto the network for the base, and it had open-access files containing the latest reports about the Standby Unit itself. He could only see one user besides the suit itself actively on the wireless, FinnSq. Cadr smothered a snort. Finn Squared? Amusing, if nothing else. After indulging in a brief chuckle about that, he opened the file Lily had given him and started to 'read.'

Finn, on the other hand, was happily distracted by the Guardian Unit. He had started all of the cursory examinations like a good little mechanic should, although there were some things he wouldn't be able to look at until either Lily or Cadr could activate the systems for him. He was alright with waiting on those, though; Lily was napping and Cadr was busy with something else. Finn had gotten a notification when Cadr had signed into the network, but the Operator had immediately opened up a document, so Finn wasn't going to bother him. Besides, he had more than enough to do with making a chart of the Unit's baseline statistics. It was something he liked to have, kind of like a cheat-sheet for later, so he would know at a glance what was normal and what wasn't until he was more familiar with the nuances of the suit itself.

There was one other user in the unit, however it had remained inactive until Sunny found herself at the helm of the advanced truck, without much warning, the side platform lifted itself up, settling against the side of the unit and locking down before the machine itself lifted from its place, proceeding out of the bay and out into the open. At the same time another user appeared on the Unit's internal network, SunMiles. If it wasn't already clear who it was then some-one would have to be a fool.

Sunny had her own instructs of things to do, such as locate their standby point, plus she seemed too active int he network itself to be able to concentrate on anything else. If anything it had all come to an awkward pause. Finn was busy, no doubt curious about the wonders of the Prometheus unit.
The unit itself had remained stable and quiet since Lily fell asleep, yet it still hummed with life as it sat in its solitude. But there was something else. Something only Cadr could see. As was typical with a networked interface there were various utilities and programs that could bring themselves to attention and in this case Cadr was the one receiving a notification, however this wasn't automated. It was a small symbol, with the numbers 00 printed across it.
A line of text appeared next to it as he would have remembered from before.
Dont forget me

And only Cadr would have seen the distorted silhouette of the Lily from within the pilots mind appearing in his field of vision, it was an attempt to reach him, to communicate with him again. In all respects it actually shared the earmarks of a hacking attempt into some-ones cyber-brain but Lily had direct access. Whether Cadr knew it or not, she wanted to speak to him again.

Cadr did indeed see it in the corner of his vision as he was reading the file. The text scrolled across the bottom of his 'eye screens,' and the notification was unusual enough that he paused what he was doing. He didn't usually get notifications like that, so he minimized the file window and turned his full attention to the notice. His brow furrowed slightly when he realized that he did remember that phrase, from when he first linked up with Lily and the suit. As soon as that thought was confirmed in his mind, the blurry figure swam into view. He blinked once or twice. There was no way anyone would be able to hack into his cyberbrain... He had state-of-the-art software to prevent just such a thing, and the programs that were connected to his external senses were only accessible internally; he either had to save and compress a file to share or link physically to a projector for someone else to 'see what he was seeing.' There shouldn't have been any way for someone to get into his head. He stopped when he saw that the figure was slowly resolving itself into the image of Lily from the initial link-up.

That was interesting.

He hadn't thought that she would want to talk to him again like that, not once she was out in the 'real world.' She didn't seem too keen on wireless digital communication once she was out of the stasis tank. In fact, he hadn't noticed her talking to anyone at all on a wireless network since she'd woken up. She always spoke to people physically. So what was going on now?

The distorted figure of Lily got closer to Cadr, leaning in closer as it had done before, though perhaps not with leaping at him this time, and kissed at his cheek softly. Regardless of it were just an image or not, the feeling was there. And as before the world seemed to peel away to reveal the one within Lily's mind, the same grass fields outside the Juno 2 MegaCity, the same peaceful, beautiful sky, everything remained calm, as did the incarnation within Lily's mind as she smiled, tilting her head softly,
"Hello.." She started quite simply, crossing her hands behind her back, frowning a little, it seemed almost wrong on the gentler sides face, "I take it you met the other me."

As Sunny drove out through the city the location of where they would be waiting and patrolling was revealed to her by the Head Quarters. The city was a great giant of steep ad silver looking skyscrapers, open parks. Every MegaCity was literally a utopia because they tried to keep it that was. If they wanted something done, these days it was cost effective, technologies had advanced far enough that construction and reconstruction was no longer a major issue with the less-important parts of the city.
She frowned at that idea.. The less-important parts.. Like residential areas.. It was a stupid way to go about things. They built these Megacities as a survival measure against the Ixarren war machines, and civilians were still considered less-than-important.

As she programmed the route into the unit she turned out of her seat and walked into the ready area, everyone had gone quiet, the kid was admiring the suit, Lily was asleep and Cadr was.. Evidently staring into space..? She found herself wandering up to where he was and waving a hand infront of his face,
"... Okay, that's just weird.. Is this guy sleeping with his eyes open..?"

Cadr took a moment to look around. It was the same place as before, with the same calm, gentle atmosphere. He wasn't sure how she was able to create such a place, but he was impressed.

"I think it was a little hard not to meet her," he admitted after a moment, looking back at the image of Lily in front of him. "She's very forceful." He opened his mouth to ask why they were two separate personalities, but stopped himself. There was no real, tactful way to ask such a question, and he didn't want to just bluntly ask. "So, why go to all the trouble of trying to hack my cyber brain?" he asked instead.

All of a sudden, his ocular sensors detected and tracked movement, relaying information back to his cyber brain that something was moving right in front of his face. It snapped him out of the conversation and back into the real world, and he blinked, a bit disoriented. It took him a second or two to realize that Sunny was in front of him.

"What?" he asked, mentally shaking himself a little. "I was going over some files, what do you need?"

"Hack..? Oh.. Well I.." She looked aside as though sensing something before smiling weakly at Cadr as his attention was diverted from her world, she could tell things were breaking apart and he'd be back in the real world, or rather his consciousness would be. She could get him back, she realized this much. And while it had resembled a hack attempt, the earmarks of such a thing weren't available, no aggressive changing of code. There was still one thing, however, what looked like a residual code beneath that symbol Lily had placed within his sight. It was a two-way link, a bridge between Cadr and that world. The inner existence that remained within Lily's mind.

"Gyah! Fuck!" Sunny responded when the man woke up, jumping back slightly, "Geez, I thought you were, like, sleeping on the spot," She replied, her left eye twitching a little, she had an obvious nervous disposition under the dull expressions, most likely psychological issues but she'd proven competency to function normally, even above the norm of some students.
"Just.. close your eyes or something when you're gonna go cyber-walking or something, its creepy when people keep their eyes open." The driver shuddered, going to the locker storage in the unit, they had all the basics they needed here, if they needed anything personal they could just go to their homes, though Sunny practically lived out of the unit so she knew just about everything to do with it.
"It looks like we've been assigned to Sector 3-14, dont ask me why but the brains up top have predicted it to be the hotzone for Ixarren raids in the coming months.."

Now that he was back in the 'real world,' Cadr could see that little symbol in the corner of his vision. It looked almost like a simple, stylized flower, small enough to be out of the way when he was doing other things, but still noticeable if he was looking for it. He relaxed a fraction when Sunny didn't ask what files he was going over. He wasn't used to making up excuses on the spot like that, and to be honest, he was kind of surprised that it worked. Hopefully it would hold out for a little longer.

"I don't like to close my eyes when I do that," he said carefully. "It makes it easier for people to sneak up on me when I close my eyes like that." He quirked an eyebrow slightly at her and then glanced around. Finn still seemed absorbed in the suit, which didn't surprise him. For all of the kid's excitability, he seemed very passionate about his work. Cadr thought briefly about where Sunny told him they'd been assigned. He vaguely recognized the sector number, although he'd never been to the sector himself. There could always be worse places to be assigned, he supposed. He would have to see how things worked out before he decided whether or not it was a good place to be assigned, though.

"Yer in a heavily armoured vehicle with enough fire-power to take on a battleship, super-suit included," Sunny thumbed over to the Guardian that the kid was still admiring so adamantly, "I think it's safe to close yer eyes," She continued with a bit of a blank look to go along with her relatively sarcastic retort, then hauling out a rather heavy-looking weapon from one of the storage units, it was a Class 3 Gigas Missile-Launcher, along with what looked like a belt of rockets to feed into the weapon. Things like that were designed for anti-Ixarren purposes, in fact most weapons these days were produced at their highest end to try fighting them off.

Sunny dragged the weapon over to a work table, setting it up, probably to open it up and work on it, there was actually evidence of a lot of modification on the interior of the unit. Patch jobs, rewiring, it was all relatively neat except for the fact that the metal was discoloured and rough here or there and the wires had mismatched binders and sleeves. While she could exactly hot-wire a Guardian Sunny was the all-round engineer that would jury rig whatever she could to get the job done, though there may have been some questions about her modifications to the unit if she'd actually let anyone in before today..

"So, some little cyber-birdies just told me I'm hauling around super-suit numero-uno, an ice queen and Mr. IQ himself, any comments?" Sunny questioned with a wry smirk, idly tearing open several plates on the lethal launcher before trotting about to find other wires and materials, "I mean if all we're doin' is heaving about a relic, a skinny little attitude problem and a big brain, I think we're doomed.."

"Of course, you could also be toting around someone completely incompetent," Cadr pointed out casually as Sunny ran her commentary. Okay, so he was a little smug about being top of his class in the Academy. A little. "You know, the average Academy ignoramus with a bargain-bin cyber implant and a typical Suit." He smirked just slightly. "Then you'd really be doomed." Okay, so he was joking with her just a little, but really, she seemed like she could use it. Maybe. He looked over at Finn, and saw that the kid had pulled a portable keyboard out of seemingly nowhere and had hooked it up to the input ports at the base of his skull. He was typing away cheerfully at whatever it was he was working on in his head.

"What're you working on, Finn?" Cadr asked after a moment. Finn glanced over, a little distractedly.

"Notes about the baseline stats of Prometheus," he replied. "Normal operating parameters when idle, low-grade programs that are always running, things like that." He grinned. "This thing is a programmer-engineer's dream, and I'm figuring out everything I can right now before I start trying to get its normal active operating parameters straight." Once Lily woke up, Finn would ask her about setting up a low-grade running link to the suit so he could keep track of the suit's stats, similar to how Cadr would be able to. It wasn't typically something an engineer would do, but Finn liked to keep on top of things, and didn't want to have to rely on Cadr for the information he would need to do it.

Cadr's prospect of what could be a worse kind of doom couldn't be argued with but she wasn't about to satisfy his response with a positive answer, staring at him in her same dull fashion before getting back to work on the launcher, however her head turned toward the cockpit. The systems were telling her that they were close. She huffed a little before sauntering back into the cockpit and taking manual control. They needed a shaded area so as not to be spotted right away, there were a couple of military owned warehouses in the sector that could act as a nice camping spot.

Programming in the flight path again to make sure it went smoothly she guided the unit down towards the warehouse and remotely overrode the controls, they were old sot he locking mechanisms were essentially crap. The machine slid in with ease, turning itself and aiming forward, out of the location. After a moment it settled on the ground, a plume of dust spreading out on the impact as some hydraulic legs spread out, suspending the hefty truck. She'd go over the requisition forms later so they could designate this as their official base, perhaps get a few techs and cleaners in to fix the place up, but for now she needed to concentrate back on her work.

Lily shifted in her sleep for a moment, it almost seemed as if she was waking up before she turned over curling up. With her tiny frame she really didn't seem all that threatening. And as Finn worked, a link was made to him. The guardian had heard his requestion, however it was using an incredibly complex control system, feeding him the baseline stats on a much wider scale. the perfect setting for its actuators and attenuation system, the perfect range for physical motion to achieve full combat status, the correct physical settings to keep its micro generators in order and even what appeared to be dozens of micro programs to aid in the reprogramming of the nano-transformers.

But control restrictions kept him away from certain major systems, especially the memory core, which was by far more fortified than even a super computer could hope for. The locking systems were so sensitive that they acted almost like a viral program, hunting and destroying unwelcome data or attempt sot approach it. It was these sections that were its most guarded secrets, the parts that only the Pilot, Cadr, could know, at the same time, the image that the inner Lily had placed in Cadr's sight began reacting again, a notification that it was waiting for him once more. While she could have forced it again, this time was different, she was letting him opt to return.

Finn blinked when he saw the link being formed, surprised. He'd never known anything that could form a link like that without being expressly told to do so by a programmer or an instruction protocol. And if he was reading the display correctly, the link was being formed by... the suit itself?

"Phenomenal..." he murmured as his fingers flew over his keyboard again. Carefully, he tried to trace the source of the link, just to see if it really was from the suit itself, and not from Cadr or Lily. Lily had been asleep for a little while, now, but that didn't mean that she wasn't off in her own head doing things. People did things like that all the time, now: letting their bodies sleep while their cyber-brains were still on and active. It added hours to the day, as it were. Even as he ran a simple tracing script, though, he was downloading the stats and information from the link. Hey, he wasn't about to argue with being handed the information he wanted.

Cadr glanced at the suit, knowing that it was doing something on its own again. He wasn't entirely sure what, but he could tell it was slightly more active than it had been a few moments before, even though Lily was napping. When it didn't seem to be doing anything anomalous, though, he turned his attention inward again. The little symbol at the corner of his vision had lit up, and he wanted to see what was going on.

On Cadr's focus returning to the symbol, the world once again faded away, revealing that inner realm once more, the apparent inner world of Lily, but now there was a major difference. they were actually in a city now, that city, the same one pictured in her mind, sitting precariously on the edge of a bridge, looking down at dozens upon dozens of people. But they weren't people, or rather they were one single person. Each and every one of them were Lily, the same hair, the same eyes, but they seemed much more dead, following specific patterns and processes, driving cars, trading information.

But the one Cadr had been introduced to, the Lily in the dress, sat beside him, looking at him with a smile,
"I came to the conclusion that a visual representation would be far more informative than attempting to explain." She started, turning her head to look on at the widespread activity, "Each and every one is a simulated process, electrical signals, chemical releases, thought processes, wired reactions and reflexes to outside responses. The program you interact with in the real world is a separate entity. We are one in the same. We are the shared collective intelligence of billions upon billions of processes designed to form and simulate the human condition in biological accuracy." She explained further, resting her hands on her knees,
"You asked me why I hacked your cyber-brain, it was actually me strengthening the link and enforcing it with code. I am.. The program equivalent of a soul. I must protect myself and as you are a direct link to the outside world there is the threat of someone trying to enter, should any damage occur it could disrupt the entire system and shut us down completely. I used biomechanic sensory programs to limit entry through your cyber-brain implants. Not only would anyone attempting to enter require your implants in their own brain, they would also need an additional biologically-triggered access. In particular; you released a specific amount of chemicals and brainwaves that are unique to you from your brain when you desired to return, these act much like fingerprints in that they are extremely difficult to duplicate. This is thus the only method you may use to enter this realm. Since it is natural for you it is easy, anyone attempting to replicate the method would have their brain flooded with sensory scrambling data capable of driving their brain into a neurological collapse."

She looked aside to him again, swinging her legs softly,
"I have to protect this environment.. It is already threatened with extreme imbalance after having been reactivated.. Would you like to see..?"

"Let me see if I have this straight," Cadr said, holding up a hand to slow her down. He followed the explanation well enough, but he wanted to make sure he really understood before he let Lily take him on another joyride. "You're modifying the programs and processes of my cyber brain, completely ignoring the fact that you shouldn't be able to modify anything without my passwords and biological codes, and you're making it so that nobody can hack their way in to you." He understood what she had said about the chemical signature and the electric impulses in his brain, that was basic information that anyone with a cyber brain could understand. It was one of the things that made everyone's cyber brain unique, since each unit customized itself on implantation to the person it was put into.

After thinking about it for a few moments, trying to get his bearings, he nodded.

"If you would like to show me, then I won't object," he said. He wasn't going to order her to do anything, and he wasn't going to demand she show him anything. It seemed best to let her show him what she wanted.

"You have to understand that I am the origin and base program of all pilots. While others were not fully sentient, I am necessary to keep this entity alive, that which you know as Lily. As such I am also capable of entering and changing any related program, but at the same time you could still act as an access point for unwanted cyberware attacks, if I am not familiar with if, such as an Ixarren virus, I could well be the focus point of a spreading virus that would destroy all Pilots and their Operators, perhaps even turn the power of Guardians in on their creators." She explained calmly, swinging her legs away from the side of the bridge and planting her feet on the ground, however on doing so the world around them rippled, fading away and reconstructing itself into something far different.

There was a second figure of Lily in the distance, but the one that accompanied Cadr did not approach any further. After all, the figure was heavily chained in place, the thick lines spread across a wide range of pillars, linked and crossed, but she remained at the centre of it, Lily looked aside to Cadr,
"There are many specific centres like this. They are madness, chaos, despair, hatred, psychosis, wrath and zeal. The one before you is madness.. It looks in on itself and repeats the same processes over and over, simulated test runs of combat, perfecting its technique to the point that it goes over and over these processes, expecting to earn even greater perfection, but nothing ever comes of it. This is an example of the deeper corners of the mind that needed to be simulated in order to fully comprehend human thinking. Unlike a human mind where outside factors can cause a break, any who are able to can enter these places and unleash these programs on the entire mind, putting something like that in control of a guardian unit is not something you wish to simulate." Lily crossed her hands behind her softly,
"They each speak directly to the other major process that rules this mind-scape. She is the living essence, the outer conscience, but I act as a buffer to keep it all in check. She is the living soul, if you will, of this entity. And I am the heart, or inner conscience, that makes sure that absolute stability is assured. We both dream of peace and the green fields that once surrounded this city, but she knows the willingness and even joy of battle, while I cannot share those virtues."

She turned to him fully, tilting her head,
"However much you may or may not understand.. We are a lot more fragile than we appear.. We may not act like it on the outside, but we need you to protect us, from others and ourselves. And perhaps some day you should ask her why she acts the way she does towards the world outside, some day you may even understand without the asking, it is not my place to say, either way."