E-UNIT: The Blue Angels of Death.

Chapter 131: System Requirements.

V O L U M E . S I X : C O D E_R E S E T

Chapter 131: System Requirements.‎"Whoa—"

11 came back to consciousness on the medical bed, voice arriving before the rest of her had caught up.

The room was white in the way that good medical facilities tend to be, thorough about it, no surface left ambiguous. Wide windows faced the sea on one side, and on the other, the calm shore where robots with solar panels had arranged themselves in the sun with the quiet dedication of people who had nowhere else to be.

In the far corner, an office where Infinity sat working through the memory upload, a floating screen between her and the rest of the room. The walls along the empty beds held E-UNIT parts racked and ready for immediate use.

Something was on her shoulder.

She looked left.

Reaper was sitting beside her, one hand resting on her shoulder, attention deep in his own screens.

"Father." Infinity's voice carried the texture of someone who had been patient for a while. "She doesn't need that much attention. I have her memories backed up to the second before she lost consciousness, the moment she's up she'll be current. You don't need to sit there."

She hadn't looked over yet. She didn't know 11 was awake.

Reaper glanced at 11 briefly, then back at his screens. "She doesn't need my attention. I need to know she's alright. Sending your most capable operative into a fight she was designed to lose, for information, is not something I expected to do." He paused. "When I told her what the mission required, she didn't hesitate. I find that worth something."

11 stared at the ceiling.

Her hand moved to cover the lower half of her face.

"Thank you, Lord Reaper." Her voice came out quieter than she intended, and slightly broken around the edges. "Every word. I mean it."

Infinity glanced over the top of her screen, registered the situation, and stood without making a production of it. The screen followed her to the bedside. She took the guest chair beside 11 and pulled the data up between them.

"I'll say this, she is operating at a level I didn't fully anticipate. 02's control over the energy is extraordinary. She treats it like a physical extension of herself, how much she uses, where it goes, what shape it takes, all of it handled with the same precision as a limb. Nothing wasted, nothing imprecise."

She set the screen aside slightly. "We lost the purple crystal, which hurts, though in terms of raw capability it was the weakest of the six. Any future engagement with 02 requires multiple brace holders acting in coordination. A one-on-one approach is not a viable strategy anymore."

Reaper nodded. "Training becomes the priority. I've asked Shelly to take rotations securing the borders, which means she won't always be available to lead it and train you all. Her control over the brace is in a category of its own, I reviewed the Kasparia footage—"

He stopped.

11 and Infinity were looking at him with identical expressions. Flat. Patient. Waiting.

"What?" Reaper said.

"We understand," they said, at the same time. "She's remarkable."

Infinity held for a second. "Wait, when you said train 'you all', does that include me? Do I get a brace?"

"Of course." Reaper looked toward the double doors as they opened.

24 came through carrying a tray, four braces arranged on it, each one housing a crystal in a protective chamber. "We completed the upgraded versions. These are built to push each crystal to maximum output, the previous generation left significant capacity on the table. I tested one alongside Shelly. The results were not subtle."

24 brought the tray to the bedside. Three braces remained after Reaper took one, a red one, which 11 lifted and fastened above her stealth blacks; and a grey one, which Infinity took and pulled over her hoodie.

Then Infinity dropped.

She hit the floor before anyone had processed the movement, curled in on herself, both hands pressed to her head.

Reaper and 24 were beside her in the same moment, each taking an arm.

"Infinity." Something in Reaper's voice shifted, not urgency exactly, but the careful version of it. "Talk to me."

She laughed through the pain, which said something about her. "My processor can't, I don't even know what I can't process. There's too much of it."

"Predictive modeling." Reaper identified it without hesitation and removed the grey brace in one clean motion. "The crystal runs continuous high-density calculations, your current CPU architecture can't sustain the load. We'll need to upgrade the hardware before that one is viable for you."

Infinity looked sideways at 11 from the floor.

11 was standing at her full height, arms folded, teeth showing. "So. The CPU we all assumed was exceptional, not quite exceptional enough for basic arithmetic." She tilted her head. "Some jokes assemble themselves. I almost feel bad."

"Almost," Infinity said flatly, from the floor.

Reaper helped her up. "Take another brace. I know exactly what to do with that one." He turned to 24. "Take one too."

24's composure evaporated. "Lord Reaper, I'm not, I haven't, that's not something I could accept, I'm not at a level where—"

"I watched your performance alongside Shelly in Kasparia." He picked up the yellow brace and held it out. "You, 11, and Infinity are the Code Red team from this point forward. Missions classified at Triple S threat level. This—" He placed it in her hands carefully. "—is me telling you that I trust you with Elysium's most significant asset. Don't lose it."

He stepped away from the bedside monitors and lowered himself slightly to her level, voice dropping below the others. "Keep Infinity safe. She maintains her composure well, but she pushes herself past reasonable limits when she thinks it will earn something. Don't let her get into situations where extraction isn't possible."

24 looked at him for a moment. "25 was right. You treat her differently."

"You'll understand why, in time."

"When?"

He straightened without answering and looked back at the two on the bed. Their eyes had both changed, sharper, the braces settled, something in the posture different from a minute ago.

"This mission was a success. The information 11 brought back gives us enough to work with." He looked at Infinity. "You're going to Metro Robotics for a CPU upgrade, we need your processing capacity significantly higher before the grey crystal is usable. 11, 24, you'll take the red crystal to the southern desert training range with the E-PHONEUS."

11's head lifted. "What range? When did we build that?"

"While you were busy losing a fight." Reaper's tone stayed even. "The red crystal synthesizes matter, any material in the surrounding environment can be shaped into a weapon. Any weapon you can conceptualize, any quantity. We have a full dataset available for download covering Elysium's current arsenal. You'll be able to equip a unit the size of the E-PHONEUS from the field without a supply line." He looked at 11. "Infinity will join you once her hardware is upgraded."

11 said nothing. Her eyes had gone to a specific kind of still that meant she was thinking something she'd decided not to say out loud.

‘He's sending me away. I know why.’

Reaper moved to the doorway and turned back once. "Thank you, all of you. You hold this country up in ways that don't show up on any map." He looked at Infinity. "Join me later."

She smiled. "Roger that, father."

The door closed behind him.

24 and 11 looked at each other.