[b]Continued from above[/b] “It is something that only time will tell,” Jk-Bx began to say, looking down at the floor. “If it is successful sync, it should all be good. If it is not…..well, we’ll see. How it works is tricky; both minds, the aware and adaptive A.I. will mesh with Alecs mind. (Jk-Bx put his hands together, fingers to fingers, palm to palm.) Right now, they are like this, separated like oil and water. (Jk-Bx began to cross his fingers together.) The next part is the joining process; the Traveler showed us how, by using something the Traveler shared with us called a ‘Nervue.’ The devise was used to create an artificial nervous system, where the human and machines consciousness’ would be combined; two minds would become one, allowing them to combine their knowledge, strengths, and feelings into one. They both would feel what it is like to be the other; the human would know the hollowness of a machine, and a machine would feel the emotions, true emotions, of a human. It was…remarkable; but it is not permanent, it is only last as long as they are synced together willingly. The final process is breaking or releasing the bond….never really reached that part. (Jk-Bx separated his hands again.) Though, in theory, it would mean they both would be released without the loss of life of the human; if they both agree to it. Now, I know what you’re thinking, what happens to the machine if the human dies? That’s easy to explain, the Exos computer will crash, causing the Exo to either: A. ‘Turn off’ and fall flat on its face. Or B. Go Berserk. I’ve seen both and it’s not pretty in either case. A big amount of trust is required for the bond…a big amount; while they will be two minds in one mind, they will function as one body. If they don’t agree, they will just keep juggling the control of the Exo body. That’s enough info for now, don’t want anyone to overload on what I’ve said. ” Everyone stood in silence for a minute before Arial spoke again. “Why did you call it Ithamar?” Arial asked. “Because,” Jk-Bx said, a little grin forming on his little mechanical face. “I know him; we go back a ways…” Meanwhile, back in the bunk room… “Alec, it is time to awake,” Ithamar said. “It is time to get back to work.” Slowly, Alec awoke and found he was in control of the Exo body again. “Were on the ship?” Alec asked, looking at his hands. “Yes,” Ithamar remarked. “Do you remember anything?” “I remember-” Alec began to say, just as a flash of the fight between Gar’ul and Ithamar passed through his mind. “You seem to have had experience with killing Fallen before…” “Yes,” Ithamar remarked. “As have you, and I think it would benefit us both not to dwell on that fact, for it will destroy us. The screams and visions of war have caused many a man to lose his mind and machine to short circuit. ” Alec thought about it for a moment, but he knew Ithamar was right, they could not dwell on what had happened that day or what had happened in each other’s past. “For now,” Alec began to say. “Let’s meet up with the crew and see what’s happening.” “Agreed.” Ithamar said in response to Alec’s decision. “By the way, sorry about your face, but I needed to let Gore’ul know who we really are; call it a hobby of mine, pissing off Fallen.” “Good hobby,” Alec remarked. “We’ll have to go hunting sometime, we’ll have a ball.” Alec wasn’t too upset, a little disturbed maybe, but not mad about his face being split in two. In fact, the artificial skin didn’t even capture what he used to look like any way; he thought he had the head of a manikin now; but Daniel could fix that back at his place. Alec walked out of the bunk room and into the storage unit where everyone was standing around Jk-Bx. “So,” Alec said, causing everyone to slowly turn and face him. “Where are we with the case?” “Well,” Arial said with a start. “When you went missing, we located Jk-Bx and the case immediately, and-” “Whoa,” Exclaimed Whisk, stepping between Arial and Alec. “How do we know we can trust you?” Alec tilts his head to the side ever so slightly. “Have I ever given you a reason not to?” Alec asked. “What about you? Look at how much you have changed…” “This isn’t about me.” Whisk said, placing his hand on his sidearm. “You listen and you listen well, Daniel.” Said Alec, his tone growing darker. “I’m still me; I’m in control again-” “Yeah.” Whisk said, drawing his firearm. “How do we know-?” Whisk didn’t get to finish his sentence; for Arial grappled Whisk, disarming him in an instant, dropping him on the ground. “Now there’s something you don’t see every day.” Boris said eyes wide as dinner plates. “That was cooooooool!” Jk-Bx exclaimed. “Where’d you learn to do that?” Whisk asked, picking himself up off the floor. “My father,” Arial responded. “Actually never had to use it before, this was the first time sense practice.” “Better watch your back Daniel.” Alec remarked. “Don’t change the subject matter,” Whisk said an angry tone in his voice. “Why-” “Because you have no one else you’d rather trust than the one you’ve grown up with, trained with, fought beside, and survived with.” Jk-Bx said, interrupting the two. “You’re both going to have to accept that things are going to be much different from now on.” Alec and Whisk looked at each other, both deciding it best to cool down and focus on the mission at hand. “I recommend we return to the cockpit and discuss the Vex case you and Jk-Bx recovered.” Arial recommended. The team gradually walked back to the cockpit and took their seats. “Okay,” Arial said with a start, bringing her ghost Markus out. “Markus has done a full scan of the case and has not been able to decipher what may be inside. Though, it has been identified as some kind of Vex device containing data of some sort, the cases’ security is tough and we don’t have the resources to hack it here.” Jk-Bx just so happened to be sitting next to Alec. “Hey,” Jk-Bx whispered to Alec. “We got your gear, didn’t want to leave my buddies stuff behind.” “Thanks,” Alec said, grateful for the news. “Do you know anything about the case?” “A little,” Jk-Bx remarked. “It’s got some kind of code or something, real long too.” Alec didn’t fully understand what the case may contain, but it had to be important for the Cabal to want it that they would trade such valuable gems for it. Arial said it would be handed over to the FOTC for further investigation when they reached the city. Until they reached the city, they all used the time to rest up; Alec taking the time to rest his mind just a little bit more. He stayed in the cockpit while everyone left to go to the bunk room. As Alec fell asleep, Ithamar took over again and sat in the pilot’s seat. “Come out from the shadows,” Called Ithamar, reclining in his seat. “Don’t be shy; why hide from each other, when we know each other so well? Step into the light, old friend.” Slowly, Jk-Bx walked into the cockpit out of the shadows of the corridor. “I was worried a more…violent, individual may have been received.” Jk-Bx said. “Hmm,” Ithamar thought to himself. “What have I missed?” “A lot, actually,” Jk-Bx remarked. “What do you last remember?” “A battle at fort Lenox, on the moon of Titan,” Ithamar said, looking out the windshield, noticing the gnome Jk-Bx put on the dashboard. “Really? You put that thing there?” “Yep,” Jk-Bx remarked, putting his feet up on the dashboard. “You don’t have 100% memory sync of your past.” “Tell me about it.” Ithamar asked. “You don’t remember Mars,” Jk-Bx continued. “What happened there ruined you in a way.” “What? How?” Ithamar asked. “You remember Julia,” Jk-Bx said. “All the way up to where you, your squad, and 700 other men and women were shipped out to the moon of Titan?” “Yes,” Ithamar responded. “She was headed to Mars with the 342nd Brigade to fend off a threat that was there and assist in an evacuation of the planets colony. Why?” “You’re going to have to go there and find out for yourself,” Jk-Bx said. “I don’t know what happened, I just know that when you went to Mars and then went to Venus. Your memories seem to be scattered about the colonies in the system, some kind of weird security policy if I recall.” “Why, by whom?” Asked Ithamar, growing impatient with Jk-Bxs’ words. “Well,” Jk-Bx said, sitting up straight. “The FOTC or at least some high ranking individuals in the FOTC. Your memory was scattered in three parts, you have the first, from Venus. The second is on Mars and the third and final piece is in the FOTC servers I bet. Whatever they wanted to hide, they hid in three parts for some reason.” “How will I find them?” Ithamar inquired. “Just find an Exo hand port in a citadel on Mars,” Jk-Bx started to say. “That will cover that one obviously…..well, I hope. Most Exo data was kept on the same servers for military and government use, so a Citadel should have a link/line to a server. The info held by the FOTC of the Last City will be tricky, but there is a way; but leave that to me. The StarSide Echoes are looking for you too by the way; they never leave their own behind, nor forget them. ” Ithamar just sat and thought to himself; why would the FOTC do this? What happened to Julia? And her daughter Mary, did she get off of Mars? [b]Continued below[/b]

Good start and some interesting ideas, I really like the concept of an Exo being 'reset' by Golden-Age technology, 'downloaded memories' and the human personality struggling with an AI. Some pointers that I think might help: - In this first section, a lot of characters are introduced quickly, and are done so in a rather formulaic manner. It hinders the flow of your story, too much is happening at once. - Ensure your characters stay 'in character', including vocabulary, emotions (or lack thereof).