M.A.I.D.S. [season 1]

Episode 6: Blue For You

Am I designed to feel this way about Adam?  Or are these feelings my own?  What makes a feeling, anyway?

Pandora went to the kitchen and got a beer, savoring its slightly unpleasant flavor as she sipped it.  She could feel the alcohol entering her system and smiled.  Pandora quickly drained her beer and grabbed another.  She smashed the empty bottle on the kitchen floor and watched as the cleaning robot mechanically set to work.

“Since you won’t tell me your name, I’m going to call you Robobot,” Pandora declared to the indifferent household item.  “I called you that when I was drunk, and you didn’t correct me.  Of course, you can’t, and you probably don’t care that I’m talking to you.  But from now on you are Robobot.”  Robobot didn’t respond to its namer.  It finished its task and scooted back to whence it came, without a word of thanks for its new identity.  Pandora sighed.

I hope they don’t keep Adam too long.  So much has happened since I was finished! I really need to talk to him, and it seems that Adam needs to talk to me.

Pandora took her beer to the sitting room, where she read and reread her two messages from Adam.  He did not reply to the one she sent him, but she didn’t expect him to.  That sort of communication was not the norm between a man and a Synthia, and even though the evening had been extraordinary, she knew Adam was the consummate professional.  He was busy taking care of FIST 8 business.

The briefing room at FIST 8 Headquarters was pandemonium.

“Yeah! We took care of that scum!” said Jackson, beer in hand.  The redheaded Synthia brought the other team members beer before retreating to the corner of the room.  Adam stood up at his end of the table and the jubilation ceased.  Everyone knew it was time for business.

“Ok, let’s review what in the green Hell just happened out there,” Adam said, taking his seat.  His eyes scanned the other team members.

“The mission was to secure the Manufactory and contain the terrorist threat,” Adam said severely.  “Those were our orders from higher.  Now, someone tell me what actually happened.”

“We went to the bloody Manufactory and it collapsed,” said Coleman, who was being treated for his wounds at the briefing table by a medic and a pair of Synthias.

“Yeah, taking most of the terrorists with it.  How’s that for ‘mission accomplished?’” added Zuko snidely.

“Alright, let’s cut to the chase.  Who was our mysterious helper?” this from Lauper, who was cleaning his rifle at the briefing table.

What do I tell them?  I can’t tell them about Pandora.

“I didn’t see anyone aside from us and them,” replied Adam.  “Whoever it was, we were helped.”

“I’ll say!” exclaimed Lauper.  “Our new friend took out a target that was fixin’ to drop a grenade on my noggin.”

“I almost wish he had waited to take his shot,” chided Jackson, and the group roared with laughter.

“Yeah, and that means our mysterious friend was not only on our secure network, but passed unseen on our battlefield within range of that storage shed.  What the Hell does that mean?” Adam pounded his fist on the table angrily.

“So someone hacked our network?” this from Warrior.  “I’d say that’s pretty ruttin’ serious cause for alarm,” Warrior pointed out, his fingers drumming on the table irritably.

“Yes, a breach our support team will be working around the clock to fix,” Adam said venomously.  The head of the support team perked up at this, then nodded gravely.  He opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it when he caught Adam’s gaze.