Artificial War

[Randomly Gone Insane]

"It's a great day for all of us." Harland agreed with a nod of his head.

After a few moments, the red light on the cameras turned off, and the cameraman and photographers were escorted out of the room for privacy.

"Thank God this is over..." Kim groaned, loosening the collar around her neck. She gave a heavy sigh as she settled in a chair, giving a small groan to her aches and pains.

"Do you need to go back to the medical wing, hun?" Harland worriedly look to her as he sat his desk.

"No... I'll just be stuck with the damn therapy sessions. And I don't like your losy gym teachers or people wanting to be inside my head."

"They're just trying to help." Niles defended, standing guard at the door out of instinct. "Being with Geminoid took it's toll, physically and mentally."

"I told you people, I'm fine!" Kim snapped immediately, glaring at the SEAL. "Nothing happened that I can't deal with so shut up about it already."  

[cptflint]

Nurixin relaxed and stared down at the medal once the cameras were of. "Man... Medal of Honor... never thought I'd see the day."

"Never mind the therapy... You need to eat and rest so your body can repair itself some more," Azm said. "I can help if you want..."  

[Randomly Gone Insane]

"No kidding." Ben grinned as he stared down at his. "All for doing a damsel in distress mission."

Kim gave an irritated sigh, "I'm eating everything I'm given and lay in bed all day. I couldn't possibly rest anymore."  

[cptflint]

"Then take your therapy like a soldier," Azm said. He leaned in and whispered. "At least the physical parts," he said then gave her a quick wink.

"Well we shot the s**t out of a bunch of guys too. It's not like it wasn't hard... and I got a purple heart for getting shot in the head," she replied cheerfully.  

[Randomly Gone Insane]

"Please," Kim snorted, rolling her eyes at him. "Like they're doing any good. It's all a bunch of boot camp training I could do in my sleep. ********, I might as well do it while I'm sleeping with how long I have to spend in bed."

"Yeah but that doesn't really mean the same for you guys. Now if I walked away with a headshot, I'd have so many freaking decorations I could make a statue."  

[cptflint]

"You're just going to have to deal with it for now," Azm replied with a sympathetic expression. He looked over at the president. "Or you could just let me take care of the therapy. I've retrained soldiers before."

"It means as much to us as it does you," she disagreed. "I just got really lucky. If the bullet had hit my hard drives I would've been smoked for good just like any other human. Sure they could stick a new one in there but I wouldn't know any of you after words. I really need to get some solid states and start a personal backup..."  

[Randomly Gone Insane]

"I suppose..." He sighed heavily. "Physical therapy is easy enough to handle, and I'm being told there's no progress being what so ever psychology."

"Because there's nothing to talk about it." Kim growled aggressively, trying to ignore snickers from Niles, who couldn't help but see a double meaning in Azm wanting to take charge of physical therapy.

"My point exactly. With the right steps, you can jump back into the world. I'm dead forever."  

[cptflint]

Azm gave her a subtle 'I know you're full of s**t' look, but kept his silence. He nodded at the president's approval. "We've already talked a bit... Treating her like the adult she is would be a good step in your case..."

Nurixin nodded. "Yea... the thing is though... updated androids like Azm and me are so complicated that making identical backups are hard and can be stressful our psychology. Just like computers, when s**t gets more complicated more errors can be created. The movement of that much data at once cause ******** up and make us go crazy. It could explain the Geminiod rebellion and why some of his views are so twisted. It's a theory anyways..." she explained. "The point is we do have limits..."  

[Randomly Gone Insane]

"This is the part where I tell you don't know what sort of stresses fatherhood brings." Harland grunted, reaching into his desk for a cigarette, using it as a stress relief.
"'Specially when the kid is getting tortured and the sick little freak likes to send you updates."

Kim shifted in her seat, having some uncomfortable memories, but kept silent.

"No matter though.." He sighed, looking tiredly at the group.
"Well, I'm sure you're all dying to go back on the field... Anything else that needs to be covered before I go back to restless nights of no sleep?"

"Now there's a thought..." Ben mused, rubbing at his chin. "Had one too many uploads and he suddenly got a craving for war.."  

[cptflint]

Azm frowned. "You might never stop being a father but there is a point when you should stop 'raising' your children. My creator understood that when we raised his daughter," Azm answered. "Obviously the current approach isn't working. A different approach may surprise you."

"Like I said. It would explain a lot," Nurixin replied, paying more attention to Azm and the president now.  

[Randomly Gone Insane]

"You never stop raising kids. You just get breaks between lessons." Harland grunted. "You'll understand one day I'm sure.

"And I'm a little afraid what approach you're thinking of, now that you got a medal pinned on you by my now safe child..." He groaned worriedly, putting out his cigarette. "Lay it on me."  

[cptflint]

Azm gave Kim a surprised glance as her father actually listened. He was expecting an argument. "Those words first of all, sir," he started. "Kid, Child, are belittling of someone her age and should only be used in the proper circumstances. For example when I went to visit her this last time she was hiding under her pillow and complaining... acting like a child. So I treated her as such and it produced some results. Once she started thinking instead of feeling sorry for herself I started treating her like the adult she was beginning to act like. It works the same way with soldiers and since she is a soldier it would be the best approach. Simply treat her like an adult, believe her when she tells you she's ok, listen to her when she says something instead of interrupting and make logical counter arguments instead of arguing with raw emotion. Emotion has it's place and is an important part in any relationship, but only when it's presented in 'positive' emotion. So far I've only seen negative not just from you sir, but from her as well. Treating each other well and dealing with this will help everyone's mental health and leave you with fewer sleepless nights sir."  

[Randomly Gone Insane]

"I can see the rest of your point, but calling her a kid is not something I'm gonna change." Harland grunted, getting busy with paperwork on his desk.

"She may not be a child anymore physically, but she's still my child. And I'm always going to see her as such.
"Now do you have anything practical to bother me with or are you just going to sit here and do tell me how to my job?"  

[cptflint]

"A family councilor would tell you the exact same thing sir, but have it you way..." he replied.

He looked over at the generals, then back to the president. "I want the team and I to join the special forces for a few reasons. It will keep Kim off of the front lines, they won't be able to track our movements, and we can accomplish things no other unit would be able to do. Id also like to petition for an officers position."

"Finally decided to join the cool side of the army?" Nurixin asked.  

[Randomly Gone Insane]

"You sure it's a wise idea to drop off the grid like this?" One of the generals asked. "You need to stay disconnected from us unless in the case of an emgereceny, and this is under the assumption you can get somewhere to make contact."