Slumber Party

Gray knocked on Caleb's door and then opened it up and walked in with Yurika. Upon entering, everyone stared at Gray and finally Geoff said. "Gray, how'd you get that black eye? I thought you and Yurika were fighting in the simulators!"

"What?!?" Gray said shocked, he then looked for something shiny to see it for himself while Yurika chimed in.

"He tried to force his way on me and I just reminded him of what happens!" Yurika said while sticking her tongue out at Gray.

Gray just rolled his eyes at her as Stacia said "No, I'm pretty sure you'd be the one forcing anything... Let me help you Gray."

Everyone nodded in agreement with Stacia, then Stacia got up and pulled out a bandana she had on her, placed some ice in it, then tied it up to make a small sack of ice which she gently put on Gray's swollen eye and said "Keep this ice on it to try and reduce the swelling."

Out of everyone, Gray believed that Stacia was the nicest in the group.

Paul decided to kill the mood by saying "Wife material…" which prompted Stacia to blush while Yurika was looking jealous for some reason which Gray was too dense to figure out.

"Ahem!" Gray cleared his throat "Ok, so let's get on topic, I know it's late so let's make it quick."

"What's up Gray?" Geoff asked.

"First, thanks Caleb for sweeping your room this afternoon while the rest of us were umm… 'Busy'." Gray said. "How'd the search go?"

"Surprisingly numerous, it actually felt like I was being specifically targeted. I checked everyone else's rooms and nobody had more than 1 or 2 except Gray that had 4, but my room had over a dozen." Caleb reported.

Gray thought about that for a moment and said "Huh, I wonder why you have so many more, maybe because of your profession from the virtual world?"

"No idea, regardless, I did not simply destroy them, instead I moved most of them into Geoff and Xyra's rooms, and the rest I merely moved to the hallway."

"Hey! Why did you put some in my room!?!" Geoff exclaimed

"I deduced that it was necessary to keep them in at least one male and female room of our group, I suspect that every room has them anyways so it would be odd if suddenly over a dozen went silent. Plus you're the least likely to have any important information." Caleb explained.

Geoff got a smug grin on his face "Well, what if I get lucky? Wouldn't that be bad if they heard that?"

"I took that in to consideration as well, I believed no woman would willingly enter your quarters so leaving the bugs active in your room would also act as a safety device for them." said Caleb with a completely straight face.

Gray, Paul, and Yurika burst out laughing, even Stacia and Xyra chuckled a bit as Geoff wanted to cry at the moment from Caleb's completely analytical and open slandering of his character.

"Funny guys! I get it! Laugh it up jerks! So why Xyra then?"

"…I'm quiet…" Xyra whispered

"What'd she say?" Geoff asked

"I think Xyra is self-explanatory." Gray added

Everyone, even Geoff, agreed with Gray on that.

"We're getting off topic again… swear we all are scatter-brained." Gray said "So I want to ask a hypothetical question: What do we do if the Alliance loses?"

"I don't think it matters, we don't have any stuff with either the Alliance or Hegemony so whichever one is in charge leaves us with nothing." Geoff said.

"Good point, but I meant that as a hypothetical question, not a direct one." Gray said.

"Yeah, but I'm also guessing you have an idea since you brought us all here instead of just asking us that privately alone" Geoff said.

"Fair point. First, I'm sure you can agree with me Caleb that the war itself doesn't make sense. Why are we waiting until September 1st 2121?" Gray asked.

"The Eurasian Treaty signed 70 years ago was a peace agreement that stopped the war for fear of damaging the planet even more." Paul said.

"Yes, but who is the arbitrator of said treaty?" Caleb asked

"English please!" Yurika said

"He means, who is the go-between for the treaty, or like, who is the referee? Without that third party neither side would have a reason to hold back." Gray said.

"Indeed, human history has revealed that two different groups of people cannot coexist peacefully, human beings are imperfect and flawed, but that is also what makes us human. I don't believe AI could ever replicate that, at least not within our lifetimes." Caleb continued.

"But Professor, who would this third party be?" asked Stacia

Caleb's eyebrow twitched when Stacia called him 'Professer' but shrugged it off and said. "We can safely conclude that the force is large enough to tip the scale in either the Alliance or Hegemony's favor, but not so large that the Hegemony and Alliance feel the need to work together to defeat it. Of course this is under normal circumstances, after going over the real world's old news articles and various internet sources, I have found no hints at a third party involved."

"Well, third party or not, I think the problem we have right now is that we do not have any value aside from as pilots. These merits are whatever value the Alliance sets them at. The nice thing about merits though is that we can get a surprisingly varied amount of goods and even services with them. It makes me think that the Alterran Alliance Military controls the government to a large extent." Gray stated.

"I concur, so is it a safe assumption that your idea is to give ourselves independence?" Caleb said.

"Yes, but I know it's going to take time and we'll have to play along for a while with the Alterran Alliance. Personally, I think the Alterran Alliance is a better choice than the Hegemony. While a Republic is prone to corruption given enough age, having everyone born equal sounds a heck of a lot better than a feudal class system where your status is influenced heavily upon your birth." Gray said.

"How did you know the Hegemony is feudal?" Geoff asked.

"For once in my life I actually read up and studied the history a little bit similar to Caleb." Gray said proudly.

Everyone looked in awe at Gray. "Miracles do exist!" Geoff said chidingly.

"Shut up! I only skip reading instruction manuals… and mission briefing details… and starter guides… ok I skip reading a lot of things!" Gray finally admitted.

"Admitting the problem is the first step in recovery." Geoff continued to goad.

Gray didn't feel the need to retort to that, instead he chucked the ice pouch at Geoff because that is what adults do. (Sarcasm)

"So in a nutshell, since our most valuable asset is our ability to pilot mechs, I want to create a faction that anyone can join from either the Hegemony or Alliance. I know that sounds ridiculous with just the 7 of us so I don't expect anything for a very long time, but we can start out as a mercenary group and slowly absorb more and more pilots from everywhere to get enough might that both sides can value us." Gray said finally.

Everyone was a little shocked at this and were thinking about it deeply since it sounded way beyond the normal of what Gray would normally come up with.

"Actually, it was thanks to Yurika's abuse… I mean training… that made me think about this…" Gray said.

"Did she knock something loose in your head?" Caleb asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised honestly, but in reality, it made me realize I can't just plan for the next day or even the next week or month and have only a single method of enacting that plan. My original thought was to join the military and see what happens after the war and just react to it no matter which side wins."

"So you have some ideas then on what we need to do for this?" Paul asked.

"I have some thoughts, but I'll probably consult with our Professor at a later time since I know he's going to come up with his own methods as well. Of course everyone should contribute their ideas, everyone is equal in this team." Gray said.

Yurika patted Gray hard on the back and said "Yeah! Now you're starting to sound like a real leader instead of just a squad leader!"

"Heh… thanks… I think…" Gray said sheepishly. "Let's go to bed then, I for one am tired…"

Everyone nodded in agreement, then Stacia whispered something to Xyra who nodded, Stacia whispered something to Yurika next causing Yurika to giggle slightly then burst out with "Slumber Party!"

"We all can't fit in one room!" Gray said

"I never said we were including you guys!" Yurika said as she took Xyra's hand and the three girls all went to the same room together.

The 4 guys looked at each other and all said "Nope" at the same time then went back to their rooms.

Geoff pulled Gray aside and said "I'm not exactly comfortable with so many bugs in my room and I suspect that is why the girls are bunking together. Mind if I crash on your futon buddy?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Gray couldn't really argue against that so he just agreed and everyone went to bed for the night.