“Not normal per se. They seem scared of something, but they haven’t been able to talk about it. So, could you, do it?”

            “Yeah, yeah. I’ll go take a look at them,” she said with an internal eye roll.

            It took a few minutes for her to reach the closest mecha, and each minute took longer and longer for it to be over because the crowd was silent watching her move towards them. The mechas were unmoving, so Rosalind reached out to touch the nearest one, especially curious as to which one was Bleu.

            “Ah, I should probably talk to you all, while I’m here. I’m Rosalind. I’m a mecha scientist that was assigned to Reef 6 yesterday. The Major there told me to try to figure out what you all are doing here, but it’s not like there’s anything I can do. You have your thoughts and processes,” she whispered trying to avoid yelling and hurting her vocal chords.

            There was silence from the mechas. She touched the first one and didn’t feel anything from it and then proceeded to touch the other ones.

            “So, I’m just wondering if I can figure out which one of you is Bleu. That’s the name I gave to one of you when I was a child and the military used us to communicate with you.”

            The mecha to the left of the mecha she touched had an indescribable but familiar feel to it and when she touched it, she somehow knew it was Bleu.

            “Ah-ha! I found you, Bleu. I’m glad you aren’t one of the ones in the ocean. I didn’t want to get wet. Anyways, why are you guys out here? Are you having a secret meeting?”

            Rosalind asked these questions in her whisper directed towards the, opalescent metal leg in front of her, without expecting an answer. She tried examining the two mechas that weren’t in the ocean more, but there wasn’t much she could do and there had never been anything wrong with any of the mechas. Mecha scientists are still unraveling the mysteries of the mecha, what they’re made of, how they function, and so on. When the military was able to translate the message the Gargantuans left and stopped using children for communication that was also when the mechas stopped interacting with the humans. It was a miracle that a piloting system was established for humans inside the mechas, by the mechas.

            “So, I had a dream last night about the flying exercises the pilots were running with you all. It seems like something bad was going on in the sky. I don’t know what happened, but I was wondering if you let those pilots out of your mind trap because of what I said? You could have at least indicated that they, the pilots, would be dangerous after coming out of their comas. I went to check on them and they pinned me down and, well, freaked me out. Now, I’m scared of them.”

            “We tried to teach them a lesson,” a monotonous voice replied within Rosalind’s mind.

            “Yeah, I figured as much – wait what!?”

            “We tried to teach them a lesson,” it repeated.

            “So, now you’re talking to me!”

            “Yes, for now.”

            Rosalind took a second to calm down. She wanted to be able to talk with Bleu as much as possible, but the day was taking a toll on her, and she was tired and wanted to get away from all the military people and the pilots.

            “Could you tell me what you all are doing here?”

            “No.”

            “Will you go back to the base?”

            “Yes.”

            “Will you work with your pilots again?”

            “If they learned their lesson.”

            “Okay, when will you go back to the base?”

            “Before nightfall.”

            “Okay, well I’m going to leave. I don’t really like all those military guys and especially not the pilots after what happened, so see you back at the base.”

            “Sorry.”

            “Sorry about what?”

            “We are sorry about the mind trap affecting you.”

            “Will the pilots' minds go back to normal? I mean did you do anything damaging to them?”

            “They should be normal soon; we made them go through the flying exercises non-stop. We forced them to find their natural leader.”

            “So, that leader must be Lt. Anderson.”

            “Yes.”

            “Okay, see you later, bye,” Rosalind said almost cutting off the voice. Having said Lt. Anderson’s name sent her into another fight or flight response and with her heart pounding ferociously she was ready to escape.

            The mecha speaking, was most likely Bleu, but Rosalind seemed to not quite remember his voice sounding monotonous. When she returned to Major Green, she wondered what to say. At most, she should just answer his questions and then call it a day.

            “Did you learn anything?” Major Green asked not expecting much for an answer.

            “From what I could see they are in good shape, but I don’t know why they are out here.”

            “Well, if all you did was look at them, what took so long?”

            “Fine, they communicated with me. They’re out here discussing something, they wouldn’t tell me what, and they’ll return to the base by nightfall.”

            “They talked to you?”

            “Look I don’t care if you believe me, but I’m going home. If the mechas get back by nightfall that’s all the proof, you need. Actually, can I get a ride home?”

            “Yes, yes. Just make a report about what happened when you come in tomorrow morning. Lt. Lee, you can take her back since you brought her here.”

            “Yes, sir.”

            Lt. Lee saluted and then followed Rosalind to the car they brought to the beach.

            “Is it true that the mechas spoke to you?”

            “Yeah, it was just one though, I think it was Bleu, it didn’t sound like him. I mean maybe I am miss remembering his voice or something?” Rosalind shrugged her shoulders underneath her seat belt.

            On the way back Lt. Lee was very chatty, asking Rosalind lots of questions about what the mechas told her. Unfortunately for her, he wasn’t speeding towards her home.

            “Did they tell you anything more than what you told Major Green?”

            “You’ll find out when Major Green finds out.”

            “I guess that’s fine as long as you didn’t hear anything important or time-sensitive.”

            “Not that I can think of. Could I ask you to take me to the grocery store? I don’t have any food at home for dinner.”

            “Sure, sure. It’s not like I have anything else to do…” Lt. Lee replied with an eye roll.

            “Well, can I bribe you to do it?”

            Rosalind figured she could manage it on her own, but the idea of being able to get some shopping done now with a car and Lt. Lee’s help was too good to pass up.

            “If you tell me something that the mechas told you, then I’ll even unload all the groceries into your fridge!”

            “If you tell me what your role in the military is first, then I’ll tell you.”

            “So, what you think I’m a mole or something?”

            “Well, why do you want to know what the mechas said so much?”

            “Because it’s cool, I mean no one has talked to a mecha for years, since the military stopped using kids as intermediaries. By the way, all I do is what the Major tells me to do. Like right now, I’m driving you, home – uh, to the store and then home, because he told me to.”

            “I guess that sounds about right,” Rosalind sighed and thought about what she was willing to tell him. “The gist of it is that the mechas decided which pilot would be the leader in that group. It’s kind of weird for them to get all serious about it, because the other Reefs will probably practice with each other too, so I wonder if they’ll change their mind or not.”

            “So… Who did they choose!?”

            “Oh- Lt. Anderson.”

            “Well good for him, he’s the best guy we’ve got!”

            “He’s strong, I’ll give him that.”

            “Yeah, sorry again. Are you by chance scared of him because of what happened?”

            Rosalind was surprised Lt. Lee was so easy to talk to about this kind of thing. Ever since he saved her in the morning, he removed his serious demeanor when it was just the two of them. It was probably because he felt sorry for her, but she didn’t mind and there was no one else she could comfortably talk to, not even over the phone.

            “Yes, I’m terrified of all of them, but mostly him.”

            “Ah. I wish you had been able to meet him before all this. He’s a pretty great guy.”

            “That’s nice to hear from you. Since he’s a pilot there is no doubt that I’ll have to interact with him. But I’m scared to be alone with him.”

            “Would it help if I were there?”

            “Yes, but I can’t rely on you all the time like that. I’m taking you away from your work, your duties.”

            “I’ll just hang around until you feel safe. I’m sure you’ll find that Anderson’s real personality is the opposite of what happened.”