The group of pilots stopped a few feet before the mechas, who had positioned themselves in a v-formation immediately after Rosalind had turned to walk away from them. A few minutes passed before the pilots disappeared into the mecha. Rosalind thought that perhaps at least one of the pilots wouldn’t continue to work with the mechas, but from her brief observations of the pilots this morning and as they walked by, they must be united under Lt. Anderson and stronger for it.

            No sound or movement came from the mechas after the pilots had disappeared into them. Rosalind knew that there weren’t any training exercises scheduled with the mecha, how could there be when the pilots were recently incapacitated? But she didn’t know what was going on in the mechas. Pilots always had to report on their experiences inside the mechas to the scientists because they were the only ones allowed in and when she realized that was what she was going to have to deal with when the pilots exit the mechas she tensed up. Luckily, Lt. Lee arrived, like he said he would, to help her out.

            “So …” Lt. Lee said loudly as he was walking up next to Rosalind.

            “Ah. Don’t do that! You scared me.”

            Rosalind’s heart was racing, but she was able to let out a little sigh of relief followed by a small smile.

            “Sorry. Are the pilots in their mecha?”

            “Yes. I watched them go in. I’m glad you are here because when they come out, they’re supposed to report to me.”

            “That’s why I am here. Major Green has ordered me to watch you, after reading your report and confirmation of your conversation with the mecha, as they did return to base when you said they would.”

            “I guess he wants what I hear as soon as possible.”

            “It just makes all of our jobs easier.”

            “It just occurred to me, but is this information being shared with the other Reefs?”

            “Yes, and no. We haven’t told anyone else that the mechas talk to you, but the information about the mechas holding the pilots’ hostage and similar information is being shared.”

            “That’s fine with me. I don’t want to leave this base anyway.”

            “Good, good. I heard about what happened this morning. I think Anderson was trying to thank you for freeing them.”

            “I didn’t free them. Bleu said that they happened to work everything out when I went to see them that second time, but does he know he attacked me?”

            “Ah, yes. He’s an earnest man and well we didn’t tell him you weren’t okay with contact so that all led up to what happened.”

            “I’m sure he gets it now. He didn’t approach me when exiting the bunker to engage with the mechas.”

            “I think he does. But we are going to have to work through the trauma so you can work together.”

            “I agree. I know he wasn’t in his right mind when he did it. I just unconsciously start trembling and running away to avoid him, but I hate that I’m like this and I want to work through it.”

            Rosalind and Lt. Lee discussed various things about the base and their jobs while they were waiting for the pilots to exit the mecha. It had been just over half an hour before the two of them noticed movement from the mecha. The pilots appeared suddenly and when they walked up towards Lt. Lee and Rosalind, they all seemed different. Rosalind couldn’t put her tongue on it, but she thought they seemed relieved, happy even. It was a stark contrast from their serious faces from this morning and their stiff march past her half an hour ago.

            Lt. Lee spoke first, “Did something happen? You all look happy?”

            “The mecha have accepted us, as their pilots again. We were tasked through their interface with another bond initiation, and we all passed. It’s a relief, really,” Lt. Anderson said with a smile on his face.

            Rosalind was originally standing next to Lt. Lee when the pilots approached them, but when she heard Lt. Anderson’s voice, she ducked behind him. Her heart was racing and her body was sweating and shaking, so she hid. It was awkward, she wasn’t a small person, above average for a woman and she was wearing her lab coat which was white and easy to see. Lt. Lee and all the pilots saw Rosalind do this. And Lt. Lee thought about what to do, maybe introduce her like you would a shy kid, to begin the start of breaking the walls she had built overnight.

            “Haha, ah... This is Rosalind. The Mecha scientist for Reef 6 was assigned a few days ago. She had the misfortune of checking up on you while you were in a poor mental state. And…” Lt. Lee trailed off because there was nothing else to say. It was indeed an unfortunate situation that Rosalind needed to tackle one step at a time.

            “Yes. We were informed of our actions yesterday and after seeing how you reacted this morning, we now understand how traumatized you were,” Lt. Anderson replied. He then spoke more earnestly, “I’m sorry for what happened. This morning I tried approaching you because I wanted to offer my sincere thanks for saving us. I heard your actions led to our release.”

Rosalind felt some relief after hearing his heartfelt apology. She didn’t know who Lt. Anderson was before all this, so she was terrified of meeting the version of him that attacked her again.

            “Um, thank you for your apology,” Rosalind said stepping one step from behind Lt. Lee and with her head down, eyes looking at Lt. Anderson’s boots. All the anxiety rushing in and out of her was making her hungry, she hadn’t eaten but a few bites for breakfast, and she didn’t get to drink her explicitly chosen orange juice. She knew she needed to get this over with quickly, but having to speak with six pilots was going to take a long time. And again, her pride wouldn’t let her take care of herself at the potential cost of ruining her image and wasting this chance to advance her mecha research. Finally, she thought to offer her hand for Lt. Anderson to shake, but the idea of holding the hand that had pinned her down before was stopping her from actually doing it.

            “I-I have a few questions about your experience with your mecha today,” Rosalind said moving on, hoping her work would ease the tension in her body.