Zero: Flight of Fancy

“Zero!”

The Halfling laughed. Just about any Halfling’s laugh is pleasant to the ears as a rule, and Zero was far from the exception. “Hey, Flip! How’s the pretty bird?”

The mechanical swallow cocked its head, a glowing eye fixed upon the Halfling, its diminutive beak looking like a grin at that angle. “Right now? Overjoyed. How was the court martial, lieutenant?”

“Corporal.” The Halfling corrected.

“Oh…?”

The Halfling laughed again. “It was meatloaf night on the brig, and my lawyer wasn’t even a girl! Still, it was okay. I’m still with you, aren’t I?”

The organoid's talons snapped open as it let go of its perch, and with a whirlwind flutter of scythelike wings it was on the floor . “For six more days, yes.” Tilting its body so that its pumpkin-sized head was level with the Halfling, it gave its pilot a friendly peck. “Are you sure you will not be joining us? Reports are expecting a particularly bloody series of battles. It should prove easy to rise quickly back up in rank.”

“Gee, you make it sound soooo tempting!”

“As an officer, you’d be able to pilot a mecha again. Perhaps I may allow myself to think you would consider me? I would not want to be presumptuous.”

“Flip!” the Halfling scolded, caressing the top of the organoid’s head. “How could you even think I could want anything else?”

“But you won’t join us?”

“Bah! My rank was just a glorified title handed out to all servicemen, but you know being a test pilot doesn’t make me a soldier.”

“Maybe I do, Zero.” The bird conceded. “But you can understand why other people might be confused. The people you saved from that raider, for instance.”

“That YOU saved from that raider, you mean! I was just along for the ride. A bouncing little bundle of cargo.”

The mecha made a face at that. It had been granted just enough facial mobility to allow that. Flip did not need a pilot to fly efficiently, anymore than Zero needed an onboard AI to pilot an organoid. On their own, they were fully capable. But in those rare occasions where a good mecha and a good pilot find that they can work together, the results are legendary. Their combined brainpower allows an organoid to pull off stunts that would be all but impossible for any single one of them to achieve on their own. “Cargo, right. How can you even joke about that, Zero? You know what you are to me. Oh, sure, I know you’ll miss me, but you must know I’m losing much more than a friend. With you gone, I will be incomplete.”

Zero grinned at that, but the sadness was apparent under the surface. “You’re the best friend that I’ve ever had, Flip. But I can’t stay.”

The mecha was silent for a minute, then it reared up again, and its hatch spread open.

The Halfling raised an eyebrow. “Mr Flip. I believe you know only officers are allowed to pilot…”

“Oh, shut up, Zero.” The organoid snapped back, though there was humor in its voice. “As if this wasn’t your plan when you came in. You know the personnel database does not update until tomorrow, and until then you’re still filed as a Lieutenant. Under article 12-A of the manual of operations, all ranking officers are to have leave of…”

“Okay, okay!” the Halfling said quickly as he clambered up the steps to the pod. With a pneumatic hiss, the hatch closed before him.

Less than a minute later they were soaring.

It was nearly an hour later before they spoke again. “You should come with me, Flip. You’re much too fine a fellow to be an army grunt.”

“That could be arranged.” The bird admitted. “I believe civilians can still purchase army equipment, provided that they fill out the right paperwork, and of course, that they pay upfront.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to do that, Flip.”

The organoid laughed, and it wasn’t long before Zero had to join in. Even the smallest of mecha were worth the cost of a comfortable mansion, and Zero was far from rich.

“I will remember that, Zero. I will remember that forever. Not because I could ever hold you to such a ludicrous promise, but because I know where your heart was when you said it.”

Zero rubbed a tear away on his shoulder, his hands still on the controls. Mind-link or not, a person still needs the use of his hands to feel like he’s accomplishing something.

“Come on, Flip. We still got another hour left before we’re missed. There’s gotta be someone mugging an old lady around here somewhere!”