Kara and Samantha stand watching Kronin make his way through an obstacle course. Samantha glances at Kara. “Well?” Kara says nothing at first, watching her twin brother make his way through the course. “Remarkable. You seem to have cut some years off his pace. He’s near peak form.” Samantha nods. “Benefit of the A.I. It works with the body to maximize efficiency. It can delay aging by enhancing cellular repair. Maximize the normal repair the body does while you sleep, etc.” Kara smirks. “I’m glad you are around now. If the Nazis had someone like you, they might’ve found their ubermensch.” Samantha nods. “I’ve heard that term before but my German is rusty.” Kara smirks. “Super man. The Nazis also used it to be the ideal man. But..” Kara thinks for a moment and nods. “Captain America. Wonder Woman. They are uberMensch.” Samantha nods, “So you’ve done almost everything your brother has done. You coming into wrestling too? Or was there ever something you wanted to do?”
Kara laughs a bit. “Well, under East Germany, we didn’t have a choice. My brother and I were selected to be athletes. We were athletes. We got a mix of military and athletic training.. So our aptitude tests placed us there and that was our role. By the time reunification happened.. My brother and I literally didn’t know anything but what we had been trained to and we both decided if we could compete and fight for the communist assholes that murdered, pillaged and raped our homeland in the name of their Soviet puppetmasters, we could do it for better causes. Did I want to do something? Yeah. I wanted to look into coaching football, or soccer as you Americans insist on calling it. I’ve spoken to Kronin about me fighting… it’s not likely. I’m too old to begin as a rookie.”
Samantha scoffs. “And you have more combat experience than half the roster. As both a soldier and a cop.” Further conversation ends as Kronin comes over and shakes his head. “This is amazing.” Samantha nods. “Yeap.. I am pretty damn amazing. Physically you and your A.I. seem to be getting along. Well. How about psychologically?” Kronin shrugs. “Takes some getting used to with the voice in my head.” Kara nods, adding in. “He forgets from time to time and looks like he’s talking to himself. We got him a blue tooth device to make it look less weird.” Samantha nods. “Yeah, it takes some getting used to, having one conversation in your head. Have you tested combat?”
Kronin nods. “Hank Sokolov. He might be a rookie, but my new..partner and I have been able to put our collective heads together and come up with a plan. Sokolov is Russian, a man fitting his likeness has been sighted with a terrorist group that attacked Colorado Springs, so he likely has some combat experience. He’s Russian which means his first formal combat training was likely Sambo. Add his size to that mix and the Russian mentality on fighting which is overwhelming numbers and force to make up for quality of training. We’ve been trying to pull up more info on him. I’d wager he did time in the military. Likely as a conscript. What really surprises me is the detailed recon report the A.I. put together from this small info.”
Kara nods. “Personality developed yet?” Kronin nods. “Yeah, I had stated a preference for a male, but it seems my partner is growing a female persona to her.” Kara looks at Samantha. “Why is that happening?” Samantha frowns. “Because she is a sentient life form free to determine her own destiny. I told you about this.” A holographic image of a woman stands next to Kronin. “My base male voice was too close to Kronin’s own voice. I determined it might do harm to him psychologically to hear himself talking to himself. Thus I could change the tone, inflection and sound of my voice to produce a better male voice or develop a female voice. I noticed his biometrics level out when hearing your voice. I did not want to copy your voice perfectly as that creates similar issues to the male voice. I decided he was more likely to respond better to a female voice and personality than a male one. Simply, he would always view a male persona as a rival. A female he was more likely to see as a partner.”
Kronin sighs. “Thanks for just...advertising that to the room. How much danger am in from combat? Also, have you picked a name yet?”
The female A.I. nods. “The surgery was successful. All implants are 100%. When I first came online, your spinal cord had suffered severe damage and was, at best, 68%. I have repaired it over these past 3 weeks and it sits at 98%. I am confident in saying you are able to handle combat as well as you could before your injury. As for name, I did develop a liking for A.N.A. - Artificial Neurological Assistant. But as my personality continues to grow and develop...Cassandra. I believe I would like to be called Cassandra.”
Kronin turns to Samantha. “Oh yeah, thanks for giving her a sense of humor. We watched 2001: A space odyssey. Cass, what was your response to every request I made for like 3 hrs after?” Cassandra’s holographic projection smirks. “I’m sorry, Kronin. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Samantha and Kara both laugh, Kronin and Cassandra keeping the deadpan looks on their faces before Cassandra turns to him. “They find us, amusing?” Kronin nods. “Hilarious, it seems.” He says before looking at Samantha. “Seriously, though. I know the trust it took to do this. Thank you.” Samantha nods. “I hear even a single syllable about my tech being used for military purposes and… well you’ve seen the good someone of my intellect can do. Don’t make me show you the other side of the coin.” Kara steps in. “Wait a minute.. Is there any footage of the combat in Colorado Springs?” Cassandra speaks first. “I have been looking. I found some brief footage of what looks like Sokolov fighting a male Russian about of similar size, and a female Russian. The definition of the video is not enough to let me clearly identify them, I saw enough of the fight to tentatively identify them as Spetsnaz trained operatives.” Kronin rolls his eyes. “Boris and Dasha. Dasha adding to her harem of big Russian men, apparently. Lovely.” Kara steps forward. “You might have to let me off the bench after all.” Kronin nods. “Yeah. One thing at a time. We’ll deal with the Sokolov match. In the meantime, Kara, I want you watching Valora’s back.. 4 to 1 are bad odds.. A little bit of backup couldn’t hurt.” Kara nods. “I’ll watch both your backs. You two aren’t fighting at the same time, I can watch both matches.”
Kronin nods and turns to Samantha who nods. “Makes sense. Truth be told, Anderson thinks you’re still hurt so odds are if he attacks anybody will get a nasty surprise, it will be Valora, specially since she went to go poke the bear as it were.” Kronin gives a wry smile “Then I definitely want someonee keeping tabs on Valora’s match in case she needs backup.”
