One exercise in particular stood out to me even as we were preparing for it. As with many of the others, it was a highly abstract, theoretical exercise in contingencies. A kill/capture mission on rogue unit equipped with the same enhanced combat suit I was wearing.

There was no operator inside when I triggered the encounter, just the bare metal moving fast even for my improved optics and spatial tracking. We engaged in a thunder of heavy weaponry, large-calibre gunfire erupting in stammering bursts.

Neither Hart nor the team would answer my questions. Tests continued, many involving one or more empty drone suits. Sometimes I had them on my side, obeying orders with a disquieting silent intelligence. They were capable of visualisation, too, presenting their bodies as if they were my own. Combat was a disturbing, slideshow affair as I snapped between suits so rapidly I occasionally forgot which one was mine.

This bothered me less than I would have liked.