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Sue graduates from Tactical School a year early, he's barely fifteen. He's toned down the flirting - he treats Aegis completely platonically, in particular - and has cut down on the unhealthy amount of sleeping-with-everything-that-wants. And he's apparently, via his independent study, gotten far enough through the curriculum that they're nudging him along to Command.
They've given Sue a strange old man for a tutor, who appeared in his room and started a physical confrontation, which Sue won; Sue related this story to her with something between amusement and irritation.
And a quicker-than-average flurry of notes has been piling up in the psych data since about that time, according to the timestamps.
Aegis knows before they tell her that they're going to send her to Command early too. She's just barely fifteen herself when she gets another update of the psych files and sees that Sue's had - well, the files aren't terribly clear, some of the communication is happening via in-person conversation and memos that don't get stored in these folders, but Sue's had some kind of breakdown and the only things they can think of to get him out of it, get him back into shape to train and fight, are her friendship and Howlett. They have mixed feelings about both - Howlett's insubordination problem; their bewilderment that Aegis and Sue can be so close when "she's the one person he can't link!" - but they're desperate.
Bird? They don't talk as often over the long distance, just as there was a lull when he went to Tactical ahead of her; their schedules have nothing in common and their contexts less. But he knows her, and he can reach this far if he tries. And she wants to know what's wrong.
autokinetic
Hey, you, he sends, friendly but tired.
autokinetic
Psychologists are freaking out. They're going to send me all the way to Command a year early to jolly you out of - something. I haven't gotten the orders yet, I'll have to pretend to be surprised. What happened, my bird?
The old guy's been acting weirder than usual, says Sue. And I can tell something's up, it is so incredibly fucking obvious that they're hiding something big, but he plays dumb whenever I try to pry it out of him. It's pissing me off, so I stopped playing, and now they don't know what to do with me.
autokinetic
Well, I don't know why they expect me to be any help, then, it's all over my file that I'm only useful when nobody's giving me any bullshit.
Who knows, he sighs.
autokinetic
Aegis's door slides open. She's been bunked alone since Sue left. She's ordered to report to a shuttle leaving for Command. She pretends to be surprised and to protest about her age. She's ignored. She goes. She's the only one on it, besides the pilot. Well, I'm on my way anyway.
Lucky me, says Sue.
autokinetic
Well, at least I'll be company that isn't fucking with you.
He sends a giggle.
autokinetic
I think they're sending Howlett too, though he's not on this shuttle unless he's flying it - I haven't got a look at the pilot so far.
It would not surprise me even a little bit if Howlett knew how to fly a shuttle, says Sue.
autokinetic
Hell, I know how to fly a shuttle. If he keels over from a heart attack I'll be able to get to Command School and dock as long as the destination's in the computer.
It'd take more than a heart attack to kill Howlett, he points out.
autokinetic
Maybe it'd put him out of commission for a minute, fixing the damage, right when we're almost there and I'd get to play collision-stopping hero, suggests Aegis. But it might not even be him, they might be letting him finish up the unit of classes or something first.
Sue laughs. Guess you'll find out when you dock, unless you go up and look before then.
autokinetic
I'm sure I'll encounter him. If nothing else he'll have to come out of the control room to get to the head sometime, there's only one on board.
He giggles.
autokinetic
Aegis calls up the book she's in the middle of from the ship's copy of the standard Battle School-and-its-relatives library, finds her place, and reads.
Sue doesn't cut the link, but he doesn't say anything more, either.
autokinetic
What kind of game do they have you playing, anyway? she asks while she pages through the book. She's pretty good at multitasking.
They've got these training simulators that're pretty gorgeous, and I'm commanding imaginary fleets on 'em, he says cheerfully.
autokinetic
That sounds fun. They've really pissed you off if you're quitting those, huh?
Yep.
autokinetic
I wonder what they care so much about not telling you. Are they denying that there's a secret at all, or just saying they won't tell?
They're kind of doing the 'well if there was a big secret, we wouldn't tell you jack about it' thing.