*POV: Zoe Chen*
I was three hours into debugging the mess hall's ordering system when the new guy arrived. The Tank – Marcus Rodriguez, according to his file, though he'd probably want us to call him Master Sergeant until he realized how ridiculous that sounded in a squad of four people.
"Pixel, you in there?" Jake's voice carried through my headphones, tinged with the particular brand of excitement he got when there was fresh meat to mess with.
"Mm-hmm," I replied, not looking up from my code. The ordering system had been glitching for weeks, randomly assigning people meals they'd never requested. Yesterday, half the base got assigned vegan protein smoothies when they'd ordered burgers. The day before, everyone somehow ordered seventeen orders of nachos each.
"The Tank just checked in. Want to come meet him?"
"Busy."
"Come on, Pixel. Team bonding. Colonel's orders."
I sighed and saved my work. Team bonding was important, I reminded myself. Even if it meant interacting with people in meatspace instead of through the comfortable buffer of screens and keyboards.
My room in Barracks Alpha was exactly how I liked it – dark except for the glow of six monitors, cool thanks to the industrial-grade cooling system I'd "requisitioned" from the server room, and quiet except for the gentle hum of high-end electronics. It was my fortress of solitude, my command center, my happy place.
The hallway, by contrast, was bright and loud and full of people doing people things. I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the fluorescent lighting.
Jake was bouncing on his toes outside Room 1A, which meant he was either excited or had consumed too much caffeine. Given that it was Jake, it was probably both.
"Ready to meet the noob?" he asked, grinning.
"He's not a noob," I said automatically. "He's got six years Marine Corps experience. Two combat deployments. Marksmanship qualifications in—"
"Pixel."
"What?"
"You memorized his file, didn't you?"
I adjusted my glasses. "I memorized everyone's file. Standard operating procedure."
Jake laughed and knocked on the door. "Tank? You decent? We've got your squad here to say hi."
The door opened to reveal Marcus Rodriguez, and I immediately understood why they'd assigned him as Tank class. He was built like a linebacker who'd spent his off-season training for strongman competitions – not bulky, but solid in a way that suggested he could probably bench press a small vehicle. Dark hair, dark eyes, and the kind of weathered face that came from spending time in places where people shot at you.
He looked at us with the expression of a man trying to process something fundamentally strange. "You're my squad?"
"Respawn Squad Alpha, reporting for duty," Jake said with a mock salute that would have gotten him court-martialed in any other unit. "Jake Williams, but everyone calls me Respawn. I'm your DPS."
"Zoe Chen," I said, giving a small wave. "Pixel. Tech Support and general problem-solver."
"Where's the fourth?" Marcus asked.
"Sarah's in the med bay," Jake explained. "Someone from Beta squad tried to test whether the healing abilities work on food poisoning. Spoiler alert: they don't, and it was super gross."
Marcus nodded slowly. "Okay. So... how does this work? Do we sit around and share our character backstories?"
I almost smiled. "Actually, that's not a terrible idea. Understanding team composition is crucial for effective coordination."
"See? Pixel gets it." Jake dropped into Marcus's gaming chair, which immediately began adjusting to his much smaller frame. "Want the full rundown, Tank?"
"Sure. Hit me."
Jake spun the chair around and pulled up what looked like a character sheet on the monitors. "Respawn Squad Alpha. Four-person team, balanced composition. I'm primary DPS – damage per second. My specialty is explosive weapons and what Pixel calls 'aggressive problem solving.'"
"Reckless endangerment," I corrected.
"Creative tactics," Jake countered. "Anyway, I've got abilities focused on high damage output and area denial. My ultimate ability is called 'Rain of Fire' – basically I can call in precision artillery strikes."
Marcus stared at him. "You can call in artillery strikes?"
"Well, not yet. Gotta unlock it first. But yeah, eventually." Jake brought up another display. "Pixel here is our Tech Support. She can hack pretty much anything, coordinate team movements, and has this really cool ability called 'Overclock' that temporarily boosts everyone's reaction time."
"It's more complicated than that," I said. "The ability interfaces with the team's neural implants to—"
"Neural implants?" Marcus looked alarmed.
"Nothing invasive," I assured him quickly. "Just subdermal interface chips. They let us share tactical data, coordinate abilities, and interface with the base's systems. You'll get yours tomorrow during your medical processing."
"Of course I will." Marcus ran a hand through his hair. "And Sarah?"
"Medkit's our healer," Jake said. "Combat medic class. She can patch us up, boost our stamina, and her ultimate ability is called 'Lazarus Protocol' – basically she can revive someone who's down but not dead yet."
"That sounds actually useful."
"All our abilities are useful," I said, feeling slightly defensive. "The system is designed to enhance natural military skills, not replace them."
"Speaking of which," Jake said, "what's your class specialization, Tank?"
Marcus looked confused. "I thought you just told me. Tank?"
"Right, but what kind of tank? Damage absorption? Crowd control? Area denial? Shield generation?"
"I... don't know. How would I know?"
Jake and I exchanged glances. This was going to be more complicated than I'd thought.
"Okay," I said, settling into problem-solving mode. "Let's run through the basics. Tank class has four primary specialization trees. Fortress – focused on defensive abilities and damage absorption. Guardian – focused on protecting teammates and battlefield control. Berserker – focused on high-damage melee combat with damage resistance. And Tactician – focused on battlefield coordination and buff/debuff abilities."
"Which one sounds most like you?" Jake asked.
Marcus was quiet for a moment. "I've always been good at keeping my people alive. Making sure everyone gets home."
"Guardian tree," I said immediately. "Perfect fit. Your abilities will focus on protective barriers, threat assessment, and team coordination buffs."
"Abilities." Marcus said the word like he was tasting something unusual. "Right. So I'll be able to... what, exactly?"
I pulled up the Guardian skill tree on the monitors. "Starting abilities include 'Threat Assessment' – you can identify the most dangerous enemy in any situation. 'Protective Barrier' – you can generate temporary cover for teammates. And 'Rally Point' – you can mark locations that provide healing and stamina boosts for the team."
"And these abilities work how, exactly?"
"Combination of technology and training," I explained. "The neural interface lets you access heads-up display data, target identification systems, and equipment controls. The abilities themselves are mostly enhanced versions of things you already know how to do."
"For example," Jake added, "your 'Threat Assessment' ability is basically just having really good situational awareness, except now you get visual indicators and data overlays to help you process information faster."
Marcus nodded slowly. "That... actually makes sense. It's like having better intel."
"Exactly!" I was getting excited now. "The whole system is designed to enhance natural capabilities, not create artificial ones. You're still doing the same job you've always done – leading a squad, keeping them safe, completing the mission. You just have better tools now."
"And if I die?
"Respawn," Jake said cheerfully. "Twenty-four hour cooldown, then you're back in action."
"With full memory of how you died," I added. "So you can learn from the experience without losing the experience."
Marcus was quiet for a long moment, processing this. "And you three are okay with this? With dying and coming back?"
"I've never actually died," I admitted. "Jake's died... how many times now?"
"Seventeen," Jake said proudly. "Personal record for the base. Though to be fair, twelve of those were during the same training exercise where I was testing the limits of the 'Explosive Ordinance' ability."
"You blew yourself up twelve times in one day?"
"In my defense, I got really good at it by the end."
Marcus looked at me. "Please tell me you're the responsible one on this team."
"I prefer 'methodical,'" I said. "But yes, I generally try to keep Jake from accidentally destroying the base."
"It was one time!"
"It was three times, and one of them wasn't an accident."
Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay. New rule. Nobody dies on purpose. I don't care if it's just for practice or because you're curious or because you want to test something. We treat death like it's permanent, even when it isn't."
"That's... actually really smart," I said. "Maintaining proper risk assessment protocols even in a consequence-reduced environment."
"Is that your way of saying I'm right?"
"Yes."
Jake looked disappointed. "But how are we going to test the limits of—"
"We're not," Marcus said firmly. "We're going to train, learn our abilities, work as a team, and complete our missions. In that order."
I felt something relax in my chest that I hadn't realized was tense. For all the advanced technology and game-like systems, what I'd been missing was someone who approached this like it was still real. Someone who understood that the tools might be different, but the job was the same.
"So," Marcus continued, "what's our first mission?"
"Technically, surviving tomorrow's orientation," I said. "But after that, we'll start with basic team coordination exercises. Learning to use our abilities together, developing tactical protocols, building trust."
"Trust," Marcus repeated. "Right. Can I trust you two not to get yourselves killed while I'm learning which button makes the pretty lights happen?"
"Probably," Jake said.
"Define 'probably,'" Marcus replied.
"Like, sixty-forty odds?"
"Jake," I said warningly.
"Fine, seventy-thirty. But I make no promises about the training exercises. Those things are designed to be lethal."
Marcus looked at me again. "Please tell me he's exaggerating."
"He's not," I said. "But that's the point. The training is dangerous because real missions will be dangerous. The respawn system lets us learn from mistakes that would normally be fatal."
"Okay," Marcus said. "I can work with that." He looked around the room, taking in the gaming setup, the glowing schedule, the team roster on the monitors. "This is definitely not what I expected when I volunteered for experimental duty."
"What did you expect?" Jake asked.
"Honestly? New weapons. Maybe some advanced vehicles. Possibly jetpacks."
"Ooh, jetpacks would be cool," Jake said. "Pixel, can you hack us some jetpacks?"
"That's not how hacking works, Jake."
"It could be how hacking works."
"No, it really couldn't."
Marcus watched our exchange with what might have been amusement. "Okay, team. Ground rules. First, we learn the system. Then we learn to work together. Then we learn to win. Everyone clear?"
"Clear," I said.
"Crystal," Jake agreed.
"Good." Marcus checked the clock on the monitors. "According to this schedule, we've got PT at 0600. What should I expect?"
"Traditional military fitness training," I said, "plus coordination drills designed to help us learn to use our abilities together."
"And how hard are these coordination drills?"
Jake and I exchanged another look.
"Remember what I said about the training being designed to be lethal?" Jake said.
Marcus sighed. "Of course. Anything else I should know before tomorrow?"
"Sarah's really nice," I offered. "You'll like her. She keeps Jake from doing anything too stupid."
"Hey!"
"It's a compliment. You do lots of stupid things, but they're usually smart stupid things when she's around to help plan them."
"That... actually is a compliment," Jake admitted.
Marcus stood up. "Alright, team. I'm going to get some sleep and mentally prepare for whatever fresh hell tomorrow brings. Any final advice?"
"Don't take anything too seriously," Jake said. "The system works best when you're having fun with it."
"Take everything seriously," I countered. "The system works best when you respect what it can do."
"You're both right," Marcus said. "Which is probably the most confusing thing anyone's said to me all day."
"Welcome to Fort Respawn," I said. "It gets weirder."
After Marcus closed his door, Jake and I stood in the hallway for a moment.
"What do you think?" Jake asked.
"I think he's going to be good for us," I said. "We needed someone who remembers that this is still real, even when it feels like a game."
"Yeah," Jake agreed. "Plus, he didn't run away screaming when I told him about the seventeen deaths."
"That is a point in his favor."
We started walking back toward our rooms.
"Pixel?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for fixing the mess hall system. I was getting really tired of accidentally ordering seventeen nachos every day."
"You were doing that on purpose, weren't you?"
Jake grinned. "Maybe a little. But the nachos were really good."
I shook my head and went back to my room, back to my monitors and my code and my comfortable solitude. But for the first time since arriving at Fort Respawn, I was actually looking forward to working with the team.
We had our Tank now. Tomorrow, we'd find out if he could learn to play the game.
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