Sorry for the wait. There were a few things about Rho and her character that I needed to work out for this chapter. Also, I got some video games for Christmas, so most of my free time fell into that void. (Portal 2 rocks, by the way). Anyway, here is the new chapter and I hope you like it.

Wash stares at the AI for a while before speaking. "Is this what the Director sold you?"

"Yes, along with a few suits of armor and the equipment needed for implantation."

"Why would he give you an AI? A few soldiers, no matter what enhancements they have, wouldn't be worth that to him" Wash says skeptically.

"I don't know all the details" I start "but I know Dr. Han was working on something for him. Some secret side project she would never talk about. It was codenamed Allison."

"Shit" Wash mutters, sitting down to study the AI. "That would explain it. He was trying to create her again. Did it work?"

"As far as I know, all the experiments were a failure" I say slowly. "What do you know about it? Who was he trying to create?"

"A woman. Someone he loved very much. He tried to bring her back over and over again, but it never worked" Wash explains. "I guess he tried to get Dr. Han to help, too."

Wash sits quietly for a long time, studying the AI. "I heard two voices earlier" he finally says. "Is there a second AI?"

The pink and blue armored figure changes to a deeper shade before speaking. "That would be me." She then turns a grayish white as the air is filled with the hum of static, before settling back her original pastel colors.

"She's broken" I explain. "The Director wouldn't give up any of the good AIs, so Dr. Han convinced him to send her three broken ones instead. It took her a long time, but she eventually got them to work, although the personalities are somewhat split."

"I'm instinct" the lighter, cheerier part of the AI chirps. "I am compassion" the voice changes again, becoming deeper and smoother as the darker form emerges to introduce herself. Lastly, the static-y form appears, but fades away without a word.

"We don't know what the last one is" I say. "She was more damaged than the others when we first got her. Even though she's mostly repaired now, she still hasn't spoken or given us her name."

"I think she's shy" Light-Rho says.

"You two should talk" I tell Wash. "Rho can fill you in on everything we've done up to this point to find Dr. Han, and you two can discuss tactics."

"What will you be doing?" Wash asks.

"I need to find the Sim-Troopers" I say, taking my helmet off the table and holding it under my arm as I turn toward the door. "It's like you said, they need to choose this for themselves. I need to get their answers."

"Be safe" Light-Rho says. "Don't stay away too long. We'll need to discuss plans with you" her darker part adds.

Wash waves slightly as I leave the room, most of his attention still on Rho. I notice that he seems nervous about her. I know from his file that his own AI malfunctioned and caused him some problems, but it didn't mention any details. I hope that whatever happened won't cause any problems later on. For now, I need to find the reds and blues.

Wash turns in his chair to face the small hologram. He didn't like the thought of it being so close to him. Any AI was bad enough, but knowing this one was unstable made it worse. Whatever happens, that thing is not going in my head, he thinks, pushing his helmet more securely onto his head. I've had enough of that to last a lifetime.

"Alright" Wash says finally, eyeing the AI skeptically. "Tell me everything I need to know about project Imbalance, starting with Silver."

I walk through the halls of the base, trying to remember my way back to the labs. I'm not sure where all the Sim-Troopers have gone, but I figure the labs are a good place to start. Carbon might still be there visiting Mango and Peppermint with some of the others. Why did mom have to design this place like a maze? I think as I stare at a meeting of three different corridors. I close my eyes, trying to remember which way to go. This is so much easier when Rho's with me. She never gets lost.

I finally pick the direction I think is most likely to take me in the right direction, and start walking. After a few minutes, I know by the smells that I've chosen correctly. There are the familiar traces of my brothers and sisters in the air, as well as the new smells from our guests.

Further down the hall, I see Nick walking with a clipboard full of papers under his arm. "You know, if you don't want people to call you an old man, you might want to think about using some less outdated equipment" I say, jogging to catch up to him. I try to snatch the clipboard out of his hand, but he's too quick.

"Old man or not, I can still beat you" he says, holding the papers out of my reach. Even with the height boost from my armor, he's still a full head taller than me.

I match my pace to his as we walk side by side. "What do you think of our guests?"

"They seem experienced" he says after a moment. "If what we've heard about them is true, then they will certainly be helpful to us."

"But what do you think of them, beyond ability?" I press.

"They seem trustworthy" Nick says. "I haven't spoken to them much, but my gut tells me they won't hurt us. Unlike the last guy."

I shudder slightly, remembering the blood in the back of the pelican after Neon's final mission. "Nothing could be as bad as that..."

"Actually, things could be considerably worse. But, I do not believe we'll have any trouble from these new arrivals." He pauses for a moment before asking "am I mistaken, or was that Carbon with them?"

I nod and tap the papers in his hand. "You can remove him from the missing list. We found him."

"That's good" Nick says, smiling as he pulls a pen from his pocket to write it down. "It's always nice to put something positive in the records."

My face drops as I remember the other change we need to make to the list. "Also, add Manny to the list of the deceased."

Nick stops and looks at me. "Manganese is dead?"

I nod. "I thought you overheard that while we were in the pelican" I say.

"I heard part of the conversation. I knew you were talking about him, but I didn't know why." Nick wipes a hand across his face. "Shit" he mutters. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you later" I say, continuing down the hall. "I need to find the Sim-Troopers." I turn my face away from him, afraid he'll see my barely concealed tears.

"Si" Nick reaches out and grabs my wrist, stopping me. "If you need to talk about something, I'm always here. You don't need to do all of this alone."

"Thanks Nick" I say, pulling my arm away without looking him in the eye. "But I'm fine."

I hurry on down the hall, barely hearing him whisper "just as stubborn as mom."

Okay, there it is. I'll try to have the next chapter be a little longer and I'll try to get it published a little sooner. Please, let me know what you think. As always, your reviews mean the world to me.

-J