Half an hour later the results came out and, as expected, Emma and I took first place.
The prize would be delivered over the next few days.
Second place went to Ivan van Omerta, who walked away with the Taurus titan, and third to Enzo Borgian, with the Mantis titan.
The rest of the contestants received state-of-the-art levitation vehicles and other consolation prizes.
The evening went on without a hitch, and all the guests had a good time.
So did I, I have to admit, even if it stung a little to ignore the fact that I couldn’t taste a single one of the delicacies laid out on the tables.
I spent a good part of the night chatting with my metal companions, and just as the party was reaching its peak, young Abel asked Charlotte for a dance.
They made a couple that, you had to admit, looked good together.
Her father, on the other hand, looked ready to explode.
If it hadn’t been for Victoria and a couple of maids holding him by the arms, he probably would have made a scene right then and there.
For my part, I asked the hostess, Amelia Helion, for a dance, while my companions and I played at seeing who would dare go first.
Honestly, I didn’t expect her to say yes.
I led her onto the floor with all the elegance I could muster; if I were human, I’m sure my nerves would have given me away completely, just from being so close to someone so beautiful.
Not for the first time, I was grateful to be made of metal.
The mood was so good that I ended up busting out a few moves that were probably forbidden at a party of that caliber.
The night ended with laughter and good spirits all around.
One week later
After seven days of waiting, the titan finally arrived, and Charlotte was dying to pilot it.
It took five crew members to operate, so while I went over the operating manual, it was settled: Charlotte, Emma and I, along with two more assistants, would be the crew of that thirty-five-meter-tall colossus.
“Miss, you should be more careful handling it,” I told her.
“Don’t you think it would be better to spend more time practicing in the virtual reality chamber, to get better acquainted with its functions?”
“Are you going to keep harping on that, Samuel?
I already told you I can pilot it.
Practice makes perfect, right, Emma?”
“She’s right, Samuel.
Relax.”
Sure, I’d have been happy to relax, if she weren’t making the titan run and jump like a runaway colt while I clung to my seat with all my strength.
I looked at the other two crew members behind me: their faces were as pale as ghosts, and as bad as it sounds, it was a relief not to be the only one worried.
A moment later, Charlotte fired the storm cannon and pulverized an entire mountain, while the two girls laughed with delight at the power they held in their hands.
Only one thought crossed my mind at that moment:
These two are insane.
Time skip: fifteen years
Time flies.
In what seemed like the blink of an eye, fifteen years went by, and I can say that my life in this world has been very good.
A lot changed during that time.
First: I secretly upgraded all my metal companions to keep them in excellent shape, never falling behind the newest models on the market.
Using Halo technology, I began integrating Forerunner components into our bodies, always without drawing attention.
Second was trade with the neighboring planets, which turned out to be enormously profitable.
The planet grew rich, which made it possible to upgrade ships, vehicles and machinery everywhere.
Charlotte’s sisters were also born: Anni Sorofia, with pure white hair and blue eyes, very shy, who follows me everywhere like an adorable shadow; and Amberly Sorofia, who turned out more like her older sister in personality, with endless energy.
The Sorofia sisters: Charlotte, Anni and Amberly.
Victoria Sorofia, of House Sorofia, wife of Marcus Banfield.
Marcus Banfield, of House Banfield, husband of Victoria Sorofia.
During one of my work routines, Anni asked me how I managed to organize my companions.
Of course I couldn’t deny her anything; nobody can resist that little face.
I told her about our group chat and how we communicated with one another, which struck her as quite a novelty.
She told her parents, and they, to my surprise, showed great interest in our communication system and its real range.
I explained that I could communicate with any of my companions, anywhere in the world, with no delay whatsoever.
They then asked whether I could develop an interstellar communication network, which struck me as rather odd, given how advanced their technology was in so many other respects; I figured they’d have something like that sorted out already.
From the information they gave me, I understood that they used something called astropaths for communications on that scale.
Without giving the difference much thought, I developed the UNSC communication networks: Waypoint.
Satellites and terminals were built on other worlds to test their effectiveness, and the result was a resounding success: the response time was nearly instantaneous, something that impressed everyone involved.
What I didn’t know back then was that this very creation would come back to bite me later on.
My masters gave me permission to set up a shipyard run one hundred percent by us, the automatons, which filled me with genuine excitement.
The first ships we built were UNSC frigates, with the crest of House Sorofia engraved on the hull, plus slipspace drives that, to be honest, turned out to be superior to the ones the rest of the Federation used.
Though I have to admit that every time I pass through that purple warp portal, I’m left with an uncomfortable feeling, as if countless eyes were watching me from the other side.
UNSC FRIGATE
SHAW-FUJIKAWA SLIPSPACE DRIVE
English is not my native language, so I hope you can understand if there are any inconsistencies or mistakes in the text.