“That is – quite a request. It’s definitely uncommon for any woman to be interested in becoming a Unit. You have to understand your job will be a very dangerous one. What you may perceive to be just a small slip-up is not only a danger to your survival – but the entire colony’s. It would be imperative that you act with not only caution but also assertion.”

        My fist clenches up tight. While not outright sexist, his biases manifest in such a way as to discourage me. However, while I was not exactly close friends with Jack back on Earth, I still interacted with him enough to know that he was not a bad person. He could be a bit condescending at times, the Oxford English accent doing him no favors. Still, subtle facial cues also support the idea that he is not trying to dissuade me out of incredulity, but concern. I need to stand firmly and confidently to gain Jack’s trust. To join the Second Squadron would finally be a chance to give myself a sense of meaning, and protect those I love from the fate that awaited Leon. Leon… I am the only one left who believes that he is still alive – and as a Second Unit, my training and experience would grant me the tools necessary to rescue him.

        “With all due respect, Jack… there are many powerful leaders even in the First Squadron who are women. You’ve said it yourself, the most imperative trait for success in becoming a Unit is aspiration. What I aspire to do is to join the First Squadron alongside those leaders. What I aspire to do is become independent, to become trustworthy, to—”

        “To rescue Leon,” He interrupts me with a hint of reproach, and an apparent ability to read my mind. “That kind of simple-minded thinking won’t get you very far. What happens when you search endlessly, and after years, you come to terms that there is no other explanation than his passing? You need to be driven internally, motivation and longing are things that dissipate over time.”

        “And how are you any different, Jack?!” My composure quickly deteriorates. Jack struck a nerve, and he is well aware of it. “You are driven by the goal of protecting the colony! We are both just fighting to protect others. So, what happens if every last one of us in the colony perishes? You and I both know damn well that can happen in the blink of an eye. You can’t claim that–”

        “Don’t fucking say that ever again. Heaven forbid that ever happens.” Jack’s raw emotion shines through for just a moment. He puts his head down and recomposes himself, quickly realizing that he had lost his professional conduct. However, his nervous energy lingered, and manifested itself as he paced back and forth around the dimly lit room of tree bark. “The point, Lin, is that my raison d'être extends beyond this colony. We all long for the day that another rift is opened, and we can return to Earth. So long as one human so much as breathes, I will be fighting tooth and nail for our preservation.”

        I took some time to process what Jack said. Perhaps that makes Jack and I more similar than he thinks. Another rift opening is just a pipe dream in and of itself – despite what Doctor Froh’s everlasting optimism would tell him. Perhaps it is even more far-fetched than my dream that Leon is out there somewhere, probably being held prisoner, and is in need of a hero. Still, it would straight up be a lie to claim that my drive was anything but monomaniacal. In a last-ditch effort to restore a decaying opportunity, I tried to appeal to Jack’s realism.

        “Look, Jack…” My voice became gentler, trying to relieve the tension that had built up. “I know you don’t trust I am up to the task right now. But this tree is quickly running out of Lebenssaft. Our entire colony will need to migrate in a matter of days. The Second Squadron needs strong, capable Units willing to lead, comfort, and inspire the uneasy masses. I can promise you, you will see quick results with me. My head is screwed on tight. If I fail you, then – you can take action against me as you wish. But you will never know unless you give me a chance. And I will never know unless I try.”

        Silence lingers in the room for what has to be a few minutes. Jack keeps his hand up against a wall, head down, contemplating the situation. The mental burden he has to bear in his position must feel like carrying the weight of the entire world on his shoulders. I know he isn’t alone, but he must mentally feel alone. He isn’t just the leader of the entirety of the Second Squadron, but a de facto leader of this colony. Rapidly deteriorating situations keep unfolding, and he is expected not only to handle them but to keep everyone calm. This migration would be the third for us, and we had faced many more casualties than newcomers. We have to be down to a hundred by now. Units used to comprise around one in every ten members of the colony, but after enduring so much loss, they now make up nearly a third. The First Squadron has a mere five Units here, whereas the Second Squadron has a couple dozen. Some Units of the Second Squadron have been considering migrating to much larger colonies, as the current ratio was just a waste of human manpower. Jack has put up little resistance to leaving them to their own devices, as it may make him appear weak. As if he couldn’t handle the task with a smaller squadron. Circumstances began to make him despondent, but I am here now, offering my hand.

        “Tomorrow,” Jack’s sudden remark interrupts my train of thought. I tilt my head. “Your training starts tomorrow.”

        My eyes light up with limitless glee. I am being given the opportunity of a lifetime, I have taken the first step. A fire starts up again inside of me, reminding me of my goal, reminding me that any human can be more than a bug. I spring up and down, and then I reach up to his shoulder, and grab a ball of Jack’s uniform in my hand.

        “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jack! You won’t be disappointed! I will learn everything quickly, and I’ll quickly become your most reliable Unit! You don’t know what this means to me!”

        Jack knocks my hands off of his vest, shaking his head.

        “Don’t make too many empty promises, I don’t like being let down. Stay humble. I have a lot to teach you. You are to report back to my office tomorrow at sunrise. Just as easily as I gave you this honor, I can take it back, so you ought not be late. Admittedly, I still think of you as a friend, but as the dynamic between us has changed, you are to refer to me from now on as General Jack. I will return the same respect to you, Unit Lin.”

        “Sir, yes, sir!” I give Jack a military salute, and nod my head quickly.

        “You’re already messing up! I told you to call me General Jack, not sir!” Jack says with a sarcastic smile, obviously teasing. Jack, of course, has a soft side, and my goofy demeanor that arose from my excitement drew it out. I follow Jack out of the room and into another room, the Quarter of Operations, which is completely empty apart from us two. Contained within are some workout equipment, a whole bunch of makeshift weaponry, stockpiles of rations, tables littered with meals yet to be cleaned up, memorabilia, the barracks, and just about every other thing an all-in-one room for Unit operations would need. The environment itself fills me with excitement, even though the imminent migration would render this all obsolete.

        “So,” Jack says, beholding before him a large closet with unisex uniforms. “What size are you?”

…

        Noel would be in for quite a surprise when I returned home in a Unit uniform. She had stayed optimistic that the interview would go well, especially considering the already existing dynamic between me and Jack, but there was always that lingering skepticism. Right near the tree hollow are the steps up to the main living spaces. Jack likely would not give me a Unit living space until we migrate, but I may turn the offer down, as I don’t want to abandon the idea of living alongside Noel. She just means too much to me, and if there is anyone I am fighting for besides Leon, it is Noel. She deserves to be kept safe and happy.

        I open the door to our room. What I see just melts my heart. Noel had prepared a cake with candles for me. By the look of it, it had to be packed with Lebenssaft and everything sweet. Noel probably prepared the cake expecting that if I was accepted, we could celebrate together, and if I was rejected, I would at least have a cake to keep my spirits up. Noel may not be very capable, but she would undoubtedly do almost anything to keep me happy. Just the sight of it made my heart speed up a little, and I tear up a bit. Of course, she's sleeping, sitting, and slouched over at the table with her face down in her arms. Thankfully, she didn’t have to see my embarrassing arrival.

        I slip my boots off to minimize the amount of noise I make. I sneak up carefully behind her, and wrap my arms around her sides, hugging her tightly from behind. She jumps up, startled by the sudden physical contact.

        "Sneak attack!" I shout through laughter.

        "Lin, you dork, you scared me!" 

        She reciprocates with laughter, extending her arms above her head to hug me back, nuzzling against my head. She slides down her chair, escaping the lock of my embrace, and descending all the way to the floor. She then jumps up and spins around. Her face quickly shifts from a smile to a wide gape.

        "Lin, you – you really…"

        "That's Unit Lin to you, you rascal! Don't wear it out!"

        Noel does not hesitate at all to intentionally tackle me down to the ground by the shoulders, shouting my name. She nearly gives me a concussion for the thousandth time, but by now I am used to protecting my head from colliding directly with the ground.

        "Lin, I knew you could do it, I knew you could!"

        Noel, despite being only a year younger than me, often has as much energy as a little kid on a sugar rush. She's never shown that level of excitement and affection with anyone besides me, even on Earth. She has been my best friend for months, and I've been hers, drawn increasingly closer to each other thanks to our circumstances. At times, I've felt like “best friend” was even too light of a term - sometimes merely seeing her elicits something in me.

        She pulls her head back and stares down at me, and we share a nice moment where we can just stare at each other in bliss. She is a brunette with a light coating of freckles over her nose. She wears the dorkiest attire sometimes, but her most notable feature is the aviator hat and goggles she wears on her head all the time. I have never fully understood why she does it, but it gives her adorable flaps that I love to play with.

        "I'll protect you at all costs, Noel. Promise. Okay? Just stick with me." I reassure her.

        "Hey, not fair! You think I can't protect you too, because I can!"

        "Well, you already do protect me by keeping my spirit afloat. I would honestly feel lost without you here, Noel. But please, don't jump in a line of fire just for me. I am training to take on the giant world we've been plopped into, and one of the most important things for me is making sure you don't get hurt. Anything else, I'll get through. You just have to trust me."

        She brushes the hair away from one of my eyes that I neglected since she tackled me to the ground.

        "You're doing it for Leon mostly though, right?"

        "No! I– it's not mostly for him. Yes, I'm going to find him, but protecting humans at all costs is my main goal. Macros threaten our existence all the time, and I refuse to let them take the life of someone I care for."

        Noel tilts her head, displaying a bit of what I thought was skepticism, but then she smiles weakly. That smile starts to disappear as she begins to realize something.

        "You're not going to forget me when you start living with the other Units, right..? I would have to find a new roommate, but no one compares to the mighty Lin."

        "That's the great part. I'm not going anywhere! I am going to put in a special request to be able to continue to live in the Main Living Quarters. I honestly don't want to live in the Barracks."

        Noel seems delighted. She springs upwards, rushing over to the table.

        "I almost forgot to tell you! I baked you a cake! Plenty of Lebenssaft. Don't worry, I didn't steal from the colony reserves, these were actually my rations that I had just been stowing away."

        "You really need to be careful," I scrunch my eyebrows. "If you don't get your fix, you'll definitely start shrinking. It's already difficult enough to live in a world of macros, but we manage. If you shrink any further, there's no telling what would happen to you."

        She squats down on the floor with me, handing me a fork and cutting me a slice.

        "I know, don't worry. I've talked plenty with Professor Froh. I made sure I wouldn't be endangering myself. It turns out that we actually get rations around twice as often as we really need to. We are just so used to eating two or three meals a day from back on Earth, so it's kind of odd to imagine you could get by with only one serving of Lebenssaft a day," She shoves food in her mouth. "But it's just to be extra cautious that they collect so much for us."

        "I see – you better make sure you're saving some of your rations for the migration. The Units won't be able to carry enough for everyone, so you really don't wanna risk it. Hey! Are you even listening to me?"

        Noel is already stuffing her face with the cake she made before I even take my first bite. It’s hard to believe that she was paying attention when scoop after scoop was shoveled into her mouth. I roll my eyes and smile, joining her in the festivity. We spent the rest of the night having a drawing contest that devolved into anarchy. Becoming a Unit never meant I had to lose my childish side. It turned out the cake gave us both a serious sugar rush, and so I crashed. And as the morning bells sounded, we were still out cold.