Look Into EU

You think it would be kind of dumb to go charging into a group of runners in good Frames that may or may not try to kill you on sight when a fan club is not far away. You opt for them. "ADA, show me the way to where Enders United is training."

[Roger. Please follow the arrow.] At the top of the HUD, the semi-transparent indicator appears showing you the direction to go and this feels like a game again. An immersive, amazingly detailed game, but it feels less like reality has become giant robot battles. Jehuty responds to your command to move forward, the motion surprisingly smooth and quiet, but judging from the blurred red outside, remarkably fast.

"Any idea why these guys have such a low success rate," you ask, feeling a sudden urge to fill the almost-silence.

[Most likely, they are something of a guerrilla ****, operating without substantial funding or backing from a governing party. This would lead to excessively broad recruiting standards, insufficient training and their Frames and LEVs falling into disrepair. The MLDF however is well-funded and although their numbers are mostly made up of average combatants, their elite Frame runners are well-trained.]

"So its kind of like a class-struggle as well as a revolution?"

[In a sense. Although the ideologies of haves and have-nots do not officially enter into the conflict, the difference in assets is difficult to ignore. It is possible that members of Enders United begrudge the MLDF for their advantages.] You know the feeling as you remember Thomas Armstrong, your school's richest asshole and his well-off-but-less-so cronies. It burns your ass knowing your taxes will pay for their eighth yachts someday. Thinking of it that way makes it feel right to side with EU.

[Immediate deceleration recommended.]

"What? Oh, shit!" You make Jehuty slow down faster than needed, but given the reason, its understandable as a volley of bullets rise to hit floating targets only a half-mile from you, which seems much closer thanks to Jehuty's size. The source is a small battalion of LEVs, only five, apparently having target practice. They stop and turn the red eyes toward you. It concerns you just long enough for you to remember that Jehuty can take five LEVs easy.

[We are receiving a transmission from an Enders United channel. Shall I connect it?]

"Yes, please."

An area under the word 'comm.' on the HUD expands into a window, shrinking some other areas. A woman appears in this window who at first looks elated as she says 'Leo!?' hopefully and then disappointed. "Whats going on," she asks, now more serious. Cute, though, in a somehow familiar way. "Why are you in Jehuty?" ADA shows you a message that tells you that 'she' is the only in-game character aware of it's fictional existence and that telling the others is ill advised. That kind of sucks because without having suddenly appeared there, you have no idea how you would be in Juhuty's cockpit.

"I'm..not," you say, instantly regretting not only saying it but that you can't retract it. "This isn't the original Jehuty." The woman glares at you and then turns. You can hear your heart racing as she checks your lie.

"...it does look a little different," she says. This confuses you but you go with it. She looks back at you, a tiny bit less suspiciously. "What are you doing here in an Orbital Frame? If you've come for a fight, I should warn you, LEVs aren't our only weapons."

"I've come to join you," you say.

"....why?"