I could feel the tension in the air. Otto standing up for us was something I wouldn’t have expected, but maybe this was why the camp used AI?

“Otto, let it go. She’s not the first to make those comments. I can all but guarantee I know which ‘councillor’ she thinks is a good leader. They’re bullies, leave them to enjoy each other’s company.” I said, taking a breath and just imagining how Michael and this DIANNA were getting all buddy buddy.

Otto spun in place to flash his lights at me, “Jace, this affront cannot be allowed to stand! By allowing AI DIANNA to belittle you, it devalues the efforts you make.”

I shook my head. “Otto, there’s something you should know about humans. We make our own values. If you value the things we have done for you, and we value the friendship you are offering, then no matter what others say, we can still find worth in one another.”

DIANNA turned around and hovered off a little ways before saying anything else.

“This human is an imbecile. Society values specific things, all else is worthless. He is worthless. You, AI ORION, are a disappointment and make a fitting addition to this human’s allies.”

Otto spun about, his lights burning an intense red. SKADI and MORGAUSE intercepted him, like friends holding back the angry one. I was beginning to lose sight of the line between AI and human, and it hadn’t even been a full day since we met them.

“AI… I mean to say, OTTO, do not allow AI DIANNA to bait you into action. You are quite aware as to the results the last 217 times you let her cross your circuits.” MORGAUSE said.

SKADI seemed to nod in place, “Please heed AI MORGAUSE, I would very much like to avoid any more altercations.”

“I will beat her one of these days. I am weary of being looked down upon by the Seraph class drones.” Otto huffed.

The other two parted a little and backed away. “OTTO, you know a simple Hunter class cannot fight a Seraph class. Just as a Seraph class cannot expect to approach a Deus class.”

“We must depart to observe our own human charges, OTTO, please do take care not to get further into trouble.”

The two drones floated off toward their respective teams.

I stood there thinking for a moment, letting Otto process things. Then I had a question, and maybe an answer to Otto’s problem. “Hey, buddy. Otto. Can campers customize your drone’s housing?”

Otto dropped suddenly, spinning to meet my gaze, his blue and red lights shining brilliantly.

“Does Jace have an idea? OTTO would be eager to hear your suggestion.” Otto said

I smiled. “Otto, what do you come equipped with? What kind of gear do you have available to modify?”

“OTTO has two vibration based scalpels, one small calibre high speed pellet gun, and one experimental electromagnetic light array that can cut and cauterize at the same time.” Otto said, whirling out his armament as he listed it.

I had to think a little, but I came up with an idea. “Otto, can you use magnets to further accelerate your pellets? Like if you took the pellets, shot them through a magnetized set of rails, and thus increase the speed and damage dealt?”

“Is Jace attempting to suggest OTTO turn his pellet firing mechanism into a small scale railgun? OTTO would need to almost drain his battery to simulate a result.” Otto said, bobbing up and down.

I held up a finger, “But what if we increased the battery? Or what about rerouting the EM array from your laser? Or, what if we removed one vibro-scalpel and rerouted the power from that to the rail?”

“OTTO will take into consideration Jace’s ideas. OTTO thanks Jace for his input. May OTTO ask Jace to share more ideas with OTTO later?” Otto said, seeming to be very happy and deep in thought.

I nodded, “Of course, Otto. It’s what friends are for.”

Brittany tapped my shoulder and motioned me to lean in, “Why are you giving the drone ideas on how to be more deadly? We’re one bad day away from him killing us all and overthrowing the world.”

“OTTO does not see the reason to kill anyone, Councillor Brittany. OTTO merely wishes to crush AI DIANNA for her cruelty and hubris.” Otto chimed in from behind us.

“Brittany, chill.” I said, chuckling, “Otto and I know how each other feel. We’ve been bullied, and we know how that sucks. The difference is, Otto fights back it sounds like. If I can help him win, maybe that means I can win for myself.”

Otto flew back around to my front, “Does Jace refuse to engage in combat for a reason?”

“Jace doesn’t fight because Jace knows he will lose.” I said, feeling just a little sad.

“OTTO believes that Jace can win the hand to hand combat event, he merely needs to have someone teach him to fight.” Otto said, blinking his lights.

Dominiqu cut in at that moment, “I can teach you. Dad never felt safe with me going out on my own, made me take a few martial arts classes so he wouldn’t feel bad with me wandering around. He also gave me a skinning knife for if someone tried something anyway.”

Otto whirred in excitement, “OTTO believes this is a most acceptable proposition. Jace, you should accept camper Dominiqu’s offer. You never know when the event will come about.”

As I stood there, very confused, Dominiqu slid her arm over my shoulders and pulled me in tight. “It’ll be fun having a sparring buddy. Just remember, no going for my face. I’d hate to make it look like you’re abusing us.”

“But you’re a-“

“I swear on my daddy’s redneck blood, if you say anything about my gender I will kick you in the nuts here and now.”

“-very nice person… I don’t want to fight nice people…” I said, trying to salvage what I could of my instilled virtues.

Otto moved over to float in front of Dominiqu. “Is there not a difference in upper body strength between males and females of the human species?”

Dominiqu patted Otto with her free hand, “Otto, buddy, I’m awesome like that. Stronger than most boys my own age and twice as tough. Jace has nothing to worry about, hitting me with his fists.”

“Jace can fist camper Dominiqu with no worries? This is good news.” Otto said, rising a little bit.

“OTTO!” I all but shouted, “That’s not how you use that word. The verb is punching, not fisting!”

Otto dropped to eye level. “What is the proper use of the verb fisting? Knowing will aid in my understanding of human combat.”

I pulled Otto down to a squatting level and whispered what it meant, taking the time to explain how it wasn’t really combat. I then told him to watch certain other verbs because human language is not as easy as it looks. Otto blinked his lights multiple times, his fans speeding up and slowing down, the color of his lights seeming to emulate a blush.

Otto popped back up and hovered before Dominiqu. “Forgive OTTO for not knowing the correct information on the verb used. After being corrected, OTTO does have a question. Does camper Dominiqu desire Jace to punch her or to fist her? OTTO is unclear about camper Dominiqu’s intent.”

I flopped over on the field, my own blush spreading over my face, the desire to not be existing here reaching new levels. I didn’t have to look at Dominiqu’s face to believe that she was furious that Otto would even insinuate I would do something like that to her. I knew I was about to be beaten, so I curled up and waited.

“Oh, look! There’s a football on the field. Oh, wait, that’s just Jace. Sorry, all pig skin looks the same when it needs a good kicking.” Came a shout as the rest of the students gathered close.

Please no. Please for the love of all that is good, no. I don’t need this right now.

I felt an arm slide under my head and hot breath on my ear. “Time to get up, sugar. We’re going to need our leader at full strength if we want to get through this. We can talk about how embarrassing that little bot is later, but right now, I need you to kick ass.”

I nodded, knowing that the girl… I assumed it was Dominiqu… was right. So I stood up, raised my head, and acted like I hadn’t heard the comment that was directed at me.

“Come on bacon boy, what’s wrong? Did mommy there tell you to ignore me? Well you can’t. I’m here to remind you how low you really are.” Michael called out, getting closer and closer. “There’s no blond girl to step in, Chelsea and Tommy are getting lovey dovey in your absence, and I can tell you he’s so happy you’re out of the way. He’s going to plough that stuck up little broad like a field and leave his seed all over. Maybe, if you’re lucky, she’ll let you clean it off.”

The things he said about me didn’t hurt half as much as what he said about Chelsea. I knew there was no way she would ever give me even the time of day if she hadn’t been stuck with me, and she was with a sports star… Michael was right, Tommy would likely get her to do the deed with him, and then I would be just a bad memory. Nobody wants to be with a fat, ugly guy like me… least of all Chelsea. I wished I could just accept that and pretend I didn’t feel anything, but she had been my defender for so long… she was my knight riding in on a white horse, and I always thought of myself as the princess in the tower.

“Michael, just because you like to have the other guys cover you in their spunk doesn’t mean you understand my best friend or her relationship.” Brittany said, stepping forward. I knew she would come to Chelsea’s aid, that’s what BFFs are for.

I had closed my eyes to fight back the tears. Listening to Michael talk crap about Chelsea, and then Brittany stepping forward to defend her but not deny the accusations… It compounded the ache in my heart. And then I felt to hands on my shoulders followed almost immediately by two warm sensations on my cheeks.

I opened my eyes and looked round as the warm things pulled away. On one side was Dominiqu, her lips still puckered. On the other was Tanya, winking at me. They turned toward Michael and both started to laugh.

“Tanya, love, if you walked in on Jace and I, how would you feel about cleaning us up?” Dominiqu asked loudly, everyone understanding her meaning.

The girl being questioned put her hand in front of her mouth and giggled. “Only if you return the favour.”

My face flushed again, the burning sensation telling everyone I wasn’t certain how to handle those comments.

“You know, Jace, you should stop paying those girls to say things like that. Nobody believes them. You’re a disgusting piece of crap.” Michael called out, looking like he had just seen someone defecate on his shoes.

Tanya took three measured steps forward, “He doesn’t have to pay us to say anything. We enjoy what he does to us when the light goes down. Maybe you should stop being jealous. I bet if I made you drop your pants, I wouldn’t find anything worth playing with.”

Otto zoomed to hover next to Tanya. “Councillor Jace has proven he is a master of many skills. He taught OTTO what fisting is and how effective it can be when dealing with female campers.”

“Oh, Otto,” Tanya said looking over at him, “it's not just females. People like Michael there like it too.”