Leonard slowly stepped out of his simulator pod, a thin sheet of sweet forming on his brow. He had come down from his rush of excitement at his newly found abilities, however all that met him was a wave of exhaustion, while his mind may be able to keep up with such movements his body was yet to be accustomed to them.
His body groaned as he gave it a stretch, tired muscles seeming to scream out in complaint. However as he let his stretch fall they relaxed, falling back into a much more comfortable position then the tense state they were in before.
"Leonard was it?" A voice broke him from his stupor. He looked towards where it came from only to be met with an elderly man he had not seen before, although this wasn't much of a surprise given the sheer amount of people that called the estate home.
"That's me," he answered.
"Very good," the older man smiled. "I was wondering if you would join me for a brief moment, my colleagues and I wish to discuss your recent showings with you."
"With me?" Leonard questioned, eyes instinctively looking up to where he could sense a large number of eyes on him. The upper balcony was filled with a group of elderly and more senior members of the estate, all talking amongst themselves with one eye constantly locked on him.
"Of course," the elderly man that had come to meet him said. "The videos from your recent battles are of great interest to us, that and your monumental increase in rank."
"Woah," Leonard thought as his eyes drifted over to the large ranking board, finding his own name settled firmly in 532nd place. "How on earth did I manage to move up over five hundred places? There's no way.."
Leonard had no reason to refuse the elder, and so followed him through the larger crowd that had gathered on the ground floor and up to a set of stairs that led to the more exclusive section reserved for more esteemed members of the estate. However he still spared some time to look for his sister, Summer waving him off as he quietly apologised for having to leave so early.
He had only come up here once before, when his father had brought him to the simulation pods once to practice, after which letting him follow him upstairs to the much more comfortable lounge. The lounge in question was fairly well decorated, a large open bar manned by a single bartender sitting in the middle, its circular shape letting the lone worker serve the whole lounge from one place. The main floor of the lounge was filled with circular standing tables, around which people stood and chatted with drinks in hand. To the far corner was a more secluded section with large couches and tables while the balcony end overlooking the simulator floor was lined with many individual chairs.
All eyes in the lounge turned to him as he stepped inside, the easy conversation that filled the air crawling to a stop. Leonard couldn't help but feel somewhat uncomfortable as they all looked at him, some of their positions being no less important than that of his fathers meant that he had to be careful not to offend any of them.
"Ah Leonard my boy," an older gentleman stepped forward, arms wide open in greeting. "What a wonderful performance that was that you put on, simply marvellous. And from one as young as yourself no less! We have all been dying to speak with you."
Leonard did not instantly recognise the man, however someone that could deem to speak for all the important people gathered in this room could not be someone simple.
"I'm glad my battles were pleasing," Leonard said diplomatically, bowing his head ever so slightly. However such an action would not stand to the older man that had welcomed him, the man stepping over and straightening his shoulders with both hands.
"Ha, there is no need for that." He smiled wide. "Least of all from our youngest potential senior mech pilot!"
"Senior mech pilot?" Leonard looked at the man confused. While he had certainly noticed his improvements, he knew deep inside that he was still far from such a coveted realm. "I think you must be mistaken."
"Oh i'm no pilot, more a business man myself." The older man said, taking a step back from Leoanrd who greatly appreciated the extra space between the two of them. "But my good friend here is an expert pilot, those were his words not mine."
Leonards eyes opened wide as he beheld the man that stepped forward after his brief introduction, his uncle, Henry Vallum. Unlike his brother, Leonard's father, Henry had not settled down with a family and continued his career in the Mech Corps, slowly gaining more and more battle experience until one day he broke through into the coveted realm of senior mech pilot. Such a position was not as easily come by as this brief explanation might portray, even if a pilot trained for all of their life they may never rise to such a realm.
The man was almost a mirror image of his father, the only difference being a few streaks of grey hair that had begun to emerge from his dark black hair, and an accumulation of facial scars that gave his face a much more menacing look.
"Uncle Henry," Leonard greeted, holding out his hand for a shake. However the man in question went a step further, clutching Leonards hand tight and pulling him into his chest, giving his back a meaty slap.
"How's my favourite nephew doing?" Henry greeted in a way that had become very familiar to the two of them, Leonard replying in kind.
"I'm your only nephew," he said with a laugh.
"Aye that's true. Might have to kick that father of yours into making me some more then." Leonard didn't know how to respond to such a statement, however Henry also knew that, and so didn't stop the conversation there to make him. "That was some excellent piloting you showed out there today. It seems your time in the Corps has done you well."
"Was it really all that impressive?" Leonard was weary of compliments from people he did not know, however his uncle Henry would never lie about such things. The hardened military man had no time for such things. "I can feel that I've definitely improved, however what's this about being a senior pilot? I cannot say I feel that I'm even close to such a realm as I am now."
"Hmm, you are right about that. You may be a little ways off that right now, however unlike the vast majority of pilots you show potential to evolve. Trust me on this one, a senior can recognize their own, or those who will soon be."
"I'm not sure what to say," Leoanard said what he truly felt, even if they were surrounded by other people he never felt the need to lie to his uncle. "Just two weeks ago I wouldn't have ever dreamed of something like this."
His uncle Henry fixed him with a knowing smile, "I can see why you would think that. Your.." he paused, looking for the right words, "particular experiences are not something that is commonly shared."
While Leoanrd was a little surprised that his uncle looked at him like he knew about what had transpired on Adamin 2, it wasn't all that strange that a man in his position would have an ear into the inner workings of Bulwark. He was one of the few expert pilots Bastion had after all, less than 50 being in active service.
While that may seem like a large number the nation itself was home to countless trillions of people, its Mech Corps alone holding hundreds of thousands of mech pilots.
"We can talk about such things later," Henry placed a hand on his shoulder as he saw Leonards eyes covered with thinly veiled curiosity. "These people are dying to get to know you after all."
Henry shot him a silent apology as Leonard was dragged into conversation with elder after elder, the old men and woman wanting to get to know someone with the aptitude to advance to the rank of senior pilot. He felt like he was a zoo exhibit, his every movement and expression being watched and studied by this pack of what he would crudely describe as vultures.
He was hounded by them for what felt like hours, that was however until he spotted the time on a clock out of the corner of his eye, realising how much time had passed. He had an important meeting to attend later in the evening, or more realistically the early hours of the next days morning, and so he couldn't waste anymore time here.
Luckily his uncle Henry could see that he had had enough, pulling him out of the crowd. "Sorry folks, but I must steal my nephew away now." The crowd looked like they wanted to object, however Henry's standing couldn't be so easily undermined, and so while they grumbled they still accepted his words.
"Thanks for that," he said to Henry as the two made their way back down to the main floor. "They're like a bunch of rabid dogs."
"Haha!" Henry let out a loud bellow. "I like that. And yes you are right, they are all politician types, something that I've never liked but slowly learned to live with."
"I don't know how you deal with them," Leonard rolled his arm, feeling much more mentally exhausted after merely talking with those elders than he did if he had trained for an entire day.
"Comes with time," Henry admitted. "But enough about them, let's return to your place. I wish to speak together with your father about some things."