Doing that meant that, after I left the refill station, another prototype took my place. It was A.L.I.C.E P02-Alpha. While the P01 series were athletic jock types, all the P02 series males were more twinks. Their main bodies were snow white and their wings and the two small triangular fins near their ankles that replaced the normal tail were solid colors. Each of the six had a color of the rainbow. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon and Zeta were red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet respectively. Male and female aeromorphs alternated, so only Alpha, Gamma and Epsilon were boys. Since P01 were all about stealth and reconnaissance, we all had the same sky blue and white paint job. "Are you going to carry cargo to the airstrip?" I asked him. He looked at me as if I was stupid. "Do I look like a cargo plane? I'm just going over there to say hi and coming straight back. All of us have already tested out our weapons." he said, as if explaining was annoying. I just wished him well and was about to leave when he called out to me. "Don't be stingy with details. How's it like up there?" he asked.
Even though he was being a bit rude to me, he was going on his own maiden flight in a couple hours. He was probably just nervous about it. I did my best to assure him that it would be okay. "Make sure you pay attention to the fuel gauge. Just look out for any stormy weather." I advised. He nodded his head. My comlink went off. Base control wanted a detailed mission debrief. I told them everything that happened on the way there and back. "Good job out there, P01-Alpha. Keep up the good work." I said "Yes, sir," and the comlink cut out. They were done with me. I left the red and white Alpha to his safety checks. He walked over to the launching station and stood on it. I and everyone else was watching him. After a nice deep breath, his engines roared to life and he took to the air. He then went on his journey. The plan was to cycle back and forth between the P01 and P02 series. It meant that I was good for a couple of weeks to chill out and get to know the others on the base. I hoped that it would lead to quests that I could do. Grinding exp. would be nice to do in the early game.
Finally meeting the other aeromorphs was pretty neat. The P02 series members were mostly a rival faction as they teased and prodded at me for a reaction. The rest of the P01 series was happy to see me and wanted tips for their maiden flights. I told them about the running start trick. Since it was about a 20 hour round trip journey, each and every day at the same time another prototype would take off. I made sure that I was one of the first ones to meet P02-Alpha when he returned. "How was it out there?" I asked. He winced and said "He made me use my guns on a bunch of targets. It was easy. After that, I came back. I had to make sure I had enough fuel to make it here. I'm going to get my refill now." I nodded and left him to it. P01-Beta was up next. She was already at the refill station. When I had spoken to her about the trip earlier, she said "When I come back, this will finally prove that the P01 series is a viable option for operational use." She was very excited about that. I was male and she was a female. If we both succeeded, at the very least, us 2 could be used and breed.
I watched as the dildo shaped test payload was set down in front of her. Overhearing the same occasional snide remarks or protesting comments I got, she ignored all of them. It all made sense to her. Why wouldn't it? She was designed to efficiently transport cargo containers of this type across long distances, without needing human intervention or control. She was autonomous, capable of making her own decisions when in flight, and could react to the unexpected: a bad storm, for example. She'd heard stories about what happened when humans attempted to pilot aircraft. '...So cruel.' she probably thought, making them suffer when they don't need to...not anymore. A surge of triumphant self-assuredness buoyed her spirits. We all knew she was going to ace this trial! Who cares what some humans felt about why she was built this way? Who cares about people's hang-ups about the part of her fuselage they referred to as the 'butt'? Once coated in a layer of liquid lubricant, the crew moved back aboard their vehicles and pulled away. She spied a couple of embarrassed looks.
