The bad-naming convention did not fall far from the tree. However, this was for her. I still had to step in and say "Let's call him 'Vibe' for short." She mulled it over before nodding. Vibe did not seem to mind. He was happy to join the clan. He hugged her and said "Do you want to do it now? I'm ready whenever you are." Because he was a member of the lab, he was just in some red boxers. I also saw he had a scar on his chest. I asked "Where did you get that scar, Vibe?" He looked down at it and frowned. "There was a big physical training session. There were many exhibits to show our skills for the clan. However, none of the officers came. I did my best, but there were lots of PEA units with more drive to win regardless of the cost. Some have bigger scars than me." he said, a bit sad. I did not even know that they actually trained by themselves in the lab. Paul and Brett probably just grabbed 10 of them at random. When Aaron spoke up, I flinched in surprise. I forgot that he came down with me. "I want one too! You have to give me one." he said. I let him pick one too. Aaron named him Arms.
Vibe
Arms
I had not actually met the other official PEA unit members yet. I decided that it was the right time. We had Arms and Vibe take us to them. They moved to the apartment building. That was the ultimate status symbol. They were no longer sleeping with the others in the corner of the very spacious lab. The first one we met was Brandon. I remembered him on Brett's back that day. He got cleaned up and healed in one of the pods. Since he was one of Brett's, he was given clothes to the liking of Brett. It also included an earring. It technically made him a deviant, but he did not care. Humans ran the clan and only rarely paid attention to the PEA units anyway. Both Caleb and Cameron would also be considered deviants, but no one would say that to their faces. To be not only chosen, but to be groomed and given clothes by one of the co-founders was a massive boon. Next up was Crusher. He was with Paul. He looked like a bruiser. Even though he had been wounded at the end, the fact he survived when 7 did not was a feat. Lamuel was another Brett pick. He did not want to be a deviant.
Brandon
Crusher
Lamuel
Meeting them in person made me realize something. I had not actually picked a unit to join the clan. There were also 5 of them. That meant that, if I picked 1 more, that would be enough for a full squad to send out on missions for the clan. I went back to the lab alone. Arms and Vibe had horny AEP units to please. I was looking them over for a few minutes when I realized that I knew nothing about them. I walked over and one of them woke up from the cot that he was on. He just looked at me and yawned. Everyone knew who I was. I was the clan engineer. To be fair, I took the year break and focused on the AEP units. However, they should at least notice that a human in the lab had to mean something. His yawn made me yawn reflexively despite myself. That made me a bit annoyed with him. He did not seem to notice or care about it. The PEA said "This area is for the PEA units to rest. We like sunlight, but we don't get much of it here. Conserving energy is the best way to deal with it." That made sense to me. I decided to level with him. "I'm looking to recruit PEA units into the clan."
