Henry thought that the pose that Seal was adopting was a bit provocative. There was no way that he was going to say anything about it. Seal saw him looking and just smiled at him. "Henry Miller, which synchronization protocol should I prepare for tomorrow?" he asked. Henry and the commanding officer shared a look before Henry asked the obvious "You need to prepare? What do you mean?" The android nodded. "Yes. I am a prototype model. While I am perfectly capable of running both the Top and Bottom Protocols if needed, I need 3 hours to prepare the programming to run when I enter the mock cockpit for the simulation." he explained. There was a beat of pure silence. The commanding officer just shook his head and said "Thank you for telling us this detail. It is important to have a very firm grasp on what you can and can't do on base. Tomorrow, you will run the Top protocol all day. The day after, you will run the Bottom protocol. Henry here will decide after Day 2 what he wants from you for your Day 3." There was a lot of pressure on them both to perform well. Henry was really nervous.
It was not too comforting that Seal had a placid expression on his face. Henry would really be putting his entire career in the hands of the robot charging in front of him. If he died, he would be missed by his father. Probably by Brett too. Time would tell of he made a good decision or not. It was hard for Henry to sleep that night. Unlike with the regular sessions, the pilots that were not get 5 successful synchronizations had 3 consecutive chances on 3 consecutive days to prove themselves. To stay in the program, they needed to successfully synchronize on average once a day. 3 times total before the testing period was over. That was not the case for Henry anymore. His fate was tied to Seal. He needed an average 1 synchronize on each of the 3 consecutive days to stay on as a pilot. Henry hoped that he could get all 3 of his sessions as a Bottom synchronized on Day 1. He would ask Seal to let him Bottom for the android on Day 3 as well. That should be more than enough. Of course he was also going to try his best on Day 2. He would be stupid not to. Soon, the light of morning came to their base.
Before Henry could partake in his normal morning routine, he had to go to the garage and get Seal. Seal saw Henry approach and smiled. "Good morning, Henry Miller." he said. Henry nodded and said "Good morning. We go to the simulation cockpit at 1300 for Day 1. 3 sessions with you as the Top today." Seal nodded. "My Top protocol will be prepared to run by then, Henry Miller." he said. Henry winced at hearing his name called like that from the android. "Just Henry is fine, Seal." he said gently. Seal looked at him for a moment before standing up. He unplugged himself from the charging station behind him. "Understood. I am ready to follow you, Henry." It was just a bit better. Henry led the way. There were a few things exercises that Henry had to do. First, he had to take a shower. Then, he did some light exercises. Next was some breakfast. After that was an optional meditation class. It was always good to go into a test focused and relaxed. Seal followed him everywhere. He did not need to eat or shower because he was not human. Exercise or meditation would not help Seal do better either.
