Soldier? Seraph pilot? Misery’s heart shatters like an explosive, and the emotion that cuts through her could be called despair as easily as it could be mistaken for joy. So it’s come to this. General Tsung literally casting her in the frames of Leaf Maruska’s iconic role: Messiah and unwilling draftee, underprepared and overwhelmed, struggling to cope with the expectations placed on them. Resenting their mantle as blessed pilot, being rejected by their seraph in turn, until the crucial emotional climax before the made-up Battle of Keymar, accompanied by the requisite swells of pads and choirs. But it’s one thing to watch seraphim in battle, sailing through space in the form of a vid plaza projection. It’s another to get all third-kinds with one. Misery isn’t even a saint. The real-life seraphim will spit her out the moment they taste her voidsickness.

Why is she surprised, though? Of course she’s going to be made a seraph pilot. She’s chosen of the Demiurge, remember? Purveyor of miracles. Nothing she can’t do, purportedly. She’s sent herself into this voidmouth.

How certain is the General that they’ve made the right decision? “Ser,” she says, “I’ve never flown anything in my life before.”

“That’s what the training is for. Major Reyes will see to it.”

Very determined. The General is dead set on training her as a pilot, convinced that this is the task the Demiurge has set for them, and the General is someone used to getting their way. The major frowns, rife with misgiving, but the General is xer boss and xe is a dutiful soldier, oathbound to follow orders. They can’t be throwing her into the seraph’s cockpit immediately, that shit only happens on the waves. One problem at a time. Real military has standard operating protocol and it takes fucking forever to get anything done.

“Your serving,” the General continues, as though never interrupted. “You’ve been assigned Dish Ono, Serving Red-2. Not on the records. Your captain, Diamond Sunyata, will take charge of reporting and operations. I believe you’ve met.”

They sure have. Away from the ill-omened light of the command room, Captain Diamond Sunyata has lost that hollowed-out, stressed quality that dominated Misery’s attention. She’s a lot younger than Misery thought, or remembered: just thirty, according to the pane in lights above her head, which means she was what? Twenty-five? When the Kestrel incident went down. Twenty-five and a decorated war hero, a solid achievement, which Misery does not envy her for. There’s more in the info pane, so dense Misery can barely read it, but it seems she’s not active-duty? Marked as being on long-term medical leave. And yet the General has her in the hot seat when the base needs defending. Interesting.