"Do we know what the gun was aimed at, before it was destroyed? If so, we could determine its minimal maximum range. That knowledge would be useful in determining how much of a powershift this railgun would have caused, had it not been destroyed.
I'll leave you to determine whether or not this knowledge is worth the efforts of acquiring it."
Joe turns to face the captain: "I assume we can safely say 'mission over'?""

With a sigh of soul-crushing dissapointment, [color=8882be]"Joe... Why did you even say that first part? Who... why would we even give a fuck?"[/color]. Sophia shook her head [color=8882be]"Well, anyway. Yeah, mission over."[/color]

"Regardless of what we do, it will have consequences. Knowing the strength of each player allows us to predict them somewhat." Joe prepared to leave the command center for a more quiet and secluded location, for his little private talk with the captain.

Sophia followed her pupil, which amusingly in her head, could be said to be both the quietest one and yet the most talkative one at the same time. Sophia snickered at the thought.

After reaching a secluded janitor closet, Joe remarked: "This should be lonely enough."

[color=8882be]"Sorry to even imply this, but you really want to talk about things in a janitors' closet? Y'know this has strange implications, right? What if somebody walks in on this?"[/color]

Sophia waved around her hands, [color=8882be]"Wooo, oh boy Joe, I didn't know you were into older women! .. You do know that's what they're going to assume, right?"[/color]

"I am fully aware of that, however, the risk may be necessary. To-"

Sophia interjected, [color=8882be]"Why don't we just go to my office?"[/color]

"That also works, but I didn't want to use it without your permission."
Both left the awkward closet, and continued the conversation in Sophia's office:
"As I was intending to tell you, I have come up with a plan for the upcoming naval mission. As my task will be to hunt down the submarine to prevent it from interfering, I need to be at least on the surface of the water, or submerged as quickly as possible after the battle begins. Sadly, I cannot be in that state from the start, as travel in water is rather slow compared to airborne travel, so my plan is to fake a crash to quickly get into the ocean without risking being shot down."

Joe continued after taking a second to fill his lungs with air again: "To minimize the chance of being targeted, I want to make that crash as realistic as possible. For that purpose, I have installed a smoke grenade in one of the jet engines in swarm's jetpack. I can remotely trigger it from the cockpit."

[color=8882be]"Okay."[/color] is all that Sophia could come up with, eyes glazed over. [color=8882be]"Thanks for that exposition, but was everything except the smoke grenade absolutely necessary? I could probably figure the rest of that by my own."[/color]

"As I intend to completely shut down the engine once the smoke grenade is triggered, the fall will be completely unbroken, and there is the risk of me being knocked out, or even worse, killed on impact. I just want you to have a backup plan in case that happens."
While Joe wasn't lying, the chance of the described possibility was low, after all, Swarm had already fallen from the sky onto solid ground due to an attack on its computer systems, and Joe had survived inside just fine. In addition, it is to be expected, that soldiers die in battles.

[color=8882be]"I highly doubt that it'd even happen, but... thanks for your concern, I suppose?"[/color]. Sophia looked at the door to the hallway and seemed to think deeply about something or another for a few moments before returning.

"That is all I wanted to tell you, thanks for listening."

[color=8882be]"Y'know, Joe, you really are strange."[/color]

"How so?" Joe inquired. He knew he wasn't average, but it still interested him in what ways he wasn't. In case he needed to fit in at some point in the future.

[color=8882be]"You can switch between so many 'personas' at once in an instant. You're never really consistent from one minute to the next, not to mention days. One moment you can be the most selfless, hive-minded individual in our little group, and then the next I wouldn't be surprised if you leave one of your own squadmates to die a slow death."[/color]. Sophia chuckled.

[color=8882be]"And you never talk to your actual equals. You're such a loner to the people you should be friends with, yet with me, your 'oh so scary boss and authority figure', you can never stop talking, when most people would say whatever they want to say in ten words or less."[/color]

Sophia zero'd her eyes right into Joe's, locking their gazez for a few moments that seemed like a strange eternity. [color=8882be]"Who the hell are you?"[/color].

Joe replied, without averting his eyes. He knew doing so would make him seem like a liar.
"I just imitate other people's past actions, when they would be most beneficial. I guess that is who I am, the sum of all I meet."

[color=8882be]"Meeting people and learning from their experiences is more... multiplicative."[/color]

[color=8882be]"Would you die if you couldn't parrot anyone in a situation? Zero times one thousand is still zero."[/color]

"There is always some action someone else has done in a previous occurrence of that situation. If I am present when a situation occurs for the first time, there has always been someone else in the past reacting to a very similar situation."

[color=8882be]"That doesn't answer my question."[/color]. Sophia leaned in, breathing out a cold gust right on Verona's face. [color=8882be]"Allow me to rephrase it, then."[/color]

"Do so."

[color=8882be]"If you took away all those masks, all your memories of other peoples' actions, would you be anything? Is there even a Joe Verona, a soul, beneath all of those facades? Who are you, individually?"[/color]

"I..." Joe's brain was sifting through all his memories, conscious and subconscious. It needed to come up with a way to answer that question, otherwise, he would end up losing some of the captain's trust, regardless of his reaction.
After several seconds, there was no clear answer, only a hint. "The current me does not know the answer, however, I can assume you know about my past, and why I am here, in the military?"

[color=8882be]"Yeah, I do. I'm just wanting to know if that man is still alive, or if there's just an empty shell trying to gain a soul left. Tell me, is that man alive? There's no shame in admitting if your heart is hollow."[/color]

"Currently, it is as you say, hollow. But every hole, every hollow space, can be filled by something, that is not present there at the moment. And there will always be such a thing to fill it. I am incapable of finding it right now, but I have the suspicion I once came upon it, and will find it again some time in the future. If you can talk to me during that time, you are most likely speaking to what most likely is the 'core' behind all facades."

Sophia sighed, [color=8882be]"..Have some advice, okay? Find something, anything, to enjoy in your 'line of work'. The rush of winning, the joy of dodging pain, or hell, for you, even the love of slaughtering your marks. Just enjoy something, alright? It's a start. Everything else comes naturally."[/color]

"Thank you for the advice, but I fear there is nothing I know worthy and able of being enjoyed by me. I am staying alive, because there is no point in ceasing to exist."

[color=8882be]"I suppose there's hope for you yet, then. Now get out, I need my solitude or else I'll be 'friendly' and 'sociable' and that makes me want to puke."[/color]

"As you say." Joe left the room after bowing down slightly.