I'm in my titan, AG-4456. Angel. I parry a blow from an IMC Ronin before kicking it back and tackling it, ripping open the cockpit and crushing the pilot. I roll Angel off of it and pick up its shotgun. An Ion charges at me, firing its splitter rifle at my cockpit, melting it open. Angel is destroyed, and I pick up her datacore, cloak, and run. Grunts are crushed under the merciless feet of Apex Predators and IMC alike. I uncloak behind cover, and start shouting orders to the grunts. Before I can say anything of consequence, however, they're crushed. It's another titan. I run, but I can't get away from them. They are always faster. Stronger. Bigger. 

   I wake up, holding my hands up against a non-existent titan's foot. I see a figure in the rather large doorway to my room. "You were talking. Yelling about Angel and something about getting off this planet. you alright?" 

I reply, trying my best to hide my shaking. "No, I'm okay. Sorry for waking you."

"I was already up. I'm a light sleeper."

"Oh. Well try your best to get some sleep. If you choose combat training, you won't be getting much more."

"Okay, goodnight."

I pull my covers back over myself, and start thinking about how I'm gonna move all my exercise equipment to make room for Elena's room. Before I can remember the storage I have hidden behind one of the walls, I drift back to sleep. 

   I wake with Elena behind me, one arm draped over me from behind. She had no covers over her. I leave her there, and pull the cover over her. If I didn't have work to go to, I might have stayed in bed. After a shower and breakfast, as well as leaving her a plate of her own, I kiss her on the forehead and head to work. More boring meetings about things that don't matter, and more Plants vs Zombies on my phone. Except today is different. There's an important decision to make for the company. A company owned by the IMC is offering to buy us out, for an enourmous price, too. It means, however, that our manufacturing plants essentially become theirs and are going to be used to support the war effort. I don't very much care for the IMC, but the fee they're offering and the continued pay is much better than what I get currently. I vote yes, and my vote tips the scale in favour of supporting the IMC war effort. We manufacture weapons and run training facilities. Funny how war effects so much of normal life. On the way home I notice screaming from the supermarket. A man in a halloween mask is holding an old revolver over the counter at one of the checkouts. He's herding the people into a corner and forcing the cashier whom I gave the 100 to open all the registers. I open the door and walk in. He fires a round at me, narrowly missing my left arm and hitting the window, setting off the alarm. I put up my hands. "I'm unarmed. I just wanna talk."

"G-GET IN THE CORNER WITH THE REST! I'LL SHOOT!"

"Sir, in about two minutes, the ACPD will get here. They'll see the weapon in your hand and open fire. If you lay that weapon on th-"

"SHUT UP AND GE- GET IN THE CORNER!"

"Sir, I can hear sirens. I recommend you drop the weapon and put up your hands."

I can see him squinting down the sight. I drop to my knees and take cover behind a checkout. The shot ricochets off the metal floor and hits another window. "Sir, this is a bad idea!"

"SHUT UP"

I hear his footsteps getting closer. I spin out from behind the checkout, grab the revolver, and he fires a shot. I've jammed the cylinder, though, so he can't fire another. I push against him with my shoulder and throw him to the ground. His hand meets the floor and the revolver clatters onto the metal. I throw four punches at the side of his face and he appears to be unconscious. As I climb off of him, he grabs my shirt and lands a blow on my cheek. "Goddamnit," I mutter, before delivering a heavy blow to his temple, knocking him out for real.

"ACPD, PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!" I obey, and I'm promptly handcuffed and shoved into a car. At the station, I give my lawyer a call, then they take off my cuffs and profusely apologize. I hail a taxi and enter my address on the keypad. Fifteen minutes later, I'm home, and I open the door to see Elena watching television. She turns to me and says "Hey, what's up?" she gasps, and asks a different question. "What happened to your cheek?!" 

"Nothing, I'm fine. Some asshole hit me. I hit back harder."

"No, you're not fine. It's all swollen!"

"Don't worry about it, Elena."

"I think I have a right to worry about the guy who let me live in his house after I broke in."

I chuckle. "Mabye I'm planning to sell you to the Predators."

"You're not." She half leads me half pulls me to the couch, and brings me a bag of ice. "Now, just let that sit there for a while and it won't swell as badly."

I've given up on fighting her at this point. "Okay. Thank you, Elena."

"No problem, Mr. Michaels."

I flip through the channels, trying to find reruns of Friends, but instead I find a news report on myself. "Dammit, now I'm all over the news."

"Whoa, you knocked out a guy with a gun?"

"I tried to talk him down. The guy didn't check corners properly anyway."

"Okay, but you knocked him out and didn't get shot?"

"He hesitated."

"And that matters why?"

"You can't hesitate."