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"It would be very hard on her... on all of us," Randy replied softly. "But nothing can be accomplished if we do not move forward. The same goes for you, boy. Life is nothing but uncertainty. There will always be pain and there will always be hardship, but it is what you make of it." He kissed Seven's forehead.

Seven nodded and even so he had never done any kind of military training or had even the slightest inclination towards being a soldier, he gave his father a salute and promised that he would be brave.

Randy returned the salute to signify that he was proud of his son and trusted his ability to handle whatever difficulties lay ahead.

Seven offered a weak smile and returned to his model plane, "Want to help me make this?" he asked.

"Alright," Randy agreed with a tilt of his head as he examined the plane. "Have I ever told you about the first time I rode in a human aeroplane?"

Seven shook his head, "What was it like?"

"Horrible! It was tiny and it shook and wobbled in all directions and I was sure it would fall apart right there in the sky!" Randy hissed. "I could scarcely move, though I fear that if I had, the entire vehicle would have tipped in one direction."

Seven laughed, "What did you do?"

"I crouched down in my seat and waited for it to be over," Randy replied with a grim expression. "And when it was, I vowed never to go through the air on anything that still needed wheels to land, ever again."

Seven grinned at him, "I think I'd try it at least once though,"

"I suppose it could be worthwhile for the experience of having done it," Randy conceded with a small smile.

Seven nodded, "Exactly! I want to try all sorts of things while I can,"

Randy reached out to ruffle his hair, then thought better of it when he saw that his fingers were covered in glue. "Perhaps you should find something fun to do with your brother before he goes off to the military."

Seven nodded, "I already got a few ideas, I'm gonna miss him a whole lot when he goes,"

"I don't doubt it," said Randy. "...He will be something different when he returns."

Seven's face fell, "...You know, so much stuff keeps changing, things are getting more complicated and it feels like bad or ominous things keep piling up. I have days where I almost wish Eight and I could be kids again, before all of this stuff started happening. Eight might come back a whole different person from before...and I don't even know if I'll be there and if I am, how I'm going to cope with it. It felt like there wasn't so much uncertainty before, and today I feel like everything could be lost in an instant," he sighed, "I'm not warrior class like you or Four or One, I feel like I'm not prepared or equipped to deal with any of this. It gets hard not to cry sometimes...."