very much improved. in every way.
as i said, in every way. physically and psychologically. more endurance, quicker responses, better hand-eye, improved technical training. where the first psychology gave you ninety-eight percent obedience, this bunch gives you 99.4.
i. see. i'm not sure i quite get your. point.
that's up to you field guys. h.q. wants you to break 'em in when you do the annual security sweep in january.
such as?
let's make it more difficult.
caine six-oh-seven!
assemble the weapon, load, fire on the target from various evasive positions in a thirty-second period.
starting. now!
as you were, soldier.
while taking evasive action.
see? much stronger.
in a minute. now, see this test? this shows what they do under sleep deprivation conditions. forty-eight hours awake and they can.
melton, eight five. forward.
ten miles, melton, on the run.
you've got sixty minutes. go.
my man left exactly twenty minutes after yours. make a note of that.
old soldiers never die.
they'll serve as a labor force. you can use them for physical stuff.  loading, unloading, repairs, power lines, that kind of thing. even cleaning. sweeping,uh, tidying up.
of course, age is a factor, but the real factor is the training program, especially the psychological. the mind controls the body after all, and we're doing wonderful things with the mind.
tired?
melton, on the double! up a chain!
spirit? oh! you mean "aq""aggressive qualities"?
much better, much higher. for example, where your old ones expressed ninety percent of their sexual energy in aggressive physicality, these new ones are ninety-nine percent without sexual inclination. it's all aggression.
you mean up there?
no!
not fair. no contest. send two more of your old ones up.
go ahead.
get down here! get down here on the double, get your ass down here, you
look at you, you big dumb shit,
what good is this man now? with one good eye! he's got no depth perception!
yeah, well, the big moron shouldn't have lost an eye.
old news! they're nothing at all! wait until you get these new fellas into some real action. i guarantee you'll be awed. i guarantee it.
sorry to disturb the tranquillity of outer space on christmas eve, but i'm off to the caribbean in a few hours, and i wanted to make sure you'd got the transmission on the security sweep.
piece of cake, guys! these are totally remote, totally uninhabited territories. all you do is set down, send out a patrol purely as a formality, then have those veterans of yours put up an a-type unmanned monitoring unit. you should be on about number twenty-five by the time i get back from my vacation.
well, you sure as hell don't want to get involved in evacuating people and that sort of thing. my advice would be to"avoid paperwork."
well, no one's out there, but officially these are "hostile zones." therefore you'd be within your rights to classify anyone as "hostile," i think. but i repeat, you should be worried about boredom, not action. any other questions before i go?
not in the caribbean. have a good christmas, guys. see you when i get back.