Unit Number One (Prologue): The Edge

The year was 1995. War continued to ravage the west, and it showed no signs of ceasing. Everyone knew that someone had to come up with an offensive edge - and soon, if there was any hope of ending it without…. too catastrophic results.
And on the morning of June 24th, the edge opened its eyes for the very first time.
What is this strange place? These strange sounds and sights? This strange vessel? What a curious situation, it all is. The edge desired to see more, but didn’t know how just yet. Best to figure it out, then. It commanded… something, and something certainly happened; its perspective suddenly changed - ah, it was moving now. At what speed, it didn’t know, but it was thoroughly enjoyed nonetheless. A different command came to thought, and it was a more minute one; it didn’t move, but its perspective did; something on its vessel moved independently from the whole. Strange.
It played with the commands for what felt like an awful long time,
But oddly, also no time at all, and it continued to take in its various surroundings.
Now, what happened if it commanded that first one further? It moved differently, quicker, slower, in a different direction, then quicker once again, and then something suddenly and entirely new happened: Something moved independently from the rest of the world to its front; another vessel? Different from its own? Ah... wait, they’d seen this vessel before, it just hadn’t moved until now. Why? Then, there was a sensation unlike anything it’d experienced prior, stronger than anything it'd experienced prior- why? It was being pushed? But what for? Another vessel appeared and joined them. More pressure. It didn’t like this new sensation that much anymore, so how to stop it? Stop commanding. The pressure lessened. That’s better. It observed the new vessels, they looked very different, but also very similar.
The same type of vessel.
Different Individuals, it assumed.
They made odd sounds; rhythmical, planned...It didn’t know how to do that yet, so it listened instead. The sounds didn’t make sense, but it noticed patterns, repetitions here and there. Those might be useful? They continued, and although it continued to listen, it shifted most of its attention to everything else; the other sounds, the other things; did they have patterns, too? Maybe. Maybe? Yes. The edge noticed them, and the patterns were strangely appealing. Interesting? Pretty? There was so much to think about, and so it thought.
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The team was finally able to check off the last box of their to-do list, and now, it was the moment of truth. Everything was put into place as carefully as possible, but would it work? Years of work, months of modification, weeks of fine tuning, days of final inspection, and finally, activation. The lead engineer was given the honor of pulling the tab, and everyone scrambled off to a safe distance to either observe the fruits of their labor or watch them burn to the ground. The anticipation was agonizing as a light, electrical hum became audible, and then its eyes lit up. The group looked between themselves, relieved that it turned on, but still anxious to find out if that would last.
The vehicle sat for a few minutes, then suddenly jerked forward - wait... Wait wait wait…
"Did anyone remember to limit the gas pedal?" one of the older members asked in a tone that screamed worry and maybe just a little bit of fear.
"I thought you did it?" Another replied.
"No, because I asked you to." She snapped as they continued to watch the tank swivel and drive around; harmlessly enough in the moment, but only until it realized that it could really speed up. And speed up it did: not dangerously yet, but it was only a matter of time before it plowed into something, or someone. "Well, don't just stand there! Do something!" she commanded, already going after the bot herself.
"What? How do you know it's even gonna stop? It's a tank?" The first guy rebutted.
"Simple; I don't."
The woman was evidently the first to arrive and start pushing on the Challenger II in an effort to slow it down, but it didn't react beyond giving her a blank, but almost curious stare. The young man she was talking to arrived not too soon after, and their combined efforts seemed to sway it from its path as it slowed to a stop; expression unchanging. It… probably just didn't know how to change its eyes yet, but that didn't stop it from looking just a little creepy in the moment since it looked so indifferent to everything. Regardless, it was comforting that it at least didn't take much to stop it.
"Well, that's a relief!" The man said, scratching the back of his head as he stood back from the vehicle. "We should probably write down the 'limit gas pedal' thing in big red letters when we send these guys out for use, huh?" He joked, but one could tell by his tone that there was some real concern hidden in there somewhere.
"Uh, yes…Definitely. At least until they learn how to use them."

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Before anyone asks, yes, this is the "updated" Unit 2526. I'd say it's just a reboot, but many core things have changed that make it pretty different from the original, so, uh, yeeess