“Nice, Viv.” Rei whispered under his breath.
On legs now much steadier than they had been when she’d first approached him, Viv strode down the steps towards Connelly. Despite it being only an initial form, her CAD was already making improvements to her physiological base. It would be a few weeks of slow changes before her body adjusted completely, but even the immediate adjustment was noticeable.
Reaching the major, Viv listened as Connelly said something quietly to her again, then brought up her right arm. He held the pad over the purple-and-yellow Device there for a moment, then motioned for her to face the room with him once text began scrawling itself across the screen.
“Calling on your Combat Assistance Device for the first time is an experience I will have the honor of sharing with all of you,” the major said to the infinitely attentive watchers. “Eventually, it will be as easy as breathing, requiring nothing more than a thought, but for new cadets, vocal command is the simplest way to get used to the process. Arada—” he looked to Viv, who was watching him carefully “—please focus on the weight of your Device on your wrists, and say ‘Call’.”
Viv did as instructed, lifting both hands before her.
“Call.”
The CAD responded immediately.
With a shimmer of shifting silver light and expanding metal, the bands transitioned in a rippling flash. One moment Viv was standing there, showing off a pair of shiny new bracelets to a crowd of a hundred-and-something envious onlookers.
The next, she was holding a pair of glowing, rippling blades.
In her right hand, a weapon roughly the size and breadth of a shortsword had materialized, the handle and pommel comprised of different shades of the purple carbonized steel, the inside of the blade itself a solid length of yellow. The double-edge, on the other hand, shone a vibrant silver, the Stryon particles in the vysetrium made the alien element glow and flicker. There was no crossguard—not for now, at least—and in Viv’s left a single-edged dagger of a similar design now shown.
“CAD Name: Gemela,” Major Connelly began reading in a formal tone from his pad as Viv stared in wonder at the weapons, bringing them nearer her face for closer inspection, her NOED coming alive in her eyes. “Type: Duelist. Rank… D6.”
Finally, at the announcement of the new Device’s Rank, the silence from the examinees broke.
There were several whoops of excitement, along with not a few grumbles of jealousy. Rei was happy to join in the former, barely suppressing an exited banging on the table and a shouted “YEAH!” D6… D6 wasn’t just a good starting rank. It was two levels higher than the average first year inductees at the Galens Institute! With her written score and a CAD of that ability, Viv had just signed herself her dream ticket to the best military school on the planet!
“As Arada is currently demonstrating—” the major was speaking again, motioning to Viv as she continued to scrutinize her weapons. “Anyone assigned today will be able to scan their CAD specs at any time. This is called a ‘Specifications Request’. To recall your Device, merely focus on them again, and say ‘Recall’.” He looked at Viv pointedly, and she had the nerve to hesitate for a moment before closing her NOED and doing as was clearly being suggested.
Holding the two blades away from her, she enunciated clearly. “Recall.”
With a flash, the weapons collapsed once more into the twin bands of purple-yellow detailed in silver around her wrist.
This done, the major put the pad behind his back and held out a hand to Viv. When she took it, Connelly offered what had to have been the first real smile Rei had seen him give.
“Congratulations, cadet. Welcome to the ISCM.”
CHAPTER 7
After the fourth or fifth assignment, the novelty of the event began to wear off. By the time the tenth new cadet had been welcomed to the military by the major, Rei and Viv had spent most of the wait with their heads together, gaping over her Device’s specs and talking in hushed squeals of excitement.
Viv was positively vibrating with happiness, for which Rei could hardly blame her. Aside from the adrenaline and physiological changes that probably made her feel not-unlike a brand-new person, her CAD was a D6 rank. The moment she’d sat down—and after an obligatory repeat of the excited hug-dance from earlier—Viv had shared Gemela’s information with him without pause.
20 minutes later, they were still fawning over the stats.
“Holy hell, Viv!” Rei breathed, reading the numbers for the hundredth time. “I still can’t believe this… Your Defense is trash right now, and your Strength and Endurance aren’t far ahead, but what the hell is up with these Speed and Offense stats?! D8?! D9?! With enough training you could absolutely qualify for Sectionals with starting specs like these!”
“I know!” Viv squealed, barely able to reign in her enthusiasm—much less keep her voice to a reasonable pitch. “Do you think it will get me into Galens?!”
“Definitely,” Rei answered without hesitation, frowning just a little. “Your Growth could be better—D4 is above-average, but barely compared to your other specs—but if you work hard enough with this there’s no reason you couldn’t became a terror in the collegiate circuit starting as a second year, and once Gemela evolves a bit.” He closed his frame, putting away the numbers and looked around at her directly. “You’re into Galens. Definitely. You’re in.”
Her half-shriek of excitement was fortunately drowned out by the building whine of the assignment table as the eleventh new cadet received his device, and Viv was glowing and talking to herself for the next quarter-hour, sometimes pulling up her specs to look them over again, sometimes listing another person she had to call the moment they were excused from the exam space. Rei smiled all the while, basking in her positive energy, up until the twentieth person was summoned to the table, then the twenty-fifth. In that time, only a single cadet was assigned a CAD with a higher Rank that Viv’s Gemela—a Lancer who managed to earn himself a D7 Device—but even this announcement Rei hardly heard.
Internally, the nerves began to take hold again.
Every time a new name was called more cries of denial and frustration rang out from the snubbed all around them, fueling his fear. Logically Rei knew his name would be close to the end if it was on the list—probably even the last given—but it was the if that started to eat at him. His written score was superb, and the MIND had overridden his physical assessment personally. After that, hadn’t there been a measure of assurance from the AI that he would receive his CAD today? Abruptly Rei doubted, painstakingly going over each moment of the conversation that had followed those words, picking and prodding at every answer he’d made and every statement he’d given over the course of the MIND’s brutal “interview.”
It’s not happening, the fear began to say. No way. It’s not happening.
The thirty-second assignee returned to their seat, and the thirty-third was called.
“Vessena, Alexandra.”
A thin girl with blue-grey hair stood up from a table a few rows ahead of Rei and Viv, and he watched her approach the major, watched her get led up to the table and placed upon it. He didn’t even have the mind to look away when the light and the whining came, his thoughts elsewhere and his mouth going dry even as the process finished.
It’s not happening. It’s not happening. It’s not—
“You’re next, Rei.”
Viv’s firm words cut through his spiral, and he looked around at her shakily. She wasn’t actually watching him, her chin held high and her eyes set forward, taking in Alexandra Vessena being announced as a Mauler-Type, but the utter confidence in her bearing sparked a little warmth in his chest. She repeated the words, sounding as convinced of them as she might have been of gravity or air or the solidity of the table and seats beneath them.
“You’re next.”
Silently, Rei managed to nod, watching Vessena shake hands with the major, then start back for her seat. Then his eyes shifted to Conn
elly, who was looking down at his pad again, searching for the next name.
The moment the major paused, the smallest hint of surprise showing in the widening of his eyes under the brim of his cap, Rei knew.
“Ward, Reidon.”
*****
“Lieutenants Espen and O’Flynn will get you set up on the table. Once they have you situated, you are not to move, even when things get bright and loud. Is that understood?”
Rei only heard the major’s words from a distant place, but had sense enough to nod as expected. He watched Connelly give him a final testing look, then the commanding officer lifted his gaze to where the lieutenants waited expectantly, gesturing for them to proceed with a flick of his head. A touch had Rei turning around numbly, and he found himself staring into the smiling face of one of the two officers, the man.
“Come on, cadet. I promise it’s not half as bad as it looks from the outside.”
Rei said nothing, allowing himself to be led towards the dais, then up onto the platform. He was faintly aware that he was receiving more assistance then any of the other assignees before him, but he couldn’t tell if he didn’t care or was simply unable to, in that moment. He stood, gazing down at the carbonized steel table, watching the purple light dance from the vysetrium seams between the plates. On approaching, the intricacies of the Device were nothing short of entrancing, the lines forming a symmetrical pattern up the length, including a few clear markers that shaped the vaguest tracings of a person. He stared, incapable of believing that he was so close, this close.
His name. They had called his name…
A voice reached him, muffled.
“Cadet… Cadet.”
Rei jumped, rousing himself from his trance. The officer who’d helped him towards the table was watching him with some measure of concern.
“Do you need a moment? It’s all right. It can be overwhelming for some people.”
“N-no, sir.” Rei shook his head, turning his attention back to the device. “I just… I didn’t expect this…”
The lieutenant gave a knowing laugh. His counterpart, meanwhile, was already on the other side of the table from them, watching Rei expectantly with her hands hovering over the data panel Rei could see, now. “Most of the people who do expect it don’t end up standing where you are.” He lifted one arm so that the sleeve of his black and gold uniform slipped a little, revealing the edge of a white-green CAD. “Believe me, I know the feeling. But if you’re here, then you earned it. So buck up, and on you go.”
The words were the push he needed, and with tentative hands Rei stepped forward and slid himself unto the table. The carbonized steel was pleasantly warm—nothing like the hard surfaces of the surgical benches the contraption had first reminded him of—and though his heart still thundered in his chest Rei found himself breathing a little easier as he settled down.
“Bring yourself towards me and a bit to your right,” the lieutenant at the panel said, not looking away from whatever data was showing up for her. Rei did as instructed, and after a few more minor adjustments the woman gave the okay. Her partner bent over the edge of the table to look Rei in the eye.
“Remember: no moving. Understood?”
Rei took a shaking breath, then nodded. The officer stepped away, and for a while the world went silent again, empty and still but for space turning high above, patchworked by the decorative stone lattice of walls and ceiling. Watching the simulated nebulas pass by without a sound, Rei finally calmed in truth, the understanding settling at last.
They had called his name…
And then his vision was completely obscured by the quick build of blinding purple light.
He tried to keep his eyes open, tried to watch the proceedings, but from within the illumination it all was too bright. He only managed to hold out long enough to see the black plates begin to shift and move, begin to curve over him in the same organization of strange, alien arches. After that, he shut his eyes tight, but even through closed lids the violet light danced and streamed. Soon the growing whir of the machine had begun, and Rei had to grit his teeth to keep from yelling out as it reached a pitching scream in his ears. There was no pain. No prodding and poking or physical sensation of any kind. Instead, what Rei felt was… deeper. The shriek of the device and the light felt like it was burrowing into him, implanting itself into his flesh. Into his bones. Into his mind. It started first in his head, then crawled down his neck into his shoulders, trailing the length of his form until it faded over his fingers, then his hips, then his toes.
Finally, some true sensation did reach him, and Rei had to consciously focus on not moving as he felt hard, warm metal come into being seemingly from nothing, lifting his wrist slightly off the table as it shaped around them.
Then it was done, the brightness fading to black, the wheeling of the machine winding down.
Rei opened his eyes and had to blink a few times before the world came back into focus. At first everything was blurred, the shapes of the evaluators a little unclear as they bustled around him, but slowly his vision returned.
“Good job, cadet,” the man said, bending over his face once again. “Get yourself up easy. You’ll probably feel some differences, but don’t push it.”
As instructed, Rei sat up carefully, sliding one leg off the table, then the other. Finding himself a little light-headed, he waited, then pushed himself down to the platform. As he did, there was the clink of metal on metal, and he froze, feeling his breath catch in his chest.
At last convincing himself to look down, Rei had to force away a lump in his throat that might have threatened tears.
In the form of twin rings fit snuggly at the edge of his shirt sleeves, the CAD was a calm combination of black loops interrupted by a white section that made up a third of the bands. Set between these two parts, ice-blue vysetrium separated the colored steels, narrow partitions of glowing, azure stone. More of the shimmering element decorated the outer surfaces of the white portion, forming a trio of matching, clean diamonds.
The Device was—there was no other way to put it—beautiful.
“Ward. Front and center, if you would.”
Ward blinked and looked up from the CAD, finding Major Connelly watching him expectantly. Promptly he stood up off the table, intending to make his way tall and proud to the officer’s side. He started forward down the step of the platform.
And immediately collapsed as his leg gave out beneath him when it attempted to take his weight.
Rei fell so suddenly, he didn’t even have time to yell out before he hit the projected stone of the dais. There was a shout, and as he struggled to figure out what had happened he felt two sets of hands grab him under each arm.
“Up you get, cadet. Up you get.” The male lieutenant’s voice was gentle in his ear. “No worries. It happens. Just means your starting Strength and Endurance specs aren’t high enough to counteract the toll of the process.”
“Y-yeah,” Rei go out, as they helped him to his feet. “Assignment fatigue… I know it…”
A stone began to grow in his stomach. Assignment fatigue was rare, and for good reason. For even initial CAD specs to be that low…
No, Rei told himself firmly, not looking up from the ground. No. No need to panic. It just means my other specs are probably a lot higher to balance things out.
With that self-encouragement, he steadied himself, then thanked the evaluators on either side for their help. They stepped away, but didn’t move out of reach, clearly ready for him to stumble again.
This time, when he took the 8 inches down from the dais to the floor, Rei didn’t allow himself to fall.
His leg accepted his weight—if barely—and it was with careful steps that he approached Major Connelly, who had watched his collapse without a word. Reaching the man, he held out his CAD as expected. Connelly considered him a moment, then passed the pad over the Device.
“Cadet, you may call your—” he started as data bega
n to appear in quick lines on the tablet screen, but stopped abruptly. He stared at the numbers only he could see, and Rei felt the weight in his gut redouble.
At last, with a cough to cover up his pause, Connelly started again.
“Cadet, you may call your Device.”
This was it. This was the moment. Rei had been waiting for this chance the better part of his entire life. Lifting both hands up before him, he took in the twin bands with every ounce of focus he could muster, vowing to never forget whatever happened next.
“Call.”
A blur of motion from his right wrist. As he watched, the ring there dissolved, repositioned to his hand, and reformed in the space of a heartbeat. Black steel wrapped around his fingers, forming a grip that pulled them into a loose curl, and a white strike-plate assembled itself over the resulting fist, split by three equal lines of the blue vysetrium. In the end, Rei found himself staring at a contraption not unlike the weighted gloves they sometimes used in combat team training, only instead of pads to cushion the blow, the outer portion was flat metal.
He didn’t even notice, in that moment, that the other band of his CAD hadn’t so much as shivered around his left wrist.
“CAD Name: Shido,” Major Connelly started to read off the pad in his formal tone. “Type: A-Type. Rank… F8.”
Rei’s heart plummeted.
F-Rank… Forget not being near the D4 mark that was the average of incoming first years at the Galens Institute. F8 was more than a full tier lower than the average CAD assignee Rank of D0. With an initial Device of this level, Rei would be lucky to get into any designated combat academy, much less Galens. He might even end up at one of the ISCM’s common military schools who focused on the non-User career paths…
Feeling his face growing red, Rei finally tore his eyes from his one-handed CAD—“Shido”, the major had called it—and looked out over the tables and the faces of the other examinees. A majority of them—the ones who hadn't received any Device—were watching him sullenly, while among the actual assignees more than one smirk or laugh was being hidden behind a lifted hand. Rei trailed them, searching, until he found Viv, who was looking at him with her mouth hanging open, face pale. There was no hope there, this time. No words of encouragement. She seemed stricken, and could do nothing more than stare in that moment, sharing in his heartbreak.
Iron Prince: A Progression Sci-Fi Epic (Warformed: Stormweaver Book 1) Page 8
