“Give me a few more years, old fellow, and I expect all our future recruits will have the ability to do so,” Laurie avowed. “Kaiden, those oculars I gave you, put them on.”
He obliged, and when the display activated, he could see a new screen that presented options he originally hadn’t seen before, along with a graph showing levels of various markers such as power and connection.
“What is all this?” he asked.
“When your EI is in a new system, it allows you to control that system remotely, as long as there is nothing blocking the connection or trying to boot you out of it,” Laurie explained. “Now start simple. Tell your EI to start up the pod.”
“Fire it up, Chief,” Kaiden ordered.
“Finally, we get to do something,” Chief quipped, and with that, the pod lit up and Kaiden could hear the surging bellow of generators and electric feedback.
“Now, on your screen, look at the field labeled ‘activation.’ It should give you a prompt to open the door,” Laurie instructed.
Kaiden did so, looking at the activation tab and staring for a moment as the field highlighted and opened, revealing several options including ‘open door.’ He watched as it highlighted briefly before confirming, and Kaiden looked over to see a segment of the pod unlock with a hiss and slide open to reveal a metallic interior.
“Well done. I would have you play around a bit more to get used to the different functions, but we have things to do. In this case, we should figure out your potential future.”
“Step into the pod, Initiate, and close the door. The professor will take it from here. The link only takes a few moments to establish, and we will begin the evaluation once that is complete.” Sasha inclined his head toward the pod.
Kaiden nodded, walked over to it, and stepped inside. It was an odd sensation to know that he voluntarily stepped into a device that would essentially digitize him in a few minutes.
“Chief, close the door,” he instructed.
“See ya after the jump. Hope you don’t have any fillings.”
With that, the door closed, and a dim white light shone beneath him. He saw pools of blue circle around him, scanning him, and he felt a heaviness in his mind. It surprised him that it resembled the same feeling of descending as he did when he finally succumbed to sleep.
For a moment, his eyes closed, then he snapped them open. His mouth fell agape, and he trembled slightly. He looked around and couldn’t help but smile slightly at the surrealness of it all.
He certainly wasn’t in the Nexus anymore.
Chapter Nine
The sky was the first thing to catch Kaiden’s attention. It was an unnatural hue of ethereal blue, visually beautiful if rather uncanny. He looked down to see a valley. The land was gray but not sickly, as if the color was never there to begin with.
To his left and right were titanic mountains, towering into the sky, which followed the monochrome color of the land with patches of black and white accenting the gray earthly bodies.
Was earthly correct in this instance? He wasn’t exactly sure. The odd flickering of the sky and the rustling of the grass beneath him, moving to no wind, didn’t really help him make a decision on it.
“Can you hear me, Initiate Jericho?” Sasha’s voice erupted in his head. Kaiden startled at first, but with his previous experience after his surgery with Laurie, he was better prepared for the whole disembodied voice talking to him.
At least enough not to question his sanity.
“Yeah, I read ya,” Kaiden answered, taking a few steps forward and peering down the hill he stood on. “This is…different. Does the Academy not usually spring the extra money for color? Is that DLC?”
“Professor Laurie booted up a basic map for your initial link. Considering the circumstances, we wanted to make sure that there weren’t any unnecessary items loaded or processes to hurdle, just in case.”
“Well, I appreciate the thought, I guess.” Kaiden scratched behind his ear. “However, I’m pretty sure that this is what ghosts see in limbo. Mind if we get a little fancier? I’d even be happy with the sky not having the color of a broken LCD screen.”
“Don’t worry yourself, Kaiden my boy,” Laurie chirped, his cheery voice sounding almost sing-song in his head, “This was merely a test. Everything seems to be in working order, and I don’t see any problems with integration back here. We’ll get you on a proper testing field in but a few moments.”
“Well, to be fair, it is better than the endless void you loaded me into the first time around,” Kaiden admitted.
“Of course. This time, you will see the true capabilities of my system,” Laurie bragged. “First things first, though. Make sure your EI is with you.”
“Chief, get out here, we got stuff to do,” Kaiden yelled.
“Oh, good. Something to do. That is better than what we’ve been doing.” The EI would have deadpanned if it had a face, Kaiden decided. Its floating form appeared in front of him in full glory.
“Well, look at you all out and about. What took ya so long? I’ve been here a full two or three minutes, man. Get your life together,” Kaiden complained sarcastically.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re right. Next time, you do this, I’ll be sure to half-ass the link-up process. It’ll be quicker.” Chief huffed his exasperation. “I’m sure nothin’ bad will happen. You may have a couple extra appendages or somethin’ when you load in, but hey, easier to hit the ground runnin’ with five legs. Or maybe losin’ a few billion brain cells will just mean less processing.”
“Aren’t you precious?” Kaiden retorted. “I’m pretty sure if something fries my brain, you’ll be in just as much trouble.”
“Considering what I’m working with now? I’d probably not notice a huge difference.” It glowed brightly for a moment before disappearing.
“Cheeky bastard,” Kaiden scoffed.
“I’m starting to love these pet names,” Chief jested, now appearing in the top left of Kaiden’s view.
“Guess there’s no need for optics in here, huh?” Kaiden inquired of his omnipresent teachers.
“Correct. Your EI can act in both a heads-up display and a simulated physical manner, for lack of a better word,” Sasha replied. “With that, I believe we are prepared to load you into the proper evaluation map. Are you ready, Initiate?”
“Sure. I guess I gotta log out and then back in or something?”
“Certainly not, although I would recommend standing quite still,” Laurie advised, “Nothing should happen, really, but some seem to get…disoriented the first time they switch between maps.”
Kaiden crossed his arms, tightening his muscles in preparation. It wasn’t like there was anything to hang onto, so self-control was his only failsafe.
“Beginning transfer in three…two…one…” Sasha faded out.
Kaiden saw the valley begin to warp, some parts twisting into themselves and others vanishing. His eyes widened, and he could feel himself hugging his chest tighter as he watched the world seemingly implode in front of him.
He always liked to consider himself someone who was always ready for anything. He still did, just not this—never this.
Then, flickers of light and color appeared and came together, and the vistas he’d seen twisting and collapsing began to reform and stretch out. He saw random items—barrels, tables, and chairs, among other things, appeared from nothing and moved into place by themselves. The sky disappeared, and a metal ceiling now loomed above him—very high above him, in fact. That fact seemed oddly unexpected and out of place. The ground morphed into linoleum flooring, and walls rushed by and stretched beyond his visual range.
He closed his eyes for a moment as a brief respite from the chaos, but when he opened them slowly, everything was calm. He looked around cautiously. He was in a hanger and could see a shooting range on one end and what seemed like an obstacle course on another. Gun cabinets and lockers were easily identified, and he could see other rooms behind doors and windows and various vehicles pa
rked randomly in the enormous space. His surroundings were now full color though limited to somewhat drab military colors such as brown, grey, white, green, and blue.
This all seemed a bit more official, though a part of him also felt it was a bit anticlimactic after the whole rearranging the world process he just went through.
“So how was it, Initiate? Quite the thrill, yes?” Sasha asked.
Before he could answer, Chief piped up. “I took the liberty of monitoring his vitals while it was going down. My initial readings come out as ‘scared shitless’ but perhaps ‘petrified stupid’ would be more accurate, after further study.”
“I’m fine.” Kaiden grimaced. “Just… It was a bit of a shock, I’ll admit.”
“Oh, it is always a fascinating experience the first time around,” Laurie gushed. “Don’t worry, though. We don’t generally transfer maps in the middle of a test or exercise. There’s no need to. However, I recommend getting used to it for personal training. It allows you to get more done.”
“Noted,” Kaiden acknowledged as he walked around the bay. “So, where do I start?”
“Usually with the basic personality test, but we’ll save that for last considering the circumstances,” Sasha explained. “My guess is that you’d probably like to get a little energy out of your system.”
“I wouldn’t say no.” Kaiden chuckled as he walked over to what seemed to be the shooting area. He stood in front of a dividing wall that separated him from a line of featureless target dummies.
“Loading the firearms test,” Laurie stated. Kaiden saw all the lights dim around him except for those above the shooting range. The target dummies disappeared, and a gun cabinet on the wall vanished before reappearing beside him.
Kaiden examined it cautiously. He looked at the door and saw no lock on the handle, so reached down and tugged at it, and it simply snapped open. He exhaled in relief. Something was easy going, for once.
The locker was completely empty. “You know, not to try to one-up the teachers or anything, but a firearm is usually needed in the firearms test, I would think,” he called, turning to look at the ceiling where he assumed the professors were observing him from. “Maybe I’m naïve, but it’s pretty traditional.”
“You are naïve, Initiate. Just not about this,” Sasha assured him. “Take another look.”
Kaiden obliged and saw five lights form into different shapes. Then, in a brief flash, he saw the five lights become five different pistols—ones he had never really seen before.
He ran his hand briefly over all of them. They felt real—the coarse grips, the dense weight, the thermal lining, and exhaust nozzles on the plasma models. He picked one up and looked it over, studying the silver body and black notches on the tip of the barrel. His gaze paused on a glowing circle on the back of the chamber. He frowned and focused until he found a latch on either side of the muzzle. Tentatively, he pressed them down and drew them back. The top sprung open, and he saw arc-jumpers and a feeder. This was an electromagnetic-model. It delivered a hell of a punch in firing speed and rate, along with a kick that could send the gun rocketing back into your face if you weren’t careful.
Of course, they were also technically fake, being digital and all.
He closed the compartment and looked the weapon over again. It looked like a Fulgora model, made by Tera Sovereign Arms, a damn expensive piece on the black market. Anyone who had one certainly made a statement.
If you missed, you would probably be shot dead before you lined up another shot considering how long it took to prime, but those were your dice to roll.
However, when he examined it more closely, he noticed that there were small differences between this gun and the one he was familiar with. The color scheme, extra exhaust ports, and the arc-jumpers seemed to be more streamlined, and looking at the glowing circle on the back, it seemed you could choose how much power you had behind the shot. That certainly wasn’t an option with the Fulgora.
“What is this?” Kaiden asked, expecting a reply from his professors, but he saw a stream of white cover the gun and then a box pop up on his display. It seemed to be a summary of the pistol’s make and model, a Thunderbird-M3 created by Nexus Security Development Division.
Kaiden snorted. Security was probably right. Making sure that whoever was on the receiving end would be plowed into the wall was a safe bet for defense.
“These are the five sidearms we offer at the Academy. They were created in-house by some of our best and brightest, along with some help from contracted sources. All initiates train with a variety of weapons and arms, but these pistols will be your most consistent companions during your training in the Animus,” Sasha noted.
“Just in the Animus?” Kaiden said with a slight twinge of sadness. “Seems a waste, honestly. This place is cool and all, but how can you truly experience the feeling and power of a gun in VR?”
He heard a low chuckle. Surprisingly, it sounded like it came from Laurie. “Try it out, Kaiden,” he suggested.
Kaiden saw one of the target dummies reappear down the firing range. He snapped his arm toward the target, centering his view on its chest with his arm relaxed but grip tight.
He exhaled evenly as he pulled the trigger. The pistol vibrated, and the circle filled slowly with a bright blue light in a counter-clockwise fashion.
As it drew closer to filling up, he felt the gun shake and feel heavier. He placed his other hand slowly over the one on the gun and braced himself. When it reached the pinnacle, he released the trigger and saw a flash along with a crack like lightning. He moved his head slightly to the left as the gun and his arms snapped back and over his shoulder. His feet slipped back before he balanced himself and looked ahead at the dummy.
It had flown at least ten feet, colliding with a wall at the end of the range. Its chest looked like it had evaporated. Everything from its left pectoral to its shoulder and upper arm had disappeared, and what remained of the arm lay a few feet in front of the dummy, a sizzling mess.
“Sweet and sour Satan! What the hell was that?”
“That would be the real feeling of firing a Thunderbird at full power.” Laurie chuckled.
“It is a heavy pistol, created in part by improving on the initial build of the Fulgora model by Tera Sovereign Arms. We acquired some of their schematics in exchange for some contracts with recently graduated soldiers and engineers…along with a considerable fee,” Sasha added casually.
“Yeah, I thought it might have been a modded version.” Kaiden groaned as he placed the gun back into the cabinet and rubbed his forearms.
“Much more so, but we can talk shop later,” Sasha stated. “Please take a look at the supplied weapons. Professor Laurie will load in some more targets if you wish to practice or get a feel for the individual characteristics of each pistol, but you will choose one of the five and take the test with the chosen gun.”
“I gotcha.” Kaiden grunted, looking at the other pistols. “Chief, scan the rest would ya?”
“On it. Don’t just go for the shiniest one,” Chief cautioned sarcastically.
Kaiden shook his head as he saw each gun light up briefly before four other boxes of information popped open in his display.
He perused them, picking each pistol up to take a look as the other boxes shrank and the corresponding box enlarged and pointed out each feature of the selected gun.
The first one, a black-and-grey hand cannon, was bigger than even the Thunderbird yet slightly lighter. The model name read Black Dog. It was meant for close quarters and fired metal shrapnel in wide bursts with a large magazine that allowed for up to eight shots before needing to reload.
Kaiden placed it back in the cabinet. He wasn’t a fan of close quarters combat if he could help it and firing this thing from a considerable distance would probably be more useless than simply chucking jars of bees at his opponent.
Next up was the Yokai, a slim model in pure black aluminum and polymer. Kaiden guessed by the name and style that it would be
based on a Japanese model. It was incredibly light and had a narrow line of sight. He pointed the gun toward the firing range, and another dummy materialized. Unhurried, he squeezed the trigger and let go, and he barely heard a thing before he saw a small hole appear on the dummy. From this distance, it didn’t seem to be very deep.
He pressed the trigger again, aiming at the head. This time, he heard a very quiet whir and felt as if something in the gun was spinning. Another hole appeared right where the dummy’s mouth would have been. He’d heard little more than a slight whoosh as the bullet left the barrel.
He examined the weapon critically. A magnetic model meant for stealth, it was interesting but also not his thing. The charge up and impact was not something he wanted to bother with in the middle of a firefight.
The Phoenix was more of a submachine gun, light with a white-and-red color scheme. He pointed toward the range again, and another dummy popped up. His action calm and measured, he pulled the trigger and saw holes pepper the dummy in rapid succession. He paused, then looked at the gun. His display now highlighted a switch just above the trigger.
He flipped it before shooting the dummy again, and bullets flew as if they had tracers on them. When he saw the dummy burst into flame, he gave an approving whistle.
However, he could feel the gun heating up way faster than it should, and when he examined it again, he noticed the thermal lining on the body. He looked over the info and saw that it used ignition clips instead of energy or bullets. He growled in annoyance. Ignition clips were somehow the best and worst of two worlds. You could fire more ammo than a gun that used bullets and energy-based weapons had more punch, but they also had the nasty habit of overheating, either becoming temporarily useless while they cooled down, or they simply exploded.
Can’t reload a hand, can you?
He sighed as he placed it back in the cabinet. Why are all the cool guns such a pain in the ass?
Animus Boxed Set 1 (Books 1-4): Initiate, Co-Op, Death Match, Advance Page 9
