She shook her head. “No, I was… It’s nothing. Nothing to do with you, at least. I am truly happy with this outcome.”
He cocked his head and studied her. “No smile, no twinkle in the eye, no bounciness. You read more like indifferent than happy.”
The infiltrator stared at him for a moment before placing her pointer fingers on each end of her mouth and pulling them up to make a mock smile. “Is this better?”
Kaiden laughed. “That’s pretty good. It’ll do.” He glanced at the rest of the group, who were talking amongst themselves. “What about you guys? You get any bad picks?”
“Actually, it looks like we all lucked out,” Flynn stated. “All of us are in squads with each other.”
The ace raised his eyes in surprise. “Really, now? How does that break down?”
“Well, me, Amber, and Marlo are grouped together, so that’s a start,” the marksman said.
“This thing is supposed to be randomized, isn’t it?” Kaiden asked.
“Marlo’s armor must be made of horseshoes,” Flynn quipped.
Amber slid an arm over his shoulders. “I would say this is the real dream team here.”
“Or the other teams’ nightmares,” Marlo boasted, looking around. “Uh, not you guys, obviously. We’ll be nice to you.”
“What about the rest of you?” Kaiden asked the other six.
“I have been paired with Silas and Isabella. Should prove a rewarding group,” Jaxon confirmed, looking at the other two as Izzy clapped and Silas nodded.
“That would mean…” Kaiden pointed at Cameron, Raul, and Luke. “You three are a team?”
“Yes, sir, the Terrifying Trio,” Luke bellowed.
“I don’t think we have team names, but if we do, that’s not ours,” Raul said.
Kaiden began to laugh as he continued to point at the three. “Oh, you guys are so screwed.”
“What are you talking about? We work together all the time. Probably more than anyone here,” Cameron growled in protest.
“Yeah, with Jaxon leading you.” Kaiden snorted. “You and Raul are always at each other’s throats, Luke’s a damn good titan, but he’s also probably gonna get focused when we all start shooting at each other. You guys are more a comedy troupe than a combat unit.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, leadhead,” Raul sneered.
“I mean, he has good points,” Silas admitted. “At least Chiyo and Genos only have to keep him in line. Maybe Genos can use those remote hacking bullets and simply shut down his armor and keep him in a corner for the test?”
Kaiden looked cautiously from the enforcer to the Tsuna. “You wouldn’t actually do that, would you, Genos?”
The alien’s eyes widened. “What? No, no, no, of course, I wouldn’t, friend Kaiden.”
“Thanks. I was pretty sure you wouldn’t, but—”
“I mean, I would never do that to a friend…unless you were going wild or became a threat to the team. Besides, it wouldn’t be practical in a test like this. You would be of no use simply sitting on the floor. If I did wish to dispose of you, I would find a more beneficial means—perhaps strapping you with a large explosive and using an exo-net to force you to run into a group of hostiles and take them out…”
Kaiden’s eyes narrowed as the Tsuna continued his list of possible uses for his body. “You could have stopped at no,” he mumbled, apparently not loud enough for the Tsuna to hear. Or Genos simply was too distracted by his potential strategies to pay any mind.
“So what will you guys do in the run-up to the test?” Izzy asked. “Workshops and all that are done for the year. We got a week to prepare.”
“Well, we’ll be training, obviously,” Flynn stated.
She rolled her eyes. “I know that, but are you gonna be grinding for Synapse points, or maybe try to scrim with some of the other squads. You have to have more plans than simply throwing yourself in the Animus day in and day out.”
“To be fair, that’s been our training regime for the most part and it’s worked out pretty well so far,” Cameron admitted.
Jaxon tapped a finger on his infuser. “I suggest that we take a couple of days to run specified missions for our individual classes. It will let all of us know the strengths and weaknesses we all have as individuals as well as learn the potential objectives each of us can complete during the test. Then we can go into more specified missions to get better at teamwork.”
“That sounds like a plan to me,” Silas agreed around a yawn. “After I get some sleep, we’ll get right on that.”
“You’re still sleepy? Get some coffee in you or something,” Izzy scolded.
“Over the weekend, I had a total of six hours of sleep in the freezing cold and got speared by Raza and pumped with who knows how many volts. I’m. A. Bit. Wrecked,” he responded flatly.
“We should probably get some sleep too,” Luke agreed, looking at Cameron and Raul. “We’ll probably wanna get up not so bright and super early. The AC will be packed for the next week.”
“Oh, that’s right. Everyone will want to use the Animus, even more than usual,” Amber reasoned.
Jaxon nodded. “Plus, the other years will be preparing for their end of the year tests as well. The Animus Center only accommodates around five hundred students at a time and there are nearly one-thousand students here.”
“There are five hundred in the normal halls, but you’re rank two, right? You have access to the private rooms. We could use those,” Izzy suggested.
The Tsuna continued to tap on his infuser. “Perhaps, but there are only thirty of those rooms, so we will still be racing against all the other rank two and rank three students among all years.”
“It’s first come, first served. Fortunately, a team can only run one mission before they have to give it up to the next team on the schedule. Then, most of them almost immediately queue again right after. Those wait times can get hellish,” Raul complained.
As the group began to talk about their personal plans, Chiyo and Genos walked over to Kaiden. “Do you have a plan for this test?”
He stroked his chin. “I guess that would be a part of my job description. But I have to admit, I’m a bit outta my depth. I hate to admit it, but Cameron and Flynn were right in that my normal strategy of ‘shoot everything that moves’ won’t be as viable because of the weird currency system.”
“That’s a viable strategy to you?” Genos inquired.
“You’ve been running missions with him. This hasn’t dawned on you?” the infiltrator asked.
“I wasn’t aware that he considered that ‘strategy’ rather than the beginning of sociopathy,” Genos admitted.
“What are those?” Kaiden asked.
Chiyo looked at him in disbelief. “You saying the Tsuna knows more about human psychology than you do?”
“To be fair, those conditions aren’t human-centric, but you do seem to have more offenders than we do,” Genos clarified.
“We do strive to be the best in all things,” she muttered sarcastically.
“While you guys are making fun of me, mind using some of the mental energy to toss out some possible plans here?” the ace grumbled.
The mechanist tapped on his infuser while Chiyo retrieved her tablet. “I’ll use the rest of my night to go over any vids of previous tests and find out any potential information that may be useful. Head Monitor Zhang’s words about there’s only been ‘one true winner’ before now has me curious about what that may entail.”
“I couldn’t understand what he was on about. You get the most points you win, right? No need to be so cryptic.” Kaiden didn’t hide his irritation.
“I would guess that it was a hint at a different or alternative goal in the test that allows for victory. As he said, despite the nickname, the ‘Deathmatch’ is more than merely a free-for-all.” She looked up from her tablet. “But since we are discussing the head monitor’s cryptic words, what got you so worked up before?”
The ace looked blankly at her. “Um… Oh,
are you talking about when he mentioned friendly fire?” He crossed his arms. “It’s obviously an attempt to weed out the assholes in each team. Remember that he said there is an overall team score along with an individual score?”
“I do, but what does that have to do with—”
“Do you also remember that initiates who are killed drop those Honor points that anyone can pick up, including the squadmates?”
“Of course, it’s a method to encourage combat among the test takers,” Genos stated.
“I was simply thinking, what’s the point of having individual scores if this is supposed to be a team test. Then I thought back to the other tests and the fact that we got rewards and prizes and all that for coming out on top…” He trailed off and watched the other two to see if they had caught on.
Chiyo’s eyes narrowed. “You think some members would kill their own teammates to increase their own score?”
“It’s possible,” he reasoned.
“That’s horrible,” Genos exclaimed. “Do you really think students here would lower themselves to such a barbaric mindset?”
“Like I said, it’s only something that I thought of. Unfortunately, I’ve seen selfishness like that plenty, and I wouldn’t count on some of the more…tenacious initiates around here not doing so.”
“But doesn’t that work out for us? Make it more likely that we will have less initiates coming after us?” the infiltrator asked.
“Oh, yeah. Like I said, it could work out great for us. But if we weren’t together and with a couple of randos instead…”
“We would have to worry about watching our squadmates as potential attackers as much as the others and the environment,” Chiyo finished.
“Got it, but fortunately, we don’t have to worry about that.” He eyed Genos. “Right? A Tsuna who just listed how useful my corpse would be for explosions?”
“I said I would never do such a thing. I just got…lost in hypotheticals,” the alien said sheepishly.
Kaiden chuckled as the rest of the group joined them. “You guys get everything together?”
“We’ve got our plans and preparations in order. As I am assuming you do now?” Jaxon inquired.
“Actually, it’s still a work in progress, but we’ll be ready, and you guys better watch out when the test day comes,” the ace challenged his counterpart.
“That’s actually what we wanted to discuss before departing,” Jaxon stated, folding his hands behind his back. “We have discussed it and we will not hunt one another until the last moments of the test if we can help it. I know that this is a test between all initiates and that the potential for us to fight one another could happen. But considering the bonds we have created this year, it would seem cheap to attack and potentially eliminate each other until we absolutely have to.”
Kaiden looked at Genos and Chiyo, who nodded. He walked up to Jaxon and scanned the others. “While I must say it’s rather funny that you think you can take me out—”
“Uh, if you recall, I almost did in the Division Test,” Flynn retorted.
“One of these days, you and I need to head to the Animus and settle that, because no, you did not,” Kaiden countered. “But I don’t think that needs to be during the test. Plenty of other fish and all that. No offense to either of the Tsuna.”
“Why would that be offensive?” Genos and Jaxon asked at the same time.
“Really? You’ve been here a year and you never made the connection?” he asked, looking at the blank stares of both Tsuna, “Whatever. The point is, of course we agree. But you all better make it to the top four, because I kinda do want to see what happens when we go all out with no guilt and all that.” He offered a hand to Jaxon who took it in a firm shake.
“I plan to go for first, actually, and I’m sure the others do as well. So do not worry, you may get your wish,” Jaxon said forebodingly.
“Look, I’m already about to burst from anticipation. You’re merely mocking me at this point.” Kaiden released the alien’s hand and looked at the others. “Y’all heading out?”
“Yep, but I guess we’ll see you in the Animus Center?” Flynn asked.
“Maybe. Gonna be a hell of a crowd around there,” Kaiden noted gloomily.
“Well, be sure to make time to see each other over the week and check on each other’s progress,” Jaxon stated. “For now, everyone get some rest and start training.”
“You got it, boss,” Cameron said, only slightly joking.
“I actually don’t mind following that order,” Silas said with another yawn. “See most of y’all back at the dorm.”
They all said their goodbyes. Kaiden and Chiyo hung back as the others departed. “Wanna meet up at the table tomorrow?” he asked.
“I’ll be there,” she agreed. “I’ll send Genos a message before I fall asleep so he knows to meet us there. We’ll come up with a plan in the morning.”
“Sounds good.” He nodded. “I’m tired, but thinking about this test has me pumped. It might be the best thing I’ve done all year.”
“Even better than our test?” she asked.
“This test has you and Genos both, and I get to go against all the other trained initiates rather than only AI mercs and junk. It’s gonna be a playground,” Kaiden said cheerfully, clenching a fist. “But if you wanna know, our test is my current number one.”
“I’m glad. It’s my number two,” she stated as she walked away.
“Oh, gonna do me like that, huh?” Kaiden shot back in mock anger “What’s your number one? Come on, don’t leave me on a cliffhanger.”
The infiltrator continued to walk to her dorm, although she raised a hand and waved. “My first one should be obvious. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to take the test with you at all,” she whispered to herself.
Chapter Thirteen
Chiyo left the cafeteria with her breakfast and headed to her usual table, which was surprisingly still available considering the large number of students around the area. She took her seat and activated her oculars. “Please bring up my network, Kaitō.”
“Immediately, madame,” the EI acknowledged, bringing up the network directory. “What do you require?”
“Where are the others?” she asked, cutting into a pancake as she spoke.
“Those in your squad for the test? Genos should arrive shortly. Mr. Kaiden appears to still be at the soldiers’ dorm. Ah, he just left the building and is headed this way.”
“Good. We have a lot to accomplish today, and I need to fill them in before we go.” She punctuated the statement with a forkful of pancake, gulped it down, and took a quick sip of apple juice “Were you able to find out anything else about the test while I was sleeping?”
“A few things, yes. I found more video segments, but nothing in full or of very high quality. It would appear that most videos or records of past tests are closely guarded, or possibly deleted after a certain point in time after the test. As you surmised, the bits of video we have been able to find are on greysites and seem to have been secretly recorded by technicians from the years before. Are you not worried that the Academy will find out you have this information?”
“No. With the level of power and the number of technicians and hackers they have at the Academy, they could have gotten these sites deleted or the videos taken off, at least. They could have potentially put viruses in the vids as well, and the scrubbing we did showed nothing of the sort.”
“True, but we did find trackers and corruption viruses on a few of the videos,” Kaitō noted.
Chiyo smiled slightly. “That would only be other techs being cheeky. I would have been rather dissatisfied if we hadn’t found at least a few among all the vids. A shame I don’t have the time to do a reverse trace. I could have potentially found a few helpful techs from previous years.”
“Friend Chiyo! Good morning!” Genos called. She barely heard him over all the chatter. He made his way around the students littering the area and took a seat across from her. “Has K
aiden not made it yet?”
The infiltrator looked at her network map, seeing Kaiden’s dot entering the cafeteria. “He’ll be here in a minute. It looks like he’s getting food first.” She noticed that the Tsuna had no food or drink with him. “Are you not hungry, Genos? You should eat before we go to the Animus.”
“Oh, no thank you. We have personal cooks in the Tsuna dorm to help with our specific needs. Plus, I still receive gifts and supplies from my matron every few weeks. I am well fed.”
“Good to hear, although you may want to apply a little more immerse gel to your hand.” She pointed to a blotch on his skin that was turning a bright white.
“Oh, my. I must have not been thorough enough. I’ve been so excited since last night that I hardly slept.” Genos reached into a pouch and removed a vial of purple gel. He poured a small amount on the blotch and rubbed it in. “Thank you for catching that.”
“Wouldn’t be good for the squad if those hands of yours shriveled up, and not good for an engineer either.”
“Certainly not.” He chuckled. “So what were you able to find last night? I ventured to the library but it was rather fruitless, sadly.”
“That’s all right. From the little I have found, it would appear that they are doing their best to hide the specifics of the test from us, even more so than in the other tests.” Chiyo hummed thoughtfully for a moment. “Still, I did find a few interesting things. I wanted to wait for all of us to be here before going into specifics—”
“Morning, y’all,” Kaiden said as he sat down next to Genos. “What’re we talking about?”
“Ah, friend Kaiden, a good morning to you,” the Tsuna responded. “Chiyo was just telling me she found out a few things about the Deathma—Squad Test. We were waiting for you before going into details.”
“Really, now? Nice work, Chiyo.” Kaiden congratulated her as he scarfed down some of his eggs. “You not hungry, Genos?”
“The Tsuna have a private culinary staff, apparently,” Chiyo informed him.
“That sounds handy. Even with buffet lines, it’s a madhouse in there.” He grimaced. “So what did you find out?”
Animus Boxed Set 1 (Books 1-4): Initiate, Co-Op, Death Match, Advance Page 73
