Basic training is done, next week I start special forces training. They want me to have a few missions in the field before I get the hardest training. I'm technically a United Terran Space Force marine now. Its been hard, I can barely sleep through the soreness. I miss home, although I don't have many reasons to. Its mostly my mother that I miss, she was always a caring and thoughtful individual, never over thought things or shown any ignorance. That was the main problem with where I come from. C-Averah, or Crater Averah, used to be Los Angles, before the War of Unification. Named Averah, meaning "Sin against man", because it was the site where the first nuclear strike hit the greater US. China thought itself invincible, but when the UN forces showed their might,in desperation they sought to strike the US at its heart, the major population centers. The missile defense systems did their job, but one made it through. Only five nukes actually made it to the ground out of the hundreds launched during the war. Millions died in the LA explosion, millions in an instant. Grade school history for me but for the people at the time, it must have seemed like the end of the world. C-Averah was a huge religious town when I was growing up. It seemed like a religious experiment, one that asked the question, "What happens when you put millions of Christians in one place?". The town was a holy site after the war. Technologies were developed to rid the land of contamination, they rebuilt. But with so much death surrounding the site's past, it became a monument to survival. So many pilgrims came to the site that it eventually developed into a city. The town center being directly in the crater. This was my home, it was a beautiful place to live. I will never forget the foggy mornings I rode my motorcycle over the crater's ridge into town. But I don't think I will ever go back there. Because as nice as the scenery is, it was saturated with single minded, brain numbingly idiotic people. Claiming that my abilities were the spawn of Satan. After they set fire to our house in a blind religious rage, my Mom attempted to move us to a better place, we managed only to move a short distance outside of the city due to money issues, it was better, but the bible thumping sheep were never far enough away. My mother was my only real friend before Kurt. She had to protect me, from my self usually. If only we had found the people I needed to see, people like me, to help me control my abilities, people who would seek to understand, instead of destroy. My life would've been a lot different.
I will see my mother again, but if I ever go back to that place it will be to teach other psychs how to keep their unique traits and talents and still live a normal life. We are prejudiced against where ever we go. Some , like Veil, say its because we are the next step in evolution, because we are better. Others say its because they are afraid of what we can do. When I was little my mother always told me it was because I was special, and they wanted to be special too. Issac and I had this conversation once. He said that most people wont understand why, or how I can do what I do. Because of that they will naturally fear it. Judge it. Compare it to the things they do understand. He told me that only the bearer of a burden can truly understand its weight. How such an intellectual man became a soldier is still a mystery to me. He's told me he couldn't afford college, but loved the pay check after he joined, but there has to be more to it.
Dionna and Veil suggested I sign up for the V-R Games while I wait for the Pre-Spec Ops missions. They said it would be good to keep me sharp. The V-R games were a televised assortment of virtual reality combat scenarios in a huge arena. Some were modern sorties, others were of the ancient roman Colosseum, pitting men of war against each other with nothing but swords and shields. Some programs took it one step further and added the mythical beasts into the fight. These were often player controlled too. The arena was also used for Zero-G Football. I had read about and seen the games on TV, my dad loved to watch it. I never really got into it, but the idea of playing in the games seemed like it would be a great change of pace. The games were bloody, but it was all virtual, no one ever actually died in the games. A few really bad injuries, but nothing nano-meds couldn't handle. Another set of games was played outside the station, the space craft races and duels. Those are what I wanted to get into, but I have yet to learn how to pilot one.
I took them up on their suggestion this afternoon. I rode the elevators to the middle of the station. The service desk was right outside the doors Right behind the desk golden light flooded into the room from a wide opening leading to a fifty foot tall arch way. I walked up to the circular desk. The receptionist wasn't paying much attention. Without look at me she said. "There is a game in progress, I cant let anyone in right now, are you here to watch?"
"Ive actually never been, I'm here to sign up to play."
"Oh a newb haha. I'm kidding, I am sure you've seen real combat. This should be a piece of cake for you." she had a nice smile. I read on her name plate that her name was Cindy Cohen.
"Yeah I have, how does this work?"
She took out a twelve inch tube and opened it into a tablet computer. "Well, first you need to enter you're DNA and Profile into the system, you can take a seat right over there." I took the computer from her and went over to the seats and sat down.
I had barely entered my name when I heard her voice again. "Feel free to be creative with your In Game Tag. Although your ID has to be the first three letters of your last name, and then three numbers. If there are any questions feel free to ask."
"Alright, thanks." I began entering all my information. My ID came out as ING-108 and for my game tag I chose a nickname from high-school, a lot of kids called me Grizzly because I had a beard at an early age, and that my black outs, well I never saw what happened, but I often woke up in restraints in the nurses office. That must've helped earn the nickname. I had few friends back then. About three that became different people in high-school, my best friend moved a few towns over. Then I was left with people who didn't understand, kids who wanted to hurt me because I was different. The others usually just watched, proving they were no friends of mine. I finished with the sign up form and walked over to the desk.
"Can you put me in for the next game?"
"Of course, the next one is a Colosseum match parameters are chosen at the start of the game. The game starts in 15 minutes. Go into the fitting room and get into the VR suit."
She handed me what looked like a black wet suit with silver rings on all the joints and up the back. A pair of glasses and a small computer chip were placed on top of the suit.
"Thanks." I smiled and headed for the room. It had been many days since I had some fun. I walked into a white walled room with a single light on the ceiling. The room filled with holographic images. It instructed me to put the suit on. While I did a voice called out the rules of the games and what their purpose was. Basically don't kill anyone, and that the games kept you sharp and ready for anything. Be it unsurmountable odds, or the occasional Medusa. There were after all, incredibly dangerous creatures on the colony worlds. How else would you train for that?
I put the suit and glasses on and the suit expanded and contracted to fit my body perfectly. The holo-images then displayed various costumes on me to make sure the joints were displaying properly. I was instructed to move my limbs. It then instructed me to place the sensory chip into my nano receiver, a device on the back of my neck that told the nano-bots in my blood what to do. This chip would simulate weight, pain, texture; basically anything that my brain needed to really believe the virtual world. It had me test some weights. Soon after all the holo images disappeared. "System Calibrated" appeared in the VR glasses I was given. The game would be starting soon so I headed out to the waiting area. It was now full of people, some in normal dress and a lot in the VR suits.
"Matthias! Over here!" Cindy was calling me over.
"What is it?"
"The game is about to start and you need your ID card, it just got done encoding." She handed me the card and instructed me to put it in the slot on the chest on the VR suit. Without a word she began typing on her computer, after a while of standing there she looked up at me. Her eyes widened. "Go! The game is about to start!" she laughed as she pointed towards the archway.
I entered the VR arena through the archway to a massive expanse of light bluish grey, the room seemed to have no corners but it seemed to have a horizon. massive doors closed behind me. I wasn't sure if there was a specific way to start. A soft female British accent spoke into my ear. "Cast Vote for Scenario." The choices appeared in the air in front of me. Historic, Mythical, or Modern. I chose modern, I wanted my first bout to be something familiar. Mythical was chosen. All I could think was that this isn't going to go well. I knew nothing about sword fighting short of what I've seen in flims. Another player near me could tell it was my first time. She was just a bit shorter than me. Her name, well her gametag was above her head. Desert Fox. She had black hair down to her shoulders, a soft face but with a define chin. She almost seemed Italian. But she spoke with a western European accent.
"Never done the games?"
"Yeah its my first time, whats mythical usually throw at you?"
"Its always something different, to an extent, but one thing you gotta remember is to block, don't just swing your weapon like a madman. The game will adjust based on your skill, you'll get better and the game will get harder." She smirked as her suit turned blue along with mine. "Looks like we are on the same team, stick with me." she smiled. I knew right then that she would become an important person in my life. Its tough to explain, but I just knew. The Landscape seemed to shoot up around us, the floor it self formed into the shape of the ground. "Team Versus, Mythical, Choose your defensive items." Many armor types and items began rotating around me, when one passed in front I was given the stats. I decided I would go with leather armor, its weight and flexibility matched my actual combat armor. The armor attached itself to me and immediately felt the weight. Whatever the tech they had in the VRA, it must've cost billions to produce. "Chose your offensive!" Swords, bows, crossbows, combat knives. Combat knives, double for sure, I had gotten use to concentrating on both my hand's positions during combat so two sixteen inch knives would do the trick. They appeared in sheaths attached to the leather belt that came with the armor. I took them out and toyed around with them a little, I wasn't sure how my foresight would react to a virtual world. A ten second countdown started. The ten players of blue team were lead to a rally point by a yellow glowing orbs on the ground, they led me through dark stone corridors with torches evenly spaced on the walls the whole way. Once we gathered in a circular room made of smooth stone I was able to see the other players on our team, a few magic users, a couple warriors and two other rogues like myself, one of them was using a bow, a girl who tagged herself as Longshot. This wasn't an ordinary bow ether, it was made of metal and had a scope, it was also ordained with complex engravings. I had heard your profile earned upgrades, this petite brunet must've won many battles to earn such a shiny item. I saw some other players with fancy items, I wasn't even sure how you earned such things. I didn't have time to think to much about it as the countdown reached zero. The teams scattered in many directions. Desert Fox grabbed me by the arm and pulled me with her.
"This way! Ive done this map before!" I saw that she had chosen a dagger and crossbow combination. Even though the VR suit registered pain, I could see that Fox was already enjoying herself. It wasn't long before an enemy warrior charged us. I was just as surprised by it as Desert Fox was, my foresight wasn't picking up on the computer signals, my brain received the information from the same place, but the huge gleaming claymore swinging though the air wasn't real, it only existed in the computer. My brain knew I was in no real danger so nothing triggered. All this told me was I need to learn how to trigger it, or just wasn't going to be useful enough. The man wielding the sword was just as new to this as me. He could barely compensate for the weight. He miss me twice, I drew my daggers and did two clean stabs to his abdomen. He clutched his chest in pain, virtual blood poured on the ground as he fell and the swordsman's body shimmered and disappeared. Fox signaled for me to follow her into a hallway. We ran to the light at the end and we heard the sound of battle in the distance. Clanging of swords and armor, screams of death. It sure seemed real, but my mind was never too far from reality to get lost in it. I wondered if anyone had ever gotten lost in the fake world, and were unable to find their way back to reality.
"Block!" Fox yelled. A sword was swung out at me right was we exited into the circular courtyard. I barely blocked it with my dagger. Flames danced of the sword as he went in for another swing but a bolt from Fox's crossbow met its mark in his head, his body crumpled to the ground, shimmered and then dissipated. The words "Head shot - 100exp" hovered in the air where he had fallen. The flame sword must be another upgrade, he also had a helmet with a pink plume attached, the designer of the games wasn't without a sense of humor, allowing people to customize colors of their armor at a certain level.
We both saw the huge battle then looked at each other. She smiled wide as she leapt over a wall and into the fray. I landed in a lump next to her, I misjudged the fall and lost my footing on the landing. She had a sweet laugh, even though she was clearly not laughing with me. I lost sight of her after that. She had run into the clouds of dust stirred up by the fight. It wasn't long before I was fighting a tall man in heavy armor. His shield was raised. I slashed at him with my dual daggers but to no effect. He swung his shield and hit me four feet away. As I was scrambling to get up he was already upon me. I knew the pain was dulled a bit from the real life equivalent, but I struggling to stand. I felt great sharp pain in my stomach, he kicked me to the ground and I re-spawned. I had to run to a re-spawn area. Soon I was back in the fight. Our team wasn't doing so well, down by four.
I died a few more times, still getting used to the weapons. I found myself out armored against greater foes, what few kills I got were against other newbies. The game clock was running out, less than a minute left, I had no idea if this game was being televised, or if my dad was watching it, but I wanted to make him proud. An enemy archer began shooting arrows my way from a cone shaped tower. I ran along a stone path dodging them, the archer slid down the wall of the tower, clearly had some sort of nimbleness upgrade or they were that way naturally. I wasn't sure how much the game allowed for innovation, so It was a toss up whether this would work or not. I pulled out one of my daggers and threw it at the archer, we were about ten feet from one another when it left my hand. It spun in the air right into his shoulder. He was wounded but not dead, I charged into him and tackled him to the ground, I was knocked a few feet from him, he managed to get up. I unsheathed my other dagger and sliced his kneecaps, giving me time to get up. As he was drawing his short sword I slashed at his chest, on the downswing I grabbed the hilt of the dagger that was lodged in his chest, I pulled it out and brought my other dagger up for another cut across his chest. This slash was blocked by his sword. I blocked a few of his swings and managed to stab him in the chest. I kicked him hard in the pelvis and he stumbled back. I almost missed what happened next, A huge arrow came from another tower across the courtyard and took his head clean off. The arrow was now lodged in the opposite wall, shimmering silver in the sunlight. It had to have been Longshot.
"Dagger Throw, Swashbuckler, Team combo, 1500 EXP" appeared above his shimmering body. "That one's for you dad," I said under my breath. It was a small hope that he was watching, or if he would be. Thirty seconds were left on the clock, I ran into the major area of battle. I got an assist kill before the time was up. The landscape and building sunk into the ground and left us in the white expanse of nothing, the huge doors to the lobby opened and I walked out.
The player names stayed above the heads of the people wearing the suits and a leader board was listing the top players on the wall across from the service desk. On the right side of the screen was a limited holo display of the best kills in the game. My dagger throw was one of the kills, along with a host of other "how the hell did they do that!" moments. I imagined that it was the same as my situation, instincts kicked in and my body did the rest.
"First time huh?" Desert fox had found me in the lobby. I turned around to find her taking off the VR Glasses.
"Yeah I surprised myself actually. Didn't realize the training I have actually worked for some of the encounters."
She studied the leader board for a bit before sighing and putting her hand on her hip. She turned her head to me and looked me over.
"Yes?"
"Just wondering what your name is," she smiled.
"You can ask."
"All right, whats your name?"
"Maxamillion Pheroh Witherspoon."
"Bullshit!" she said through a laugh. I couldn't help laughing with her. "Don't make me ask again." She ordered in jest.
"Matthias."
"Is that Scandinavian?"
"Yes, my parents named me after my great grandfather, whats your name?"
"Larysa, its Russian, where my family is from."
We decided it was best to get our of our VR suits before talking further. There was something about her. I recognized the feeling. Being a farseer, it gives me little hints at the future, something was telling me I would see her again, the same sensation happened when I met Kurt. I met her in the lobby when I put away the suit and glasses. I said good bye to Cindy as I followed Larysa out of the Lobby into Cathedral's halls. She turned to me and asked.
"What's your unit?"
"I'm with Black Halo, yours?"
"I'm an operative, I work alone at the moment. I cant talk about the things they have me doing though."
I laughed. "You're a spy?"
"I don't see whats funny about it."
"Sorry, old spy movies, I have to ask, how do you like your martinis?"
"I don't," She smirked. "Listen, I got work to get to." She gestured behind her with her thumb. She turned to walk but quickly turned around and started walking backwards. She was far enough away that she had to raise her voice.
"Id like to see you again, I'll contact you!" her voice faded as she broke into a run. I must've made her run late for something.
Tomorrow is my first real mission. I'm not scared, but I don't want to let my team down. The most I can do is hope for the best.
LOG END EARTHDATE 2219 February 24th
"Matthias! Over here!" Cindy was calling me over.
"What is it?"
"The game is about to start and you need your ID card, it just got done encoding." She handed me the card and instructed me to put it in the slot on the chest on the VR suit. Without a word she began typing on her computer, after a while of standing there she looked up at me. Her eyes widened. "Go! The game is about to start!" she laughed as she pointed towards the archway.
I entered the VR arena through the archway to a massive expanse of light bluish grey, the room seemed to have no corners but it seemed to have a horizon. massive doors closed behind me. I wasn't sure if there was a specific way to start. A soft female British accent spoke into my ear. "Cast Vote for Scenario." The choices appeared in the air in front of me. Historic, Mythical, or Modern. I chose modern, I wanted my first bout to be something familiar. Mythical was chosen. All I could think was that this isn't going to go well. I knew nothing about sword fighting short of what I've seen in flims. Another player near me could tell it was my first time. She was just a bit shorter than me. Her name, well her gametag was above her head. Desert Fox. She had black hair down to her shoulders, a soft face but with a define chin. She almost seemed Italian. But she spoke with a western European accent.
"Never done the games?"
"Yeah its my first time, whats mythical usually throw at you?"
"Its always something different, to an extent, but one thing you gotta remember is to block, don't just swing your weapon like a madman. The game will adjust based on your skill, you'll get better and the game will get harder." She smirked as her suit turned blue along with mine. "Looks like we are on the same team, stick with me." she smiled. I knew right then that she would become an important person in my life. Its tough to explain, but I just knew. The Landscape seemed to shoot up around us, the floor it self formed into the shape of the ground. "Team Versus, Mythical, Choose your defensive items." Many armor types and items began rotating around me, when one passed in front I was given the stats. I decided I would go with leather armor, its weight and flexibility matched my actual combat armor. The armor attached itself to me and immediately felt the weight. Whatever the tech they had in the VRA, it must've cost billions to produce. "Chose your offensive!" Swords, bows, crossbows, combat knives. Combat knives, double for sure, I had gotten use to concentrating on both my hand's positions during combat so two sixteen inch knives would do the trick. They appeared in sheaths attached to the leather belt that came with the armor. I took them out and toyed around with them a little, I wasn't sure how my foresight would react to a virtual world. A ten second countdown started. The ten players of blue team were lead to a rally point by a yellow glowing orbs on the ground, they led me through dark stone corridors with torches evenly spaced on the walls the whole way. Once we gathered in a circular room made of smooth stone I was able to see the other players on our team, a few magic users, a couple warriors and two other rogues like myself, one of them was using a bow, a girl who tagged herself as Longshot. This wasn't an ordinary bow ether, it was made of metal and had a scope, it was also ordained with complex engravings. I had heard your profile earned upgrades, this petite brunet must've won many battles to earn such a shiny item. I saw some other players with fancy items, I wasn't even sure how you earned such things. I didn't have time to think to much about it as the countdown reached zero. The teams scattered in many directions. Desert Fox grabbed me by the arm and pulled me with her.
"This way! Ive done this map before!" I saw that she had chosen a dagger and crossbow combination. Even though the VR suit registered pain, I could see that Fox was already enjoying herself. It wasn't long before an enemy warrior charged us. I was just as surprised by it as Desert Fox was, my foresight wasn't picking up on the computer signals, my brain received the information from the same place, but the huge gleaming claymore swinging though the air wasn't real, it only existed in the computer. My brain knew I was in no real danger so nothing triggered. All this told me was I need to learn how to trigger it, or just wasn't going to be useful enough. The man wielding the sword was just as new to this as me. He could barely compensate for the weight. He miss me twice, I drew my daggers and did two clean stabs to his abdomen. He clutched his chest in pain, virtual blood poured on the ground as he fell and the swordsman's body shimmered and disappeared. Fox signaled for me to follow her into a hallway. We ran to the light at the end and we heard the sound of battle in the distance. Clanging of swords and armor, screams of death. It sure seemed real, but my mind was never too far from reality to get lost in it. I wondered if anyone had ever gotten lost in the fake world, and were unable to find their way back to reality.
"Block!" Fox yelled. A sword was swung out at me right was we exited into the circular courtyard. I barely blocked it with my dagger. Flames danced of the sword as he went in for another swing but a bolt from Fox's crossbow met its mark in his head, his body crumpled to the ground, shimmered and then dissipated. The words "Head shot - 100exp" hovered in the air where he had fallen. The flame sword must be another upgrade, he also had a helmet with a pink plume attached, the designer of the games wasn't without a sense of humor, allowing people to customize colors of their armor at a certain level.
We both saw the huge battle then looked at each other. She smiled wide as she leapt over a wall and into the fray. I landed in a lump next to her, I misjudged the fall and lost my footing on the landing. She had a sweet laugh, even though she was clearly not laughing with me. I lost sight of her after that. She had run into the clouds of dust stirred up by the fight. It wasn't long before I was fighting a tall man in heavy armor. His shield was raised. I slashed at him with my dual daggers but to no effect. He swung his shield and hit me four feet away. As I was scrambling to get up he was already upon me. I knew the pain was dulled a bit from the real life equivalent, but I struggling to stand. I felt great sharp pain in my stomach, he kicked me to the ground and I re-spawned. I had to run to a re-spawn area. Soon I was back in the fight. Our team wasn't doing so well, down by four.
I died a few more times, still getting used to the weapons. I found myself out armored against greater foes, what few kills I got were against other newbies. The game clock was running out, less than a minute left, I had no idea if this game was being televised, or if my dad was watching it, but I wanted to make him proud. An enemy archer began shooting arrows my way from a cone shaped tower. I ran along a stone path dodging them, the archer slid down the wall of the tower, clearly had some sort of nimbleness upgrade or they were that way naturally. I wasn't sure how much the game allowed for innovation, so It was a toss up whether this would work or not. I pulled out one of my daggers and threw it at the archer, we were about ten feet from one another when it left my hand. It spun in the air right into his shoulder. He was wounded but not dead, I charged into him and tackled him to the ground, I was knocked a few feet from him, he managed to get up. I unsheathed my other dagger and sliced his kneecaps, giving me time to get up. As he was drawing his short sword I slashed at his chest, on the downswing I grabbed the hilt of the dagger that was lodged in his chest, I pulled it out and brought my other dagger up for another cut across his chest. This slash was blocked by his sword. I blocked a few of his swings and managed to stab him in the chest. I kicked him hard in the pelvis and he stumbled back. I almost missed what happened next, A huge arrow came from another tower across the courtyard and took his head clean off. The arrow was now lodged in the opposite wall, shimmering silver in the sunlight. It had to have been Longshot.
"Dagger Throw, Swashbuckler, Team combo, 1500 EXP" appeared above his shimmering body. "That one's for you dad," I said under my breath. It was a small hope that he was watching, or if he would be. Thirty seconds were left on the clock, I ran into the major area of battle. I got an assist kill before the time was up. The landscape and building sunk into the ground and left us in the white expanse of nothing, the huge doors to the lobby opened and I walked out.
The player names stayed above the heads of the people wearing the suits and a leader board was listing the top players on the wall across from the service desk. On the right side of the screen was a limited holo display of the best kills in the game. My dagger throw was one of the kills, along with a host of other "how the hell did they do that!" moments. I imagined that it was the same as my situation, instincts kicked in and my body did the rest.
"First time huh?" Desert fox had found me in the lobby. I turned around to find her taking off the VR Glasses.
"Yeah I surprised myself actually. Didn't realize the training I have actually worked for some of the encounters."
She studied the leader board for a bit before sighing and putting her hand on her hip. She turned her head to me and looked me over.
"Yes?"
"Just wondering what your name is," she smiled.
"You can ask."
"All right, whats your name?"
"Maxamillion Pheroh Witherspoon."
"Bullshit!" she said through a laugh. I couldn't help laughing with her. "Don't make me ask again." She ordered in jest.
"Matthias."
"Is that Scandinavian?"
"Yes, my parents named me after my great grandfather, whats your name?"
"Larysa, its Russian, where my family is from."
We decided it was best to get our of our VR suits before talking further. There was something about her. I recognized the feeling. Being a farseer, it gives me little hints at the future, something was telling me I would see her again, the same sensation happened when I met Kurt. I met her in the lobby when I put away the suit and glasses. I said good bye to Cindy as I followed Larysa out of the Lobby into Cathedral's halls. She turned to me and asked.
"What's your unit?"
"I'm with Black Halo, yours?"
"I'm an operative, I work alone at the moment. I cant talk about the things they have me doing though."
I laughed. "You're a spy?"
"I don't see whats funny about it."
"Sorry, old spy movies, I have to ask, how do you like your martinis?"
"I don't," She smirked. "Listen, I got work to get to." She gestured behind her with her thumb. She turned to walk but quickly turned around and started walking backwards. She was far enough away that she had to raise her voice.
"Id like to see you again, I'll contact you!" her voice faded as she broke into a run. I must've made her run late for something.
Tomorrow is my first real mission. I'm not scared, but I don't want to let my team down. The most I can do is hope for the best.
LOG END EARTHDATE 2219 February 24th
