The machinery hummed deeply as the elevator ascended through the black and tall Spire, Damian stood in the center of the cramped space, sorrounded by neon blue screens displaying brief segements of information on the trial ahead, "Remember! Everything within the simulator is NOT real and you cannot die! Give the fight your all, but don't be too reckless!", a message displayed in big bold letters crowned all others, disclaimer that was more eerie than anything. Still, Damian had no time to pay such things any attention. The elevator came to a sudden stop, and the doors opened to a clinical white room with a chair in the center. A DataScope headset rested on the seat, the most recent tech in digial simulations. Damian walked calmly towards the machine, set his weapon under the scanner light, and sat down. He put the headset over his eyes and laid down, shifting in place trying to find a comfortable position, but he didn't have much time to adjust himself before the machine started up and his body went limp as his mind was transported to a digital space.
He now stood in Central Street, holding his spear, and a pistol was now holstered at his hip. The mechanical voice spoke again, "Subject 71224. Please show the results of your training on the following test. You will need to defeat a simulation of a hostile creature, use all you have learned." Damian stood ready, looking around and analyzing his sorroundings for the virtual enemy, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary. He'd been in Central Street hundreds of times, and nothing looked particularly off; The neon signs were completely normal, the store facades as mundane as ever, until a strange large object in the center of Thunder Plaza caught his eye. It was no larger than the standard two-door Aerocar, but it had jagged features and it appeared to pulse, or perhaps breathe. He put his spear aside, taking his pistol and strongly grasping the grip, he took aim and fired a single shot towards the object, the bullet whistled as it flew through the air and hit the target, causing it to spring to life with a pained screech. It was a Thunderhead.
"Thunderhead, mid-sized. Armored and can produce electric current, it has a soft belly. Strike there." Damian thought to himself as he holstered his gun and took his spear in one swift motion, sprinting towards the looming beast, lightining charging on the inside of its mouth until it came foward as a concentrated beam attack, Damian gracefully dodged by dashing to the left, sliding under the creature's legs and striking its back with his spear. The monster turned around in anger and tried to attack back with a fearsome tail swipe, but Damian was already out of range, he dashed to get to the monster's front side before it could turn around, but something was wrong, the ground felt different somehow, and it wasn't until the static electricity caused his hair to spike up that Damian noticed the monster's claws digging into the metal plates on the floor.
An electric shock of such magnitude would be lethal to almost any species, frying them from the inside out, Damian, however, was blessed with being born a dragon, his body capable of withstanding this voltage, if only briefly. With difficulty, he charged towards the beast and pierced its soft underside with his spear, and tearing one of his gloves off, he placed his hand on the little exposed part of the blade and conducted the lethal carge towards the beast's internals. The monster roared in pain as smoke came from the inside of its mouth as convulsions replaced any voluntary bodily movement. The monster twitched hopelessly on the ground like a slug sprinkled with salt, and eventually, it ceased to move.
The mechanical voice spoke again, "Congratulations, Subject 71224, you have completed the trial to join the Department for Control and Extermination of Hostile Fauna, otherwise known as the Monster Control Crew, please refer to the terminal you will find left hand as you leave the Simulator-" the voice slowly trailed off as Damian's conciousness faded, his mind getting foggy and his vision cloudy. He hit the ground and the even the AI seemed shocked by this, as it completely ceased the scripted dialogue and said "Subject 71224, please confrim status.", though Damian was in no condition to answer.
The next thing he saw when he opened his eyes was blinding white light, with a background noise that sounded vaguely familiar. He blinked slowly as he regained his breath and his thoughts flowed back, and this happened as the noise in the background slowly got louder and louder, "Hey! Sleeping Beauty! Time to wake up!" a feminine voice said as a sharp pain jolted Damian fully awake, "Ow! What was that for?" he complained as he rubbed his eyes, and looked at the person beside him on what he could now see was a hospital room, "To wake ya' up, of course! A good splat gets anyone goin'!" exclaimed Tsuyo, as cheerful as she'd always been, "We passed, man! We're in!" she said, smiling wide with her hands on her hips, "Ooh I can see it already! We can finally quit our BORING jobs and start getting paid FOR REAL! We'll live on the Nimbus Tower, top floor! I CAN FEEL IT IN MY BONES!" she declared, making Damian smile too. "You also passed? Really? What did you have to do?" he asked, sitting up. "Well, I had to fight a Needleback. But it was no problem for me! They gave me a shotgun!" she said, mimicking the pump-action motion with her hands, "Oh damn, really? They gave me a Thunderhead..." he said, Tsuyo was shocked by this reveal, "Woah, for real?! That's, like, the worst of em' all! Congrats!" she yelled, grabbing Damian by the shoulders and vigorously shaking him. The two friends were about to continue their chat when a doctor walked in, "Mister Damian? Please get dressed, the transport has come to take you back home."
The young dragon lost no time in getting into his uniform, walking down the hallway with Tsuyo following closely behind with the brightest of smiles on her face, eventually raching a door leading outside that revealed a landing platform, where a government Aerocar was waiting for them. This one differed greatly from the standard models, however, it was noticeably bulkier and armored, and when both Damian and Tsuyo got in, they noticed there was no driver, and were greeted by a cheerful robotic voice instead. "Greetings. I am an AI developed by Nova Corporation! I am Akamine Model 4.2, but you may name me as you please! This cannot be changed later." Damian was about to speak, but Tsuyo interrupted, "What about Cherry? I always wanted a robot friend named that!" she yelled, the AI giggled and replied "Very well! I am Cherry, and I'm please to be here to help! I was assigned to help you in anything you may need by the Monster Control Crew officials! Where to now?" she asked, Damian spoke up and said "Towards Sector 12, to the apartment towers, specifically to Tower 9." he said, and the vehicle obeyed with no more replies from the AI.
The flight didn't take very long, but it was definitely far quicker than driving there, but that was to be expected, an Aerocar was always meant to be faster than a regular car, be that intentionally or not. The vehicle landed gently on the roof and took off, leaving the pair to head down into their apartment. The place itself was unremarkable, a standard two-person apartment with two bedrooms, a kitchen, one bathroom and a living room, all located on the third floor of a generic apartment supertower. Up until that point, both Damian and Tsuyo had been living there while working equally unremarkable jobs, their three-year abscence due to the training had left a visible mark on the place, but the auto-cleaning service had made sure that there was no layer of dust over everything, at least.
Tsuyo turned on the lights and jumped on the couch, stretching her body as much as she could, "Ah! Feels so nice to finally be back! I never thought I'd see our couch again!" she said, putting a hand to her head dramatically. Damian let out a sigh and smiled, "You know what? Yeah, you're right. It's nice to be home, after all this time." he said, walking up to the couch and sitting down, also stretching his arms, "Damn... that thing did me good, and it wasn't even real... good thing Thunderheads are nearly extinct..." he whsipered before speaking louder, "Hey, what's on TV? Are they saying anything bout' the trials?" he asked, "Dunno, let's see." Tsuyo replied, grabbing the remote and turning the TV on, the usual noise of the programming filled the air:
-Just today, Rockman will perform at Hurricane Stadium! Experience the most ambitious show performed by Cloud City's one and only almost fully Meched-up singer!-
-Tired of being so lonely? Of no one talking to you? No one wants to be your friend? Our brand new Mari-lynn robotic companions ensure you'll have someone to spend time with you!-
-New from TaurusTech, the new Flightpak V.12 bionic wings are sure to give users the mobility they require! Experience freedom like never before! Warning: these augments require new gen Morphics, such as the Aphrodite 9X-
These advertisements, as always, were almost part of the routine when watching TV, and while they were never particularly interesting to either of them (as their only Augments they ever installed on themselves were the Shiryoku-brand optical augments) and neither of them were particularly interested in any musical artist, the Flightpak series was always of Damian's interest, but before that day, he'd never really thought he'd have the chance to acquire one. Finally, the news started, and the cheerful face of a deer lady greeted viewers, "Good afternoon, Cloud City. Today was a special day, as the trial process of the Monster Control Crew has finally ended, and a group of promising new candidates has joined their ranks! A new generation of heroes arises to keep us safe from any monsters. Remember to stay home whenever an incident with these creatures is reported! In other news, a gang fight on Cumulus Avenue-" the words were cut abruptly as Damian shut the TV off and got up "Damn, I'm really so tired, I'm gonna go sleep. Night, Tsuyo." he said, walking towards his room. He turned back briefly to look at his friend, "Hey. Sorry for not saying this before. Congratulations, I knew you could do it." he said before dissapearing into his room. Tsuyo watched TV for a few more minutes before falling asleep herself, leaving the apartment almost completely quiet as the sounds of the city at night filled the silence.
Comments
Post a Comment