Chapter 14 – Aptitude Test Pt. 2
Gripping the small firearm tighter in anticipation of the recoil, I shut one eye to get better aim and flexed my index finger on the trigger before squeezing twice. My aim was a lot better this time around, but still nowhere near the intended mark. Laughter escaped from the people hidden somewhere up in the dome, witnessing another miss. But instead of feeling embarrassment like before, anger bubbled up inside, making me put down the handgun and pick up the assault rifle.
“Adin, you're only permitted to use one weapon...” Kei warned with a worried voice.
I ignored her and raised it again to see Taylor Louis’ face materialize in place of the target, freezing me. But only for a second; a surge of emotion propelled me through the shock. How long would his damn face haunt me? An array of bullets penetrated the board seconds later, smoke drifting up from the nozzle as I lowered the rifle. I still hadn’t hit the bull’s-eye, but several small holes were much closer.
Only silence filled the dome now as I absentmindedly stared at the bullet-ridden target. I didn’t know what compelled me to do what I just did. Maybe I wanted to prove I belonged, or maybe I was just scared to fail, but losing control like that wasn’t me.
Kei appeared from the far side wall again and unsteadily made her way over. “A-Adin, are you okay?”
I faced her. “Yeah, why?”
“S-Sorry, you just looked like a completely different person.”
I laughed it off. “I was just… really focused.”
“Oh, okay...”
I put on a reassuring smile. “So, how’d I do this time?”
She glanced over at the target boards. “Well, you did quite well but get a failing grade.”
“What, why?” I frowned.
“I-I tried to warn you… You’re only permitted to use the one firearm, sorry.”
I smiled again and put a hand on her shoulder. “It's fine, it was my fault. By the way, I'm curious, who's up there?” I nudged my head up at the long, tinted window.
Kei followed my line of sight. “Oh, um, mainly recruits and some staff. The aptitude tests are open to organization personnel, and everyone heard we were getting a recruit today, sorry…”
“No, it's fine. I was just wondering.” I smiled at her.
She smiled back. “Okay, now we’ll begin the second portion of the aptitude test: tactical simulation.”
“Lead the way.”
“This part of the test is private, so follow me please.” Instead of the sliding door, she had disappeared into a couple of times before, another one opened vertically on the right side of the dome.
I wondered how she was controlling the doors; probably the touchscreen device she held close. On the other side was a small, dark room and it was pretty much empty, except for a pod-like device lying in the middle of the floor.
Kei walked to the large monitor that was next to it and sat down in the chair in front with her legs crossed. “Okay, this portion of the aptitude test will test your tactical, leadership and critical thinking skills. The Tendo Pod you see in front of you will simulate a random terrain and mission objective that you will have to complete within a certain period.” She held out a hand to it. “Now, please get in the pod.”
I nodded and placed myself in the virtual reality pod. It was actually kind of comfy.
“Place the VR headset on, please.”
To my right was what looked like your basic headset, minus the black visor that went across your eyes. Most kids my age used headsets similar to play video games. Virtual reality gaming was huge these days and only getting bigger, me even having a cheap version back home. Grabbing the device, I placed it on my head to turn my vision black.
“Okay… um, next is I have to place these stickers on you.” She proceeded to put them on my arms and legs, also a couple on my chest.
The stickers felt like ice cubes, causing me to shiver.
“Sorry about that, I know they're cold.” The Asian woman laughed a little.
“What are they for?” I felt like a test subject with all them on me.
“Oh sorry... I should've explained that first. Well, they serve two purposes. First, is they monitor your vitals such as heart rate and oxygen, and their second purpose is to simulate physiological feedback.”
“So, like, I'll feel real pain and stuff?” There was some top-level VR equipment out there that could simulate authentic life-like conditions, but they were way expensive. I was anxious to see how real the simulation would feel.
“Mhm, but don't worry. The simulation will shut down if the feedback becomes too much stress on your body. Okay, Adin, are you ready?”
“Yes, ma’am, fire it up.” I smiled.
“Good luck.”
A second later, my vision turned from black to bright white, then to blue with several lines of text slowly rising.
Location: North Korea, unknown village.
Weapons: SR9 Luger handgun, smoke grenade, reinforced baton.
Fire Team: Team Leader - Adin Anderson. Grenadier – John Henderson. Gunner – Jacky Battle. Scout - Sean Peters.
Mission objective: Locate and eliminate the target.
The objective seemed easy enough. All I had to do was find and eliminate the target. My approach to passing the simulation was to treat it as a game since my knowledge on military-like procedures and tactics was basically nonexistent. So, I was going to be counting on my summertime binge sessions of Call of Duty. Abruptly, I was thrust to an outdoor marketplace where various people roamed about; the lettering and symbols on the market stalls were obviously Korean.
Wow. It was impossible to tell the difference between the simulation and reality, despite knowing it was one. Even the ground under my feet felt real. I stopped admiring the authenticity of the sim and reminded myself there was a mission complete. To the right of me was a heavily muscled male, although, the identification was unnecessary with the good-sized grenade launcher on his back in plain view. A woman with short hair that was too red to be natural stood to the left; my gunner. I’d be counting on her firepower.
Behind me was my scout, Sean Peters and just as his position suggested, he would be used to scout the immediate area. We all wore tight-fitting vests, pants, and boots, also headsets for communication. After confirming everyone's positions and duties, I took point and proceeded forward. On my forearm was some type of watch with a big screen that displayed a map. There was a red dot about half a mile away, of course showing that's where we needed to go.
Korean civilians parted for us as we made our way through the marketplace. I kept my eyes peeled for any abrupt movement, but everything was going smoothly so far. Well, until an elderly, Korean woman blocked our path a few feet in front, glaring.
“Out of the way, ma’am.” I tried to sound authoritative, deepening my voice.
She ignored me and started yelling, but I couldn't understand a word, then remembered the time limit and prepared to physically move her out of the way if it came to that. While contemplating what to do, there was a sudden flash of movement out the corner of my eye. Another woman, much younger this time had brandished a butcher’s knife from under her skirt. I hurriedly grabbed my handgun from the holster on my waist and shot her in the leg, not wanting to kill her; if strangers were invading my village, I wouldn't be too happy either.
But to my shock, she kept advancing towards my team, forcing me to shoot her in the gut. My stomach twisted in a knot as she went down at last, but I couldn't feel bad or guilty with time not on my side. The situation became more dangerous as we were surrounded by civilians that were now agitated by the violence that had just taken place. Searching for an escape, I saw a narrow alleyway up and to the right between two buildings.
It’d take longer to get to our destination, but it was a fair trade for the concealment. I hurriedly ordered my team to take refuge there and then ordered the scout to make sure no civilians had followed. He headed back to the marketplace and soon returned to confirm
no one had. I glanced down at my watch map again to see our straight path was altered to accommodate our new location. The buildings around look abandoned; it was a potential hiding spot for enemies, so my darted all over in paranoia.
I sent the scout out one more time to make sure the route ahead was clear and heard his voice say it was several seconds after. A flash of light atop the abandoned building to the right made my eyes pop open.
“Sniper!” I yelled and dove to the ground.
No sooner than the word left my mouth, there was a deafening bang. Luckily, I had warned my team in time, so everybody had managed to take cover behind the walls that circled us. After a moment, I dared to peek my head out and scanned the building the sniper had shot from. We were bogged down with virtually no room to maneuver in the tight alleyway, but still held a certain advantage - we had to act fast, though.
I ordered the scout to maintain his position through the headset; he would come in use later. Another bang roared as the sniper let loose a shot that struck the wall I crouched behind, causing dust to fall all over my head and my heart to climb into my throat. I instructed the red-haired gunner to stay in her current position and suppress the sniper’s fire. We weren’t going anywhere if they had free reign to shoot at us whenever they pleased.
Then, I ordered everyone else to follow me and reached for the smoke grenade on my waist to unpin and toss it to the floor; smoke filled the area almost immediately. With the improvised cover, we made a mad dash for the building the sniper was on, gunshots erupting from behind as the gunner let loose a flurry of bullets to provide more fire support. We skidded to a stop behind another wall to study the intended place.
There were no visible entrances besides the boarded-up windows in front, so I thought I'd try my luck at the back and found a large, metal door. Turning the knob showed it was locked, however, so the situation obviously called for a more forceful approach. If only there was a grenade launcher nearby. Oh yeah. I backed up a good distance and ordered the grenadier to blow the crap out of the door - in those words exactly.
He stepped forward and hoisted the weapon over his shoulder to launch a grenade that rocketed into the door, creating a giant, fiery explosion. Heat slammed into me, and I was knocked back by the sheer force of the destructive impact. Recovering, I unsteadily moved closer to see debris scattered everywhere and a gaping hole where the metal door had been just a moment ago, little wisps of fire lining the newly created space.
“Awesome.” After my simple, teenage self finished admiring the scene, I proceeded to the now, doorless building but stopped short.
Down the alley to my right, a male in civilian clothes was ducked low to the ground and trying very hard not to be noticed - the sniper. He stopped and turned his head slowly towards us; we stared back at him. Then, he raised to his full height and started running like a wild animal. The grenadier reached for his handgun and shot him in the back twice. We resumed our route afterward and fortunately reached the target location without any more problems.
An abandoned building that looked just like the rest of the countless ones we already passed loomed in front of us. This time the door to it was wooden and didn't seem very sturdy. The Big Bad Wolf could've probably blown it away, but I opted for kicking it down. The way free now, we cautiously entered with me at point to see trash strewn all over the floor and multiple cracks lining the walls.
There were two staircases on either side of the room. I pondered for a moment and eventually decided it would be more beneficial to split up since we could cover more ground that way. The gunner came with me while the scout paired up with the grenadier and we took the right staircase; it cracked and groaned under our combined weight. At the top, we were met by an empty hallway that contained a single door further down, and both quietly got on either side of it.
At the same time, we kicked the door down and stormed into the room with me leading, and my handgun raised, ready to shoot anything that even twitched. Or so I thought. Seated at a small table only some feet away was a boy that couldn't have been more than twelve. He watched me with big brown eyes that twinkled with fear. Over his head in big, red, bold letters were the word ‘target.’
The gun suddenly weighed a ton in my hands. I reminded myself that it was only a simulation, that it wasn't technically real. But what would I tell myself when it was real? Was I really prepared to kill anyone that I was ordered to, no questions asked, like a puppet? Dammit! I didn’t know what to do but had to make a decision, and fast, time was running out.
There were spots of warmness on my face, out of the blue. I turned my head and looked down to the right; the gunner lay on the ground face up with a hole in the middle of her forehead, about the size of a gunshot. I then numbly put my vision back on the young boy now holding a silver revolver in his small hands - I hadn’t even heard it go off. He trained on me a moment later, but I barely reacted.
Indecisiveness had gotten my teammate killed, and I was next. I regripped my weapon to fire, but the Korean boy was faster, and shot a bullet that penetrated my bicep. I gritted my teeth so hard I thought they’d crack, the explosion of pain all too real. And who's to say it wasn't? The brain was basically just a bunch of electrical wires and interpreted what we felt as real. I looked down at my fallen weapon, but another bullet made itself comfortable inside my abdomen before I could even reach for it, the pain like I’d taken multiple baseball bats swings.
I groaned in pain and hit the floor immediately, not even feeling the collision with all my focus centered on the new injuries. In the last few months, I’d gotten cut, punched and shot, and I had to say they weren’t my favorite hobbies. Screeching penetrated the silence in the room as the boy got up and walked to stand above my crumpled figure. Next, he aimed his weapon down at me with lifeless eyes that reminded me of a fish’s. With my breath held and eyes glued to him, all I could do watch as his finger tensed up and squeezed the gun’s trigger repeatedly.
My body violently jerked with each shot, then suddenly everything turned black, and only someone screams could be heard.
“Adin, Adin! It's okay; you're safe now!”
It took me a moment to realize Kei was talking to me, but I finally stopped screaming and looked over at the monitor to see my heart rate was going off the charts but didn’t need it to tell me that; I could feel it doing somersaults in my chest. The VR helmet was in her hands, so she must’ve pulled it off. Otherwise I'd still be in the simulation with my gut being filled with holes like Swiss cheese.
“What the hell…? I thought the simulation would stop if the stress on my body became too much?” I managed to get out through heavy breathing, sitting up.
“I-I don't know what happened; it's never done that before…” Her eyebrows furrowed, and it looked like she was about to cry.
I sighed. “Hey, no harm done, right? I’m still alive.” I raised my arms and smiled to demonstrate the point but remembered the pain of being shot over and over again. It even felt like the bullets were still lodged in my stomach, almost making me reach down to feel, but realized Kei’s teary eyes hadn’t left me.
“Are you sure? Maybe you should go to Infirmary, just in case…”
“Really, Kei, I'm fine.”
“Okay…”
I lowered my arms. “Let me guess, I failed?”
She had a sheepish look on her face that told me everything I needed to know.
“Figures, I fail two-thirds of the tests today, and barely managed to pass the first one.” Maybe I wasn't cut out for all the secret agent stuff after all.
While busy telling myself off, Kei was tapping all over her touchscreen device with precision when her head shot up and she made eye contact with me.
“D-Do I have something on my face?” I wasn't used to her making direct eye contact since she usually looked to the side or down.
A smile spread across her face. “Adin, although you have failed two out of the three aptitude tests, I hereby appoint you Team Umbra's tactician.”
Tactician? I’d done horrible today, how in the world did I get chosen as the Team Umbra’s tactician? “I thought I failed two out of the three tests?”
“Technically, you did.” She raised the electronic to show me.” This uses a special algorithm to determine team placement, position, and skill level. It's suggested you become a tactician. As talent evaluator, I can override any decision that the Gencore makes, but after watching you and your unorthodox approach to many of the problems you faced today, I wholeheartedly agree with it. You don't think like the average Organization agent.”
I shrugged. “Because I'm not.”
“Maybe that's what we need.”
My dark mood was lifted instantly, thinking I couldn't have done any worse and instead come out as an integral part of this team. Sure, I could barely handle a gun, but my brain was my strongest weapon, and it had plenty of bullets. I doubted myself too quickly; if you didn't believe in yourself, who would? Feeling my happiness meter overflow, I jumped up and yelled, still a bit lightheaded, but much better.
Kei looked at me with wide eyes, then giggled. “Hold on; we're not done yet.”
“Aw, are you serious?” I was done about two tests ago.
She giggled again. “Don't worry; this is the easy part.”
None of what I'd done so far had been easy, so don't blame me if I was a bit skeptical. “I'll take your word for it.”
“Dean Dexter asked me to draw blood from you. Something about testing for a disorder that runs in your family?”
A total lie. “Uh, yeah… he mentioned that.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back. Oh, and you can take off the stickers.” She set the VR headset down and left the room.
I thought about how everything was laid out for me as I removed the stickers one by one. Dean Dexter seemed to have everything already set up and knew my answer to becoming a recruit. I didn’t know how to feel about that.
Kei returned a moment later with an empty syringe that had a mean-looking, long needle at the end. “It’ll hurt only for a sec, I promise.” She retook her seat by the monitor.
Sixty-Seven Salamanders Page 9