“Who was the sergeant?”
“A Swedish man by the name of Wulfson. He works as head of security at the Academy, as a matter of fact.”
“I actually ran into him on the way to my office. Had a nice little chat,” Laurie chimed in.
“Really now? Doesn’t he usually detest you?” Sasha inquired.
“I had a couple tricks up my sleeve, so no worries.” Laurie smiled broadly.
“Well then, what about the Mirus?” Akello asked, looking at Laurie.
“We did trade some history during my time with them, as a matter of fact. Besides ourselves and the other known races, the maestro said they came across two other races that could have the potential to be spacefaring. One ended up causing a nuclear apocalypse and eradicating the entire race, and the other has been hindered by a planet-wide civil war.”
“You know, it’s starting to seem like we were simply moved to the front of the line rather than truly being interesting enough to bring into the great galactic family,” she remarked dryly.
“If it makes you feel better, we are the only race to house delegates from all three races, along with developing technology with them as well,” Laurie pointed out, his expression a little smug.
“You know, it actually does,” Akello said with confidence.
“It could simply be because they all want to keep an eye on us,” Sasha suggested.
“Don’t spoil the mood, Sasha,” Mya chided with pretended affront.
“Wait, dammit, we went off tangent again.” Akello huffed her irritation.
“It’s fine, Advisor Faraji. It is simply speculation at this point. If it is something that we should look into further, I’ll let you know.” Sasha’s tone was calm and reassuring.
“And right on cue too, food is here!” Laurie exclaimed as two waiters came up to them with trays of food.
After the plates were passed around and the academy teachers began eating, the mood lifted, jokes and tales were exchanged, and ideas were offered by some as solutions to the problems of others.
As the night went on, the four friends enjoyed their time together. Soon, the year would truly begin, and they could all feel the anticipation of the unknown along with the excitement.
Chapter Nineteen
Kaiden awoke in his pod and yawned. He didn’t quite recall how he got here, and he was already missing that blue stuff.
“What time is it?” he asked aloud, trying to stretch out as much as he could in the enclosed space.
“0500 Monday morning, the 10th of September,” the synthesized voice of the capsule’s monitor announced.
Kaiden jerked up in shock, knocking his head against the ceiling. “Gah, sonofa— What did you say? It’s Monday? How did I miss a whole day?”
“The nurse who brought you back from the bay put some relaxation oil in the diffuser of your capsule. Knocked you right the hell out,” Chief explained.
“What the hell for?”
“Well, ‘To get some rest and prepare for the start of the year’ was her official response, but if I had to take a personal guess, it was because you kept hitting on her and she really wasn’t into it.”
“Good God, man… Shit, my classes start in like an hour. What are my classes even?”
“It’s a damn good thing you’ve got me around, ain’t it?” Chief chuckled. “The first day is all about the Animus set-up. You can sign up for finger painting and exotic dance later.”
Kaiden pressed the button to open the capsule, slid out, and stretched once he was on his feet. He was the only one out at the moment, but he could see other capsules lighting up and figures moving around.
“Open locker.” He turned as he heard the whir and click of the drawer under his pod snap open and slide out. All the supplies he had requested were present, some wrapped and others bagged. He found a complete set of clothes—a black shirt with a small Nexus Academy logo in blue, black pants, socks, and boots.
He remembered personally requesting black as his primary colors and the supply clerk trying to explain to him that it had to be a mix of standard colors. But seeing as all his clothes were indeed black, maybe Wulfson had put enough of the fear of God into the clerk for him to get his way.
At least all the abuse was good for something.
Then, as he sifted through the new items, he found his jacket—silver in color with white trim and blue accents and a royal-blue band wrapped around the arm, the official designation of his status in the Soldier Division. He also saw a logo, a black triangle with a star on the inside, in white.
“Hey, Chief, you know what this logo on the armband means?”
“It’s your class, year, and status. The Star logo means Ace, the white coloring means first-year, and the black triangle indicates that you’re a special-case registrant. You’re official now, buddy.”
Kaiden chuckled. He had to admit, he was feeling it. For all the crazy experiences he had gone through over the last few days, this did make him feel quite sentimental. No going back now. He was there to stay.
He put the jacket on and zipped it up. A few other initiates now climbed out of their beds or got dressed. The SC dorm was certainly less crowded, so most of the others must have gone to their designated division dorms. He guessed he would be prodded along to do the same eventually. For now, he would enjoy the quiet.
He grabbed his oculars and left to get a head start on breakfast. He could feel his stomach growling and had to make up for a couple of lost meals.
Kaiden took a seat at the same table he had previously chatted with Chiyo at. The sun was barely coming up, but he knew that he would want the shade when it finally came through.
He looked down at his tray—omelet, waffles, bacon, breakfast potatoes, oatmeal, apple, coffee, orange juice, water, and a chocolate chip cookie that the cafeteria personnel insisted he have.
Guess Sasha kept his word. Even his jokes were serious.
As he began scarfing down his food, he wondered what was in store for him. “Hey, Chief, you got any idea what I should be looking forward to?”
“Yeah, a few things, but do you really wanna spoil the surprise?”
“Haven’t I had enough of those?” he lamented.
“Not when they are so much fun for me to watch.”
“Just give me the bas—”
“Mind if I join you? Or are you enjoying the conversation you are having with yourself?” a familiar voice asked.
Kaiden looked over to see Chiyo, tray in hand, a darkness under her eyes indicating she hadn’t slept too well.
He pointed casually across the table, offering her the seat opposite him. “Sure, feel free. I ain’t talking to myself. I’m talking with my EI.”
Chiyo sat down and began opening her pack of utensils. “How is that? I don’t see a tablet or the oculars you wore before.”
“It’s a voice inside my head,” Kaiden stated without thought. Chiyo momentarily stopped pulling at the packet of cutlery and stared at him.
“Most people can’t do that. We’re special, remember? Now explain it to her before she thinks we’re the wrong kind of special,” Chief demanded.
“Oh, yeah, forgot. You’re the first person I’ve talked to who doesn’t know.”
“About what, exactly—the voices in your head?” Chiyo deadpanned, fishing out a fork and knife from the now opened packet and cutting into her pancake.
Kaiden quickly summarized the events that led to him getting Chief— his meeting with Laurie, the Gemini factor, and the EI implant in his head, along with bragging about some of its capabilities.
Chiyo maintained eye contact and nodded along. When he finished telling his story, she pursed her lips and tapped a finger against them in thought. “That is…quite interesting. You say you got to meet Professor Alexander Laurie?”
“Yes, an experience that I’m hoping eventually pays off. I don’t want to be adding therapy bills to my Academy debt,” Kaiden grumbled.
“I would love to have a chance to meet
him. His work on the Animus system alone seems fascinating.”
“Well, I would say I would put in a good word for you, but I would be afraid that I would then have to tell the police the last time I saw you alive.”
Chiyo rolled her eyes and sighed, pushing a lone grape around on her plate for a moment before looking back at him. “I should also say that I’m honestly shocked that your Gemini factor was discovered so late in life.”
“Well, the Dead-Eyes didn’t require annual physicals, you know?” Kaiden chuckled.
“Still, it is an incredibly rare trait. The implications for humanity the more we augment our bodies with EI and bionic implants are quite valuable.”
“Are you saying that if I had played my cards right, I could be living the dream life as an exhibit in some science department?” he joked.
“Potentially, but I’ve heard more stories of corporate slavery, illegal testing, and cadavers with the trait being sold on the black market, earning high prices for recent and clean kills.”
Kaiden waited for her to smile or shake her head, indicating a joke, but it didn’t happen.
“I don’t want to be special anymore.”
“It’s not all bad, obviously. Truly, I would kill for the casting function you spoke of.”
“I really need to get that gun from supplies,” Kaiden muttered under his breath.
“The interface capability has great potential, and I would guess the raw power of the EI implant itself means that it can process much faster than even the Academy’s premier models.”
“You and Laurie sound like you would have a great old time talking about me.” Kaiden huffed his annoyance. In the cold light of day, his so-called special gene seemed more of an irritation than a real benefit. “I’m more than merely my implant, you know.”
“Maybe, but it is the most interesting thing about you so far.”
“I like this girl,” Chief exclaimed.
Kaiden gripped the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “People skills seem to be lacking in general at this place.”
“I’ll be sure to consider it when I use my synapse points,” Chiyo noted dryly.
“It would be appreciated,” Kaiden concurred before shaking his head as a small smile formed on his lips “I kid…somewhat. It has been nice to have a couple of conversations with someone who is more my speed, or at least doesn’t seem to think of me as an experiment first and foremost.”
Chiyo finished eating a piece of toast, pausing for a moment to swallow. “Well, for all the talk of the implant, you do seem interesting for who you are. It makes for pleasant company.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Most of the other initiates here—myself included, to be fair—all came here with a plan in mind. For some, it’s simply a goal to strive for, while for others, it’s almost an obsession. It’s been nice to talk to someone who isn’t preoccupied with all that.”
Kaiden leaned back slightly, looking off into the sky. “To be honest, I wasn’t even aware of this place before I got the invite. All my life, I’ve simply gone with the flow. I had a family of sorts, and everything seemed pretty good. Guess I’m just looking for a place again.”
He looked back down to see Chiyo staring at him and gave her a quizzical look. “What? Too mushy?”
“No, it’s quite…I can understand,” she admitted.
“You know, we’ve only talked about three times, right?”
“Correct.”
“Somehow, I’ve always been the topic of conversation. I can’t say I know too much about you, but you seem to know all about me with just a glance.”
“I simply modified the normal scanning function in my lenses. It gives me the target’s personnel files rather than only their Academy I.D.”
“I thought you had to be staff or something to have access to that?” he asked, and she shrugged.
“Take a look at her armband,” Chief hinted.
Kaiden did. It was silver with a golden triangle outer logo and a white insignia that looked like the numerals 101.
“Silver band means she’s in the Technician Division. The IOI insignia means she’s Infiltration Class. She’s a hacker.”
“What does the golden triangle mean?” Kaiden whispered.
“Merit-based admission, a different version of SC. It means that while you got a lucky break getting here, they wanted her to come here. Since she’s a hacker, it means don’t fuck with her unless you want the oxygen chamber in your capsule to mysteriously malfunction or your permanent record to suddenly have ‘known serial killer and has a llama fixation’ suddenly appear one day.”
Kaiden nodded, now understanding how she knew his background the first time they met. It was actually something of a relief. At least it hadn’t been passed around.
“So then, what are you looking for here?” he asked.
“In what way?”
“Well, going back to our other talks, you mentioned a path and all that. You said that you share most of the other initiate’s goals. You’re in Infiltration, but what do you hope to get out of it?”
Chiyo looked off to the side for a moment, then took a deep breath. “I’m not too clear on that, honestly. I had no reason to come here until about a year ago. While our stories differ slightly—or perhaps strongly—we were both brought here by chance.”
“Well, it is nice to see that we share something similar.”
She looked back at him with half-open eyes. “I recall that you said you got here by getting in a fight?”
“I won a fight. Against four guys at once,” he retorted.
“They were just slummers. Don’t make it sound like you took on a group of battle-hardened mercs, you ego-tripping bastard,” Chief jeered.
Kaiden clenched his jaw to keep from responding to the EI.
“Either way, I was scouted by the academy for my talents. They are a bit…subtler than yours are.”
“Hey, everyone’s got their use. Gotta be some impressive skills if a place like this takes notice of you,” Kaiden said.
“Well, I wou— Thank you. I try not to dwell on things, but I have been working on my abilities since I was a child.”
“Hacking is a rather interesting hobby to pick up in elementary. What brought that on?”
She looked away again, watching the sun climb slowly over the mountain range. “I wanted to be of… I had a knack for it, felt it was a skill set that could take me somewhere in life.”
“Rather clinical of you,” Kaiden commented.
She looked back at him, this time with a flash of annoyance in her eyes. “What do you mean?”
Kaiden shrugged. “I mean, call me a meathead if you want, but I got into fighting, guns, and all that stuff because I liked it. I eventually got better and started to treat it seriously with time, sure, but it all started with that.”
“You were how old when you started shooting guns?”
“Eh, about eight or nine, maybe? I fired my first shot when I was a baby. My grandpa helped me hold it.”
She blinked, not saying a word.
“Look, I ain’t a guidance counselor or trying to sell you a self-help pamphlet or something. However, if I can offer a piece of advice for all the advice you’ve given me until now, you gotta have some fun with what you’re doing or at least take some pride in it. Otherwise, what’s gonna keep the drive going? I’m sure you’re damn good at whatever ya do. But you gotta know that they’ll eventually slap a grade on you, and you’ll grow comfortable with it. There won’t be much left for ya.”
She continued to blink, her mouth opening for a moment before shutting tight. She then took in a deep breath and said, “That may be the most eloquent and well-thought-out thing you have said to me so far.”
Kaiden chuckled. “It’s only a personal philosophy. You can’t control everything in life. You can trust me on that. Fate is more than happy to bitch-slap you when you get too smug. It’s in how you deal with fate’s bullshit that you gain a sense of direction
.”
She nodded slowly, apparently genuinely impressed.
“Well, look at that—two whole paragraphs of something clever. Makes me so proud,” Chief chirped. “Maybe Wulfson’s fist made some cracks in that thick skull of yours.”
Kaiden rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Well, I hope to see you around again. Looks like breakfast talks might be our thing. I gotta get going to the Animus center unless you care to join me?”
She tilted her head slightly. “You still have initiation and loadout, correct?”
Kaiden cocked his head and considered this, realizing he was unsure of the answer.
“The answer is yes,” Chief told him in an irked tone.
“Yeah.”
She shook her head “Then no, thank you. I have already completed mine. Most of the SCs and late attendees are the only ones left to go through it. I don’t have to report to the Center for another two hours. I’ll be headed to the library.”
“I gotcha,” Kaiden acknowledged, standing up with his empty tray. “See you soon, hopefully.”
As he left to dump his trash, Chiyo noticed the Ace insignia on his armband. As she stood up to leave herself, she thought about it. Before their conversation, she would probably have been more surprised to see that, but now?
She could admit to herself it made a little sense.
Chapter Twenty
Kaiden took in the sight of the Animus Center. It was a large, circular building, at least eight stories tall. Reflective glass wrapped around it, mostly clean of aesthetic touches with the exception of a large Nexus Academy symbol in metal framing hanging over stylized lettering announcing Animus Center above the six pairs of doors at the entrance.
He watched a stream of initiates enter, nearly getting knocked over as others rushed passed him. This wasn’t even all the students, and the flow of bodies moved in like a raging river.
Briskly, Kaiden walked to the entrance, squeezing himself into the crowd as he moved into the building.
Animus series Boxed Set Page 18