“What do you mean, subliminal commands? That sounds suspect.”
“I ain’t gonna do anything to you, idiot. I’m in here too, remember?” Chief sounded belligerent for a moment. “I’ll explain when we kill the big metal bastard. Right now, you just gotta go and shoot shit.”
Kaiden nodded, placing his gun across his chest. “How much time do we got?”
“Let’s keep it under five minutes for now. You got four left.”
“Do you got a recommendation on how we should start?”
“Let’s take out the cannon. Toss a thermal into it as it’s charging up. If you need to buy yourself some time, shoot the head with some ballistic rounds. That should rattle its sensors.”
“Good plan.” Kaiden peeked over the wall once again, seeing the droid patrolling the area. “Give me a mark.”
“4…3…2…Mark!”
Kaiden leaped from his defensive position, tearing down the field. The Reaver was on him instantly, raising its claw to attack. He flipped a switch on his gun, changing to the ballistic rounds, and fired two quick shots at its head. The explosive force was enough to rattle it, causing its claw to freeze and the robot to stagger back.
The thing was relentless. The moment it recovered, it began chasing him down, swiping at him in wide arcs that either barely missed him or he was able to dodge. He took out one of his three thermals and activated it, tossing it at the Reaver to try to deal some damage. It snatched it in its claw, right out of the air. He heard it go off, but the blast was contained. What the hell was this thing made off?
Kaiden tried to gain some distance in an effort to force it to use its cannon. Every time it composed itself, he fired another round, causing another delay and giving him more time to strafe around it. On his display, he saw a red light glow from the robot’s head, a warning signal popping up in the corner.
“Activating sound dampeners,” Chief called. Kaiden could feel the area around his ears tighten and the mask clamp down, muffling the outside noise. Even with that, he could hear a piercing shriek from the Reaver.
“Why is the robot screaming?” Kaiden yelped, covering his already protected ears with his hands.
“A high-pitched sound wave to paralyze targets. Give it another couple shots to stop it.”
Kaiden was happy to do so, quickly taking aim at the robot’s head and sending two more blasts. The Reaver’s head rattled, and the screaming ceased.
“Disengaging sound dampeners,” Chief reported. “Hurry up and get back.”
“Chief, it’s not firing the cannon, and I only got a few ballistic shots left. Will the plasma shots do it?”
“Won’t do us any good. It’s got a barrier. The ballistics and grenades are solid and move right through it, but plasma won’t do much good unless you can wear down the barrier.”
Kaiden hid inside a dilapidated toll booth, huddling down behind the wall. “How many shots will that take?”
“Way too damn many. Gotta end this quick—two minutes and ten seconds left on the Battle Suite.”
Kaiden cursed under his breath. He looked back at the droid as it drew closer, then looked under the legs, noticing that they weren’t very well defended. “Chief is there a way to hobble it? For it to use its gun?”
“You can try shooting the legs out with your last ballistic rounds. Gotta aim for the central point, and the legs themselves could probably take a couple hits before collapsing.”
“I’ll need those to finish it off, won’t I?” Kaiden asked
“Well, yeah, but if you take out the legs and cannon, that just leaves the claw. You could probably finish it with bug bites from your plasma rounds.”
“There’s no other way?” Kaiden saw rocks on the floor start to rumble from the weight of the Reaver closing in.
“I mean unless you wanna run underneath it and cut out the compression lines— Oh, dear God, don’t do—”
Kaiden holstered his raptor on his back and dashed out of the booth, getting his blade out as he closed in on the droid that was still barreling down on him.
“You crazy bastard!”
“Just tell me what lines to cut,” Kaiden called. The Reaver raised its claw, thrusting it down toward him. Kaiden almost felt like he was in slow motion. He saw the angle of the strike and was able to guess how long before it hit. Just as it neared him, he slid onto the ground, kicking up dust and avoiding the jagged metal. The claw came down behind him, sinking into the dirt.
“Chief,” Kaiden yelled.
“The yellow ones, just behind the top of the legs—onscreen.”
Kaiden hit the ignition trigger on the hilt of the blade. He could feel the rush of heat encompassing the steel as he stopped himself from sliding further. He saw the wires highlighted in his display and struck at the ones on the back two legs, cutting into the metal at the bottom of the droid for good measure.
He rolled out as the Reaver stumbled and collapsed, trying to balance itself on its two front legs for a moment before crashing into the dirt. Kaiden leapt back as he took a thermal from his belt. The top half of the droid spun in place, aiming the cannon at him.
Kaiden pressed down on the top of the grenade, activating it. He flung it at the center of the cannon’s barrel, and another warning flashed on the screen.
“It’s going to screech again. Activating sound dampeners. Get out of the way.”
As the cannon charged, Kaiden took out his Raptor again, taking a shot at the robot’s head. The impact knocked the Reaver back, pointing the cannon into the air. He retreated as quickly as he could, hearing the cannon go off and the muffled explosion as a wave of force knocked him off his feet.
He hit the ground and tumbled before he managed to stop. Adrenalin still racing through him, he stood and looked back at the Reaver. The entire left side of it was destroyed, and the remains of its legs lay strewn about the dusty field. There were still lights active in its head, though, and he saw the claw twitch.
“Go ahead and deactivate the Battle Suite, Chief.”
“With twenty-four seconds to spare. Not bad.”
Kaiden’s vision returned to normal. His readouts appeared onscreen again, and Chief popped up in the corner “How do you feel?”
Kaiden could feel nausea settling in and a headache developing. “Like I have vertigo.”
“That’s normal. Probably went on a little too long, so we’ll try sticking to four minutes next time.”
“Sounds good.” Kaiden groaned. He straightened before walking over to what remained of the Reaver. It looked at him for a moment, trying to raise what was left of its claw to strike.
Kaiden chuckled. “I’ll give it points for being a tough son of a bitch.”
“I should give you the same. Also, I should mock you for your stupid little stunt, but since it worked out so favorably, I’ll let it pass. Just don’t try doing it in real life, all right?”
“No promises.” Kaiden chortled, taking another thermal from his belt.
“Figured.”
“Can you go ahead and confirm my choices and get me out of here?” he asked.
“Gotcha.”
Kaiden activated the grenade and rolled it at the Reaver, then turned and walked away. He saw the buildings and sky begin to fade away and heard the last beeps of the grenade as he was taken back to reality.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kaiden exited his pod wearily, shaking his head and adjusting his oculars.
“You make it back in one-piece, Chief?” he asked. Chief’s bulbous form appeared in the display, glowing a serene blue.
“Feelin’ better than you’re looking. Your first experience with the suite must have been a trip, huh?”
“A head trip, maybe.”
“Don’t do puns. Not a good look for you,” Chief admonished.
“Yeah, yeah, you can go ahead and disable the hazard mode or whatever. It’s digging into my head too much.” After a moment, Kaiden felt the frame unlock behind his head and shrink back to behind his
ears, the lenses returning to the circular shape and moving back down the bridge of his nose.
“Appreciate ya.” Kaiden yawned. He turned to see Akello at the console, a small group of initiates surrounding her. As he walked over, the group dispersed and left the hall.
“Did I miss the debriefing?” he asked, scratching the back of his head.
“This one, but I can give you a quick rundown,” she said, smiling “I have to say, I’m impressed that you took down that Asiton Reaver all by yourself. I was kind of surprised to see it there.”
Kaiden looked at her, confusion evident on his face. “You didn’t put it in there? I thought you said you controlled everything.”
“I am in control, but I’m more of an overseer. I merely chose a training ground from a preapproved list. The particulars are decided on by an Animus design group headed by one of Professor Laurie’s proteges.”
“And the electric engine of nightmares isn’t the norm?” Kaiden inquired,
Akello crossed her legs as she swiped through her tablet. “Not normally, no. The training ground for the loadout practice is usually only cannon fodder and simple enemies, one step above target dummies.” She put the tablet down and leaned against her desk. “Guess they wanted to have a couple of surprises for the new crop.”
“Never enjoyed those, personally,” Kaiden grumbled. “So, what’s the debrief?”
“Nothing too much.” Akello shrugged. “I wanted to make sure you didn’t have any further questions about the Animus, synapse, anything like that.”
“Nah, I’m pretty good there. But I remember you saying something about a Division test?”
“Right.” She nodded. “At the end of the first week, after letting all the first years get a chance to grow accustomed to the Animus and find their feet at the Academy, each division has a unique test that all members must complete.”
“What do I gotta do?”
“It’s slightly different every year, but for soldiers, it’s essentially an obstacle course. You have to make it from point A to point B in a limited amount of time. There is no set path, so it’s up to you to get to the finish line however you like. There are enemies and traps along the way as well as collectibles and helpful equipment.”
“Doesn’t sound too bad. Might be fun.”
“Well, you’ll also compete with other soldiers, in groups of fifty. You gain points for defeating enemies, finding collectibles, and disarming traps along with a bonus for the first twenty-five initiates to make it to the end. You have three lives, and you get docked points for however many you lose. Lose them all, and you fail.”
“You also fail if you don’t make it in time?”
“Obviously.”
“All right, I follow. What happens if you win and what happens if you fail?”
“Well, failure leads to a number of things, depending on your final score. Anything from mandatory overtime in the Animus, extra classes, and possible Class or even Division reassignment. We’ve had a few people over the years simply withdraw. They had to return their EIs and pay off any debt they accrued, even during their short stay.”
“So not simply a swat on the ass then?” Kaiden chuckled.
“If the swat is a bat and the ass is a head, it would be closer.” Akello laughed.
“Well, I got the spooks now. But do I get anything shiny for winning?”
“There are prizes for the top few, but they change every year. I don’t know what they are this year, but previously, it’s been things like passes to the Animus Arcade, gourmet meal tickets, unique skins for your armor or weapons in the Animus, or unique avatars for your EI.”
“I want that. The sleek design the Reaver had makes me feel fat.”
“So novel knick-knacks and the like?” Kaiden asked.
“Well, for seven out of the top ten. The top three get things like Academy credit and rank-ups.”
“What are those?”
“Academy credit is essentially money you can use around the Academy for things like extra food, custom clothes, and the like without jacking up your debt. A rank-up is what it says on the tin. You gain a higher rank.”
She lifted three fingers in the air. “For each year, there are three ranks along with rank zero. You gain your first rank as long as you finish within the top twenty-five of the Division test. Then it’s merit-based, or you can take a ranking test as long as you get the approval of at least two Nexus Academy staff.”
“So, I could have the chance to go directly to rank two by the end of this?”
“Correct.”
“What does that get me?”
“Since you’re a first-year, not too much, but you get a few perks like being able to take advanced classes and training courses, better sleeping quarters, you don’t have to fill out forms and wait for filing for mid-level supply requests—”
“What was that?” Kaiden asked. “Out of curiosity, do training guns count as mid-level supplies?”
“Yep.”
Kaiden felt his blood start pumping with a surge of excitement. He bounced lightly on his feet, renewed optimism providing impetus for the celebratory response. “Well, I just found my motivation.”
“I’m glad. Keep it up, and you’ll go far, kid,” Akello said encouragingly.
“It’s a bit past two. Did you still wanna swing by Laurie?”
Kaiden stopped bouncing “Oh, right.” He looked back to Akello “You’ve mentioned Laurie a couple times. You know him?”
“I used to intern for him back at his old company. We eventually became pretty good friends. It was actually because of his recommendation that I got my start here.”
“So, he does have a heart?” Kaiden asked mockingly.
Akello chuckled. “I said it before: he’s strange, but he means well. He might give you the impression that you are nothing more than an experiment, but he is on the lookout for you.”
“Warm fuzzies all around,” Kaiden droned. “Still, I do need to see him. You happen to know if he’s in?”
“You really think you can simply walk in and talk to Laurie? You might be one of his pet projects, but good luck getting past his army of technicians and advisors.”
“I doubt I have to worry about him wanting to see me, especially considering it has to do with said pet project. Chief was glitchin’ while I was in the training course.”
“Your EI?” Akello picked her tablet back up and scanned through it. “I can’t find anything on the readout. An EI glitch is quite serious especially in the Animus—are you sure?”
“Positive. We were talking when he suddenly went silent—his voice shorted out, and his avatar went hazy. I haven’t seen him do that at all and considering that his EI system is in my head, I would rather not take chances.”
Akello tapped her cheek a few times. “Might be nothing more than an A/V corruption, or it could be a link issue… I guess you’re right, don’t wanna take any chances.” She began typing on the pad. “I’ll send him a notice and tell him you’re on your way. He’ll make sure someone meets you and brings you to his office.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Kaiden gave her a brief nod. “If that’s it, I’ll head out.”
“That’s all I got. You should get your class schedule by the end of the day. It’ll be sent to your EI. If you have any questions about the Animus, just talk to me. I’ll be in charge here until they get a new guide to take my place.”
“I’ll see ya tomorrow, then.” And with that, Kaiden left the Animus center.
“Kaiden my boy!” Laurie greeted him, his arms out wide in invitation.
He gave him a wave as he approached the Professor’s desk. “Howdy, Prof, got some problems with my EI.” He settled easily into a chair, a little more relaxed this time around.
“So I read. It sounds like it could be nothing more than simply an A/V problem, but something so trivial shouldn’t even be possible with the implant.”
“You did tell me it was experimental,” Kaiden reminded him, placing one a
rm over the back of the chair and leaning back.
“Experimental doesn’t mean that it should experience such basic problems. Tell me the details.”
Kaiden quickly summarized his first few minutes in the training grounds—taking out a few targets, running through the city admiring the sights, then the sudden short-out.
“That all?”
“All that matters. I didn’t even take a hit or anything.”
“That wouldn’t matter in the Animus. It certainly shouldn’t affect your hardware.”
“My oculars were in hazard mode when I went in if that means anything.”
“Again, not a problem. Unless your hardware is damaged or corrupted, it shouldn’t interfere with your integration. Are you sure you didn’t leave out even a little detail?”
“Not really. Chief and I were talking about the map, how it was based on the Garret Gaol Riots, the trouble they had in containing it, and making a few snarky comments about the WC.”
Laurie folded his hands and leaned forward. “Like what exactly?”
Kaiden eyed him cautiously. “What? Can’t take a few jabs at the Council? I know they’re the overlords of this place, but it’s not like we were planning a bombing.”
“No, no, nothing like that. I’m merely curious. Then what happened?”
“Then Chief blinked out for a moment and came back almost as quickly. Good thing too, as he warned me about the Reaver coming for me.” Kaiden rotated his free arm, feigning that he worked the stiffness out. “Go ahead and thank whatever smartass put that thing in there. It gave me a hell of a time.”
Laurie raised an eyebrow. “A Reaver? Asiton model?”
“The very same,” Kaiden said nonchalantly, checking his nails “Chief and I took it out ourselves. Pity I couldn’t get any bonus SP for it. Speaking of that, how is the upgrade coming along?”
Animus series Boxed Set Page 21