“I’m guessing you haven’t interacted with Kaiden’s EI that much?” the professor inquired. The commander shook his head. “He calls it ‘Chief.’ Quite a handful that one, but when you get another chance to talk with Kaiden, see if you can get a little time with the EI. It has one of the most vibrant personalities that I’ve ever seen, almost—”
Sasha cut him off. “If you’re going to say human, I would stop. An EI reaching that level of advancement…” He shook his head as if trying to dislodge the idea. “You know how that ended with the Asitons.”
“Fine then, I won’t, but it still stands that Kaiden’s EI is far more advanced than almost any other. Certainly more so than any other Nexus EI, or even Aurora here.” Laurie pointed to the EI pad.
“You’re saying that one of our students—an initiate at that—has an EI on par or surpassing even yours?” Sasha asked, hesitation and incredulity evident in his voice.
Laurie shook his head. “Not more advanced in terms of power or ability. Aurora is certainly at the top when it comes to personal EIs, but advanced in development.”
“Kaiden’s EI chip is no different from any other EI chip. I gave it to him myself. I passed it along from a potential student the day before Kaiden joined,” Sasha reminded him.
“Good thing you did too. I don’t think that Hargrove boy would have been nearly as much fun as Kaiden has turned out to be. But it’s not the chip that’s the factor here. It’s the implant. That makes the connection between the EI and its host stronger than ever before. It allows the host to gain SXP at an accelerated rate and allows for easier access to the Animus along with other fun little abilities, but the EI gets something in return.”
“This is starting to sound troubling, Laurie, I don’t recall you ever mentioning that the EI would gain sentience.” Sasha’s tone was clipped and precise, an indication of his disapproval. “You know how dangerous experiments like that are.”
“The Asitons…yes, you just mentioned that.” Laurie scoffed with a wave of his hand. “I merely said that the EI gains improved sentience. All EIs have some level of sentience. It’s how they can formulate personal strategies and assist their hosts in combat. This one is simply capable of learning more at a faster rate and developing a unique pattern.”
“What kind of pattern?”
“The kind that allows it to bond more with its host and excel to a level beyond the rudimentary skills of the traditional EI.”
Sasha took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, his forehead creased in concentration. “So this is the next evolution of the EI?”
The professor smiled. “I suppose advancement would be the correct term considering it’s a piece of software, but evolution works in this context too. It is more…organic.” He stood quickly. “I’ll personally scan through every map available and look for changes, delete them, and send you the details. For now, let’s put on a happy face and keep these events close to our chests.”
There were any number of questions to ask the professor regarding specifics about the implant, but Sasha knew he had to get his work done and that where Laurie was concerned, he was more likely to play coy than give him straight answers. “Fine. We’ll continue this some other night.”
“I promise that nothing bad will happen. I made a promise to Kaiden to watch over him. He is my experiment, after all.” Laurie turned the EI pad off and placed it in his pocket. “Plus, I’ve grown fond of the boy, so I’ll be sure to keep a close watch.” He snickered as he walked to the door. “I do have to say, the irony of you using the Asitons as the model of the disasters that could happen when technology gets out of hand… It is ironic, considering where the EI come from.”
With that, the professor left, leaving Sasha alone in his office, silent for a moment as he looked out the window and began to contemplate his next move.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Get the hell out of the way! He’s got a bench,” Luke shouted as Raza roared and threw said bench at the group.
Izzy and Silas dove toward the wall. Kaiden rolled beneath the bench’s trajectory while Marlo braced himself, catching the wooden missile as it plowed right into him. He staggered back a few steps but found his balance and hurled the bench to one side.
“Nice catch, big guy,” Izzy yelled, helping Silas up. Luke, Marlo, Silas, Izzy, and Kaiden were in another bout of training with Raza. It was the day before the test, and the group had scheduled one last session before they made their test preparations that night. They wanted a bit more conditioning and asked Raza to give them a light workout.
That did not happen.
“He’s charging,” Silas called as the Sauren took a stance on all fours before leaping at Marlo. Luke got to his friend’s side quickly, and the two large soldiers braced themselves to catch Raza as he landed. They struggled against him, Raza growling as he pushed back. The two strongest soldiers in the room were almost lifted off the ground as they tried to keep the vicious alien in place.
Kaiden ran up to the beast, his gun in hand. He raised it to the reptilian’s eye and fired. Though the gun would do little good if he shot the Sauren in the body, the eye was a weak point he could exploit. It worked rather well as Raza roared in pain, allowing Marlo and Luke to get a better grip as Silas and Izzy came rushing forward with several weighted ropes. Izzy tossed one to Kaiden, and they bound Raza quickly. Silas threw a pair to Marlo and Luke once they had the Sauren wrangled so they could all pull him down.
They had him bound in place, but as the five of them pulled against the ropes with full strength, Raza roared in anger and began to twist and turn within the bindings. He created sufficient slack to snatch Izzy’s rope and pulled hard. She collapsed to the ground, loosening her team’s hold.
Raza twisted against the ropes, this time grabbing Kaiden’s and Silas’s ropes in each hand. He whipped the two off with a sudden yank. Now with enough room, he snaked his claws into the bindings across his chest and severed them. Marlo and Luke let go before the sudden release caused them to fall.
As Kaiden, Silas, and Izzy scrambled to their feet and the five prepared to attack once again, loud claps resounded through the room.
“Good teamwork there. Not easy to catch a Sauren, even for a few seconds,” Wulfson bellowed, walking out to the mat.
“Man…you always stop things…just when…it’s getting good,” Silas grumbled between loud pants and heaving breaths.
“I don’t think…that was a…good spot,” Izzy countered, wiping her brow.
“Would you consider…your first time better?” Kaiden jeered as he rubbed his bruised ribs.
“Fair enough…this was good compared to that,” Izzy admitted. She rubbed her shoulder and scowled at the memory of the last time she joined the group for some training and got slammed down on the mat by Raza.
“Out of the seven times I’ve gone against this guy, this probably ranks top three,” Marlo declared, resetting his neck with a cracking sound. He winced.
“Where would you put our first fight?” Luke asked.
“Oh, that’s at the bottom. I got knocked out cold that time.” Marlo chuckled.
“You guys need to remember that you aren’t trying to win but survive,” Wulfson argued. “It’s an important distinction to make.”
“A little hard to keep that in mind when this guy can dig out our guts on a whim if he wanted to,” Silas pointed out.
“Hey, Raza, I wanted to ask—are humans a delicacy on your planet or merely sport?” Kaiden asked, his hand still on his knees as he looked up at the Sauren.
“Humans are our patrons for now, but I have heard that some of our men have dined on mercs and terrorists while here… They did not find the taste satisfying.” Raza snorted as he rubbed his eye. “A good use of your ticklish weapon, Kaiden. I’ll have to remember to bring my battle cowl for the next match.”
“That hide of yours doesn’t leave me a lot of options,” he muttered as he looked at his pistol. “I wanted this thing so badly, but it’s real
ly not coming through for me. I wonder what it takes to get a real gun around here.”
“Being a member of the staff,” Wulfson stated, folding his arms. “Or on the security patrol, but you don’t take up vocations until your master year, so cool your jets.”
“Damn,” Kaiden grumbled as he straightened up and stretched. “When this place gets invaded, you’re going to wish I had a real gun.”
“Ha! There hasn’t been an attack on the Academy since its inception. Besides, even if there was one, they would have a hell of a lot harder time getting through that barrier than dealing with one fool with a pistol,” the security officer snarked.
“You haven’t seen how good I am with a pistol, obviously.”
“Enough to get turned into a laser-blasted pin cushion.”
“You are my big ass Scandinavian cheerleader, Wulfson.” Kaiden chuckled. “What’s next?”
“It’s two o’clock. Silas and I have a couple more hours to kill before our workshops,” Izzy stated.
“Marlo and I wanted to get one more round in the Animus before we went to bed,” Luke said, walking over to the group.
“You and Marlo are a Co-op team? What’s your team name, ‘Two tons of fun?’” Kaiden chirped.
“The Twin Titans would work if Marlo ever changed classes,” Izzy pointed out.
“We need a name?” Marlo asked.
“Nah, we’re just messing with ya,” Kaiden admitted. “I guess it never crossed my mind, but who’s partnered with who? We got Marlo and Luke, and I know you and Silas are a team, but what about Flynn?”
“He’s with Amber.” Marlo stretched his neck from side to side, easing out the remaining kinks.
“Raul is with Cameron,” Luke added.
“That sounds like it could be disastrous.” Silas grinned.
“They bicker constantly but work pretty well together,” Luke said with an affirmative nod.
“Speaking of Cameron, he’s been able to weasel his way out of training with us for the last couple of weeks. I’ll need to hunt him down next time.” Kaiden spoke with a little menace in his voice.
“Hunting down the bounty hunter…that should be fun.” Izzy laughed.
“What about you, Kaiden? You get stuck with a wildcard?” Silas inquired.
“I’ve got a partner, no thanks to any of you,” he sneered.
“I would have partnered with you—you know, if you weren’t so trigger happy,” Marlo admitted while looking away sheepishly.
“I thought you lived for carnage. Besides, with all that armor you got, what’s the worst that would happen?” Kaiden retorted.
“I’m not really in a hurry to find out. I mean, the last time we worked together in a mission was the Division test, and I got launched by a devil bird,” Marlo recalled.
“I’m pretty sure that wasn’t specifically my fault.”
“I thought you would partner with Jaxon. You two seem to get along pretty well,” Silas said with a slight shrug.
“I thought they wouldn’t let two people of the same class partner together. Although I wasn’t thinking much about the test at the time,” Kaiden admitted.
“Usually, they don’t, but there’s a workaround if you partner with a Tsuna of the same class. It’s one of the ways they are trying to build relations,” Izzy explained.
“I wonder if there are any human and Tsuna mixed teams?” Luke spoke it as a question and looked around at his companions as if hoping for an answer.
“I can think of a couple. Adrian Lanni the Goliath is working with a Tsuna Hacker named Mera. And there is a Tsuna Surveyor named Lok working with Mary Tulio, a Marksman.” Izzy counted off the numbers on her fingers.
“Well, nice to hear bridges are being built,” Kaiden commented.
“What about you? You didn’t say who you partnered with,” Marlo reminded him.
“I’ve teamed up with Chiyo.”
“Chiyo Kana? The Infiltrator?” Luke inquired.
“Yeah, we work pretty well together, all things considered. She’s a bit pedantic, but that’s to be expected, considering her class. But we’ve run a few missions, and they’ve all been successful.”
“I’ve heard a few interesting things about her,” Silas interjected. “She got in for her skills—a merit-based SC and apparently, a really damn good infiltrator.”
“Yep, seen the golden triangle and her skills first hand.” Kaiden nodded.
“She’s apparently the daughter of the head of a Zaibatsu in Japan. Rumor is that she actually got her skills doing some shady work for her parents before coming here,” Silas added.
“A lot of students were or still are suspicious of her. They think her parents sent her here as a scout or spy or something.” Izzy seemed intrigued by the possibility.
Kaiden flashed back to the first night he met Chiyo and the students who accosted her. “I guess that’s why she had to deal with all those dickbags before,” he muttered.
“I try not to judge anyone by rumors and hearsay, and I’ve never met her myself. But if she’s as good as you’ve confirmed her to be, better to have her on our side, yeah?” Silas said reasonably.
Kaiden nodded and cracked a wry smile. “Oh, definitely, she’ll get the job done. I’m actually looking forward to the test now. See what kinda stuff they throw our way.”
“Guess that only leaves Jaxon. He never told me who he was pairing with,” Luke said.
“He’s actually with Genos.” Kaiden looked back at the titan.
“Who’s Genos?” Izzy asked.
“Ah, that’s right, you never met him,” Kaiden recalled with a tap against his forehead. “Genos is a Tsuna mechanist. I actually met him at the carrier stop before coming here. Real nice guy. Apparently, he’s Jaxon’s clanmate, like a cousin or something in their culture.”
“I see, and he’s Jaxon’s partner?” Izzy questioned, curiosity evident in her expression.
“Genos apparently had some trouble finding a partner, and he offered to be his teammate.”
“Aw, that’s nice of him.” Izzy smiled. “Guess the frosty Tsuna ace has a little warmth, after all.”
“Looks like it. Hopefully, he can help Genos to be a little more grounded. I’m actually worried he might be a bit soft to be in the field. Mechanists apparently see a lot of action,” Kaiden admitted.
“Seems you are just as sappy when it comes right down to it.” Luke chuckled.
“Can’t be an asshole twenty-four seven. It can get a little exhausting.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” Chief snarked.
“Quiet, you,” Kaiden commanded.
“Getting back to the matter at hand…what else do we gotta do?” Silas asked, looking at Wulfson.
“Well, you’re actually off the hook for the rest of the day. I’ve gotta meeting with a couple of board members to talk about an upcoming shipment and then I’m taking Raza to look at the Animus center.”
“Raza wants to use the Animus? I thought only humans and the Tsuna could actually use the Animus without, you know, having their heads explode or something.”
Raza stepped forward. “I do not desire to make use of the device. I would like to look it over and observe it in use to see if it would offer anything to my people.”
“The World Council and the Sauren delegates are taking baby-steps to perhaps allow the Sauren to one day make use of the Animus as well. It’ll probably take a decade or two of testing, but they could start making headway sooner or later,” Wulfson explained.
“Animus trained Sauren… Considering how deadly they are without it, that’s actually a frightening proposition,” Luke muttered.
“We may not use it at all. If it is not up to the standards and desires of our current training, then there would be no point,” Raza observed in a disinterested tone. “I don’t see how virtual simulations could have the same impact as actual fights.”
Kaiden laughed. “Oh, trust me, there’s impact.”
“And yet you train with Wulfson and
me outside the Animus,” Raza challenged.
“It’s the best of both worlds, right? I can’t go on a mission every day or take down a mercenary group on a whim.”
Raza laughed, a deep, rough echo booming through the room. “You should join a Sauren hunting party. You would have your fill of battle on a daily basis.”
“Might have to take you up on that one day,” Kaiden agreed.
“If you do, I hope you don’t get warp sick, lad. The Sauren travel through gates constantly,” Wulfson interjected.
“Wouldn’t know. I’ve never been off Earth,” Kaiden confessed.
“Well, that’ll be something you can look forward to next year.” Wulfson smirked. “In the meantime, keep training in the gym or wherever you choose, and good luck to the lot of you on your tests.”
The group said their goodbyes as Wulfson and Raza left the training room. They headed to different corners to gather their things. “So, anyone wanna place bets on who gets the top score among us?”
Silas laughed. “Says the guy who broke the high score of the Division test and has a top-level Infiltrator on his team? You trying to run some kind of racket?”
“I mean…we don’t truly know what we’ll face during the tests,” Kaiden pointed out. “Maybe I’ll have to deal with another of those giant war machines and I won’t have all of you around to take the blasts for me.”
“I think I’ll pass,” Silas concluded after a brief moment’s thought.
“Luke and I will probably get a ton of points,” Marlo boasted.
“I’ll ignore the pun.” Kaiden snickered as he put his pistol in its holster and one strap of his backpack over his shoulder.
“I’m serious. I’m a demolition soldier, and Luke is a titan. We’ll probably be dealing with waves of enemies.”
“We’ll most likely take down more foes and get more points in our first five minutes than you will in your entire test,” Luke challenged, slamming his fist against his chest.
“The test doesn’t only score kills. You also have to factor how quickly you complete your objective, how much damage you take, doing bonus objectives, and all that stuff,” Izzy reminded the large duo.
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