“You have no idea,” Rei answered as he threw a thumb over his shoulder at Viv. “Four years with this Amazon following me around like a duckling. It’s been horrible.”
“Rei, ever wonder what a military issued boot tastes like?”
After Viv had at last managed to clothe herself they started for the locker room exit, where they tossed their damp towels in a labeled bin and bid Sense farewell as he told them he was going to wait for Leron and Kay. Leaving the chamber, Rei and Viv chatted animatedly about the test, she sharing her own rather impressive results, he explaining in detail what the Cs of the endurance assessment had felt like. As they stepped back into the hall and the doors swung shut behind them, both ignored the stares they knew were still fixed on their backs. Had they turned around, however, they might have noticed the two pairs of eyes watching them most intensely from among the aisles of lockers, one a black-red sheen glaring from between the chattering bodies of a gathered entourage, the others a fractured, brilliant green lingering on their own at the edges of the room.
CHAPTER 20
Mid-August, 2468 – Two Weeks Later
“Modern medicine is no miracle. There is yet no money to be made in ridding the world of disease. We may have come a long way from the old ways of corruption and greed in the mega-corporations of the early millennium, but mankind has not yet evolved into a civilization capable of surviving and cyclical charity. I used to think this fair, used to think this a price worth paying for the treatments and tools we do have at our fingertips.
After watching the Stormweaver rise these last years, however, I am forced to consider just how many great talents and brilliant minds our species has sacrificed over the centuries to illness and disease we ‘couldn’t be bothered’ to address…”
- Colonel Willem Mayd
Private Journals
“I can see some moderate irritation to your anterior tendons, but nothing of concern.” Lieutenant Major Ameena Ashton looked pleased as her eyes traveled over the display of her NOED under her short, silvery bangs, shifting the scanning module in her hand over the front of Rei’s left ankle just a little as she did. “If there was a growth, it’s gone now.”
Rei groaned in relief, and on the other side of the examination table Lieutenant Colonel Willem Mayd looked quite pleased himself with the news.
“You said you started feeling the discomfort a week ago?” the old man wheezed while Doctor Ashton double-checked her findings over again, moving to the outside of the ankle once more.
“Just about,” Rei confirmed. “Not enough to cause me any issues with training, but since it’s only gotten a little better I thought I’d stop in to get it looked at.”
“Well it looks like the pain is residual from the inflammation,” the lieutenant major assured him. With a blink her NOED flashed off, and she offered him a bright smile. “I’m sure there was something there, but your CAD’s taking good care of you.”
“Understatement of the century, ma’am,” Rei laughed as the woman stepped away to place the scanner under a sterilization unit on the counter beside the massive east-facing window-wall to their left. “This marks about thirteen weeks since my last surgery. That’s more than a month longer than I can recall ever catching a break.”
Ashton looked pained at the idea, pulling off her disposable gloves and tossing them in a bin by the head of the table. “Let’s keep that count running, shall we, cadet? I’ve got no interest in seeing any of my charges cut open, least of all one with more scars than I can count already.” Picking up a pad from the counter, she turned to Willem Mayd. “I’ll see the session record updated to his profile, sir.”
“Perfect. Thank you, Ameena.”
The doctor saluted her superior, shot Rei another smile, then made for the wide door at the far end of the long room, her nose almost glued to the tablet as she already started reviewing the examination notes.
“I take it you approve of your case worker?” the lieutenant colonel asked after the young woman was gone.
Rei grinned, turning himself off the side of the table to unroll the cuff of his slacks that had been lifted for the scan. “Yes, sir. It’s a change from Grandcrest. They were pretty tired of me there, by graduation.”
“Try not to think too poorly of them, son,” Mayd rasped as Rei tugged his sock out of his pocket and started pulling it over his bare foot. “I think I can say with confidence that they were less tired of you and more exhausted by what they had to put you through. I can only imagine the kind of treatment you required took a toll on those around you as frequently as it did on your own body.”
Rei swallowed at that, not liking the unpleasant memories the words brought to mind. Viv had had the worst of it, but Matron Kast and the other Estoran Center staff had hated being a whole planet away, especially following the first couple major surgeries he’d had after leaving home.
“In more pleasant news, however,” the lieutenant colonel shifted the conversation abruptly, “I see you’ve made another jump in your CAD specs since last we spoke.”
Rei leapt on the chance to avoid more lingering on the subject of his day’s visit. “Yes, sir,” he answer enthusiastically, sliding off the table to look up at the man. Despite being some 50 years his senior, Mayd was still several inches taller than him. “E6. I’d like to think it could be more, but Captain Dent and our Type-instructors have kept us limited to tactics and techniques for the last two weeks, even in cross-training. Today is actually the first day we’re set to do any real Dueling.”
“Yes…” the chief medical officer said slowly, motioning that Rei could go to his boots at the foot of the lone chair on the wall opposite the window, off the back of which his jacket and cap hung waiting as well. In the old man’s eyes, his frame was live. “I see… Particularly impressive improvement to your Speed and Cognition, cadet! I commend you!”
“Thank you, sir.” Rei moved to the chair. Reaching for his boots, he pulled up a Specification Request so he could follow along with Mayd’s commentary.
Specifications Request acknowledged.
…
Combat Assistance Device: Shido. User identification… Accepted.
Type: A-TYPE
Rank: E6
…
User Attributes:
- Strength: F8
- Endurance: F6
- Speed: E0
- Cognition: E0
…
CAD Specifications:
- Offense: F9
- Defense: F9
- Growth: S
He looked down as he laced his boots so Mayd couldn’t see him fighting off what he suspected was a rather pleased expression. Though Valera Dent hadn’t been applying any real combat to their daily afternoon training for the last half-month, Shido had continued to upgrade, demonstrating a bit more of its original rate of growth now that conditioning was against live opponents. Rei had reached a Device-Rank of E6 only the Thursday before, on the very day his Speed and Cognition became his first E-level specs.
He was still a ways behind everyone else in his class, but Rei was definitely catching up.
“You’re training with the Brawlers currently, is that correct?” Mayd asked, not having turned around as he continued to inspect Shido’s stats.
“Yes, sir.” His boots tied, Rei stood and took up his jacket, pulling it on. “I’ve been theorizing it’s the reason I’m seeing the steadiest growth in my Speed and Cognition. Shido’s form right now will be fairly competitive with the others in terms of actual potential damage output once my Strength catches up, but everyone else has some kind of armor manifestation as well. Tad Emble’s Lupinus just evolved Friday, in fact, when he hit D3. They’re a lot quicker than I am. They’ve got every other spec on me, too, obviously, but speed and reflexes are where I’m really completely outclassed.”
“The best Users are always fast, as I’m sure you know.” The lieutenant colonel finally turned a clear eye on him. “Even the
Maulers and Phalanxes in the highest echelons of the pro circuits are light on their feet. If you’re going to see early growth, Speed and Cognition are ideal places to start.”
Rei completely agreed, but he didn’t say as much, not wanting Mayd to think he was concurring for the sake of it. The fact was, though, that he couldn’t have been more pleased with Shido’s improvement, nor the areas in which he had seen the most change. It wasn’t just his specs, either. His hip hadn’t bothered him since Commencement, and the more recent symptoms in his ankle were resolving on their own too. What was more, according to Lieutenant Major Ashton he had grown nearly another quarter-inch since the start of the term, putting him just close enough to comfortably call himself 5’6”, even if he still had a few hairs to go. He’d gained a few pounds too, and the reflection he saw in the mirror these days was just starting to present itself as a little too toned for anyone to call him scrawny anymore.
A notification flashed in Rei’s eyes, and a quick pull of the message preview had him glancing at the time. With a rush he stood straight and shoved his cap onto his head quickly, saluting Mayd.
“Permission to go, sir?” he asked. “Viviana Arada has informed Captain Dent and Chief Warrant Officer Bretz of the reason for my tardiness, but I don’t want to push my luck.”
“Ha!” the chief medical officer chuckled weakly. “No, it’s best we not keep that woman waiting longer than needed, is it?” He motioned towards the door Ashton had left through. “Keep us appraised of the condition of your ankle, as well as any other concerns. Dismissed, cadet.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
And then Rei was hurrying out of the room into the clean bright hallway of the hospital—whose every wall was crafted almost entirely of opaque smart-glass—making for the elevator he had ridden up in.
As soon as he exited the building, Rei double-paced for the Arena. While he wasn’t able to do more than walk quickly—running in uniform was an offense punishable by a night in the Institute brig—his E0 Speed managed to make even that limited gait carrying him swiftly towards the center of the grounds with nothing more than a disapproving glare from a passing staff corporal. Reaching the Arena, he was up the stairs, around the walkway, and into the underworks in short succession, forcing himself to ignore the Wargames practice one of the third year classes was holding on the main floor. Making the elevators, he summoned a car to bring him down to the SB2, where all of 1-A’s training had been taking place every school day afternoon for the last 2 weeks.
10 minutes later he was in his combat suit jogging out into the subbasement proper, hurrying to join the cadets of his class as they stood around the east edge of Field 3. Above their heads, Valera Dent was standing with her sub-instructors in a line at her back, once more lifted a few feet off the ground by the floating projection. She was dressed in her usual regulars, cutting ever the impressive image in black-and-gold before the red-on-white of her subordinates’ combat suits.
“You’ll start with warm-ups and drilling with your Type-groups.” Dent was in the process of addressing the class, her eyes only briefly flicking to Rei as he joined them, and he was pleased to realize he couldn’t have been more than a few minutes late. “After that, as discussed last week, we will begin live combat exercises, with FDA set at fifty percent. Today’s focus is about application of technique and tactics, not besting your opponents with raw advantage. If you cannot work to apply what you have learned over the last two weeks here in class, then I assure you that whatever victories you have today will be short-lived once the Intra-Schools start next quarter. Commit yourselves to your conditioning. Work to make the habits and practices you have been forming as natural as breathing. Do not scramble. Do not panic. Do not lose your heads. Understood?”
There was an immediate response of “Yes, ma’am!” echoed by twenty-six voices, all well-practiced in decorum by now. In answer, Dent smiled, the black line bisecting her face warping just slightly. “Good. Fight clean. Fight smart.” She swept a hand out in broad dismissal. “To your fields.”
At once the class separated, and Rei managed to find and catch Viv’s eye in the shuffling when she turned around to look for him. She gave his ankle a questioning look, which he answered with a double thumbs up and a mouthed “All clear.” She grinned and returned the gesture, then hurried off as one of her groupmates called back for her to hurry up. Rei, in turn, moved south, making for Field 1.
“All right, form up!” Michael Bretz ordered as the four Brawlers and Rei conjoined on him. “Warmups will be half-speed sparring, paired off. Gisham with Emble. Ward with Senson. Warren, Chief Warrant Officer Lake tells me you half-assed Saturday’s conditioning with the Lancers, so you’re the lucky winner of matching up with me.” He eyed them all one after the other. “Captain Dent will announce matches. Six fields. Six bouts at a time, which you may or may not get to observe depending on your practice group. Does anyone need to review Dueling regulations?”
The question was a trap none of them—fortunately—proved dumb enough to fall for. If any one of their group didn’t have the basic rulings down for all the SCT formats by that point, Rei had no doubt their warmup would have turned into pushups-till-fail and sprints around the Wargames perimeter.
When no one was fool enough to answer him, Bretz smiled wickedly. “Good. Glad to see we’re all learning.” A flash of his NOED, and the field under him turned solid white, then divided itself into three even distributions outlined in red. “Take a space, and keep to your area. I won’t have you lot making me look like an idiot by accidentally running into each other. Go!”
They split on command, Rei nodding to Sense when the taller cadet pointed at the far third with a questioning look. They crossed the circle together, roughly judging where the middle of their portion was before facing off.
“Ready to show off that new E0 Speed?” the bald cadet asked with a grin, bringing his fists up. With a word Scarabus had encased his hands, forearms, and lower legs, its smooth green and black brilliantly outlined in white vysetrium.
“Bring it,” Rei snorted, readying himself before calling Shido up. Black plating over white rippled up his fingers and down to the elbow of his left hand, the steel claws of his right manifesting in a blink along with the rest. “If you go half-speed and I go no-holds-bars, it might actually be a pretty even fight.”
Sense chuckled. “If you say so.”
And then he lunged, Rei’s NOED flaring red as a green-and-black punch dagger made a line for his right eye.
Among the incredible things about CAD-combat was that the concept of “half-speed” no longer applied in the same way a non-User might have considered it. As they dodged and weaved and struck—Sense being kind enough to slow his pace down to match Rei’s lesser specs—someone lacking a Device could have witnessed the sparring without realizing it was a warmup. Even Rei—most recent of all the students in the subbasement to have known baseline human abilities—was still amazed by the swiftness and power of the fighting, even though he for once felt like he was actually contributing just a little to the astounding back and forth. With silent awareness of each other he and Sense took turns kicking or punching or feinting, then blocking or dodging. Some blows landed here or there, but without an active SCT field the neural interruption of their phantom-calls lasted only 10 seconds or so, rather than the length of a match. Still, Rei felt good. With guidance from Bretz he’d done a decent job of adjusting his combat style to the claws, which were a lot harder to ward off or redirect then a simple fist. More than once Sense cursed as a hand or an arm went numb, and every time Rei felt a thrill even in the half-speed.
Of course, for each single blow he landed, his opponent managed about ten, and by the time an alert expanded in their frames letting them know the matchings had posted and warmups were at an end, Rei thought Sense’s punch daggers had done a solid job of carving him into a man-shaped hunk of swiss cheese.
“Good fight,” Sense told him, breathing lightly
and holding out a fist as he recalled Scarabus.
“Good fight,” Rei agreed, doing the same to Shido and pumping knuckles. “What field’s your group in? I’ll come watch if I can.”
“Looks like… 5. Huh… They’ve paired me with Kay. She’ll enjoy that, I’m sure.”
“Good luck with that.” Rei snorted as the two of them made for where Bretz was waving them all over again. Though she’d done a fair job of blending in, it had come to light that Kay Sandree—the girl with blue-and-red hair always hanging out with Sense and Leron—was the third top sixteen ranker in their class, and another attendee of the summer program. She was roommates with the two boys, and Rei liked her just fine, even if he thought her choice of friends was 50/50 at best.
Bretz’s lecture was brief and direct, reiterating again that the point of these true combat exercises would be to put into practice the tactics and techniques they’d all been working hard to solidify into muscle memory. Though he didn’t say so directly, the chief warrant officer was acutely clear that if any of his cadets ended up flailing around out there like monkeys wearing boxing gloves, there would be hell to pay in the coming weeks. When he’d said his piece, the five of them saluted the man before breaking off, heading towards their respective fields as others from the different groups made to trade places with them.
Rei had been assigned to Field 4, kitty-corner to 1 and where the Duelists usually trained, and was pleased when he noticed that Viv wasn’t moving from the edge of the silver perimeter. Catching sight of him approaching, she looked relieved, then abruptly worried.
“Can’t tell if you’re happy or horrified to see me?” he asked tentatively.
In answer, Viv made a face. “How about both? Look over my shoulder and take a peek at who’s joined us from the Mauler group.”
Rei started to groan even before he did as she said. Logan Grant was staring right at them, standing so still he might have been some handsome floor dummy set out to model his grey-and-red suit.
Iron Prince: A Progression Sci-Fi Epic (Warformed: Stormweaver Book 1) Page 30