Player is Waiting... (Ultimate Clan Wars)

by Wells, JB

  “How’s it going with the guiders?” Kieran couldn’t shake the feeling that they hadn’t seen him properly for a whole week. Sometimes Thomas would be on shift while they were asleep. They were like passing ships in the night.

  Thomas shrugged, “Its hard work but so much fun. So many things go on all the time and there are so many Infected.” He started to scratch his head and smiled to himself, “But it is hard work.”

  “Tell me about it.” Dexter was half way through his sandwich. Isabelle looked at him like he had grown another head. “What? Chumly is hard work.”

  “I hate not being in lessons with you all.” Thomas’s smile vanished and he scratched his head trying to untangle his curls.

  “I wouldn’t worry Curly, it’s not like we were in P.E.” Isabelle snapped and snatched back her slice of chocolate cake that Dexter had stolen.

  “The sooner I get my grade average up in maths the sooner I stop having Chumly screaming the six times table in my face.” Dexter rubbed his hand and looked at where the cake once sat.

  “I don’t see you doing double Algebra!”

  “And that’s because I’m not maths clever, hence the extra lessons. Durr!” Dexter grinned smugly.

  Isabelle huffed with frustration. “What kind of clever are you then?”

  “The other kind.” Dexter steered the conversation back to Kieran, “So what happened with Rickman?”

  “Well, he’s taken an instant disliking to Kiwi!”

  “Nothing,” Kieran shot Owen a glare, “just another friend to add to the list with Richard. How was double maths?” Kieran was enjoying the show between Dexter and Isabelle; he quickly turned the conversation back on them.

  “Great.” She rolled her eyes, “at least genius here nearly knows his six times table.”

  “It’s hard to remember something when someone is shouting over you for the whole lesson. Plus, I wouldn’t mind but he slurps his tea before he recites it and it’s like sitting under the PG Tips waterfall.” Dexter shrugged his shoulders and opened his drink.

  “How’s the ‘Skill Progression’ thing going?” Kieran asked.

  Isabelle grimaced, “Hard. If we get the scholarship it won’t just be maths and English we’ll be learning. They teach everything, and more. Technology lessons are a whole other ball game.”

  Dexter whimpered and threw himself back onto the grass, “Please, no more Chumly.”

  The heat outside was warm; it was a dry sticky heat that wasn’t what Kieran had become accustomed too. There were butterflies, birds and little critters running around. The dome far above acted as the sky, and gave a warm glow but it was still warmer than it should’ve been. Something was wrong. The bell rang, the group collected their trays, placed them in the racks and made their way to the next class. Battle-training.

  ###

  “You are well into your first week here, and you’ve read about the basics. You will now begin your training.”

  The cadets had been lined up at the edge of the Arena. Ex paced along in front of them with his hands behind his back and his focus on the ground in front of his every step. “You will not be expected to enter Plantranet until you have had at least two full weeks training. Today is day one but it is not your first day. I will expect errors but I also expect you to have done your homework on what you’ve been taught over the week.” He stopped pacing and faced the class.

  “As you can see, the chairs in the far section are in use.”

  The cadets all followed his direction and saw that around one hundred of the chairs were in use.

  “Those are the cadets who are on shift in Plantranet, they‘re clearing up. The other side of the room are Hunters, closer to the front is some of TakeDown and over there,” his hands gestured once more, “are Medics.”

  Kieran was finding it hard to concentrate, the warm air was heavy and the room felt sticky. The heat from all the computers alone was enough to cause the driest of people to break out in a big sweat. Without drawing attention to himself he slowly removed his crossed hands and tried to wiggle his Greys again.

  “Attention!”

  The sleepy cadets all straightened up and crossed their hands behind their backs, a few of the cadets were saluting so the first years followed suit. Kieran placed his right hand palm outwards. No one in the Institute really wore full army uniform, not even Alpha One who was a General, so this was a novel experience. Ex was also as stiff as a board, but no one could see who exactly they were saluting to.

  The sliding doors opened and a group of people marched past the cadets. They headed to a room that was an open vault. Kieran hadn’t noticed it before as it was hidden away in a darkened corner. Around twenty people walked through, some had fancy green military outfits with medals hanging from their chests, some had blue uniforms and others had very expensive looking business suits.

  “Who’s that?” Someone behind whispered very quietly, but their question remained unanswered.

  One man in particular, who was wearing the most medals, stood out. As he marched through, his dark sinister eyes looked out under the peak of his cap and they seemed to fixate on Kieran. The man slowed and his look turned to one of anger, almost mirroring the look that PTI Rickman gave him. He was in his mid-fifties, and his face looked like it had seen a lot of war. He had a thick moustache that covered his whole top lip, and as he glared at him his moustache twitched as his lip curled into a look of distain. The man’s eye glanced to Kieran’s cadet number then back to his face, his mouth contorting to an evil smirk.

  Kieran felt his skin go cold and tingle, every hair on his arms stood on end and his fingers started to prickle. The well-dressed officer’s eyes lifted from his and glanced over his shoulder, the look he gave changed from one of anger to one of emptiness. He looked away and carried on marching toward the secret room. One final man, also in full army regalia, marched across the room far behind the others. He made no attempt to look at anyone, his stare locked onto the vault as he carried on, his boots clicking as they hit the ground. It was Alpha One.

  A panicked figure ran in front of the cadets, arms were flailing and papers were flying. They sniggered as Professor Wing clumsily dropped all his files, his wild white hair bounced around as he scooped everything up and dashed for the door.

  “At ease, cadets,” Ex called.

  Kieran fidgeted with his uniform once more, the heat making it cling to him.

  Ex caught his actions and addressed the group, “We are having issues with the ventilation around the Institute at the moment. But the technicians are sorting it out and once you’re in Plantranet, you’ll be fine.”

  Kieran placed his hands back behind him and continued to listen.

  “Some of you may have noticed the coloured boxes that are in every room. The colours are connected to each of the clans and if your colour is flashing, it means you are needed. And, what colour is TakeDown?”

  “Black, sir.” The class called.

  “Hunters?”

  “Blue, sir.”

  “Medics?”

  “Green, sir.”

  “And station workers?”

  “White, sir.”

  You are to make your way down here quickly and upload to Plantranet. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, Sir!”

  The glass doors opened and a cadet rushed in and lined up at the end trying to blend in.

  “It’s Alfie,” Dexter mouthed in shock.

  “Really?” Kieran tried to stand on tiptoe and see him but Alfie was too short, he was hidden by the others.

  “Now, each go and find your chair which matches your cadet number. You will be going into the training room. It is a controlled environment, so this is not real nor will you come into contact with any real enemies.”

  “Famous last words,” Kieran laughed to himself.

  The cadets slowly filtered towards the chairs, each one had a scientist next to it. Kieran looked at Owen, Dexter and Isabelle. They all smiled at each other cautiously.

/>   Alfie walked past and Kieran grabbed him, “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, my inhaler had run out but the doc sorted me out. I’m looking forward to getting in there!”

  “Sure.” Kieran walked with Alfie until he found his number, he didn’t look like someone who had suffered a big asthma attack earlier.

  “See you on the other side.” Dexter looked worried.

  Kieran glanced at the chair numbers and found 191 with a very happy looking scientist beside it. Swallowing hard he stared at the contraption that sat in front of him, it looked like a photo-booth with a dentist’s chair inside.

  “I’m Gracie,” The lady smiled.

  Kieran looked from the chair to her and smiled back. She was a tall slender lady with dark brown hair that was tied tightly back in a bun. She wore a white lab coat and she had a little white cap.

  “Don’t worry,” Gracie smiled and looked back at her pad. “You’ll be in there before you know it, it doesn’t hurt.”

  Kieran smiled wryly and looked back at the chair.

  “You go ahead and make yourself comfortable; we have upload in…eta five minutes.”

  “Okay,” Kieran said sheepishly and stepped into the mini photo-booth.

  The chair definitely looked like something that the dentist made him sit in a few weeks ago. He sat himself down and settled back against the white leather, it was comfortable, and the pure whiteness of the walls, ceiling and floor was calming. The chair had black mats on the ends of the arms, at the foot end and behind where his head laid.

  “Just make sure your hands are palm down, Kieran.” Gracie called through a little window.

  Kieran nodded. He wasn’t scared, he was excited but he was a little dubious as to how it was going to happen.

  “Hello?” A voice called out.

  “Hello…” Kieran called back.

  “Hi, Kieran,” the girl’s voice said happily.”

  “Hi?” Kieran laughed as he didn’t have a clue who he was talking too.

  “It’s Chloe,” she laughed back, “I’m your Guider for today.”

  “Hey,” Kieran felt at ease as he knew exactly who she was.

  “Just a tip, if you look at the ceiling it should tell you who is talking to you. Of course when you are inside Plantranet it shows up on your visor and arm plate.”

  Kieran laughed, “There’s going to be a lot coming up on my visor, will I be able to see anything else?”

  Chloe giggled, “Just you wait and see.”

  “Are your palms down?” Gracie asked through the opening.

  “Yep.”

  Are your feet flat on the base mat?”

  Kieran lifted and replaced his feet on the mat. “They sure are.”

  “Is your head against the top mat?”

  “Sure.”

  “Take deep breaths and watch the lines.”

  “Lines?”

  Chloe spoke again, “keep watching, Kieran.”

  “Okay.”

  Gracie had her tablet in her hand and leant in the window. Kieran could hear his heart bleeping on the monitor outside of the room. The black mats tracked everything.

  “Kieran, you just have to repeat what I ask, do you understand?” Chloe spoke softly and calmly.

  “Sure thing.”

  “Confirmed ready?” Chloe called out.

  “Confirmed ready.” Kieran replied, this was awesome he couldn’t wait now.

  “This bit isn’t for you now, Kieran,” Chloe said. “Confirm cadet 191?”

  “191 confirmed, ready for upload,” Gracie replied. “Ready in five.”

  Kieran turned his head to see Gracie out of the little window. She caught him looking and smiled. “Eye’s on the lines.”

  He nodded and looked back to the white walls. Suddenly they started to shrink; the walls were closing in on him.

  “Upload in 3…2…1…” Chloe’s voice trailed off.

  The white, shiny plastic walls start to sparkle like white static. A line appeared and then another appeared and like waves the lines carried on rolling off into the distance.

  “Just breathe deeply and follow the lines,” Gracie’s voice called.

  Kieran closed his eyes and took a deep calming breath in, just like he did before he started any clan match. His hands, feet and head started to tingle; it didn’t hurt it just felt like he was touching one of those static balls at the science museum. There was a sudden rush of energy over him and the tingling feeling disappeared. He could hear his breathing echo in his ears, his chest felt tight and his whole body felt heavy. Not sure what to expect, and slightly apprehensive, he opened his eyes. He had a helmet on, the visor was down but it was crystal clear, it was like there was no glass in it. Looking around, he watched as more of his fellow cadets materialised in front of him. All of them were wearing the uniform of their clan. A dusky blue were Hunters, green were Medics and Sleek black were TakeDown. Kieran patted his chest and felt the strength of the metal against his armour plated gloves. There was a loud banging as he tapped all over his uniform, then he noticed his cadet number was engraved in his chest plate.

  “Kiwi?” A husky voice called.

  Kieran recognised the voice, but with all the cadets wearing the same armour, it was difficult to tell who was who. There were numbers in their back plates but it was still hard to distinguish one from the other. All the cadets moved around the room but someone grew closer to him, it was then that Kieran could see Owen’s face through the visor.

  “Ziggy, we look awesome!” His voice echoed around his own head.

  “I know!” Owen’s voice was full of excitement.

  “Who’s your guider?” Kieran was hopeful that one of them had Thomas, at least that way it was like the clan was still together.

  “I have some guy called Fitz, he’s pretty funny.” Owen smirked and began to laugh. “He keeps telling me jokes, he’s great.”

  “Cool, I have Chloe…She doesn’t tell jokes though, maybe I should put in a request?”

  “You can ask, but I wouldn’t count on it,” Chloe’s voice was close, almost like she was talking in his head.

  “Well, I’m not happy about the colour. Do you think we can customise, add a splash of pink?” Isabelle walked over and joined them. She was lifting her arms in front of her face and inspecting her armour. “I’m not asking for flowers, just maybe a little colour.”

  Kieran laughed, “You could ask to start a new clan. The pink brigade?”

  “Funny,” Isabelle scoffed.

  “Where’s Dex?”

  “Need you ask?” Isabelle huffed and flapped her hand over her shoulder.

  Kieran and Owen followed her direction and looked into the corner. Two cadets were running at full speed towards each other, and chest bumping in mid-air.

  “Boys!” Isabelle tutted and walked off to find Kaitlyn.

  “What the…” Owen laughed.

  They watched as Dexter and the other cadet took one last run up at each other. They jumped and in mid-air their chest plates clashed. With an almighty crash the pair collided and then one fell to the floor whilst the other landed on their feet.

  “I am victorious!” Dexter growled loudly.

  “If you are finished testing out your armour?” A bigger armoured avatar formed in the middle of the room. Sergeant Ex had been uploaded into Plantranet.

  Dexter stepped back and hung his head low, the other cadet climbed up off the floor and dusted himself down.

  “You can all remove your visors. There is a button on the right side just on the temple.”

  Kieran and the other cadets all pressed theirs, the visor disappeared and a gust of fresh cool air hit Kieran in the face.

  “Hmm,” he mumbled surprised. “It’s strange, the Internet smells…cool and fresh. Who’d have thought it?”

  “Now you may remove your helmets.” Ex placed his hands under his own helmet and lifted it off. The cadets removed their helmets. Dexter was graciously patting Alfie on the back.

  “Thi
s is called a transition room, whenever you enter Plantranet you will always come to a transition room first. The Hallway, transition room and safe zones are the only places that you are permitted to remove your helmets. Any other time and you open yourself up to infection, is that clear?”

  “Yes, Sir!”

  The transition room was empty; all it consisted of was a dirty and heavily scratched floor, dusky metallic walls and a few lights that hung overhead.

  “This way. We will now make our way to the training room. We are in a highly controlled section of Plantranet, and until your training is complete you won’t come into contact with any of the other personnel.” Ex walked out of an automatic sliding door and the cadets slowly followed.

  Kieran ran his gloved hand along the wall. Every bump and dig in the wall felt so unbelievably real. Suddenly a blow hit him in the arm, it was unexpected as he was too busy inspecting the genuine feel of the wall.

  “Ouch!” Kieran yelped.

  “Real, huh?” Dexter laughed.

  “Yeah,” Kieran chuckled and rubbed his arm. It didn’t hurt much as the armour had protected him, but he felt a slight throbbing in the area that had just been attacked.

  “This place is brick!” Owen jumped over Dexter.

  Kieran followed on behind, realising what Owen had just said. He stopped, confused. “Brick? What do you mean brick?”

  “It’s higher than epic.”

  “What’s he going on about?” Dexter was as confused as Kieran.

  “Just you wait and see, it’ll catch on. It’s the next big word and you heard it here first. Brick.”

  “You’re a brick,” Dexter laughed and they wrestled their way out of the room.

  “This is brick though,” Alfie mumbled, he too was walking around open mouthed. He gasped realising what he’d said. “Okay not brick but this place is epic.”

  “It really is. Hey, how are you feeling now?”

  “Kiwi, it’s so weird but I feel so great. My chest is open and I can breathe so well. I haven’t felt this good for as long as I can remember.”

  Kieran thought back to Officer Seal saying how much better Adam had felt inside Plantranet. “I heard this place can make you feel…stronger.”

  “It’s enough to make me want to stay forever.”