by Jack Vantage
Leon leant from the corner and fired two lasers at the wall behind the cyborgs, ricocheting at them. For a second there was nothing. Then the enemies fell dead. Large smoking holes were bored through their heads.
Leon peeked at the tunnel ahead, then moved forward past the dead cyborgs. The faint crashing sound echoed again.
He looked back. A hundred metres away, a massive industrial grinder was moving towards him. With a mouth like action, it began chewing the entire tunnel in the darkness. It crumpled the walls like they were made of tin foil. Sparks rained from the destruction as the mouth of the machine chomped the tunnel, slicing through its steel.
Leon sprinted. He knew which door he had to find. It lay a hundred and fifty metres ahead but getting there was not easy. Timing— this section of the game needed timing.
Leon peered over his shoulder as the grinder closed in on him, then looked forward again just as a steaming pipe blew off the wall at leg height. He jumped over the obstacle and through the steam, his visor smoggy, then normal again.
Not far now!
A cyborg leapt from a turn ahead with blaster blazing. Leon took one shot in his stride, hitting the cyborg in the face and smashing his head apart. Its body dropped, dead.
Six pipes exploded ahead into a blazing firewall. Leon spotted the gas lever and shot it off, extinguishing the flames. He blasted the pipes from his path with six shots and continued sprinting.
He looked over his shoulder again as the noise of maimed steel grew louder. Almost there. Almost there. Must keep going!
Sparks began spraying over his shoulder. The turn he needed was within sight. He reached the left turn and quickly took it. His gun lowered, and a key card appeared in his hand. He swiped the card in the reader to the left of the door, unlocking it with a bleep. He booted it open, just as the grinder reached the turn with steel slivers hurling up the tunnel. Leon dived through and the door slammed shut. Silence!
He looked around the cavernous room. It was a perfect circle that tubed upward into darkness. The walls were rusted steel and concrete, with cut girders poking out at varied heights around its circumference. To his left, resting against the wall, was a crude rocket propelled grenade launcher. Leon switched to his small handgun and dropped it, opting to select the RPG, which ran along his arm as he held its handle grip. It became part of him, morphing into a deadly extension of arsenal. The bulbous warhead of the rocket’s tip growled, eager for enemy.
Then rubbing steel sounded around the room.
Here it comes!
He walked around the edge, looking inwards. The floor split at the centre of the room and retracted slowly into the walls, shaking the room vigorously. A ringed ten-foot wide platform was all that rimmed the edge. Leon investigated the abyss and viewed nothing but darkness.
Any second now! Be ready, be fast, be focused. Prepare to run, prepare to open fire, prepare to assess its weak points!
He walked around the platform, expecting anything. First came the sound of something rising. Something big. Then came a violent trembling that loosened dust and rust from the walls above.
From the black abyss emerged a giant mechanoid. Its body was rife with hydraulic bars, pinning it together in an interlinking steel frame as it rose and straightened. It turned at fifty-feet and roared its jagged steel jaws with a plucked bass line that digitally stretched the air. Its mouth connected with two silver hydraulic shafts. The noise was deafening. Pstt! sounded the hydraulics and Whine! sounded its body at every move of its mechanics.
Two artillery cannons folded over and locked into position via gears above its monstrous arms. The beast’s eyes glowed with two large burning red lights that peered from the centre of its square angular head, which Leon thought must weigh tons.
Leon ran around the perimeter as the mechanoid reared its arms and opened hell fire with its attached artillery. Two huge canons jack hammered muzzled flashed shots, with laser shells spraying from its arms behind its canons. The cannons screamed.
Thick red lasers bounced and ricocheted from the wall around Leon. He dived, rolled, and lifted his rocket propelled grenade launcher to fire at the steel beast. The rocket whizzed and moved like a sidewinder, its trailing exhaust smoke thinning in the air, and it struck the left arm of the mechanoid with explosive success. With a bang, steel sprayed in a storm of shrapnel.
The mechanoid screamed as it leant back from the blow, then re-positioned its cumbersome body with a hydraulic whine. It retaliated with another bout of devastation.
Leon ran for his life again.
He screamed in determination. Then everything went black and silent.
# # #
Dylan chuckled at Leon, who sat dazed with Miss Lowe standing over him, visor in hand, and the data room silent under her authority.
Drake’s deep laugh snarled from the front of the class as he looked back at Leon with his vulture like face and lip pierced mouth.
According to Leon’s eyes, he was still somewhere else, in cognitive shock.
“I’ll take that, thank you very much,” Miss Lowe said.
Leon still looked dazed.
Brandon said jokingly, “Miss, he’s a disruptive member of the period. He should be punished.”
Chuckles sounded around the room.
“Well?”
Leon shook his head and looked up at the distributor. “Miss, you know how dangerous that can be. I won’t have no mind left.”
“I know, but your game isn’t as dangerous as I am. You know where the exit is if you want to leave.”
“Okay, okay, just give it back to me at the end of the period.”
“If you’re lucky,” Miss Lowe said as she made her way to the front of the room. Her hips moved sassily under her knee-length pink skirt. She also wore high heels and a white blouse.
Dylan leaned to his left and whispered to Leon, “Any luck?”
“If I had my virtual gloves, I’d have finished the level,” Leon replied under his breath.
“End boss hard?”
“Industrial quarter, hell yes,” Leon replied.
Miss Lowe reached the front of the class and turned to address everyone. That’s when Dylan first laid eyes on the new girl. Like a summer breeze, she stood next to Miss Lowe with refreshing beauty. She looked worried, intimidated, and nervous, biting her lip in a way that made Dylan feel weak and stunned. He couldn’t take his eyes from her. He was lost in her presence.
Dylan gaped. God, her eyes!
They were perfect, emerald-green eyes that held a depth he could drown in. Her skin was tanned, smooth, and gentle, reflecting the room’s hard light. Her legs were strong, revealed by the short, elegant red dress that cut low above her breasts, which allowed them to pout with seductive power. Her hair was long, straight, and pristine black. Hair you could run your hand through like tall grass in the summer sun. Her face glitzed an image of dreams with rosy cheeks, and her bone structure was the work of a master carver. Her nose was a tiny gem, and her lips were sculpted petite. She was perfect.
From Dylan’s perspective, she was a gracious angel.
“Everybody, I would like you to meet a possible new member of the period, Lecodia Ale. Her parents are from Earth, although she was born aboard a galactic ship,” Miss Lowe introduced.
Lecodia looked at Miss Lowe and back at the period with an unnerved shuffle of her low-heeled black shoes.
“I want you all to make her feel welcome and at home,” Miss Lowe said.
Everybody sat silently. This was the first new introduction to the period in three years. Dylan had become accustomed to the daily repetitious crew that sat at their desks. The group had gelled in an agglomerate way. What would this new ray of light bring to the period?
Dylan wondered which person, if any, would Lecodia get close to? Would Jack enforce his wicked way on her? Would Joan or Lexine whisk her away after Intake never to be seen again? Would Drake terrify her into leaving the period? Dylan hoped not. He would love to become acquainted and
get to know her.
Miss Lowe directed Lecodia to her desk on Dylan’s right. His heart raced, his mind muddled. She approached his desk, looking at him, smiling at him.
Does this mean she likes me? Does this mean there’s hope?
Her hips were small, her walk enchanting. She passed him and sat at her desk. Dylan continued looking at her, unable to move. She turned and smiled at him, a smile that sent a shiver of infatuation up his spine, firing chemicals in his head that exploded like fireworks. Her hair dropped over her eye.
Oh god! Dylan thought. What am I to do?
Miss Lowe regained Dylan’s attention with her perspicuous tone of voice. “Chemistry! You have all been here nearly a year now, and at times I wonder why you are in this data room. Some of the work I have received lately lacks a key element. Can any of you tell me what has been missing?”
Everyone stayed silent. When Miss Lowe felt let down, you either stayed quiet or it would be your ass that got bitten.
“Lecodia, this doesn’t go for you. I’m sure you’ll be a role model for this period,” Miss Lowe said. “Okay I’ll tell you: Passion! If you want to learn and make something of yourself with anything, you must have passion. At times I think you are here just to pass time. Some of your work is bland and boring. It lacks flare. So, I want to know why some of you are here. Drake, start us off.”
“Well, I, ah…” Drake stuttered.
“Yes?”
“Well, this is an essential subject for my mechanics. See, with all the new metals, alloys, and fuel, to know chemistry is to know the mechanics of the mobile. This gives me an advantage over the scientifically retarded mechanics, those who think hydraulic ratchets and bolts are all there is to know about a race-mobile.”
Miss Lowe nodded. “Put some of that passion into your work and your grades will rocket.” She shifted her attention to the back of the room. “Jack you next.”
Dylan looked back at Jack, who sat upright from his relaxed position. His black shirt was opened two buttons to reveal his smooth chest. His loose-fitting jeans were a dark blue and his feet were fitted with sandy suede-coloured ankle-high boots. Silver-rimmed sunshades perched on his nose.
“Well Miss, I am here to learn the meaning of everything. It’s like the world is all made up of chemicals, atoms, and particles. I enjoy learning the structure of the world to better my understanding of life. I find it fascinating that chemistry is the fundamental subject that holds the key to the female evolution,” Jack said with cool charisma.
The room chuckled again.
“Okay, so you think women are products of chemicals?”
“Yes, Miss. Well, at least chemistry keeps me from making babies with a female. Contraception very important.” Jack smiled cheerfully as the class giggled.
“Jack, if you could just stop thinking down there and more up there, I think you would do well in this period,” Miss Lowe replied.
Leon put his hand up.
“Yes Leon?”
“Miss, ask Brandon why he’s here. I think you find all he does is learn how to concoct mind-bending chemicals.”
“Yeah, for you, you addict,” Brandon said.
“Is this true, Brandon?” Miss Lowe said seriously.
“No, Miss, it’s not true, I have never touched an illegal drug in my life. Honestly.”
“Sorry, Miss, I forgot, he’s not intelligent enough to make them himself. He just steals them from the local chemistry store,” Leon said.
Brandon grinned. “Leon has to take stuff to get it up. He’s impotent.”
Giggles broke through the room again.
“Enough, you two, or you’ll be staying later than planned tonight,” Miss Lowe said. She glanced around the room. “Okay, so some of you think this period is a joke. Dylan, what about you?”
Dylan looked up. “Let’s see. What I love about chemistry is the reaction. Two completely different elements meet each other and suddenly they join, fusing as one, creating a new element through a match made in heaven. They mutually co-exist, staying that way forever.” Dylan looked at Lecodia, who was facing front.
Leon and Jack eyed each other smiling as Dylan turned red in front of everyone.
“Yes well, thank you for a philosophical insight into the order of chemical reactions. Well done, keep the up good work.”
Miss Lowe moved behind her desk and sat. She pushed a button on her desktop, which initiated a computer keyboard, and an opaque glass monitor pane flipped up from the desktop.
“Everyone, consoles please,” she said.
Dylan watched Lecodia search for her button. He leaned over to assist her. “Hey, it’s just under the front.”
Lecodia smiled at him as she found it with her fingertip and pushed. “Thank you.”
Dylan hit his button. Throughout the room keyboards and glass-paned monitors flipped up on each intaker’s desk. Behind Miss Lowe the screen-board turned on with a light blue background.
“Don’t mention it,” Dylan said.
The flush keys of the keyboards were bordered by thin red lines, and the glass monitor panes held the image within its physical structure.
Miss Lowe began. “Last week I said we would be looking at the new metal named Chromisan.” She pressed another button, which activated a small holographic image that emanated from her desk and hovered above her eye line. The image was a shining silver tile of Chromisan that rotated slowly mid-air.
“Without this super strong and super light metal, sky-mobiles, super scrapers, and many other modern inventions would not be possible. It is this unique metal that’s responsible for humanity’s technological advances over the last millennium. Buildings are erected faster than ever. Today I would like to teach you all there is to know about the material, all the chemicals that brilliant people have mastered to fuse this miracle material, kind of like how Dylan explained.”
Dylan was embarrassed by her remark. What would Lecodia think? Would she think he was a distributor’s pet? A weak, useless intaker that sucked up to people just to get by?
Come on Dylan. Get it together; she thinks nothing of the sort.
A hot flush coursed through his body. He could feel the heat pushing through the skin on his face, causing a red glow.
Please don’t be looking at me, he thought.
Miss Lowe continued. “Over the next few weeks, we will be delving into the world of chemically enhanced materials. It will be an eye opener, an insight into the fabricated world we live in.”
A latecomer named Hammed Haman, the Indian student whom everyone loathed, interrupted when he came into the room. Nobody loathed his plain old-fashioned looks, but they loathed his brains. His life consisted of study, nothing more, nothing less. Every time Miss Lowe or any other distributor delivered a question, Hammed had the answer. He would already have studied the next week’s subject in all its complexity, being able to out-distribute the distributor.
Typically, Miss Lowe loved him and always flattered him. He was fine with everyone, he actually got on with everyone, but he also rubbed his superior intellect into people with preachy irritation. His camp mannerism and voice only made things worse when he really hit a nerve with the likes of Brandon.
The door lowered slowly behind Hammed as Brandon got the first word in. “Look who it is! Hammed Ala, Ala, Ala, la lah,” he said. His sarcasm was childlike.
“Better than being the dick head of the period.”
The room giggled.
Miss Lowe said, “Brandon, what have I told you about that?”
“Miss take no notice of the child, he can’t help it,” Hammed said.
Brandon laughed as Hammed sat at the desk next to him. “Only teasing, my man,” he said and extended his hand out to Hammed, who slapped it with a sideways high five.
“Hammed why are you late?” Miss Lowe asked.
“I apologise, Miss Lowe, for my lateness, there was a problem with the monorail and I was stranded for half hour mid-air. I think I am going to vomit.”
/> “All right, you know the Intake for today, yes?”
“Yes, Chromisan, the material fused by two modern compounds named Waximor and Driaxin. Two chemicals created by us humans over the past two millennia,” he said with ease.
Miss Lowe said, “I wish all of you would prepare and research like Hammed. It would make life so much easier for you all.”
Leon raised his hand again.
“Yes, Leon. It had better be something constructive.”
“Miss, I do my best, but I also have to work after Intake hours to support my study. We’re not all as fortunate as Hammed.”
“I must tell you that I to work after Intake. I work hard and still I manage to complete every piece of Intake work we are given,” Hammed replied.
Leon worked at a theme park named Adrenaline. The world was a haven of rides, a thrill seeker’s paradise, and a maximalist-coloured architectural world. Many of the speed-coasters pushed bodies to Gs that threatened faint minds. Once when Dylan visited, three women came off a coaster named Viper, complaining that the ride was too violent, fast, and furious. Dylan had been more than a few times, every time enjoying the rush and adrenaline-fuelled buzz of insane rides. Leon, occasionally, turned up at Intake with free passes. Whenever Dylan went with him, he nestled in at the amusement area where every known current game stood waiting to be played, plugging you into the virtual world, enabling you to become all kinds of different characters for the day. Dylan secretly envied Leon’s job, running rides for the public and getting free access to everything there. It’s where Leon spent most of his time.
“Are you listening Leon? That’s no excuse,” Miss Lowe said.
“All right, Miss. I have to remember, Hammed is a geek that makes you want to kill yourself for not being so bright.”
“Jealousy!” Hammed replied with aplomb.
“Gay, I think,” Brandon said.
“I am not gay, I’m just a very nice man,” Hammed said.
The period chuckled again.
Miss Lowe continued. “All right, everyone. Let’s get back to the intake, shall we? I will be typing the key factors that are needed to create the metal, from the temperature that both elements require to fuse and create Chromisan, to the atomic mass and weight of both elements. We will learn about the first, second, and third stage energy release points, and will learn everything else. Over the coming weeks we will be experimenting and making Chromisan ourselves. Lecodia, I think too many distributors hand out papers to intaker’s. I think not all intaker’s read them. Isn’t that right, Brandon?”