“Well, glad to see ya come around.”
“Keep this up, and I might even invite you to my next barbeque.”
“What the hell are you doing in my head?”
“Oh, look, you’re here. Best of luck and all that,” Chief gibed before fading out.
“I can still see you in my HUD,” Kaiden said before the avatar disappeared. “Cheeky bastard.” He shook his head as he opened the door to the room.
A lone chair stood on a circular pad in the middle of the room. Kaiden walked over to it. “I’m here, what’s next?”
“A moment, Kaiden. Sasha is finishing up tallying your score from the firearms test,” Laurie said.
“Got it, but do I just twiddle my thumbs or what?”
“You can go ahead and take a seat. I’m sure he’s almost ready.”
Kaiden obliged, sat down in the chair, and leaned back. He pondered Chiyo’s words. Should he answer like he wanted to? He tried to make sense of the words. Why shouldn’t he simply go with his experience? He was good at shooting, fighting, and general violence, sure, and he had some other basic skills, but the combination probably wouldn’t turn heads or anything, even outside this place.
He wasn’t a hacker. Most of his engineering knowledge was mechanical rather than technological, but maybe that could be something? He thought back to the Tsuna he had met at the train station, Geno. He wondered if he cared what others thought he was supposed to do, or if something like that was even a factor to them. Maybe stressing about something like this was a completely foreign idea to them, or maybe they were like ants or something and had a job right out of the womb.
Then he began to wonder if that was how the Tsuna were born in the first place and realized he was getting off track.
“Initiate Jericho.” Sasha’s voice intruded, pulling Kaiden from his daze.
“Howdy, Commander Sasha.”
“It is Professor here.”
“The only other professor I know so far is Laurie. It’s giving me mental whiplash to think of you both that way.”
“I…hmm, I suppose it is not technically inaccurate. I would prefer to differentiate myself from him in this case.”
“You know I can hear the both of you,” Laurie muttered.
“Nothing against you, Prof, just a difference in character and esteem,” Kaiden pointed out reasonably.
“Ah, but of course. The, ahem, commander is a good man, but he is leagues apart from myself in terms of wit and glamour.”
“Yeah, of course.” Kaiden resisted the urge to snicker at the unabashed vanity.
“We are prepared to begin the professional evaluation part of the exam. You will answer an assortment of questions with regard to your personality, preferences, and skillset, along with a number of opinion-based questions that you are to answer in line with your own views and values. The exam will end with a handful of different scenarios that will be created according to potential professions garnered from the previous answers you gave, so make sure to consider all options carefully,” Sasha explained.
“Yeah, I gotcha,” Kaiden acknowledged.
“Also, the EI will not be allowed to help you in any manner during this exam…not that the EI should tell you what to do.”
“If the EI did try to manipulate him, that would be rather a concern,” Laurie admitted.
“How’s that?” Kaiden asked
“Are you ready, Initiate?”
He sat back and folded his arms. “Gotcha, let’s do it.”
Chapter Eleven
“Does emotional music have a significant effect on you?” a robotic female voice asked, yet another of the seemingly hundreds of questions Kaiden had answered thus far.
Dear God, this was dull.
“Why yes, Ode to Joy always gets my lions a-shakin’,” he responded, a definite sneer in his tone.
“Understood. Registering answer as ‘yes.’ Other response is unnecessary.”
“My ass.”
“Please await next question.”
Kaiden groaned as he slumped back into the chair. It seemed like he had been answering these questions for ages. More than an hour, at least, though it could’ve been ten, or even a couple of days or weeks. He couldn’t see a clock.
"Do you enjoy activities of your own choosing?”
Were they just fucking with him at this point?
“I only obey the commands of great penguin gods of the frozen north. Enjoyment is unnecessary,” he jeered, his voice lowering to a dull monotone.
“Please answer in the positive or negative.”
“Please answer my prayers and kill me,” Kaiden droned.
“Initiate Kaiden, please take this seriously. I told you at the beginning that answering all questions truthfully will help in deciding not only the final scenarios of the exam, but potential paths to consider for the rest of your tenure here,” Sasha ordered, his tone crisp and no-nonsense.
“What does this have to do with anything? The first handful seemed to make sense. Now, I just feel like I’m on some quack’s big chair.”
“You are in the psychiatric portion of the test. This is simply to obtain a more solid reading of your personality for your profile.”
“Are you telling me everybody has to go through this?”
“No, others didn’t tamper with their prior permanent record.”
“This is starting to feel like discrimination.”
“Perhaps. Maybe counselor Mya had the incorrect information. I can call up the police divisions in Texas. Perhaps they wouldn’t mind taking a look to see if everything is accurate.”
“I often partake in activities I find enjoyable, yes.”
“Understood, loading next question.” The computer acknowledged his capitulation with not even a slight hesitation.
“Very good. You are just past half complete, so keep it up,” Sasha said.
Kaiden fumed and began to wonder if it was possible to somehow knock himself out in virtual reality.
“Questionnaire finished. Loading mission scenarios.”
Kaiden almost felt like doing a twirl. He was finally done with all the hum-drum questions. He could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Assuming, of course, that whatever those scenarios were didn’t take an eternity, either.
“Well done, Initiate.” Sasha congratulated him with brisk approval. “The system will load three predetermined scenarios. You have only your wits and personal knowledge at your disposal to find a solution to the problem set out before you. There are multiple options and no single right answer.”
“I gotcha… Wait, predetermined? I thought you said that the questions helped decide the final scenarios or whatever?”
“To some extent, sure, but for SCs, what they are brought in for typically determines the grouping they fall into. The questionnaire narrows the field down slightly.”
“What the hell? Why did I have to go through all that?”
“I told you before, we had to make corrections to your profile. Mya found most of what could be found of your real history, but other things were unaccounted for, so we simply decided this would be the easiest option,” Sasha explained.
Kaiden could swear he could feel the onset of an aneurysm. “So what, I’m here to get a handle on my statistics?”
“No, that’s what we’re here for. You’re here to see what profession and skills you may wish to pursue, along with calibrating the Animus for your unique situation, of course.”
“You couldn’t just ask me?”
“This would provide more accurate measures,” Sasha confided. “Plus, would you have taken it seriously if we didn’t do it under the guise of it being criteria for enrollment?”
“Under the… Wait, I don’t need to be here?” Kaiden’s mind began to fizzle, and he ground his teeth.
“All special cases need to come here, my boy. Other initiates come through to get a better understanding of their potential career paths and what skills they should practice or cons
ider during their stay. I mean, did you really think someone coming here as a mechanic or broker would also need to be a skilled marksman?” Laurie trilled a short laugh. “Could you imagine? Training all your life to be an EI technician, and suddenly, someone thrusts a rifle in your hands?”
“Wait, you haven’t learned how to shoot a gun? Even after being here for like a decade?” Kaiden asked incredulously.
“I have robots for dirty work. Besides, I helped design that barrier around the school for good reason.”
Kaiden could feel his eye twitch. He recalled his conversation with Chiyo. She never mentioned having to do this. Instead, it had sounded like she came there knowing what she was going to do… Then that meant—
“So was I getting shot at for kicks?”
“No, for practice and combat readings. I wouldn’t put too fine a point on it. You will be fired at plenty as your time goes on,” Sasha stated.
“Don’t be so fidgety, Kaiden. You’ll pop a blood vessel. Besides, most who come here do so to work in combat fields anyway, just in varying capacities.”
“I…I just… I thought you people were supposed to be professional.”
“Oh, we are. Very professional,” Sasha responded, each word drilling into Kaiden’s head. “One thing you will learn, along with every student here, is that professionalism is about getting the job done, not worrying about how you look while doing it. Or even the methods, for that matter.”
Kaiden wanted to snap back a sharp retort, but as the last of Sasha’s words sank in, he decided to keep it to himself.
“How did I get myself into this?” he wondered aloud.
“That would be me if you recall.” Sasha sounded amused.
“Ah…right, yeah, thanks for that.”
“You say that sarcastically now, but I was not trying to fool you during our first meeting, Initiate Kaiden. Not everyone gets this opportunity. I would make a wager that by the end of this year, you will see the fruits of your labor and thank me sincerely.”
Kaiden snorted. “What makes you so confident?”
“The same thing that made you stay when you were told the debt you would accrue, the same thing that gave you the confidence to allow Professor Laurie put that implant in your skull just to get an edge, and the same thing that stops you from demanding we terminate the exam you now seem to believe is pointless.” Sasha paused for a moment, letting the words hang briefly in the air. “The thing that drives you in your life that tells you there is something to be gained here. What your life could be entices you more than simply going back to how things were.”
Kaiden pondered this for a moment, looking at the blank screen in front of him as he brushed against the tattoo on his arm underneath his shirt. He recalled his time back in the Dead-Eyes. He’d had purpose there. That was why he gave it his all, why he learned and adapted and became the best shot and fighter he could be.
He had a real purpose back when he could hear the cheerful voices of his friends after a successful job, the camaraderie whenever they mourned a loss together, and the confidence of going into the fray with the baddest bastards in Texas.
He didn’t have that now.
Sasha continued, “This academy must seem like no more than a business to you, Kaiden. I will admit that certain evils must exist to keep the world turning, as it were. However, I would not be here if it were so clinical. Professor Laurie would not be here if there were no opportunities to advance his work and see it blossom almost immediately.”
Kaiden gripped his arm, tapping his finger on the taut muscle.
“If it means anything, I did not simply offer you admission because I could see you knew how to make a fist. You took on a group of thugs to help a person you did not know, and you beat them with focus and ease, not simply to fight.”
“I was trying to get a job as a bouncer. It seemed like a good show,” Kaiden admitted half-heartedly.
“Yet you still chose this over a guaranteed job.”
“Yeah, well, that guy gave me his chip, hyped it up, you needed bodies, and it seemed like it could be interesting. Besides, it’s starting to seem like I’m nothing more than another cog in y’all’s machine.”
“For what it’s worth, I would have offered you my recommendation without Initiate Hargrove handing you his chip,” Sasha said. “We may not know each other all that well, but if you give me any credit at all, make it that I am not a person of blind charity.”
Kaiden stopped tapping his finger and exhaled, rocking his head left and right until he heard a few pops. “This got real rather quick.”
“It always has been. You’re simply catching up.”
Kaiden smirked. “I guess, from a certain point of view, you’re right. If nothing else, I’d say you’re pretty good with words.”
“I’m a commander, I have to be.”
“Ah, dammit. I guess I’ll just have to get used to things being a little nutty around here. Start the scenarios.”
“Right away,” Laurie shouted.
Though Kaiden couldn’t see him, he heard a rustle and an affirmative grunt, which sounded like Sasha had given his approval. “Your first two scenarios have no time limit, but the longer you go on, the more it will affect your final score.”
“This for real or another score for giggles?”
“Always real, Initiate. If you’re asking whether there’s some sort of consequence, I can ask the chefs in the cafeteria to give you an extra cookie if you do well.”
“Ha-ha, smartass.”
“Respect the rank, Initiate,” Sasha reminded him. “Your final question will have a five-minute time limit, so be prepared. Starting in three…two…one…”
The board in front of Kaiden flashed to life again. He saw a holographic alleyway appear, revealing a wire-framed figure holding another in front of it with a gun to its head.
“Scenario: An assailant that you have tracked down has taken a hostage. Your gun is drawn, but it threatens to kill the hostage unless you back away. What do you do?”
Kaiden thought for a moment. “Do I gotta bring him in alive?”
“Unnecessary.”
Kaiden studied the image. “It’s easy then. Move the gun down as if you’re gonna put it away, then angle the shot just above the hostage’s shoulder and fire. It will clip them but won’t be too severe, and it’ll hit the shooter dead center in the head, a relatively clean kill.
“Possible faults: Reaction time of shooter, precision of shot, performing this action in quick succession. Demonstration needed.”
The image grew and expanded until it filled the room, Kaiden was now ten yards away from the image of the shooter. His gun, Debonair, appeared in his right hand.
“New fault: Position of shooter and assailant. Assailant’s head is over hostage’s right shoulder, shooter is left-handed.”
“Now I’m starting to see why you guys need better info,” Kaiden mused. The figures began to move, indicating the beginning of the demonstration. He made as if to move his gun down and quickly flicked his wrist, shifting the gun to his left hand. In one motion, he aimed and fired. The shot sliced into the hostage’s shoulder then pierced the assailant’s head. The figure went limp and the hostage moved away, holding its shoulder.
“I’m ambidextrous,” Kaiden said with a confident smirk, Debonair evaporating in his hand.
“Demonstration complete, answer proven. Adding new info into data banks. Loading next scenario.”
The map shrank again, this time changing to what seemed to be the floor of an office building. The wire-frames turned red and separated into four figures in a group. Then two yellow-colored wire-frames appeared across the hall, barricaded in a room. A final blue-colored wire-frame was just outside the room, pressed against the wall.
“Scenario: A terrorist group has infiltrated a server farm. Two are in heavy armor with heavy weapons. You are represented by the blue figure; the yellow figures are civilians. How do you eliminate the terrorists while saving the civilians?”
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“I gotta keep the civilians safe? That’s inconvenient.”
“To clarify, the primary objective is to eliminate the terrorists. The civilians are expendable.”
“Well, that’s way more convenient,” Kaiden chirped. “But I’m guessing I would be docked points if they die?”
“Correct.”
“Then they’re lucky I’m competitive…” Kaiden studied the map. He could probably take out the two without armor easily. There wasn’t a lot of room to maneuver, so if the two heavy terrorists had explosives or miniguns, he was screwed—or the civilians would be, at least, if they started shooting wildly.
He looked a little more closely at the room, focusing his attention on the details. The terrorists were in the server bay, while the civilians seemed to be in an adjacent area—maybe another hallway that was barricaded due to lockdown?
He recalled talking to one of the techies in the Dead-Eyes. They were preparing to infiltrate a server farm themselves, trying to get access to the offshore accounts of a conglomerate head for some easy cash. He remembered that the techie was insistent that they only use archaic weapons with real bullets because of something to do with the fire system.
It clicked “Do I got my gun on me? Debonair?”
“For this scenario, yes.”
“Then I would go into the room with the civilians, firing at the ceiling before I closed and locked the door. The fire safety system would activate and drain all the air out of the room, suffocating the terrorists.”
“Understood. Solution plausible and accepted. Beginning final scenario.”
Kaiden cracked his knuckles. He was enjoying this.
The map changed again. This time, a long hallway stretched before him with two paths cutting across it. On one side stood six red figures, and on the other, four blue figures with one slumped over.
“Final Scenario: You and a team of three other soldiers are dealing with an opposing force. One of your team is injured. They will not survive without medical assistance, but they are too weak to administer it themselves. They require the help of one of the other team members. The primary objective is the elimination of the opposing force.”
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