Chapter 15
The Virtual Zone materialized around me.
It was a typical beginner’s war scenario—almost childish in its simplicity and lack of real threats.
But for most of the recruits, this was the first time they’ll have ever experienced what syncing feels like, so it was within reason to dumb it down.
Chances were likely that a majority of them wouldn’t even make it into the mission portal on this first go.
While I greatly preferred the real thing, this piloting emulation was impressively accurate to the feel and difficulty of building the mental bridge with a machine, and allegedly, some people really struggled with letting go of the idea of their real bodies in favor of this one.
The briefing played, detailing a remedial locate and regroup objective. Limit damage, blah blah blah. They hadn’t even added the challenge of having navigation and tracking beacons go dark.
I located a pair of units on the map, one static, and the other closing in quickly.
There were other options, but that one was closest and would let me clear the stage the fastest, so I could get extra free time.
By the stars, I needed it with how badly I’d been sleeping lately.
Our weekly free day couldn’t come fast enough.
In Lamassu, I could move much faster than this base model emulation, and I had quite a few more weapons at the ready.
I’d modified my Shinka extensively to upgrade agility and power.
Though every now and again, it was good to revert to a standard unit.
It was like adding weights to a run, and it made Lamassu feel that much more untouchable by comparison.
This would be too easy if I was always allotted superior equipment, even if the only reason my Shinka was so powerful was due to my own handiwork.
An enemy warship located me easily, which was expected considering I was making zero attempt to be stealthy in any way, shape, or form. It flashed red and started firing.
Adorable.
I dodged each laser shot with a quick shuffle, then I leaped and took hold of the tail end of the ship.
Using the propulsion jets on my back, I increased acceleration to a murderous velocity to slam the thing into the ground.
A single shot into its core, and the ship exploded behind me as I continued toward my objective.
The first unit came into view, and the name of the pilot immediately etched itself across my HUD.
‘Vann Callan’ it said, and instant irritation flooded my whole soul, the emotional shift damaging my Sync rating down to 99%.
“No fucking way,” I groaned aloud. How was he already in the mission sphere of the simulation?
This was his first time in a Shinka cockpit, right?
Unless he was some kind of fucking spy, he should still be working out how to make both legs move individually and activate his jets.
He sure as fuck shouldn’t have already initiated the mission and located another soldier.
Fuck, maybe Breaker was right.
.With a shake of my head, I continued toward the target, refusing to believe what I saw with my eyes until I was absolutely positive I’d not misread the HUD that was clear as day.
“Let’s go. We just need to find one more,” Vann’s clear voice said through the linked COMM system, speaking to the other unit who was huddling behind a broken wall like a scared child.
That one looked more like a first timer who stepped into the SIM too soon.
Maybe one who accidentally activated his propulsion unit and couldn’t control where he landed.
It was likely luck alone that even got him to the starting line.
But oddly, Vann wasn’t the one who was cowering. On the contrary, he seemed to be moving easily, and his motions were well articulated and about as natural as he was in his real body.
I would love to tell myself it wasn’t actually him, and there was somehow another Vann Callan in our ranks, but I wasn’t in the business of lying to myself.
“Data override.” I requested of my Shinka. “Rename Unit ‘Vann Callan’ to ‘Mishka.’”
The HUD corrected his name to the one he deserved, and my SYNC restored to 100%. It would override his name on everyone else’s HUDs too, and I would not be apologizing for that.
“I don’t know how to move. This thing is barely listening to me.
It was an accident that I ended up in the portal,” the other worthless unit said over the COMM, half crying, half in hysterics, which both of us were close enough to pick up now.
Scanning the cowering unit, he had four damaged zones.
He must have been attacked on his way to being a sobbing waste of data.
I rolled my eyes, not wanting to help either one of them. Once I stepped into that arena and marked the mission as complete, either I would get dragged down in rank, or both of them would get promotions, and I didn’t want to be a part of either of those results.
I made a quick scan. The next nearest unit was approximately Twenty-four kilometers West. I could cover that in a couple minutes, but those minutes would be enough to degrade my overall rating if someone like Seba or Mikhail or Leo finished faster than I did.
I didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter if I cared about keeping my rank.
“Sebastian Takeyama, Orion Jameson, Leo Davish. Mission complete.” The Mission Status drone announced for everyone in the game to hear. Right on cue.
My expression flattened. Of course he’d already finished. He probably grabbed the other two and dragged them to each other just to get the top mark. If I hadn’t hesitated, I would have beat him for once.
By the stars, I groaned to myself. That left me no choice, and I hated these options.
But this was fine. Just because I had to help, that didn’t mean we’d all get the same results. Not if all of us didn’t come back in one piece.