Chapter 22
Well, short of running into Elio again.
Although…
I thought back to the talk I’d had with Breaker.
He’d obviously known Elio for a while, and if I was going to have to keep sharing a room with him, it would make more sense to try to better establish that relationship.
He gave me glimpses of being a passable human being in between his bouts as a terrible one, so this could make him respect me.
Would proving myself to him in the simulator really change the way he saw me outside of it though?
I couldn’t say I’d ever established friendship by punching someone in the face before, but what if that was legitimately a sound strategy with him?
He was a rough person, overly aggressive, and he was quick to revert to touch when dealing with me.
It was noticeable the way he hated me so much, and yet would grab me and examine me via his hand instead of just looking at me from across the room like I was something abhorrent.
Was that the language that Elio spoke? Physical touch?
That was fine. The more time I spent in this simulation, the more I felt confident that I might be able to stand up to him in a Shinka.
This was the one place he didn’t overpower me, and there was no reason I couldn’t move a little faster than he could.
If I was keeping up with Sebastian, I was sure I could keep up with my brute of a roommate.
Resolved, I climbed into my pod, slipped my hands and feet into the control spheres, then inhaled deeply as the LYNC helmet clamped down on my face. With a flash of white, I entered the practice sphere and opened my eyes in the body of my machine.
The moment I had control, I followed the coordinates to the starting point, wasting no time getting oriented, because he wouldn’t either. Abruptly, the portal grabbed me, and I entered the mission.
The disembodied voice of our instructor filled my ears, as a mission briefing stretched across my vision.
“As Gehenna has debuted a technology that attempts to mimic the abilities of our Shinka units, it will be important going forward that all units are prepared to face a much more capable threat. For years, we’ve trained to take down the cross wing ships, tanks, and drones that Gehenna used to patrol their airspace, but as you all know, that’s no longer adequate.
Which is why, for today’s Evaluation, it’s time to test your combat abilities against another humanoid machine. ”
Another humanoid machine? Were they emulating Ghuls or pitting us against each other?
Professor Kitagawa continued: “Locate and engage with another soldier in the simulation. Battles will be graded on consistency of sync, effectiveness of technique, as well as the technical winner of each bout. There are no limitations. May the stars guide you, Cadets.”
Cute, succinct, and exactly the test I wanted.
A little PVP never hurt anyone. This was probably a completely foolish and damn near suicidal thought, but immediately I determined I had to find Elio before he ended up in a battle with someone else.
Maybe I’d win, maybe I’d lose, and it may or may not be good for my ranking prospects, but no matter what, I’d give him a fight that would make him acknowledge me.
I ran a scan of the surrounding area. Much like before, only a handful of units had populated the VR space at this point, so there weren’t many possibilities to choose from, but the possibilities that were available would all be high ranking and capable.
Apparently they’d relied on the low expectations of new recruits to self-regulate who was in the simulator at any given time, figuring low ranking soldiers would enter the match at similar intervals, while the most capable would always arrive first. I’d gathered that some of the soldiers struggled to sync, and I was just one of the lucky ones who managed to start the mission with soldiers well above my weight class.
Sebastian and Elio were both guaranteed to be in the simulation already.
Breaker may have been too, but I didn’t know when he typically showed up, being ranked 101.
Any of them would be good for my ranking, but I was set on who I wanted.
I homed in on my first potential match, but when it wasn’t a name I recognized, I jetted away unseen and kept looking.
After a few more very careful identify and dashes, I found him.
He was moving swiftly across the landscape of old-century high rises and sky scrapers, and he was en route to engage with his first match, just four kilometers to the North.
I spent all of a split second judging his trajectory and time of interception, then I charged in to assure I would be that opponent instead.
I maximized the boost in my back unit, and I ambushed him from behind. He never saw me coming before I slammed him into a building with the full, blunt force of my metal behemoth.
The structure crumbled to dust under the impact, and Elio reacted with the speed and adeptness I was expecting. He swung on me, getting a hold of my machine’s arm then tangling our Shinkas into a tumbling heap of sparks and noise.
Before he could get me on the ground beneath him, I activated a shoulder cannon, and I blasted him hard in the arm to separate us.
It wasn’t enough to do permanent damage—the Diacynn compound was accurately lauded for its toughness even in the simulation—but it was enough to force him to retreat a few steps and break his hold.
The VR simulator warped again, this time transporting us to our own private server.
“Elio Marx, Rank 2. Mishka, Rank 2230: Battle Engaged.” The feminine robotic voice announced.
I pursed my lips at that reminder. I really needed to correct that nickname in the official registry.
“Ballsy.” Elio scoffed, though the amusement in his voice was easily perceptible.
“You could have picked a fight with absolutely anyone on your map to raise your rank, and you picked me? I’m honored.
” The Shinka in front of me shook its head, the mannerisms of the pilot coming through painfully pronounced even as we both stood in virtually constructed robotic bodies.
He was so distinctly Elio, it was almost ridiculous.
“Though, I’ll admit that I considered hunting you down myself, so you saved me some effort. ”
“I’m glad to know you’ve been thinking about me.
” If it was possible to roll my eyes in my LYNC helmet, I definitely did.
If it was possible to smirk, he definitely did.
“You just gave me such a nice rank boost before, I figured beating you in here would be a great opportunity to get within that top 1000, so I can start beating you in the real thing.” Was I being a cocky bitch?
Absolutely. But Elio spoke that language fluently.
He laughed, which wasn’t really the reaction I was going for, but okay. “You’re adorable.” Alright, well that REALLY wasn’t what I was going for. “What part of the last two months has led you to believe you might win this?”
“Why don’t you try me and find out?” I took on a fighting stance.
“Gladly, Mishka.” He rolled his neck, and cracked his knuckles in a quiet display of intimidation. “If you want to play, I’ll play with you.” There was a touch of exhilaration in the way he growled those words, and my heart beat monitor picked up a few extra beats per minute.
One single breath was my starting gun. No further ado, Elio lunged for me, bare fisted, no weapons, just him.
I managed to dodge the first strike, but only barely, while the second connected with startling force, and the third grazed my arm as I forced myself to keep up.
I was taking everything I knew, doing my best to memorize whatever tells he might have, but Elio was brutal and relentless.
Naturally, his Shinka didn’t visibly convey his emotions or facial expressions, which limited my options for reading him, but his body language spoke loudly all its own.
He’d continued withholding weapons for some reason, while a hint of a laugh mixed with the sound of metal slamming against metal every time I missed a step.
“Are you here to fight or run away?” He taunted, before he pounded a fist into my shoulder so hard that I had to bite my lip to stave off the scream of pain.
The impact was hard enough to crack the plating.
It radiated through my nerves and sent me staggering backwards.
“Come on now, I’ve seen you spar with Seba. I know you’re better than this.”
I thought I was better than this too, but I’d never fought with Elio before, and I may have underestimated him by assuming he’d be less than Sebastian.
In hindsight, I couldn’t say where this dumb confidence had come from, but I was regretting challenging him now when I could have picked literally anyone else and had a better chance.
No, I’d figure him out. He wasn’t going to beat me. He was just playing around, not even using his blades, because he thought I was so small and insignificant that he didn’t need them.
The next time he swung on me, I reacted immediately, catching his left forearm in both hands and clamping down hard.
He tried to jerk back, but he wasn’t stronger than me here, and I didn’t give him the time before I activated my forearm cannon and rapidly fired directly into his elbow joint.
The hot energy bullets burned through metal and circuitry, sending small explosions through his circuitry.
I’d nearly severed the joint when he shoved his heel into my Shinka’s stomach and activated his propulsion jets, forcing us apart with a fast, hard, and violent thrust. I lost my grip on him for only a second, then in one smooth motion, he pulled a sword from his back and sliced clean through my right shoulder, severing my entire arm at the base with ruthless efficiency.