Chapter 29 #2
“You’re lucky you didn’t get demoted losing to a first year. How’d you manage that, Firefly?” Breaker said in a way that was asking to have his nose broken a second time. Elio shook his head in a way that was about to oblige him.
How did I get mixed up with these brutes?
“Even when I lose, I’m still better than fucking Mikhail or Leo.” He rolled his eyes, and I’d admit that his position over the rank three and four pilots was deserved and well-established. “Vann got lucky, and obviously the admins recognized that.” He rolled his eyes.
“If you’re fucking an admin for rank, you can just admit it. We won’t judge you.” Breaker poked the bear with a saber. “Since we both know you’re not sleeping in your own room every night.”
“I would definitely judge him,” I corrected.
The fact that clarifying that felt important in the moment told me I was as bad as both of them.
“But also, I’d like a shot at him next Evaluation to confirm his abilities for myself.
It does look likely that he’ll make rank very shortly, I want the opportunity to see him fight first hand before that happens. ”
“Don’t you go risking demotion too, now.” Breaker teased.
“I’m pretty sure we’re both so many points ahead of rank three, we could sit in a corner for two hours then hit self-destruct and still wouldn’t move a rank.
Not all of us live on the cusp of mediocrity.
” Elio scoffed, his ire fairly directed at our, conversely, underachieving companion.
He was right though. I’d secured my position, so I wasn’t terribly worried about losing it, and Elio was never actually far behind me.
He had an obsessive need to prove his worth, which was admittedly a large part of what drew me to him.
We both dealt with our internal battles with external over-achievement, and that part of me had, for better or for worse, immediately connected with that part of him.
Breaker, however, didn’t care in the slightest. If we hadn’t been put together as dorm mates, I likely wouldn’t have ever come to know him.
“That’s pretty confident for someone who just lost to a guy ranked in the 2000s” Breaker was more amused than offended. He wasn’t someone easily rattled.
Elio always tried though. “I’d say you should try Vann on too, but I don’t think you’ve ever finished a mission in the top fifty, so he’s out of the SIM before you wake up for the day.” Though he intended that as a jab, it was only insulting towards one of the men referenced in that statement.
“That’s quite a compliment for someone you hate,” I said as I started powering down the archives, knowing we’d all need sleep soon. This was interesting reconnaissance at the very least.
Elio just rubbed his neck and glanced away sheepishly.
“And this was a lot of free time used up on an otherwise unspectacular new recruit, don’t you think?
” Breaker addressed both of us. “It’s odd, isn’t it?
Four thousand new soldiers and this is the only one we’re talking about.
I can’t say I’ve bothered to look up the recruitment files for anyone else. ”
I paused, then met his hazel eyes. “He thinks differently.” I was still parsing the reasoning for myself, but that was the first one that formed easily.
Though I’d been mildly unsettled by Elio’s hyper focus, we’d all been doing the same since he arrived, and there had to be a reason for that beyond the fact that he was from the station I’d protected.
“Not only in the way he moves and reacts on the mat and dissects challenges, but in the way he analyzes and is willing to push back against what he’s told.
He has a strong mind. I’m guessing the reason he was slotted in with Elio instead of being relegated to the lower floors was because of this synchronization factor.
They likely picked up his potential Shinka compatibility in the neural scans during the entrance evaluation, and he drew all of our attention because that enhanced processing has made him formidable despite his unimpressive physical size.
” If he was slotted into Elio’s dorm room, Breaker’s mentorship, and my unit due to his neural scan… I wonder...
“I agree.” Breaker nodded. “There’s nothing interesting in his background, so these results explain the rest.”
It was a logical conclusion, even if I didn’t know how to approach this information.
Though I did find it interesting that I wasn’t the only one who had looked into his available files.
There really weren’t very many. He had the same amount of information recorded on him as any other completely ordinary, lower class station born man.
There was nothing about his birth or his parents, as most records pre-acquisition were destroyed in the war, but his citizen registration number, schooling, and draft enrollment was all easily researchable.
The fact that I’d cared enough to know that was yet another thing I should probably examine.
“I wouldn’t get so far ahead of ourselves.
” Elio shook his head, his arms crossed and a hint of irritation in his brow.
“He did well in an emulation of a Shinka, but the real thing is a different animal. Even if his sync is perfect in VR, that doesn’t mean he can keep it that way in an environment where the threats are real and death isn’t a game over.
The biggest flaw of the Shinkas is that they’re war machines that lose functionality and dexterity as a result of human distress and emotion. And the new guy seems… emotional.”
“Ha!” Breaker let out a pronounced laugh in a way that seemed completely accidental.
“Are you fucking serious? He seems emotional? From the guy who literally broke the kid to pieces because he beat you in VR, then coordinated a whole training plan just to torture him? You’re aware that anger is also an emotion, right? ”
“That was pettiness. Not anger.” Elio’s lips twitched, fighting the smile that was still so easy to see.
“The fuck it was. Do you know how long it took for both of us to figure out exactly why he was struggling?” Breaker motioned towards me, and I returned a supportive nod.
“I’m pretty sure if we rewind to the exact moment your sync dipped in your playback, it wasn’t because your unit was damaged.
It was because you were so overwhelmed by your cute little emotions. ”
Elio threw up his hands, having no legitimate way to contest that.
“Fine. Fair. But my point stands. I’m not assuming he’s anything special just because he can play a game well.
We all know men who did great in VR only to lose it once they made rank because they couldn’t keep their head when it was real. ”
“I suppose we’ll see what happens at orientation, since I have no doubt he’ll make it soon.
” Breaker shrugged it off. “At the end of the day, he’s our ally, so if he is especially gifted in a Shinka, it’s a good thing, right?
It shatters any ‘what if he’s a spy?’ theories, and explains all of these strange little coincidences.
” His gaze was teasing as it fell on Elio.
“We should all feel relieved that they accidentally drafted someone who has a natural gift for this, rather than looking for ways to break him down.”
“It would have been sad even by Gehenna or Axis Mundi standards if that was who they picked for a mole anyway.” Elio dismissed his mocking with a wave. “I’m still not sorry about the ribs though.”
“I’m sorry about the ribs. Next time you want to challenge one of my men, you’ll be going through me first.” I narrowed my eyes in Elio’s direction.
He was a brute, and it helped nothing.
“Scary, scary.” Elio snorted. “But you know I’d be happy to roll with you again anytime, Princess.”
I sighed loudly, with exaggerated irritation at the nickname.
He’d started calling me that as a joke after he found out I was the adopted son of a high ranking general and diplomat, but it stuck, and now he used it more often than I’d like.
Fortunately, he had the sense to never use it in front of anyone else.
Other than Breaker anyway, but he hardly counted as a ‘someone else’ at this point.
It was almost strange how effortlessly we’d bonded over the years, me being someone who never bonded with anyone.
To my father’s great chagrin, I’d never been a charismatic or social person—I succeeded purely because I was a driven one.
Relying on others was a dangerous way to exist in a world like this.
It was likely why he knew he would have to force me through the match system if he wanted me to pass on my gifts.
In some strange way, that independence was what drew us to each other.
Three people who refused to care about another soul, finding community as fellow outcasts.
I wasn’t entirely comfortable with how much I valued these friendships, but the mutual benefit justified the risk of developing attachment.
I wondered how Vann fit into that equation.
I covered the blinking green light on my CHRONO that indicated a new match, hoping no one else had noticed.
I’d entertained a couple dates so far, but only enough to appease Father and make it appear I was making an effort.
He’d given me until graduation, only because he’d not been satisfied with the options offered by the matchmaker either, but at some point, I’d have to bend.
“Let’s get some sleep,” I said, as we exited the archives, allowing the door to slide into locked position behind us. The stars were already out, while a fresh cycle of rose scented air washed through the atmosphere. “I have a feeling it’s going to be a long month.”
We started toward the dorms, but Elio didn’t follow.
“I’ve got a spot,” he said before either of us could ask again. “I’ll see you guys in the morning.”
I frowned, but I nodded anyway. Offering charity was the last thing Elio Marx would want from anyone. If he said he had a place to sleep, I believed him.
It wasn’t surprising that he was going out of his way to let Vann have the room while he had to improvise. “Going without” was his default. But the more I thought on it, it was rather curious considering how much contempt he feigned toward the recruit.
Elio was still Elio. He didn’t know how to take something from anyone, let alone someone who he saw as more in need than he was. That sensitivity and brutality was such a fascinating contradiction.
With a shake of my head, I walked back to the dorms with Breaker. The next VR Evaluation would come up quickly. I looked forward to seeing why he was so obsessed with his roommate for myself.