Chapter 44 #2
I couldn’t wrap my mind around it well enough to believe it.
Mom hadn’t ever done anything like that to me.
I would know. I liked to play at the lab when Vann and I were both too young to stay home alone, but they never strapped us down and forced surgery on us or anything.
No one shoved me full of IVs and tubes and implanted things into my brain.
Did they?
That’s insane. I couldn’t read too much into this right now. It was neither the time nor the place nor the person I could reasonably question deeply.
Deep breath.
If this alleged modification meant I could pilot a Shinka better than most, and that was all it had done, there was no reason to break down as though my world was ending.
Like he said, this was a good thing. A gift I didn’t know I’d been given.
A gift from my mother, no less, that would live on in me. That was how I had to look at it.
It was still possible they’d been mistaken anyway. The governing bodies of Mictlan would never approve of performing potentially fatal experiments on a girl. They had to have been mistaken about what they’d found.
Perhaps what they’d actually seen, but refused to acknowledge, was that I was simply a woman with a female brain.
Maybe what they were calling a Vessel, like some evolved form of humanity, was actually just the ignored half of the species who they didn’t bother to study in the context of war and duress.
That made more sense than assuming mom had been secretly experimenting on her own kids to make them into efficient killers one day.
But he said this was present in their top soldiers—did Sebastian have this mutation, too?
Did Elio? Did Breaker? Or was I different from all of them?
I wanted to ask more questions, but I wasn’t in a position to draw any more attention to myself than I already had.
This was dangerous territory, already, and I didn’t need them looking any further into my family.
My secret limited me in so many ways, and I hated it more than ever right now, as too much of my world was starting to crack under its weight.
“Apologies if this is all a bit startling. I’ve probably said way too much, so please don’t give it too much mind. Would you like to meet your Shinka?” Professor Kitagawa brought the subject back to where my head should be right now.
“Yes,” I managed despite everything. I had a lot to read up on after this, but this was what I’d wanted all along.
I couldn’t let this taint everything I’d strived for.
And ultimately, it didn’t change anything, really.
Whatever they’d seen, and whatever they’d assumed, my achievements were still my own.
This was just information.
New, interesting, but unimportant information. The kind of thing that you would hear and say “oh wow, no shit? That’s crazy.” Not the kind of thing that would send you into a psychotic spiral and question everything you’ve ever known to be true.
Definitely not…
A large hanger door opened, and I entered the warehouse where rows upon rows of Shinkas were positioned among the walkways. Though I’d been here with Elio, it felt distinctly different knowing I was now here with a very different intention.
Most soldiers were still in Basics at this hour, so it was completely empty, save for the mechanics servicing the units. I followed Kitagawa across the overhanging pathways, taking time to look at each unit as we passed them.
All of them were basic and unmodified in this side of the hanger.
I wondered if any of these ones had names, or if they were all just called by their serial numbers.
There was very little artistry to any of it.
The machines were functional weapons, after all.
All of the fanfare that had been put into units like Elio’s Lamassu, or Sebastian’s Vetala, or Breaker’s Kishi were more just childish flights of fancy, giving humanity to equipment.
“As you can see, not all units are customized, but some are extensively so.” Kitagawa spoke as we walked the rows.
“We allow our soldiers to customize their Shinka Units as much as they’d like once they reach the top two hundred, and some take advantage more than others.
Once you rise higher in the ranks, you’ll be allowed to work on your own machine if you’d like.
” That answered the question I’d already assumed the answer to.
“As long as all modifications are able to pass inspection and general functions aren’t compromised, we trust our soldiers to aid in furthering the progression of our technology. ”
That surprised me. “What happens after graduation? Do we get to keep our Shinkas once we’ve modified them?”
Kitagawa kept walking, eyes always forward.
“A bond formed with a Shinka is unique, and once a neural link has been created between pilot and machine, and the pilot has gotten used to the weight and function of their unique modifications, it’s best to continue to foster that cohesion.
Every year at graduation, we receive new base model Shinkas to replace those who have moved on and taken their machines with them.
” A fair and logical policy, I thought. “Just know that if you should work on your own unit and it fails inspection or is no longer operable at the minimum level, you will lose rank, and should you fall out of the top one thousand, another pilot will be given your Shinka, and your modifications will be surrendered and destroyed.”
I nodded in understanding, as we continued through the massive hangar, passing row after row after row.
It was odd to think about the fact that I was inheriting someone else’s machine, when it seemed like living in the bodies of these metal suits created such an intimate link.
Not to mention the fact that I’d personally nudged someone out of the ranking in order to do so, so there was now a soldier who lost his piloting privileges to me.
People like Elio were ranked so high, it was near impossible that he would ever lose his unit, and that confidence was evident in the extremely extensive work that was done to every facet of the machine.
As we made it to an end of the hanger where the lowest ranking soldiers had their Shinkas stored, there wasn’t so much as a streak of paint on the base model metal giants.
“This one will be yours.” He directed my attention to a singular unit in the furthest corner.
It was nothing special: a bland, unmodified machine, not unlike the one we worked on in Mechanics class.
It didn’t have any branding or color or decals, outside of the general markings of the Democratic Territories of Mictlan’s insignia on each shoulder.
It was a blank slate that I could do with as I pleased if I could just move up a bit further in the order.
Maybe after all of the third years graduated, I would have my chance.
Which was infinitely exciting. I couldn’t wait to make this machine completely my own.
“I know it’s hard to wait to customize your own machine, but with how you’ve been performing, I would be shocked if you aren’t within the top two-hundred within the year.
You’ll now be joining the live drills during the week to start familiarizing yourself with your unit.
You’ll still do a majority of your training in the simulator, as we can’t afford to rip the limbs off of our real machines.
” He side-eyed me as he said it, and I sheepishly sank into myself, There had, perhaps, been a lot of ripped off arms in my short tenure in VR.
“But those are good skills to have should you find yourself on a real battlefield, so I would like to encourage you to continue going all out in your VR training, while getting used to the real weight and intensity of a Shinka unit during the live exercises.”
I was too awestruck to answer, and I had to mentally shake myself to get back into the moment. “Of course,” I said, not able to come up with any more eloquent a response. “I won’t let you down.”
My previous fears, insecurities, and questions seemed irrelevant in light of the hulking metal beast in front of me. This was everything I came here for. It was real, and it was mine. I couldn’t wrap my head around it, yet I was overwhelmed by a sense of awe and joy at the reality.
“Excellent.” Professor Kitagawa started walking me around the raised walkways that were situated at my machine’s waist line.
“Then let me give you the tour.” We paced around to the back of my Shinka, where a set of metal stairs led up to the hatch.
“You’ve seen the Shinkas up close and personal in your class with Dr. Dorian, I’m sure, so I imagine you already know the basics, but the core cylinder is designed the same as your VR Pod.
There are elevators and lifts you can use to move around the machine for maintenance.
Our mechanics will regularly perform routine upkeep, but it’s good to get well acquainted with your individual machine, should you ever need to perform repairs in the field. ”
Kitagawa bent over the railing and hollered down to a mechanic who was riveting a panel on the calf of one of the other Shinka units.
“Conrad. Come up here and introduce yourself,” he hollered down.