Chapter 04 - Weapons Check

Eric was standing in front of the machine with his gloves equipped. He stretched out his hands, feeling the odd resistance the gloves had against him. He grabbed a part of the machine’s leg that looked like it was specifically put there to allow the pilots to climb up. Just as he was about to pull himself up, he heard Halford shout.

“Hold it, Valtor. I forgot to introduce you to somebody important.” Halford said, motioning to another person entering the Hangar. “This is Laura Vogel. She is your assigned handler.”

“A handler? I don’t need a-“ Eric began to protest as he stepped down and away from the mech.

He cut himself off after seeing the girl walking in; she had long orange hair, messily tied up into a ponytail on her head. She wore angular glasses that glimmered and had holographic displays on the right lens, with bright blue eyes piercing through them. Her face, although mostly covered by the tablet she was working on, was soft and almost doll-like in expression, or rather lack of one. She was wearing a disheveled long white robe on top of a loose fitting, baggy black shirt.

“Laura, this is Valtor. Valtor, your handler, Laura.” Halford introduced the two.

“She gets a first name and I lost you saying Mister before my last name.” Eric grumbled, pointing out the diminishing respect toward him. “Anyway, pleased to meet you, Laura. I’m Eric, but I don’t see why I need a-“

“Eric Valtor, trainee 003, year one of the new Exosuit Advancement Squad training program. Chosen operative of the Yatogami. Average firearm skills, slightly above average test scores, above average physical capabilities, exceptional hand-to-hand combat skills and perceived unsatisfactory leadership skills.” Laura said in a quick, but monotone voice. She looked up from the tablet in her hand and eyed Eric up and down before tapping on her tablet. “And below average height.”

“Hey, that last part was uncalled for!”

“I must document everything necessary. I have your medical records here and it does include height and weight, but I didn’t believe the pilot of the Yatogami to be so short. I was simply correcting my earlier note.” Her faces expression remained unchanged and neutral.

“So what is she supposed to do besides poke at my insecurities?” Eric turned to ask Halford who was chuckling.

“She’s assigned to do that and to help manage piloting the Yatogami. She’ll give you updates, vitals and anything else pertaining to the machine while you’re operating it out in the field. She’s your man in the chair.”

“I’m your man in the chair, as he said. And I’m going to go find a comfy one.” Laura’s head went back down to looking at the tablet as she walked away to a desk with a large, cushioned chair.

“She seems… nice. So, can I get in the bot?” Eric said, trying to hide his enthusiasm.

Halford nodded and walked over to where Laura was seated. She was sitting in the cushioned chair with her knees bent and feet resting on the chair, resting her tablet against her legs. It looked as if she was at home curled up about to read a book. Eric shook his head as he finally jumped into the cockpit of the mech. His gloves started to glow, a red light filling up the thick lines. He instinctively laid his body out into the T-posed indent. The foam-like texture wrapped onto his body, momentarily trapping his limbs causing brief panic to wash over him. Shorty after, however, the foam detached and reclined back to shape. His gloves were now glowing bright, shining a crimson glow. A small holographic screen blinked on above the small brace resting just above his waist. On it was an audio wave, indicating an open transmission.

“You’re connected. Don’t move recklessly as your motions directly correlate to the mech's movements.” Laura’s monotone voice echoed into his head.

“Whoa!”

Eric raised his hand up to his head, shocked at hearing the voice directly in his skull. As he swung his hand up, the mech’s arm also swung up, nearly striking himself. Eric let out a less-than-manly yelp as he steadied his arms into an awkward spread out position.

“I just said don’t move recklessly.” Laura’s unchanged voice echoed in his head.

“I think I prefer Halford’s smug, condescending tone than this robo voice…” Eric muttered to himself.

“Don’t worry, it’s still here.” Halford said, condescendingly smug.

“I have a robot voice?” Laura asked. Though still monotone, Eric thought he could sense that she was hurt by the comment.

“Eh.. sorry. Let’s continue the testing.” Eric coughed out. He looked down around the machine and tilted his head. “Uh... How do I walk?”

“With your legs.” A monotone voice quickly answered.

Eric stood there with an emotionless, blank face. He sighed and just mumbled out a half-hearted affirmation. He swallowed and went to move his leg, and just as he felt his leg lift, the floor of the cockpit sprung out claw-like latches and strapped around his foot. He stumbled a bit from the surprise, but soon the feeling was intuitive and natural for him. He slowly walked the machine off the elevator pad into the open area of the hangar. The legs of the mech moved with his and even though the legs were like that of an animal, it felt like it was simply an extension of his own.

“Why does this feel so... normal? Like I’ve done it before and I’m remembering it all?” Eric said, looking over himself and the mech.

“Multiple reasons. Firstly, those gloves are synced with the Yatogami to let you pilot it. Second, when I said you were hand-picked for this, I meant that you are the one this machine is designed for.” Halford responded, pausing briefly before continuing. “Aren’t you aware you’re the only one that needed the extra set of physical tests during exams? We took your blood, plasma spinal fluid, and not to mention, well, unmentionable DNA.”

“Makes sense why Iris and Alice thought I was lying... Guess they weren’t gaslighting me.” Eric mumbled. “Wait, so all of that was used to make this thing?!”

“The Yatogami is an extension of yourself, it all senses of that phrase. It has you inside it. Your DNA, your blood, your se-”

“I get it! Don’t say it!” Eric shouted, cutting off Laura.

A strange sound came through the communicator that shook Eric out his embarrassment.

“Was that a giggle I just heard? Halford, that wasn’t you was it?” Eric said in jest.

“You damn well know it wasn’t. Enough fooling around, do a weapons check.” Halford grunted out, his condescending tone returning.

“This has weapons already?!”

“Two, currently. One is a recoilless rifle that fires a small gauge Elysian explosive, housed in the left arm. Capacitors on the back allow for atmospheric recharge every 10 minutes. Max three round housing.” Laura said in a quick manner, sounding like an auto reading book from the campus library. “The second is a melee blade made of a new titanium alloy. Housed in the right arm. Handled version available at users' discretion.”

Without a second thought, Eric held his left arm up simply through will and intuition, the arm opened up and large barrel protruded out of the appendage. Another holographic screen popped up above his waist displaying the words ‘Sabaki’ and a 3/3 next to it. With simply another thought, the weapon retracted back into the arm and the display vanished. He heard Halford thank him for not firing it, but ignored it as he held up his right arm. With the same intuition he had with the canon, he unsheathed the sword. From an opening just above the wrist of the mechs arm, a large blade shot out in the blink of an eye. The sword was longer than the entirety of the mechs arm and ended in a rounded tip. The blade was a swirling mix of a deep purple and a metallic black with the edges gleaming a shining purple. He swung his arm around slowly, ensuring he didn’t hit the walls or other standing scaffolding in the hangar. He retracted the blade into the arm and chuckled to himself.

“This is incredible! I just knew how to do all of that, everything feels so great, so normal, so...” In the middle of his celebration, Eric’s vision faded to black as his body went limp, the machine’s legs crouching down as it let go of him, his body falling out of the cockpit. With an inhuman reaction Halford dashed over and caught Eric before he landed on the ground. His usual grimace filled with one of pure concern and regret.