A DANGEROUS BITE

The train stopped, signaling we had arrived at the destination. However, I knew deep inside… that this was only the beginning of my journey to search for a cure.

“Is your mom suffering from the crystallisation condition?” asked Rin while we were getting off the train.

“Yeah, as far as I understand, at the beginning of the War of Light, we started mining for resources a lot, and whoever was exposed to them could get sick. My mom… she was a miner.”

“Hey, this isn’t the city. Where are we?” asked Riko, disappointed after jumping off the train.

“We’re stopping before the city, at a military practice zone. They are usually built outside big cities to train soldiers. You guys will practice combat here.”

“Practice combat? But I only see a building here,” said Masashi. Indeed, close to the train station where we stopped, there was just one facility named “Virtual Input.”

“You’ll see when we get there. Let’s go, everyone,” said Rin, slowly walking toward the building.

“Captain Rin… thank you for finding me. I couldn’t imagine dying without finding a cure,” I said, stopping her from her walk and looking at her back.

“You shouldn’t thank me. You should thank your friends. They brought you to the rescue zones. I’m… still struggling to help people,” she said, slightly turning her head.

We entered the building, and the only thing we could see was a huge empty field, resembling an outside terrain. However, it also had a zone where some tables were placed.

“Please take these contact lenses, put them on, and sit at the table,” said one of the scientists there. All three of us did as told. When I put my contact lenses on, I could see an interface that looked like a video game, and the whole field turned into a 5D area, similar to a simulation zone.

“You’ll be fighting simulations of enemies in this area while we’ll provide you with information about the various weapons available,” said one of the scientists, pressing a button. The field was then separated by walls, creating different sections for everyone to practice.

“Amazing, did you see that? The walls rose from the ground!” said Riko, pointing at the field, enthusiastic about the building’s features.

“They’re just walls. Just hop in, and let’s get this over with,” said Masashi while getting into his section.

“Boring. I hope the simulation beats you,” she said angrily with her chest up, puffing out her cheeks.

The moment I stepped on the field, a bunch of dummies with swords, knives, and guns appeared.

“Is this supposed to be the training itself?” I said, looking at the display. There was a list of weapons I could choose to fight with, but before I did that…

“Come on, Ryo, stop daydreaming already,” shouted Rin, seeing that I’d been shot by one of the dummies. I didn’t feel any pain, just a simple “dead, try again” on my field of vision. I chose a shield and a sword and charged at them this time. I blocked the bullets with my shield, sliced the hand of the dummy who was holding the gun, then kicked the other in the stomach with my leg.

“Regular-graded weapons. They are represented by weapons used prior to the Third World War, such as pistols, rifles, and even older than that, like shields and swords,” said one scientist while I was fighting, showing them off to me. “Special-graded weapons are entirely different. They are post-war weapons that use the sun’s power, extracted from the ultraviolet rays. The disappearance of our ozone layer has brought a potential for powerful armaments.”

“Is this the weapon from back then?” I said, choosing the one that looked similar to it. It was shaped like a bigger pistol with a transparent barrel. I could see long chambers inside the gun.

“Ah, the raybeams, yes. They have tremendous power. Every special-graded weapon has a barrel made out of mirrors that absorb the sun’s rays, storing them inside in the form of heat, and other components depending on the gun. The raybeams simply store heat,” continued the scientist, providing visual data on how it works in my lenses.

“Crap, what is happening?”

“I don’t know, I’m trying to close everything.”

“Attention, we have a code 17. I repeat, we have a code 17.”

I overheard some scientists panicking, and the danger alarm voice turning on, along with emergency red lights all around the place.

“Rin, is something wrong?” I said, quickly leaving my section. However, when I looked around, most of the scientists were lying on the ground. “Are we being attacked?” I reached for my pocket to pull out a weapon, but I forgot I wasn’t in the simulation anymore. This was the real deal, and something bad was going to happen.

“Watch out, kid, you might get hurt, playing in the adult’s game,” said an unknown man before opening fire at me with the two submachine guns he was holding.

“Did you get him, sir?” said another man standing next to him.

“Of course I did. I would never miss. Hitting every target, from every angle possible, on every day of the week, is child’s play to me.”

“Well, it seems this isn’t just any day of the week, but an unfortunate one for you,” said Rin, protecting me from his bullets.

“Rin, are you okay?” I said, seeing that she was standing in front of me.

“Bulletproof deployable shields. They stay in the air for as long as I need. I threw one in front of you,” she said, pointing at the huge shield floating in front of us.

“How did you do that? Actually, that doesn’t matter. It cannot stay like that forever. I just need to shoot it down!” he said, opening fire again. However, the shield was still standing.

“I simply pressed the gadget on my arm and turned on the engine that’s inside of it, keeping it floating. Did you forget we have the sun’s incomparable power? That thing flies forever,” she said, showing him the gadget from behind the shield.

“That’s why we hate Amethystians, always having a response to something!” he said, shooting again pointlessly.

“You guys also had a rough response here. How did you kill these scientists so quickly?”

“Modified attack drones. They’re shaped like mosquitoes, but instead of just biting you, their needle extends all the way to your organs,” he said while one of the robotic mosquitoes landed on his finger.

“Selenorans using any trick to win, even involving unarmed personnel, you guys live up to the reputation!” said Rin, shooting him from behind the shield.

“Whatever you say, lady, just shut up and get bitten to death by my drones,” he said, while launching them at us.

“Ryo, take this pistol and shoot them fast. Don’t let them land on your skin,” she said, while giving me the gun.

Me and Rin started shooting, but it didn’t go as expected.

“This isn’t good. I’m not used to hitting such small targets,” I said, unable to keep track of them.

“You’re doing good, Ryo. We’re almost done with them.”

“Almost done? Don’t make me laugh. Who do you think you’re fighting here? I’m the advancing troops’ chief in command, Souta,” she said, launching even more drones from inside his backpack.

“Rin!” I shouted, seeing her covered in mosquitoes. Immediately after that, I felt something on my right forearm. “There’s no way we can destroy that many.” There was a storm of drones coming at us, flying around the shield like it didn’t exist. Was I wrong to believe we escaped from that hell? Was it wrong to believe that I finally got the opportunity to change something? I thought to myself, covered in drones as well.