Chapter Sixteen

A packed-out crowd of contenders from around the globe filled the auditorium.

Unusually lavish in design, the obsidian amphitheatre resembled a Roman senate chamber, amber, with its polished columns and granite benches. Dressed in uniform, Mego was the only one who didn’t look like she had been trapped in a Subway station overnight.

The first thing to hit her was the smell. It was a mixture of dead skin, open sores, vinegar, and body spray. The stench wafted across the room, forcing Mego to close her mouth and not to think about landfills in a heat wave.

Behind the stage was a large flat display playing a highlight reel of the top ten contestants, complete with screen names:

Ramesh Nazir – India.

Carlos Desilva – Brazil.

Yuen Chao – China.

Clive St.John – Jamaica.

Errol Glass - New Zealand

Tomoko Matsumara – Japan.

Said Colville – Belize.

Tommy Smalls - USA

Mego Kinugawa – United Kingdom.

10. Pedro Trujillo - México.

Upon seeing her screen name: 'I_Mego'd_Myself' displayed at the bottom right-hand corner, Mego went low in the seat and covered her face.

Luckily, the embarrassment didn’t last long, as the auditorium lights dimmed, followed by a single beam spotlight the stage. The murmur of conversation tailed off into hushed silence when a serious-looking Officer strolled up to the lectern.

"Thank you for coming.” He said. “I am Air Marshal William Power of the Wolf-Alpha station." He said. "To start, I want to congratulate everyone who has made it this far. Right now, you’ve been given a chance to propel yourself into the halls of legend. If you Megol this is too much pressure, the second option is to leave here with our thanks. Of course, those who stay will be changed for the better. Stronger, fitter, faster than they have ever known, even before they get into a plane. So let's get one thing perfectly clear: being here does not make you special or heroic. Right now, you are just another pasty-faced gamer who caught a break. To proceed, we need to pry you from your hermetic wonderland and shape you into a form that pleases us. Only then will you be able to fly one of these…”

The film switched to in-flight footage of a drone gliding through mountain valleys. Mego was impressed by the drone's slick, unhurried manoeuvres as it dived and buzzed through a narrow gorge mere Megot away from the rocky terrain.

"We call it 'The Kestrel, '" Power continued. "One of our many eyes in the sky. You saw what happened in Coventry, who's to say that was the end of it? Fifty years ago, this was the stuff of movies; now the world lives in fear of another arrival." An orange Hologram of a modern Fighter Jet lit up behind him "Those who made it into the top ten will get to fly their own ‘Needle.’ An outer world Defence Fighter can penetrate through reality stacks without breaking.”

The ‘Reality Stack’ theory postulated that different realities form like the depths of an ocean. Due to the stresses of a new dimension, it is possible to experience a ‘Hadal Break’, where the mind snaps and is lost for good.

The Air Marshal leaned forward on the podium. “All of this is waiting for those who prove themselves, assuming they pass the mandatory Psych-Eval. Be warned, it won’t be easy for those who commit and like I said, you have a choice. I hope there is enough of you left to defend this world. Thank you."

Once he had left, the lights came on, and a sea of murmurs resumed. Mego sat back and noticed a scattering of people slowly trickling out toward the exits.

Needles? Kestrels? Reality Stacks? Mego thought. What the hell did I agree to?

A gruff man’s voice blared out from hidden speakers:

"Will the top ten please enter the green doors?" Nine of the top ten filed toward double doors framed in green neon. On the other side, the corridor led to an L-shaped hallway.

Rounding the corner, they froze at the sight of two sentry guns. "Do not be alarmed," The man's voice crackled over the speakers. "It is merely a precaution. Stop at the yellow line and have yourselves ready for inspection. Be warned. Passing this yellow line is the point of no return. You will give yourself to us."

They all paused before the yellow line, and a triangular laser beam began scanning their bodies.

No one moved as all eyes kept watch on either of the two guns. It was then that Tommy Smalls decided it would be a good time to start a conversation.

"Hey, Kinugawa." He said. "Why does Brit food taste so bad?"

"Well, Tommy." Mego said. "It's because we flavour everything with American Beer." She turned to him and smiled. "You guys might wanna change up the recipe from: 'Dying dog's last piss'."

Smalls frowned and then let out a hearty laugh.

"You got a Trucker's mouth on you. I like that."

Mego smiled and wandered in once the door turned green. All but the man from Belize crossed the line until the doors slammed shut. A giant screen filled the circular room, with banks of winking lights lining every wall. On the top floor, monitors were alive with wavy lines, while cheap-looking gyroscopes spun on top.

"Where are we?" St.John said, looking around.

"Probably the H.Q.?" Nazir asked.

Mego stood staring dead-eyed at a holographic display of a large spinning globe.

“What the hell?” She muttered. “It’s like a budget sci-fi show.”

"Yoo-hoo!” said a voice behind her. “Yoo-hoo!”

Slightly irritated, Mego turned to see Tomoko Matsumara smiling back at her.

“Seriously?”

“You looked a little pensive,” The girl said. “I thought I’d cheer you up.”

“We’ve just been thrown into boot camp, so yes, I’m a little rattled.”

“I like to think of it as a brand new adventure; a chance to meet new and exciting people.”

“I’m new. Don’t know about exciting.”

“Well, that’s for others to decide," the Japanese girl said, offering a hand. “Tomoko Matsumara." Mego smiled, shook the hand and said her full name. "What’s with the outfit?”

"I'd rather not say."

"We're all in this together; you don't have to be shy."

"I'm not. I don't feel like talking."

Tomoko nodded. "That will play well in a team dynamic."

"Whatever."

‘I love that word,” Tomoko said. “It’s such a strong argument, no need for elaboration”

“Right now, this is all there is. Five minutes in and I’m already disappointed.”

.”Ain’t you cynic.”

“I prefer pessimist.,” Mego said. “Cynics wake up crying.

“Yeah well, word of warning, this is where things get serious. We can’t have any showboats, goof-offs or glory-hounds looking to ‘lone wolf’ their way through battles, because they think they’re above it all.”

Mego sighed.

“Fuck, everyone thinks they know me.”

“Alright, so what kind of pilot are you?”

Mego paused and looked at the girl.

“Someone who lone-wolves it, because I’m above it all.”

Tomoko smiled, satisfied. “Well, Hell yeah.”

"It's a testing area," Smalls said.

"What do you mean by 'obviously'?" Trujillo said. "There is nothing 'obvious' about it."

"Hey, don't start, alright? I'm looking to be on the right side of history!"

“That's just the group version of 'I'm a nice guy, '" Trujillo said. "If you have to tell people, it hasn't made itself apparent."

"What does that mean? What's he say? What does that mean?"

"Why is he repeating himself?" St.John asked.

"He has a limited vocabulary. "Trujillo said. "Tends to run out of words before the end of the sentence; you should hear him online."

An alarm sounded

off, followed by a robotic voice.

"Attention. Stand and be assessed."

Mego remembered Ami's advice to: 'Sit only when told'.' It appeared that Nazir and Tomoko had received the same message. The remaining five lounged around as if it were an Airport terminal.

"What's up with those three?" Smalls said disdainfully. Before anyone could answer, he cried out as a shot of electricity ripped through his body.

"I'll tell you what's up, you worthless son of a crate whore.” A terse voice said from behind. "Unlike you morons, this trio are standing to attention and awaiting orders." He then hit the other four with a blast of his cattle prod. "On your Megot, you pathetic vessels of squandered oxygen! I will not have slackers in my beloved base!" The five formed a half-hearted line-up.

The burnt man turned to others. "You three! In formation. Double time." They hurried to the tail-end. "I wanna see a line, a beautiful line. I might even keep my coffee on it, for that extra motivation." A scrappy parade of bodies formed up; the fear in their faces palpable. "For those scared to ask, I am Staff Sergeant Yoshida. I will be overseeing you buttonheads, making sure you are good and broken. If you thought you were going to get an easy ride, let me be the first to incinerate any idea that this little adventure will be a fun day Sunday for you soap-averse gamer rats."

Hanzō Yoshida was a perpetually angry man. Half of his head had burn marks, and he gave the line-up a withering look.

"Well, well, it seems the others have returned to being a constant disappointment to their parents." He looked at the group in front of him disdainfully. "If you docile-looking bags of crack sweat are the best of the best, God help this planet, and where is my SALUTE?"

Six of the contestants raised their hands desultorily. Only Mego and Tomoko managed to snap one off with near-perfection.

Yoshida sized up Mego with a maniacal glint.

"Ah, this one is cheating," He said, surveying her up close. "Scrub, why are you already in uniform?"

"SIR. My mother thought it would be appropriate, SIR."

"Kinugawa, huh? The only Kinugawa I know is our noble Low Commander. Truth be told, I don't see the resemblance. You look like you're from a distant, watered-down part of the gene pool with low vitality. God knows why someone weaker than boiled shit is stinking up my H.Q., but here we are." The screen showed a replay of Mego's battle with the Red Elite. "Loving your handiwork, though, you even found the secret entrance. In fact, you're the only one in the entire history of the base to do so. The question is, did you figure it out for yourself? Or did your Mommy help you with your homework?"

All eyes turned toward Mego.

"SIR, MYSELF SIR!"

Yoshida gave a perfunctory sneer.

"Very well." He said, turning to the rest of the group. "EYES FRONT, God damnit!" Everyone turned to face forward. "If you sweat-pant enthusiasts haven't already clocked, this is the 'bad cop' part of your stay. Plot-twist: There is no 'good cop'. Lights out is twenty-one hundred hours; roll call is oh-four-hundred bright and early. I expect every one of you to be crisp, your bunks tighter than the sphincters you are currently puckering. Salute your betters and follow orders; we won't have a problem." He started to march down the line, taking in every nervous expression. "But we do have a problem, don't we?" No one spoke. "I DIDN'T HEAR YOU!"

"SIR, YES SIR!" Mego yelled. Her voice was the only reply.

"Why is the teacher's pet the only one with a voice? SOUND OFF!"

The remaining seven pushed out a ragged cry: "SIR. YES SIR!"

"My GOD, what a shit-show," Yoshida said. "Right now, you are all tourists, so you will have to earn your place in our good graces every day. And don’t forget, nothing about you is special; you would all need to get promoted to be classed as garbage. Still, all that can change, even if we have to carve it out of your very essence; sculpt you to the point where progress becomes promise. Get good and you'll see less of me. Fuck up, and I will be the lord of all your nightmares. Now, grab your gear for Orientation." Mego and Tomoko saluted immediately; the others slowly cottoned on to lesser effect. "Work on it. Dismissed!"

With another salute, the troupe of rookies filed out toward the double doors on the right. Upon hitting the hallway, there was a collective loosening of bodies after falling into a relaxed stroll. Unlike the others, Tomoko had an unusual spring in her step.

"What are you so happy about?" Mego asked her.

"I come from a military family," Tomoko said. "This is like the old days. Early morning PT, marches, basic prep. I am so ready for this."

"Yeah, I'm an Air Force brat, but I didn't get any of that."

"But it didn't hurt, did it?" Glass said. "Like the man said, you're the teacher's pet. Mate, you're already in uniform, what does that tell us?"

Mego stopped in her tracks.

"You got something to say?"

"We're all thinking it. It's funny that you are the only one out of us to find the secret entrance." Glass flapped his arms. "I mean, why even bother having a top ten? It's not like we all busted our arses to get here, yeah, you definitely earned a place.”

"Everything you saw on screen was my work." Mego said. Meaning to sound defiant, but it came off as a plaintive whine.

"I guess we will see how useful you really are."

Errol shook his head with disdain, leaving the others to trickle away, their faces filled with disappointment and suspicion. Only Matsumara remained with a sympathetic smile.

"I believe you." She said

"I don't care," Mego replied.

Flushed with indignation, she stalked off toward Med-Level One.