Cold War: Saved By the Bell

Chapter 3

2065
Specialist HQ

"Mason." He called for her as he wandered the empty halls, unfamiliar with the building. "Mason!" He called again. As he wandered he felt a hand on his shoulder. He spun on his heel, throwing the person on their back at his feet.

"Sorry." Anthony breathed, clearly on edge.

"You wouldn't believe how often this happens here," Outrider let out a sigh of discomfort from her spine. He helped her to her feet.

"Savannah told me you'd probably come looking for her."

"Yea. So where is she?"

"You intend on staying?"

"Yea." He shrugged his shoulders with a small defeated sigh. "I'm probably in the safest place in the world with some of the safest equipment around. Plus I don't really have my life anymore, so why not."

"Follow me." She said. He listened as he copied her path.

"Your accent.... Brazilian" He interpreted out of curiosity.

"Yes."

"How are things over in your country? Or before the outbreak, I suppose."

"The outbreak did more than law enforcement ever could there. It actually killed the criminals, instead of letting them corrupt our officers." She scoffed.

As they rounded the corner, they entered a room with chairs and monitors. Some which were occupied by some of the other specialists he had an unpleasant meeting with not long ago. Small sets of headgear was fit across this eyes almost like glasses, but square and longer.

On the curved wall appeared multiple screens, each of which Anthony had interpreted to be the users own firs person perspective. On another wall was a massive screen, showing the soldiers inside this new "reality?" from a third person perspective. It was like watching a broadcasted sport on TV. "Amazing..." He said in awe.

"Sit." Outrider led them to two open seats, their monitors in front of them.

"Where's Mason?" He asked as they sat next to each other.

"She's busy elsewhere. I'll be overseeing your training before your ready to operate in the field." She said. "Put your headset on, it'll send us inside." She pointed to the black eyewear in front of him. He set it on his head, adjusting to fit it just right.

He let out a slight sound of discomfort. "What was that?" His vision was black for a second.

"Its the network connecting to your DNI." Outrider spoke as if she were right beside him. Which she was, however she sounded much clearer and closer than she really was, almost as if she were in his head.

"A what?"

"A direct neural interface. Its basically a chip we all have implanted inside our brains."

"By who?"

"Who do you think, Commander?" They spoke as their screens remained dark for a moment.

"Savannah did this."

"Yes. While you were asleep, you underwent the procedure. She already knew what you were going to say."

"Time travel is real!"

"No." She said, sounding slightly annoyed. "She studied you in extreme detail, Commander."

"I would to if I rarely ever came across an interesting specimen." He chuckled. Their screen loaded and suddenly he was blinded with a large intake of light.

"Pixels." She said.

"I've never seen any this good before." He looked all around him. It felt so real. All his senses worked to give him the most grounded and realistic feeling possible. "How is this possible?"

"Your DNI. The small computer we gave you. It connects to the network." Outrider faded into existence in front of his very eyes as she walked towards him. "Being that the entire world runs on the network, or did, we're essentially connected to the entire Earth. Anything thats a machine, you can now read it and bend it to your own will."

"Like a Sith Lord..." he smiled, looking at his hands and feet.

"A what?"

"I forgot you guys lack culture in the future." He rolled his eyes.

Over a period of several hours and a few days she walked him through the training procedures. He learned all the ins and outs of his cyber core abilities.

At first he panicked and didn't know what to do when he first got shot. He felt the bullet hole in his body, the blood rushing outwards. Only after his screen went blank did he realize he still maintained his consciousness.

"Calm down." She had told him, to ease his heavy breathing. "Its just a simulation." But the pain felt to real, the fear, the adrenaline.

"Does it always feel like that?" He asked, calming himself down.

"Yes. It's just something to get used to." She helped him out of the simulation. He eyed her with a peculiar look on his face. "I'm actually real." She assured. It was a look she had seen a few times from people who were new to going in and out of the sim.

"Seraph." She called over her shoulder. The woman with the bandana walked over, having just left her own sim training. "Show Commander Petrov his quarters."

"Let's go." She shoved him towards the doors.

"Watch it." He threw her hands off of him.

"Easy Seraph, he's an ally." Outrider said as the two left the room. Seraph ignored her.

"You must be a doll to be around at the team parties." Anthony quipped as they walked down the halls.

She remained quiet as she led him.

"Am I that intimidating to you?" He poked, trying to get something out of her.

"Fine. Don't speak to me. I'm sure you'd be quite vocal with that special guy in your life.. if he's even still-" he felt his spine clash against the wall, the back of his skull following.

"Just because they think of me as part of their 'team' doesn't mean I don't admire the idea of killing everyone here." She said dangerously, a knife to his abdomen, redeemer in her other hand, aiming at his throat.

"Save the best for last. I'd make it worth your while" he chuckled. She drew back her weapons and opened the door to his quarters. She left him with a punch to the liver, sending him to the ground before the door slid shut, separating them.

"Hard hitter.." he mumbled through the pain. He crawled into his bed, sitting himself upright. The room was decently sized for a small quarters. It was smaller than what he had received at Perseus' base but it was doable. He didn't know how long he laid there until he fell asleep. He wished he hadn't.

"Park!" He heard his own voice echo. 2065 was a world unfamiliar to him. When he wasn't awake learning about his new life, he was asleep, reliving his own tragedy.

"Help me.."