Trigger Time

Chapter 2: One Week Later, Enter The DJ

My revolver was a much more complex weapon than any of the NITE Guns. When the gun is powered on, a mechanical exoskeleton appears on my trigger arm. They say it's just for compatibility checks, so I just left it alone. Just like the NITE Pistol, all I had to do is pull the trigger to shoot. It was super easy, so they told me about a special thing they put into it.

"Basically," began Naohiro, "If you pull out the revolver barrel, spin it and knock it back in place, a power bullet will be shot instead of the normal ammo." During training, they had me test out many different bullets. The first spin activates fireballs, the second shot out nets, the third turns the revolver into a kind of knife and it just keeps going on.

However, there were just so many options by the end that they ended up removing the selector system. Instead, Naohiro created an AI that will read my thoughts and select the appropriate bullet. It would also regulate my gun's functions so it wouldn't break down during a mission.

A few more training sessions, a safety briefing, a lesson about how to not destroy the city and by the end of the week, my training was complete. And Naohiro had one more surprise for me.

"Mr Sawamura, over here," he called out. I walked to the front bench, where a young engineer and scientist were working on a blue, one-eyed visor. "This will present you with a heads-up display, so you know what's happening in the area." He attached it to a circular panel and the visor compacted into the inside. He then picked it up and placed it on the exoskeleton arm, which retracted into the panel as well.

"Right, now on to your assignment," He went over to a terminal, selected a few options and presented me a screen. It read:

'A group of Basic Deformed is hanging around a local shopping mall. They need to be cleared out so the citizens can access some supplies. You will be paired with Terakado Shogo, a rookie leader like yourself from the Experimental Division.'

"Alright, I'm off," I said. I picked up my gun and walked out the door. I headed up stairs to the Experimental Division, pressed the intercom and asked for Shogo. When I saw him, I didn't know what to think.

He was about the same age as me, wearing a short sleeve shirt with a hood and earphones connected to an MP3 Player. The shirt's decal was a paint splat in the shape of a record. He also had a pair of green and orange headphones around his neck.

"Hey," he said, a slight smirk on his face. "You must be Tokimasa."

"Yeah... How do you know my name?" I asked him, uncertain if we had actually met before or not.

"I joined here the same time as you," Shogo explained to me. "Also, my weapon had to be custom made as well, so both our divisions had influence on each other. Hold on, I'll be right back." He rushed back in and came back quickly holding a green pistol. However, the barrel was flat and rectangular, unlike anything I've ever seen. "You ready?"

"Yeah, let's go!" I shouted. We both ran to the hangar and hopped into the truck that was heading to the mission location.

* * *

When we stepped out of the truck, the scene was completely messed up. Literally, cars and shopping carts were strewn everywhere. We saw the group of creatures hanging around a car fire. We signalled the soldiers to encircle the area and made our way into the parking lot.

We both hid behind a separate car and waited. I pulled out my revolver, flipped a switch and an activation noise played.

"TRIGGER HAVOC switched on. Activating AI Unit 14: 3-LITE." The woman's voice was then swapped to a voice similar to mine. "Hey Tokimasa. You already know how to use this gun, I'm just here to help regulate it."

"Alright," I replied. "Activating visor and Mech-Arm now." Pressed the panel on my arm and the exoskeleton attached to my arm, along with the visor. It booted up, and displayed everything: a mini-map, a health indicator and a notification centre.

I looked over at Shogo, who had done the same thing as me, except the visor was separate from the panel, which was on the left arm instead of his right. The visor was actually attached to the pair of headphones he wore around his neck. In his hand, I saw what looked to be a mini-turntable. He scratched the disc a little, looked over to me and nodded. I nodded back.

On my HUD, a little window popped up with a picture of Shogo. His voice then spoke in my ear, "On three. One." I spun the barrel and set it to the Grenade Launcher bullet. "Two." I looked at the radar and visualised my target. "Three!"

I stood up, aimed over the car and shot the Deformed right in the mouth. In a matter of seconds, it blew up like a balloon and burst into a hundred pieces all over the car park.

The others sense my presence, rush over to me in a raging fury and get knocked to the side by a soundwave of music. Look over and see a large holographic disc in front of Shogo, who was still scratching his mini-disc. Before the Deformed have a chance to get back up, I set my revolver to the Net bullet, shoot the beasts and trap them in a group. There are at least seven trapped beneath it, as all the others had run off after the explosion.

"What do we do with them now?" Terakado asked. I looked at the mission requirements to see what to do next. All it said was to clear them out. Whether they ran off or were defeated didn't matter, as long as the area was cleared of the things.

"What we do," I began saying, "Is clear out the things." I pulled back the priming slide, and the gun made a loud alarm sound, followed by the announcement 'ELITE FEAR FINISH! TRIGGER HAVOC REVOLUTION!' The barrel started to spin rapidly. A light at the back flashed orange, indicating that now was the most opportune time to pull the trigger. So, how could I refuse?

The recoil was so strong that I was knocked back a little. If it weren't for the Mech-Arm, my arm would have been crushed by it. The shot had done the job, the net was burned to a crisp and all the Deformed that was trapped beneath was wiped off the face off the Earth.

"Mission Objective Complete," came the voice of Naohiro through my Visor. "Great job, Mr Sawamura."

"Just call me Toki, okay?" I say to him, laughing slightly.

"Okay then, Toki. Return back to base, the Director wants to speak with the both of you."

* * *

One more truck ride back to base, and in a few minutes we were in the Director's office.

"Congratulations to the both of you," Kanami said to us both. She was standing next to the filing cabinet, looking at some files. When we entered the room, she stuffed them back in the cabinet and sat back at her desk. "I trust you two got the job done, right?"

"Yes Director," Shogo replied. "You should've seen Toki just now. He had the creatures trapped under a net, and when he activated his Final Shot- IT WAS PURE AWESOME!"

"Good, it's great to see two soldiers from different divisions getting along so well." She looked at me, and I instantly knew what was going to happen next. "A week ago, when Tokimasa first came here, I assigned him the position of Special Deformed Retaliation Squad Leader. I told him he could pick whoever he wanted to be part of his team. What do you say Tokimasa, what do you think of your first candidate?"

"He did display something unique in the battle..." I say quietly to myself, turning to Shogo. "That weapon of yours, what exactly is it?" I ask him.

"Okay, I'll tell you," he began. "When I was sent to the Experimental Division, the Head Engineer asked me what my main motif was. I told him I was all about music, since I like listening to it so much. The next day he presented me with my gun, Disc Typhoon. It was the only gun around that used discs for ammo. He then gave me a little box with a disc on it and told me that's how I activate my power bullets. I spent the same amount of days training like you did, but my training was mostly trying to find a style that suited me. That's basically it."

When he finished I looked at the Director and said quickly, "He's in." Shogo gave a very overjoyed look, but then quickly regained calmness. That day began the shaping of my team, and ultimately, my future.