Gods & Gilds

Drop Out

Hundreds of holographic spheres filled the space between every rising hero. They aligned themselves with the collective heads of the crowd, glowing a dull, smoky white. I danced around wildly, ushering the spheres left & right, pointing them towards their specific person, weaving my fingers like an archaic black widow, spinning my technological web of thought & mystery. One of the heroes, a heavily armored man, stepped forward. "I don't get it. We're experienced heroes, heroes that don't need the likes 'a you!" He spun around slowly with his arms raised, as if to gain supporters & encourage cheering. From my point of view, he was failing miserably. I waited patiently until he had evidently finished. "Are you through?" Even from behind his bulky helmet, I could see him glaring at me. I looked away from & towards the crowd. "Codename, Syndicate, 24 years of age, goes by the name of Keller Mills". Syndicate stuttered. "How-how do you know that?" "Two years ago, he waged a war against Genova Corp., & their right to utilize volatile energy banks near a civilian town". His voice began to crack. "Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about!" "Your battle armor utilizes intense nuclear beams to effectively vaporize all opposition, merely by pointing your fingers & releasing a deadly stream of energy". I grinned. "Like a point & click game". Syndicate stopped talking completely, while the heroes around him clapped slowly. "You see, Keller, it took me all but 5 seconds to hack into the artificial intelligence programming in your armor's headset. After that, it was a cakewalk to disable your incognito system-ware, & learn your secret identity". The clapping grew louder & more approving. I turned away from the disgraced hero. "As you all have obviously noticed, there are spectral spheres floating above each of your heads". As if to check, they all looked up. "These spheres will be the basis for the Immortal Project Sorting System". I flexed my fingers & a holographic computer screen appeared in front of me. Clicking several of the keys, I started the process. "In a few seconds, your spheres will sort you. Good luck". An excited clamor arose, as each hero was equal parts nervous & excited to be an official hero. Simultaneously, & a bit spontaneously, the orbs flickered crazily, shifting through the color spectrum at the speed of light, like a deranged wheel of fortune. Blue, green, red, orange, violet, magenta, the colors went on & on. Instinct grabbed me, & I slammed my hand down on the screen, ending the process. All over the room, several spheres glowed a light green. I pulled up a file of the chosen heroes & read their names off. "Brandon Farce, Garrett Bardin, Roger Jericho, Eric Payne, Robin Carter, Chase Starford, Brian Frost, Brianna Frost, Harry Enete, & Alesa Bron, you are hereby known as the Lights". The new team began to mingle, learning each others' names & forming unbreakable bonds. "Please, follow the path with your color outside, where you will be met by your trainer". They obliged, following a glowing chartreuse line on the ground, & they left the room. The orbs shifted again, this time landing on dark brown. "Johnathan Peaks, Ronica Zinte, Ella Fox, Rixomi Lituma, Victor Feuch, Luke Pope, & Kiao X'ian Wong, you are hereby known as Equinox. Follow the path to your new trainer". This process was repeated over a dozen times: "Brandon Ultrim, Leighanna Rains, Jamie Whitaker, Flynn Yaeger, & Kris Blanche, you are hereby known as Cloud 9"; "William Bane, Isaac Green, Khan Santos, Jason White, Evelyn Hallows, & Kathryn Karmin, you are hereby known as the Supernatural Omicron Fighting Force, or S.O.F.F.; "Adam Korena, Dan Legion, Janet Prince, Caden Rath, Dylan Flyn, Donna Flyn, & Kon123, you are hereby known as Future Force; "Terra, Bennet Glade, Franke Jameson, Clint Ford, Guy Nott, Jerome Bruc, & Maxwell Tele, you are hereby known as the Observational Group"; "Monty Tery, James Jones, Emily Preston, Rone Sali, Grant Kras, & Vince Dorin, you are hereby known as the Legionnaires"; "Wendell Donavan, Zaal Rikae, Adam, Drakin Sake, & Raun, you are hereby known as the Core"; "Anton Lorkov, Nico Mendel, Xander Vaxen, Perseus Pollux, Abraham Patterson, Kaysie Arnold, Robert Gray, Damien Princ, Alexis McGuinness, Andrew Hager, Justin Reynolds, & Jean-Luc Stonan, you are hereby known as New Order"; "Isaac Brody, Lawrence Vana, Charlie Goodall, Megan Hevy, Hans Fangsworht, & Kiefer Yamasen, you are hereby known as the Advanced Inter-Country Alliance"; "Magnus Pride, Olivia Pirak, Marshall Ward, Levi Dollar, Fabian Josiah, Thera Thulio, Berchall Tresante, & Stephen Lake, you are hereby known as First Moon"; "Aidan Fury, Seth Hollister, Jones Delgado, Mariah McCoy, Julio Grant, Erica Uzoria, Zacharias Vectyr, Elina Doure, Cole Burns, Alastor Reen, Lori-Anna Havok, Bruister Lanks, & Ursa Blake, you are hereby known as Hellreach"; "Jason Omnious, David Rodrigues, Sean Lord, Jessica Lass, Cody Warlock, Vetris Lamethe, & Vladimir Zargotha, you are hereby known as Prime Squad"; "Ola Kaa, Louis Wade, Lloyd Xien'To, Azrael Merlinian, Hank Orden, Martin Freeman, Emily Mane, Lara Jonson, & Samson Rogers, you are hereby known as VectorStorm"; "Regina Mitisceret, Danin Arcus, Luno Sanador, Vince Wren, Calema Vernus, Casey Dare, Susan Karma, Marie Forgeron, Noel Grim, & Gerina Vrakinal, you are hereby known as the Makers"; Finally, I reached the last 2 groupings. These two interested me, as they were formed of reformed criminals. I sorted them based on their danger levels, putting the majority in the weaker team: "Donavan Chutney, Dirk Quentin, Shreck Cosak, Esteban Faustus, Silas Foley, Kristoff Barraka, Beatrice Lowell, Rachel Cohern, Wade duBois, Jackie Atkins, Eugene Randall, Graydon Voors, Blanche Klus, Drexel Lee, Stryker1Green, Stryker1Blue, Fritx Burlim, Elektra Gresli, Cassie Cryer, Jacob Musca, Jacquez Carlysle, Summer Rau, Sarah Rau, & Ichabod Mantalis, you are hereby known as BloodSquad. Please follow the path to your new trainer". I also added the word "parole officer", but only in my mind. Now, for the heavy hitters. I read over the last names & breathe a sigh of defeat. "Riker Manfredi, Jack Clouder, Uriah Quimby, Adolf Fischer, Henry Divry, Jorge Lang, Mitchell Norn, Magdalena Candenbury.............& Keller Mills, you are hereby known as El Diablo, please follow the path to your new trainer". Syndicate strutted past me & slapped me on the shoulder. "Sorry to disappoint you boss, but I actually belong here. What about you? Are you a hero?" This question caught me off guard. Was I? I'd like to be, very much. I positioned an orb over my own head, & the other heroes stopped to watch. It blinked rapidly, throwing psychedelic colors over the walls. I rammed the endin button, & it turned to..............white. It hadn't changed at all! My fists clenched, & everyone shifted in place, clearly detecting my anger. An email attachment appeared in the holographic screen's top left corner & I opened it. From: Arthur Eligio; To: Daniel Eligio; Subject: Project Immortal; NOT READY. Those two words echoed in my head. Not ready. I closed my eyes & the room brightened, officially ending the Immortal Project. I glared at the remaining heroes. "Class dismissed".