The Key To Combat

Chapter 3

Packing is the most stressful process especially when you might not even need anything. At SOCS each warrior is provided with their very own custom made suit. I can't wait. Last years designs were beautiful. Every few years Diane the creator of SOCS, switches it up. I wonder if which suit we will be wearing. This school isn't like any other. They only train the best or people with the potential to be the best. I'm feeling anxious, I've always wanted this but nothing ever stops the doubt demon from enterring your safe space and making a mess. "honey," mom calls from my bedroom door. "your dad is waiting for you in the car." she steps in and embraces me softly. I rest my head against her chest and wrap my arms around her. She runs her hands down my arms and takes a step back. Tears are welling up in her eyes. "Are you sure you don't want me to drive you there?" she insists. "yes, I'm sure" I let out quickly. "you're just a little too, sensitive." she looks at me with hurt in her eyes and I quickly have to explain. "I know they are just 'happy tears' but I'd rather, happy smiles, they're less confusing." I say as sincerely as possible. Thankfully I was successful in my delivery because she smiles. "I love you mom." I say with a smile. "I love you too." she replies. I'll see you soon." I say walking the door. This drive has been both long and sad. On one hand I'm sad because I didnt get to say goodbye to my little sister who is away at summer camp. On the other hand, this is probably my last day to listen to my favourite radio station for a long time and my dad the hog, likes Chum FM. Everybody knows virgin radio is the best station to ever exist. The trip isn't all bad, the scenery gets more mesmerizing as we near the campus. I've never seen anything like it. It's like we're driving in a Giant's mansion or maze. The campus must be the size of five football fields. Once I see the school I cant contain my excitement. Right now my smile probably looks like it was stolen from the joker. "Sweetie, I know your mother probably gave you a great pep talk" he says knowingly. I look up at him and smile because he knows his girls so well. "when you get in there, don't think too much it will only cause you to lose focus on your goal. You've been training for this for a very long time so I have no doubt about your physical capabilities. I'm worried about your mind. In a school like this who knows what you can be influenced to think and do. You have to stay true to who you are." he educates. "wow dad, very motivational." I compliment. "I try." he says modestly. I take a deep breath because after my moms non-stop tear flow and my dads surprising words of wisdom I'm starting to think I don't know what I signed up for. It can't be that bad a simulation test, that doesn't sound too dangerous. Or at least not as dangerous as they're making me believe it is. I finally open the car door. I wave goodbye to my dad as he drives off. I look at my watch and the time reads, 10:35 AM. I hear screaming getting closer and closer to me. I whip around and see Anna running towards me. I drop my duffel bag and open my arms. Hugging your best friend is just like talking to your best friend, it comes naturally. " okay, let's not waste anymore time. I have to see the inside" I say grabbing my duffel bag and starting our journey towards the entrance. "what do you think it looks like in there?" Anna is in awe as she scans the building from top to bottom. "maybe it has red walls" I guess. "no, I see them going with a black interior." She says as we push the doors open to reveal exactly that. The entrance door leads to another door about one hundred feet away. A purple carpet stretches from door to door. There is a light brown, glossy wooden, five foot tall, double sided staircase, platform that stetches from the right side of the room to the left, twenty feet apart. The platfrom sits in the centre of the hallway. The walls are black as tar and they look like they are just one tall thick block of brick glass. The walls stretch about fifteen feet up and are very smooth and shiny. The floor we're standing on is one big and smooth white plate of lead. There is a ten foot wide, white carpeted pathway to the left of the building entrance doors and also one to the right with the same black walls around it.Those pathways lead to white wooden stairs which brings you up to the top of the building. The top of the building is sheltered by a translucent dome-shaped skylight. There is a woman approaching with three warriors dressed in suits similar to the one she is wearing. They are really nice. I think they look even better than the ones the warriors wore last year. I hope we get to wear that style suit. "Welcome warriors to Simulation Operation Combat Style. Or as some of you like to call it, SOCS." the beautiful woman says. I clap along and cheer with the crowd of happy warriors. "I see you are all proud to be involved in our 14th year of operation." she continues. This time our cheers are louder. "Great, let's get started. I am Diane villore the creator of this advanced organization of combat style simulations and I will be your consult." as she speaks the warriors are wheeling over a table and setting it in front of us. The table is stacked with one hundred little boxes. "As you can see there is a box for each one of you. Brought to you by a few of last years graduates." Diane says with a smile. "I'm in awe" Anna says while we all cheer. "Wh- I, I can't believe that we're face to face with real warriors." I say clapping louder. "go ahead," Diane says with a gesture to the boxes. "Help your fellow warriors in the back get their box." she encourages. We all collect and open our boxes. She goes on as the warrior graduates pull the table away. "These rings are our new responsive technology. R.H.I, which stands for responsive holographic intelligence. These rings are to assist you during your training and you can program her to look like whomever you want." Anna looks over at me with amazement in her eyes and notices Kyscin starring at me. She notices the perplexion in my face while I look at her looking to someone on my left, so she smiles. "R.H.I will answer the questions you have during your simulation." When Diane stops speaking I look around and notice jeremy has his hand up. Diane doesn't even bother to allow him to ask his question, "No. R.H.I will not tell you the key to combat." When I see his hand go down I understand why. She's good. "The only way to find out is by collecting the three charms." Diane says. The warrior graduates are back now and they are pushing the table in front of us once again which this time, is stacked with books. "For those of you wondering your R.H.I will still be functionable in your simulator because she is technologically designed. There is a cord to connect her with you and your simulator. Each one of you will also recieve your very own combat suit." A picture of the design casts on the screen above Diane. YES. We get to wear the new design. I'm going to be kicking butt and looking good while doing it. "There are three settings on the simulators. One being the easiest and three being the hardest. The hundred of you will all go in with the machine on the first setting. The first twenty five people to wake from their simulator will be group A. You will be woken up in twenty hours if you do not wake up on your own by Martin, your simulator operator." she says. She getures over to her left where Martin stands beside her. "Although if you are anything like I anticipated, I expect you to be up before your time runs out. Those of you who wake after the first twenty five people, will repeat the test again in a week. Your simulators will be set to the second setting. The first fourty five people to wake from the second test will be group B. This goes without saying but if you do not wake after a certain time you will be woken up once again by Martin. The thirty remaining people who have not been assigned a category will take the test one final time two weeks later on the third and highest setting. If you do not wake up within two days after this test, Martin Will wake you and you must go home. If you would not like to participate in any form of testing you are free to leave the university at any time and return home. Those of you who do wake up within two days will be category C." she contines. wow I knew this school would be intense but I didn't know there would be a possibility I'd have to take the test three times. I don't even want to think about not being one of the first twenty people to finish. I want to know that I deserve to be here but I don't think I'm willing to be in my mind all year. I should just go back home. I should just go fight crime and put smiles on peoples faces. What am I saying, I want to be here. I'm ready for this test. Jeremy raises his hand. "yes Mr. Jenkins." she says. he's not even scared that she knows his name. We never told her our names. How does she know our names? She's like an intimmedating, super intelligent, all knowing five foot something warrior god. Her voice is sweet but powerful. Her jet black hair slicked to the back of her head in a ponytail. Her fair skin glowing allowing her grey eyes to pop. Her warrior suit looks just like the ones we will be wearing but hers has and embroidered emblem on the right side of her chest that reads 'Mother warrior. I'm assuming she's the best why she speaks with such confidence. You must get an emblem like that for being the best. "What makes the third setting so difficult?" he asks. "If I told you there wouldn't be a point to having a third setting, would there?" she inquires. I stay quiet while everybody laughs at jeremy. I don't join into everyones juvinile antics. His question was a far reach but it's nothing to laugh about. Honestly, I would love to know the answer to the question. I know I'm not going to need to take the test a second time much less a third time. So it'd be nice to know what I wont have to go through. I shake my head. I turn around to face everyone. "You guys may be laughing now but in a month you'll be the ones answering his question." I snark. Jeremy looks at me and smiles. I smile back and turn back to face Diane. "Wavina is right, there's no reason to laugh at jeremy. He thought he could get the upper hand. Although, Why he believes he will need to understand the setting in advance worries me. I thought you warriors had more confidence than that." she says bluntly. Everyone 'ooh's and this time I have to join in. It's true. Jeremy looks at me in shock. I look over at him and throw my hands up in the air. I'm sorry Jeremy but she's not wrong. If you don't believe you can do it, do you really believe that you belong at this school? "Those of you who are required to take the test again with higher steaks are simply proving that you belong in this organization." she continues. I'm okay with proving that I belong here. It's what I came her to do. There's nothing in this world I'm more excited to prove. I actually came here to learn. I want to know everything I don't already know and more. I want to eat, sleep and breathe combat. I want to learn it all but if proving I deserve to is what I have to do first, then that's what I'll do. I raise my hand. Diane looks at me. "Ms. Wyatt." she says. "Why do we have to stay in the simulators for hours until we finish, without a break?" I ask, puzzled. I look at Anna and she looks just as confused as I am. "Why can't we, you know tackle a battle for a few hours, take a break, go back in and tackle another one?" I ask hoping she made a mistake. "I'm sorry but that's not how the simulators are designed, if Martin wakes you up before you've obtained all three charms the battles you faced while you were under, reset. It would be like constant Deja-vu. If you can capture all three charms in just a few hours cooto's to you, you'd be the very first." she says with a laugh. She is serious. I could be in there for years without even knowing it? I mean I wouldn't because we're going to be woken up after twenty hours but that's not my point. This is madness. Is my dream worth being trapped in some virtual reality? There goes the doubt again. Why do I always sike myself out? I guess what it comes down to is, do I want it that bad? I could give up right now, I've come a long way. I could turn around, walk out those doors and never look back. No. I finish what I start. Lynn raises her hand. Diane looks over to lynn. "Ms. Gamotti." Diane says. "So when do we start?" Lynn asks. "At Noon, sharp." Diane replies. In an hour? I don't want to spend the only hour I have left until I'm gone for I don't know how many hours, reading some book about a ring. Who am I kidding what else do I have to do? "Any more questions." Diane asks. Diane looks around and then lifts her wrist up to her face. "R.H.I turn on the simulators. Everyone to your assigned rooms please. Unless you don't think you have what it takes you are free to head back home. Warriors with last names starting with the letters A through M to my right." she says with a gesture. "and warriors with last names starting with the letters N through Z to my left." Diane raises her left arm gesturing to the corridor on her left side. As everyone disperses Diane adds, "your room will be through the door with the letter that your last name begins with." I finally turn to my right and proceed to find my room. I walk down the corridor and up the stairs. I walk straight and then make a right. Anna and I gained a love for the alphabet system specifically because it meant we got to be together. "Wavi, over here." Anna calls, peaking her head out the door. I get to the room at the end of the hall. "We're together! As usual." Anna says but I don't know how it matters. It's not like we're going to see each other in our sims. Well not the real Anna or the real me. "I kinda knew we would be." I say with a smile as I walk over to my simulator making a left to the centre bed of the three against the wall. At least that's one good thing that came of all these surprises. Me and my best friend, even when we're not together, we're still together. I set my bag down on the floor beside my bed. I pick up my combat suit laying on the bed. "These are our suits?!?" I ask in disbelief. "I know right! They're amazing. The leather," Anna says rubbing her arm. "the design." She continues, rubbing both hands down her chest. This is definitely it." Anna says amazed. I nod in agreement. "It looks really good on you." I say looking at Anna in her suit. "Thanks." she says. I look at the suit in my hand and admire it. The suit is made of a thick leather and it is black and also very shiny. I really like the cotton white, two inch thick stripes with a thin gold perimetre. There are four stripes on each pant leg wrapping horizontally around the whole pant leg and they are spread evenly apart. They each have a golden fist in the centre. An inch thick stripe wraps around the ankle of each pant leg. The ankle stripes are gold with a thin white perimetre. My eyes pan up to the belt and I see that the band is gold and it is made of metal. The belt tightly wraps around the waist and has a black square belt buckle. The buckle has a golden fist with a thin white perimetre, in the centre. I pan up from the belt and make my way to the chest area which has two thick white capital 'W's. One is upside down connected to the one that is right side up making a bow tie pasta looking shape. The centre of the logo is gold with 'Warrior' written over top of it in black. The V cut is so deep, it almost touches the logo. The V cut all the way to the neck line has a gold perimetre. I turn it to the backside and see a black zipper from the waist up. I'm so mesmerized but I see Anna waving for my attention and I look up from my suit and over to her. "Are you gonna physically put it on or keep trying to think it on?" she jokes. I laugh and grab the curtain around my bed pulling it closed. Wow it fits like a glove. It's very comfortable and hugs me perfectly. It's not tight but it is tight enough that it's just right. I can just feel my figure being exentuated. I knew we'd be wearing suits but I never expected to be looking like an action hero. I love my suit.