Chapter 11
With both men reapearing in the center of the huge arena, the two of them started gasping for air. Even though their actual bodies had nothing, the pain simulators in the VCP were very high-tech. So they had both just endured the pain of blowing up into smithereens. Henry burst out into laughter.
" HAHAHA, WHAT A RUs.h.!.+ "
" What the actual f.u.c.k CALVERT. Yelled Landon. ARE YOU A MADMAN?!! "
" What's wrong Commander. Can't tolerate a little pain? " berated Henry.
" You are literally crazy! You felt that pain too you fool! How can you still laugh? " cried out Landon.
This was the most pain Landon had felt in a long time. The feeling of being torn to shreds. To him, it had appeared an eternity too. Landon had dropped the limiters on his body, as a last attempt to escape the explosion, but Henry had latched on to his wrist to keep him close. Since going back to full force, Landon's perception of time had slowed down quite a lot. Resulting in him feeling his skin peel off from the explosion. Then he felt his flesh rip apart, followed by his bones shattering and his organs being reduced to nothingness. To him, it had felt like several seconds, even though in fact, it had taken less than one.
" I've had enough for today. You, you better come see me later in my office. We need to talk. " the Commander dropped, bluntly. And without further discussion, he logged out of the VCP and left the training room.
To Henry, who was still laying on the ground laughing, this had been nothing new. He had experienced worst during his training. Getting up after a few minutes of hysterical laughter, he logged off as well from the VCP. Getting out from the simulator pods, people were looking at him strangely. He was used to those bizarre looks from the training grounds, but in some eyes, he could see something different. Was that... respect? Walking straight to the door to go rest, he was intercepted by some big soldier. Not used to be stopped in such ways, Henry slowly brought his hands to his two knives.
" What do you want? " Henry asked, a coldness in his tone.
" Woah there, friend. I have no ill intentions. I just wanted to say good job in your fights. "
" Thank you, I guess? " responded Henry, lowering back his hands.
" Hey man, it's not every day we see a new guy going even with a ranking officer. Where do you come from. " asked the big guy.
" Earth. " said Henry.
" WOW. You're actually from the home land. The name's Ben, by the way. Benjamin Graves. s.p.a.ce Marine lieutenant. What's your name and what force are you in mate? "
" Calvert. Henry Calvert. Special Forces. Said Henry, not wanting to say too much. Listen Ben, I don't want to be rude, but I'm exhausted and want to rest. Mind letting me through? "
" Ohh ya. Hah. Sorry Calvert. Sure thing. Rest well, the Commander looked p.i.s.sed. I think you're gonna get thrashed on when you go see him Haha. " laughed out Ben, moving out of the way.
Henry walked out swiftly, heading to the administrative building. Once inside, he asked the man at the desk where his quarters were.
" Name and unit please. " answered the man.
" Calvert Henry, Special Forces. "
After a few seconds of tapping, the man gave out directions towards Henry's new living quarters.
" Welcome to the military, Agent Calvert. I hope you don't die on your first a.s.signment. "
" Jeez, thank you man. Don't you sugarcoat it for me now. " said Henry sarcastically, before leaving for his quarters.
After a few minutes walk from the administration building, he got to a small cabin, retired in the woods. Making sure he was at the right place, he slowly pushed in the door. Walking in to the empty house, he noticed how dusty it was. At that exact moment, he thought to himself that the cabin had clearly not been used in quite a while. Setting his stuff down on the porch outside, Henry started cleaning the inside of his dirty new home. It took the man about one hour to bring this dusty shack back into the world of the living. He was now standing in a cozy little cabin, that looked alot like his childhood cottage.
During the time he was cleaning outside, Henry had found the main power switch in the back of the cabin. Of course it was off, since the place was not being used. Once his task done, he went to the switch and flipped it on. Going back inside, the few lights hanging from the ceiling were now s.h.i.+ning a dim yellowish light into his new abode. Satisfied with his work, Henry started bringing his stuff inside. He had a small room, a bathroom, and a common s.p.a.ce composed of the kitchen, dinning room and living room all together. There also was a cozy fireplace. Not wanting to be spied on, Henry asked the System:
" System, can you scan for any EMF signals from cameras or mics in the house? "
After a few seconds he got his answer.
" We detect no such devises in the premises. However the scan has revealed EMF signals from under the ground. System believes there is a
" Ohh really now? Can you find the way in to that room. "
" System detects a device hidden behind a wall mount next to the fireplace. "
" Huh. Typical. "
Walking to the fireplace, Henry pulled on the light mounted on the wall to the right. The wall mount hinged down and revealed a small b.u.t.ton. Pressing on it, Henry heard a mechanical click, followed by the sounds of cogwheels turning behind the wall. The fireplace then slide to the left, revealing a small spiraled staircase going down.
" System detects life form named Joseph Landon in the bas.e.m.e.nt level. No hostile intentions detected. "
Going down the stair well, Henry got into a whole underground level. Walking into the main room, he found the Commander, sitting in a chair, waiting for him.
" h.e.l.lo again Joseph. Care to tell me what you're doing in my lodgings. "
" Shut up fool!! What kind of dumb tactic was that. Blowing yourself up. Are you stupid perhaps. I mean, what kind of idiot suicide bombs. That's not a victory. What did they teach you at that camp you freaking madman. " angrily responded Landon.
" Awww, are you still angry you got blown up Joseph? It was all virtual. Don't cry you big sissy", laughed out Henry. Now answer me, why are you in my home? "
" This home is provided by the military Henry. I'm your superior, so I can go wherever I like. Also, this used to be my own lodgings, back when I started serving. Now sit. We need to talk. " said the Commander, taking on a grave face.
Sitting down in front of Joseph, Henry took on a serious look of his own. He was wondering what was so pressing for Joseph to take on a look so serious, that it could be mistaken for a glare. He had a feeling he had done something wrong. Then again, he had literally done nothing since out of the camp yet.
" Henry, I have received some orders for your first deployment from my superiors. You will be deployed in the morrow. Your a.s.signment will bring you back to Earth. It will be a simple search and destroy task. Tamarain troops have settled near a Human city on Earth and they threaten the civilians security every second they pa.s.s there. "
" Why, have they besieged the city or something? " asked Henry, leaning in, suddenly interested.
" No not yet. " answered Landon
" Then are they threatening to bomb the place? How are they a menace to civilians just by being near them. "
" Shut up for a second Henry. They settled near the Legacy Cave Town. I believe the name rings a bell? "
Realizing why he had the feeling he had done something wrong, Henry paled up. The Tamarains were most likely looking for him. They had not yet stumbled upon the cave town, by some unknown miracle, but time was of the essence. Feeling he had put these poor souls in danger, he immediately steeled himself. There was no way he was letting innocents perish for him. He was sure they were looking for him, after the incident he had caused. He had killed a commanding officer after all. There was no way they would not send a team to recover the perpetrator of such a crime towards their nation.
Coming back to the conversation he was having, Henry let out a long sigh
" Of course they would come looking for me. DAMMIT! "
" High command wants you to eliminate the threat, but they also want you to send a message to the Tamarains. They can no longer set foot on Earth as they please. Can you do that Henry? "
Henry was now stoked. He knew exactly what kind of message he wanted to send his enemies.
" Of course I can Joseph. It will be my pleasure to show those son of b.i.t.c.hes who's planet they're walking on! "
" Good. Now get some sleep, you leave tomorrow morning at 6 AM. "
" Perfect. Now I only have one question left for you. Why do I have a secret bas.e.m.e.nt? "
" Ahh, yes. Like I said earlier, this used to be my personal lodgings when I started serving. I am also a GoWSS subject, so I had to be dissimulated during training. So this bas.e.m.e.nt is- sorry, was my personal training facility. At the end of the corridor is a training room, with VCP compatibility. And anything you need, can be delivered straight here by people sworn to secracy. "
Landon got up, believing he had given all the explanations he needed to, and headed for a secret pa.s.sage that led out of there. He saluted Henry and left through a hidden door on the wall. Henry got up and went down the hall to see his new training center. Logging into the VCP enabled room, he noticed that it was on a private server. He also saw an icon for users. After creating one for himself, named Crimson Mantis, he saw another icon t.i.tled 'previous users'. There was only one. It was named Shock Fist. He smiled, knowing it was Joseph's user. He could see to the left if the user was currently connected. Although he wasn't right now, Henry was looking forward to when it would light up. He wanted to spar with Landon again, once he got himself stronger.
Closing all this up, Henry went back upstairs to get some rest. He hadn't slept for real in a long time, and he longed a good night's sleep. he hit the pillow, hoping for the best sleep of his life. But that was not what happened.
Falling asleep, Henry's mind wandered straight into thoughts of his half-year of sleepless nights of gruesome training. He had started the military program on the wrong foot. Everyone there looked at him with threatening gazes. To them, he was a stranger who had clearly not pa.s.sed the rigorous selection process to be part of this special task-force. He had suffered so many miserable defeats to the hands of the other trainees that he had almost gave up.
One night, after a horrible day of getting his a.s.s handed to him, Henry had set ablaze with the desire to get stronger. He was tired of being used as target practice in the guerilla training and as punching bag in the combat exercises. He had had enough. At that exact moment, the System had told him how it could hold simulations inside his mind for combat. It would take him into a room inside his head, where he could fight with pre-recordings of his previous opponents. The only difference in there, was that he couldn't use the System at all, as it was focused on keeping him in there. So he had to become a better fighter with his own skills. But that was exactly what Henry wanted.
He started training every night inside his new 'simulation room'. The problem was, time flowed normally during this training. So he was getting less and less sleep. It soon started to show in his lack of energy. One night, before starting his training, Henry hesitated. He was too tired to train. He only wanted to sleep.
The System then offered its help. It proposed to Henry to subst.i.tute a day of life span, for a night's sleep worth of energy. He had once again been shocked and angered at how the System lacked initiative. It could have told him before hand, could it not, he had yelled at it. Seeing as how he was gaining double life span from the injections from the military, he decided it was worth the setback. He no longer extended his lifespan, but he instead would get strong enough to prolong it himself, without the help from his brain buddy.
Hence, his long h.e.l.l of fighting and dying in his own mind, over and over again, started on the second week of his long stay in h.e.l.l.
****
His dreams became nightmares, comprised of every single time he died. With agitated sleep consuming his night, Henry woke up the next morning, feeling worst than before. He got up, feeling like c.r.a.p.
" System, subst.i.tute my night with energy. "
" System does not understand request. Daytime has come and Host has been sleeping for the last 7 hours and 39 minutes. "
" Shut up, you screwed up AI. Just do it. " Henry grumbled, clearly not in a good mood.
" Affirmative. " blandly answered the System.
Henry even thought he had heard a touch of discontent in its response. He thought to himself ' Don't you start getting an att.i.tude with me you dumb machine '. Henry got ready and left for the s.h.i.+p docks in the base.
Getting to the docks, he caught sight of Commander Landon, and ran towards him. Landon was standing next to a s.h.i.+p ready for departure.
" You're not late. Good. Get on board. The pilot has been briefed. He will drop you near your mission zone and leave. He will come back here and a week from now, he will fly back to pick you up. That's your time frame. Don't mess up, understood Agent? "
" Yes sir! I won't fail sir! " said Henry, saluting his officer.
Getting on the s.h.i.+p, Henry turned around to close the door and winked to the Commander. He then closed the door and sat down.
" You ready back there, Agent? " yelled the pilot through the open c.o.c.kpit door.
" Yes I am. Depart when you want man. " yelled back Henry.
And so he was off, back to earth, to resolve a problem he had stired in the first place.