chapter 10 [https://i.imgur.com/Egm16lz.png]
Concept art for the recruit suit - battle armour mode.
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"Oh my Goddess how did she walk up this hill so easily. I'm dying."
The guys caught up to Ella, gasping for breath.
"Ella, wait up."
She turned around and crossed her arms.
"How did you do it?"
"Yeah how did you turn your suit off?"
She lifted her chin. "Maybe if you were truthful, I might've shared more. Too bad, your silly antics pretending to trust me lost you boys an asset."
"You're an asset alright." Eric replied, huffing. Elizabeth smirked.
"Anyway, it's too late. You've already sworn the pact. You're forever part of the circle. You might walk away now, but recruits always look after one another, right boys?"
It was a brief cacophony of noise as the rest shouted their approval.
"Yes! No one left behind."
"We all look after one another."
"Circle forever!"
Eric smacked his forehead. "Well our catchphrase needs work."
Ella raised an eyebrow and lifted her chin.
"Let me tell you something, Eric". She smiled and walked over to him, bit her lip, and put an index finger on his chest, moving it up and down his sternum sensually.
"Deactivating my suit isn't the only thing I can do."
Eric glanced back at the other guys. They were all showing faces of shocked excitement. He glanced back and subconsciously took a step back. Ella wasn't smiling anymore.
"Emergency override. Activate battle armour."
In Ella's mind she heard a response.
⟡Drawing on suit reserves to activate battle armour. Insufficient energy. Turbo mode unavailable. Battle armour activating. Power 100%, 95%, 90%⟡
Ella had been replaced with a powerfully armed hunter, and her finger was burrowing painfully into Eric's chest.
Every step he took backwards she followed in tandem, finger pressing the same spot, until he tripped on the uneven ground and fell backwards onto his bottom.
Only then did the armour disappear.
⟡Power 15%. Battle armour ceased in favour of default armour for extreme preservation. Please find a power source to recharge reserves.⟡
The AI voice was only heard by Elizabeth.
"I show off my worth and only then you respect me and my position in the circle? What am I? A slut for you to fondle and throw away however you please? Worthless, the lot of you. I don't mind if you rot in space like the others. Maybe next time you'll actually respect the purpose of a circle."
She rounded on the others. "You want help from me? Why don't you be my sluts first? "
The others were too stunned to reply and also took a step back.
"Thought as much." Ella walked away, back to Lucy.
"You want to know how I do these things? Read the rifting manual!"
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Zac and the others were walking, still at the back. They had scampered away after the scene, cradling their bruised egos.
Jaden had found the help manual on his hologram. The others were also reading it on their own holograms.
The recruit armour has 4 forms.
Transparent mode, useful for showering, toileting, and bedroom activities as it is invisible and permeable to all fluids. It provides no defence. To use this, please say the phrase "deactivate default mode."
Default mode. A black exercise suit that supports blood flow and limits muscle injury through compression. It has limited weather protection, collision detection, and limited defences. Useful for everyday usage. Additional customisation features are available with an active power source.
Battle mode. Requires an active power source. A metal exoskeleton. Enhances defences across the whole body. Provides additional strength to movements. To use this, please say the phrase, "activate battle armour." In case of a life-threatening situation and no power source is available, the default suit can draw on its reserves to provide a brief moment of battle mode. To use this, please say the phrase, "emergency override, activate battle armour."
Turbo mode. Requires an active power source. Shares the power source with the subject's blu-flo, providing a brief boost in all capabilities. To use this, please say the phrase, "activate turbo mode." Captain’s Note: This is an external power source. Prolonged use can cause the brain to liquefy, muscles/tendons/ligaments to tear, and finally liver and kidney failure.
To Zac, the last mode was undeniably a last resort. Do or die.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
"Hey guys, look at this." Jaden had also found something else. They mingled over his shoulder and looked at his hologram. Looking through the tips Jaden had read that there was a stats menu. But when he went to his own stats menu, he found:
Strength: analysing blu-flo.
Dexterity: analysing blu-flo.
Agility: analysing blu-flo.
Intelligence: analysing blu-flo.
Constitution: analysing blu-flo.
Level: 1.
Contribution: 0.
"Whats blu-flo?"
"No clue. Hey, mine says the same as well."
"What does level 1 mean? And contribution? Do we have to sacrifice something to the Goddess?"
Zac checked his own stats menu.
Strength: error. Blu-flo not detected.
Dexterity: error. Blu-flo not detected.
Agility: error. Blu-flo not detected.
Intelligence: error. Blu-flo not detected.
Constitution: error. Blu-flo not detected.
Level: error. Blu-flo not detected.
Contribution: error. Blu-flo not detected.
He was confused. What was blu-flo and why didn't he have it? Did it have something to do with his invisibility?
He touched the icons and descriptions of the stats popped up.
Strength: the density of actin-myosin filaments in your muscle bellies. A higher number leads to increased strength. Captain's note: overall muscle belly hypertrophy from physical training is not counted in this number.
Dexterity: the responsiveness of grey matter when connecting afferent and efferent sensory nerves. A higher number leads to improved reflexes and coordination.
Agility: the amount of fast twitch muscle fibres. A higher number leads to more explosive movements.
Intelligence: the number of synapses between neurons in your central nervous system. A higher number leads to increased capacity to store and sort incoming stimuli. Captain's note: IQ remains the same.
Constitution: epigenetics and cellular buffering. A higher number leads to improved cellular resilience and adaptation against cellular level insults.
Level: The number of boons granted by the Goddess.
Contribution. Points awarded by the Goddess after completing her will. These points can be traded for boons and other benefits at the Citadel.
How is the Goddess involved with blu-flo? What are boons? Zac had many questions and no one to answer them.
As he was pondering, a shadow was cast over the plain and caught up to the recruits. The sun had finally disappeared over the mountain tops. Looking at the map they were still a good 1km from the mining facility.
Below them, the ground started to come alive. Things were burrowing out of the dirt, attracted to the sound of the footsteps.
Arms and legs were popping out of the ground, reaching for the circle mates. Killian yelped as he punched and kicked the limbs and mounds of dirt appearing next to him. "These rifters, they're biting through the suit."
Zac looked up. Ella was right. The sun was their lifeline, and the light touching the ground was receding faster than they could run. They were in the worst of positions being at the back of the pack: furthest from the sunlit ground, and furthest from the shelter. He turned around and saw a horde of darkness welcoming them. As far as his upgraded eyesight could see, he saw silhouettes of limbs pop up out of the darkness and with them came heads and torsos.
Eric and the others had not yet realised the severity of the situation. "They can jump!" Eric and the others backed into each other, defending themselves from the small beasts that had pushed themselves free of the earth and jumped at their torsos.
There were similar cries further ahead as the darkness enveloped more people. Zac could see the silhouettes of the recruits ahead start to run.
⟡Increased heart rate sensed. Raised adrenaline. Power source not available, please connect power source to activate battle and turbo modes.⟡
"Get to the shelter! Run!" Lucy's voice called out from the front.
Zac didn't hesitate. He bolted off, running the last 1km. Eric and the others were right behind him, wading through the sea of critters, ignoring the bites and squashing those that were hot on their heels.
Zac had an incredulous look on his face when Eric and the others easily ran past him.
He sped up, trying to match their pace so that he wouldn't be left behind with the critters. But he couldn't.
How are they faster than I am? Surely they will exhaust themselves first? No? They can keep running?!
In fact, all the recruits were racing ahead of him, chasing the line of light. They were safe only for the fact that the monsters took time to come out of the ground. Only Zac seemed to struggle to leave the monsters behind. I thought I was the first to awaken, strongest amongst the recruits…
Zac began to huff and struggle. He couldn't keep up with the pace. He was sprinting his lungs out and subsequently fatigued quickly. He looked behind him. The grass plain was moving with monsters like a rough sea full of competing tides. He had a sinking feeling that he wouldn't make it to the shelter.
No. No time to complain. Just keep running.
Zac slapped his face and looked forward. Only forward. He had to make it.
Zac pushed himself until he lost his form, tripped, and flew forward.
The world slowed down as Zac arced through the air.
Is this it? I'll be the first to die in this sick game of chase?
Zac could see the critters catching up to him. He was going to be eaten alive.
Perhaps I should have followed the captain's advice. Taken the second ship or used his rifting torture device. I don't want to be eaten alive.
His body hit the ground and slid forward, unprotected face scraping against rock and dirt before rolling to a stop. Thankfully his suit protected the rest of his body from becoming a human crayon.
The thunder of monsters continued forward towards him.
Zac closed his eyes in defeat.
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Zac opened his eyes.
The bites and scratches never came. In fact, when he looked around him, the critters avoided him. He stood up and looked around incredulously. The horde split around him and then joined again, as if they intentionally avoided him and kept running seamlessly towards the main pack.
I must really be invisible. Even they don't see me? But then how do they avoid me? Or maybe they do see me. But then why avoid me? Is this another sick joke? Another lesson from the captain? Does this mean I'm in the right group? The invisible group? How many of the recruits are invisible?
There was only one gap he could see in the sea of monsters.
Again, too many questions with no answers. Zac picked himself up, huffing as he walked forward after the rest of the recruits.
This is going to become a bruise. Zac clutched his face, wincing as he brushed the dirt out of the raw skin. He could see in the distance that the horde had caught up to the main body of recruits.