Dan made only one request to Chad Eisenworth before they departed. He wanted to pay his respects to his mother’s grave.

Dan’s trip was possibly the safest he had ever taken through the crime-ridden streets. He hopped into a limousine escorted by three other understated sedans. Not one gang member they drove by attempted anything funny. Dan had assumed at least one would have tried something stupid. However, the executive told him during the drive that the sedans the agents rode in had their windows rolled down, allowing them to show off their weapons. Dan in essence had his own bodyguards.

They finally arrived at the cemetery where his mother was buried. Dan still grimly remembered how he had no money to afford a proper funeral. The state sure as hell didn’t pay for one either, only providing the bare essentials for what was needed to bury his mom’s body.

The vehicles stopped in front of the cemetery.

“Thanks for doing this for me, Chad,” Dan said. “Just in case I never step foot on U.S. soil again, I wanted one last visit.”

“Not a problem, kid. Just be mindful of your time here,” the executive said. “We still need to transport you to Alpha-controlled territory and get you prepped as an agent. Plus, we might be attracting some nosey ones in your little neighborhood. My agents will defend themselves, but starting a war isn’t what we’re here for.”

Dan hopped out of the limo, walked through the open gate and followed the gravel path. After another minute of walking, a yellow triangle pointed out the exact location of his mom's grave. He was unsettled how his HUD knew to give directions to him based on his current circumstances. It only proved that the Alpha Corp already knew a lot about him just from hacking into the local surveillance systems.

Dan stopped in front of the yellow triangle. It promptly disappeared, and he saw his mom’s gravestone for the first time since they’d buried her.

Emily Erikson

2261 - 2301

The state had the bare minimum of consideration to give Dan’s mom the surname of her mother, if only for documentation purposes.

Dan had to keep this brief. His new life was waiting for him.

“Hey, Mom,” Dan said. He hadn’t addressed his mom for what felt like an eternity, even though her death was only two months ago.

“I never thought my life would take this direction. A direction without you and a path out of the U.S. I’m taking the opportunity to get out while I can to start something new.”

Dan knew he was the only one talking, but it brought him comfort to sort of pretend that his mom was still around in some capacity.

“I don’t know what these Alpha Corporation dudes have in store for me, but who knows? It might be fun to be an agent. They’re going to give me weapons, armor, a rank, actual prospects, Mom. Running around and evading these assholes is getting so fucking old. It’s time for me to go. I don’t know if I’ll ever come back here, but I hope you know that I’m escaping this place.”

Dan walked up to the gravestone and placed his hand on the cold wet stone. “See ya, Mom.”

He removed his hand and walked away. The yellow triangle popped up in his vision and guided him back to the entrance of the cemetery. He saw the executive and an agent standing at the entrance, waiting for him.

“That was pretty quick,” the agent said. He looked over to Chad. “Usually the goodbyes from the recruits to their loved ones are always a drag.”

“Not much to say,” Dan said. “I’m getting out of here to start a new life and said to wish me good luck.”

The agent chuckled. “I like this kid.”

“Ready to go, Dan?” Chad asked.

Dan nodded. “Yeah, I am. You okay with me taking a nap on the trip?”

“No worries. My agents wouldn’t mind a quiet ride.”

“Tell me about it,” the agent said. “All the new recruits we collect from Alpha territories always ask a bunch of questions as if we’re fucking walking service desks.”

Dan laughed at the agent’s bluntness as he got inside the limo.

***

A jab to Dan’s arm woke him up. He looked around and saw the familiar interiors of the jet they’d boarded. Across from him was Chad and his secretary Skye, who both unfastened their seatbelts and stood up. Beside him was the agent that had jabbed him in the arm.

Dan let out a yawn. “What’s going on?”

“We’re here,” the agent said.

“How long was I asleep?”

“Just an hour. We traveled from the East Coast of the U.S. to where Britain used to be.”

Dan rubbed his eyes and stared at the agent. “Hold the fuck up. You’re telling me we traveled from the States to Europe in an hour?! How is that possible?”

“What? You’ve never been on an airplane before?”

“Never. I’m just a street kid, remember? I never knew planes were that fast,” Dan said.

“Oh right, I forgot,” the agent said. “By the way, we no longer call it Europe. Most of it is now territory of the Alpha Corp.”

Once again, Dan was shocked at how the Alpha Corporation operated. To treat a one hour flight that spanned the Atlantic Ocean like it was no big deal. Honestly, Dan was surprised their jet hadn’t been shot down since the entire U.S. was jam-packed with no-fly zones.

“How did you guys get around the no-fly zones?”

“We didn’t have to,” Chad said. “All the personal jets I own have advanced stealth technology.”

“Damn,” Dan said.

“Well, come along now. We need to get you into the city,” Chad said.

Dan unfastened his seatbelt and followed behind the executive. The agent brought up the rear. Another agent greeted them and promptly opened the side door and the sunlight spilled through. Dan excitedly stepped out, almost bumping into Chad and his secretary.

“Woah, easy now,” Chad said.

“Sorry, I don’t see the sun too often,” Dan said.

“Geez,” the agent behind him said.

As Dan stepped down the stairs from the private jet, he looked out and saw they had landed on what appeared to be lush flatlands.

Dan stood still for a few seconds to admire the greenery. Back where he lived, he would be lucky to see one tree per block. The grass was a serene green shade and swayed to the light breeze. Colors appeared far more vibrant than what Dan thought was possible. Was it the sunlight?

The gold rays cascaded down onto the grass along what appeared to be a mile-long stretch of plains through the white clouds. Dan took a deep breath. The air just felt great to breathe. No longer was his throat irritated with the smoke and other crap in the air of his hometown. He recalled times when he had to resist the urge to cough or sneeze while sneaking around groups of gangsters because of how poor the air quality had been.

“It’s not just the sunlight, kid,” the agent said behind him. “Thanks to the serum, your improved visual acuity gives the world around you a facelift.”

“Wow, good to know,” Dan said, still in awe of the serene landscape in front of him.

Dan continued walking down the stairs and reached the ground. He looked back at the private jet and took a few seconds to check out its bizarre design. It was sleek and skinny. The nose was sharp and pointy, and it drooped slightly downward at an angle. The wings in particular looked like they were reversed in their design, pointing towards the front of the aircraft instead of behind it.

Then the outer shell of the plane shimmered with pastel colors for a few seconds before going completely translucent.

“Woah, holy shit,” Dan shouted.

“That’s the cloaking system in action,” Chad said. “The Americans would kill to have to this.”

“It’s rare to ever see kids impressed these days,” the agent said. “Most of the previous recruits in the past six months would look at this and just go back to swiping on their handhelds.”

“What the hell?” Dan said. “How could they. This shit is awesome!”

“If you like that, you’ll love the gear we got in our armories,” Chad said. “But remember that you’ll have to rank up and earn our top-notch equipment. Now let’s hurry on.”

A jeep was waiting for them and Dan followed Chad and Skye into the vehicle. Chad walked to the passenger seat while Dan and Skye entered the backseats. They got onto a road and the jeep drove through the countryside. Dan saw rolling hills and the occasional barns here and there. All the scenes he witnessed looked like the various pictures of what many areas in the States used to look like a few centuries ago.

“I’m surprised your shard kept the landscapes intact,” Dan said.

“Well, not exactly,” Chad said. “Urbanization had already taken its toll in many lands. The Alpha Corporation had to jumpstart tearing certain sections down just to cultivate everything you see here. These flatlands in particular took us forty years to develop into what they are now.”

“That long?”

“Mankind knows how to leave its mark on the Earth,” Chad said. “It truly is a shame that we cover up nature’s majestic wonders with our inferior man-made sights, which never measure up.”

Compared to where he grew up, this was a fantasy land. Just the variety in color and scenery already captured Dan’s full attention. As if that wasn’t enough, the sky shifted from blue to a splash of aqua and yellow, and the sunlight even shifted from an angelic gold to an unexpected pink.

“The fuck? What’s going on?” Dan said.

Skye chimed in. “The Alpha Corporation employs periodic color changes to the sky and sunlight to offer more variety in outdoor scenery for certain sections. These flat plains are one of them.”

Dan simply stared at her before looking back out the window and watching the bizarre scenery. Now he was witnessing the countryside with pink sunshine and aqua-yellow skies. Dan had never taken drugs in his life, but maybe this was what some drug users saw when they were high.

Half an hour flew by with Dan admiring all these fresh landscapes, a much needed change of scenery compared to the smog and rain-soaked streets of his hometown. Chad cleared his throat and caught Dan’s attention.

“This will be a bit disorientating,” the executive said. “But your training process is going to be done out of order compared to all the others.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Let’s just say that Michael Cynosa did what his heart told him and he saved an innocent bystander in his conflict against the agents of the Kodak-Cresh shard.” Chad’s eyes solely rested on Dan. “But in doing so, that forces us to make some changes to how your training is supposed to proceed.”

“Training?” Dan said, though he shouldn’t be surprised. Inferring from the title of ‘agent’, Dan assumed he had to be knowledgeable in multiple fields.

“Well Dan, after looking through your past, your survival instincts and harsh background give you the edge over other recruits, but that alone merely makes you into a potential candidate. You’re not an agent yet.”

“That makes sense. So you guys have to teach me how to shoot a gun first?”

“Oh much more than that my boy,” Chad said with a smile. “You’re going to be put through our most optimized training regime and be prepared to take on the challenges all our agents must face on the field. But there’s something else at play.”

“And what’s that?”

Chad’s expression hardened and Dan saw the lines in the executive's face, truly showing the man’s age.

“Michael injected you with our latest state of the art serum to heal your injuries. But he also used up a valuable serum without confirming you were ready to become an agent. The proper augmentation process takes place after an agent completes the flash training and simulated combat scenarios in our program.”

“So in other words, one of your guys jumped the gun and used an expensive super serum to save me from dying, and now you and the Alpha Corp are in a tough spot. One of your serums was used up to save someone who isn’t yet an agent,” Dan said bluntly. He found time to chuckle about the situation. “I guess you must be glad that I didn’t resist the idea of becoming an agent. I wouldn’t want to think what you guys would have done if I said no.”

“That is… one way to put it,” Chad said. “The stakes for you are high. You must complete our training for us to fully recruit you into the shard as an agent.”

“And if I fail?” Dan asked.

Chad gave him a grim expression but Dan already had a response. “Dumb question, I know. But yeah, I get it. You guys are not a charity and my life being saved doesn’t come free. Nothing comes free in this world.”

“Unfortunately not,” Chad said.

Dan gave the executive the biggest grin he could muster. “Throw your worst at me and I’ll show you I can make it. Michael won’t regret his decision.”

Chad leveled with Dan with his own grin. “That’s the spirit.”

Dan had been so absorbed in the conversation that only now he glanced out the window and saw the jeep was underground. The jeep eventually reached a parking lot and halted.

“You’ll get your opportunity soon enough Dan,” Chad said. “Looks like we’re here.”

“Where?”

“We’re at a site belonging to the Alpha Corp. The sort of property that regular civilians never see. This is where your training will take place. Follow me.”

The side doors opened from the outside and both Dan and Chad were greeted by Alpha agents. Both stood straight and gave a respectful nod to Dan. He looked up and saw the duo who towered over him. The rifle in their hands vaguely resembled an AK with dual elongated bayonets. The most intimidating assault rifle he had ever laid eyes on.

The parking lot was barren save for a few armored jeeps and transports belonging to the shard. Nothing about the lot stood out to Dan. The cold and drab concrete with the modest lighting on the walls was nothing out of the ordinary compared to the multi-colored sky during the trip here.

Chad began walking and Dan followed closely behind him. The two agents followed behind as well. The executive led him through a narrow staircase and the stale air and dim lighting made Dan feel like he was climbing out of some underground bunker. The door at the top slid aside and they stepped through.

Dan looked around and the hallway was only marginally less drab compared to the parking lot. Grey walls and ceiling with no distinct pattern or texture lined the hallway. He looked down and saw the floor had an odd sheen to it, reflecting Dan’s fuzzy and distorted reflection back at him.

Dan followed the executive through numerous hallways before stopping at a marked door. Chad entered a code in the keypad next to the door and the entrance slid open. “In here my boy.”

The door opened to another hallway. This time, the hall was narrower and somehow even more dim. The walls were now a deep black, making Dan feel like he walked through a void. Many doors lined either side of the hall and Chad slowly made his way to the right side door near the end of the hall.

“Dan, the first phase of your training starts in this room,” the executive said.

“And what’s that?”

Chad typed in another code in the keypad and the door slowly cracked open and Dan walked up behind the executive. In the room, he saw a large chamber that vaguely reminded him of a tanning bed. The strange contraption had thick tubes and other wiring connected to another machine against the wall that appeared to be a supercomputer. All Dan could make out was the flat display showcasing various graphs and charts along with blinking lights on the control panel.

“Your first phase is flash training,” the executive said. “You will enter into this chamber and allow our machines to connect directly to your mind.”

“I don’t know if I feel comfortable with you guys peering into my memories,” Dan admitted.

“Oh no it’s nothing like that,” Chad reassured. “This machine will be implanting new memories into your mind, not extracting them. You will have combat training and theory implanted into you.”

“Woah what the hell? That’s a thing? You guys have machines that can just dump knowledge directly into your head?”

“Yes, though that is not the full story. Just like in a typical classroom setting, the knowledge learned will only be useful if you begin applying it in the real world. During this flashing training, you will take in and absorb whatever knowledge you receive and then move on to our combat simulator to apply the theory you have learned from this machine.”

“That doesn’t sound so hard,” Dan said. “I never liked any of my teachers anyway.”

“However, with a minority of our past candidates, we found that the volume of info being fed directly into your brain has some… side effects. Intense migraines, seizures and bleeding from the eyes and ears were reported in some candidates. A young mind can absorb new information faster than us older folk, but the deluge of knowledge that is forcibly crammed inside any mind can be overwhelming.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Oh,” Dan said. “Well, let’s get it over with then. Nothing more to do than to just jump right in.”

Chad flashed him a smile and said, “Very good. We’ll get started then.”

The executive looked out of the room and made a gesture. One of the agents escorting them entered the room and approached the computer. Dan didn’t follow what the agent did or the commands he typed into the controls, but he saw the lid of the chamber pop open and lift itself.

“It’s ready sir,” the agent said.

“So, how long is this supposed to take?” Dan asked.

“The average flash training process will take a candidate two to three weeks to complete,” Chad said. “Good luck my boy. I have faith you will pull through.”

“Well if I somehow don’t, it was nice knowing you,” Dan said candidly.

The agent snorted and then regained his composure. Dan looked at the chamber that resembled an open mechanical clam shell. He walked up to the strange contraption and slowly climbed inside and laid his body.

The agent grabbed a few tubes with pads at the ends and began sticking them in various spots on Dan’s head. The heavy-handed approach to sticking Dan’s head with these tubes reminded Dan that he wasn’t about to have a massage. He didn’t bother counting past the seventh or eighth pad that was attached to his head.

“Closing it now,” the agent said. Dan heard the agent’s fingers pressing more buttons before the hatch of the chamber slowly closed down. The last thing Dan saw was Chad giving him a nod before the top closed down on him, isolating him from the rest of the world.

The chamber filled with some kind of mist. The strange substance reached above Dan’s neck and he got a whiff of the scent. The mist was odourless, but it took immediate effect on Dan as it entered his system. Even with all of his willpower, he couldn’t keep his eyes open and his eyelids shut as if being commanded to do so by something other than himself.

The pads attached to his head began warming up. The last thing he felt was a slight jolt fed through the pads and directly into his head.

***

Dan opened his eyes again and was transported to a different world.

He looked down and saw his own body. Then he lifted his chin up and could see nothing but infinite darkness all around him. He stomped a few times on the ground and felt a solid surface underneath his feet, even if it did look like a black void like the rest of his surroundings.

Dan had no clue what to expect from this flash training or if something had already gone wrong. Then a swirl of white glitter spiraled around him before it morphed and engulfed him. When the white glitter disappeared, Dan saw an empty room with an Alpha agent standing in place. He looked down and could no longer see his body. And yet, he could move more freely than he ever could. He flew around the room, reaching the tall ceiling and circling around in the air while watching the lone agent below. Dan was like a ghost now secretly observing the agent in this desolate room.

What the hell is this? Dan thought.

Suddenly, something wrestled control away from him and forced him back down to the ground. He was now positioned to the side of the agent. A spinning blue icon popped up in his vision and then transitioned into text.

Welcome to your flash training session!

You will begin by learning the basics of firearms and safe practices when handling the Alpha Corporation’s state of the art weaponry.

Dan observed the agent, who carried the same rifle with the AK design and dual bayonets. The agent fired a burst in the air, not hitting anything. Dan felt an invisible force push him from behind that brought him up close to the agent. The agent took the magazine out of the rifle and then rammed a new one in. He then pulled back the bolt handle of the rifle.

The agent proceeded to showcase numerous other basic aspects of firearm care. Accompanying messages also popped up, floating beside the agent.

The agent will now demonstrate how to fix a jammed rifle.

Dan watched closely as he recalled an occasion when he looted an assault rifle from a dead gangster but couldn’t shoot it because it jammed. He remembered being forced to abandon the rifle as he couldn’t figure out how to fix it.

The agent pulled the trigger and fired, but the rifle didn’t shoot. The agent pulled back the bolt handle and performed a quick and abrupt gesture where he flung a shell casing that failed to eject.

Huh, that’s useful, Dan thought.

From this point onwards, something happened that significantly sped up the process. Dan didn’t know how else to describe it other than someone skipping through scenes in a movie. Flashes and snapshots of the agent wielding various weapons came and went abruptly in front of Dan’s eyes.

But somehow, Dan’s mind absorbed everything that happened, even the things he didn’t see with his own eyes. In that strange and bizarre slideshow of disjointed actions from the agent, Dan’s mind had numerous recollections of the agent firing pistols, shotguns, explosive weapons and numerous other types of weapons.

And he could recall them all accurately.

Now transitioning to basic combat tactics.

Dan continued to observe what was in front of him. The simulated arnea then filled with additional agents and Dan’s mind was pumped with more memories that he had barely experienced in real time. His eyes viewed the scattered and disjointed demonstrations of combat between multiple agents. But his mind absorbed the scenarios in full.

In the span of what felt like seconds, Dan’s mind had seen numerous tactics executed by these agents. Flanking, pincer moves, agents finding ideal sniper positions, and much more flashed across his mind. The disconnect and the jarring difference between the incomplete and gap-filled moments through his eyes and then the full and completed versions in his mind was enough to throw off anybody. Dan could guess why previous candidates had a hard time.

But even now, somehow Dan hadn’t lost his mind. With so much info coming at him, he was shocked he had lasted this long. Already he felt hours worth of demonstrations had been crammed into his head in what seemed like mere minutes passing by in the real world.

But he remembered entering the chamber and being closed off from Chad and everyone else. This strange realm where the flash training took place was no longer the real world.

Congratulations. You have passed the first two sections of the flash training.

Fun fact: 27% of candidates who have reached this point suffered symptoms such as migraines and seizures. 2% suffered more severe side effects such as hemorrhages and aneurisms.

Reading such a grim statistic wasn’t exactly encouraging or inspiring for Dan. But he was glad he didn’t feel any different. So far, his mind was taking in the information well.

Now transitioning to basic hand-to-hand fighting techniques.

The flash training resumed back at full speed and Dan’s eyes were once again fed the same jarring contrast of incompleted images in front of him along with the full versions of events directly forced fed into his brain.

The arena changed to two agents with one demonstrating fighting techniques on the other. In such a short span, Dan had witnessed techniques pulled from various former militaries of the past that the Alpha Corp had taken and absorbed into the training of their agents. Dan witnessed various demonstrations with helpful floating text above them that explained each move and where it was pulled from.

Marine Corps Martial Arts Program

A military martial arts system developed by the former United States Marines Corps specifically for Marines. The system was a unique blend of seventeen different martial arts systems, including Brazilian jiujitsu, Muay Thai and even traditional wrestling.

Along with the text floating above the two agents, Dan witnessed numerous takedowns, locks and various other moves in this one martial arts program alone. Dan found himself grinning witnessing an agent performing a hip throw of his opponent.

His mind focused on one particular session where the attacking agent delivered numerous fast strikes in succession to force the other to backpedal. The agent then closed in and and grabbed the leg of his opponent who attempted a kick. A quick leg sweep brought the opponent down flat on his back.

Another doctrine of martial arts flashed through his mind.

Krav Maga

Invented by Emrich “Imi” Lichtenfeld in the 1930s, the local martial artist gathered a group of boxers and wrestled and defended his local city against thugs. Such an experience made Lichtenfeld realize the importance of self-defense in a scenario where sport fighting would be insufficient. Over the next few years, he developed a combat system known as Krav Maga that would be taught to the Israeli army.

The martial art featured techniques from other various doctrines that have been adapted to be effective in street fights and life-or-death situations. The system focuses on speed with high degrees of violence and aggression. Extra emphasis was placed on targeting vulnerable spots to maim and kill if necessary.

Just as the description explained, Dan saw the demonstrations reflect accurately in the fighting styles of the agents. One agent leveraged his enhanced physique and attacked his opponent with speed that appeared as a blur to Dan’s eyes. The speed was crazy enough that a message popped up above the agents.

Slowing down movements to 30%.

Dan reviewed the moves by the agent and while the Marine Corps emphasized discipline and carefully executed technique, Krav Maga was what Dan called straight-to-the-point violence. Swift elbow strikes to the face, shoving knees into abdomens and even groins, and numerous practical fighting moves involving quick jabs the the face and neck.

One last bit of the demonstrations was depicting an agent who was armed with a pistol. The unarmed agent feigned surrendering by putting his hands in the air and kneeling while the agent had the handgun pointed at his face.

With surprising speed even with the flash training slowing down the moves, the agent grabbed his opponent’s wrist with one hand while snatching the barrel of the handgun, twisting the firearm upwards and forcing the agent to lose his grip on the gun, successfully disarming him.

One of the last major martial arts was one that focused on fighting with sticks and knives. As expected, Dan saw the demonstrations in front of him as bizarre and gap-filled slideshows of two agents performing various moves and being cut off to perform the next set of moves, completely separated from each other.

Kali.

Knife and stick fighting along with striking and grappling techniques. Focuses on controlling distance and using angles for effective attack and defense. A primary principle is not to kill your opponent but to eliminate his ability to cause you more harm. This leads to many strikes or stabs directed against an opponent's hands or arms.

Such an art is typically more reactionary and defensive, which is crucial for agents who find themselves fighting other enemy agents.

His brain was prepared for more memories to flood his mind as the full extent of the demonstrations flowed through.

In another series of bouts between the two agents, one was unarmed while the other wielded a combat knife. Most of the demonstrations were variations of just one scenario. The agent with the knife attempted numerous fast stabs on the other’s abdomen. The other agent used his elbows and forearms to cleverly and precisely block and redirect the incoming knife strikes. Once again the attacks and counter happened so quick that the simulation had to slow the agents’ movement down to thirty percent again for Dan to keep up.

After viewing about fifteen more seconds of the two agents fighting each other, the combat demonstrations came to an end and Dan was greeted by a floating message.

An agent’s ability to fight against an enemy without their weapons is a core component of an agent’s success and survivability. While civilians who learn these martial arts are advised to avoid such dangerous situations in the first place, agents of any shard do not share such a luxury. Agents are built and bred for combat to serve and carry out the interests of their respective shards.

This concludes the combat section of the flash training.

The combat simulation along with the two agents flickered and disappeared. Dan was left with such thrill and excitement from watching and absorbing the knowledge he had gained thus far. He sorely wished he knew much of these techniques growing up in his home town. Many of his fights against the dregs in his area would have been over in seconds.

He couldn’t wait to put what he had absorbed into practice once he finished his flash training. Dan was still stuck in the strange void while the program transitioned through the swirling white glitter circling around him. Once again, the small tornado of white rapidly spun around him and engulfed his body until he was brought into another location.

The new place now appeared to be the inside of a museum. Various paintings and jewel cases containing various guns and strange pieces of technology filled the walls and room. Dan looked down and could see his body again. He stomped a few times on the polished wood flooring and was satisfied he had his body back within this strange realm. Another message popped up in front of him, floating in his vision.

This section will cover a brief overview of the Alpha Corporation’s origins and history. Numerous major events and past conflicts will be covered here so candidates gain a better understanding of the Alpha Corp’s goals and place in this shattered world. Please follow the arrows on the ground to the various stations of interest.

Dan looked down and saw floating gold chevrons painting the floor. The first set of chevrons pointed him to a nearby painting on the wall. He walked toward the peculiar artwork and merely saw a framed piece depicting a bunch of masked individuals wearing an archaic version of the long coats and sleek body armor of modern-day Alpha agents.

A brief caption at the bottom of the painting read:

Precursors to the Alpha agents.

A spinning icon popped up in the center of his vision and more floating text appeared in his peripheral vision.

The Alpha Corporation was officially founded in 2143 and still stands tall and proud as the third major shard. Since the Antarctica Impact Event of 2099, numerous cults have formed that have gained supernatural powers from the extraterrestrial material. Numerous insurgents rose up to combat these cults which were quickly spreading throughout the nations.

Another spinning icon transitioned to showing an image of the meteorite that struck Antarctica. The floating image appeared next to the framed artwork and Dan was in awe of the hauntingly beautiful landscape.

The image depicted a giant rock, its general shape resembling a broken piece from a potentially larger space rock. The meteorite was a dark rock with a tinge of purple that stuck out of the white snowy and icy landscape. The image zoomed in and up close, the texture on the meteorite glistened as if the rock was covered in grease.

The floating text shifted and Dan was hit with even more backstory of the Alpha Corp’s founding.

The European Union was desperate to stop this ever-growing cult of fanatics possessing supernatural abilities. By the 2130s, the numerous scattered cults had finally organized themselves into the Church of Nano-Evolution as we know them today. Conventional soldiers proved ineffective against the otherworldly powers of the Church. With a new threat that had already gained political power and control over Antarctica, Australia, India and some Southeast Asian regions, the EU resorted to one last measure.

The governments in the EU secretly worked together with a prominent market leader in biomechanics Horyzen Industries to engineer a supersoldier serum to combat the fanatics of the Church. The numerous insurgent groups who already had experience in fighting guerilla warfare against the Church volunteered themselves to be the first candidates for this new supersoldier program.

Dan took a few steps back and leaned his back against one of the standing jewel cases.

“Holy fucking shit,” he muttered. Most of the history books he tried finding in libraries as a kid were either shredded or completely missing. The internet was also a restricted virtual realm, another source of information cut off from the general public. He hadn’t the slightest clue that all of this had happened to the other half of the world.

Numerous candidates had become enhanced with superhuman stats across the board, surpassing conventional soldiers and all previous attempts at creating enhanced beings capable of fighting above baseline human levels. However, the EU faced a new problem. Its governments were broken and inefficient bureaucracies and they would have no hope of gathering a force to stand against the Church and rumors of a new hostile group of superhumans simply known as Kodak. Horyzen Industries suggested an extreme and outlandish idea. Grant it extended authority, access and privileges to the militaries to build up an effective fighting force.

Dan quietly wondered in his head how such a crazy suggestion would turn out and how many nations within the EU would have agreed to such a secession of power to a corporation. But since the Alpha Corporation exists today, he knew somehow someone was dumb enough to allow the corporation to rise to such power.

The nations within the EU were split down evenly between nations that agreed to hand their military power over to Horyzen and those that adamantly disagreed. Within a year, Horyzen had effectively gained control of assets across over twenty nations. Horyzen renamed itself to the Alpha Corporation and began its recruitment and training process for its supersoldiers, who were now referred to as agents.

But instead of the EU finally having an effective fighting force to combat the Church and the emerging Kodak-Cresh organization, the newly formed Alpha Corp declared a hostile takeover campaign of the EU countries that did not comply. The Alpha Corp had access to its advanced super serum along with military assets across dozens of countries and began a campaign of dominance, spreading across and extending beyond the EU.

The floating text stayed in the air for another few seconds before disappearing, and the gold chevrons on the floor pulsated, signalling Dan to move to the next area. He slowly walked through the museum, glancing around at various other paintings on the walls and the jewel cases of artefacts.

As he walked past numerous paintings, more floating text hovered in the air and followed him. On his left, he saw text beside a painting depicting three agents in white armor and coats, one male and two female, standing on an elevated platform and looking down on faceless crowds of people wearing robes and hoods over their heads.

Alpha Corp vs. Middle East Alliance, 2236 - 2238.

A short but devastating campaign in which the Alpha Corp fought against an alliance of nations that included Israel, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The Alpha Corp liberated each of these nations and absorbed their land into their captured territories. The women and children were freed from their oppression and recruitment into the Alpha Corp was opened to these oppressed lands.

Dan walked past a jewel case containing the familiar AK assault rifle with dual bayonets. Another floating message appeared adobe the case, explaining the origins of the rifle.

ZK-77.

After the Alpha Corp’s partial takeover of Russia, including its capital Moscow, the shard absorbed the country’s most renowned weapons manufacturer KSC Kalashnikov Concern. Many of its iconic weapon families were rebranded to serve the Alpha Corp. The ZK-77 assault rifle is a new rifle developed heavily inspired by the classic AK-12. The new model was built to better handle armor-piercing ammunition such as depleted uranium and support higher muzzle velocities along with two durable bayonets to reflect the brutality needed to combat the enemy shards.

The gold chevrons along the ground pointed Dan to the middle of the museum where he stood before a full intricate hand-crafted model of the meteorite that struck Antarctica. The model was perched on a metal stand and illuminated by ground lights. Another paragraph of floating text appeared next to the model.

To entice more young people to join the Alpha Corp as agents, the shard came up with a unique and ingenious method of appealing to the young minds. Drawing upon the wildly successful gaming industry, the Alpha Corp had developed and successfully crafted an easy-to-understand system of progression and rewards for its agents.

Another spinning icon floated in front of Dan’s vision before changing the floating text next to the rock model.

Completing missions and killing enemy agents grants you experience. Enough experience gained allows an agent to level up and completing missions will earn an agent credits to spend. Agents will be awarded stat points to increase their strength and other physical abilities while also using their earned credits to buy more weapons and gear.

Such a loop encourages an agent to continuously improve and seek to better themselves and their skills. Whether it's unlocking the next weapon and armor set to ranking up and gaining more power and authority within the shard, the Alpha Corp pushes its agents to reach higher, strive for better.

A popup at the side of Dan’s vision caught his attention and he saw it was a brief ad. A beautiful young brunette clad in the signature white coat and armor of the Alpha Corp walked slowly toward the camera in the small video popup.

The camera then abruptly shifts to who the female agent is facing, a group of enemy agents clad in body armor with protruding spikes and razor wire wrapped around their limbs. The female agent blurred across the distance between her and the trio of enemy agents.

In just a few seconds, this agent had lobbed the heads off all three agents with a pink glowing sword. The footage rewinded back to before the brunette charges all three. The agent’s sudden lunge was slowed down to allow Dan to see how fast she had moved. In the video, the agent grabbed a hilt from her belt and then the pink blade ignited and forged into its shape. The three enemy agents still hadn’t raised their weapons against their opponent.

It didn’t take long for the female agent to be in their midst and simply swing her sword above shoulder height. In just one sweeping arc, the glowing blade sliced through the heads of all three before the footage resumed to normal speed.

The agent had dashed past the trio of agents and all three collapsed from decapitation. The same brunette looked at the camera and gave a smile and wink. A huge obnoxiously colored text popped up in the video that read:

Jane Sunheiser needs your help. Sign up to be an agent today!

Dan was in awe of the superhuman abilities of this Jane chick. It didn’t hurt that she was a pretty face as well.

“Wow,” he muttered. “I could be that strong too one day…”

An Alpha agent’s stats are divided into several categories. Some categories require spending of stat points to level up, while others require upgrades bought with credits or naturally increase as an agent becomes more battle-hardened. The stats are as follows:

Strength: Encompasses an agent's general physical prowess. Lifting, striking and overall exertion of force.

Agility: An agent's speed and general athletic ability that includes running, jumping and other acrobatic moves.

Endurance: Tied to stamina and durability. Also determines an agent's ability to continue fighting through fatigue and injury.

Intelligence: An agent's ability to strategize, analyze and adapt to ever-changing battlefield circumstances.

Supernatural: Otherworldly abilities that are still undefined through the Arctic serum.

Healing Factor: An agent’s ability to heal from wounds without medical intervention.

Reflex: Determines an agent's chances of dodging a fatal attack. An agent's survivability in this harsh world is partially dependent on their ability to evade normally fatal attacks. Even the best agent can be caught off guard by a surprise attack.

Dan stared at the floating text in front of him. He remembered first seeing his own stats and the fact that he jumped down five stories and landed on his feet without any issue. If he worked hard and busted his ass, he might reach the same level as the brunette from the video.

He looked down and clenched his fist with renewed inspiration and strength.

“I can do this,” Dan whispered to himself. “I’m going to kick ass.”

***

Dan watched as streams of white glitter surrounded him and engulfed him one last time before he saw nothing but darkness. When he opened his eyes, he awoke to the inside of the chamber he had stepped in. He had no clue if his sense of time was accurate, but even though it felt like many hours he had immersed himself in observing martial arts or learning about the Alpha Corp’s history, somehow he was still awake and alert. It was as if he only just took a nap.

Congratulations. You have passed the flash training. Phase 1 of your training is complete!

A loud and abrupt sound of air hissing hit Dan’s ears as the chamber slowly opened from one side and he saw the dim lighting flood its way inside. As the lid rose, he saw two figures standing in front of the chamber, one wearing a neatly pressed suit and the other in full Alpha agent body armor.

The lid fully opened and Dan saw Chad Esienworth and an agent waiting to greet him.

“It looks like you made it,” Chad said. “Well done, Dan.”

“Good to see you sir,” Dan replied. “How long did all of that take?”

“Since you entered the chamber, you’ve been inside for three full weeks,” the executive said.

The accompanying agent nodded to Dan and gave him a brief clap. Chad responded with his winning smile and said, “I never once had any doubt.”

“That’s good to hear,” Dan said.

Chad’s expression changed from smiling to a hardened mask in a moment. “How do you feel, my boy? Some candidates even after finishing the flash training were… in suboptimal condition once the phase concluded.”

Dan got up from the chamber and slowly began removing the pads from his head.

“I feel like I just woke up from a nap. Just normal I guess,” he said. “That’s good, right? Does that mean I can move on right away? After all the fighting moves I saw, I want to start using them.”

Chad and the agent exchanged glances and the executive looked back at Dan and said, “Well, that’s great news. Even more great news is that we can move on. Phase two of the training will be the combat simulators.”