The grinding of machinery and gravel wakes Dante up to find himself in the darkness of a military humvee, chugging through the night. He looks out the back window to see the glow of the city's shield, glistening like an oasis on the horizon as they draw further away from the dome.
Further away from home.
He tries remembering what happened, but after the graduation, his memory has gone spotty. The last thing he remembers is being escorted offstage and taken to a testing centre.
"They told you that you'd forget before you went under," Grunts a nearly middle-aged man sitting in the front passenger seat.
"Under what?" Dante asks, holding his head as he sits up straight.
Before an answer comes, a series of command lines appear at the top of his vision.
_HUD ONLINE
_RUN: SYSTEM INTEGRATION
_RANK: FIFTH TIER ZO'AN (RECRUIT)
_ID: DANTE FORST
_AGE: 21
_ABILITY: ENERGY BALL
_SCORE: 0.2
_EXPAND FOR STATS_
A blue light flickers like a laser passing through the vehicle as his HUD comes to life. They trained with a low-tier version of this at the academy. But, that system was nowhere near as integrated into his vision as this.
"The BCI," The man in the passenger seat says. "They put it in after the graduation,"
Of course- The brain-computer interface that holds the Outer Wall System. OWS for short. Dante went into surgery after the graduation where they could upgrade the chip in his brain. Apparently, a severe case of amnesia is the primary side-effect but who knew it would be this bad?
_RUN: DIAGNOSTICS
_SERVER LINK_GO
_TARGETTING SYSTEM_GO
_TRACKING SYSTEM_GO
_SATELLITE MAP_GO
_HEALTH TRACKER_GO
_TERTIARY SYSTEMS_GO
In the darkness, another laser shoots across his vision to reveal the outlines of the passengers in the vehicle, each of them highlighted in a soft turquoise colour. A quick glance around reveals the highlighted edges of three more humvees driving in tandem with their own, each one with five passengers.
The man in the front seat has a profile tag by his head. A moment of thought expands the box to the soldier's profile beside his head.
_RANK: FIRST TIER ZO'AN (COMMANDER)
_ID: PRESTON LIN
_AGE: 39
_ABILITY: TELEPORTATION
_SCORE: 3.4
_EXPAND FOR STATS_
Holy shit.
Dante can't help but choke at the Commander's score. The highest Dante's ever seen is a 2.2 from a third-tier Zo'an, and she was far stronger than anyone in the academy- Including the lecturers, Most of whom cap at 1.2, tops.
"My apologies, Sir!" Dante's voice shakes, "I had no idea you were the commander,”
"Oh right," Commander Preston mumbles, "I'm the Commander,"
Did this guy seriously forget that he's the commander?
"So you looked at my profile, huh?" The Commander asks.
"Yes, sir. Your score is insane,"
"The highest score ever recorded was a six. Make of that what you will,"
"A six?" Dante stammers, "Isn't that impossible?"
"Not exactly,"
Commander Preston transfers two tables to Dante's HUD that breaks down his and Commander Preston's scores. "Your score is determined by your stats,"
_DANTE FORST (FIFTH TEIR)
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
_SCORE: 0.2
STRENGTH: 2
AGILITY: 6
MANA: 8
PERCEPTION: 2
STRATEGY: 2
_PRESTON LIN (FIRST TIER)
_SCORE: 3.4
STRENGTH: 400
AGILITY: 800
MANA: 600
PERCEPTION: 800
STRATEGY: 800
"The academy should have told you about your niche. The higher your stats, the higher your score," Commander Preston explains.
That's right, their niches were the main focus of the whole program. They were trained to determine which stats they should prioritise to empower their ability as efficiently as possible.
"Why did they create this whole system?" Dante asks as the tables on his HUD close.
"The system Gamified the war," Preston tells him. "It aided in the efficiency of tracking the war's progress, and seems to reduce trauma for troops,"
"Why would it reduce trauma?"
"Feels a little less real," Commander Preston stammers unconfidently, "Apparently,"
"Makes it more fun," Says the driver of the vehicle with an unnerving laughter behind his statement.
"Psychos like Cal thrive out here," Commander Preston comments.
Out of curiosity, Dante brings up the drivers profile-
_RANK: THIRD TIER ZO'AN (HEAD OF ENGINEERING)
_ID: CAL
_AGE: 36
_ABILITY: N/A
_SCORE: 2.2
_EXPAND FOR STATS_
"Like what you see?" Cal answers, grinning to himself.
"I thought a a score of two-point two qualifies as second tier?" Dante asks.
"Not quite," Preston answers, "Zero to one point is fifth tier, one to two points is fourth tier, two to two and a half is third tier, two and a half to three points is second tier and anything from three and up is first tier. Cal over here hit third tier the other day,"
Another table pops up on Dante's HUD from the Commander.
_TIER LIST_
_TIER 5: 0 - 1
_TIER 4: 1 - 2
_TIER 3: 2 - 2.5
_TIER 2: 2.5 - 3
_TIER 1: 3+
“Took me a little while, but I kicked the sim’s ass," Cal chuckles. "The toughest tier change is from tier two to tier one and it's only half a point difference,"
Dante remembers being told something similar by the third-tier Zo'ans who would give talks at the academy. The difference between each tier is so extreme they can hardly be paired together, otherwise, lower tiers will hold back the higher ones. At the same time, the best way for a low-tier Zo'an to become a higher tier is by sparring with someone much stronger than them.
"You don't need to worry about tier two or one yet," Preston says, "Your first job is to get a score high enough for you to not be a burden on the battlefield,"
"How high of a score will I need for that?"
"Most can hold their own from around zero point five and up," The commander answers, "But most Zo'ans actually become useful once they hit the fourth tier,"
"Fun fact," Announces Cal, "Most Zo'ans that die on the battlefield are in the third tier,"
"Seriously?" Dante blurts out.
"It's because they're in a grey area where they're highly skilled and overconfident but still haven't mastered their niche," The commander answers. "They die fixing their own mistakes,"
"So, not all Zo'ans die a hero," Dante sighs.
"Have you seen a Zo'an that isn't a hero, Cal?" Commander Preston asks with a stern, drill Sergeant-like voice.
"No, Sir!" Cal calls out.
"So, you're telling me they all die heroes, Corporal?"
"Yes, Sir!" Cal yells.
"How is that even possible, Corporal?" Commander Preston asks.
"I have no idea, Sir!"
"Once you become Zo'an, you're destined to change the tide of the battlefield," Commander Preston announces.
"But… How?" Dante stutters.
"No idea," Commander Preston chuckles.
Dante presumes that the two of them are stringing him along. Considering most Zo'ans die at the third tier, it's impossible for all Zo'ans to die a hero- Regardless of what the statues in the yard, or other soldiers say.
"The truth of the matter, kid, is that none of us are Zo'ans," Preston owns up from the driver's seat, "Not yet anyway,"
"What do you mean 'not yet'?" Dante asks.
"He means that we're still alive," Cal chuckles, "Can't be a Zo'an if you're still breathing,"
"So dying is how we become Zo'an?" Dante raises an eyebrow.
"That's the culture out here," The commander responds, "Everyone inside the wall thinks we're Zo'an from the start because of those statues in the yard,"
"And you know which Zo’ans get statues?" Cal grins. “The ones that are six feet under,"
Oh great, the first thing Dante's learnt since graduating from the academy yesterday is that he needs to die if he truly wants to become Zo'an. It's quite a pain in the ass to think about, considering the academy's tendency to promote every student as being Zo'an the moment they graduate. The Academy also made it seem as though most deaths are the newcomers, but he presumes it's a close second- it makes sense to scare recruits a little, they all knew the Academy was very focused on them ‘not dying’ as soon as they leave.
The humvee jolts as it comes to a grinding halt, briefly sliding in the sand as it stops ahead of a large gate that seems to section off an area of collapsed buildings. With a number of armed soldiers standing behind the gate and watching from towers beside it as a laser light scans the vehicle slowly. The entire process seems automated. The light completes its scan and the gate opens without the need for the soldiers to pay the vehicle any attention.
Dante glares out the window as Cal drives past the entrance on the South side of the camp and Dante sees that the gate sectioned off the only entrance to a circular piece of flat, dirt land which is surrounded by rubble- collapsed buildings that were once a part of the city. It's quite the strategically placed base. It is hard to see past the highrise rubble that surrounds it and in the dead of night, little to no light could be seen whilst approaching it from the North.
"Welcome to squad two-one-nine's base of operations," Commander Preston announces.