Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy M1 Y:2142
House Thoth, Squad Leader, Squad Zero
M1 Rank: 1/1275, Tier 3 M-Rank: Null
Term: 2, Round: 1
Daedalus Operating Capital: 60,000 bitcreds
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The last Friday of the round had crept up on the cadets before they knew it. At 0600, all members of Thoth Squad Zero who used weights removed them and pushed for their best times. It was Picard’s last chance to improve her time, as she had been chaperoning Kang all week. Today she swapped with Vannier, who pushed Kang while the rest of the squad ran their guts out. The results were as follows.
Obstacle Course Results: Term 2, Round 1
Cadet
Time
M1 Rank
Barran
34.44
2
Picard
34.52
3
Mace
35.49
9
Vannier
39.25
57
Daedo
41.15
90
Axel-Zero
43.10
122
Kang
53.31
694
It was the very first time they had three cadets in the top ten. Barran had placed second on a few occasions but was still denied first. It frustrated him that it was either Rauoult or Lazard who achieved first, as he was able to beat both of them on occasion, just not in the same round. It was the best result of the year for Picard, Mace, and Daedo.
It was also apparent that Picard was breathing down Barran’s neck. She was only eight seconds behind him on the highly technical course.
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Later on the same day, around 1330, Vannier removed her helmet to quickly survey the common room. She then sent a quick message to Daedo and Barran.
Vannier: Barran, are you topside?
Three minutes went by with no response.
Barran: Was in a meeting in the cafeteria. Need me?
Vannier: Meet me and Daedo topside – the courtyard of heroes.
The courtyard of heroes was an awkward name for a central, grassed area on the topside surrounded by buildings. There were busts of the outstanding cadets from previous years, with Karine’s father, Xavier, showing up twice. The courtyard’s perimeter was four hundred metres in length when all four sides were added together. Busts were featured for only 150 metres; there weren’t enough heroes to cover the entire length, apparently.
Barran: What’s up?
Vannier, Daedo, and Barran continued the conversation as they made their way to the courtyard.
Vannier: I was just contacted by one of Fortescue’s lackeys, Paget-A. They want a meeting, and when I asked why, she said it was a business type meeting, and Karine didn’t state the reason.
Barran: Then tell her to ask Pompous Face and get back to you. Don’t let them push you around, Vannier.
Daedo: Paget-A is the most reasonable person from that squad. Let’s not yell at her.
Vannier: Let me see what I can find out in the time we have left.
Daedo: Let me try.
Vannier: Really?
Daedo: Yeah. I want to expand my horizons.
Vannier: Go on, then. We’re running out of time.
Daedo wanted to message Paget-A, not because he wanted to expand his horizons, but because he thought it might evoke a response if he reached out to her. She had been the most friendly and open during their last meeting.
Daedo: Hi. It’s Daedo.
Paget-A: Oh. Hi.
Daedo: I’d like to know what the meeting is about. That’s a reasonable request, don’t you think?
Paget-A: I wasn’t specifically informed. But if I had to guess, it might be about Barran selling exos to anyone with creds.
Daedo: Thanks. I appreciate your understanding.
Paget-A: For what? I didn’t inform you of anything; it is merely a guess.
Daedo: Okay.
Daedo sent the obligatory goodbye symbol and went back to the squad channel.
Daedo: Okay, she told me that she thinks it’s about the exo sales. She made it sound like Fortescue isn’t happy about it. Or the unlikely scenario she wants to purchase them. I would bet on the former.
Vannier: She just told you? What did you say?
Daedo: I asked nicely.
Barran: You are a dark horse alright!
Daedo: A what?
Barran: In my experience, she only gives up info she’s not supposed to if she likes you.
Vannier: Your vast experience?
Barran: Hey. You can’t deny I get things done.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Vannier: What do your persuasion skills and confidence have to do with experience?
Barran: You’ll understand when you’re more experienced.
Vannier: O.o. Are we even in the same argument? Argh. We’re wasting time. Do you have any ideas for a plan, Daedo?
Daedo: I don’t think we need one. Just be yourselves.
Barran: Oh, this will be fun!
Vannier: Um, that wasn’t permission to go rogue.
Barran: Oh? I’ll just be myself.
Daedo: We’re here, Barran.
Daedo and Vannier waited in the outer courtyard for Barran. They could see the Horus Zero squad sitting on a couple of benches near the centre of the courtyard, but they didn’t approach until Barran arrived.
Fortescue sat in the centre flanked by the Paget twins. Raoult stood with her helmet on, engrossed in a VR activity. The rest of the squad sat on another bench.
As Daedo, Vannier, and Barran drew closer, Fortescue stood and took a few steps forward. The Pagets followed, flanking their squad leader.
Barran chuckled and sent a message.
Barran: An angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other.
Daedo couldn’t help but smile. It was an astute observation. And funny, because it held a large dollop of truth.
“I’m glad you find something amusing,” Fortescue said. She had a strange way of greeting people.
“You invited us here; you could at least thank us for coming before reverting to your imperious self,” Vannier snapped.
Barran put a hand on Daedo’s shoulder, leaned close, and whispered, “Holy shit. Vannier can be mean.”
Daedo used his implant and Myrmidon to send Barran a message.
Daedo: Don’t whisper. It looks bad. Use your implant and AI if you have to.
“Thanks for coming,” Paget-A said politely before anyone else could speak. There was tension between Vannier and Fortescue even without the fact that Thoth Squad Zero was the thorn in Horus’s side.
Fortescue didn’t bat an eye and ignored both Vannier and Paget-A. She looked directly at Daedo and said, “Why are you selling your exo to every squad with the creds to buy it? It makes no sense. But I suppose that is normal for you. Little you do makes sense.”
“Well, looks like you answered your own question,” Barran said cheekily. “Can we go now, Your Highness?”
Most people would react to Barran’s barbs. Fortescue ignored him and kept staring at Daedo. After Barran’s words had melted away, silence began to reign. Daedo just stood there, mute. The three members from Horus Squad Zero watched him, waiting for a reply.
Daedo folded his arms, staring back. His body language indicated he was not going to answer. Paget-L was about to say something, but Fortescue held her hand in front of her squad member, palm facing her as if she anticipated an outburst.
“You have nothing to say?” Fortescue asked.
“I already said everything I had to say last term. Nothing has changed,” Daedo answered. Which was not true; he had learned more about the topic, but his attitude had not changed.
The only evidence of an imminent alien invasion came from humans. Therefore, the evidence only proved that certain humans believed there was an imminent alien invasion. It did not actually prove to Daedo that there was one.
There was the point that someone like Colonel Martin operated as if it were a fact. He was an intelligent military officer. This meant that it was not a mere rumour; the military took it seriously. On the opposing view, Mace’s parents pointed out that rumours had been circulating about an imminent alien threat since they were at the academy almost twenty years ago.
Paget-L laughed, and this time Fortescue allowed her to speak. “So you’re selling your exos because aliens will invade soon? And people call me crazy.”
“You know,” Fortescue added with a much more polite tone, “I did some digging during the break. Just in case you weren’t misguided. And it turns out there are rumours of an alien invasion. But.” She paused on the heavily emphasized word. “According to my investigations, there have been rumours since the visitation in 2101. I concluded that it is due to human emotion which spawns these fantasies, and they spread because it feeds off people’s fears. Especially when they hear it from several sources. It’s like the big bang theory. Just because billions believe it’s a fact doesn’t make it so,” she concluded.
The big bang theory had been a widely held model on the origin of the universe for over a century. And when leading physicists and mathematicians disagreed and disproved it, it took decades to change public perception.
Daedo sighed and said, “So what?”
Fortescue frowned. “What do you mean, ‘So what?’ I looked into what you said and found there is no basis. I even talked to my mother about it!” She declared the last part as if it was a great sacrifice.
“Two things,” Daedo said calmly. “One; the military takes it seriously. And two; my view is we have nothing to lose by taking it seriously.”
Fortescue stared at him as if he was crazy. Again. “What are you talking about? Of course you are losing. If you sell your exo to other squads, you are giving away your advantage!”
It was Daedo’s turn to put his arm in front of a squadmate. Barran. Daedo knew how he would respond to that statement.
Daedo: Yes, I know. She isn’t worried about our advantage. And she knows we know.
“Fortescue,” Daedo said, deadpan. “We don’t need that advantage to win. In fact, it would only hurt our chances of being selected.” He turned and added over his shoulder, “We’re going now. Paget-A will explain it to you.”
“Unless, of course, you would like to place an order,” Barran added.
The looks he received would have killed lesser men. Barran merely smiled, showing his pearly white teeth.
“Come on,” Vannier said, pulling Barran away. They followed Daedo out of the courtyard.
When they were out of earshot, Barran said, “Damn, Vannier. You let Fortescue have it right off the get-go. Do you have a thing with her? Daedo and I had to do all the talking.”
Vannier merely sighed. She thought about his words for a minute before responding. “You know, you’re right. I really need to get over her pompous, self-important … grrrrr!”
Barran laughed. He enjoyed seeing Vannier like that. He leaned towards Daedo and whispered loudly, “I will pay you if you let me come to every Horus meeting with Vannier from now on. This is gold.” Then he did a little dance.
“I’m glad I entertain you,” Vannier said through clenched teeth.
“He has a point,” Daedo said, allowing a small criticism that hurt Vannier ten times more than anything Barran could say.
A single tear escaped her eye. She wiped it away and said with determination, “Okay. I’ll do better.”
“I have good news,” Barran said, changing the subject with enthusiasm. “We now have six sales of eight exos. That’s 90K!”
“That’s truly amazing,” Daedo said.
“One thing though. With M3 Shu Zero keeping theirs from last term, it’s effectively a one-off sale until we get a much better model,” Barran said.
“So, there are nine squads now – including ours and Gaumont’s – with this exo,” Vannier said, adding up the numbers. “Any other M1 squads?”
Barran nodded. “Horus Squad Two. That’s the meeting I was in when you called.” He burst out laughing and Daedo and Vannier joined him.
Between giggles, Vannier spluttered, “No wonder she wanted the meeting.”
Master Nader: Cadet, report to the Secure VR room at 1600.
It was 1400 Friday, the last day of round one.
Daedo told them, “I’m going for my power nap, then I have a meeting with Master Nader at 1600.”
Vannier nodded. “See you at dinner.”
Barran added, “We hope.”
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Master Nader sat in the VR room. There was a table with a box on it, but otherwise, the room was plain.
“Cadet,” Master Nader greeted Daedo, “this is sensitive information. Allow me to scan you.”
Daedo nodded. A floating image of Master Nader’s AI appeared and began to scan him. VR was a place where AIs could appear the same as humans. Everyone was a hologram in VR. However, the theatrics were unnecessary. It was possible for the scan to take place invisibly. It was likely Master Nader wanted to show the importance of security at these meetings.
“Cadet, has your AI been ordered not to store any information from this meeting – what is being said and shown?” Master Nader asked.
“He understands. He’s asleep.” Technically, Myrmidon wasn’t asleep; it was simply a term applied to a temporary shutdown.
“Let us discuss cadet Kang as the first item,” Master Nader said.
“She has achieved adequate results in math, physics, tech studies, piloting, and gunnery,” Daedo began.
He brought up the week’s results for all her subjects before continuing. “Her AI nurturing progress is within expectations, considering she only launched her AI on Sunday night. Bandwidth is excellent, given five days of operation. Her obstacle course times improved during the week. When ranks are compared to my first round, in term one, she has outperformed my results with only five attempts.
“Reference and strategy have been prioritized lower. She will begin those two subjects in round three. The only subject that is below expectations is human studies.”
“Are you satisfied with your choice, Cadet Daedo?” Master Nader asked. “This is the time to change your mind; you can always blame me.”
“She is performing better than I expected, to be honest, and her genius in metallurgy is not in doubt,” Daedo said.
Master Nader nodded. “Very well. She will be registered as a cadet in Fortescue Military Academy.”
“How? Can you just do that? I thought …” He broke off the sentence, leaving his assumptions unspoken.
“Cadet, do not concern yourself with my responsibilities,” Master Nader stated firmly. “I am able to deliver the outcomes promised – how is not something you need to know.”
Daedo nodded slowly and said, “Okay.” It only sounded slightly sceptical.
“Very good. Let’s move on.” Master Nader walked towards the box on the table. “This box contains information that will grant significant progress in your research towards a new reactor. I have had a team of experts review your report and make recommendations regarding shielding, laser control, and improving your magnetic field technology. They have also supplied additional information after ascertaining issues which you did not know you had.”
“I submitted this report last Sunday – it hasn’t even been a week!” Daedo exclaimed. His head was spinning. “How do you know researchers in all these fields? How did you get them to respond so quickly? And,” he almost yelled, “how did they know about issues we haven’t encountered yet and supply solutions for them?”
Daedo did not wait for an answer but began to rummage through the box. He pulled out over a dozen reports and hundreds of engineering drawings. He skimmed through the drawings. They were on magnetic field generators, stabilizers, and control mechanisms. There was a report detailing the process and calculations.
“How?” he asked, bewildered.
“Do not ask how,” Master Nader said. “You need to memorize this information and pass it off as your own ideas and discoveries. You can come back to this room and study as much as you need. Do not allow your AI to copy this information; you need to consume and comprehend it yourself.”
She tapped her head, indicating that the only storage and delivery mechanism permitted was his brain.
Daedo was more intrigued by the where and why regarding the origin of the information than the information itself. The work was far beyond anything he had studied from the net and far beyond even Cisse’s knowledge.
He looked at Master Nader. The implications were enormous. He was about to speak when she cut him off.
“Cadet. If you cannot receive this information without being distracted regarding its source, not only will new information never be provided, but I will also take this box away.”
“There’s more?” He was stunned.
Master Nader nodded slowly.
Daedo now knew what it felt like to sell his soul to the devil in exchange for special powers. There was no doubt in his mind that the level of the technology contained within the box was not available on current day Earth.