Colonel Ezra and Ethan were waiting in the briefing room for the squadron members to arrive, “So are you gonna release Tony?” asked Ethan.
“Unfortunately no, to keep the peace within this HQ, it’s best we keep him detained in his current state,” said Colonel.
“Will I be able to visit him?”
“Yes but on one condition.”
“What?”
“That you’ll allow the Science & IT departments to study him,” said Colonel.
“Study him, why? Does he fascinate you guys that much?” asked Ethan.
“Yes he does, this is the first time we’ve seen a robot not under Mavis’s control so we need to study him and try to make more of him,” said Colonel.
“Try to remember that he is a cyborg so making more of him is not possible, but you don't need to because I will help you fight against Mavis and erase her,” said Ethan.
“That’s good, I look forward to seeing what you will create with our Science and IT departments. Chemic might like you,” said Colonel.
“Oh tell me more about this Chemic,” said Ethan as he was intrigued.
“Well she can be introverted, only when she’s comfortable with you will you see her true side and since both of you are knowledgeable in science, I think you two will get along swimmingly,” said Colonel.
“Due to her codename, is she a chemist?”
“Yes she is, she creates chemical compounds that help us fight against the robots,” said Colonel.
“Oh how interesting,” said Ethan as someone walked into the room.
“Welcome guys, where’s Bradley and Chemic?” asked Colonel.
“Bradley went to go fetch Chemic so they should be here shortly,” said Ninja as he walked into the room with Kunoichi.
“I see, well we’ll have to wait for them to arrive before we can begin this meeting,” said Colonel.
“So who is this guy?” asked Ninja.
“Why don’t you introduce yourself,” said Colonel to Ethan.
“Oh err, hello there, my name is Ethan, I’m a mechanic from another world.”
“From another world? Wait are you an alien?” asked Kunoichi as she gets close to Ethan and scanned him.
“Nah he's probably one of those people that showed up out of nowhere at the shelter,” said Ninja as he scanned Ethan.
“Correct.”
“Hooo so what’s your world like? Does it have a robot apocalypse like ours?” asked Kunoichi with curiosity in her eyes then Ninja budded in, “Yeah do y’all have magic and dragons or flying cars maybe?”
“Well, we don’t have magic or dragons, unfortunately, but we do have flying cars. Wait, let me see if I have my immersion gadget." Ethan said as he ruffled through his jacket, “Ah there it is.”
Ethan pulled out a sphere from his jacket and activated it then it projected a bright light that immersed the room. When the light subsided, everyone found themselves on a cliff just on the edge of Techtonia. Colonel, Ninja & Kunoichi marveled in awe as they gazed upon the futuristic neon utopia. From their perspective, they could see skyscrapers that pierced through the clouds, other tall buildings of brutalist design that glowed with neon colours and projected holographic adverts and logos, different hover cars flying in the aero highways of Techtonia and Airships just sailing through the sky.
Colonel's eyes were watery until tears fell down her cheeks while Ninja & Kunoichi's eyes were dilated as they all continued to admire the neon utopia.
“What you see before you is the neon city of Techtonia, the city of the night as its beauty blooms at its peak in the night.” Ethan said majestically then warped them into the city where they found themselves in the streets amongst the people of Techtonia, “Welcome to the Midtown district, located in the centre of the city where the majority of the city’s population comes to escape reality through entertainment and leisure. You’ll find a lot of restaurants here, all kinds of parks, cafes, theatres, Augmented Reality events, and many more things that bring people together.”
Ninja & Kunoichi tried touching the people who walked past them and were surprised to see the people react to them, “Ethan? What's going on? How come we can touch them, isn’t all this an illusion or something?” Ninja asked as he was freaked out a bit.
“It is but at the same time, it isn’t. Right now our consciousness is inside the immersion sphere, a sphere that immerses the mind into a fabricated reality of one’s choosing, we may move freely and feel anything in here with our mental bodies but our physical bodies remain immobile as everything in here happens at the speed of a thought, so basically time has stopped in the real world,” Ethan explained.
“That’s so cool, your world must be really advanced if it has tech like this," Kunoichi said excitedly.
“Did you create this or someone else from your world did?” Colonel asked.
“Why do you ask?” Ethan asked.
“Because it helps me to understand the level of intellect you have," Colonel replied.
“Oh if that’s the case then I created this immersion sphere,” said Ethan.
“Wait really, you created this?” asks Kunoichi as she was astounded then Ethan nodded, “Wow, so you’re a genius inventor.”
"I prefer to think of myself as an Engineering Technologist," Ethan said modestly. "Anyways let's check out the other districts."
Ethan warped them to another area in Techtonia, "So there are 6 districts in Techtonia: The Belric District, the Jazzid District, the Tectrix District, the Vortrix District, the Midtown District & Lux District. Right now, we're in the Belric District. A district located on the east side of Techtonia and is known for its entrepreneurship as it is filled with small businesses, I run my very own mechanic workshop and private detective agency." Ethan said as the streets of the Belric district glowed with vibrant reflections from the LED neon logo signs of small businesses such as food joints, barber shops, convenience stores, landlords, and other small businesses that lined up along the streets of Belric.
"Oh, you're an entrepreneur as well, a man of many talents you are," Colonel said with appraisal.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
"Thank you, I try to use my skills as best I can in my world. Let me take you to where I set up shop." Ethan said while Kunoichi & Ninja were climbing buildings and jumping from roof to roof exploring the district in their own way. "Are they always this energetic?"
"Sometimes yes, especially when they're curious. Honestly, it's something I love about them, even though the world is in the state as it is, they still choose to enjoy life the way they want to. Not many people still wear a smile on their face as freely as them."
"That's sweet, I wish I had that mindset of being able to enjoy life the way I want to, but that is no longer possible," Ethan said while walking down the street towards his workshop. "Now that I think about it, they kind of remind me of my younger twin siblings."
"Yeah I agree, life is not as enjoyable as it used to be, which is why we need to end this war so we start healing."
"That may take a lifetime to heal," Ethan said dismally
"Yeah, I know, but at least we'd have given future generations a chance at happiness and peace," Colonel said with a gleam of hope.
"I guess so..." Ethan said as they arrived at their destination. "Welcome to the C-force Services, where anything cyber-related is our forte. I'll give you a tour some other time but for now, let's go to the most aesthetic district in the city."
Ethan warped them to the west side of Techtonia, "Everybody look up." All heads looked to the sky and jaws dropped, "That, is the hanging district of Tectrix. Home of the most aesthetic architecture in the entire megatropolis of Techtonia." Ethan said while the others were still in awe staring at the city, he warped up into the hanging district.
"How??? How is this place floating in mid-air?" Kunoichi asked with a gleam of curiosity.
"It's called the hanging district for a reason, this district literally hanging under a cliff."
"What cliff??? There's nothing but the sky to hang off of." Kunoichi said while searching the sky for an answer.
"That is an artificial sky made of holographic tech, hiding the cliff behind it."
Kunoichi was gleaming, Colonel was speechlessly marveling while Ninja had mixed feelings, “Are you sure you created this cuz I find it hard to believe someone like you can create such an advanced device."
“Ninja don’t be mean to the genius,” said Kunoichi then looked at Ethan, “Sorry about him, he's just jealous that he’s not smart like you.”
“NO I’m not, who would want to be as smart as him?” asked Ninja.
“You,” said Kunoichi
“Argh, quit patronising me. Plus his not that smart,” said Ninja all flustered.
“Whether you think I’m smart or not, doesn’t change the fact that I created this gadget,” said Ethan.
“Yeah that’s right, you tell him Ethan,” said Kunoichi.
“Tch, like I care,” said Ninja as he pouted.
Both Kunoichi & Ethan chuckled at Ninja.
Colonel sighed, “As much as I would like to continue this experience, can we get back to the real world? We’ll continue this at another time."
“Jeez Colonel, why are you always spoiling the fun for us?” asked Kunoichi as she pouted.
“Sorry Chi, I just want to get this meeting over with,” said Colonel.
“Okay then, a bit of advice before we go back. Since this is your first immersion experience, be sure to sit down when you regain consciousness in your physical bodies, as your body will feel dizzy & wobbly and your brain may feel discomfort but don’t worry it will subside momentarily,” said Ethan as he deactivated the immersion sphere.
Everyone was back in their brains again and the side effects of the immersion sphere were already in play although Ethan was just fine while everyone else was lying on the floor or sitting on a chair recovering from the symptoms. At that moment, Bradley & Chemic walked into the briefing room and saw the whole situation.
“You bastard! What did you do to them!” said Bradley as he charged at Ethan.
“Bradley can you shut up?! Our heads are ringing here and your shouting is making it worse,” said Colonel.
“But Colonel didn’t he do something bad to you guys?” asked Bradley.
“No, he just gave a wonderful experience and this is just the price of it,” said Colonel.
“Hey Brad, could you punch Ethan for me? He annoys me,” said Ninja.
“You and me both man, I’ll do it with pleasure,” said Bradley as he got closer to Ethan.
“Don’t you dare hurt him!” said Kunoichi & Colonel simultaneously.
Bradley stopped in his tracks, “Tch, you lucky they’re here.”
Ethan smirked at Bradley which annoyed him even more then Colonel Ezra sat upright in her chair as she had recovered from her symptoms, “Alright everyone, let’s sit down and begin this meeting.”
Bradley and Chemic sat down at the briefing table, Kunoichi acrobatically got up from the ground but then felt dizzy again, Ethan stabilized her and helped her to a chair at the briefing table, “You shouldn’t have done that. Next time, try to get up slowly otherwise you lose your equilibrium again,” said Ethan.
“Oh, thanks,” Kunoichi said bashfully.
After helping Kunoichi, Ethan helped a pouting Ninja up from the ground then they both sat at the briefing table.
“Since everyone is here let us begin this meeting,” said Colonel, “We are here to discuss our current matter which is Ethan here. Ambassador Max and Bradley encountered Ethan and his friend Tony on their way back from the shelter. Max tells me that Ethan and Tony could be a great asset to our rebellion against the robots and so far I believe this is true but I’d rather not make him a full member of our squadron without your permission first. So what’s everyone’s verdict on this matter?”
“Colonel, you forgot to mention that Ethan’s friend, Tony is a robot,” said Bradley.
“Because it no longer matters Bradley, Ethan has already explained to us why he has a robot with him and has agreed to keep Tony detained while being studied by the Science and IT departments, so stop using the robot as an excuse,” said Colonel.
“Why does he have a robot with him?” asks Chemic.
“His more of a cyborg. In my world, everyone has data chips implanted in their brains due to government protocols. The data chips collect the same data that the brain does, so one's memories and personality are stored as data within the data chip. When my best friend died due to a certain incident in my world, I took his data chips, made an android, and used his data chips to program the android. Now he lives through the android and is still my best friend,” said Ethan.
“For some reason, that creeps me out,” said Ninja.
“Yeah same,” said everyone else except Colonel & Ethan.
“As much as it does creep me out, it does fascinate me at the same time. I need to see this Tony,” said Chemic.
“You can see him after the meeting since your department will be studying him,” said Colonel. “Like I said before I believe that Ethan’s level of intellect will be a great asset to our crusade so does anyone object to Ethan joining our squadron?”
Bradley lifted his hand
“Anyone other than this idiot?”
No one lifted their hands
“Good then we have a new member in our squadron,” said Colonel.
“Wooo! Welcome to the crusade Ethan. Oh, what should his codename be?” asked Kunoichi.
“From what I’ve seen of him so far, I think we should call him Cyber for now until we get a better codename for him,” said Colonel.
“Cyber, I like that,” said Ethan.
“Then it’s settled, from now on your codename is Cyber,” said Colonel, “Now on to a more pressing matter which is our plans for the attack on Mavis. Chemic, any updates on how to take down the barrier?”
“No, the IT department can’t figure out a way of taking down the barrier as it’s not a digital barrier,” said Chemic.
“What kind of barrier is it?” asked Ethan.
“My department discovered that it’s an opaque electromagnetic barrier.”
“Hmm… then leave the barriers of that empire to me, I will take them down myself,” said Ethan.
“Really? And how do you plan on doing that?” asked Chemic.
“By infiltrating the city through the Virtual Cyber Realm like I did earlier and then taking down the barrier by hacking the device that creates the barrier,” said Ethan.
“You make it seem so simple when it’s not,” said Chemic.
“Well for me, this is a simple task,” said Ethan.
“Let’s trust in Cyber’s abilities alright,” said Colonel.
“You sure do put a lot of trust in this new guy,” said Bradley.
Colonel glared at Bradley who looked away for safety.
“If Cyber can take down the barriers then our concern now is the robots within the barrier,” said Ninja.
“Wait let's backtrack here quickly, Cyber what did you mean by “like I did before”, have you been inside that black dome?” asked Chemic.
“Not Physically but yes I have virtually been in that Black dome,” said Ethan.
“What did you see in there?” Chemic asked out of curiosity.
“Errmm… maybe it’s best for you to see it yourself,” said Ethan as he pulled out the immersion sphere and Black Cube: Corruptión.
“Are we going on another mental field trip?” Kunoichi asked with a gleam in her eyes.
“Yes we are,” Ethan said as he touched the Immersion Sphere and Black Cube: Corruptión together, Corruptión spread out onto the sphere and took its shape. Momentarily, the Corruptión Immersion Sphere projected a bright light that immersed the room.