Chapter 16. Try out.
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By the time the lab underground was found, governments weren't official, it was just a faction, one that was agreed upon by chance really, so when it was discovered the group that found it went to their leader so to speak. What they were told had to be discussed with others, others in that group only in the state that it was found in. They discussed sharing it with other leaders, or just keeping it to themselves. Few discussed spreading it to the mammals of the world but the majority had considered the timeline and deemed it too early to reveal such information. They were still rebuilding, thankfully not from the ground up, but there were many changes that were needed, they haven't even fully mapped their state, so this information was not appropriate for the masses at the moment. A decision was made, the knowledge was to be withheld til communicating with the other states was established, or rather re-established.
The thing is, mammals were curious about what was found in that lab, and fear grew that some would decide to explore that area and find what was inside. Secrets were to be kept but not suspected, so they took the knowledge they discovered and locked it away somewhere not easily found and swore to keep their lips sealed. As time passed, a fire soon caught onto the lab, destroying the place, and leaving barely anything left. Whether it was an accident or on purpose was unknown.
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Jackson was in the dining room with his uncle, the two enjoying a rice omelet.
“How is it?” Gary asked.
“It's good, thanks Uncle Gary,” Jackson answered.
“You're welcome. Ferris tell you what machine you're trying today?”
“Just the name. It’s called the Hyper Jet.”
“Sounds fast.”
“You don’t know it?”
“I didn't pay much attention to what your dad made or had you scan. He was the machine nut, not me.”
“Yeah, you're the martial nut.” Jackson smirked before getting striked in the head by the but of a fork, “OW!”
Gary caught the fork he threw. “Watch who you call a nut.”
“Sorry,” Jackson apologized, rubbing the sore spot.
“For someone with enhanced processing, you sure didn't see that coming.”
“Huh?” He looked at his uncle in confusion, “Enhanced processing? That one of my side abilities?”
“Yep, along with enhanced strength. The results came in from the Reader. You have two side abilities.”
“Huh. Enhanced strength I had a feeling about, but processing…I guess it kinda makes sense considering my powers.”
“Yep, most Meta's side abilities complement their main one. Makes you guys that much more fierce.”
“That's true…hm…” He was staring off at the piece of egg and rice on his fork.
“Something wrong?”
“I just thought about the Equalists. I looked them up last night and they're bigger than I thought.”
“Eh,” Gary shrugged, “not as big as non-supporters, or those that just don’t care.”
“Yeah but,” he turned the food on the utensil, the rice nearly falling out the egg folds.
“Quit playing with your food,” He said softly yet intensely with a mild glare.
Jackson hadn’t made eye contact but could feel his eyes, “S-sorry!” He shoved it in his mouth and took a few quick bites. “NGH!” In his haste, the breakfast went down the wrong pipe and he started coughing, trying to keep his mouth closed from spraying food.
“Didn’t say rush, dummy,” Gary chuckled.
“NNHNG!” Swiftly he took his glass of apple juice and chugged it down, “HWOOO!” With an exasperated gasp and winded breaths, he gave his body a chance to calm down.
“You good?”
“....Yeah….I’m good.”
“Cool, I'll send the recording to Ferris later,” Gary said, placing his phone away.
“You recorded that!?”
“What were you about to say?”
“Hold up, don't you dare ch-”
Gary, without a single change in his calm normal expression, pulled out his fork and somehow enveloped himself in a menacing aura, repeating; “What were you about to say?”
“W-what I was gonna say was,” Jackson shrank back, “they, the Equalists, definitely aren’t that big but what concerns me is how they’re somehow involved in….whatever it is we managed to save from that warehouse. It's not the size of them, but rather the size of what they’re becoming a part of.”
“Hm, well can’t say much about who they’re supposedly trying to use for all this, but if you stop that group then you stop the Equalists right?”
“I…Yeah I suppose so.”
“Then that's all you need to focus on.”
“...So about that video.”
Gary took a knife and proceeded to twirl and move it around his fingers, the blade dancing around his digits in swiftness and precision. “Hm?”
It was a butterknife, but the threatening and deadly way Gary moved it around made it seem like a switchblade. “...Nevermind.”
“Hmhm!” He smiled, laying down the knife.
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“I coulda picked you up,” Mitch told Jackson through the phone.
Jackson was suited up and currently flying to the agency. “Considering it's for Artisakat, not Jackson, I think it'd be better to go as Artisakat.”
“Alright, you set up a meeting room for us then?”
“Yeah, you showed me how to do it so I think I did it right.”
“You think?”
“I opened the agency app, tapped my key, and went to make a reservation. That's what you gotta do right?”
“Alright, what room?”
“Room seven, see you there.”
“See you there,” Mitch hung up.
Jackson put his phone away and picked up speed. He was coming up on the Agency and tapped his earpeace about three times. “This is Artisakat, requesting landing.”
He got a reply in a few seconds. “Landing request accepted. Please go to Bay 3 on the west.”
“Thanks!” Circling around, he moved to the west and flew into the open landing bay, slowing down upon entry and softly landing.
“Hey, Artisakat!” The otter named Bella greeted. She was one of the pit crew, she was present to his welcome party and the one who had him launched on his first mission.
“Oh!” Jackson smiled and approached, “Hey, Bella, how’ve you been?”
“Been good, how you?”
“I've been alright. Got something to try out today.”
“Is it flight related?”
“Yeah, how'd you know?”
“We got a schedule to set up some flight rings about half an hour ago.”
“Oh yeah? Guess that's for me then.”
“You're lucky you were able to get it so early, free flight ended about twenty minutes ago too.”
“Is it difficult to set them up?”
“Not really, but you got a lengthy route, one of the crews already set up the twentieth ring.”
“Twentieth!?” That took Jackson by surprise. ‘How hyper is this jet?’
“Yep! So you've got distance to track!”
“So I do,” He sighed, “I should get going to the meeting room.”
“Have a good one, Artisakat!” Bella waved off.
Jackson made his way down to the meeting room, taping his M-key and entering in. He was expecting to see Ferris but found no one inside. “Huh. Guess he hasn’t arrived yet.” He strolled over to the desk and took a seat, taking his phone out to text the falcon ceo. -Uncle Ferris, I’m at the meeting room- He texted. He waited for a reply, expecting it to be a few seconds but it didn't come. “Hm,” He stayed on the message screen for another minute but still didn’t get a message. Mitch hadn’t arrived yet either but he knew the dog would be here soon enough, deciding to pass the time by playing some phone games.
A few minutes had passed and he had finished a few levels of Sugar Rush, still alone. He was about to ask where Mitch was when a text from Ferris came in.
-Hey Jackson. I'm not gonna be there this time. Got some business to deal with and I can’t keep joining you, less I want to arouse suspicion- Ferris said.
Jackson thought about that last part and found it was understandable, the last thing he needed was a mammal finding out about their relation, especially if they were the one who leaked about him being a Meta as a child. He texted back: -Makes sense. Will you be watching tho?-
-I’ll have the feed recorded for review later-
-Kk-
-Good luck, Artisakat- Ferris sent that with a thumbs up emoji.
Jackson smiled and replied with: -Thanks uncle Ferris- He added a smile emoji and went to the message screen for Mitch. -Hey dude, you almost here?- Mitch didn't respond within the following minute. With a raised brow he texted again saying: -Mitch? You stuck in traffic?- Mitch was a pretty careful driver, and a good one too, so the thought of him getting pulled over for a ticket was unimaginable to the feline. Still there was no response. “Hm…Should I call him?” He asked himself, thinking that maybe he was just overreacting but still a tad worried. Deciding not to, Jackson went back to playing Sugar Rush, trying to complete a level.
Nearly fourteen minutes had passed before his phone rang. It was Mitch and Jackson answered. “Hey! Sorry Artisakat! Got caught up in something,” Mitch apologized.
“It's fine. What happened? Where are you?” Jackson asked.
“Anet and I are heading up to the floor now. We’ll be there in just a minute but as for what took me…well you’ll see soon.”
“Hm?” This caught his curiosity, “Whaddya mean?”
“Nothing, just something neat I got.”
“What is it?”
“Hehe, it's a surprise.”
“Now I’m worried.”
“Oh please, when have my surprises ever been worrisome?”
“Want that list chronologically or alphabetically?” He smirked.
There was a beep at the door followed by it opening with Mitch and Anet entering. “I wanna know how long this supposed list is,” Mitch stated, putting his phone away.
“You sure you wanna know? I mean it begins in childhood.”
“Bullshit!”
“Childhood?” Anet queried her head, “You two knew each other for that long?”
“Huh? Oh yeah, me, him, and Jackson were a pretty awesome trio,” Mitch covered.
“Huh. I've never seen any pics of Artisakat at your house, but I saw a few of you and Jackson.”
“O-oh well…ysee I…” Mitch was trying to think quickly, avoiding eye contact.
Jackson jumped in. “I… asked him to hide pics of me when I joined the agency because…because I didn't want to risk mammals finding out about me!”
“Huh?” Anet looked even more confused, “How would hiding pics prevent that?”
“Well…since he’s my navigator, there's a chance that a Meta villain might think he knows my secret identity, and…and if his house gets broken into they'll only see pics of Jackson but not me, so it was to clear suspicion,” Jackson nervously smiled, hoping she’d believe him.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Hmmm,” She pondered it for a moment, making the doberman and siamese sweat, before nodding. “That makes sense.”
The two mentally sighed in relief and breathed easy.
“Now let's get to business,” Mitch said, making his way to the computer, “Jackson finished up the Hyper Jet and placed it in your storage and the checkpoint rings are…” He had inserted his M-key into the computer and pressed a few icons once they had appeared, “all set. Just need to get you to get to the launching bay to start.”
“Jackson finished that quick,” Anet commented.
Mitch chuckled, “He had alot help from some pit crew members.”
“Is he on his way here?”
“Nah, he's gonna work on another build. He'll watch the video later.”
“Oh, ok.”
Jackson made his way out, “I'll head up to the sky deck.”
“Oh! When you get there tell Jena to get it ready!” Mitch said before the cat reached the door.
“It?” He curiously raised a brow to that, looking back at Mitch.
“You’ll see,” Mitch smirked cheekily.
“It's your surprise,” Anet added, her smirk being more joyful.
“Well I guess if Anet is smiling like that it can't be anything too bad.”
“You wound me dude…” Mitch deadpanned.
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Jackson entered the Sky Deck once again, looking around and spotting the short brown rabbit he needed to see, spotting her fiddling with something inside a small case.
“Jena!” Jackson called out, approaching her.
“Hm?” Her ears perked up and she glanced behind her, “Artisakat!”
“Hey, Mitch told me to come see you.”
“Oh you're starting up your flight test?”
“Yeah, I’m going to one of the bays right now.”
“Hold on, don't go yet!” Jena turned back to the case, “Need to make a few adjustments.”
“Adjustments to-?” He tried to take a peek but her hand thrusted back, easing him away.
“Ah ah ah! No peeking!”
“What are you working on?”
“A little something to help you and your navigator.”
“Is this what kept you, Navi-boy?” Jackson asked Mitch through his headpiece.
“Yep, and stop calling me Navi-boy!” Mitch replied.
“Sorry,” Jena apologized, “I saw your Navi-boy walking in,”
“God damnit!” Mitch cursed at Jena using the title which caused Jackson to snicker,
Jena continued: “and thought to ask him when I heard they were setting up the rings for you.”
“Ask him what?” Jackson asked.
“You’re not getting it out of me that easy,” She continued to fiddle inside the case, “I'm almost done.”
“Hm…” The curiosity was getting to him but he knew she wasn't gonna let him close. ‘If only I had a drone…wait…I can make one!’ He took out his phone and went searching for schematics for a spy cam he could use.
“I see you on your phone,” Mitch spoke, the feline stiffening to his accusation, “Looking for a way to spy, ain't ya?”
“Uh…No.”
“Whatcha looking at then?”
“N-nothing, just…news.”
“News about what?”
“...E-...Equalists.”
“Oh yeah? What article?”
“One from…Breakback news…h-how do you see me?”
“I got access to the Sky Deck cams.”
“Shit.”
“So what's that article telling ya?”
“It's…just about a recent protest, nothing important,” He said, placing his phone away.
“Uh huh,” Mitch's smug grin could be seen in Jackson’s mind.
A low growl escaped Jacksons throat, mildly glaring at those cameras. “Nosy dog.”
“Peeping cat.”
“He’s a peeper?” Anet could be heard questioning.
Jackson blushed at the implication, hearing Mitch bust out laughter. “N-not like that! Mitch, you shut up!”
“Done!” Jena stated, lifting up the box, “You can go ahead and head to the bay.” She said as she went to a launch bay herself.
“Tha-” He was about to thank her until,
“Peeper,” She slyly smiled.
“Gah!” His face turned red and his jaw dropped.
“Paypack!” Mitch cheered.
“Shut it, Navi-boy!” Jackson growled, stomping to a bay. “Scuse me,” he said to the beaver manning it, “I'd like to use this bay.”
“Launch or runway?” He asked.
“Runway please.”
“Ok…Uh you alright? You seem a little red.”
“Don’t ask,” Jackson stated, getting on the platform, getting into position.
“Alright…” He pressed a few buttons and got it ready, opening the gate, “all set.”
“Ready!”
“Ok. Artisakat launching!”
With a flare of his jets, Jackson was out the Sky Deck and into the air, flying out. He saw the first ring and moved in front. “Ok, I'm in position.”
“Alright, Peeping cat,” Mitch said.
“I will Piston you right in th- hm?” He stopped once he spotted something rocket towards him, “What the-?” What came to him was a drone with a eye shaped orb in the center that had a camera pupil, the spherical device had four thrusters that were attached to a cockpit that held it, the axis of it held in a forty five degree angle, with the two infront held only about a foot apart while the ones in the back were close to double that. Its “Iris” focused on him, widening its len size.
“Cool aint it!”
“Mitch, what is this?” Jackson asked, inspecting it.
“It's a new drone Jena made. It’s something she designed to not only be able to view things with the scope of a real eye and then some, but also to be able to keep up with the fast flyers. Good timing too, I was requesting a drone for you but the one I found was on backorder.”
“Neat,” Jackson moved around it, the eye oscillating and following him.
“Yeah so we're not only testing the Hyper jet but this drone’s speed and visuals too.”
“Ok, let's get started then!” With a blue ring surrounding his eyes, Jackson viewed the Hyper Jet schematics and used Creation. Behind him appeared a green arrow shaped machine that snapped onto the backpiece of his suit. It had a smooth dome front with a straight wing tail coming out from the middle and two on the side. In between the wings were rectangular shaped rockets that were able to adjust positions. Its size, including the wings, was a third of his height, less than half without the wings, being about four feet wide and quite heavy. Once it had attached itself the jets activated, easing the weight.
“That looks heavy,” Anet commented.
“It is, but once those jets come on it's alot easier to hold,” As he said that he placed another earpiece in his other ear.
“What's that for?”
“A precaution I was warned about.”
“Alright, ready?” Mitch asked.
With a look of determination, he crouched forward. “Ready!”
“Go!”
The turbines of the Hyper Jet along with his boots, flared up and he blasted forward.
“Whoa!” Mitch exclaimed, the air pressure from his launch shaking the drone slightly. It didn't stop him from getting it to chase him. The first batch of rings was spaced out by fifty yards and had passed them in a matter of seconds, the space between increasing and so was his speed. The drone was keeping up at first, managing to get close but it was quickly losing sight of Jackson.
“So fast!” Aney commented.
“How fast is h-” With a glance at the speedometer monitor, he was flabbergasted at what was clocking in, “He’s about to hit a hundred miles per hour and he just started!”
“Really!?”
“That's impressive but the fact that this drone is still able to see him is pretty impressive too.”
“Not for long.”
“Oh yeah,” Mitch saw that he was getting smaller on the camera, zooming it in to keep a visual, “No wonder they spaced them out so far.”
“He’s zooming!”
“He's already at one twenty! Damn, I gotta keep up.” He pushed the drone's acceleration.
“Hrrrg!” Jackson had passed by the ninth ring, which was four hundred yards from the last, only taking about five seconds to get to it. The rush of the wind, the vibrations shaking his body, and the force of his speed was much for him to handle but he continued, gradually gaining more momentum. There was a ringing in his head and his vision was getting a tad distorted but he ignored it, making sure to tilt his body to make the curve.
“Is it hard to turn?” Mitch asked.
“No…not really,” Jackson said with some struggle.
“You ok?”
“I’m fine…just intense.”
“You’re already at 152 miles per hour so it makes sense. I'm zooming in and it's hard to see ya but the fact that I still can i-...uh oh.”
“What?”
“One of the turbines is overheating, I'm gonna have to slow down before it combusts.”
“Should I?”
“It's fine. I'll land it for now and keep up with ya through the checkpoint screen. You're gonna loop around soon near the finish so i'll park it there to catch ya.”
“Ok…see…see you there.”
“Hm?” Mitch noticed how weak he sounded, “You sure you're ok?”
“I'm fine…” He said that but his mind was getting fuzzier and the distortion in his vision turned into blurs with a loud ringing in his ears.
“You don't sound it,” He looked at the speedometer, Jackson had just passed ring thirteen, his speed now at 179 mph. “Maybe tone it down a little? You're picking up alot of acceleration.”
“...”
“Artisakat?”
“...”
“Artisakat!?”
“Huh?” He gasped.
“Speeds about to pass 200, reel it back will ya?” Mitch said, gripping his mouse tightly. He heard what sounded like a scrape of metal against metal and saw a notification of contact on the checkpoint screen. “What was that!?”
“W-wha?”
“Ok you need to stop now! You're going way too fast, way too quick!!”
“What's going on!?” Anet asked, distressed by how Mitch looked.
“He’s getting A-loc!” He said while quickly getting an emergency call out.
“A-loc?”
“Acceleration induced near loss of consciousness! The amount of speed he’s picking up is making him faint!” Grabbing the phone he nearly yelled in, “Yes, Artisakat’s getting A-LOC he's near south Harmen street! Get a crew there quick he's about to-” The sound of a large bang and an emergency flash appeared on the screen, there was a collision on the bottom part. “Artisakat?...Artisakat!?” He desperately called out, but he got no response, the earpiece only picking up a sputtering sound. “Artisakat answer!!” The dread in his voice only increased once the signal disconnected. “JACKSON!!!”
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Jackson had lost altitude, his velocity going even higher but his brain getting even fuzzier. He could barely see in front of him, like a fog was in his eyes. He didn’t even realize he was dropping down and losing form. There was an impact, right below his neck, right on the tip of the Hyperjet sending a shock right onto his shoulders and spine. He flipped forward, spiraling. The hit woke him up, albeit only slightly, he was still dazed and confused, going high into the air, the turbines losing power and stammering. ‘Gotta…take off the…take off the Hyper Jet and…and land safely…I gotta…gotta get it off…and…and land.’ He was falling and his consciousness was fading along with his suit.
As he came closer to the ground a dark construct stretched out beneath him, taking the form of a bowl, its inside having a bunch of tangled black tendrils. It got Jackson in a slightly soft padding, the tendrils that broke his fall wrapping around him and covering his whole body, careful to keep his nose exposed. The construct pulled into the ceiling of a nearby building to the foot of a bat mammal. “I got him,” The bat said in his earpiece, lowering Jackson down, the bowl retracting into his shadow while the wrapping stayed
“Copy that, Cleansing Night, shall we send a truck or a healer?” Said a paramedic on the other side.
“He’s a Private Meta and his suit was taken off during the fall. How long until a healer appears?”
“We have one nearby, about five minutes but she’s on a call, estimated time to be about nine minutes or so till she's done.”
“That's fine, his injuries shouldn't be too major, I can apply some aid before she gets here.”
“Ok, need a walk through?”
“No, I can handle it. I'll keep in touch.”
“Understood,” They hung up.
Cleansing Night, in a red T-shirt and a pair of jeans with a chain hanging off the left of it, knelt before Jackson. “Alright, let's take a look at you.”
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Some time later
“GAH!” Jackson shot up, gasping for air, “Wh-where-?” Glancing down he saw he was covered in some dark wrappings. “What the-!?”
“You awake?” Said a mammal next to him.
“Huh!?” He shot his gaze beside to see a bat mammal, “Wh-who are you!?” He backed up.
“Someone who's saved your identity twice now,” He smirked.
“Saved my identity? Hm?” Looking down, Jackson noticed the wrappings around him were coming from his shadow. “Wait…Cleansing Night!?”
“Yeah. Call me Roberto when I’m like this.”
“What happened?”
“You went A-LOC and crashed into one of the rings. When your Navigator noticed you were fading out of it he made an emergency call. I was nearby and saw you crash. It's a good thing I'm not a private Meta.”
“Yeah…thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. How do you feel?”
“My head kinda hurts and my shoulders feel a bit stiff,” He said while rolling his left shoulder, “but other than that, I’m fine.”
“That's good. Since your suit came off a healer had to come by, took care of the major parts.”
“Was it bad?”
“Not too bad. You were out for about an hour and she had healed you some thirty minutes ago.”
“Can you tell her I said thanks?”
“Sure thing. Now you want to get suited up or gonna call it a day?”
“I should at least talk to Mitch,” Trying to reach for his M-key he had the shadow in the way, “Uh, you mind?”
“Oh sorry,” He manurved it to gain him access.
“Thanks,” Taking out his M-key, he created an ear piece and tapped it on the key, placing it in, “Mitch?”
“Artisakat!” Mitch yelled with relief in his voice, “You ok?”
“I'm fine. Small headache and stiff shoulders, but I’m fine.”
“Jeez,” He exhaled, “you had me worried there.”
“Sorry.”
“It's fine. Wanna call it a day? I know it’s still morning and you've healed but still.”
“I…I should head back first….By the way, where's the drone?”
“Had to bring it back, the turbines kept coming close to bursting in flames.”
“Ah ok. I'll be on my way back.”
“Copy.”
“I'll turn around so you can change,” Roberto stated, shifting around and pulling back his shadow.
“Thanks,” Jackson thanked. It took only a quick second and his suit was on, “All good.”
“That was quick,” He looked back with some surprise.
He went airborne. “I’m gonna head back, thanks again.” He flew off.
“Take care!” Roberto waved off.
“I should be back soon,” Jackson told Mitch.
“Great…uh…when you do, we need to talk about something,” Mitch said nervously.
“What's up?”
“It's about…Anet.”
“She ok?”
“She’s alright, she just…learned something.”
“What did sh-” He noticed a shadow looming above him, “Huh?” Looking up he saw a wolf in a metal mask wearing a large black cloak, and weilding a huge double edge sword. “Whoa!” He moved back from the downward swing. The wolf swung his fist, the metallic glove he had on launching off and colliding with Jackson, who managed to cross his arms in time. Still the force of it was enough to push him back. He managed to maneuver and push it aside, landing on a nearby roof.
“Jackson!? What happened!?”
“I’m being attacked!” He got into his Counterpoint stance. The wolf, riding on his sword, landed in front of him, bringing his glove back onto his hand and wielding the large blade with his other.
“By who?”
“Some wolf with a large sword, cloak, and mask.”
“Wha-?”
“HRRAG!” The wolf charged in.
“I’ll explain later!” He ready himself to fight the unknown assailant.
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End.
Next chapter: The hunter.