“Alright everyone, your stemata request forms have been finalized and it’s now time to give you the ones that the BCT thought it was best for you to have. When I call your name grab your suitcase, go into the changing room to equip it, and wait in the courtyard.” Instructor Matthews motioned over to the pile of suitcases that were next to him at the front of the classroom. Each one of the suitcases varied greatly in size and length. Each of them had one of our names etched in gold on the side of it. I noticed everyone had their own suitcase except for Jack. Now that I think about it, where is Jack? I didn’t see him when I came in.
I looked around the room as our Instructor called us up one by one. I was one of the last ones to get their suitcases and made my way to the changing room. When I did, I opened it and saw a note before anything else and began reading it.
Dear Haustorian,
You and your lady counterpart are the first of your kind! It’s no easy feat to gain the favor of that big oaf. So to celebrate this new endeavor, I decided to make you your very own stemata. It’s an external type that allows you to freely move as you see fit. It should go well with that style of fighting you mentioned. Simply press it against your chest and rotate the knob on it. Enjoy it!
From,
Dr. Archon
That’s so nice of Dr. Archon! Making stematas must be pretty hard and he thought I was special enough to get one specifically for myself. I moved the note aside and studied what was left in the suitcase. It was some kind of necklace that had a trinket in the shape of a chevron. It had a bottom layer that was in the same size and shape as the top one and had the number “1.0” etched into the center. When I did exactly what Dr. Archon instructed me to do to activate it, it suctioned onto my chest. From it, pieces of armor began to cover the trinket and it didn’t stop there. It kept going until it covered every part of my body in plates of white armor with golden accents. It covered everything except for my head. When I looked in the mirror, I was reminiscent of a knight in shining armor.
“Woah…I look cool as hell…” I looked in the mirror as I turned certain parts of my body to see how the armor looked all around. Well, I guess it’s time to go to the courtyard.
I stepped out of the locker room and into the courtyard to find everyone waiting with Instructor Matthews.
“It took you long enough, trainee. I’ve got some explaining to do, so listen up!”
Instructor Matthews then went on to explain what we were doing today. We were going to be given an hour to figure out how to use our stematas. Afterwards, we were going to be thrown into a training exercise that puts us against another CT that’s pretending to be a terrorist. In this training scenario, the CT will have fake bombs planted throughout the facility. It’ll be our job to defuse the bombs and defeat the terrorist.
“Don’t be afraid to go all out. Health Maiden has provided these bots and they’ll fix whatever damages you cause there.”
“I don’t think they appreciate being called bots! I’m sure they have lovely names, sir!” I interjected.
“They are a small part of a greater stemata. I doubt Health Maiden wasted her time giving them names, trainee.”
“If they don’t have names, I’ll give them some!” I walked up to the two spheres squatted down to reach their level. “You’re Merry and you’re Sunny!”
“Trainee, if you derail my lecture for something as stupid as naming the bots, I’ll boot you out of the academy myself.”
“S-sorry, sir!” I stood at attention once more.
“You guys have at least an hour before the mock battle CT gets here, so get familiar with your stematas.” He checked his watch and walked over to a nearby bench to take a seat.
This is so exciting! I can’t wait to see what my stemata does! How do I activate it, though? I guess I just chase that same feeling I had back then. That feeling of my soul…burning brightly and passionately. For everyone to see! What did I say back then? It was a spur of the moment, so I just yelled something to help me visualize that image. It’s different from how Ori told me how to do it, but it’s my own way. Now that I think about it…It was…
“BLAZING SOUL!”
Once I said the line to visualize fire. It roared inside me and steam started to eject rapidly from the crevices of my armor and shot me into the air at sonic speeds. I tried to gain control of my flight, but the propulsion from the steam thrusted every part of my body every way. It felt like if I let up on fighting against the directions it kept throwing me into, my limbs would dislocate.
“Arno! Either get it under control or turn it off! If you don’t, your crystal will run out in seconds!” Ori yelled at me from the floor.
“I’m trying! It’s just hard to-WOAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” As I flew back and forth throughout the arena I tried to turn off the stemata and when I did, I plummeted to the floor. At this rate, I’m gonna get hurt! I need to turn it back on to soften the fall! And while I’m at it, I can probably control it better if I put my arms to the side and act like a bullet.
Just before I hit the ground, I turned my stemata back on and put my arms to the side to try to control it more, but it had the opposite effect. I ended up flying like a bullet and I couldn’t pull up in or stop my stemata in time for what was coming. I couldn’t stop myself from going face-first into the wall.
===
When I came to, I felt my head was on a very soft substance. Almost like a pillow. When I opened my eyes and looked at the source of this pillow, I realized that I was on Ori’s lap.
“O-Oh! You’re awake.” Ori looked completely different from when she was yelling at me a bit ago. She looked concerned for my well-being.
I looked over to the courtyard to see what everyone was up to and it didn’t seem like people were very happy with their stematas. Derris had a silver crown on his head and was wielding a black greatsword with a frustrated expression as he slashed and cut relentlessly at a training dummy. In fact, it looked like he was going berserk over there. I looked over to Gollie and saw that he had a skin-tight suit on. I wonder why Dr. Archon gave him that one specifically…
Anna carried a worried look as she sat near a wall with her stemata. The only difference I see in her outfit is that she had on heavy boots and gloves. The rest of her outfit seemed pretty normal.
Rono just seemed troubled too. He just had a black knife that he had in a reverse grip. With each swipe he made at the training dummy he was facing, he looked even more anxious and confused.
And Jack…I still don’t see him anywhere. I didn’t even see him earlier today. Well, I guess he’ll come by when it’s time to start the battle. Speaking of that…
“How much more time do we have to train?”
“10 seconds…” Ori looked away nervously.
“10 SECONDS?!” I sprung right up and began to do stretches. There’s gotta be something I can do to get this thing under control—
“Time’s up. It’s time to get ready for this mock battle. Everyone, stand in a line at attention.” Instructor Matthews rose from his bench.
Oh no…
I haven’t figured out how to control my stemata whatsoever, but I’m going up against a CT. If it’s not one thing it’s another…how am I gonna do well on this mock battle if I can’t even figure this out.
“It’ll be fine, Arno. We’ll figure it out. Just do your best and listen to me.” Ori said as we lined up with everyone else.
“As you all know, you’ll be going up against a CT. Everyone, pick a partner. They’ll be your teammate for the mock battle. Jack seems to be running a bit late, so he’ll tag along whatever team is next.”
Everyone seemed to already have a choice in mind. Ori stayed by my side, Gollie asked Anna if she wanted to partner up and she said sure, and Derris reluctantly joined Rono.
“Now that that’s settled, I can introduce you to your opponent for today.” He looked over to the entrance of the courtyard and everyone’s gaze followed his own. And from the shadows, two red eyes began to pierce through the darkness. As they opened, various eyes just like the two began to circle and swarm the darkness in that hallway. There were even pitch black arms that began to escape the shadows and reach for us, which made Rono jump in fear. I don’t blame him. I couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious too. My heart won’t stop racing.
And before any of us were ready, the figure stepped out into the limelight.
They wore a black cloak with a hood that they let down to reveal themself. As they did, their black hair and red eyes became very apparent. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Holian like this one. They also had lips that were shaded a crimson red and a mole directly underneath them.
“Please welcome the temporary terrorist: Natalia Begnoll.”
“I’ll be your mock battle proctor today! I hope you all are ready to face the Shadow Queen, the femme fatale, the black death herself, Natalia Begnoll!” Our test proctor struck a dynamic pose with a crazed smile as Instructor Matthews shook his head in disapproval.