Rena did what she could to prepare for the exams today. She rests, eats a ton of healthy—and unhealthy foods—to mentally try to calm her mind. She didn’t tell her parents where she was going. If they ask her, she’ll say she’s hanging out with a friend. Rena knows if she told them what she was planning, they’ll do everything to stop her and she couldn’t have that.
Once again, she took the sphere with the map. Slowly, she remembers the routes to the isolated lab. It was far, yet she always makes it home by nightfall. This time, instead of walking, she took her TSUNAM-E branded hover board to make the journey to cut the time. Gliding down the neon streets until she makes her way outside of the city’s threshold.
Rena stood in front of her lab until Professor Lucesco grants her entry. Once again, she meets the woman wearing her usual lab garments. The difference is Rena notices the bags under her eyes, coffee mug in hand. Did she not get any sleep? Now, she ponders if the Professor ever sees beyond her lab. Maybe to Rena it was her haven. But staying cooped up isn’t what Rena finds as healthy.
“Are you ready for the endurance exams, Miss Kuromoto?” Professor Lucesco asks her with a slight yawn, bringing the liquid towards her lips.
“I am, but are you sure you’re ready?” Rena imposes, pointing to her coffee mug. “Too much caffeine can be bad for you. And you look like you didn’t catch a single z all night.”
“My well being is fine,” Professor Lucesco dismisses her concern, turning her back as she walks towards the elevator. “Once I consume some carbohydrates, I will be much more functional.”
“You sound like a robot that gets fuels up once a get a zap of recharge.”
“I am well, I assure you.” Dismissively, Professor Lucesco takes a sip from her mug.
Rena lets out a defeated sigh, tugging down on her baseball cap as she follows the professor onto the elevator. She never met a woman so stubborn. Rena hopes she doesn’t make this a habit.
The elevator descends even further than before. It almost feels endless. Listlessly, Rena glances ahead at the empty space as she ponders about its structure.
Who built it? And how long this place has been here?
Many questions Rena has about this place. The more mysteries of the scientist that she has no answers to. Rena isn’t even sure if she’ll answer her if she asks.
The elevator stops as the professor steps out first, making her way down a long, dimly lit hallway. Rena follows her silently. Trying to prepare herself for the endurance test. She isn’t sure what to expect asides from what the professor told her each part. The Professor stops at a room. A mini console flickers in a transparent blue window. Professor Lucesco quickly enters the password, then the door slides open from the ground upward.
Rena follows Professor Lucesco into a large room with more strange looking neon blue lights and symbols on a console. Before her a large glass window that looks beyond a white, empty room with panels on the walls. In the center there was a large round plate with yellowish-green neon lights flashing from its center.
“This is the simulation transport center,” Professor Lucesco explains. “Here you will be transported to a stimulation zone. This zone will test and measure you physically and psychologically. I’ll be on standby watching. Minerva will be the one to escort you. Minerva is a travel companion that only exists within the simulation zone.”
“Okay.” Nodding in agreement as her attention is focused on the strange room and the plate in the center.
“Once you’ve completed your test, the simulation will end and you’ll be transported back here to the lab.”
“How do I know if I completed the test? Well, how will I know if I pass the test?”
“Once you complete a test, you’ll be sent to the next zone. Once you reach the last zone, Minerva will meet you. If any in case anything goes wrong, there is an emergency system that is in place that will automatically end the stimulation and Minerva will escort you back.”
Rena’s stomach twists in knots for a moment. It looks like she was really going through it. She has to remain calm. Rena psyches herself up in order to be ready for whatever challenges are thrown at her.
“Are you ready, Miss Kuromoto?”
“As ready as I can be, Professor.”
With the confirmation, Midnight presses a button to open the door to the simulation transport center. Rena walks towards the center of where the strange plate is centered. She steps inside and stands in the middle. As soon as she’s centered, the Professor presses another button to activate the machine.
A light beam of light emerges from the machine, engulfing Rena completely with warmth. Rena could feel her body slowly floating. Or that how the feeling felt, but her body’s cells and molecules were slowly breaking down in pixels. This feeling is similar to the one she experiences when using the E-Transport in Shibuya’s central square. She remains relax as her consciousness slowly drifts she’s disassembled completely.
----------------------------------------
As her body finishes restructuring, Rena opens her eyes as she notices herself in a strange new world. Much different from what she is familiar with in Neo Shibuya. She finds herself in the center of a galaxy. But she can breathe without the use of equipment. The starry constellations glimmer brightly around as if they were dancing in a ritual.
“Wow…” Rena gasps. “Where am I?”
It isn’t long before she gets an answer from a high pitch, childish-like tone.
“Welcome to Simulation Zone Pons Stellarum.”
Rena turns around to see a tiny fairy-like creature with peachy skin, pointed ears, and wavy, orange hair with some locks tied back with a braid. The starlight substance in its hair reminds Rena more like tiny specks of glitter. Its right eye had blue and green blending and the left had purple and pink in the left. Adorned on its small body was a strapless vibrant baby blue colored pleaded dress with white lace along the hems, glitter at the bottom of the dress. From its back were wild auroral, spiral-shaped in a formation of lights, fairy wings and pieces of hair like antennas sprouting from its head.
Rena never saw a creature so majestic. She only thought fairies exist in books or were just created as holographic AI. This was her first time seeing one. Maybe it was a hologram AI generated creature.
“Are you Minvera?” Rena asked the celestial fairy.
“Yes, I’m who you shall call Minvera. I’m your guide and guardian through the Simulation Zone.”
“You’re almost real. I’ve never met a holographic AI fairy so realistic as you.”
“Holographic AI?!” Minvera huffs in disbelief. “I am very real silly human!”
Just to prove that she was as real as she claims to be, Minvera gently pokes Rena’s cheek. Rena blinks, blushes slightly from the assumption. It is hard to believe that the Professor found this fairy all on her own.
Is she really just a research scientist?
Rena’s curiosity about Professor Lucesco peaks. She has so many questions about Minvera and the Simulation Zone that she desires to know the answer to. Minvera interrupts off Rena’s thoughts once she thrust her hands forward and releasing a substance resembling stardust. As soon as she did, a spatial portal appears before them.
“Let’s go! We’ll being your first test.”
Rena swallows hard, but she follows Minvera inside of the portal.
----------------------------------------
Crossing through, Rena finds herself in another strange world. Around her were constellations floating about in a deep sea navy night sky, similar to the space they just left. But the rest of the world looks like a digitalized realm. Off to the distance was a hologram like sun painted in hues of orange, pink, and purple blending into another. The floor was black and neon purple grid-like panels, and there were jagged geometric square shaped building with grid-likes across them around the area off the side.
“Where are we?” Rena asks.
“Welcome to Stimulation Zone Cordis, Miss Kuromoto,” Minvera explains. “Here this where we shall conduct your first endurance test. You’ll be navigating through an obstacle course. You have exactly 5 minutes to complete this course. Your recorded time will be how long you take to complete it. If you do not finish by the time the five minutes are up, you have failed and you shall be transported back to the real world. Understand?”
“Got it. Five minutes.”
Minvera hovers over Rena before sprinkling some of the stardust all over her. The stardust turns Rena’s normal everyday outfit into a skintight black body suit with neon purple highlights and a matching pair of ankle length moon boots. And her hair was fashioned into a ponytail. Rena’s eyes glimmer with awe, checking out her new threads.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Now this is Ursa Majorly Stellar!” She beams. “Thanks, Minvera!”
“No need to thank me, it is required for your test.” Minvera says, but her expression exposes how gleeful she was for the appreciation. “Are you ready for your test, Miss Kuromoto?”
“Yes! I’m ready.”
Minvera hovers higher in the air, she unleashes more of her stardust throughout the strange world. “Access code: 000058490. Begin the Endurance Stimulation.”
Digitalized world shifts from the beautiful neon landscape to a maze with many platforms in the same neo purple grid lines. Off into the distance in the sky pops up a gigantic digitalized timer with 05:00 that blinks before the countdown starts. The entrance of the maze opens for Rena to enter through.
“A maze, huh? This totally will be a piece of cake!” A smile forms on her face.
She feels as if she can take on the world.
----------------------------------------
The clock is ticking away as Rena heads through the dense, neon maze. She isn’t sure where she is going on how close she was. All she could see was the clock above the sky. Minvera is nowhere to be found. As Rena pushes forward, she tries to get a feel of the area. Trying to navigate her way through.
There are times she finds herself at several dead ends. She has to turn around and trace back towards an alternative path. Rena thought she can handle this. Maybe she bit off more than she can chew. Minvera told her that the body suit can help her finish the test. However, Rena already tests out its capabilities to her knowledge.
The moon boots given to her decreased the gravity that normally holds her down, making her more light on her feet. That means she’s traveling much faster than would on a normal. To her, it’s about the same as using her TSUNAM-E. The body suit had the same ability as the boots. The anti-gravity feature makes her body feel light and she could navigate with ease at a much faster pace. Yet that was all she could see that the special outfit could provide her.
“Doesn’t help much with navigating, though.” Rena sighs as she turns from another dead end. “This maze is much larger than I expect it to be…”
Rena glances up at the digital clock in the sky. Two minutes have already passed since she began the test. Meaning she only has less than three minutes remaining before the timer finishes and so does the test. Can she really beat the maze before the time is up?
“I can’t get discouraged now,” taking several steps forward as she continues. “There is still some time left, right?”
Perking herself up, she continues down the path of the maze. Rena notices nothing strange about the maze. Nothing that looks like it has a hidden path or doors. She felt around on the walls to see if she can find a secret entrance. Solid as they could be. This maze doesn’t have any shortcuts she can take advantage of.
“So, no secrets about this maze. I don’t think there is a way that I can beat this in time…”
----------------------------------------
The timer slowly chips away with 60 seconds remaining. Rena stands in the middle of the maze looking disappointed. She feels lost. As if she's been circling for a long time now with no sure way out of this puzzle.
Should I just give up?
The idea of just quitting feels more appealing. But why should she quit when she got this far? She makes a promise to the Professor that she could do this. She makes a promise to herself that she would do whatever it takes. If she gives up now, that means she’s giving up on Togi.
“Togi wouldn’t quit.” She reminds herself. ”He’s taken on tougher things. I’m sure he has moments he wishes to quit, but he didn’t because he was a Space Guardian…”
A new found determination fills Rena at the very moment. Immediately, she runs down the corridor of the path before her. Making a beeline across the neon panels. She looks down at the panels and she notices something that she hasn’t before.
Along within the panels was a trailblazer of light underneath the panels. The trailblazer seems to only manifest once Rena marks her path along the panel. She realizes that all this time; she had a tracker of where she was heading. That means she can use these pathways to find the exit.
“That’s it! Even if I get lost, I can use this light line to trace my steps.”
Using this new found enlightenment to her advantage, Rena finds it easier to travel through the maze. The clock is ticking down. Only a remaining of less than a minute and thirty seconds left. Taking a step back on the heel of her boots, she lunges forward as she sprints through the labyrinth. She doesn’t look or think about the clock, only following along the path she makes finding new ones as she continues to press on.
Her heart racing against her chest, she breathes in and out, heavily races against the clock. It feels like hours that’s been running through the maze. Her eyes dart at every corner in hopes she can find the end. It wasn’t long before she sees a door ahead of her, light beams from the other side of it.
“There is… I can make it!”
Only ten seconds left remaining on the clock, she forces herself to run faster than she could. Knowing she pushing her body beyond its limits. But she couldn’t give up. She is so close to the reaching the end. Pressing hard on the ground behind her, she uses it as a leverage to push herself off the panel and launches herself forward toward the door. Luckily, the anti-gravity in the boots made it possible as she flies through the doorway.
----------------------------------------
Rena tumbles before she lands flat on her stomach. Her face hitting against the ground before her. As soon as she collapse, the buzzer of the timer went off. Minvera hovers before her. A flicker of worry fills the tiny fairy’s face.
“Hey! Human! Miss Kuromoto! Get up!” Minvera calls out.
Stirring slightly, panting, as Rena slowly opens her eyes, danube blues orbs slowly focus on slightly hysterical Minvera.
“I… did it…” Rena utters.
Groaning slightly, she forces herself off the ground, even though she lacks the strength to do so. She sits upright, gazing at Minvera, slightly disheveled in her appearance, but she flashes a smile none the less. While she was smiling, Minvera wasn’t feeling the same sentiment, but she does lets out a breath of relief.
“You had me scared for a moment.” Minvera mutters, crossing her small arms against her chest, averting her glance for a moment.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to,” Rena sheepishly scratches her flushed cheeks. “But thank you for worry about me Minvera.”
“Congratulations! You passed with five seconds to spare.” Minvera quickly shifts her tone. “You’ve successfully completed the first test! You must be tired. So here is a reward for completing the first test.”
Minvera conjures up a bottle of strawberry ramune soda before floating it over to Rena’s hands. Rena blinks and is more impressed that Minvera even knows about a soda mostly popular in Japan. She thought Minvera never left the Stimulation Zone. So why would she know so much about the outside world?
“Um…thank you…” Rena opens the soda, using the cap provided to push down the ball. She watches the soda fizzling before lowing down into the glass bottle. “I thought you’re only bound to this place. How do you know about Ramune Soda?”
“You sure ask a lot of question for a human,” Minvera huffs. “I know everything. That’s what how I was created.”
“Did the Professor create you?”
“No,” Minvera shakes her head. “Lucete Stellae created me.”
“Lucete Stellae?”
“She was the Goddess that created me. I used to help her grant many wishes to those who needed it.
Hearing Minvera use the term in pass tension gives Rena the impression that she is no longer around. It reminds her of what the Professor told her about Awakening stones and the planet that used to create the two gods.
“So, what happened to her?” Clinging to the neck of the bottle. Rena couldn’t help but to ask due to she is curious about the fate of the Goddess. The Professor never told her anything about her. Only just the brief history about the people and its destruction.
A shadow cast upon Minvera’s features, her tiny visage scrunches into a frown, her tiny hands balls into fists.
“That evil God Noctis corrupted her!” Minvera shouts. “He corrupted her powers and sealed her away. I don’t know where she is…but the Professor found me and took good care of me. She promises to help me find the Goddess and save her.”
“I’m sorry…" Rena apologizes. "I didn’t know that was a sensitive topic for you.”
Rena learns some information about Minvera’s origins. She wonders what the Professor gets out of helping the fairy save the Goddess? Rena realizes the Professor has more heart under that emotionless visage that she displays.
Rena finishes her soda, getting up. She can try to wrap her head around the Professor’s motivation behind all of this later. For now, she had a test to finish. She only finished the first part of the test.
There was a lot more for her to come.
“Okay, I’m ready for the next part of the test.” Rena tells Minvera.
Minvera opens a portal before them. A murky aura emits, giving Rena a strange heavy feeling in her chest and even the usual jovial fairy looks unnerved.
“This place is kind of scary,” Minvera warns. “I hope you’re ready for the next test. It’s going to be much harder than this one.”
“It’s okay,” Rena assures “I’m prepared.”