"To train the mind is to train the storm. Every cadet must learn that discipline is not the absence of chaos, but the art of surviving it."
— Instructor Jet, Cadet Academy Doctrine
Cadet Academy,
VFP,
New Facility.
Steam curled from dozens of metal bowls in the cadet cafeteria, carrying the unmistakable smell of cheap synth-meat and scorched broth that was the common ration of every cadets in the Academy. Fluorescent lights could be seen buzzing overhead, flickering like they were tired of watching the same sorry souls shuffle in every morning. Among these sorry souls was a slightly hunched boy with a lithe figure, his onyx hair sticking out in odd directions. He was holding his tray like it was the weight of the galaxy.
"Don't sit near me if you're eating that stuff again," a girl with a beautifully delicate face was pointing her fork accusingly at him. Her long purple hair was covering half of her face, the rest tied with a green band behind her. She was putting on a crop-top neural suit and shorts, and slightly taller than Bale, who was sitting beside her as he settled down to eat. Ever since getting admitted into the Academy, she had been his fellow cadet and his self-appointed friend, the only familiar one he knew at here, dependent on the fact that they originated from the same planet before attending the Academy.
"It's soup," Bale said defensively, lowering his tray onto the table. "Nutri-soup. Technically balanced, officially edible." He added, winking at her.
"Tch. Technically sewage," Tora shot back. "You've been eating that every morning for a month. You're going to evolve into a salt crystal before you ever unbound."
Bale indignantly shrugged and poked at the grayish liquid. "I can't afford the cafeteria's deluxe package. Besides..." he leaned closer, lowering his voice dramatically.
"...this is destiny's flavor."
Tora blinked. "Huh,destiny's… flavor?"
He nodded with solemn conviction. "The day this soup changes taste, the world will change too."
After a short pause,Tora laughed, loud enough to make a few cadets at the next table glance over. "You sound like one of those delusional preachers in holo-feeds. What are you, some kind of Prophet of Soup now?"
And just as she said that, the name stuck.
Someone at the next table repeated it under their breath. Cadets lining the closer tables caught the joke too.
"Haha, Prophet of Soup."
"Hail the Prophet, haha."
Before Bale could defend himself though, it had rolled across the cafeteria like wildfire. Snickers, whispers, and one loud mock-cheer from across the tables in the hall sealed his new identity.
One thing common about cadets in the Academy was that they would seize every opportunity to mock whosoever plays the bait. Though bound by strict rules that bullying was not allowed, the haughty types would stop at nothing to form gangs against cadets who were apparently frail and weak among fellow cadets here. At least, those ones were allowed.
"See?" Pretending to accept the mock-cheers, Bale muttered putting in an amusing smile. "The universe has a cruel sense of humor."
Tora grinned. "No, the universe just has good timing."
Tora seemingly caught this as fun too anyways, ignoring how Bale would react.
The hum of voices around them built as the morning announcement system crackled to life. A sharp, tired voice echoed through the cafeteria speakers, interfering the ongoing noise.
"Attention Cadet Corps!All first-division trainees report to the lower assembly wing in ten minutes. Repeat, ten minutes. Failure to appear will result in demotion."
Tora groaned. "That's us."
The Cadet trainees were divided into three divisions. The Unfits, Explorers and Scouts were from the first division, the Divers and Navigators were from the second division and lastly, the Pilots were from the third division.
Cadets were ranked from the lowest being Unfits to the highest being Pilots.
Meanwhile despite the call, Bale was still staring at his soup. "Ten minutes is enough to finish destiny."
"You'll be finishing detention if you don't move." Tora grabbed his sleeve and pulled him to his feet.
They joined the dispersing cadets,jogging through the metal corridor as they headed for the assembly wing.
-----
Far beyond the cafeteria walls, the world that Bale lived in, was held together by three powers, all together known as the Triarch Council. It was the established government that ruled what's left of the human race, after years of fighting against the surreal threats of the unnatural entities — the vortexes. The Triarch Council comprised of three powerful factions, of which were twelve before the Regression, after the first emergence of the vortexes, known as the Incidence. Wolf Faction oversaw fleet operations, Eve Faction controlled biological and scientific operations and the Rithm Faction, was in charge of technology and system integrations across New Facility. The Triarch Council meetings were often held by contingents of each faction, each contingent led by a Premier.
After years of inconceivable harrowing survival, the Vortex Frontier Program (VFP) was then created by the three factions to uphold human strength against the Vortex Frontier, which was the extremely perilous region of countless vortexes surrounding New Facility, gradually closing in on the rest of humankind. At the centre of the New Facility was the VFP, which consisted of four Frontier Divisions, each of which were situated on different planets. The most populated of the four, the Defense Division, also known as Cerberus, was very vast, its headquarters situated in Tirn and Merr planets, one of the strongest territories in the VFP. Cerberus was supervised by Wolf Faction, since Wolf majored in defense and weaponry. The rest of the Frontier Divisions were the Survey Division, also known as Argos, and supervised by Rithm Faction. The Recovery Division, also known as Scythe, and the Evolution Division, also known as Prometheus, were both supervised by the Eve Faction. Prometheus controlled human exposure to vortexes for ascension experiments, Scythe retrieved materials, corpses and energy cores from unstable zones, and Argos focused on initial mapping, data relay, and anomaly identifications stemming from the Vortex Frontier.
The Cadet Academy was the gateway into the four Frontier Divisions, as every member of VFP was expected to undergo special training, in preparation against the unpredictable threats of the Vortex Frontier. Apart from classes and combat trainings, every cadets here were also trained to synchronize fully with their neural bands, before proceeding into the Four Divisions, where they will begin their path of neural unlock, and therefore joining the valiant forces of Unbounds of humanity. However, volunteers which were usually recruited into the Academy underwent their training under the Vortex Compatibility Index (VCI), which determined how well one's mind and body could handle vortex exposure. It also decided the rank and title of cadets in the Academy, shaping everything from food rations to dorm placements. The rankings and title bearing of cadets in the Academy were based on one's VCI Range.
Among the thousands of cadets in the Academy this year, about two thousand were Unfits. Every year, Unfits were usually more than the rest of cadets because of the annual population of admitted cadets. Of those of the later ranks, most cadets usually drop out of the Academy because of the insidious training they had been made to go through. Some even almost went out of it. They all claimed that the VFP was too strict a training system and that they could not imagine a human surviving those trainings and achieving a Pilot rank.
Well, the new recruits were not rushing into VFP out of loyalty. They simply wanted to attain lofty lifestyles like the Unbounds as they were recognized and worshipped like gods across the planets and systems of the New Facility. Their status in the New Facility were beyond what a hot celebrity or popular musician could ever attain, because it was a common knowledge that the Unbounds risk their lives out there within the vortexes for the sake of saving humanity. Who wouldn't want to be as noble ? Some fan organisations even went as far as publishing holo-feeds about the Unbounds. Some companies and organizations made use of their images for business promotions and advertisements. Even if a lowest-rank Unbound appears on any planet, he would most likely be venerated like a god of salvation.
Cadets with the Unfit Rank, designated VC-0, had a VCI range of 0 - 5. Those of the Explorer Rank, designated VC-1, had a VCI range of 6 - 15. Same ranking went for Scouts, Divers, Navigators, and Pilots with their VCI ranges: 16-25, 26-40, 41-60, and 61-95 respectively. Similarly, their ranks were designated VC-2, VC-3, VC-4, and VC-5 respectively. Once a cadet crosses the VCI range of their ranks, they get scheduled for promotion to the next rank. The VCI range was one of what determines a cadet's ranking.
In the Cadet Academy, cadets undergo two harrowing training modules types – the combat trainings and neural band synchronization trainings. Cadets at Unfit level would begin attending classes and study courses like vortex science, spaceship engineering, and so on. They would also partake in neural band synchronization trainings. The combat trainings were for Explorers and above and so, Unfits were not yet allowed access to their training halls. At Explorer Rank level, cadets were then allowed full access to combat trainings, which consisted of physical combat sparring sessions and vortex simulations, in addition to their initial trainings. The vortex simulation programs were anchored on consoles that used neural connections to operate. At this level, cadets would be able to run the consoles with sufficient neural band synchronization. The Scouts, up to the Pilots, differ in their VC Ranks, VCI ranges and combat training modules completed. At Pilot rank, cadets who had finished the training requirements could further on to graduate out of the Academy, thus marking a nascent evolution path of neural unlock. That was granted they have fulfilled all requirements, even including full synchronization with their neural bands. After fully syncing with their neural bands, Pilots could proceed on to any of the four Divisions of the Vortex Frontier Program, where their educational grade score, which was different from the VCI, would determine where they were going to be assigned.
Just as one may have guessed, the evolution pathway of humans in this world was neural unlock, a process of breaking free of the boundaries of the neural capacity, thus transforming into more powerful beings. With this evolution system, humans gained supernatural potentials through the use of the Vortex System, a system discovered in the vortexes years or cycles after the first Incident, by unlocking their neural capacity.
The neural band was worn only by the cadets in the Academy, as they were at the prerequisite stage before beginning the real path of neural unlock. The neural band was a thin, adaptive interface worn on the wrist, with two nodes glued to the temples. It served as a bridge between thought and machine, translating human cognition into pure command. Every human that chose to engage the path of neural unlock would get through the Academy, where they would undergo hard trainings and neural synchronization through the use of these neural bands, at the Academy.
VC-0 (Unfits) have a maximum neural band synchronization limit of 10%. Once this was achieved, Unfits would get promoted to the next rank, Explorers. Unfits only get promoted by reaching this maximum neural synchronization only.
VC-1 (Explorers) have a maximum neural band synchronization limit of 30%, and must have successfully completed 5 combat training modules. These two determine whether they could be promoted or not.
VC-2 (Scouts) have a maximum neural band synchronization limit of 60%, and must have completed 9 successful combat training modules.
VC-3 (Divers) have a maximum neural band synchronization limit of 90%, and must have completed 14 successful combat training modules.
VC-4 (Navigators) have a maximum neural band synchronization limit of 95%, and must have completed 20 successful combat training modules.
VC-5 (Pilots) have a maximum neural band synchronization limit of 100%, and must have completed 27 successful combat training modules.
For Explorers and above, a cadet's VCI was determined by combining their synchronization limit with their number of completed training modules. It was a precise equation that decided whether they rose or remained in their rank.
Meanwhile, Bale...
...was having a problem. It seemed too strange to ignore.