"Before you step into the vortex, remember - what it reflects is not the storm outside, but the one within you." — Instructor Jet, Training Archives
The morning light slipped through the high, misted glass of the Simulation Hall. It came in pale and silver, as if the sky had misplaced its own color. The Explorers stood in neat rows of perfect straight lines, quiet and still, their neural bands glowing a soft blue in tandem.
This was their first combat simulation since they became Explorers. The instructors named it "The Field Within." It was meant to test their focus, and control. More precisely, their mind. Through the use of advanced neural technology simulation program, a minor illusory simulated vortex field through layered dimensional rendering was invented to help cadets train their mind better and begin to experience what it was like they were going to face later on on this path. For the cadets, it was the closest experience to entering the unknown.
The vortex simulation program was established in levels or sequences, the lowest level being sequence 3 simulation, though most cadets we're yet to know about this, even Bale. These sequences were in order of difficulty and challenge. Though it was no different from an illusion, the vortex simulation was called a simulation and not an illusion because each sequence platform was created into neural codes and then connected to every cadet's neural signal through the dual nodes on every individual's forehead. Once connected, the vortex simulation program was then involuntarily initiated, after being activated by the cadet's mental command, prompting them to get their consciousness isolated from reality, though their body still stayed in reality. It was exactly like a Virtual Reality game.
Bale stood among lined cadets, hands locked behind his back, and his eyes forward. His breathing matched the low rhythm of the machines. Around him, the others whispered, adjusting their visors, muttering guesses about the coming scenario. Beside him, Tora remained still, eyes shut, her expression unreadable.
Then came a voice somewhere from their side that broke the quiet.
"Man, I didn't know silence could make my skin itch."
Bale turned slightly, confirming the speaker. A tall gaunt boy with deep brown skin and long hairs so white that the atmosphere seemed to brighten a little around him, stood a few paces away. His grin carried no weight of fear, only a kind of wild curiosity.
"Tosin Alar," the boy said, tapping his chest as if introducing himself to the whole hall, his frosty long hairs subtly shifting crisply in the air. "I'm from the wonderful and glorious Sanctuary of Eve. Ruri Quarters. Don't get too attached though, I'm told I make people nervous."
A few chuckles stirred among the cadets. Even Bale felt the corner of his mouth twitch.
With total indifference, Tora's eyes opened. "Nervous is one word," she said without looking at him.
Tosin leaned a little closer, his grin unshaken. "You know, I like your hair. That shade of purple? Looks like something that could bend gravity if it tried hard enough."
Tora turned her head just enough to meet his eyes. "It could," she said flatly, "if gravity had your level of intelligence."
"Whooooah!"
A deep hum travelled among the crowd around them. The cadets broke into low laughter. Tosin raised his hands in mock surrender, smiling wider, and in an attempt to make everyone listen to what he was about to say. "Fair. I'll remember that when you fall first."
But then, the instructors entered, automating decorum as silence fell back into place, and the chamber lights dimmed.
"Neural sync ready. Begin initialization," a mechanical voice announced. Without wasting any time, the instructors started the training schedule. The cadets assigned themselves to one of the hundreds of circular spots on the ground large enough to contain one person. These circular spots would turn on circular holographic wall of lights after the simulation was activated.
Following the assignation, the vortex simulation program got activated as the Simulation Hall brightened, every cadet surrounded by circular holographic walls of light, and their eyes turning bright. The brightness was dim enough to support the initiated software system that uses nerves to operate. Then a simulated vortex field rippled awake around them. One moment, Bale was standing in the smooth metallic chamber of the hall and the next, the floor fractured into sand and ash, the ceiling unraveling into a bruised sky that pulsed with dim red veins. The air shifted, tasting metallic and thick, humming faintly like the world itself had a pulse.
"Simulation sequence three," Instructor Jet's voice rang through their neural links.
Bale's eyes widened a little.
'Sequence three?What's that?'
"Vortex-class instability. Focus on synchrony and reflex coordination. Once desynchronized, you're out of the simulation and your module ends there."
The bright-eyed cadets seemed more stirred hearing this. It was no cadet's wish to repeat a simulation module. For Explorers and above, they have a certain number of modules to complete successfully to achieve the VCI limit. Each module was a combination of the physical combat trainings during lessons and the simulation trainings.
The voice continued "Remember, cadets, the field reacts to your mind and instincts, so it knows better. It's omniscient in the simulation."
The air shimmered with static. Tora flexed her wrist, her neural band flickering in response. "Feels too real," she muttered.
Standing beside her in reality, Tosin grinned, his white hair perfectly in tandem with his shimmering white eyes from the activation. "That's the point, isn't it? Besides, Tora, if we're dying in here, at least we're dying beautifully."
Tora turned sharply to her side, intending to shoot him a flat look, though she could not really see anything around her anymore. "You'll die first if you keep talking."
Bale almost smiled, though the tension pressing behind his ribs didn't ease. His eyes were now shimmering white front he activation. He could hear their conversations, and he could feel the faint vibration of his neural band syncing with the artificial rhythm of the simulation. The hum of it ran deep in his skull, a faint pulse of heat in his veins. However, he seemed not to hear their voices again. Their voices... had grown distant, and finally dampened. Totally.
'Huh, I'm alone now?'
Unknown to them, they were able to communicate earlier after activating the simulation for a few moments, because the initiation was a gradual process that used to take a few seconds.
The ground trembled.
"Contact," Jet's voice cut through again. "Projection incoming. Maintain formation."
It seemed that everyone could still hear the instructors voice, even inside the simulation.
The whiteness receding his eyes, the simulated vortex world gradually got revealed. Out of the black horizon ahead, shapes began to move. Not simulated monsters or soldiers... just distortions. These distortions were sort of humanoid outlines bending in and out of phase, like reflections struggling to stay solid. Every few seconds, their forms shifted, flickering between transparency and shadow.
'... is that simulation a Riftborn? Never heard of these types in the lessons.'
Then Bale's neural band communicated in his head. "Targets confirmed. Energy fields unstable."
"Remember," Jet said again, "this isn't about killing. It's about control."
In every individual's simulated world, each cadet moved. Though in reality, their body did not move out of the circular spots and thus breaking through the holographic walls.
In Tora's simulation world, she sprinted forward toward the distorted figure looming at a distance away from her. Her neural field formed a shimmering blade of light. It was one of the common knowledge usually taught to them in theoretical lessons, on how to summon weapons during simulations. They had been taught to simply imagine a weapon and the program would run the rest. However, most, if not majority, of all cadets imagine the weapons they had gotten accustomed to in their physical combat trainings. Tora's face was carrying an amusing smile as she anticipated her first simulation fight as an Explorer. Tosin in his simulation world, did same, laughing as he launched himself from a crumbling ledge, his shock baton crackling in his grip, anticipating to crush his adversary in one fell swoop.
Back to Bale's simulation world, he stayed back, regulating his breathing and focusing on his sync ratio. It was at a fragile stability of 11%. His neural band though, had flickered red in a split second a few moments ago—at least a reminder that his band still misbehaved under high load, which was anomalous for a cadet his rank, even as an Explorer. He stepped forward, feeling gravity twist beneath him. The whole atmosphere, the gravity, even the air around them seemed to be perfectly in sync with their movements.
Then the distortion suddenly lunged towards him. Bale met it halfway, his neural field reacting on instinct. The ground splintered beneath his boots as the projection's energy dispersed through his guard.
"Focus your flow," Jet's voice reminded. "You're thinking too hard. Let the sync guide you."
He adjusted, letting the neural band's hum take over his rhythm. Time seemed to bend. Each movement was sharp, every breath counted as a measured note in the simulation's heartbeat.
In Tora's world, her strikes kept flashing in the air, while in Tosin's world, his laughter kept echoing as he obliterated distortions into plumes of energy, dispersing into nothing. However, Bale was barely keeping up with the humanly distortions here on his own.
For most cadets in their individual worlds, the simulated environment almost felt real. The thrill, the chaos, the pulse of danger. They continued the series of lunging, striking and obliterating simulated distortions for sequences, or minutes. Minutes were also known as sequences.
Then the world began to break apart. The cadets felt suddenly stunned at this. Some were at the midst of striking a distortion, some were at the midst of facing their fears, thinking of what to do. Some, out of overwhelming paranoia, were even running away from the pursuing distortions.
The simulation collapsed into a surge of static, and the field blinked out. The chamber returned, silent except for the collective sound of heavy breathing.
Jet's voice softened. "End of module. Data recorded. Evaluation pending."
Tora rested her hands on her knees, sweat beading on her temple. Her nodes were dimming back to their metallic color. "That felt longer than five minutes."
Tosin stretched lazily, flashing his usual grin. "Five minutes in the vortex feels like five lifetimes. Still, I looked good."
"You looked ridiculous," Tora said without looking up.
Anyways, Tosin grinned wider at that.
Bale exhaled quietly, feeling the faint echo of the simulation still humming inside him. His neural band flickered red once, then faded to gray.
He looked around the room, the metal walls glinting faintly under the sterile lights. Most of the hundreds of cadets were in a similar pose as Tora's, their chests heaving and their suits wet with sweat. The just concluded module had seemed more of a tedious job than they anticipated. The energy of syncing the nerves with their neural bands, and at the same time straining their mental capacity in the simulation, were both dire a task to achieve. For a moment, he wondered if one day the real vortex would feel any different.
Jet's voice came again, distant but deliberate. "Good work, cadets. Next module, we raise the instability threshold to sequence four. And Bale, stay after class. Prometheus requested your sync data."
Bale's breath caught slightly, but he nodded without replying.
As the others filed out, Tosin tossed him a lazy wave. "Hey, hero. Don't get abducted by the smart guys. I still need you to introduce me properly to Tora."
Tora turned without stopping. "In your dreams, Tosin."
He grinned. "That's the plan, babe. At least I'm glad enough you're responding to everything I say."
Tora shot at him.
Bale almost laughed. Almost.
'What's so funny?'
The chamber lights dimmed, the hum of the simulation subsiding into silence. The cadets headed back to their cubes. Somewhere inside that stillness, he could still feel the faint echo of the vortex, like it was waiting.