84 M1: Term: 2, Round: 3 (2/2)
*Picard: Mister Kang, you are not using the full range of motion and weight of the mech. Do you know how to strike using Sanda style?*
*Mister Kang: No. I know some Taekwondo though.*
*Picard: Use that style, please. You'll get a much better result.*
Dead Beat bent his knees slightly and held inverted fists by his sides. As he struck he rotated his arm and twisted his torso slightly. The result was a much-improved 131kN with each strike.
*Picard: much better you are hitting with 130kN consistently.*
Mister Kang finished off the test practising maneuvers around the old warehouse. Jumps, charges and dodging.
*Mister Kang: this is very good. Much improved. Thank you, Daedalus.*
*Picard: don't thank me, thank Daedo. Ok, bring it in. We'll get it ready for shipping to your tournament next weekend.*
*Mister Kang: I am coming to believe I need to work on my melee combat skills. You have mentioned this before, and the spar with Axelzero confirms that these are important skills for a pro league pilot.*
Picard wanted to tell him that it took long enough to come to this realisation, but she was disciplined and did not disrespect her elders out of habit.
*Picard: very good Mister Kang. We can set you up with some VR tutes to follow if you want. I would suggest doing these daily.*
*Mister Kang: good I would like that. Thank you, Cadet Picard.*
Picard looked at Kang who shrugged and smiled. The unarmed specialist cadet then mumbled something about old people being stubborn.
.
.
Daedo waited patiently for Master Nader to respond to his request for a meeting. It was the second week of round three and Daedo had just finished his meeting with the House Captains.
Another weekend had flown by, and he had delivered another parcel of information to Cisse. This time it was a detailed theory and engineering on magnetic field control. The information was so impactful that for the first time it made Cisse curious as to how Daedo came up with it. He was able to alleviate her fears, as he had studied it backwards and had planted the seed that he had been working on it for months.
Even then it simply wasn't believable. If Cisse wasn't biased, she would not have taken him at his word. Daedo needed to know more about the origins of the tech, Cisse was the catalyst, but ultimately it came down to trust.
He didn't trust Master Nader anywhere near as much as Cisse trusted him. While she had always protected the cadets in her house and his squad, he had only known Master Nader for sixteen weeks. In those sixteen weeks she had murdered another house master, although it was not proven there was little doubt in his mind, she basically admitted it. That was disturbing, to say the least, but now this mystery box put Master Nader into a whole new category of dangerous.
How did she get it? Where was she from? What were the implications of Daedo releasing this technology on society and what was the eventual cost? These were the questions which he could not bear any longer. He needed answers and was willing to risk his life to get them.
Master Nader: Cadet, the VR room is ready and so am I. You may enter.
Daedo entered the secure VR room while Master Nader ran some checks including verifying Myrmidons status as inactive.
After completing the tests, Master Nader began, ”Are you ready for the next parcel? You should space out the introduction, too much too quickly will raise suspicion.”
”No. I need to stop. Unless you can answer my questions satisfactorily, I cannot take advanced tech from the box again,” Daedo replied.
”Your concerns are understandable, but if you do not, it could mean the end of your species,” Master Nader argued.
”That statement is highly manipulative, it is basically a threat in order to get me to do what you want. And the slip with the words ”your species” is that intentional?” Daedo said angrily.
”Did you come here with the intention to fight with me?” Master Nader asked ominously.
”No,” Daedo said firmly. ”I came to get answers. I meant every word that I cannot continue to do this without knowing the repercussions.”
”Cadet,” Master Nader said sternly. ”You were informed of the repercussions, and you interpreted it as a manipulative threat.”
”Answer this,” Daedo asked, ”Where do you come from?”
”It is complicated, but this body comes from Earth,” Master Nader replied.
Daedo was not often frustrated, but Master Nader managed to produce a yell from him. ”Seriously! Stop qualifying your answers with partial information. Is that your body?”
”In the interest of saving your species, this planet and you. I will answer these questions. But cadet, I do not think you have earned these answers,” Master Nader stated. ”It is complicated, this is both my body and not my body.”
Daedo shook his head. ”You're incapable of a straightforward answer, aren't you?”
”I have a compromise. I will tell you everything I am able and that I think you will understand,” Master Nader said.
”Please,” Daedo answered exasperatedly.
”This information is from an alien species, once, over a hundred millennia ago, they were not unlike humans, but they have since evolved. And this species wants to help you,” Master Nader began.
”What do they want in return?” Daedo asked.
”I would assume gratitude, but I do not know,” Master Nader said.
”Are you one of them?” Daedo asked.
”I am, and I am not,” Master Nader answered bringing forth another frustrated yell from Daedo.
”What part of you is from the alien species,” Daedo asked.
Master Nader thought on her answer. ”I am not one whole person. I am two,” she finally said.
”Are you part human and part alien? Did you possess a human? Did you hurt them?” Daedo asked.
”Yes, yes and no. I saved them,” Master Nader replied.
”Why should I trust you?” Daedo asked genuinely lost. He needed time to think on what she had said.
”You should be able to deduce the answer to that question cadet, it is logical, ” Master Nader said seriously. ”You cannot afford not to trust me.”
”Tell me more about the invasion,” Daedo asked desperate to find a way to trust her or to exclude her and walk out of the Academy never to return.
”I have told you almost everything I know,” Master Nader answered.
”What form are the aliens? What type of ships? Is there any proof other than your word and the fact that one percent of the planet is readying to flee?” Daedo asked rapid fire.
Master Nader thought again on his questions. ”I do not know the form, I know they have been genetically engineered to rid this planet of the human species. They are not coming by ship, otherwise, we could have stopped them. And there is no proof other than the boxes handed to your governments forty-one years ago.”
”If they are not coming by ship how are they getting here? Is someone here manufacturing them?” Daedo asked in a panic.
”They are travelling through the multiverse. You would consider it a wormhole, but not as you know it,” Master Nader responded.
”Why does it take so long?” Daedo asked thinking that if it was a wormhole then why was it taking them fifty years.
”It will only take them a day,” Master Nader replied.
”That makes no sense!” Daedo exclaimed.
”It is to do with spacetime and the multiverse. You have much to learn,” Master Nader said. ”This is enough for today. Go. Think on what I have said, but do not tell anyone. You will be putting their lives in danger.”
Daedo did not doubt Master Nader when she said a life was in danger. She was basically telling him, that if he told anyone, she would kill them.