And so the day of the end of the tournament came; Tom was eager to experience the nubot cocktail, he was confident, and he was too aware of this. He did not want to undermine the work of his opponents, but neither did he underestimate himself and his friends. You could see some pride in his eyes on the way to the gifted training center.
The rest of his teammates were waiting for him at the entrance, Aiden kept a confident expression, Adolf looked anxious, and Sarah seemed to be thinking about other things.
When they reached their classroom, the rest of the children looked at them with an air of competitiveness that could be felt. Then one of the teachers called them, it is evident that it had to do with combat, so they followed him without asking.
– Well, this is somewhat anti-asthmatic, but … guys, they were declared winners. Congratulations
The four looked at each other, and then at the teacher; none spoke for a few seconds.
– Is it a joke, we are supposed to laugh? – asked Adolf
– No, I’m not kidding. The other team had a problem and will not be able to participate.
– Is it okay that it just happens like that, the rest won’t complain? .- Aiden intervened
– The other students will be informed later. Don’t worry about this; these things usually happen, anyway. Here are your prizes.- I take four tube-shaped containers and deliver them to you.- We will supervise your first “update,” as is the custom. Wait a moment soon, and a team will come looking for you.
Tom was not comfortable with this, but he accepted the result; Sarah seemed to think the same as him since after not speaking during this time, he sighed and said.
– Somehow I feel like it’s not the way it should be, but I think it’s for the best.
– Then we all feel the same. – Adolf snap
– Now we have to focus on what’s. Next, you know what this means. No? – Aiden intervened
Tom certainly knew it; with his first physical strengthening thanks to the cocktail of nubots, the gifted could access a specific section of the Vyndra network, in another time, it was the equivalent of entering the virtual world of creatures and other types of games with the same level of immersion. Anyone could do this, but in the case of the gifted, it implied a new world, since being virtually controlled and restricted by the human government, this virtual reality was one where they could freely explore without worrying about feeling “persecuted” by their abilities.
It can be said that this improvement allowed the gifted to feel that virtual reality differently from the non-gifted.
– But what is the point now? Creatures can step on the ground like any of us- he finally said with a doubtful expression.
– You have a point – I think Adolf – mmm …
– There is something useful for you from now on. But first, we must proceed to the improvement of the body, follow me, children- said one of the doctors as he entered, just when Sarah was about to announce something.
While they were going to a room where they would help them to take the cocktail, Tom remembered that his teacher told him that he would see him, he sent him a message telling him what happened. He did not answer, but now he felt calmer since it would not go in vain.
The room where they would be helped to drink the cocktail had some of the measuring instruments scattered and embedded in the surfaces of the room, you could also see some beds, and there was a group of people waiting.
Augmented reality replaces many analog measuring instruments that could once be found in medical and research centers. However, it does not mean that these and other tools had disappeared, although the nubots could show a lot of body data and could be Accessing these as long as you were in the right place, they cannot treat the body in any way since it was not their function. There was still no technology that could do this without the intervention of a thinking being.
They made the four children sit on these beds; after having them change their clothes for robes, you could see that they had a trace of modesty on their faces.
– Listen, I know you should know, but I have to say it – said one of the doctors who seemed to lead the others – this cocktail would modify your body on a cellular level. It will strengthen, repair, and eliminate impurities in your body. It is a painful process, but you will be anesthetized, and we will be with you all day while this happens. This whole process will last a full day – he paused to see how they were taking it, it was information that they would have to know for a long time anyway, since they did not see any expression outside the normal continuous.- Now, they will follow our instructions. Let us begin.
After the applause, four doctors addressed the four children. They guided them through a breathing process to relax their bodies, also highlighting the fact that it would be painful and that they should be prepared in case the reaction outweighs the anesthesia.
After they were induced into a stable mental state, they drank the cocktail. Tom felt a heat go down his throat and spread through his body; the doctor kept guiding him on the breath while giving him an injection.
Somewhere between the rhythm he had achieved with the breathing he was taught, and the burning sensation in each part of his body, his consciousness began to fade.
Between cycles of darkness, he sometimes thought he was awake. Still, only after noticing unrelated situations of what he thought was reality, he realized that it was only a dream, that after a few loops, I call them nightmares.
At some point, these loops disappeared and were replaced by some unrelated memories.
The arid planet where she lived with her parents was the main scene of these memories, the great ships that lay in craters surrounded by glass and sand, a cemetery of star cruisers, fighters, and human bodies.
These days when her parents taught her to identify parts in all junk that were still functional and could be used to trade for food.
The stories they told him about that fleet that now lay inert
The moments of happiness were still etched in his mind.
The day they left him alone with the guardian they had built for him.
And the chaos that surrounded the Beta that last day on that planet.
Noelle followed that group, hoping that the man might be his brother. I knew he was too impulsive, but he wasn’t totally in his best state of mind.
Batze tried to make her think again, but she sent it to the bracelet.
Still, she had a mixed hope that it wasn’t him; she wasn’t sure she wanted to know why he had left.
“I’m anticipating too much …” she thought.
She kept her distance, always located in areas where they will not notice it. The city should be monitoring their movements, so if they didn’t want the security forces to follow and focus on this group, they had to keep some distance.
I hesitate to get Batze to follow them in AR, I still didn’t know much about the city, yet I knew that the area where they were wandering was known because there were dedicated places to fight in the open field and the gifted could fight freely. “It is night, so there shouldn’t be many people.” He muttered.
Contrary to his expectations, if there were enough people, so I take advantage of the environment to have Batze watch over them.
The group had split up, but she only focused on the redhead. She could see gifted and creatures fighting around her; there were also humans without the gift who gave orders to their creatures. Screams of euphoria, roars, and explosions were part of the environment.
But despite all this racket, nothing distracted her attention from that person.
At one point, she stopped to watch a fight, Batze who was still in AR, returned after appearing to wander the area.
-Can you let me into the physical state?
I don’t question it; after Batze reappeared, he left again.
“That thing on his face seems to be interfering in some way with the network,” Batze commented on his second lap.
-…
– It’s the same for the rest.
– Anything else?
– It wasn’t easy to get closer … between murmurs, I only understood that they are focused on the creatures.
– Mmm – Noelle sat on the grass- okay … stay with me.
An hour passed before the stranger began to move again. When she was in an area where there were a handful of people, she approached a woman and spoke to him. In the distance, Noelle could only see through the Zoom that after some exchanges, the woman seemed to accept something. A few moments later, they had taken some space; if it was his brother, there was a possibility that he would use one of his creatures, so he kept waiting watching what was happening.
It did not happen what he expected, but the man began to fight himself with the woman’s creature, unlike his brother, who did not have precise control over his gift, this was the opposite.
He had a knot in his chest when he began to notice something, something that generated a dissonance was something that seemed to know.
– Noelle … – Batze whispered as one of the masked people approached.
He deactivated the Zoom to focus on what was happening around him.
He had trusted Batze since he was just a digital being and continued to do so now that he could physically intervene. Although her companion’s character was quite phlegmatic and although sometimes shy, she was focused. Calming her breathing, she saw the man approaching.
– Excuse me, and I don’t want to fight now. – reported Noelle.
The man stopped when he heard this; Noelle could not notice that he was looking or what expression he had, because of the mask. But a few seconds after bowing his head in sign of understanding, he continued on his way.
In this brief moment of distraction, the combat seemed to be over. He saw the redhead walk away, but this time he did not follow; Batze indicated that the other man was still close and could not alert them. He also couldn’t ask Batze to follow him into AR.
A wave of impatience and helplessness began to take hold of her.
Time passed; the man who had approached her was also fighting against a creature and took advantage of this to go in search of the redhead. She saw it when she was at one of the entrances of the extensive park dedicated to fighting; the mask also covered her nose, so she had no clues other than the color of her hair, to know whether or not she was her brother.
– Excuse me … can I ask you a question?
The masked man looked at her, shook his head, and started walking the other way.
-Wait! .- I order, Noelle, while I grip her forearm.
The man waved his arm in response; they were still in the territory where they could use their gift so, Noelle sensed when it expanded her domain and immediately pulled her away as she raised her arm in the direction in which it was sent.
It was an unnecessary movement for a gifted of vyndra, and it was a habit that was acquired when trying to dominate objects, especially for talented with another mutation different from those of this planet. It was complicated to stop doing it. She knew that very well, as she also had this problem.
– Adam … it’s you … true, answer! .- she exclaimed as she prepared to take him by force. – I’ll make you see reason.
-What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be in this city … – She had her head down as she said the following – I know! It would be best if you came with me.
-Wait … Stop … you must come with me, explain to me what is happening to you how it is that you are using your gift like this.
– If you come with me, you will know them, he helped me, and now I am only returning the favor, if you arrive, you will also be better, come on – he said while he stretched out his hand for me to take it – it will be great we will be together again and we can help more people. Dad and mom always told us that we had to help people if we have the strength to do it, and now I can, you can too.
– Noelle! – Batze shouted while launching a cloud of spores.
– what’s going on!
“They are surrounding us! … What do we do? … This will only hold them for a moment,” he commented as he stood between Noelle and her brother.
– Come with me, and I don’t know what they did to you but, you’re not okay, listen to yourself …- Noelle took her hand, but Adam was only looking at her, having no answer, he pulled him aside – Well, follow me.
– No, no, you … you don’t understand me …
– huh?
– Boy, hold it. We can move now! – shouted someone very close
– NOOOOO! Leave her. Noelle goes away. Let go.
– What are you doing? Don’t be an idiot.
– I SAID YOU GOED! – and again, he pushed her using his gift out of the fading cloud.
Metal rods surrounded Noelle and Batze, who had followed her. A total of 6 people were surrounding her. She still did not understand what was happening to her brother and had no way to defend herself.
– It was okay, I’ll go with you. – She said a few moments later.
“Not you … you never understood me, and you won’t know either,” he said dryly.
– What are you talking about!?
– Knock her out and let’s go.- I order with a cold voice.
