The audible wind flew down the highway past the burned civilian hover cars and husks of long-outdated tanks.
In the distance, several small arms and large-caliber guns were firing up a storm. They were shooting at some unknown and unseen enemy.
The warm wind flew past the rubble piled up outside the large city.
As the wind entered the city it stirred up large amounts of dust from the destroyed and damaged buildings.
Boom!
A large explosion enveloped everything in sight with its blinding white light.
The holo-recording once again returned to a sharply dressed reporter who spoke in a solemn tone.
“..and just like that the old capital city Tokeyo and a large area around it was destroyed. The explosion killed the surviving government members and several millions of suffering civilians…”
Arron Wynterz sat in an uncomfortable metal hover chair in front of commander Rub’s desk.
He was only half paying attention to the old 2-d holo-tv which was playing at a low volume. The small holo projection hovered above the commander’s desk and kept drawing his eye every few seconds.
Arron returned to taping in the last few answers and details using the holo-keyboard on the clunky palm-sized military-grade data-pad.
The palm-sized datapad was quite an old technology, but it still had the reputation of being unhackable, unlike his military-issued wrist data-pad or a similar civilian version.
“From their ashes, the new Megacity Neo-Tokeyo was born. Today, July 26, 198x, major preparations are now underway to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the completion of the first level.
In a few months, representatives from the W.H.O [World Humanitarian Orginization] will be attending the event hosted by the [Party of Mother and Father] on the fourth level of the Neo-Tokeyo. This is to show the strong unity between the many member states of the WHO…”
Arron quickly read over everything making sure it was correctly filled out. Of course, everything was written in [Common], the language of all member states of WHO. All other languages were discarded and replaced when Mother and Father took over.
It had been quite a pain in the ass to learn but now it was just a part of everyday life for Arron.
“Finished?” asked commander Rub.
“Yes commander!” said Arron as he handed over the clunky data-pad.
Commander Rub grabbed it with his cybernetic hand and swiped through the projected holo-pages, checking off each page after briefly glancing at them.
“You know, it’s a shame to see a fine soldier like you retire when you’re only 25. With your skill and dedication, you could have climbed up the ranks and even joined the WHO’s main force over on the main continent. I hear they are always looking for loyal soldiers to fill the empty spots that pop up,” said commander Rub.
“I’ve served 8 years. Now that my second tour is over I feel a calling to return home,” said Arron.
“I don’t know why you would want to return to such a small place. Sign here,” said Commander Rub.
A nearly blank blue holographic page with only an X and a line floated above the data-pad. With his right pointer finger, Arron signed his full name in cursive.
Commander Rub waved his hand over the data-pad, shutting it off. He stood up from his desk and waved a hand towards a corner of the room.
“Almost done, I just need you to step on the Bio-scanner. We need to make sure that you’re not carrying any military-grade cybernetics that would be illegal for civilians.”
As soon as Arron stepped onto the Bioscanner a metal ring detached itself from the bottom. A bright blue light filled the entire space of the ring.
It slowly began rising, as it did the blue light surrounded Arron’s body and penetrated all that it touched creating a full readout of his body.
Nothing could be hidden from it as it would show all artificial implants, cybernetics, and illegal objects inside his body.
Ping! The Bio-scanner let out a happy sound when the metal ring stopped above Arron’s head.
The light had turned green, signaling that no problems were discovered.
Commander Rub looked at the miniature hologram readout of Arron floating above his wrist data-pad.
“No scars from implant surgery and you don’t have any cybernetics other than your NerViz implant and the cloud chip. You only took the basic bone and muscle strengthening serum that all soldiers are required to get… are you one of those old-fashioned soldiers who shy away from any upgrades?” asked commander Rub.
“No, I don’t hate them. My NerViz implant and wrist data-pad work just fine for everything I need to do. So I never found a need for any upgrades. Plus they’re too expensive,” said Arron.
“Ha! I forgot you signed up only two years after the destruction of the old capital. With your low clearance, you have been out of touch with society for far too long! It was indeed expensive over 8 years ago when you first joined the military,” said commander Rub. As he spoke he rolled up the right sleeve of his red and yellow camo uniform.
“I got this last year to replace my right arm I lost during the Troubles. It’s several times stronger than the strength I had at the peak of my youth,” said commander Rub, pointing to his right arm.
It was entirely made of cybernetic metal, the grade of the metal Arron did not know. The cybernetic arm was attached to his shoulder with various nuts, bolts, and other mechanical bits that could not be seen.
“The technology sure has come a long way. Now everyone with a decent job can buy something like this if they save for it. If you ask me, it’s too cheap. It has now become a fad to get pointless and gimmicky party trick implants. But that will soon pass, as all fads do and then those who wasted money on such things will feel foolish and have to pay even more money to remove them if it is possible.”
“People have enough money to waste on such things?” asked Arron.
“It is not all that surprising when you take in the fact that it is only happening on the 2nd – 4th levels of Neo-Tokeyo. It is mainly popular on the 2nd and 3rd levels. Even though each level is a part of Neo-Tokeyo, they all have their own quirks and personality.”
“I guess you wouldn’t know about any of this since you have been cut off for so long. According to a WHO representative on the news, Neo-Tokeyo is supposed to be the leading city of all of the member states and is used as an example due to its use of the newest technology,” said commander Rub as he started typing up the release form.
“Four levels? I didn’t even get to see the first level before joining the Nippon branch army,” said Arron as he stepped off the bio-scanner and rubbed his neck which had started to itch. The area he rubbed was at the base of his neck where his NerViz implant was.
The NerViz implant had several functions, the most important was the fact that it allowed its users to see, interact with, and send all types of data. Thousands of new devices and technologies being invented and produced every year required the NerViz implant to use them properly.
“With this, you are free to leave the Nippon branch army base. You need it so you aren’t shot for suspicion of desertion,” said commander Rub, as he swiped his hand over his wrist data-pad flicking it toward Arron.
Ding! Arron’s NerViz implant notified him that his wrist data-pad received a new message.
He tapped on the blinking holographic notification which opened the message.
A blue holographic document appeared. Immediately small dense white words appeared and began scrolling up for several seconds before reaching the bottom which had commander Rub’s signature as well as the digital seal of the Nippon army branch.
Arron swiped down and the document disappeared.
“Since you’ve been away from society, you need to make sure you get up to date on everything. If you don’t you could get yourself into trouble,” said Commander Rub.
He held out his hand for Arron to shake. “If you ever want to rejoin or need any advice feel free to call me. I’ll get back to you when I can.”
