Author’s Note: Hey everyone! Here is the Work in Progress for Chapter 173 I hope you guys enjoy! :D The revised version for Chapter 172 will be releasing tomorrow some time before the full release of Chapter 173! :D
Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30. Living Room. Local Time: 2000 Hours
Emma
CURRENT MISSION TIME… T+59 DAYS… 3 HOURS… 27 MINUTES… 43 SECONDS POST-ARRIVAL.
44 SECONDS.
45 SEC...
46…
4—
The seconds ticked on.
While my hand, my very real, ungloved, unarmored hand — now as alien to me as the armor was at first — held taught to the physical lever built into the tent’s internal control surfaces.
The files were loaded.
Each byte and every bit transcribed and primed, awaiting my command, at the end of an unsteady hand.
…
This whole setup was entirely unnecessary.
Everything was electronic, after all, the physical switches and keys simply serving to appease the primate brain still very much more attuned to physical feedback than anything a touch or holoscreen could ever hope to match.
This was why the lever was even here, just as the controls of major apparatuses were equipped with buttons, wheels, and control columns all spring-loaded with high actuation points.
Because this action would be final.
It needed that resistance, if only to make doubly sure its operator was triply sure of the command they were about to input.
I pulled the lever down… only to stop a quarter of the way down.
CLUNK!
The mechanism reset, and so did my confidence, as my eyes instinctively went to bring back the HUD; bound for one final eleventh hour review of my report.
A report that thankfully, covered a month far less involved than the first.
My eyes skimmed past the Handshake Package, the cover letter that I’d spent barely an hour on, but poured enough heart that I knew changing it would mean losing its intent.
My gaze darted leftwards, towards the floating indexes and the contents nestled within.
I scanned them all.
SCOUTING OPERATIONS
RESEARCH LOGS
CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYSES
AFTER ACTION REPORTS
DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITIES
EXOREALITY DATAPOINTS
THREAT ANALYSIS REPORTS
EXPERIMENTAL DIRECTIVES UPDATES
EXO-REALITY RESEARCH FINDINGS
LOGGED ACTION INCIDENTS
…
My eyes lingered on the latter, forcing the indexed ‘papers’ within to line themselves neatly across my FOV.
A fact which made me acutely aware of a growing, unnerving dissonance — the lack of that all-encompassing snappiness afforded by the armor’s infosuite.
I pushed that thought aside for now.
Even if the EVI deemed it prudent to log it within my medical status report.
It didn’t take long to line up the — thankfully — paltry sum of incident reports.
A fact made even more apparent, when last month’s logs were lined up behind it.
Security Incidents
I blinked.
Total: 2
And I nodded.
Security Incident M2-01: The Yellowbrick Road Fiasco
There wasn’t much here to parse… it was barely an incident, and scarcely counted, if it wasn’t for Ping’s insistence on escalating matters as he tended to…
Security Incident M2-02: The Racetrack Biting Incident
This one had even less to chew on, its only lasting impact being a rescheduling of Thalmin’s racing match with Qiv, on account of Aqaustride biting off her opponent’s left face before the race had a chance to even start…
I quickly moved on from there, reviewing the science, the research, the experimental directives, and quite literally everything, seeing time pass from seconds to minutes.
I was barely halfway through when Thalmin’s voice came through the tent’s internal speakers, his tone on the very edge of sheer and unadulterated excitement.
“Emma? Do you copy?”
“Tent-1 Actual, heard.” I responded.
“Again with your human communication monickers… they will never not be amusing.” He snickered, before moving onto his actual point. “We’re due for the Guild Fair in less than half an hour. I would kindly ask that you hasten your pace, if at all possible.”
“Roger that, Dreadwolf Actual.”
“... I said we’d work on our ‘callsigns’, Blue Knight.”
“Hey, I can’t help it if my name just hits right off the bat, Thalmin.” I offered with a cheeky smile, before ending the call on the prince’s terms.
“Just make haste. I can’t wait to try my hand at this Fight Club.”
“And I can’t wait to see what Etholin has to offer me in the Merchant’s Club as well, so, there’s that.” I nodded, ending the transmission and then turning towards the litany of subheaders still floating aggressively in front of me.
“Right… ok, I’m just overthinking this. Let’s skip to the end, shall we, EVI?”
“Acknowledged.”
FINAL ASSESSMENT AND STRATEGIC OUTLOOK
I took a deep breath.
…
Then jumped right back in.
Social friction has been minimized following the conclusion of the Quest for the Everblooming Blossom. Resultant social accreditation stemming from said Quest, in addition to the natural social stratification curve (Thacea Dilani, 3047.), has resulted in a quantifiable decrease in ‘Negative Social Events’ (NSEs), and ‘Social Confrontation Events’ (SCE), as the peer group — and by extension myself — have crystalized into an unremarkable position within the social hierarchy; possibly encouraged by the Dean’s own interests, though without evidence this point remains speculation. Further aiding in the decrease in the incidence of reported Adverse Events (AE) is the mission operator’s absence in social events, stemming primarily from 2 ongoing operations.
1. Operation: Bruteforce Breakthrough
2. Operation: Michelin Madness
The former has resulted in a majority of after-class hours spent in the library in search of intelligence involving the 30th Manatype. This follows The Library’s unacceptable trade offer for said intelligence which would otherwise compromise standing INFOSEC directives.
The latter, has required the remainder of after-class mission hours spent navigating the labyrinthian bureaucracy of Nexian Academia. Though the priority of this operation remains tentatively secondary to mission-critical operations, Operation Michelin Madness is both adjacent and directly corollary to multiple assigned Experimental Directives; thus necessitating increased mission hour expenditure.
Whilst current nutrition access remains nominal, and M-REDD operations have reached its practical aims — the decontamination of local foodstuffs to supplement operator nutrition — the operator remains adamant that the qualitative aspects (i.e. taste) of said foodstuffs is of utmost relevance to maintaining morale. It is thus, the expressed intent of Operation Michelin Madness to ascertain the causative factors for all local foodstuffs’ current suboptimal sensory characteristics (otherwise referred to as ‘blandness’ in qualitative assessments).
Mission operator is expected to gain access to the Academy Kitchens pending approval from aforementioned bureaucratic processes. Expected time: 7-28 Days from time of report.
However, there exists another hypothesis capable of being assessed in the intermediate time (refer to EXPERIMENTAL DIRECTIVES UPDATES Page 27, Section 12, Line 3). Mission Operator will collect non-Academy foodstuffs from Elaseer’s local food stalls for both quantitative and qualitative analysis, to determine if non-noble cuisine may hold significant deviations from current observed baselines.
…
Open hostilities have simmered, pending Class Sovereign conflicts between both hostile parties (Auris Ping, Qiv’Ratom).
Though future opportunities for conflict are noted, with impending events including but not limited to:
1. ‘Flight Class’ - Potential Hostilities noted between Airit Airus and Thacea Dilani
2. ‘Class Sovereign Challenges’ - Potential for social disruption and/or unprompted participation in its affairs
3. ‘Pen Business Operations’ - Conflict of interest in involved parties. Pending proposal to Lord Etholin Esila.
4. The Impending Black Robe Assignment - Reports of the assignment of a new black robe professor implies increased meddling from the Crown.
…
The mission operator shall continue efforts in pursuit of the origin of the ‘30th Manatype Incident’, now classified as High Priority.
The return of Apprentice Larial within the subsequent days shall reopen the currently dormant ‘Seekership’ Operations.
Following which, Inquisitorial Operations shall follow, dictating much of the strategic Scouting and Recon operations for the foreseeable future.
The retrieval and re-acquisition of intel destroyed by the former Black Robe Professor Mal’tory remains a pertinent point. As a result, this aligns the interests of The Library, Lord Rularia, and the mission operator, in a temporary alliance.
Report Ends.
I stared blankly at the read-only file.
After which—
CLICK-CLACK!
—it was done.
[703.5.77 IAS-PP SYSTEMS
EXOREALITY COMMUNICATION SUITE
PERFORMING POST-TRANSMISSION CHECKS
PENDING…
PENDING…
TRANSMISSION SENT SUCCESSFULLY!]
[CHARGE TIME RESET… 21 DAYS +/- 7 DAYS. SET MODE TO: RECEIVE]
=====
Somewhere in the Nexus
Matriarch Kaelthyr
CRRRKK!
Lightning.
A cramping, sharp, shooting, transient but palpable shattering…
Then… nothing.
My eyes narrowed, craning my head back to a place a month’s flight behind me.
So it goes…
=====
Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30. Living Room. Local Time: 2020 Hours
Emma
I stared at my hand for a moment.
I clenched my fists, performing fine motor diagnostics without the obstruction of gloves or gauntlets.
And it felt… off.
I knew not to dwell on it.
It was expected in prolonged wear.
But the dissonance was there.
Still, I didn’t have time to think too much of it.
There was a student club fair to attend.