that doesn’t mean I can’t be a superhero. Rhino Rampage is a huge man famous for his clumsy ways when he’s out of his suit,
but he is still a reasonably powerful superhero as long as he
doesn’t need to dodge or fly too fast. I could be like that; I
would settle for being a second-rate superhero at this point.
“Let’s take this up a level,” Past
Prime says.
The cube stands on six short legs and takes a
few steps back from me. It bangs its arms together as if showing me
how dangerous it. It’s only a robot, but I could swear it’s looking
forward to this.
Saucer, this thing is going to kill me.
“Scared?” Past Prime asks.
“Bite me, old man. And give me back my
sword.”
I’m eating my lunch in the infirmary when Never Lies walks in. The doc has bandaged my arms and legs
until I look like a mummy, and he gave me enough painkillers to
take the worst of the burn away.
“Ready for the next session?” asks Never
Lies without preamble.
I nod. Hopefully it doesn’t kill me.
“You took a beating today,” she says.
“Did I?” I ask innocently, although there’s
no point trying to hide the fact that I’m bruised and battered.
“Yes. I’m surprised you can still walk, but Past Prime said your injuries were self-inflicted and that I
was to have no sympathy, so get up.”
“How…”
I want to ask her how I’m doing in the
training program, but I’m scared she’ll tell me a depressing truth.
She looks at me and raises an eyebrow. I have to ask her something
now, or she’ll think I’m an irredeemable idiot.
“How… um, how long do I have to keep
training?”
Even I think I sound stupid, and Never
Lies just grunts in amusement. Mission failed: she thinks I’m
an idiot.
“The more you sweat in training, the less you
bleed in battle… and you aren’t sweating at all. Past Prime was just testing your reactions; I’m here to test your brain.”
I spend the rest of the afternoon with her.
Half my time is spent in a training helmet, and half in a combat
simulator. The simulator is a whole suit of armor that feels just
like the real thing, except with electric shocks instead of death.
It’s unpleasant, but I learn fast. I fight in cities and swamps,
alone and in teams of six or twenty, in the sky and on the ground
and in every place you can think of. I recognize every alien I see
from my time in the training helmet, and I know where to hit
them.
It’s not a test of physical speed or agility,
but rather of how to react and move in combat, incorporating my
knowledge of how to kill some enemies and when to avoid others.
“I’m ramping up the difficulty,” says Never Lies , and aliens start appearing faster.
I’m exhausted by the time we finish. A
steward brings us orange juice and muffins, but I don’t even have
time to eat mine before Never Lies turns towards a big man
waiting at the other end of the gym. He’s dressed in a black shirt
similar to the ones worn by Past Prime and Never
Lies . It seems to be a mark of rank around here.
“His name is Small Talk . Do what he
says, and don’t whine about it,” she advises me.
Small Talk is standing by a rock
climbing wall. Heavy mattresses are set below the wall, and they
look well used. Small Talk doesn’t say anything, so I start
looking around for a safety harness.
“Wait,” Small Talk says.
He pushes a button on his data pad and the
whole rock wall starts to move slowly downwards as if it were some
enormous vertical conveyor belt. I’ve seen this before- it’s an
infinity climbing wall. The idea is to climb two meters off the
ground, and then the wall starts moving downwards and you do your
best not to be brought back to Earth. The little outcrops and marks
are constantly changed so that a person can climb the same few
meters of wall all day and never see the same pattern of rocks. A
line emerges across the wall, with ‘Level One’ written above
it.
This wall is far higher than any I’ve
but he is still a reasonably powerful superhero as long as he
doesn’t need to dodge or fly too fast. I could be like that; I
would settle for being a second-rate superhero at this point.
“Let’s take this up a level,” Past
Prime says.
The cube stands on six short legs and takes a
few steps back from me. It bangs its arms together as if showing me
how dangerous it. It’s only a robot, but I could swear it’s looking
forward to this.
Saucer, this thing is going to kill me.
“Scared?” Past Prime asks.
“Bite me, old man. And give me back my
sword.”
I’m eating my lunch in the infirmary when Never Lies walks in. The doc has bandaged my arms and legs
until I look like a mummy, and he gave me enough painkillers to
take the worst of the burn away.
“Ready for the next session?” asks Never
Lies without preamble.
I nod. Hopefully it doesn’t kill me.
“You took a beating today,” she says.
“Did I?” I ask innocently, although there’s
no point trying to hide the fact that I’m bruised and battered.
“Yes. I’m surprised you can still walk, but Past Prime said your injuries were self-inflicted and that I
was to have no sympathy, so get up.”
“How…”
I want to ask her how I’m doing in the
training program, but I’m scared she’ll tell me a depressing truth.
She looks at me and raises an eyebrow. I have to ask her something
now, or she’ll think I’m an irredeemable idiot.
“How… um, how long do I have to keep
training?”
Even I think I sound stupid, and Never
Lies just grunts in amusement. Mission failed: she thinks I’m
an idiot.
“The more you sweat in training, the less you
bleed in battle… and you aren’t sweating at all. Past Prime was just testing your reactions; I’m here to test your brain.”
I spend the rest of the afternoon with her.
Half my time is spent in a training helmet, and half in a combat
simulator. The simulator is a whole suit of armor that feels just
like the real thing, except with electric shocks instead of death.
It’s unpleasant, but I learn fast. I fight in cities and swamps,
alone and in teams of six or twenty, in the sky and on the ground
and in every place you can think of. I recognize every alien I see
from my time in the training helmet, and I know where to hit
them.
It’s not a test of physical speed or agility,
but rather of how to react and move in combat, incorporating my
knowledge of how to kill some enemies and when to avoid others.
“I’m ramping up the difficulty,” says Never Lies , and aliens start appearing faster.
I’m exhausted by the time we finish. A
steward brings us orange juice and muffins, but I don’t even have
time to eat mine before Never Lies turns towards a big man
waiting at the other end of the gym. He’s dressed in a black shirt
similar to the ones worn by Past Prime and Never
Lies . It seems to be a mark of rank around here.
“His name is Small Talk . Do what he
says, and don’t whine about it,” she advises me.
Small Talk is standing by a rock
climbing wall. Heavy mattresses are set below the wall, and they
look well used. Small Talk doesn’t say anything, so I start
looking around for a safety harness.
“Wait,” Small Talk says.
He pushes a button on his data pad and the
whole rock wall starts to move slowly downwards as if it were some
enormous vertical conveyor belt. I’ve seen this before- it’s an
infinity climbing wall. The idea is to climb two meters off the
ground, and then the wall starts moving downwards and you do your
best not to be brought back to Earth. The little outcrops and marks
are constantly changed so that a person can climb the same few
meters of wall all day and never see the same pattern of rocks. A
line emerges across the wall, with ‘Level One’ written above
it.
This wall is far higher than any I’ve
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