Post by LuciasFalkner on Apr 13, 2015 14:44:40 GMT
H-0218 stood in line as the hulking drill sergeant walked down the line, studying each of his potential recruits. He had yet to reach her, and she didn't look forward to the moment that he did. The drill sergeant, Castle he was called, always said that there was no room for 'trash' in the barracks. He extended that all the way to the Apparents that didn't seem to have what it takes to Graduate. Despite 0218 having made it this far, Castle looked down on her especially hard. She was by far the shortest of Crop H, and her physical attributes left way to0 much to be desired for his liking.
As expected, Castle stopped in front of her once again, calling her forward, using the most intimidating voice that he could muster, which, much to the despair of 0218, made her wince every time, and he made a point of acknowledging it. The rest of the line wasted not a single movement in stepping back to present the small girl, but 0218 didn't dare break eye contact with the drill sergeant. She just needed to make it through tomorrow, and she would hopefully be free. That all depended on whether or not she managed to graduate.
"So, H-0218," Castle began with a sneer. "I'm sure that you're well of what tomorrow is."
"Sir, yes, sir!" She responded as strongly as she could.
"You are?" He smirked. "What is tomorrow, then? Remind me and your cropmates."
"Tomorrow is Graduation, sir!"
"Indeed it is, 0218. It's a big day for all of you. I have to say, I have high hopes for you."
0218 blinked, clearly taken off guard by his statement. "You have high hopes for me... sir?"
Castle's expression changed significantly, from mocking to what appeared to be sincere. "Of course! I have hopes for all of you! Hopes that some of you will prove me wrong..." His expression changed back into his usual sneer. "And that the trash will be selected out. Get back in line."
There were a few snickers from the line as they stepped forward, but Castle quickly shut them all up by ordering extra drills for the morning. With such a high note to end the morning with, 0218 pushed her way through the rest of her last day, pressed on by the knowledge that it'd finally all be over tomorrow.
0218 shot up in her bed, panting from the unpleasant dream that had forced her awake. It wasn't the first time that she'd been plagued by a nightmare of some kind, and every time she woke from them, she was met with the horrible reminder that of all of her bunkmates, she was the only one who had made it this far. She didn't like to think of what happened, mostly because it only continued to remind her of how lonely her life here had been. It didn't help much that she'd lost her name, not that she ever forgot it, and all Apparents were stripped of their former identity entirely. She was no longer Alice van Achteren. She was just H-0218, a nameless figure with no family, no home outside of this little base in the crater of an asteroid. It hadn't been uncommon, either, for her to hear Castle speak of the "Trash" bunk, the one that never belonged and yet you just couldn't get rid of.
She checked the clock on the wall. Just an hour before they were due to meet for the ceremony. Despite the small frame of time she had to kill, she opted to instead get on with her morning. She had no reason to sit and "enjoy" this place one last time, and the less she had to think on it, the better.
0218 stood anxiously among the last few Apparent that remained as Castle emerged from a back room. They had been ordered to gather here, and despite having been early, the potential recruits had been made to wait by Castle. Why, they had no idea. It didn't matter, though, as he was here now, and their fate lay just ahead of them.
"You all know what happens now," Castle began, looking at the group as a whole, not singling anyone out for once. "You've all fought well to get this far, and it's time that you showed that you truly deserve to be standing here. When these doors open, you will all enter and fight your way to the suits. Up to five of you will make it out. That isn't to say that five of you will. It's entirely possible that none of you will. However, from the moment you step out of that door with that suit covering you, who you are will be forever set in stone, and you will be my equal. Now then... Make me proud." He gave the recruits a strong salute, which they all returned with a proud strength, even 0218. As much as she hated everyone here, today was different. Everything was being left behind. From the moment one enters that room, unless they exit, they will be remembered as no one. Something about that made her especially calm, as if despite the hell she'd been put through, she didn't have a damn thing to worry about, because no matter what happened, it didn't much matter.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud groan of the massive steel doors as the pried themselves open. The last few members of Crop H waited in silence, maintaining their salute until the moment that the doors stopped. In that very instant, it became a flat-out battle royale.
0218 was shoved to the ground by one of the two that had been standing next to her in line, but she leapt straight up to her feet and charged forward. The moment she finally breached the doorframe, the door slammed shut behind her, and little more than a dim glow kept the room illuminated. She stuck to the shadows as she listened to the countless brawls that happened around her. She watched as a couple of her cropmates charged straight down the middle, determined to get to the suits before anyone else. As she watched, waiting for the right time to move, her eyes caught something just out of sight near the table that held the vials.
A glimmer. No, not one. Two? She stared for a moment before gasping as she watched the massive claw emerge from the shadows and fell the two in a single swoop. With a roar that echoed throughout the room, a massive monster emerged entirely from its hiding place and began to follow after some of the others that had tried to make a break for the vials. As the panic began to set in and others did their best to avoid the monster, 0218 crept through the shadows. She did her best to block out the bloodcurdling shrieks as one by one, her fellow cropmates fell to the beast. 0218 quickly realized that she was running out of time and made a quick charge for the table. She managed to snatch one of the vials just as the creature turned to see her, and as it let out one last roar, she popped the cork and downed the contents.
Time seemed to freeze as the monster made its charge for her. The black ooze poured out from every pore and orifice and began to envelop her. She didn't dare focus on anything but the suit and what abilities it might grant her, even as her vision blacked out. As the suit finally settled, her vision returned as a full-blown HUD settled into view.
"BOOTING UP..." it read. "ASSESSING SITUATION. SCANNING AREA."
Immediately, a display that provided a perfect, digitized sight of the once dark room spread across the front of her helmet. She didn't have to worry anymore about that much, at least.
The monster's claw came flying towards 0218 as the suit finished its scans. She cast one glance at the beast before diving out of the way. It began to charge after her, but she just took off running, much faster than she normally would have.
"REASSESSING SITUATION," her HUD displayed. "THREAT DETECTED. TECHNOBIOLOGICAL LIFEFORM. DEPLOYING RIFLE."
A black tendril sprung up from the arm of 0218's suit and began to form a general shape as she ran, eventually solidifying into a small sniper rifle that felt almost weightless. She rounded a corner and disappeared into the shadows of the room, taking one of the torches from the wall and throwing it across the room to draw the monster away. As it followed the torch, 0218 stared after it. Once again, her HUD sprung to life.
"SCANNING TARGET. MULTIPLE WEAK POINTS FOUND. TARGETS: BACK OF HEAD AND KNEE JOINTS. RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: TAKE OUT KNEES AND THEN DESTROY THE 'BRAIN'. LOCKING ON TO WEAK POINTS."
Now, the supposed 'weak points' were highlighted orange to distinguish them from the red outline of the enemy. Without thinking, 0218 raised the rifle and, with the help of her HUD, fired two quick shots at both knees, successfully bringing the monster down. As it struggled on the ground, she charged out of cover and leaped onto the beast's back. Despite the thrashing, she stood her ground and proceeded to the head. Immediately, the weak point flashed red, and she raised the rifle. The monster's tail swung up and around, intending to knock her off, but she ignored it and squeezed the trigger.
Castle stared at his watch. It was just about time now. He wasn't particularly excited to see who emerged this time around, as no one had particularly stuck out during training, aside from of course 0218, but there was absolutely no chance of that happening. His watch beeped, and the massive steel doors forced themselves open once more. He and the inspectors watched as smoke spilled out of the opening, but no one emerged. With a sigh, he started to turn to the inspectors, but a gunshot rang out, and a bullet whizzed just past Castle's ear. He whirled around in a fury, but stopped as soon as he saw the figure emerge. His heart sank in his chest as the tiny, suited recruit stepped out, carrying the rifle on her shoulder.
0218 let the helmet and rifle melt back into her suit and smirked at Castle.
"Well I'll be damned..." he muttered in disbelief. He studied 0218's suit, which was little more than a black bodysuit with minimal plating on the shoulders, sides and around the waist with a cape trailing along at the waist. "Faceless and nameless to the end, with nothing remotely impactful about you. You really are Blank."
As expected, Castle stopped in front of her once again, calling her forward, using the most intimidating voice that he could muster, which, much to the despair of 0218, made her wince every time, and he made a point of acknowledging it. The rest of the line wasted not a single movement in stepping back to present the small girl, but 0218 didn't dare break eye contact with the drill sergeant. She just needed to make it through tomorrow, and she would hopefully be free. That all depended on whether or not she managed to graduate.
"So, H-0218," Castle began with a sneer. "I'm sure that you're well of what tomorrow is."
"Sir, yes, sir!" She responded as strongly as she could.
"You are?" He smirked. "What is tomorrow, then? Remind me and your cropmates."
"Tomorrow is Graduation, sir!"
"Indeed it is, 0218. It's a big day for all of you. I have to say, I have high hopes for you."
0218 blinked, clearly taken off guard by his statement. "You have high hopes for me... sir?"
Castle's expression changed significantly, from mocking to what appeared to be sincere. "Of course! I have hopes for all of you! Hopes that some of you will prove me wrong..." His expression changed back into his usual sneer. "And that the trash will be selected out. Get back in line."
There were a few snickers from the line as they stepped forward, but Castle quickly shut them all up by ordering extra drills for the morning. With such a high note to end the morning with, 0218 pushed her way through the rest of her last day, pressed on by the knowledge that it'd finally all be over tomorrow.
0218 shot up in her bed, panting from the unpleasant dream that had forced her awake. It wasn't the first time that she'd been plagued by a nightmare of some kind, and every time she woke from them, she was met with the horrible reminder that of all of her bunkmates, she was the only one who had made it this far. She didn't like to think of what happened, mostly because it only continued to remind her of how lonely her life here had been. It didn't help much that she'd lost her name, not that she ever forgot it, and all Apparents were stripped of their former identity entirely. She was no longer Alice van Achteren. She was just H-0218, a nameless figure with no family, no home outside of this little base in the crater of an asteroid. It hadn't been uncommon, either, for her to hear Castle speak of the "Trash" bunk, the one that never belonged and yet you just couldn't get rid of.
She checked the clock on the wall. Just an hour before they were due to meet for the ceremony. Despite the small frame of time she had to kill, she opted to instead get on with her morning. She had no reason to sit and "enjoy" this place one last time, and the less she had to think on it, the better.
0218 stood anxiously among the last few Apparent that remained as Castle emerged from a back room. They had been ordered to gather here, and despite having been early, the potential recruits had been made to wait by Castle. Why, they had no idea. It didn't matter, though, as he was here now, and their fate lay just ahead of them.
"You all know what happens now," Castle began, looking at the group as a whole, not singling anyone out for once. "You've all fought well to get this far, and it's time that you showed that you truly deserve to be standing here. When these doors open, you will all enter and fight your way to the suits. Up to five of you will make it out. That isn't to say that five of you will. It's entirely possible that none of you will. However, from the moment you step out of that door with that suit covering you, who you are will be forever set in stone, and you will be my equal. Now then... Make me proud." He gave the recruits a strong salute, which they all returned with a proud strength, even 0218. As much as she hated everyone here, today was different. Everything was being left behind. From the moment one enters that room, unless they exit, they will be remembered as no one. Something about that made her especially calm, as if despite the hell she'd been put through, she didn't have a damn thing to worry about, because no matter what happened, it didn't much matter.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud groan of the massive steel doors as the pried themselves open. The last few members of Crop H waited in silence, maintaining their salute until the moment that the doors stopped. In that very instant, it became a flat-out battle royale.
0218 was shoved to the ground by one of the two that had been standing next to her in line, but she leapt straight up to her feet and charged forward. The moment she finally breached the doorframe, the door slammed shut behind her, and little more than a dim glow kept the room illuminated. She stuck to the shadows as she listened to the countless brawls that happened around her. She watched as a couple of her cropmates charged straight down the middle, determined to get to the suits before anyone else. As she watched, waiting for the right time to move, her eyes caught something just out of sight near the table that held the vials.
A glimmer. No, not one. Two? She stared for a moment before gasping as she watched the massive claw emerge from the shadows and fell the two in a single swoop. With a roar that echoed throughout the room, a massive monster emerged entirely from its hiding place and began to follow after some of the others that had tried to make a break for the vials. As the panic began to set in and others did their best to avoid the monster, 0218 crept through the shadows. She did her best to block out the bloodcurdling shrieks as one by one, her fellow cropmates fell to the beast. 0218 quickly realized that she was running out of time and made a quick charge for the table. She managed to snatch one of the vials just as the creature turned to see her, and as it let out one last roar, she popped the cork and downed the contents.
Time seemed to freeze as the monster made its charge for her. The black ooze poured out from every pore and orifice and began to envelop her. She didn't dare focus on anything but the suit and what abilities it might grant her, even as her vision blacked out. As the suit finally settled, her vision returned as a full-blown HUD settled into view.
"BOOTING UP..." it read. "ASSESSING SITUATION. SCANNING AREA."
Immediately, a display that provided a perfect, digitized sight of the once dark room spread across the front of her helmet. She didn't have to worry anymore about that much, at least.
The monster's claw came flying towards 0218 as the suit finished its scans. She cast one glance at the beast before diving out of the way. It began to charge after her, but she just took off running, much faster than she normally would have.
"REASSESSING SITUATION," her HUD displayed. "THREAT DETECTED. TECHNOBIOLOGICAL LIFEFORM. DEPLOYING RIFLE."
A black tendril sprung up from the arm of 0218's suit and began to form a general shape as she ran, eventually solidifying into a small sniper rifle that felt almost weightless. She rounded a corner and disappeared into the shadows of the room, taking one of the torches from the wall and throwing it across the room to draw the monster away. As it followed the torch, 0218 stared after it. Once again, her HUD sprung to life.
"SCANNING TARGET. MULTIPLE WEAK POINTS FOUND. TARGETS: BACK OF HEAD AND KNEE JOINTS. RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: TAKE OUT KNEES AND THEN DESTROY THE 'BRAIN'. LOCKING ON TO WEAK POINTS."
Now, the supposed 'weak points' were highlighted orange to distinguish them from the red outline of the enemy. Without thinking, 0218 raised the rifle and, with the help of her HUD, fired two quick shots at both knees, successfully bringing the monster down. As it struggled on the ground, she charged out of cover and leaped onto the beast's back. Despite the thrashing, she stood her ground and proceeded to the head. Immediately, the weak point flashed red, and she raised the rifle. The monster's tail swung up and around, intending to knock her off, but she ignored it and squeezed the trigger.
Castle stared at his watch. It was just about time now. He wasn't particularly excited to see who emerged this time around, as no one had particularly stuck out during training, aside from of course 0218, but there was absolutely no chance of that happening. His watch beeped, and the massive steel doors forced themselves open once more. He and the inspectors watched as smoke spilled out of the opening, but no one emerged. With a sigh, he started to turn to the inspectors, but a gunshot rang out, and a bullet whizzed just past Castle's ear. He whirled around in a fury, but stopped as soon as he saw the figure emerge. His heart sank in his chest as the tiny, suited recruit stepped out, carrying the rifle on her shoulder.
0218 let the helmet and rifle melt back into her suit and smirked at Castle.
"Well I'll be damned..." he muttered in disbelief. He studied 0218's suit, which was little more than a black bodysuit with minimal plating on the shoulders, sides and around the waist with a cape trailing along at the waist. "Faceless and nameless to the end, with nothing remotely impactful about you. You really are Blank."
