Annihilation
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The SciLab. Center of Network Society. The lobby of this massive complex was probably the least active floor with just a dozen or two scientists and Official Netbattlers passing through going about their duties. There were no tours at the time, yet there were a few loitering faces that didn't belong. A young man that just walked into the lobby glanced around, a little confused and lost. He rounded the corner to the right and relaxed when he saw four people standing near the drink machine. They were about his age, and were not wearing lab coats or Officials Uniforms. He didn't know who they were, but the one that told him to meet at the Sci-Lab said there would be four others just like him. The young man walked toward the drink machine, purchased a drink, then joined the group.
"You must be the last one." A tall, built guy with a foreign accent greeted the late arrival. "I'm Olaf."
The young man nodded, "Hi. I'm Moe. So, are we gonna get started?"
Olaf shrugged, "I don't know. We've been waiting for a while."
Moe was cracking his knuckles, getting anxious. "Sorry, I assumed you were in charge when you greeted me."
"Hah. I was just being friendly." He gestured to the other three guests. "Incidentily, that's Trisha, Ricardo, and Ami."
Moe noticed the contrast in nationalities between all five of them. He realized the one that he'd talked to before wasn't exaggerating when he stressed the difficulty in finding volunteers. Each of the five were in their late teens and seemed to be excellent physical shape. These Officials went on a worldwide search for young, martial arts prodigies. Moe remembered the strange questions he was asked beofre, regarding ambition, and confidentiality. He must have answered all the questions right if he was currently standing there with the 4 others supposedly just as strong, skilled, and eager as he was...
A man in an Official uniform approached the group, smiling. He had a tour guide's nametag on, and Moe suddenly remembered they were there to take the 'tour'. His contact mentioned this while winking. Apparently, whatever this was, it was a secret from everyone else at SciLab. The 'tour guide' said some generic 'tour guide' things and ushered the kids toward the elevator. They noticed a man in a lab coat was walking briskly straight towards them, obviously eager to catch the elevator, but the 'tour guide' mashed the button to close the door. He then swiped a card though a slot, typed a code into a keypad, and the elevator started heading straight down. There were apparently no cameras in the elevator, because the 'tour guide' remvoed his nametag, and his smile, and adressed the five guests in a more serious fashion.
"Just relax. I'm sure you have a lot of questions. In just a few minutes, they'll be answered."
One elevator ride and a walk down a dark hall later, the guests found themselves in a relatively small, undecoprated room. There were two more men in Officials' Uniforms, one stood by a box on a table. The room was basically empty except for the table, the box, and the men. The one not guarding the box greeted the group. He was a large, old man. He was well built, or at least he was at one time.
"I am Agent Black. I'll give you your first briefing. If you couldn't figure it out by our subtle hints, you five are to be part of a secret unit in the Official Netbattlers. You have been chosen based on your physical abilities and your degree of trust. I suppose you're all wondering why the Officials would need athletic kids rather than experienced computer nerds. There are many involved in this project who've had to ask that question several times...myself included. Nonetheless, that can be answered by showing you the 'equipment' you'll be working with."
Black nodded at the other man behind him who opened the box and pulled out a neatly-folded uniform. The outfit looked like an Offical's uniform, only it was mostly black.
Black continued, "Believe it or not, that uniform will be you PET. It's wired with motion-capture technology to directly interface your own actions with your navi. A more conventional form of the PET is stored on the wrist, like a watch. You will mostly use the PET watch, but you should get used to the the motion interface system."
The question of why physical ability applied in this situation had been answered, but the five were left with more confusion.
"'What's the point?' you ask? It's something the scientists upstairs have been toying with for years, but never had a good excuse to try out such an asinine concept. The thing is, navis have always been designed a certain way. They were just avatars, images of humanoids, designed for network errands. When it came to viruses, they were just outfitted with various weapons to turn them into destructive powerhouses. This always works, right? Well, the theory now is that navis are not enough like humans. For all the firepower they have, they just can't use it properly. That's where this project comes in."
Black moved back to the table and put some files on it. He picked one up and began flipping through, as if looking for some examples for what he was about to say. The guests didn't really care as they were already getting bored with the briefing.
"God made man in his own image, man made navi in his own image. You can see the kind of degeneration that follows. This project is about navis that approximate the human form as closely as possible, and not only that, but can mimic the actions of a human perfectly. Theoretically, this kind of navi will have an edge over other navis who are only programmed to approximate the human form and human actions. We chose young volunteers since actual physical strength is irrelevant. All the power is in the navi, we just needed flexible and agile humans to use that power in THE most effective way. The last thing we need is for a navi to throw out its back along with its operator."
Having found the page in the file he was looking for, e pulled it out and handed it to one of the guests. Realizing this was important, all five gathered and examined it together. The header read 'Case # El-405733 - Genjibo Military Base- Fatal Class E Infection'
"So why now?" Black continued his briefing by answering his own questions. "A little over 3 months ago, the Military Base in the Genjibo region was destroyed. The reason was a pair of infections that occurred simultaneously. This base was equipped with THE finest weapons, both real and cybernetic. The defense systems were top of the line, and yet, in a period of three days, these defenses were breached by hackers. Since the two groups of hackers were in conflict, neither could achieve their plans to take over the base before the personnel activated the Self-Destruct. The idea of the state the world could be in if either had succeeded is too frightening to mention. In short, the current trends in network security have failed us and now we're trying something different."
Black, finally appearing to finish, folded his arms and eyed his participants. "Any questions so far?"
All five were excited about their new job, but Ami had one concern.
"Yeah, I have a question. Will you be expecting us to wear those things in public?"
Ami seemed a bit superficial, but the others shared her opinions of their uniform. It didn't even look very comfortable, being skin-tight to be able to accurately read the wearer's motions.
Black chuckled, "Remember what I said about this being a top-secret project. You're the only ones going to see yourselves in these things. The reason for the secrecy is to protect the technology. Believe it or not, you are not the best fighters in the world. Take one of the Genjibo hackers, for example. Intelligence indicates he calls himself 'Blackbelt'. Now unless he's making a fashion statement, he's the last person we'd want to see operating his navi like this."
The guy with the box took out the uniforms and handed them out to their owners. Each one was designed to fit each member perfectly.
"You don't have to put them on right now, just use the wrist-PET and get accquainted with your new navi." Black explained.
They each found the PET embedded on the left wrist and activated it. The screen lit up to reveal navis that looked remarkably like their owners in black navi-gear.
"This is kinda creepy." Trisha commented. "I don't recall getting fitted for this outfit or this navi clone."
Black smiled. "Big Brother's watching, don't you know. We recruited you all 3 weeks ago. That was plenty of time to get your specs, and make fitting equipment. The navi is supposed to approximate your physiology so the interface works better."
Moe familiarized himself with his own navi. "So, you're Fortissimo?"
The winged, black and brown navi nodded and explained his features. "I'm a flight type with a buster as a primary weapon. Though you're not supposed to get too comfortable with that. The interface thing is more for emergencies." Fortissimo continued on introducing himself. Moe was amazed at the similarities between himself and this navi. He wondered how long before that became annoying.
Black finished up. "Agent Brown here will go over training, that is conduct and how to use the suits. It won't take long. Your first mission is tomorrow night. You're free to go home and live your regular lives when you aren't saving the world for us. Just remember the secrecy element. We know where you live and we'll be watching. I know we can trust you fully, but if any of this gets out, we'll know who is responsible. With that in mind, have a nice day.
Black left the guy with the box in charge and left the room. The five had never been so creeped out or nervous in their lives.
* * * * * * * *
The following night, a black van pulled to a stop in an alley near the docks. The area was unlit and abandoned. Every desolate building was a warehouse from times before networks were the major industry. The faint sound of wind and water came from one direction, while the faint sound of night time traffic came from the other. The only sounds in that secluded spot were those of the Official Netbattlers Natural Combat Unit and their first mission. Moe, Ami, Olaf, Rick, and Trisha stepped out of the van in their black uniforms and activated the PETs in their wrists. The van turned invisible as Rick activated the camouflage. A holographic map of the abandoned district emitted from Trisha's wrist-PET. Moe brought up a readout of the mission briefing on his own. The five discussed the plan in low voices.
"We're given three jack-in points where we should be able to reach the WWW network." Trisha explained, examining the three blinking dots on her map.
Moe nodded, "We're expected to be able to work alone. Just one of us gets to do that this time. Who's it going to be?"
Ami stepped forward, grinning. "We're supposed to work alone and you have to ask who? And I'm the first one to jump in? Where's the ambition in the rest of you? With that attitude I think I can handle the whole mission on my own. I'm headed for the telephone booth at the west point right now. Try to keep up guys."
Ami slinked away to her destination. Moe shook his head, "Geez, she acts like this couldn't be our last mission as well as our first."
Rick chuckled, "Nervous? They said we're fully qualified for this stuff, didn't they?"
"Yeah, but they coulda been wrong", Moe responded, "What do we really know about our opponents anyway? The officials have enough data on the WWW, we shouldn't have problems taking them out. But what about this Viral Infection group? They're a wild card. I think we should exercise caution."
Olaf nodded, "Agreed. But remember, the orders are simply to attempt to take out both organizations involved in the Genjibo incident while they're feuding here. It's basically a test and we can't really fail this time. These creeps outran an atomic blast, so they're assumed to be good at escaping. The only way we can fail is if we're defeated or captured, the two things we have a zero tolerance for."
Trisha decided to get things back on track. "I'll take the north point with Olaf. Moe and Rick can take the east point since the network infrastructure is thinner there and better suited for flyers like Fort and Necro."
The four nodded in agreement and slipped away to their posts. All of them, even Ami, were a little unsure of their chances of success. Maybe it was that so few were involved in the project that could spot any inevitable problems. Maybe it was the unknown aspects of the mission that they couldn't rely on. Maybe it was a lack of faith in their own abilities. Or maybe it was an omen of a spectacular disaster that could ruin their lives.
