Balthazar had forgotten about the V.R. capsule that would be delivered to him today. The V.R. capsule/cabin was the size of a bed and could very well be used as a bed. It had a small helmet like thing which was the V.R. somnium technology along with a lot of sensors which monitor his vitals.
It had a case which could enclose his body and also proper ventilation to circulate the air in the cabin. It also could be connected with the home and local security systems and the communication systems outside. It could also be loaded with nutrient fluids which could keep a person healthy and functioning for more than two days without getting out of the capsule for food and water.
He immediately connected the capsule to the internet port in his room and enabled the security features on the cabin. He filled the water vial of the capsule and used the capsule to sleep in place of his bed. He activated it and found himself in a dark space with a beautiful lady.
This was the new artificial intelligence that comes along with the V.R. somnium technology headgear and capsules. It could be used to make calls, set alarms, schedules in calendars. The dark space was called the dream space by the Metis Technologies.
The somnium technology put people in a state of unconsciousness and it sent sensory inputs/ brainwaves to the brain causing them to experience the V.R world in a state similar to dream. This also allowed the users to experience a time running much slower than the time in real world. A day in the world outside would be three days in dreamworld of somnium technology.
They could have slowed down the speed much further but living at a slower pace in such a state for long periods could have adverse effects on a person's health and the alliance interplanetary health standards organisation forbade it. It also advised people to not use it for more than one day without taking a break.
The pretty lady in the dark which was a representation of the artificial intelligence could be changed to whatever form he desired. He let it be the default and went to sleep putting the capsule at standby and activate at midnight when the Metis Technologies announced somnium technology's release.
He happily dozed off into sleep in the capsule. As the clock struck 12, the capsule activated. Though he expected to get in the dark space, he ended up in some large brightly lit open ground of sorts. It looked like Metis Technologies had arranged for the release announcement through the somnium V.R technology space.
The space was crowded and filled with people. There were screens hanging in the sky without any support. A guy in dressed in a powder blue suit appeared on the screen. He had white spiky hair, beige skin and dark-blue eyes.
"Hello, everybody," he began. "I am Victor Constantine, the current CEO of the Metis Technologies. There have been many rumors about somnium technology being stolen from the research of the Scions of Minerva. I am here to announce to you that it is right. I was one of the members of the Scions of Minerva and lead researchers that worked on the bio-feedback warframes for a large period of time."
"We successfully managed to send sensory inputs to the warframe user which is the somnium technology. But, having the warframe to be moved by the user as parts of his own body is something far off and requires lot of effort and capital. Hence, we decided to put good use of this tech into V.R. and worked together with Metis Technologies for the game vita-nova."
"About 40% of the profits from the game and somnium tech would be used for the development of the warframes. This technology is literally a gateway to the world of dreams. Here, a person wouldn't be restricted by age, injuries or deformities. Only restrictions to this technology would be the software and a person's imagination."
"Wellll.. That is everything I had to say. Have fun and enjoy the experience."
He was immediately transported out of the grounds into the dark space back again with the pretty lady again. He bought a bunch of nutrient fluids for the V.R. capsule and continued to sleep.
The next morning, he continued with the usual running and getting beaten up by Salazar.
"Why didn't you come to the forbidden area, yesterday evening. Robert did come and we had trained with arms. Come after breakfast. From today, every evening you are going to be training with weapons."
"Oh sorry! I totally forgot about that. I will definitely be there today."
"You forgot! What the fuck was so important that you forgot to get weapons for yourself when you are facing a threat on your life?"
"Uhhh! I was kind of playing with my friend and got tired."
Salazar glared at him angrily for more than a minute and stopped only after Robert interrupted him.
"I am really sorry about it. I will be there right after breakfast," said Balthazar.
"Yeah. Yeah. You can accompany Robert to the forbidden area."
"Robert get him to the weapons training area after breakfast. You would gain to learn a bit from observing him," Salazar to Robert.
After breakfast, Robert and Balthazar moved through the forbidden area. Instead of the usual entrance into the underground, Robert led him to another place. It was quite similar to the entrance he had initially seen but there was tree almost leaning on a boulder with a small picture of a sword through a head on the boulder.
Robert quickly whispered a code to the symbol and then typed in a password. The tree moved a bit as a trapdoor opened up in the place between the tree and boulder. They went down the trapdoor and found themselves in a small passageway that lead to a large hall with a number of combat rings.
There were also quite a number of doors at the side which led to combat rooms. Salazar was waiting for them watching two persons fighting in one of the combat rings. Balthazar could realize that one of them was Marcus Price. He had no idea who the other was.
He was about 8-feet tall and very bulky with well-built muscles. They both had worn a pair of dark tight body suits and were fighting very fast without use of any weapons. On further observation, he could see that Marcus was trying his best to make a hit on his opponent but failed to land a single hit on his opponent's body.
He could easily block Marcus without much effort like he was perfectly predicting Marcus' every move and blocked or evaded Marcus with the simplest of moves at the nick of the time. It was like training fight between Marcus and the large man which was incredibly hard for Balthazar to believe as Marcus was extremely fast that he could hardly notice his moves till the large man blocked them.
He walked towards Salazar who was watching them with rapt attention. Salazar looked towards Balthazar and Robert nodded and signaled both of them to come by his side.
"Who is the guy fighting Marcus?" asked Balthazar.
"Oh! That is the weapons master Leon Blyth. He was one of Walter's old teammates. He mostly spends his time training others these days. Occasionally if he finds something interesting, he might go researching. Mostly weapons, combat suits the like," said Salazar.
"He seems to be really powerful," said Robert looking at the fight.
"Well, I can hardly compete with him. Even Walter might find it hard to defeat him. So, yeah. He is really powerful. You can learn a thing or two by watching him," said Salazar.
"Wait for a couple of minutes. Leon would start attacking him soon. We can go back to the armory once the fight is over. Leon needs to open it," he continued.
As Salazar told in a couple of seconds, Leon started to attack. He landed a couple of punches on Marcus' limbs to slow him down. He quickly followed up with a dash and caught Marcus by his hand and twisted it and threw him on the ground. Marcus immediately gave up the fight.
"Any improvement the past few weeks?" asked Marcus looking at Leon who simply nodded in agreement. Leon gave Salazar a look and quickly moved towards a large door.
"Come on. He is opening the armory," said Salazar walking towards the armory. As Balthazar walked through the door, he found himself in a room which looked like a large broom closet. Salazar quickly shut the door and Leon put his hand on the wall beside the door.
The floor of the entire room shuddered as it dropped down slowly. A few seconds later the floor stopped, and they got out of the elevator. They found themselves in a large hall with a couple of fighting platforms and many cabinets filled with weapons and armor.
"Get on the platform," said Leon pointing towards a platform. He had a loud manly voice and it reverberated in the room. As Salazar and Balthazar got up the platform, he asked Robert, "Are you comfortable with the spear you borrowed?"
"Yeah, it is not bad. I think it would be quite suitable for me," replied Robert.
"We can have another try after Balthazar to see if we can get you something better, if required," said Leon.
"Come on," said Salazar signalling Balthazar to fight. Balthazar was still a bit sore from the beating he received before breakfast and didn't really want to fight. But he started to fight Salazar. Within a minute, he was lying on the floor thrown down by Salazar. This went on for a couple of times before Leon signalled to stop.
"You were right. He is very fast but not that strong. He also seems to be very observant," said Leon. "How are good are you with a gun?" he asked.
"I am all right. I had a lot of practice at the army," replied Balthazar.
"Range of your best snipe?"
"About 6000m."
"Good."
"So, what do you think would suit me best?"
"Well you are nimble and fast for your physique. Got decent reflexes. You would be good with throwing knives, hidden weapons and the like. You can also use a couple of scythes. Let us try a few things out."
He quickly pulled out a pair of gauntlets from a cabinet and threw them to Balthazar. "Let's start with these. Small blades are hidden at the wrists which can be released at a high speed. I think you put them to good use when in a pinch."
"Thanks. But these can't be used in a battle, continuously right?"
"Don't worry. No hurries. I have a belt full of small knives. The belt has small groves to hold these bars," he said pulling out a small metallic bar from the belt. He squeezed it and it opened into a thin and sharp throwing knife.
"Hit the bottom of the hilt and it will compress back into a bar," he continued. "Not detectable by the standard security systems. They are made of darlink alloy and are very expensive and hard to find. Don't lose them."
"Wow. That's great."
"You would also need something visible to carry around so that no one expects you to have hidden weapons. Let face it, if they find you without a weapon, they would be on guard against hidden weapons," said Leon pulling out a pair of thick batons.
"Batons? Bladeless weapons? Would someone aiming to kill even consider these weapons?"
"These aren't batons. They are scythes," said Leon hitting a button on the handle and a couple of blades popped up revealing them to be scythes. "You can also attach a cord between the handles or from the hands to your belt which can be used to extend your range of attack."
"The blades are undetectable too and it is easy to pass them off as batons which are legally accepted to carry around."
"Ya, these suit you," said Salazar. "Come onto the platform, Robert. Show me how good you are with the spear."
Soon, Robert came onto the stage. He pulled out a stick which when squeezed opened up into a large spear. It had long curved blades at both ends. Though Salazar didn't have a weapon, he was able to evade Roberts spear with ease. But Robert was able to evade Salazar better with the use of the spear to block Salazar's path.
"Yeah, I think it suits him well," said Leon coming towards Balthazar. He sent a few files to Balthazar. "These are tutorial for your weapons. Best use the V.R. suits to practice them."
"From today, both of you will be practicing your weapons with Salazar in the evening," said Leon.
"Yes, every evening instead of hand-to-hand combat, we are going to have weapons practice after your runs," said Salazar.
After that Leon joined Salazar on the platform to have a couple of bouts. Both Balthazar and Robert seated themselves as Salazar got beaten up by Leon. They really enjoyed the fight now that shoes is on the other foot. Looking Salazar on the lying on the platform made them very happy.
A few rounds later Leon decided it was enough and Salazar left along with Balthazar and Robert.