A cheesy melody played in the background as Simon and his siblings rode the elevator in their megabuilding. The silence was palpable. Unable to take it anymore, Horace commented, "Since when did our elevator have music?"
Karina turned towards him with a look of annoyance and mocked, "You just noticed? Figures. If only you could keep your trap shut for maybe a second you'd pay attention to what's going on around you."
Horace feigned a punch as an act of aggression, and Karina dodged involuntarily.
Nathan shifted the conversation, "Simon. Did you get to talk with Grandpa about the NAC test? It's tomorrow."
Simon replied, "I've been trying. He's just not coming out of his room. I think you guys should give it up. You'll be 18 next year anyway, and you'll be eligible to take the test without a guardian's consent."
Horace and Karina grimaced. Karina muttered, "I don't get what his problem is with us taking the test."
"There are things in the world that are better left unknown. Maybe he's doing it to protect us." Simon tried to console her.
Karina asked back in exasperation, "How's hiding things from us going to protect us? If anything, it just makes me want to do it even more!"
Simon smiled gently, "Knowing too much can also cause indigestion."
Horace rebuked, "What's your stomach gotta do with knowing things?"
The elevator dinged as it reached the 19th floor. Simon spoke up as he got off, "I'm going to make dinner for Grandpa. Don't stay out too long. You know how worried he gets."
"Yea yea…" the three droned in unison.
_____
Back in the elevator, the gears in Karina's mind started spinning.
She thought to herself, 'This is stupid! It's just a test! What to do… what to do…?'
Nathan saw a sparkle in Karina's eyes and knew exactly what was going on in her mind, "No! Grandpa and Simon both said no. Karina, let's not do something stupid and get ourselves into trouble. Hmm?"
"You're such a goody-two-shoes Nathan. What's the point in waiting for another year? The earlier we can get tested, the sooner we can get better-paying jobs. How long have we been doing this? 6 years now? I've done EVERYTHING possible in this sandbox of a planet. And how much are we earning per job? Scraps! What we're doing right now is surviving. I want to live, Nathan!" Karina exclaimed vigorously.
Nathan could only reveal a bitter smile.
The elevator dinged at the 23rd floor and the three made their way to their base of operations.
"I get your intention, Karina. But we can't leave Grandpa and Simon."
"I know… It's just. I can feel it, you know? Deep down, I can feel that I'll score pretty well in that test."
Horace joined the conversation as he knocked on Room 2307's door in the familiar pattern.
"I know what you mean. I get that feeling too. I've read online about it. They say that when Meka pilots reach a high rank, they can feel their body better-"
When the door opened, Rhys mocked Horace, "What's this about feeling yourself now?"
Horace grabbed Rhys into a full-nelson, "Take that you little shit!"
"Oww! OW! Sorry! I give up!"
While Rhys was immobilised, Horace clarified, "What I meant was. There are times when I can feel the muscles of my body working, and I can fine-tune their function as well. I don't know… It's hard to explain…"
Karina and Nathan nodded as if in agreement. They too felt the same way.
Rhys, who barely slipped through Horace's distracted grasp, rubbed the back of his neck to soothe the pain. He then said, "Y'all are just monsters!"
Hearing the commotion downstairs, Rhona rushed downstairs. Once she descended, her head swiveled in place as she scanned around the room.
"Simon's not here?" she said as the sparkle in her eyes dimmed, turning to dismay.
A sly smile cracked across Karina's face.
"Damn Rhona! Didn't Simon just drill you a new one yesterday? No way?!" Karina let out a fake and exaggerated gasp, "you can't be… a masochist right?"
Rhys turned to look at Rhona with shock in his eyes. Rhona immediately refuted Karina's assertions, "No I'm not! What are you talking about? Shut up!"
Karina didn't let up and continued teasing Rhona, "To be honest, Simon might be into that stuff too. It seems that you two might be meant for each other."
Rhona's uncommonly pale face flushed red in embarrassment, and her eyes nearly burst out of her sockets.
While this was happening, Horace and Nathan were chuckling in the background. Karina turned to face them with a smug expression plastered over her face. But she found that their mirth continued longer than she expected. She realised that they weren't laughing with her, they were laughing at her! Karina's eyebrow arched up, questioning their motives.
Horace took the initiative, "You're one to talk. Simon told us what he saw you doing that day. Hey Nathan, what do they call it?"
Nathan, in a rare attempt at humor, chimed into the two-man act, "Hmm I don't know Horace…"
"Hmmmmmm, I think… was it auto-erotic asphyxi-", but Karina did not let him finish.
"HORACE!" She leaped at him and covered his mouth. Rhys, who was now laying down on the sofa, perked up and pushed Nathan to elaborate, "auto-erotic what?"
Nathan chuckled and shook his head.
The atmosphere in the room became more lively. Everyone, except for Colin, clustered towards the living area and switched on the video projector to watch the highlights from the most recent Galactic Meka Tournament match.
While many attributed the UPA as the reason for the end of the Age of Warfare, there was another factor that played an equally significant role in the corporations' aversion to full-blown conflicts. Funding an expedition or war was too costly! While this may not be a pressing issue for most multi-system corporations, the corporations that operated on smaller scales could not afford to invest in battleships, Meka companies, and even troops. So instead, small corporations opted to duke out their differences by borrowing from their Medieval ancestors by the means of duels. In the initial phases, these duels were rudimentary with single representatives from the conflicted parties contesting against each other in a series of competitions. One of the most well-known types of matches that took place in these duels was the Meka battle. Early on, these Meka battles were simple confrontations between two Mekas. But over time, the corporations started to realise the profitability in holding these types of competitions and began to introduce variations such as team deathmatches, capture-the-flag, king-of-the-hill, and so on.
The events which initially were a media for two opposing sides to hash out conflicts slowly started to turn into a means of generating revenue. Some entertainment corporations started to expand into this new and emerging market, of which the earliest entrant introduced The Galactic Meka Tournament. Held annually by Starz Sports and Entertainment, this tournament was one of the most well-known Meka Tournaments across human space. Nowadays, in the Age of Corporations, almost all publicized conflicts are resolved through the means of Meka Tournaments, either in The Galactic Meka Tournament for multi-system corporations, or similar tournaments spanning a smaller scale. This in no way meant that humans had become more humane in handling conflicts, rather they had become more discreet. Intermittent clashes between powers still occurred near the galactic rim, and clandestine wars through means of espionage persisted in civilised space.
While the crew was watching a team deathmatch between 'Chiral Pharmaceuticals' and 'MarcosSantosVega (MSV)' - long-time rivals in the drugs and pharmaceuticals sector - Karina slowly inched her way towards Colin who was seated in his workstation, tapping away at his keyboard.
Colin was the youngest of the orphans, and his thin and underdeveloped body worked to prove that point. He kept his dark black hair short, exposing his pubescent face which was starting to break out. He had single eyelid chestnut brown eyes, a sharp nose, and thin lips.
"Hey Colin!' Karina whispered into Colin's ears, causing him to jolt in his seat. Once he calmed down, he stared at her blankly.
"Can you please do me a favor?" she asked, pulling out her signature coquettish tone. This, however, did not miss Horace's ears, as he immediately started to project a retching noise. Irritated, Karina turned towards him and glared, sending a barrage of imaginary flying swords his way.
"Anyways, can you pleeeease help me get the security schematics for Halcyon Business Tower's first 20 floors?" Her gaze was expectant.
Colin pushed up his spectacles and started to mumble, "Halcyon Business Tower…" he turned to her and asked audibly, "the first 20 floors are technically public spaces, why do you need their security schematics?"
Nathan seemed to have grasped Karina's intentions, but he decided to keep quiet. Karina continued, "I know that. It's for a thing', and it has to be done discreetly, you know?"
Colin hummed, but he was still a little uncertain about Karina's true purpose. So he inquired, "Is it for a job?"
Karina straightened her back and pushed her breasts forward, "Not really. It's for something personal."
Colin, who was unaffected by Karina's immature seductive techniques, decided to seek shelter under the shade of the tree known as Simon, "Unless you tell me what it is for, I can't help you. If you make a mistake it will eventually lead back to me. And if anything happens to you… I can't imagine what Simon will do to me. You saw what happened to Rhona because of her fuck up!"
Rhona retorted immediately, "Hey man! Why the drive-by?"
Snickering at Rhona, Nathan decided to step up in place of Karina, "It's to gain access to the NAC Testing Facility."
Karina looked at Nathan in shock.
"Don't look at me like that! I'm also interested in getting tested. I was just waiting for one of you two to bring it up. I need plausible deniability!" He said while unleashing a rarely seen smile.
Rhys started to hush Nathan since he was speaking over the match's commentary. Nathan stood up and moved closer to Colin's workstation with Horace joining in.
Under the gaze of three pairs of expectant eyes, Colin started to tap onto his keyboard and quickly pulled up the required information.
"You're in luck. We have the most recent version. There shouldn't be many variations; it is a public space so updating the security measures must be on the bottom of their list. The hell? They're still using half a century old software!"
Colin inserted a data chip into his system's drive and transferred the information into it. After a quick 10 seconds, he handed it to the triplets who were hunched over behind him. But before Karina could grab the chip, he pulled it back and warned them, "I was not involved in this in any way! Even if Simon asks you, you say that it wasn't me! I don't care what you have to do. I. was. not. involved. in. any. way. whatsoever."
"Yea, yea." Karina dismissed his warning and grabbed the chip from his hands.
"While you're at it. Do you have any ideas on how to gain access to the 20th floor? Do you think the ol' bait-and-switch will work?"
"I'll check. Since I don't have anything pressing to do, I'll form a plan. Ok?"
While they didn't show it, the triplets were extremely excited. From an early age, the children were indoctrinated into the awesomeness and power of Mekas. Their only dream was to join the ranks of famous Meka Pilots such as Yuko 'speed demon' Arasaka, Markus 'the hammer' Gunnarson, Ranjini 'Kali' Shankar-Mahadevan, and the Jian twins.
'To stand at the pinnacle and gain widespread adoration.' That was a dream shared by the affection-starved orphans of Room 2307. Furthermore, it was ingrained into the blood of every individual born in this capitalistic world to strive towards a higher income and hit it off in the big leagues.
Karina wrapped her arms around Colin and planted a loud kiss on his cheeks. "Thank you sooo much, Colin! Trust this big sister of yours! When I become rich and famous, I'll let you in on some of the shares of the spoils." She then declared thumping her chest.
Colin's cheeks reddened a little in embarrassment. Horace hit Karina in the back of her head and reprimanded her, "Leave the innocent kid alone will ya? Look at him, he practically bursting in his pants!"
Colin immediately stood up and rushed upstairs to his room.
"Hey, where are you going? Didn't you hear her? She's your big sister! Shame on you!" Horace shouted while suppressing a laugh.
Nathan simply stood by and shook his head in exasperation. Although he usually put on a nonchalant facade, his dreams were no less extravagant than Karina's. He too wished to enter a cockpit of the juggernauts known as Mekas and experience their power firsthand. Unlike Karina and Horace who wore their emotions on their sleeves, he was more of a repressed fellow. His need for release 'bloomed' earlier than Karina, she was just unlucky and got caught first. When Nathan was 10 years old, he salvaged Tonya while dumpster diving in the 'weapons and arms' district. She was an antique ballistic-type high-caliber sniper rifle from the late 21st century, still in surprisingly good condition. The moment he touched the metal on the muzzle, he felt a connection with it. While most kids slept with stuffed toys, Nathan slept with his Tonya. In the following year, he frequented the disposal sites affiliated with the 'weapons and arms' district and slowly and steadily modified Tonya to modern standards.
When he turned 11, he'd spend his days prone out in the desert with Tonya, scanning across the horizon for target practice. In the beginning, he would place inanimate objects at set distances and elevations. Once he got the hang of it, he transitioned to live targets. His first successful kill was an indigenous Sand Sparrow. It was there one second, and the next what remained was a swatch of feather and gore.
When he first killed the bird, he was a little distressed, not because he had taken a life but rather because he didn't feel anything. His heart rate was stable. His breath was steady. His palms weren't sweaty. His hands weren't shaking. And the contents of his stomach didn't threaten to evacuate through the way they came in. He was distressed because he wasn't exhibiting the 'normal' reactions of a human killing for the first time. He knew that he had a conscience, but his body just didn't show it.
He then tried to focus his attention internally. He could feel his body working to stabilise itself. It was almost as if inside his body there was a balloon ready to burst, but his brain had subconsciously opened a release valve and slowly dissipated the pressure. Was it a conscious action, or was his body reacting on its own?
However, he didn't waste any more time on those unnecessary thoughts. He had just found an outlet for release, and couldn't wait to do it again. While he lay sprawled on his stomach, waiting for his next target, he decided to establish some bottom lines. Just because he didn't feel any regret or sympathy for his targets didn't mean that he should go around blowing heads willy-nilly.
In history, when humans first shifted from using cold weapons to firearms, the reason why the barrier for entry to warfare was lowered was due to the inherent detachment between the aggressor and the target. For the aggressor, the victim was nothing more than an object in their reticle. Since they didn't 'feel' the victim's life draining from their bodies, the aggressors couldn't observe the immediate consequences of their actions. And although now in this capitalistic society where the worth of a human being was non-existent, every life had a meaning. If not monetarily, at least spiritually. Right?
Anyways, he unilaterally decided that he wouldn't use Tonya to kill a fellow human being, unless necessary. And what all that would entail, he left it for a later date because just then another Sand Sparrow had landed next to what remained of the corpse of its fallen brother.