3 Days….
It had only taken 3 days to make me feel like breaking down into tears
I hadn't expected to be put through an experience that was the equivalent of boot camp combined with high school.
Immediately from the start I noticed it, the forming of social circles. Tallers and smallers dividing into their own groups. The more athletic and smarter smeets making their own cliques. Where did I lay on the totem pole???
You would think I'd be popular having a system to help me cheat through every obstacle before me, but it seemed the universe had other plans.
The First 3 days had been filled with nothing but scientific theory and advanced mathematics. In almost every sort of test every one of my fellow irken brethren would outperform me!
I almost spit blood when I had a calculus test lade before my eyes.
The others immediately outcasted me from their social circles when they realized I was a little slow on the uptake. It wasn't even my fault!!! The system appeared to have crippled me! The others seemed to have a more streamlined connection with their PAKs, more like the PAK itself was their entire being! Meanwhile, I had to review all the knowledge my PAK was providing me, like someone looking at a smartphone screen
The others eventually stuck a nickname onto me. 'Dumbo' they called me which got mixed with my PAK assigned name of 'Dabo', only realizing this was my name when the instructor performed a roll call and no other irken responded immediately. My small pause before responding already set a bad precedent. Not to mention when i'd randomly close my eyes and try to use the force, the others thought i was being lazzzyyyy!
Even Tab, my smeet brother I followed here, called me names. Youuu ungrateful traitor!!! I rocked you as a clump of cells!!!
For my fellow irkens on a SYSTEM scale it seemed the PAKs provided a level 4 or 5 of experience for most skills, like calculation or recollection
WHAT THE GODDAMN HELL WAS THIS!? WHO'S THE ONE WITH A CHEAT HERE!?
I wanted to rip my own antennae off from the stress. I was certain the instructors were 1 bad day away from labeling me defective. The only saving grace I had was having 1 guy do worse than myself
His name was Scat, an unfortunate name for an unfortunate soul. He was outcasted from nearly everyone as he was not only average height but also extremely 'dumb'. The two of us are just the last ones to finish the tests!
Currently I was sitting across from the poor guy in the facilities cafeteria, where I had a plate of cheese nachos and a side of mini donuts. Honestly not the worst diet to provide a growing irken considering our insane metabolisms
…."We're finally going outside today"
Huh?
"Dabo? What're you staring at?"
I had a hand waved in front of me, waving over my tray of food. Looking up, I saw the slightly confused face of Scat.
"Oh, what did you say, I was just thinking of something…"
He paused and gave me a curious brow raise, perhaps considering the possibility that i was indeed defective
"...I said that they're finally taking us outside to get physically tested"
SIGGHHH
These past 3 days had passed without any sort of sleep, the others seemed fine but i found myself mentally exhausted wishing for sleep to overcome me even though the possibility wouldn't be available
Apparently only Irkens of status like military Officers enjoyed sleep
Noticing my lack of enthusiasm Scat gave me another confused look while I just grabbed a handful of donuts and shoved them into my mouth.
He was about to say something else when–
WOOOOM
An announcing alarm had played overhead signifying our snack time was over. I sighed again before grabbing my tray and putting it away with Scat
Our platoon of 60 began walking out the cafeteria into a hallway where our instructor was awaiting us
He gave us a cold discerning look before making us have a head count. After all 60 of us were confirmed to be present he began marching us down the hallway. Along the way we would pass other platoons from different generations. Having instructors of their own and members who seemed to have proven themselves in their platoon by having some type of leadership position.
It took near an hour of marching before we came across a large blast door. The instructor came up to a panel on the side before the blast doors seemed to make a noise of depressurization and opened up to reveal a field of purple vegetation.
A field of purple grass with trees that had leaves of pinks and reds across the field. There was an actual sky above with a pinkish shade to it. Not a cloud in sight however, I also had the weird feeling that this entire environment was simulated. As far as I remember the planet Irk was entirely industrial in nature, there was no way they had any patches of vegetation left. There were several obstacle courses, tracks, small buildings and more obviously for our use spread across the field.
"Alright worms, find a partner"
The formation broke instantly with many of us instantly choosing one another. Of course Scat grabbed onto my shoulder. No sense in either of us embarrassing ourselves by taking the time to choose.
Seeing all 60 of us in pairs the instructor nodded before turning around and taking us to a track, a holographic sign nearby displaying the number 1.
Once we reached it the instructor turned toward us giving us another studying glance. Seeing who formed into pairs and probably mentally deciding which pairs he thought were the best. I felt my anxiety slightly rise, I was nervous. I had been absolutely crushed academically by the others, physically I still wasn't too sure…
"In this exercise, both individuals in the team will complete a lap as fast as they can, tagging their partner to begin. The higher placed a team the more points are rewarded towards their final score for evaluations by the Control Brains. Remember your performance will determine your future occupation, so try not to suck"
A variety of reactions swept through our group, some hot heads had arrogant smiles, clearly displaying their confidence, others looked extremely nervous especially the smarter and shorter ones. Those guys probably knew they were screwed with their tiny legs.
I ,with my average height, at least knew I couldn't be the worst after all my PAK provided the same physical advantages as the others.
As I was staring at the others Scat had suddenly put his hand on my shoulder.
"I'll go first!"
He had a big grin, looking very excited to demonstrate his physical prowess. His voice was confident and joyful even.
"Okay… "
Admittedly i was slightly nervous, after all necromancers weren't known for their physiques, looking down at my noodle like legs and arms i gulped with slight terror.
The teams began forming up along the start of the track, the instructor hadn't actually given us any instructions for how to begin so a lot of guys simply stood behind the start line. Interestingly one Irken actually got down on his hands and bent a leg, ready to propel himself forward.
The instructor seemed to have noticed this and after a brief acknowledgement of the action looked at the other groups.
"Scat…maybe you should copy that guy"
I pointed toward the lone Irken in a runners form. Scat didn't respond but seemed to understand why and did his best to copy the form. Not long after a holographic appeared in the center of the track directly above the start line. It began counting down.
3…
2..
1.
WOOOM!!!
And with the siren the first batch of runners bolted for it, surprisingly Scat had a decent speed lead ahead of the others, but soon a pair of taller Irkens had begun catching up
CURSE YOUR TALL LEGS!!!
I was nervous, my body was shaking slightly in anticipation and I found my teeth clenching and fist balling. Perhaps in response to my anticipation a strange wave of comfort flowed over me and calmed me. The force… it had soothed my emotions for a moment and allowed clarity to wash over me. I quickly turned around and got into a running position of my own.
Keeping a steady pace throughout the Irken in the lead eventually finished his lap and tagged their partner in, interestingly the entire line was just standing and staring at the runners, seemingly forgetting we were racing, after the first few Irkens tagged in stumbled to begin running the others swiftly got into running positions as well.
Scat was in 5th place and tagged me only a few seconds after the others who had stumbled their start, tapping my shoulder as he passed by my side, I propelled myself forward with all the strength my short body could muster.
PPFFF PPFFF PFFFFFFF
I was panting like a dog while running, I didn't imagine this short sprint to be as immediately exhausting as it was.
The others were ahead of me holding steady, the 4 of them all taller than myself…
Fucking tallers…Why'd they have to team up with eachother this wasn't fair…
I felt my muscles strain in the sprint, my internal organs slowly beginning to hurt slightly…
I pulled up my stats
Class - [Necromancer] - LVL 1/100
HP - 25/25
MP - 50/50
SP - 24-25*/25
STR - 5
END - 5
DEX - 5
INT - 10 (+ 50)
WIS - 10
CHA - 10
LCK - 10
Skills:
ACTIVE:
[Raise Undead] - LVL 1/10, [Force Sight] LVL 3/10, [Force Telekinesis] - LVL 2/10
PASSIVE:
[Force Sensitive] - LVL 2/10, [Force Meditation] - LVL 1/10
Traits:
[Mana gifted], [One with THE FORCE], [2nd Mind], [Robotic Stamina]
While looking at my stamina every 3 seconds of a sprint it would go down by 1, however it quickly recovered back to the max most likely due to Robotic Stamina, theoretically i should be able to sprint indefinitely with such recovery…
But I didn't want to just run forever, I wanted to win. And i closed my eyes and gritted my teeth, trying to will myself to run faster, to be better…I felt a pain somewhere in my chest, but not a physical pain, more of a pain of defeat…
A small sense of hopelessness was overcoming me, the Taller irkens with their larger strides were slowly increasing the gap between us. I was brimming with anger and defeat, despair and injustice. Height was power is the irken empire, why'd i have to end up so average…
My desire to win combined with my anxieties and perhaps anger seemed to have some effect on my connection to the force, i felt it wave around my body slightly when—
DING! SKILL GAINED!
[Force Imbue] - LVL 1/10
Imbue the force into a desired object, enhancing its properties…
I suddenly felt a small relief wash over my flesh, my legs began speeding up and my breathing very slightly relaxed
PPFFTT
I almost began laughing in guttural joy as i passed the guy in 4th, the taller irken making a gawking expression seeing me swiftly overtake him
It wasn't long before I caught up to the guy in 3rd and barely passed him when we finally completed our lap. I hadn't won but I grabbed Scat in a joyous bear hug. Beating 2 tallers at running was a huge victory in my mind!
The confused Scat was perplexed but wrapped his arms around me back in a warm embrace of joy. The actual winners looked at us like a pair of complete dumbasses, same with the instructor…
We eventually awkwardly broke the hug, the losers giving us ugly looks, being physically defeated by shorters was a clear insult to their pride.
"TO THE NEXT COURSE WORMS!!!"
The instructor enraged said murderously while pointing at a track in the distance labeled 2
I grinned…If i could collect more abilities perhaps this would be worth while
-3 MONTHS LATER-
After the first month they had divided us into teams. My team leader, a guy called Lab, was a pretty decent guy overall trying to use my actual name most times but a slip of his tongue and he would insult me to my face by accident. I could feel the pain in his eyes when I was forced onto his team, a computer randomly assigning us together as some kind of adaptability test. We'd already spent a month together so far
Scat unfortunately had been placed on another team altogether, my poor brother in stupidity being bullied for his below average intelligence and average height.
They had us run obstacle courses, hikes, climbing, sprints, driving, flight simulators, even a bit of fighting and much more. All of this was accomplished in some kind of simulation room the size of a giant stadium. The room itself is able to simulate a variety of different environments and atmospheres. I still haven't even seen the sun yet, the entirety of my life spent among steel and simulated grass.
The past 3 months had allowed me to develop several skills and outperform others, allowing me to grow a reputation as a strong soldier. Key word being 'strong' because despite my immense clear physical advantage I had my ass handed to me in actual 1v1 combat.
The others were genuinely amazed with my resiliency, especially the taller ones who had some kind of superiority complex, trying to best anyone shorter than themselves at everything. I guessed that maybe the charisma stat had something to do with height. My 10 CHA being the average like my height, because from what I can tell there really wasn't much difference between the looks of a shorter or taller irken, but all of them kissed the dirt the taller ones walked on. Whatever though, it didn't bother me
I could feel my muscles tearing from the strain, my only relief being small breaks where I could close my eyes and flood my arms with the force, eventually gaining Force Heal!
[Force Heal] - LVL 1/10
Use the force to heal or replace damaged cells
Over time our task and test got more and more complicated, the team being forced into pairs or 'battlebuddies'. With my battlebuddy ending up being someone completely unexpected, THE female Irken herself, TAK. Lab considered her an all rounder. Strong, fast, above average height, great stamina, great shot but more importantly SMART. Smart enough to at least take care of me….
The look of contempt she gives, exactly how it appears in the show, except real instead of a cartoon…hearing her British accent was also a slight shock but I assumed it was some PAK given characteristic.
*TAK* "OPEN YOUR GODDAMN EYES ALREADY!!!
She brings the end of my antennae straight to her mouth, causing my eyes to open and breaking me from my moment of meditation and healing. I push away from her "It's only been 5 minutes!" We had just finished scaling a cliff, a minigun strapped to my back as always and we decided to rest at the top.
*TAK* "5 minutes too many! Let's go already, i don't want to lose to the smallers" grabbing her equipment and turning her back toward me
"Fine…" I mutter out quickly strapping everything back onto my person. Perhaps she hadn't considered that the minigun on my back was at least 5 TIMES HER BODY WEIGHT.
We'd spent the last 3 months together as barely little more than acquaintances, she really only talked to me when we were forced together as a pair. Still merely acquaintances as we attempted to complete our final exercise before graduation, our scores going on to determine our first designated duty.
I sigh softly while trekking behind her at an even pace. I noticed that whenever I closed my eyes it seemed to tick her off, not really sure why. Irkens don't sleep and they don't excrete waste. I don't have the holes for it even if I wanted to, the PAK did everything when it came to body regulation.
Maybe she just saw my eyes closed as me being lazy. I wouldn't guess much else. We continued our quiet trek through a simulated mountainous environment, alien flora and fauna surrounding us, a simple search of my PAK and it could tell me the details about the stuff but that was a slight waste of time.
The two of us had actually been placed on the most difficult mission in the team, the establishment of short range communications. I say placed but really she volunteered the two of us for it, quite confident and determined. This would of course reflect on our scores as well. Her job being to activate the equipment and ensure its functionality, mine was to help her carry said equipment.
"Sooo…" I whistle out behind her, as her antennae come slightly to attention to let me know she's listening. "What job are you hoping to get?". She turns her head back to me giving me a look like I've just asked the dumbest question she's ever heard.
*TAK* "infantry" it comes out plainly, narrowing her eyes at me for a moment before turning her head back
Chuckling"so like how far up that totem pole" I knew she meant something more, certain jobs required experienced time in service to be eligible, being a grunt was the beginning of a glorious career for some of the more famous irkens
*TAK* "Invader"
"Oooo, invader?" I roll my eyes, wait how can i roll my eyes??
*TAK* "yes, one day i'll be a proud invader"
"I'd love to see that" laughing softly
*TAK* "hmph, i'm sure you would"
The conversation seemed short and pointless, but the force let me know that she was feeling quite happy with mixed feelings of pride and greed. Perhaps voicing out her dream bringing out some form of self actualization.
~LATER~
We had ended up scaling another small cliff. She pretended to let me rest for an extra 5 minutes this time, though I know she was more exhausted than I was. After that it wasn't long before we reached our objective and together started setting up the communications equipment
*TAK* "what about you?"
"Huh?" my antennae perk up
*TAK* "what job do you want…."
I'd thought about it plenty by now…."I don't think the job i want exist" i say matter of factly causing one of her eyes to raise in confusion
*TAK* "and what job is that?"
"An invader of sorts, combined with an explorer, warmonger, and entrepreneur"
*TAK* "is that some sort of joke" she cackles, smiling
"Wow, i didn't laugh at your dreams" i huff, trying to sound offended
*TAK* "mmmm, well i suppose such dreams are to be expected from you" her voice implying something she looks back down focusing on her work. Her mood significantly improving
I sigh once more before focusing back onto the task at hand. Knowing with my knowledge based scores I'd be lucky to get out of being a food service drone….
She of course would finish her side of work first, coming over to me and shoving me to the side before finishing my work as well. Hey hey I'm just the heavy lifter here right now, we both were expecting this.
A short time later and short range communications come online, a quick pass of progress reports go around before Lab starts throwing out orders, having us head toward the final objective, a distant location for being 'extracted'.
On our exit, instead of walking in front of me she slowed for a moment to walk beside me. I glanced at her strangely for a moment but smiled, that pissed her off apparently because the force sent her anger toward me
Still in a slightly happy mood, imagining my destiny as a world conquering necromancer, I start talking.
"Want to make a bet?"
*TAK* "....whats the bet?"
"I imagine, that a world conquering, badass irken such as yourself would need servants one day, of considerable strength of course" flexing playfully
"If you conquer a planet, I'll become your servant….But if I.."
*TAK* "Deal" she cuts me off
"You didn't hear what I had to say…"
*TAK* "you just talked about you wanting to be an invader of sorts yourself, you were going to ask me to be your servant if you conquered a planet before me, which is extremely unlikely maybe impossible"
She took the words right out of my mouth, I turned away from her slightly annoyed at being so cliche "we have a deal then…" i say softly, with her smirking in affirmation.
*TAK* "become strong for your future master…"
"I regret this already..."