Chapter 57: A Split of Realities
"Hikari. You still haven't signed up for a community service activity?" The brunette girl in scrubs asks from across Hikari's seat in the auditorium. "It's required for our major to have volunteer hours for our degree plan."
"I know...I know." Hikari rubs her eyes with her fingers and sighs. "I've been caught up with a bunch of other things at the moment. I don't even have a car to get around to these organizations."
"Well, I'm doing Meals on Wheels. If you want, I can offer you a ride so we can both get our volunteer hours out of the way." The girl offers to Hikari, holding up her car keys which she had withdrawn from her scrub pockets. "All we have to do is drop off food for the elderly at the community pods and clock in our visits. Unlike some of the other volunteer organizations, we're counted by attendance, not hours, so we don't lose too much of our time."
"Hm..." Hikari ponders as she shoves her tablet into her backpack, ready to call it a day from her last class. "Sounds easy enough. So we can go and clock in at any time, Marisa?"
"I can figure something out that'll work for both of our schedules. It's the least I can do since you've helped me so much in Pharmacology." The brunette girl gives a thumbs up to Hikari.
"Yeah. I can work with that." Hikari nods. "Thanks, Marisa. I'm sometimes jealous of people with driver's licenses. Sometimes I feel like I'm in prison on this campus."
"Same." Marisa smiles at Hikari, walking with her out of class. "The rec room gets tiresome after the third week. Everyone is always locked up in the dorms with nothing to do but study, scroll on social media, or play VR games and wish they were somewhere else. I'd go crazy if I were to stay too long in my dorm. But there's nothing to do on campus when there aren't any events."
"Tell me about it." Hikari speaks as if she's all too familiar with how she spends her own time on weekends with her Mil-Sim Team. It makes her wonder how her classmates would react to her being part of a highly skilled team. She must be popular among gaming circles, but Hikari would rather not be pestered by neckbeards. She can only be relieved that Mil-Sim Story is such a niche game that filters out most casuals, meaning her team's popularity is mostly unknown in this academic setting. "I mean, I've got some friends with rides but our schedules are not always aligned. Nevermind the fact that my roommate is too poor to lease a moped." Hikari and her friend walk through the glass sliding doors of the health science building. The heat from outside is immediately apparent as they feel it on their skin and clothes. "We'll keep in touch."
"Just text me your schedule and we'll figure something out this week! See you, Hikari!" Marisa hugs Hikari before departing. Hikari fixes her backpack on her shoulders and makes her way back to her dorm.
"Ugh...more busy work to worry about." Hikari thinks to herself in dread. "At this rate, I'll be knocked out like Mai is after her classes."
"Man, what's taking Hikari so long?" Mai looks down at her laptop's time while connecting her VR headset. She has her usual gaming setup prepared ahead of time: a pillow to prop her head up while she lies on her bed and her laptop set aside on the nightstand. The long cable connected to her budget VR headset is just enough for her to reach her laptop. Mai is confident enough to not worry about falling off her bed with her headset like a while ago. Getting out of the REM state is only possible through software. Her neural sensors on her headset have been cleaned, though she'll usually skip it if her headset sensors aren't acting up. Compared to most other VR rigs, Mai's setup is on the lower end. She has no issues with latency, but the graphical details of her game are such that they resemble games of the early 21st century rather than the photorealistic renders of higher-end rigs. Her impoverished setup does not hinder her team in their games, and that's all that matters to Mai.
Hikari enters from the doorway to their shared dormitory. Her face is red from the hot afternoon sun. She plops her backpack down without a care by her bedside and withdraws her laptop from under her desk—a sleek, Apple-branded laptop that is thinner than the classroom-approved tablet she's forced to haul around in her backpack. Her headset, unlike Mai's, looks less like a cyberpunk monstrosity and more like a fashion statement: sleek with a white visor that is adjustable with quiet cooling fans, and a high-quality wireless receiver for a seamless connection.
"You're late, Hikari." Mai grumbles as she readies her headset. "We're going to miss the team briefing."
"Our next match isn't until next year," Hikari groans. "Why are we having it so early? It's bad enough I'm going to be busier than I thought. The semester is almost over."
"They have to filter out the lazy students at the end of the semester too, ya know," Mai chuckles. "My classes are down 14 students from when my semester started. It's brutal out there."
"Please tell me you finished your homework beforehand."
"I'm pulling an all-nighter after our meeting is over."
"You're going to kill yourself like that, Mai," Hikari scolds her from across the room, getting her headset connected. "You had all morning to get it done. What were you doing this entire time if you didn't have class?"
"Studying," Mai scoffs sarcastically before her voice drops to a tired, low tone. "Wish I didn't have to. But that comes with my major."
"Hey, Mai...do you think we're being wasteful with our time...doing this?" Hikari asks sincerely before putting on her headset. "We're not dedicated gamers. I mean...we have a life outside of all this...Mai?" She already has her headset on and is zoned out before she can even hear her. "Nevermind." Hikari tosses her scrub top off to the side of the bed to get comfortable and slips on her VR headset, laying her head on her pillow in the same manner as Mai. The real world will have to wait.
Markus and Fio are getting everything arranged in the new conference room established in a new hangar. The room now resembles a round table akin to a big tech meeting room with rolling chairs, brighter lighting, and a new widescreen monitor with high-resolution details. At the center of the pine and galvanized steel table is a holographic projector, a new state-of-the-art projector which can display battlefield maps in a 3-D render. A small stylus device called "The Wand" functions as a marker for this holographic device to mark notes and pathways for tactical planning. Markus is going over tournament information on his tactical tablet, going through the lecture notes so that he won't stumble over his information. It's what he does best. Meanwhile, Fio is placing small knitted Armadillos and Longhorn Cows at each seat. They are new items she forged at the new workshop established at the base.
The room is quiet as the two do their thing. Markus' eyes occasionally scan over to Fio, who is oblivious. He notices that her holster is empty. "Hey, don't you usually carry that fancy pistol around?"
"Not anymore," Fio replies contentedly. "I sold my Alien Pistol to Hikari yesterday. We made an arrangement and I traded it for her credits. Now I've got a workshop to make some cute plushies like these." She pats the stuffed Longhorn with a gentle, playful motion. "But also to work on new uniforms and equipment. Nina said…"
"Nina said what?" A monotone voice cuts through the room from the briefing room doorway. Nina is standing in her dark olive drab Longhorn Squad fatigues.
"Well, you said that our team should be more standardized and use a single uniform. I was thinking of merging Armadillo Squad's color scheme with ours. You know, like if our uniforms were to make a baby, it would look like…"
"A mutt," Nina says bluntly. "But that's better than having two distinct uniforms and risking a friendly fire incident." Her eyes catch Markus looking at her in awe. "What's with him?"
"Oh, that's Markus, our team manager."
"You're the...Nina Marek?" Markus stutters, not believing his own eyes.
"Yeah, I'm the Nina Marek," she shrugs her shoulders. "I'm part of the team now. Did anyone tell you?"
"Well...I..." Markus starts to break into a laugh as he speaks. "No, but...this is a blessing! I've heard all about you from the Mil-Sim Dev Team. You're a legendary shooter...well...not that I'm familiar with that sort of thing but...you're a celebrity."
"Hm...doesn't seem that way around here." Nina looks around the room, taking in the scenery of the conference room and whistling. "Nah. I'm okay with some of my teammates but..." Nina looks around to make sure they aren't around before speaking again. "The Squad Leaders and I didn't kick it off on the right foot, so to speak."
"Oh...why not?" Vicky and Chiara have just arrived at the conference room. "I don't think we've met before. I don't usually play on Sundays so I wasn't here yesterday. I'm Vicky Montes, Armadillo Squad Breacher!"
"She's a good friend of mine, Nina," Chiara adds, encouraging Nina to introduce herself. "And she'll be a good friend to you. I promise."
"I'm Nina Marek. Professional USPSA Champion Shooter at your service." Nina bows her head. "But as I was saying. Your squad leaders, Emi and Tomio, didn't like how I was putting pressure on them. It's how I normally train my clients and students in my classes...but I guess they didn't get the memo. I must have struck a chord with them. Are they....like on a date or...oh shit." Nina shuts up immediately when she spots Emi and Tomio approaching from the door. She takes her seat, places the plushies on her chair in front of her desk, and pretends to play with them to act aloof. Tomio and Emi just stare at her for a moment and make their way to their seats without saying a word.
"Hey...uh...did you see the little plushies I've made for the team?" Fio interjects to ease the mood in the room. "I made one for both of our squads. Something for us to have as charms to celebrate the new workshop I built with my credits."
"Aw...I love them," Chiara gushes, holding up the Armadillo and Longhorn in her hands. "These would look so cute in the armory."
"I had no idea you can hand-knit stuff like this," Vicky exclaims, seemingly impressed by the craftsmanship.
"Mil-Sim's crafting system is pretty in-depth," Fio adds. "A lot of teams make their own uniforms and design unique equipment. If we're going to be a superstar team, then it would be cool if we designed our own gear instead of buying surplus."
"But wouldn't that put Flint out of business?" Tomio asks, inspecting the Longhorn cow in his hands.
"Flint's shop drop-ships crafting materials. The game is one step ahead."
"Interesting," Tomio notes. "Could you imagine if this game had a cooking mechanic too?"
"Actually," Markus adjusts his glasses. "Our meeting tonight might have some pointers about that when it comes to the new update rolling out by the end of this year. We're fortunate enough as a team to get insider information on the new updated mechanics. They'll be crucial to our next match against Crimewave Team."
“We made it!” Kimberly exclaims, entering the room followed by Ramirez. “Our portable network was being finicky today.”
“Yeah, a real pain in the ass,” Ramirez laughs sarcastically.
“Why didn’t you come over to the restaurant?” Tomio asks. “We’re closed for today.”
“Kimberly and I had a busy schedule today, we had some gas bills to get through but we’re good now.” Kimberly and Ramirez take their seats and their plushies. “This is nice. Did you make these, Fio?”
“You know me all too well, Rami,” Fio smiles back.
“Always had a way with your knitting,” Kimberly smirks, admiring Fio’s work.
“SAPD! SEARCH WARRANT!” a voice shouts from outside the conference room.
“Cut it out. They’re not going to fall for that,” another soft voice groans.
“We’re late. Hurry up, you two,” a third female voice emits from the outside.
“Trevor! Joshua! Ashley! Welcome!” Vicky calls out from the table. “Good to see you all!”
“Howdy.” Trevor stands proudly in the room, but he catches a glimpse of Nina playing with the little Armadillo and Longhorn on the table and lowers his aviator shades. “Wait a sec…I recognize you. You helped train the rangers with our marksmanship. Miss Marek!”
“Oh! Oh right! That must have been like a year ago.” Nina lets go of the plushies on the table and crosses her arms while leaning back in her chair. “See...I told you I was the real deal.”
"Texas Rangers pride themselves on firearms marksmanship." Trevor admits proudly. "We like to learn from the very best."
“What's a professional like you doing around here?” Joshua asks nervously.
“I’m part of the team now. Is that a problem?” Nina tilts her head, judging Joshua. “You're a Squad leader too? You sure don’t look like it.”
“He’s working on it,” Ashley assures her, looking at Joshua, who was already getting nervous from being the center of attention in the room. She looks over to Emi, who is slouched out on the table quietly. “Feeling better, Emi?”
“Oh...yeah. I’m good now,” Emi murmurs, feeling uneasy with Nina in the room. “I just need some time to recover a little more from being dehydrated, but I'm okay now.”
The three find their seats. Joshua is sitting across from Chiara. They exchange glances briefly but look away immediately with their faces slightly blushed.
"So...is this everyone?" Nina asked with a bored expression.
“Where’s Mai and Hikari?” Chiara asks Emi. “Did they text you if they were coming?”
“No clue. I don’t think they did.” Emi checks her personal messages on her hub, which has an empty inbox. “Hm...so do we just move on without them?”
“I can do a recap for them if they don’t show up tonight,” Fio volunteers, waving her hand at Emi from across the table. “Hikari and Mai probably are rushing through some homework. Feels good to be a NEET sometimes.”
“That won’t be necessary!” Mai stumbles through the conference door, panting, with Hikari right behind her. “We’re here! Sorry, Hikari was taking a dump.”
“I WAS NOT, YOU…” Hikari kicks Mai in the rear, causing her to yelp. “I was busy with some school stuff, that’s all. Sorry, everyone.”
“You’re going to be sorry for that soon enough,” Mai sneers under her breath before making her way to her seat. Hikari finds her seat, and right as she plops down, she jolts up from under her chair.
“What the….oh...my bad.” She picks up the plushies from her seat and sets them on the table. “Aw...these are really cute. Who made them?”
“I did, of course!” Fio responds cheerfully.
“You know, maybe you should make these in the real world...so we can make some real-world income.”
“Yeah, but who would buy them?” Fio asks Hikari.
“I would.”
“Alright.everyone, we’re all here now, right?” Emi stands up from her chair to annouce herself. “Can we move on to our debriefing so we don’t waste any more time? It's bad enough some of you arrived late.”
“Yeah, she’s right,” Mai sighs. “I'm gonna have to plow through a bunch of calculus homework after this. I don’t want to stay for too long.” Emi and Mai take their seats while Markus claps his hands together.
“So we’re all set? Great.” Markus takes the wand from the center of the table and clears his throat. With the press of a button, the center hologram displays the tournament bracket leading up to the current matchup. "First off, I would like to congratulate you all for making it this far in the Mil-Sim Story Tournament. You went up against some overwhelming odds and somehow, despite being amateurs, your team has overcome them. These national tournaments are very competitive. It’s not often that teams make it this far. If you succeed in this match as you’ve done in your last matches, you’ll be finalists in the Mil-Sim Story tournament. You can clap now, by the way." Markus clears his throat again, hoping to get some applause naturally, which was never going to work in this room. The team follows through with some claps, mostly half-hearted, with the exception of Fio’s and Vicky’s claps.
“This next match is going to be significantly different from your last two matches. Especially with the new updates rolling out by the end of the year. We have some exclusive insider info on some of these new mechanics and updates that will be essential to your next match. I’ll tell you more along the way." He presses the button on his wand and a large 3D overview of a Southeast Asian Pacific resort appears, with a long beachhead, palm trees, tropical vegetation, neon-lit hotels and casinos, long narrow streets, and back alleys, with a bridge connecting two parts of the coast broken up by a single canal flowing into the bay. A couple of white points are located across various areas of this render, with one blue and one red glowing point located on the opposite ends of the map. One is located at a dockyard and the other is at the parking lot of a luxury hotel resort.
“Fancy,” Kimberly whistles.
“I wouldn’t say that about your battlefield conditions,” Markus corrects her. “Your area of operations is expected to have an average temperature of 37 degrees Celsius with 80% humidity. The new upcoming updates are adding a new enemy for your team to overcome. You won’t be able to storm into this battlefield with your heavy plates and gear. Not only will the weight slow you down, but they’ll degrade your hydration, hunger, and increase your body temperature. In an environment like this, you’ll succumb to heat exhaustion and death if you don’t address it quickly."
“Oh...no…” Emi plants her head on the table with disdain. “Markus, what were they thinking putting that in a game like this?”
“It’s a reality of warfare,” Markus continues. “Soldiers have to combat environmental factors in the real world. So the developers have implemented these factors into the simulation. But fret not. This new update will allow you to carry MREs, hydration packs, and a clothing mechanic that favors certain fabrics in different combat environments. Medics will have IV packs in their gear to revive fallen teammates suffering from heat-related illness.”
"IV packs?" Hikari raises an eyebrow, adjusting her posture. "So that means I have to manage heat stroke and fluid retention now?"
"Precisely, Hikari. Your role is arguably the most critical for this operation," Markus says, using his wand to highlight a new symbol over the 3D map. "This is not an elimination skirmish like your last few matches. The goal for this map is to hold onto as many of the designated control points as possible until the opposing team runs out of reinforcements.”
"And if we get shot?" Ramirez asks, leaning forward.
"You don't die for the match," Markus explains. "If you take fatal damage, your consciousness is routed to a separate lobby with your other fallen squadmates. You will only respawn if your team manages to secure a new control point or loses one. Each respawn, however, drains a portion of your tickets, unless you are rescued by a medic—even if you are critically injured."
Hikari looks down at her hands, the weight of the upcoming match settling on her shoulders. Mai nudges her shoulder playfully, though her expression is serious. “Someone’s gonna be a busy girl.”
"Furthermore," Markus clicks the wand, causing the map to expand drastically, revealing thousands of tiny moving dots. "This is combined arms warfare. You won't just be fighting the enemy team's inner circle. Both sides are allowed to deploy their entire reserves, vehicles, and equipment. You'll also have to becareful with civilians. The area of operations is a popular tourist destination so try to avoid comitting any warcrimes. Emi, Tomio, Joshua, please listen up. As Squad Leaders, your positions are now critically important. Leading from the front with your team will only make you a liability to your team. You need to stay alive behind the front lines, coordinating your team through your radios and tactical tablets, if you've got those, and coordinating with your team by issuing orders on the fly. You’ll be responsible for calling in surveillance drones, support strikes, and supply drops when your teammates request it.”
"Behind the lines?" Emi frowns, looking over at Tomio, who seems equally skeptical. "I'm a track runner, Markus. Not an armchair tactician."
"You'll adapt, Emi," Nina interrupts, crossing her arms. "But you’re more than welcome to switch places with your scouts or me if you don’t feel like you've got the brains to run a squad.”
Markus clears his throat quickly before a new argument can spark. "Well...speaking of scouts, there is a new set of gear coming soon to Mil-Sim Story which you can purchase from Flint’s Gun Shop. For scouts, you can purchase some Gecko Hands.”
Markus switches to a live demonstration on the hologram of a scout soldier slinging his carbine rifle over his shoulder and climbing up the walls of a structure with his gloves and shoes. "This high-tech apparel utilizes micro-vacuum fibers, allowing you to scale vertical concrete walls, hotel balconies, and rooftops silently without ropes. You can climb on any surface as long as it is not completely smooth like glass. You can combine it with a wingsuit to obtain a flexible and silent form of free movement, though you’ll be defenseless to small arms fire or drones if they spot you." Markus makes his next point with a holographic simulation of a soldier gliding from one skyscraper to another who is then struck by a kamikaze drone while in the air. Chiara, Ashley, and Kimberly make note of this new addition. “But that’s the extent of what I can tell. Expect new gear and weapons when the new update rolls out.”
“It would probably be a good idea to hold off on blowing our credits right now,” Tomio interjects to his team. “Buy ammo and expendables, but wait until this new update rolls out if you can. We can make do with the equipment we've got right now.”
“Good thinking, Tomio.” Markus closes the hologram and now switches over to the monitor display on the wall. “Your next opponent, as you should know by now, is Team Crimewave, with Charleston Squad led by the online influencer, Joe Aaronson—callsign: Little Joe—and Bass Squad led by the online rapper: Kai Zen.”
“What’s with the weird names?” Hikari scoffs. “An online influencer and a rapper?”
“Crimewave is different from the other teams you've faced off against. Charleston is a pretty wealthy squad, but Bass Squad recruits have been described as ragtag with bottom-of-the-barrel equipment. That doesn’t mean you should…”
A recruit barges into the meeting unexpectedly, catching everyone off guard. “Hey! We've got a visitor who wants to speak to the squad leaders. She has an important message to deliver.”
“We’re in the middle of a briefing right now,” Emi responds firmly. “Tell the visitor to wait a few more minutes.”
“But she said it’s urgent,” the recruit exclaims. “She claims to be from Vampire Squad and insists that there is some serious trouble brewing for you all.”
Hearing the name of their former adversaries sparks murmurs across the conference room.
“Vampire Squad? I thought we're through with them,” Mai shakes her head. “Why should we listen to the likes of them again? What are they trying to pull this time?”
“Well...if she’s serious…” Emi gets up from her chair again. “Then we should hold off on the meeting. What’s the name of our visitor?”
“Caroline Williams of Regina, Canada...callsign: Lilith,” the recruit answers directly. “She looks distressed.”