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  “Nah, sign me up,” Kaiden announced. He affected nonchalance, leaning back and clasping his hands together.

  “Well, I admire your sudden confidence, but perhaps I should finish—”

  “Do whatever, but I got this.” He smiled as he looked at the contract displayed on the holo. “If this place can make me better, then I’ll do it and pay off that shitty fee in a blink. But I should probably give you a fair warning.”

  “About what?” Mya inquired.

  “That if this place isn’t up to snuff, I’m gonna get my fee back in blood,” he replied with a smirk.

  He expected a shocked look, even a frown. Maybe he’d messed up and would have to out-run security.

  Instead, he heard, “You weren’t even prepared for the ceiling turret.” She reinforced the truth with a quizzical look and a finger pointing up.

  “Just finish the damn presentation and give me a pen.” He huffed as his head rolled back. Couldn’t he have at least started his tenure on a more badass note?

  Chapter Four

  Kaiden held the cotton swab against his arm. He could feel the blood beneath it, eager to spill. Gritting his teeth, he looked at the half-dozen vials of blood they’d already drawn and could feel the anemia swell within. The doctor was giving instruction to a nurse as a medical aide picked up the tray holding the vials of blood and other bodily fluids and took it out of the room.

  He lay back on the cot as he scanned the medical bay. Six other initiates were in there with him, and he had seen a few others leave while he finished his exam.

  It was certainly fewer than those who had arrived with him, so he figured that some must still be in their meetings or had decided to bid the Academy a hasty farewell. He didn’t blame them, but he certainly felt a warm satisfaction that he had been able to take on the challenge when others slunk away.

  Pity he couldn’t get a chart showing the healthiness of his ego, because there he would break records.

  He reached carefully for his EI box and popped it open. Along with the EI, there was now a smaller translucent chip that held all his academy info.

  Mya had gone over the essentials toward the end of their meeting, but he’d been in something of a haze at the time. His bravado mixed with the swirl of new information and possibilities for the future had put him in a near mental-overload, something the counselor had evidently noticed.

  Before she’d sent him to the medical department, she’d given him the clear gadget and told him it had all his basic info, and that he should, A) not lose it and B) load it into his EI device once he had received it and had it calibrated after his physical.

  He looked up as the lady doctor who took his blood came back over, bandaged the injection site, and helped him stand.

  “That should do it. We have your medical history up to this point. You are green for EI processing, and if anything develops from today’s physical, we will alert you,” she stated, her tone clipped and professional.

  “Probably should have gotten a little liver check-up while I was here. It’s one of the harder working organs in my body,” Kaiden replied as he rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms.

  “Well, that merely means your brain may not be up to normal standards, but you are in good company among the SCs,” the doctor retorted.

  Kaiden grimaced. Was everyone in this place a smartass?

  She patted him on the shoulder. “Farewell, Initiate Jericho. Hopefully, you won’t need my services too much while you are here, but if you would like, you can request Dr. Saluja if you found my work to your satisfaction.”

  “I’ll be sure to bring a tip next time,” Kaiden quipped as he started toward the exit. He flung a hand up over his shoulder. “Nice meeting ya, Doc.”

  “It was a pleasure, and if I may give you some parting advice,” she began, and he paused to turn back toward her. “EI processing is that way,” she finished with a smirk as she jerked a thumb to the exit behind her across the room.

  “Uh…gotcha. I’m a bit woozy,” Kaiden mumbled in a half-hearted cover-up as he doubled back and walked past the doctor. She nodded and shook her head as she went to attend to another patient.

  He walked past the enclosed cubicles he had seen some of the Tsuna walk into.

  Kaiden couldn’t hear any talking, but there were some odd noises that signified medical instruments and machines he hadn’t had to deal with during his exam. He felt an ambivalent sense of curiosity and fear as he pondered what the aliens looked like under their body-coverings and what they went through in their physicals.

  He wondered if they were treated by human physicians or other aliens.

  Another alien had been at the reception when he entered, though this one was unlike those he’d met at the hyperloop station. It had an egg-shaped head with round black eyes like the Tsuna, but a lanky charcoal-colored body with three digits on the ends of its long arms.

  It reminded him of how aliens supposedly had looked according to history documentaries detailing popular culture during the middle and second half of the twentieth century. He recalled that people had claimed to see UFOs dart through the sky and abduct people and do…things he preferred not to think about.

  They were called the Mirus, though most people called them grays or probes due to their similarity to those old descriptions. Not the nicest of nicknames, but he had never seen one bothered by it. Then again, he had never actually seen one until now.

  In fact, along with never seeing one, he had never heard one speak, probably because they didn’t have mouths. Supposedly, they created some sort of frequency or energy or something that could be directly translated by the mind of the listener. Most called this telepathy, although that wasn’t exactly right. To be honest, he was more curious whether they could do this right away with a new race or if there had been some unfortunate and messy initial trials.

  Kind of hard to convince someone you came in peace when you exploded their head saying hello.

  Kaiden left the medical bay and saw an interactive map. He pressed a label for “EI Center” and saw a blue light illuminate above him. It was a glow strip that followed the walls and turned the corner about twenty-five feet away. He looked back at the map and read, Please follow the blue path, Initiate Jericho.

  Convenient, sure, but he still hadn’t fully adjusted to the fact that everything down to the glorified help desk knew him.

  Kaiden followed the illumination until he reached a long hallway with arched doors. The light from the glow strip seemed to flow into the door, and a message appeared in the blue light.

  Please place the front of your EI case on the scanner to the right of the doors.

  He looked over to see a rectangular panel that lit up, took his EI case, and pressed it against it. A line of green light moved across the screen, then the entire rectangle went green and the doors slid open.

  The room was a huge cubicle separated into three floors, and it had dark carpet and walls. As he walked in, he was approached by a man whose pin read, Tech. J. Arvin.

  “Initiate Kaiden,” he greeted him as he scanned information on a tablet. “Welcome. I will be your technician for EI integration and processing. It would appear that you have not had much experience with EI, is that correct?” He looked up for Kaiden’s answer.

  He shrugged. “I’ve used a commercial model a couple of times, but nothing professional or higher,” he explained as he continued to look around the busy offices. Plenty of humans and a handful of aliens scurried around. He could make some initiates out among the masses, either talking with other technicians or led to other rooms, holding cases in their arms.

  “I promise, it is no big deal…well, maybe a little at first, but with our guidance and a little time, you will see the boons our Nexus EIs can grant you. It is a fundamental part of your training, after all,” he said, a cheerful chirp in his tone. “Now then, do you have a preferred— Hold on a moment, something came in from medical.”

  Already? Damn, had he picked up some sort
of super-virus he was unaware of in the last few hours? What did happen after those drinks yesterday?

  Technician Arvin looked over his notes, his brow furrowed, and his green eyes began to squint. Then, he went wide-eyed and looked up at him, back down at his notes, and back at Kaiden, staring at him like he had sent him some sort of prank mail.

  “Initiate, would you please follow me?” he asked, though it seemed more of a command than a request as he turned abruptly and hurried away. Not wanting to be left alone in frenzied speculation, Kaiden followed briskly, wondering what Tech Arvin had received to suddenly quench his happier temperament.

  “What they tell ya? Am I dying? Growing a new arm?” he asked.

  The technician typed something without answering, and Kaiden could see the images signifying a note being sent on the tablet screen. “Hmm? Oh, no, no, you’re fine—at least unless something else is found.” He added the last statement hastily as if the mysterious something required qualification.

  That’s comforting.

  They approached an elevator. He swiped a card across the pad on the wall next to it, and the doors opened. “It would appear that… Well, I’ll let Professor Laurie tell you once we get there. Step into the elevator, please.” He placed his hand on Kaiden’s back and began pushing him gently.

  Kaiden shook him off. “I can walk, it’s cool. I just wanna know what’s going on.” He grunted in displeasure as he stepped into the box and leaned back against the railing as the technician followed. The elevator doors closed without him pressing a floor.

  “We are going to see Professor Laurie. He has his own office above these offices, and he’ll explain everything,” he told him in a flurry, his fingers again tapping on his tablet.

  “Well, you seem excited. Did I win a prize?” Kaiden asked as he observed the tech. It looked like he was bobbing in place.

  “More like we did, potentially,” Arvin answered unhelpfully.

  Before Kaiden could ask him to clarify, the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

  The room was surprisingly stark for what Kaiden had assumed was a guy with high rank. White walls and a matching carpet gave it a cold look. A few decorative holopictures, painted artifacts, and a pristine white desk with a couple of chairs in front did little to soften the overall impression.

  When they approached the desk, Kaiden observed a large pearl-colored chair with a curved back facing away from them.

  “Professor, I’m sorry to come in on such short notice, but—”

  “I got your message. My thanks for your professionalism, dear Arvin,” a man replied in what seemed like a smooth, posh accent from beyond the chair back. “Does our friend know?”

  “I don’t think so. He doesn’t seem to, at least. It wasn’t in his records, and medical just found it in preliminaries,” Arvin said as he placed his tablet on the desk. “I’m sure they would have sent the information to you beforehand, otherwise.”

  “See here, I’m excited that y’all are excited, but could you please tell me what is going on?” Kaiden asked as he pushed one of the chairs out with his boot and sprawled on the seat.

  “Why, certainly, my new friend.” The man turned his chair to face him. His hair seemed artfully messy, more feathered than ruffled. Its color matched his sharp silver eyes in an odd way that defied description. His face, narrow with a cutting jaw, curled into an amused smile. He wore a lavender two-piece suit with a white shirt beneath, accented with a silver tie that bore the Nexus Academy crest on the knot.

  “My name is Alexander Laurie, former head of Anima Technologies and now lead developer of EI technologies here at Nexus,” he announced with a flourish of his hand. Kaiden noted frills edging his cuffs and suppressed a grin.

  His eyes narrowed. “Wait, I know you! Aren’t you dead or a hermit or something?” he asked.

  Kaiden recalled stories in the news about Laurie leaving his position at Anima—one of the first corporations to develop EI technology around the beginning of the century—about ten years before and then disappearing off the face of the earth.

  “I gotta admit, if you are dead, you look pretty damn good.”

  “I look damn good regardless,” Laurie quipped as he took Arvin’s tablet and looked it over. “However, dead isn’t my particular style. Developing the technologies and advances of the future is. I was offered the position here and accepted, given that I was granted access to work on projects that would have been…a bit more difficult in a commercial field.”

  “You left one of the biggest corporations to work at a school?” Kaiden asked incredulously, trying to add mocking disbelief to his tone.

  “Au contraire, my friend. Nexus is more than a school, though it is the best, I must say, in that field and others.” Laurie gave Arvin a nod and returned the tablet. The tech nodded and turned to leave.

  “Hey, tech, what about my EI stuff?” Kaiden asked.

  “Why, dear initiate, would you bother with a seed when you have a blooming flower?” Laurie asked as he leaned forward in his chair. “It would appear you have something quite special within you, and I can offer something that may just interest you.”

  Kaiden raised an eyebrow, turning from Arvin to Laurie. “What’s so special about me?”

  Laurie’s smile widened. “You see, one of the technologies we have here that grants our students such advanced skills at such a quick pace is our special EIs.” He pressed on a switch on his desk, and a silver bottle with a logo of what appeared to be two faces with different features morphing into one appeared. He took out a glass and offered it to Kaiden.

  He should probably have been a little more suspicious, but he was thirsty and that stuff looked fancy. He nodded, and Laurie filled a glass and handed it to him.

  “Using a combination of what we call hybrid EIs and devices that offer more power and capability than the typical EI gear, the EIs can actually integrate with the user themselves to a small degree.”

  Kaiden sat back and drank in this information—along with the actual drink, which was as crisp as spring water. It was a bit fruity for his taste, but damn if he wasn’t feeling it.

  “And this does what, exactly? Pro-EIs give people access to multiple devices and functions, so what makes this so knee-slappin’ good?”

  Laurie’s eyes narrowed a moment before he grasped the nature of his question. “You misunderstand. It doesn’t integrate the user with technologies you can use. The EI itself integrates with the user. They become the technology,” Laurie explained, tapping thoughtfully on his chin. “So to speak, anyway.”

  This caught Kaiden’s attention. “Wait, what? We become cyborgs or—” Kaiden couldn’t come up with a second option.

  “Oh, don’t be so silly. You’re making something grand and intricate sound not only wrong but banal.” Laurie huffed, clearly indignant. “Throughout the virtual reality lessons you will undertake, the gear will leave imprints on the brain that the EI helps the user integrate within their natural memories. We call this synapse-connection, or simply, synapse.”

  Kaiden nodded. It began to dawn on him how and why this place was so sought after and why those who graduated were so advanced among their peers.

  It also dawned on him that whatever he was drinking was good as hell. He needed to figure out what it was when this was over.

  “Typically, the human mind can only take in so much of this new information at a time, which is why the lessons are gradual. The user builds up resilience to this, and eventually can learn faster as time goes on and improve their skills considerably—assuming they apply themselves correctly and practice regularly,” Laurie explained.

  Kaiden nodded and placed his empty glass on the table, pointing to the bottle. Laurie chuckled and poured him another glass. Pity he didn’t seem to be having any himself. This stuff was great.

  “I think I get it, but why am I here, then? Weren’t the others getting their set-up downstairs?” he asked.

  “Normally, yes. The gear we use is a simple set-up, d
evices that not only activate the EI but transmit neural waves through the skin in fragments as a user learns. However, a couple of years ago we—or, I should say, I—discovered something interesting.” He sighed as he continued to tap his chin. “The one downside of coming to create at this institution is that no one bathes in my greatness as regularly as they should. It’s a damned shame.”

  “What was it you discovered?” Kaiden queried as he took small sips from his glass.

  “There were people with a certain genetic trait—we call it the Gemini factor—who can gain enhanced compatibility with these waves. Through it, they and their EI can actually be on a similar plane or wavelength with one another. Through this, they gain knowledge much quicker and can use it practically at a much faster rate than we normally see.”

  Kaiden started to fit the pieces together. “So I’m here because—”

  “From what we have discovered, you have this trait,” Laurie finished with a smile. “We don’t get many of you here. Most are discovered early and taken in by other science divisions or programs. I’ve only had the opportunity to work with a few, and what I’ve seen them do is extraordinary… Well, more so than the already incredible highs I’m accustomed too.”

  “So, do I get special treatment or something?” he asked. “If it means more of this liquor, I promise I won’t complain.”

  “Well, that depends on you,” Laurie said. “Personally, I would have already had you in the operating theater, but the board tends to frown when those kinds of things are forced, and many look dreadful without the frown as it is.” He swiped on the surface of his table, and a holographic projection of a device floated above.

  Kaiden looked it over. It was a ring with four long protrusions behind and one in the center that looked like an antenna. “That looks like a torture device.”

  “Not the most aesthetically pleasing design, I concur.” Laurie frowned. “However, that is the implant device that was created for those who had this trait. It took a few trials to craft. The circular design works as the base and assists in powering the device, and the energy is perpetual. The prongs are designed to reach the appropriate parts of the brain and the—”