Chapter 3

Masters lead Gavin down a labyrinth of corridors and stairways.  The corridors were spacious, enough room for two people to walk together, and enough headroom for a person to stand upright.  It reminded Gavin of pictures he had seen in movies of battleships, for although the corridors were large, they were laced with piping, ducts, valve-handles, control boxes, speakers, and a myriad of other things he couldn’t find a name for.  Each corridor had a hatch on either end that could be closed in an emergency, the hatches were also several inches above the floor, requiring one to step over the bottom of each hatch.

Gavin marveled at how Masters knew his way around.  Everything looked the same, and Gavin was completely lost.  It was a multitude of hatches, and several flights of stairs later that Gavin noticed that Masters was following color-coded bars that were stenciled on every intersection.  There seemed to be three main sets of colors, gold, silver and black.  Masters was following the gold strip.  The strips were also tapered at one end giving the impression of an arrow.   

After about seven flights of stairs, the corridors began to change in appearance.  They grew out wider, and the hatches became less frequent.  Eventually the corridors became hallways that ran into large several-story bulkheads with large hatches that the corridor ran through.  They walked these large halls, following the gold strip until the strip seemed to point in both directions.  Masters stopped at a hatch in the center of a corridor with “CIC” stenciled in bold black letters.  He opened the door, and motioned Gavin to wait as he stepped in and closed the hatch behind him.  Gavin could not see anything of the room into which Masters disappeared.

“What the hell?  Now I’m to wait like some student in trouble because of ditching class?  What the heck is this place?” Gavin grumped as he leaned against a smooth portion of wall.  I shouldn’t have come here, he thought.  This was really stupid.  Hell, I didn’t even put up much of a fight at my door when I had the chance.  How was I so dumb?  Now I’ve been abducted and stuck in a corridor to rot.  Wonderful…

The door opened abruptly, and a smiling Masters stuck his head out.  “C’mon, time for your interview.”

Gavin moved from the wall, and entered the room.  ‘Room’ isn’t the right word for it, he thought.  The chamber was massive, the ceiling at least three stories up.  Gavin had seen houses that could fit in this place, and not the little cookie-cutter ones, either.  The room was brilliantly lit, not with lights, but gigantic flat-panel displays scrolling enormous amounts of information and intelligence.  The far wall, held a gigantic screen that showed a map of the world.  It was actually spinning in real time, and millions of little triangles dotted the surface.  Gavin had no idea what they represented, but there were a lot of triangles.  There were two rows of 80inch flat panels on each side of the big one showing different parts of the center map in detail.  They were dotted and lined, and had pointers running to each triangle, but the words held little meaning to Gavin.

In the center of the chamber was a large island with an under-lit table and several transparent maps were spread on it.  There was another island suspended from the ceiling just over the map table that held another twenty or so monitors.  Also there seemed to be microphones and control boxes just at head-level hanging from the bottom.

On each side of the giant square room were rows of giant equipment consoles, running three deep.  The consoles ran the length of the room, and were segmented into parts.  Each segment seemed to have a different function, like ‘Communications’ or ‘Tactical’ and was labeled as such.  Each segment was manned by an Operator linked to the console by a large headset that covered the eyes as well as the ears.  A few operators were without helmets revealing ordinary humans working the consoles, but most were immersed in their giant headsets. 

On the left wall, above the consoles, was the same logo Gavin had seen on the aircraft on the way in.  This time, it was much larger; a giant shield containing a globe circled by olive branches.  ‘EDF’ was stenciled predominantly below the shield, and below that stenciled in smaller text was ‘Ultima Ratio Regum’.  The entire place looked way too much like some science-fiction movie and Gavin found himself in disbelief of what he saw.

The place was humming, but not noisy, and so Gavin was easily able to hear “Mr. St. Cloud?” come quietly from the other side of the map table.  Gavin refocused his eyes, and saw a man standing in a plain uniform staring at him, his features lit from beneath by the light of the table.  The man was in his mid-40s, salt and pepper hair in a low flattop, chiseled features that had seen too much sun and wind, and surprisingly, had a stooped posture.  Masters stood next to him, and was a head taller. 

“Gavin St. Cloud.  Welcome to ARC.  I am Commander DPA Benton Charles.  Masters here tells me that you are here for an interview to a new job.  Well, that is sort of true.  This is a job, and a serious one at that.  You will get paid, and you will work.  However, this job is not like any you could have possibly imagined.  And believe me, the waiting list for this position is short, but extremely distinguished.”

“Ok ‘Boss’, I don’t want to seem rude or anything, but can someone, please, tell me what the hell is going on?”  Hours of frustration on this crazy rollercoaster ride suddenly thrown at him had finally erupted and he spat out the last few words with acid. 

“Straight to the point, this one.  He might do well,” Benton said with a chuckle to Masters in a little side voice, infuriating Gavin further.

“Alright, Mr. St. Cloud,” Benton became serious, “I will give you your answers on one condition.  In order to get your answers, you must accept responsibility for the truth you are about to learn.  You are never to discuss anything that you see here, or even the existence of this place to anyone outside of this facility.  Do you agree to this condition?”

Gavin thought for a moment, his frustration forgotten.  This was his chance to go back to reality.  This was his way out of this crazy ride through the surreal.  But Gavin found himself hesitating.  A small voice inside his head suddenly became an extremely forceful command.  Gavin wanted to know.  He wanted his answers.  He was shown a peak at a Christmas present and wanted to unwrap the rest.  Gavin made his choice.

“I agree to your condition.  But you must accept mine.”

Benton lifted an eyebrow.  “Alright, let’s hear it.”

“If I don’t go with this job, I want to be able to go home, without any interference from you, or anyone else.  And never hear or see you again.”

            Masters made a move to say something, probably that his request was absurd but was held back by a hand from Benton who thought for a moment before saying, “Alright.  I agree to your condition.”  Benton stuck out his hand and looked at Gavin with eyes that held no lie.

            Gavin reached out and took the proffered hand.  “Alright then!” Benton said jovially, breaking the tension.  “We are agreed.  Now to get you your answers.  Masters, you take over in here, I’m going to give Mr. St. Cloud a tour of the facility.”

Benton led Gavin out from the control center and turned right following now the silver strip on the wall.  They went through several intersections and two flights of stairs going up.  At the top, Benton joked wheezing a little, “You’ll keep in shape just from moving place to place here.  There are no elevators for people.  Only cargo elevators and those are strictly monitored.”

They followed the silver strips until they reached a large airlock.  The hallway was larger at one end then the other.  The floor ramped downward while the ceiling went up.  The larger end held the airlock, which was a massive door almost a foot thick.  There was a valve in the center that controlled the locking mechanism that was arranged around the outer edge of the door.  Benton tugged on the bulkhead, and it opened with a slight creak.  Gavin was surprised it opened so easily.

Benton passed through the hatch, and Gavin followed, on the other side was a platform that was railed off.  Gavin found to his surprise that they were extremely high up over a massive hangar bay.  The far end was made of movable partitions that could be moved backward to make the east side open to the air.  The entire bay had to be over six stories high.  The partitions were made of multiple semi-clear panels that let the pacific sunlight shine in bathing the whole place in a golden shimmer.

The bay itself had two rows of towers spaced out evenly the length of the bay.  They reminded Gavin of the tower the space shuttle uses during takeoff, full of girders, docking arms, hoses, decks, and elevators.  Each one stood near three stories tall.  Gavin stared in amazement, unable to help himself at the sight.  Down the line about the third tower back was a giant suit of armor.  It had the basic shape of a human, but was layered in metal plates.  Makes me think of what a tank would look like if one could walk, Gavin thought to himself. 

“Welcome to the pride and joy of ARC.  This is the Deus Hangar Bay.  The giant suits of armor there, commonly referred to as “mechs”, or “Deus” around here are our shields.  They are our front-line combat units.  Basically they are very agile, biped tanks.  Your job here will be to pilot one,” Benton finished with a smile as he leaned over the rail looking down into the bustling bay, techs and engineers running to and fro on the tarmac. 

Gavin almost choked, “Pilot one of those??  Me!?  You’re kidding me Gramps.  I’m no pilot.”

“Not in the normal sense, no.  But, let me ask you this.  You can control an armed figure, jump, duck, fire, switch and reload weapons, and also use a myriad of other things from a keyboard, correct?”

“Yeah, when I’m playing games, sure.”

“There you go.  You’re a pilot here then.  Our pilots do not actually physically operate the machines they use.  You’ll be piloting the Deus via remote, and it’ll be very much like your FPS, Aether.”

Gavin narrowed his eyes at Benton suddenly feeling very uneasy.  “Who are you?  How do you know my screenname?”

“Simple,” Benton smiled.  “I almost beat you the other night, but alas, your sniper rifle was too quick.”

“YOU!” Gavin shouted in sudden recognition.  “You’re Slayer_One!  You’re the guy who almost ruined my record!”  Benton let out a hearty laugh that made Gavin feel oddly at peace.  Made him feel as if he had come home from a long trip.

“So now you know.  We are trying to recruit you as a pilot for our operation here.  You have now seen the heart of the EDF, the Earth Defense Force.  Yeah I know, it’s a corny sounding name, very clichéd, but it accurately described what we do here.”

“Defend the Earth?  From what, aliens?” Gavin asked with disbelief.

“Well, something like that,” Benton said after a moment.  “We’ll get to that later, but let me show you around some more.  Down there are the docking gantries for the Deus.  Below us is the service area.  The Gantries are mobile, and we can move a docked Deus down into the service area below if the damage is too severe to fix topside.  Down below is also a Deus creation facility where we can manufacture new Deus, or overhaul a prototype with new equipment. 

On the east side of the bay is the launch area.  There is another large elevator over there that can shuttle the carrier craft to the launch catapult.  The Deus are usually loaded into the aircraft and shuttled to where they need to go.  We also have a short-range flight backpack in the works, but it’s still early in the development phase.  Since we launch our aircraft from there, that entire end of the bay can be opened by those sliding partitions.  The partitions themselves are made out of translucent titanium-steel alloy, impervious to artillery up to and including 16-inch guns.  Pretty crazy, huh?”  Gavin mumbled and nodded, most of the explanation going over his head.  He mostly just stared at the whole thing trying to see everything clearer.     

“Alright, let’s move on.  Next stop on this tour is the Launch Control down there,” Benton pointed to a building on the north wall that looked like a control tower at an airport.  Benton started walking along the railing following it around the bay.  Benton seemed to be enjoying the trip.

As they got closer to the tower, Benton saw that it by itself was two-stories high, and was completely dwarfed inside the cavernous hangar bay.  A building inside a building, this is wicked, Gavin thought.  Benton continued on right inside of the building, pointing out little things that only he seemed to know.  Communications staff wearing yellow and green coveralls, were hustling back and forth between what seemed to be the control room.  Benton led Gavin straight into the tornado of activity in the little room.  Two figures, one wearing bright orange mechanics’ coveralls, and the other wearing the communications overalls were shouting into a microphone.  A female voice on the other side came back with rude remarks, making the men even more livid.

“No, I repeat, follow the damned landing procedure!  You will NOT make a hard landing!” the communications officer shouted into the microphone.

The mechanic picked up right after the communications officer, shouting just as loud, “Look Girly, you put a scratch on my Deus and your ass is grass!  You got me!?  I ain’t jokin’ ‘bout this!  Do what the comm-monkey says, you readin’ me?!”  A laugh came through the radio.

“Dammit Blue 1, this is not a joke.  Follow the procedure!”  The comm guy turned to look at the mechanic, his face red.  “And what was that crap about comm-monkey?  You’re getting yourself confused grease-monkey!!”

The mechanic just waved his hand dismissively, “Bah, like you know anythin’ pas’ your precious comm gear.”  Getting real close to the mic, the mechanic said very softly and very threateningly, “Blue 1, if anything other than the wheels of your carry-all touch that tarmac, I am going to lock the docking collar on your Deus, and you won’t be able to take ‘er out again,” the last word the mechanic said almost as a whisper with nothing but pure acid in his voice.

“Oh really Darwin?  We’ll see about that,” the voice on the other side of the radio said, and then static.

“My God, she’s really gonna do it!  That suicidal bitch!  She’s gonna wreck my Deus!!  I know it!”  Darwin ran out of the communications room and out onto the catwalk outside.  Benton, who had been silently chuckling the entire time, prodded Gavin to follow.  Once outside of the tower, Gavin could see that the partitions had been rolled back letting in a pleasant ocean breeze.  Out in the distant cloudless sky, Gavin could not see anything.

The group waited for what seemed ten minutes, staring out the opening towards the ocean.  Gavin could not see anything, and was wondering if everyone could see something he could not.  Then after another moment, Gavin began to feel, rather than hear a rumble that started off small, and then grew at an alarming rate.  The whole place seemed as if it was going to shake apart, then suddenly, out of the sky, a giant armored figure flew between the opened doors into a roll showering sparks everywhere and then using the momentum from the roll hopped up into a crouched position.  The thing slid on its feet creating a waterfall of sparks behind it and leaving grooves in the bay floor.  It slid for about three-hundred feet before it stopped in a fully erect stance with its arms in the air like a gymnast finishing a routine.     

            Darwin began screaming at the top of his lungs, “Dammit Girly!  Look what ya did to my floor!  I hope you know that you’re gonna be waxing and polishing that floor until it shines again!”

            The mech finally moved from its pose and swiveled to look at Darwin with its single lens placed in the center of its pointed head.  It looked at Darwin for a hard moment, as if it was contemplating something, then took a step back and moved into an elegant bow.  Darwin turned red, and then began to scream at the top of his lungs every dirty, foul, perverted, derogatory phrase he had ever learned.

            Trying to contain his laughter, Benton pulled Gavin away from the scene and pointed up to a hatch behind the communications building.  Gavin tried to watch the Deus dock into the gantry as he followed Benton.  It didn’t seem to be that complicated of a procedure, mostly just the giant machine leaning back against the tower.  Gavin tried to wait and see where the pilot would emerge from, but Benton led him through the hatch, and the Deus disappeared from his view.

            “What you just witnessed back there was a rather interesting way to land a Deus.  Normally you are brought in by the carry-alls.  But, well, that particular pilot is, how can I put this delicately…stubborn,” Benton said all smile.  Apparently, this wasn’t the first time that Deus had been brought down like that.

            “Now I think I’ll show you the command interface for the Deus,” and Benton moved off into the corridors following the black strips.

“Like I said before,” Benton said as they traversed the metal maze.  “The Deus are operated remotely.  Basically, there is some very complex, high-end technology working to allow a human to ‘pretend’ that they are the Deus.  In other words, the arms of the Deus become your arms; the legs of the Deus become your legs, and so on.  The end result is like playing a video game in your mind.  Just instead of controlling a character on a screen with a controller, you control a fifty-ton mechanized warrior with your mind. 

“This system also has way more feedback then any shock-pad controller.  For instance, signals are carried on digital lines that make up a virtual nervous system.  These signals are sent to what we call the “Pillar”, a massive computer system created to receive, interpret, and translate the signals from your brain to the mech and vice versa.  So basically, you could pick up an egg with a mechanical hand, and feel the surface of the egg as if it were your own.  Tactile sensors laced through the finger pads operate exactly like nerves in your own body.  This allows for astounding control, and to you and your mind, you don’t even notice that you are not ‘there’.

            “The Human Mind is an incredible thing.  We only use a fraction of its abilities.  When we hook our machines up to you, there is a period of adjustment.  Basically, this is where you learn to control the machine.  Technically, your brain is creating new neurological pathways.  It learns that it has two bodies, and learns how to control both.  To put it simply, the brain gets to learn how to walk all over again, except for this time, the brain has already done it once, so the process is much faster.  The hardest thing to master is the ability to switch between which body you control.  This is very important, because if you do not master this ability to switch, there is a possibility that your brain will forget how to use its physical body.  You will forget how to be you.”

            Gavin stopped dead.  “Say what?  Nobody ever said anything about my brain getting sucked into some machine!”

            Benton turned to look at Gavin, “You don’t technically get sucked into the machine, but rather, you cease to be.  But it’s a very small risk.  That problem has never happened.  I only said it was a possibility.  I feel obligated to tell you these things Mr. St. Cloud, mostly because this ‘job’ is extremely dangerous, but could possibly be one of the most important roles in the history of mankind.  I need you to understand this.”  Benton’s demeanor had completely changed again, all business, and deadly serious. 

            He looked as Gavin as if expecting something.  Gavin realized with a start that he was expecting Gavin to choose.  Even after all this, Benton was giving Gavin one last chance to get out, to leave the craziness behind.  Gavin looked at Benton and made up his mind.  He wouldn’t back down; he would go through with this. 

            “I understand,” Gavin said.  “But how small a risk?”

            “Excellent.  Now onto the D.C.C.P.,” Benton said without skipping a beat, passing right over Gavin’s question.

            “D.C.C.P.?  What’s that?  And how small a risk?!”

            “Deus Central Control Pillar,” Benton said smiling, and then finally answering,
”Very small, Gavin.  Don’t worry.  Anyway, the D.C.C.P. is the interface system that links you to your machine.  It’s the heart of our entire operation here.  This will also be your first chance at meeting one of the pilots.”

            After going down several flights of stairs, following the black strips the entire time, they came to a door marked ‘D.C.C.P.’.  Gavin had been expecting a little more after the description Benton had given him, but it was only a simple hatchway like all the others.  Behind it however, was a well lit room with a layer of mist on the floor and a large column in the center.  The machine had eight sides, each with a translucent pod-type projection on it.  The column ran from a very large base on the floor all the way up to the ceiling where it ended in a massive trunk of thick cables.  Large computer consoles were surrounding the pillar, but only one tech was jacked in.  In the corner seemed to be a small medical station, complete with examination table. 

            “Commander,” a tech saluted as Benton entered after Gavin.  “Good timing, they’re about to exit the system.”  The tech looked at Gavin suspiciously for a second, and then added, “Is this the new pilot?”

            “Yes actually,” Benton said to the tech before turning to Gavin.  “Gavin St. Cloud, this is Doctor Jenna Mari.  She is the head of the D.C.C.P. unit, and will be personally conducting your introduction and training with the Pillar.”  Gavin extended his hand to Jenna, which she shook in return.  She didn’t seem that much older than him, maybe late twenties.  She had smooth black hair about mid-length, large black eyes behind small elegant glasses, pretty features, and a white lab coat.  This is how all scientists are supposed to look, Gavin thought happily.

            The console behind Jenna began to beep catching her attention, “Commander, she’s exiting the dive.”

            “Might want to stand over there Gavin, this thing needs some room,” Benton said and then as if in response to Gavin’s movement, the machine let loose a large vent of steam.  The pod facing Gavin lifted up and then out moving forward and then down.  A small step ladder emerged from the bottom lip of the pod.  After it finished moving, with the ladder about six inches off the ground, the glass canopy unsealed with a hiss of escaping gas, and then swung up. 

            Gavin watched as a figure began to climb out of the pod.  As the steam cleared, he saw the figure was a woman, about his age.  She had auburn hair that cut short in the back, with full bangs hanging down the sides of her face.  There was a small scar marring her otherwise perfect features just under her right eye.  He also noticed that her right eye was a silver color while her left eye was emerald green.  He hadn’t seen silver before and was wondering if it was a contact when he realized she was watching him stare.

            “Who the hell is this?” she asked flatly.

            “Pilot O’Shea, Commander on deck!” Jenna said jerkily.  O’Shea stopped for a moment and then finally saw Benton.  She immediately fell into military stance and saluted.

            “I-I’m sorry, sir.  I did not see you.  I was more intent on the unauthorized person in the D.C.C.P.,” she eyed Gavin without moving her head and then said, “This is for authorized personnel only.  Regs strictly prohibit unauthorized personnel in this area.”

            Benton returned the salute slowly, and she immediately moved to an attention position with her hands clasped behind her back.  Gavin noticed the peculiar suit she was wearing and how form-fitting it was.

            “Pilot Cassie O’Shea, may I introduce Gavin St. Cloud, Pilot in Training,” Benton said the last after a small pause.  Cassie’s face seemed to fluctuate from embarrassment to insult to outrage.  “At Ease, Pilot,” Benton said with a small smile.

            Cassie dropped the stance and walked toward Gavin staring at him.  Gavin felt like a bug under a glass.  “This is him?  Are you serious?” she said with obvious disappointment.  “I could kick his ass right here, and he’d probably swim all the way home to his ma.  How did he get picked?”

            “What the hell?” Gavin wasn’t sure what crawled up her ass, but he wasn’t about to let her walk over him.  “Look Sleeping Beauty, I don’t need your ‘evaluation’ crap.  Go crawl back into your casket and finish your beauty sleep.  Seems you need it.”

            Cassie’s eyes went wide for a moment, the light from the room glinting off of her silvered eye, and then a small, but wicked smile crept onto her face.  Like the smile a predator uses when savoring the chase.  Gavin felt suddenly very uneasy.

            “He’s got spirit this one.  But I don’t think he can do it.  I think he’s all talk.”

            “Pilot O’Shea, we are about to see if he can.  He hasn’t been tested yet,” Benton said, and then thought for a moment.  “Perhaps you’d like to show him how to setup for a dive?”

            Irritation flooded Cassie’s features, and Gavin smiled, which seem to agitate her further.  “Shouldn’t Jenna do that, Sir, I think that falls under her jurisd-“

            “No,” Benton cut her off.  “She will monitor from the station.  You will show him how to setup.  That is an order.”

            “Yes, sir,” she said with a sigh.  “This way noob,” she said pointing towards a little side door Gavin has missed on entering.  It was behind the pillar on the far wall.

            She led him into a small changing room.  There were lockers lined along the walls, but only three had names: Megumi Nanasi, Breanna Norrick, and Cassie O’Shea.  “Wait a second, this isn’t a girl’s locker room is it?” Gavin suddenly said, looking almost ready to bolt. 

            “No, it’s not a girl’s locker room.  It’s a locker room.  And you’ll use it after the rest of us,” she said irritably, like she was talking to a five-year old.  “You can’t take any metal objects into the machine; the small magnetic fields they make can throw off the system impulses.”  She shoved a small tray at him.  “Put them in here.  Watches, glasses, chains, coins, wallet, whatever.  Then put it in that slot there,” she pointed to a slot in the wall that was labeled ‘metals’.  “It’ll be safe there, and you can get it back after we’re done.  Assuming you get back that is.”

            “What do you mean by that?” Gavin said as he was taking off his watch.

            “Benton did tell you of the risk, right?  That you might not make it back to your body?”

            “Yeah, so what?”

            “That risk is real.  He probably didn’t tell you why they know of that little snag.”

            “What?” Gavin said stopping cold.  The little smile returned to Cassie’s face.

            “I said the risk is real, you hard of hearing?” she said clearly enjoying his panic. 

            “I – no.  I heard you just fine.  So what,” Gavin said challengingly.  He may have been panicked at the thought, but he understood that she was psyching him out on purpose.  He wouldn’t play her little game.  He wasn’t sure what he had done to offend her, but he’d had just about all he could stomach of her attitude.

            “So what?  You’re not worried?” 

            “Nope,” and Gavin dumped the emptied contents of pockets in the tray.  He then turned and walked out of the room leaving Cassie with a stunned expression on her face.