Careful Not To Break Reality

Funnily enough, according to Valerie, she ended up battling squadrons upon squadrons of these 'conjured up beings' sent out by the malfunctioning AI who is desperately desperately trying to gain separation from the doom that is Valerie, and after failing to talk with those mindless beings, Valerie simply let loose.

With the power of her mind, she also conjured up whatever weapons and vehicles she needed and she simply broke through the formation with a pair of unlimited ammo shot guns and chainsaw with rotating blades at the end.

The AI then tried to conjure up bigger monster and tried to stop her, but by that point she has gotten so used to controlling her very own environment that she simply made herself even bigger than the monster that was created and stepped through the unending waves of those two. Now, even she doesn't know what could stop her.

After many hours of fighting and being drenched in the blood of her virtual enemies, she finally came face to face with the AI, who turned out were veering off course ever since someone uploaded poorly packaged violent digital psychological profile and was opened and processed inadvertently by this AI. After figuring that out, Valerie simply pinned the AI down and reset his settings back to usual before exiting the dive and bumping her head on the cover.

'So, is that the kind of things you did?' Valerie asked.

'Yeah...something like that.' Rydel brushed away the questions as quickly as he could as they boarded the shuttle heading back to the orbital station, and then one back to Wolfana. The icy cold planet of Wolf's Skull seemed quiet and undisturbed, despite Rydel and Valerie feeling like they both have absolutely wrecked the whole place, and Valerie in particular took a shit over it.

'As far as missions go, that was quite a nuisance, but not as difficult as lasts time.' Valerie commented as she relaxed into the soft cushioning of the better equipped shuttle that goes to Wolfana.

'I think the Test of Brain is supposed to be less difficult for those with a laser focus and a sharp mind.' Rydel said, 'There are lots of information out there, and one can very easily get lost.'

'Well then, thankfully my AI had a knee jerk reaction and almost gave away its directory instantly.' Valerie crossed her arms behind her head and took a deep breath in, 'now, if you will excuse me, I would just like to relax for a long while before getting nanosized drones injected into my b.u.t.t.'

'What?'

Rydel looked over, and Valerie has already started to ignore him and dozing off to sleep. It is common for people to be extremely mentally fatigued from the deep diving process, and Valerie's bobbing head is certainly a testament to that. However, Rydel has already missed the boat with the sleepiness and simply stared out of the window into the stars and was lost in his thoughts.

The return journey to Wolfana quickly went by, and before long Rydel has found himself staring at the city planet of Wolfana and the surprisingly relaxed space traffic right above the space port. It seems like they have caught a lucky break with the normal traffic inflows in and out of the planet.

'What are you looking at?' Valerie's voice came from beside him, as she hugged Rydel from behind and rests her weight on him.

'Nothing really...' Rydel said, 'we got the Test of Mind next, right? What's that about?'

'No idea.' Valerie answered honestly, 'let's not pretend I am the know it all here. Plus, there is the nanotechnology enhancement procedure.'

That is true, and this will be something that will undoubtedly close up the power gaps between Gold and Valerie and him to within reach, and Rydel really can't complain about such a power up at this stage in the game.

After they have landed, the debrief was even simpler. The results were already present when they exited the Deep Diving pod, and all they have to do on Wolfana is simply to get signed off in person.

'Congratulations. You may contact the Absolute Academy Headmaster for the nanotechnology enhancement procedure in due time. I wish to see you back here for the Test of Brawl assignment.' The administrator returned the ID badge back to the pair and instructed.

'Wait, did you say Test of Brawl? What about the Test of Mind?' Valerie asked.

'Well, traditionally, the Test of Mind is run by within the Academy, and I am not certain of the actual details.' The administrator shrugged away the question, and the pair didn't pursue further.

There really isn't much point stopping on Wolfana for much longer, but Rydel found an excuse to roam around the city just by himself for a bit and reported back to Cellica about the current process. At the current rate, maybe he would be out in about two months or so, depending on how much progress he will be getting with the nanotechnology enhancements. But apart from that, there isn't much else for him to report, however, on Cellica's side, there has been news with Zel.

'Zel has finally shaken off the pursuers, at least for now, and he was able to make contact.' Cellica said, and it seemed like the first good news in a long while for her.

'That's good. Like I said before, the extraction would probably be in about one month, to three depending on the current situation. Also, we will have to take an extra with us during the extraction.' said Rydel.

'Has there been a new development?' Cellica raised her eyebrow all surprised.

'Yes, I might be able to bring another artifact bearer with me, if everything goes according to plan. She would have had the artifact that can isolate and lock down information going in and out of set points in space. That's how they have been able to stay hidden from us all these time.'

'Is it that single artifact doing the hiding, or is it the pseudo-artifacts made from that.'

'I think it's the pseudo ones, sadly.'

'I will not complain about this though, but how did you all of a sudden learnt about this?' Cellica asked, and Rydel knew that this question would come up eventually, so he had prepared himself for it. Not a well crafted lie, but just the courage to speak the truth.

'I had to use my artifact during the test of Skill to save my...partner, in a way, like I didn't physically warp her out of situations or anything, but she knew.'

'Partner?' Cellica looked at Rydel all suspicious, and Rydel found in impossible to read her reaction, 'go on.'

'So...' Rydel swallowed hard, 'she knew after wards, but that's okay because her father was also one that possessed an artifact called Lock Down before, which is actually how we met.'

'Uh huh.'

'Right, so now we are prepping to take her artifact back.' Rydel said, 'and then she will be the plus one.'

'Right. And by saying take the artifact back, this Lock Down is currently in the hand of someone else?'

'Yeah, but we have a plan. That's how I am actually going to get to Dolon actually.'

'I think I will just let you handle this situation here...'

'Okay...'

Cellica looked over her shoulder at the mountains of work before letting out a tired sigh, 'is there anything else?'

'How are you doing?' Rydel asked, and clearly noticing the fatigue welling up inside her despite the blurry image.

'Just need to get through this little stretch.' Cellica said, 'prisoner was dropped off at the prison with no hiccups, but the civil unrests and many political forces fighting after the power vacuum is sure enough going to keep us busy for a while...'

'I see.' Rydel nodded, 'you take care.'

'You too.'

Rydel looked down, and he still has forty minutes of supposed untapped conversation time left. That should be plenty. As he finished the talk, there has also been an encoded transmission from Cellica, and it was the secure communication channel that Zel sent to her, which should allow Rydel to contact him. This is something Rydel will have to use once he has figured out the location of extraction.

After that, there is no further business on Wolfana, so they boarded the next shuttle taking them back to the Absolute Academy.

'It has been quite a little while, hasn't it?' Rydel looked down at the view port at the greenery and the ocean, noting that deep down that's always going to be what he preferred over the endless silver iron, 'I kind of miss the whole school life. You know, not having to do all the dirty work just to prove our worth.'

'Oh come on now. Don't tell me you are missing the boring theoretical lessons.' Valerie jokingly teased Rydel, her mood also seemingly better when she returned back here despite her attempts to hide it.

'Well, I would argue the negotiation skills certainly comes in handy when trying to save your a...' Before Rydel could finish his sentence, Valerie turned her body and swung a kick right at him, which Rydel knocked to the side with ease.

'Damn it.' Valerie cursed and seemed visibly upset, as the careless defeat also weighed on her for a while, 'You will never find me in that position again!'

'That's what I love to see.' Rydel smiled, 'and I am sure after the nanotechnology enhancements, you will be a wholly different person.'

Then, they parted ways once they have arrived at the accommodation blocks. Rydel returned to his unoccupied room and sent in a request for the nanotechnology enhancements and simply tidied his room for a little while, since he has been gone for a month.

Another few days has gone by, and Rydel has tried his best to settle back into the rhythm of learning the best he can, since there are also a lot of interesting concepts for him to learn, and knowing the process of having to relearn how to move his body after the nanotechnology enhancement, he has been burying himself in materials about motor learning and movement control. And it didn't take too long for the request reply to come, and a meeting with the headmaster of the Absolute Academy is arranged.

At this time, Rydel isn't even nervous about anything anymore, as he sat and waited quietly outside the head master's office, a light scent of aroma fills the air. The appointment he got clocks in at three o'clock in the afternoon, and he made sure that ample time was spared so that he could make the track up the mountain without any delays. The paths isn't exactly clear cut through the forests, but eventually Rydel found a way.

The door opens up exactly when the clock on his personal interface turned three, and the headmaster welcomed him in, or rather, it's the head mistress.

'Come in.' Lady Lily smiled at Rydel as she looked up from her desk at Rydel, who cautiously stood by the door.

'You...' Rydel thought he must have seen her somewhere before, as someone of that look and physique will undoubtedly leave a strong impression no matter what. She dresses in a bright red tightly woven dress that followed the curve of her body perfectly and patches of cuts revealed the smooth white skin underneath.

'Yes, we had only met briefly, during your physiological enhancements.' Lady Lily saw through Rydel's doubts and answered before any question was posed.

'Right, that makes sense.' Rydel nodded nervously, and only sat down once Lady Lily gestured for him to do so, 'And will you be performing the nanotechnology enhancement procedure for me too?'

'Most likely,' Lady Lily said, 'I didn't do the physiological enhancements, however, one of my trainees did it. How did you find it?'

Ah, the headmistress is surprisingly nice to talk to, Rydel thought before replying, 'It's really good, boosts energy, durability as far as I can tell, and I can certainly move better.'

'As evident by your two successful missions, the Test of Skill and the Test of Brain.' Lady Lily swiped away all of the existing hologram windows on top of the table and turned in her chair slightly to her side, her long black hair running her side, 'by the rules, you will be eligible to receive the nanotechnology enhancements.'

'As far as I can tell, yes. That's why I went on those missions.' Rydel replied.

'You know, you have progressed and excelled at the Absolute Academy at quite a remarkable speed.' Lady Lily said whilst looking at Rydel straight in the eye and changing the topic slightly, 'what drives you?'

'I wanted to get better, and there are no place like this in the settled regions.' Rydel threw out the prepackaged ready to serve answer, and from Lady Lily's facial expressions, she doesn't believe a single bit of it.

'Sure.' Lady Lily said, bring out a paint brush type of object from underneath the table and placing it on top of it, 'you know, the nanotechnology enhancement procedure is a rather costly and complicated process, and the Absolute Academy is the only place you can get it from within the Grey Wolf's regions. So you can understand why we are quite careful with this sort of things.'

'Most of the services and training here offered by the Absolute Academy is free and funded by the Grey Wolf in the interests of promoting education and benefiting the little society we have here.' Lady Lily continued on, 'but with those that excels within the academy and went on to be eligible for the nanotechnology enhancements, we have some special conditions here.'

'From your reports from both tests, as well as your performance within from the Pilotmania tournament, you are absolutely one of the best recruits coming out of this cohort, and the higher ups also thought quite highly of you.' Lady Lily said, while glancing over at Rydel who's listening closely, 'albeit I don't personally agree with your fashion choice.'

Rydel knew her eyes were looking in the direction of his left hand, but he paid no further attention to it and laughed at her joke.

'So, after the nanotechnology enhancement procedure, you have a few options in front of you. You can choose to immediately work for the organization of Absolute Being itself, and we will let you in our secrets and the reasoning behind what we do across the galaxy, or you could become a highly valued member within the forces of the Grey Wolf, or you can choose to continue on with the tests until the very end for the possibility of obtaining the artifacts that you undoubtedly have heard people here talking about before choosing which pathway you are taking.

'Unfortunately, those two are eventually the options that you could take beyond this stage. If that is a bit too much for you, you can choose to stop right here and walk away, or stay here and learn within the Academy for as long as you wish.' Lady Lily explained before stopping finally to give Rydel some time to digest all of this, 'Do you have a decision right now, or do you wish to take a few days?'

'I have came so far, and I am not going to stop here.' Rydel answered without a moment of hesitation, 'I will go through the nanotechnology enhancements, and I will pass the Test of Mind. And then, I will challenge one of the artifact users for the possession of the artifacts!'

'Very well then.' Lady Lily somewhat expected this as an answer, and stood up from the desk, making Rydel stand up also. She then leads Rydel to the room next door, where the procedure will be performed.

'Please get rid of all your clothing and lie on the operating bench, and temperature will be autoregulated, so you will be fine. The procedure itself will only take about three hours, but you will have to adapt to the after effects.' Lady Lily said as she brought up a file from her personal interface and sent it over to Rydel's, 'here is a full guide as to what's going to happen. I will go and prepare for the procedure and you can take some time to read through this.'

After that, she left Rydel to his own devices and headed back into her office, where a hologram image of the Master is already up and running.

'I see that he agreed to the enhancement procedure?' The Master asked.

'Without a ounce of hesitation.' Lady Lily commented and tried not to let her displease show in front of her master, 'I still don't know what you are planning here, Master, but I will leave it all to you.'

'Yes...yes. I shall see to his Test of MInd personally, and then that's how we will learn more about who he is, and why he is here.' The Master said so confidently, 'whatever that reason may be, I will make sure that he will belong to us in the end.'