Guardians Academy

Note: Rewrote the chapter and basically changed the immediate arc.

Cody gulped. "Cyril can make more credits in an hour of being hired by someone than I can in a week of repeatable missions. I could stay here in Initial Village and plant berries and do the berry mission every day all year and I still wouldn't make as much as Cyril could in one hour. What's the point of planting berries then? Rather than that, I should be trying to become as powerful as Cyril."

Except maybe for his overall level, nothing in Cyril's information talked about his skills in math or science or history or report writing. Only what vehicles he could pilot, at what levels, and that he was something called a Ninja.

"Orb? Can you explain what it means for Cyril to be a Ninja?"

"In the context of the Academy VR, a person's class summarizes his or her specialties and capabilities in missions. A Ninja is known for stealth, speed and perception. They are considered suitable for scouting, stealth, anti-scouting, and anti-stealth. Some of them are skilled in hit-and-run attacks, others are skilled in traps, or long-range strikes."

Cody thought about that. "What about me? What is my information like now?"

"Accessing information. Cody of Flora, First Sphere Beginner. Currently Online. Current Base: Beginner's Valley, Initial Village (SE-T3). Vehicle Licenses: Tricycle. Not made available for hire."

"Can I change that? Put myself up for hire?" Cody asked.

"Done. Please set parameters: should there be several hiring requests occurring for the same time slot, which would get preference?"

Cody thought back. "Just follow whatever Cyril set."

"Done. Set parameters for refund policy…"

"Just copy Cyril's."

"Done. Please set expected fees."

Cody paused. "What would be a good number? What would you suggest?"

Orb processed for a bit. "Comparisons in the market find no matches to your qualifications and capabilities. The nearest match is Specs, First Sphere Scavenger, licensed for tricycles, Tier 1 Mecha and Tier 1 Drone Ops. Specs is available for hire at 20 credits per hour."

"Goodness, I can't even match her." Cody muttered.

Specs let out a small smile.

"Set mine at 10 credits per hour?" Cody tried then.

"Done. Cody Rivers is now available for hire."

***

Theresa stared blankly at the latest notification on Cody Rivers being available for hire.

"This… this is suicide!" Theresa gaped. "Those parameters… there's no scope limitation! What if someone hires him for a run into the Hellfire Abyss or the Poison Emperor's Tomb?! But then again, looking at his Refund policy… there's No Refunds! Who's going to hire an unqualified, unskilled, uncertified newbie with that kind of setting?! Orb, show me a recording of what happened. Why is he setting these parameters and policy?"

Orb showed her.

"Just copy Cyril's…?!" Theresa laughed until tears filled her eyes. "That level of arrogance coming from the Azure Hawk is simply to be expected, but for a newbie…"

And then something even more shocking happened.

The notification turned a streaming blue-white color, and the label changed.

It now said 'In Negotiation'.

***

"Cyril?!" Cody stared at his elder brother.

"Finally ready to work, Cody?" Cyril was calling from their house living room. Cody could see Dad monitoring six panels of news projections on the sofa behind him.

"I… um… I guess?" Cody gulped.

"I thought I'd give you your first job." Cyril grinned, scanning Cody's hiring profile. "Huh. Did you just copy my parameters or something?"

"Uh… yeah?" Cody scratched his head. "Why?"

Cyril laughed out loud and then shook his head. "Never mind. I'll let someone else explain it to you. Anyway, this means you're game to go just about anywhere, right? I've got a Legacy Hunt tomorrow. Some friends of mine and I are going to search a wreck for a predecessor's Legacy. We could use some extra hauling capacity."

"What do you want me to do?" Cody asked.

"Just pick up loot and carry stuff. And don't get killed. That's about it." Cyril shrugged. "Oh, and don't steal our loot, of course. Don't worry. We'll protect you."

"Really…" Cody suddenly had a weird bad feeling about it.

"I'll offer double your asking price as hazard pay." Cyril shrugged.

"So it WILL be dangerous!"

"Of course. But I'm bringing Elliot and Aki along. We're the three strongest fighters in the whole Third Sphere. You'll be fine. Just meet me at Boom Town Spaceport when the time comes."

Cody thought about that. "I have class tomorrow."

"So we'll go after your class." Cyril shrugged. "I have class tomorrow morning too. Except I'm getting paid for it."

"You get paid for going to class?!" Cody stared.

"You do if you're teaching it."

Cody face-palmed while Cyril laughed and ended the call.

***

But just as he was about to leave and go do another couple of missions, Cody received a call he really hadn't expected.

"Mom…?!" Cody blinked.

"Hey, Cody." Mom smiled at him warmly. "Sorry for disturbing you during your school hours, but I heard that you were going to meet Cyril at Silver City for a Legacy Hunt tomorrow."

"Uh… yeah?" Cody scratched his head. "Why?"

"I want you to pick something up at Boom Town." Mom said. "It's a surprise for Cyril, so I can't ask him to get it."

"But he'll be there too." Cody pointed out.

"It will be wrapped." Mom assured him. "He won't know what's in the package."

"Okay… where is it?"

"It's in the East Lockers at Silver City Spaceport, Safe Box 29114, the unlock code is the locker number in reverse. There should be only one package inside." Mom told him. "Cyril's birthday is next week. It's a bit early, but you can just give it to Cyril when you meet him tomorrow."

"Okay…"

"Oh, and Dad wants to talk to you." Mom said, beckoning him over.

"Hey, Cody. How are you?" Dad asked, coming into view.

"Uh… I'm fine." Cody wasn't sure what else he could say.

"Cyril said you were going with him on his Legacy Hunt tomorrow."

"I'm just going to help them haul their loot. They'll keep me safe." Cody said, hoping it would be true.

"I see." Dad frowned. He paused, thinking hard for a minute. At last, he took a deep breath decisively and said, "Cody, I need you to do something for me. There's something on that ship I need you to find, and I need you to get it before anyone else does."

"We're going on a ship?" Cody blinked.

"The Legacy Hunt involves a shipwreck." Dad explained. "And there's something there I want you to keep hidden."

"What's that?"

"It's a data-slate. The kind that's permanently locked." Dad told him. "It's… a compilation of very valuable information."

"What does it look like? What's on it?" Cody asked.

"It looks like a really thin datapad." Dad said, after a moment's thought. "Four inches tall, two inches wide. But it's black. Shiny black. And it's flexible."

"Shiny black flexible datapad." Cody nodded. "Where is it?"

"It should be in the lab nearest to the engines. Starboard side." Dad told him. "Probably in a locker. You might have to break a few things to get to it."

"Is it that important?" Cody winced. "What exactly is it?"

"It's a Legacy." Dad hesitated. "And it absolutely must be kept secret."

"Right!" Cody nodded sagely, not having the slightest clue as to what he was really about to get himself into.