Even with a catering drone to lean on, he’d struggled to reach the medical pod. The first round had been to stabilize him.
When he’d come out after that, he had refused another round until he’d said a proper goodbye to Becca. Remy had insisted he immediately go in as soon as he returned.
He had hauled him out a couple of hours later to adjust the settings. By the time he had finished, the wound in his leg had split open and the AI was not impressed.
When John had gone into the pod the third time, his chest had still hurt and the burns from the hunters’ attacks had still been tender. Now, he was anxious to see if there was a real improvement.
Cautiously, he rolled his shoulders and bounced up and down on the spot. He felt great—better than he’d felt in a long time if the truth be told.
He shadow-boxed toward one wall, called his Talent to his hands, and admired the way the lightning wreathed his fists. After a moment, he released the power and turned to answer the question.
“I feel good,” he said with a small frown. “Why do you ask?”
“I had to be sure your impression correlated with the pod’s conclusions,” Remy informed him. “I am glad to find the two are in alignment.”
“After five days?” he asked. “What exactly was there for you to not be sure about?”
“I had to be sure you were fit enough to undertake the next stage of your training,” the AI told him. “If the pod is correct and your internal assessment concurs, we can move forward.”
John’s frown deepened. “Why would I need to be this fit?” he asked. “Is there something in the discs that might make me hurt myself?”
“Oh no,” Remy assured him, “but the next stage of your training requires more than the discs and the training space you have been using. It is more intense.”
He narrowed his eyes. “How do you mean more intense?”
“You will have personal trainers.”
Confused, he looked around the room, stepped out into the corridor, and peered in both directions. “When did they arrive?”
The AI chuckled. “John, they have always been here.”
“Then why didn’t they show themselves?” he demanded. “Why did they leave me to face those two…wolves on my own?”
“Ah…” The tone told him he’d misunderstood. “When I say they have always been here, I did not mean a physical presence. There is no way they would have been able to assist you in your battle against the hunters. Please follow the light strip to the elevator.”
John looked down and located a strip of yellow LED lights that sparkled at the base of the corridor wall. It didn’t take long to find the elevator, and he wondered how he’d missed it before.
“Why didn’t I see this?” he asked in bemusement. “I must have walked past this point a hundred times.”
“You were injured,” Remy explained, but he shook his head.
“Not that injured.”
“Fine.” The AI made an impatient sound. “There was a panel concealing the elevator. I had not decided if the facilities below were something you would require.”
He caught on fast.
“You hadn’t decided if I’d need them, or if you could trust me with knowing about them?” he challenged.
“Yes. Until the attack by the wolves, I was not sure of either.”
“But these facilities will help me to develop my Talent, won’t they?”
“Oh, they will certainly do that.” Remy sounded very sure of himself.
The elevator came to a halt and its doors slid open to reveal a small antechamber. Directly opposite him was a set of heavy-duty doors.
“More security measures?” he asked.
“Affirmative. Should the wrong people make it this far, the area has appropriate counter-measures to correct their error.”
John swallowed and gestured to the barrier.
“Those look like blast doors.”
“Correct,” the AI told him. “Those are blast doors. Please step up to the identification panel.”
John complied as he scanned the walls for any sign of the other counter-measures he was sure existed. He still hadn’t located them by the time he reached the identification panel.
After a palm print, retinal scan, and thumb prick, the doors still hadn’t opened.
“You will need to tell it your name,” Remy told him pointedly.
“John Dunn,” he said quickly and a series of clunks and rattles startled him when the internal locking mechanisms shifted.
The hiss of escaping air revealed the moment when they released and he took an involuntary step back, followed by several more voluntary steps. He focused on the doors and resisted the urge to hold his breath.
They parted with glacial slowness to reveal a brightly lit room, in the center of which stood another pod. This one was larger than the medical pod and configured differently.
Instead of the occupant lying down, it looked like it was designed for them to sit upright. He took a hesitant step toward it and jerked to a halt when the side lifted like a wing.
“What is it?” he whispered.
Remy’s reply was tinged with impatience. “It is a training pod.”
“A what?”
“A pod that facilitates training in the Virtual World. Please. Take a seat.”
“In there?”
“Where else?”
John made a show of looking around the room. The AI had a point. There was nowhere else he could sit.
“Are you sure?”
“What is the matter, John? You behave as though you have never seen a virtual reality pod before.”
“Well, that’s the thing, you see,” he replied. “I haven’t.”
“Are there no pods of this kind in Australia?” Remy asked.
“Not that I know of.”
“But I thought they were used for student assessments.”
“Maybe they used to be used for that,” he said with a small shrug, “but the Regime doesn’t do its assessment like that now. We had VR helmets and cubicles and Regime-certified assessors, but not pods.”
“I…see,” the AI replied, then fell silent.
“What is it?” he asked when the disconcerting silence dragged on beyond several seconds.
“What do you know about the Virt World, John?”
“I…uh…” He raised his hands in a helpless gesture. “It used to be a big thing when our parents were growing up?”
Remy responded with a human-like groan. “So we’ll have to start from scratch, then?”
“I guess so.”
“Fine. Go and sit in the pod, please.”
John hesitated and gave the nearest surveillance camera a cautious look before he crossed the room and ducked under the upraised hatch. A glance inside was both reassuring and intimidating.
“What are all those connections for?” he asked.
“They will not be necessary for this afternoon’s introduction,” the AI assured him.
He still hesitated. “But later?”
“Later, yes. You will need to disrobe for later sessions.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.” He frowned and moved his hands to his belt as if to hold it in place.