Post by dravenmeyers on Oct 14, 2010 2:33:25 GMT -5
As Mari put her number in Z's phone, he couldn't help but grin. This would be the first person to ever put their number in his phone. His first real friend, and what seemed to quickly become his first crush. He felt his cheeks begin to redden. His palms began to sweat and his voice began to crack as he said his good byes.
Z went on his way to flight school. The academy was only a block away from school which made it easy for him to still make it on time. Thoughts of his new friend bounced around in his head as he stretched his way into his bio interface pilots' suit in the locker room. He stumbled through the hallways to the simulation room with thoughts and fresh memories of her bouncing around in his mind. Through muscle memory alone, he got into his assigned ship simulator and booted it up.
The machine whirred and beeped as it ran through its start up procedure. He felt his suit tingle as it synced with the sim and calibrated his vitals. He felt his heart rate drop as the computer began to regulate his bodily functions. All the excitement he felt with Mari began to fade as the chemicals in his brain changed according to the program's parameters.
The screen lit up with the day's objectives and briefing. A recon mission in china's fly space to verify intelligence about a new weapons development facility producing a rumored smart ion laser capable of destroying entire stations and fleets in one contact. "Recon", Z thought to himself, "this should be an easy one". His simulated ship took off from the hangar and entered the pitch blackness of space. He moved in formation at 100,000 feet per second towards New Beijing. He made a couple of passes over the station when his sensors picked up a lock on his position. Three different S.A.M.s had his position and were armed for fire. He slows to only a few hundred miles per hour and locks onto the first S.A.M.. His HUD lets out a loud high pitched beep with the lock and he pulls the trigger for his missiles. A perfect hit. He looks up towards the next target and the computer locks for him from eye contact. Another flawless execution and destroyed target.
He glances up and the earth grabs his attention. The earth shone with an opaque blue/purple shine. "It's the same color as her eyes", Z thought as he stared blankly at the living planet. His heart began to race and the butterflies once again appeared in his stomach. His on board computer began to shriek in disarray as his vitals changed to his now wandering mind. "I wonder what her voice sounds like, what her favorite color is, what she does on her spare time". His mind now completely focused on Mari, he ignores the sound of an incoming missile from the last S.A.M.. His damage sensors and alarms began buzzing as his ship was nearly ripped in two. The simulation ended and the computer shut down abruptly.
"What the hell was that?!" the DI exclaimed as he marched up to Zen. "You have NEVER been hit, Z, what in christ's name was going on in your head?" Z looked to the ground and lost his rush of emotion for Mari. "I... uh... I don't know, sir". He said, embarrassed and disappointed in himself. "Well I don't like it, Zen", the sergeant asserted, "whatever it is, you need to get rid of it. You're my top student and up to be the squad leader when you all graduate, and if you get hit in the field, your whole team will go down. Now, get some rest, gather your head, I want you back here bright and early tomorrow for a make-up simulation". Z, without opinion on the matter, snapped his hand up to his brow and straightened his posture. "Yes, sir!" he belted out, and as soon as the DI shouted that he was dismissed, he gathered his belongings and started walking to his car to return home.
Z went on his way to flight school. The academy was only a block away from school which made it easy for him to still make it on time. Thoughts of his new friend bounced around in his head as he stretched his way into his bio interface pilots' suit in the locker room. He stumbled through the hallways to the simulation room with thoughts and fresh memories of her bouncing around in his mind. Through muscle memory alone, he got into his assigned ship simulator and booted it up.
The machine whirred and beeped as it ran through its start up procedure. He felt his suit tingle as it synced with the sim and calibrated his vitals. He felt his heart rate drop as the computer began to regulate his bodily functions. All the excitement he felt with Mari began to fade as the chemicals in his brain changed according to the program's parameters.
The screen lit up with the day's objectives and briefing. A recon mission in china's fly space to verify intelligence about a new weapons development facility producing a rumored smart ion laser capable of destroying entire stations and fleets in one contact. "Recon", Z thought to himself, "this should be an easy one". His simulated ship took off from the hangar and entered the pitch blackness of space. He moved in formation at 100,000 feet per second towards New Beijing. He made a couple of passes over the station when his sensors picked up a lock on his position. Three different S.A.M.s had his position and were armed for fire. He slows to only a few hundred miles per hour and locks onto the first S.A.M.. His HUD lets out a loud high pitched beep with the lock and he pulls the trigger for his missiles. A perfect hit. He looks up towards the next target and the computer locks for him from eye contact. Another flawless execution and destroyed target.
He glances up and the earth grabs his attention. The earth shone with an opaque blue/purple shine. "It's the same color as her eyes", Z thought as he stared blankly at the living planet. His heart began to race and the butterflies once again appeared in his stomach. His on board computer began to shriek in disarray as his vitals changed to his now wandering mind. "I wonder what her voice sounds like, what her favorite color is, what she does on her spare time". His mind now completely focused on Mari, he ignores the sound of an incoming missile from the last S.A.M.. His damage sensors and alarms began buzzing as his ship was nearly ripped in two. The simulation ended and the computer shut down abruptly.
"What the hell was that?!" the DI exclaimed as he marched up to Zen. "You have NEVER been hit, Z, what in christ's name was going on in your head?" Z looked to the ground and lost his rush of emotion for Mari. "I... uh... I don't know, sir". He said, embarrassed and disappointed in himself. "Well I don't like it, Zen", the sergeant asserted, "whatever it is, you need to get rid of it. You're my top student and up to be the squad leader when you all graduate, and if you get hit in the field, your whole team will go down. Now, get some rest, gather your head, I want you back here bright and early tomorrow for a make-up simulation". Z, without opinion on the matter, snapped his hand up to his brow and straightened his posture. "Yes, sir!" he belted out, and as soon as the DI shouted that he was dismissed, he gathered his belongings and started walking to his car to return home.