Megan awoke to the soft sound of the wind blowing through the hollow wooden wind chimes that surrounded the pagoda she was led to the night before. She lay on a luxurious pile of soft comfortable rugs woven with dark brown fibres that was obviously refined from some sort of plant. Megan guessed it was likely some kind of flower.
Megan stretched as she sat up, her loose thin nightgown lazily shifting into the skintight armoured Jump-Suite Suit she recognised from entering the dungeon. She assumed the suit had somehow amalgamated itself with her new body. Concentrating she found that changing the style, colour and material composition of her clothing was just a thought away.
Just as the thought entered her mind about her Ear-Comm and Wrist-Comp and if they were lost, they immediately materialised in their places as if they had always been there. Megan came to the realisation that they actually really were there all the time; she just hadn't noticed them since they were set to camouflage mode.
She tried to access messages but just got an error.
***WARNING*** NO CONNECTION TO UNI-NET AVAILABLE WITHIN RANGE OF THIS UNIT.
PLEASE MAKE CONNECTION TO RESUME COMMUNICATION OPERATIONS
Megan sighed, she suspected that was the case but had to try. She would love to know how everyone was getting on outside the dungeon. Megan hoped Master Zanik had returned by now. Maybe he was waiting for her at the entrance to the dungeon right now.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts Megan straightened up, firmed her resolve and stepped forward to face another day. What else could she do? Wallow in self-pity? Take her own life because it was all too much and the difficulty was too high?
HELL NO!
Megan was going to take control of the direction of her life and ultimately that of her entire species! Was she going to let the Enemy win and get away with destroying her race and her home world?
NOT A CHANCE!
She would make sure Humanity had a future. It may not be the future past Humans had thought would take place. But a future they would have, regardless of if it was not the one they wanted.
Megan would be satisfied with having a place to belong, a family to love and be loved by. Not the love of money, or power but of deep connections between Humans. A connection that Megan craved with her very being. This was what was missing in her life, that connection, that feeling of belonging to something greater; something worth it.
With that in mind, Megan stepped down the steps of the pagoda and found the Jamos Brent waiting for her. Bowing slightly, Brent spoke, "Lady Megan, Queen Goldenfeather awaits the pleasure of your company and invites you to breakfast in the Rose Gazebo."
Megan, a little taken aback by the formal address replied hesitantly, "T-thank you Brent, please lead the way."
After being led by Brent to the fragrant gazebo Megan sat with Queen Jessa and ate little pastries Megan found out were called croissants paired with more tea.
Jessa then led Megan through the garden and to an infrequently used passage that looked roughly carved out of the solid rock. The passage led to a large metal door that looked like some kind of airlock separating the gardens with an area that appeared to be filled with advanced machinery!
Jessa held her hand up and placed it on a small hand imprint shaped depression on the airlock door and the door vanished. At least to Megan's senses it vanished, really the door had just cycled open so fast that only people with certain skills or the right tech could be able to visually see the movement.
Jessa turned to Megan and instructed, "Now Megan, this facility is actually the one-way vessel I used to enter this dungeon using some very advanced spiritually infused technology. The ship can no longer be called a ship by the normal standards as the main power source and engines were broken down to create my home here. Now, although the engines and the mana distilled zero-point energy device are no longer available all the other facilities are still operational. The facility we are going to be using for your training is a standard Alternate Dimension Training Pod or more affectionately termed 'The Punisher'."
Jessa gestured for Megan to enter, and she waited until Megan had walked through the doorway and stood in the darkness, unable to see anything in any direction. Megan couldn't even make out the walls of the room she stood in.
Jessa stood outside of the door to the room and explained to Megan, "This 'Punisher' is programmed to train you to the standard of a basic cultivator soldier at the cusp of transition between Core Forging and Focus Formation. The training will be the most advanced I can supply you at this point and is focussed on Humans. Just remember that anyone you meet in this training are not real people and as such are limited to interactions that deal with your training and development only, they are not your friends, and you would do well to remember this. I only have limited control access to this training device which means I am unable to change the parameters for completion of the training or for leaving the pod premature to completing the training. What this means Megan is that once you start, the training will not end until you have met the required competency the standard was initially set to. As far as I am aware the standard also includes competency in reading/writing, common knowledge and military technology applications."
Megan nodded decisively, squared her shoulders and stood ready for whatever was to come, "I'm ready Jessa."
"See you on the other side Megan." Jessa replied as she turned and pushed some buttons on a console near the door. The Door closed behind her and left her with absolute silence and darkness.
******************************************************************************************************
The darkness was suddenly lifted as light burst into existence. While Megan awkwardly stood waiting a small fanfare called out, at the same time an examination bed you would commonly find in a hospital arose from a hatch on the floor. Lights flashed and a message displayed in her vision coming from her Ear-Comm device. Small green arrows appeared directing Megan to lie down on the table.
OFFICER CANDIDATE ACQUIRED...
SCANNING...
SCANNING... PLEASE WAIT.
...
...
CANDIDATE ERROR DETECTED
CORE ANOMALY - Level of power beyond parameters (OVERIDDEN BY OVERSEER, CODENAME - INFINITY CORE EXPERIMENTAL)
BODY ANOMALY - Unknown physique detected, unexpected results may occur if standard strength protocols enacted (PROTOCOLS OVERRIDDEN BY OVERSEER, MAXIMUM PARAMETERS SET TO FLAWLESS GOLDEN HEAVENLY BODY PHYISIQUE)
SCANNING COMPLETED, PARAMETERS SET TO (CUSTOMISED)
...
KNOWLEDGE TEST SCENARIO TO BEGIN IN 5, 4, 3, 2... 1.
BEGIN TEST
Megan was presented with a chair and desk with a monitor and keyboard. The monitor flashed and text was seen to populate the screen.
PRELIMINARY ENTRANCE EXAM
QUESTION ONE...
Megan was presented with a series of strange questions, ranging from simple mathematics and algebra to complex ethical scenarios in which she had to make quick decisions that meant the difference between survival of the species or the death of individual sentient beings. The tests seemed endless in number but completely unrelated in context and Megan found herself more confused than anything. Why did the test want to know her favourite breakfast food?
Was it really important to know which foot she put her shoe on first?
What was a slipper anyway?
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of endless inane questions, reacting to disturbing videos and completing a series of increasingly hard puzzles involving shapes and interconnecting lines the testing ended.
TESTING COMPLETE
RESULTS
CANDIDATE ID: - 008249
NAME: - Megan
SPECIES: - Human (+)
GENDER: - Female
CORE: - Infinity (Experimental)
IQ: - Genius+ (168)
EQ: - Under-developed (Maturity rating equivalent to child under 15 years)
GQ: - SSS+ (Genetic quotient exceeds upper threshold standard by unknown margin, override enacted due to experimental core present)
PLEASE STAND BY
As Megan waited the lights very slowly decreased in intensity and the table below her descended into the floor slowly until Megan was standing in absolute darkness.
She waited so long she started to have thoughts about maybe the program had crashed when lights and sound jarringly startled her as the scene surrounding her was suddenly filled with bright lights, loud noise and... HUMANS!
Megan stood on a field of soft green grass surrounded on three sides by impenetrable forest and ahead of her was a massive sheer wall made of grey concrete that stretched up at least five to six meters into the air. Embedded into this wall a solid black metal door was installed, looking just as imposing as the wall.
Accompanying Megan on the field there were also other humans! Megan was fascinated by not just the similarities but also the differences between herself and the nine other humans here with her. She saw four other female humans and for the very first time she saw examples of Human males.
Megan was the tallest human there and as she catalogued the differences she slowly came to realise that the differences were not that great. They all had one head, two eyes, nose, a mouth, two ears, a neck, two arms, two legs, a stomach and a torso. She quickly realised that males had more hair, one of them had hair on his chin as well, the males were slightly wider in shoulders and less pronounced hips than the females, including herself. The males also had much flatter chests than females and did not appear to have the same shaped mammary glands the females sported. Megan was aware these humans were not real, but she felt excitement anyway. Surely this would be good practice for when she did meet real humans, at least she hoped so.
Megan waited with anticipation of seeing interactions between human beings that were not outlined in a book or through vague instinctual memories that were still unclear in origin or authenticity.
After a few minutes Megan began to feel disappointment as everyone was remaining by themselves with only furtive glances at each other. Megan studied the humans before her in more detail as she decided how to proceed and what this training required from her. She examined the females next to her first.
There were four other females not including herself and they appeared to be of similar ages to her own which was roughly sixteen years at this time. There was a short pale skinned girl with purple coloured slightly slanted eyes the shape of almonds and long straight hair reaching down her back to her hips. The delicate features of her face were offset by the pronounced muscle development she had from her neck down to her feet. The second and third female humans were both exactly the same. Same height, slightly shorter than Megan, same slightly darker olive-skinned complexion but identical facial features with dark brown eyes and short curly auburn coloured hair with blond highlights. The fourth female was a tall, solidly built and wide shouldered, deep blue coloured eyes with sharp facial features and long thick braided blond hair down her back.
Of the broad-shouldered males there was a boy with skin so dark that it appeared to reflect ambient light, in fact, light was shining off the top of his bald head which was completely hairless and looked like polished obsidian. He had deep-set eyes the colour of storm clouds, square facial features and an almost flattened nose and big lips that protruded without being ugly. Next to this boy was a lanky boy with emerald eyes and messy blond hair tied up in a bun on top of his head. His skin looked like a deep bronzed colour that indicated he spent a lot of time under raw sunlight but also seemed slightly textured like cured leather. The third male was also tall being almost on par with Megan but was also huge in every way a human could possibly be, it was not really fat, but more of everything, large head with curly hair tightly braided into small braids that were closely attached to his scalp in neat, raised rows from his forehead to the back of his head. Large torso with two massive arms as round as Megan's thighs ending in big meaty hands and two musclebound legs below connected to rock hard abdominal muscles that made up his stomach which appeared big but again not due to fat. The fourth boy was muscular and broad-shouldered but ultimately very average in looks with no prominent features, brown hair and same-coloured eyes, completely unremarkable really. The last boy had the same build as the first girl being quite muscular but with delicate facial features, straight black hair but cut short and the same slightly slanted almond eyes but hazel coloured, not purple.
Megan realised that if she didn't make any moves to introduce herself to her fellow training buddies that she would likely lose the chance and who knew when she would get another. So, steeling her resolve, Megan approached purple eyed girl and hesitatingly spoke, "H-hello, ah, my name is Megan," she held out her hand to shake in a common universal greeting gesture and was pleased when the girl grabbed her hand and gave it a shake, "V-very pleased to meet you."
The girl broke out into a beautiful smile that appeared to use her whole face which practically lit up in delight as she replied, "Nice to meet you too Megan, my name is Jia-xin (pronounced Jyah-Sheen). Ooh, I just love your golden hair, how did you get it to shine like that?" Jia-xin's voice was jubilant and full of warm feelings that Megan instantly took a liking too.
Megan self-consciously tucked her hair behind her ear as she thought of a reply, "I have never thought much about it before Jia-xin, it has always been this way, I guess." Megan then approached the next girl who was the well-built blond with a tight braid while Jia-xin fell in behind her seemingly following her lead. She held out her hand again and introduced herself, "Hello, nice to meet you, my name is Megan, and this is Jia-xin." Megan gestured to the girl behind her.
The large girl's blue eyes looked into her own for a few seconds, then turned to Jia-xin. Megan was worried that going for a handshake may have been the wrong thing to do when the girl clasped her hand so tight Megan thought she may have dislocated her wrist as she spoke, "Hello, my name is Helga, well met Megan." Helga's voice was low and powerful which matched with her frame well despite being archaic in speech.
Megan and her now two companions then approached the two identical girls with olive skin and auburn hair with blond highlights, stretching out a hand, Megan spoke, "Hello. My name is Megan and this is Jia-xin and that is Helga, what are your names?"
One of the girls looked up and answered while taking Megan's hand in her own, "Hi Megan, I am Ananya and this is my twin sister Anya, nice to meet you too!" At her side her sister Anya nodded at them shyly but did not take anyone's hand. As Ananya was clasping Helga's hand she noticed and explained, "Don't mind Anya, she is really shy of others but will open up when you get to know her. Then she is likely to talk your head off." Ananya giggled as she winked at them like she was letting them in on a secret joke that no one understood.
Megan smiled and gestured to where the boys had formed a small circle and were talking quietly. "Better go and introduce ourselves to the boys over there too." Megan said as she started in that direction, the four other girls following behind her.
Megan and the others arrived in front of the circle of boys who had spread out into a semi-circle to receive them.
Megan stepped forward hand outstretched and introduced herself, "Hello, my name is Megan and this is Jia-xin, Ananya, Anya, and Helga." Megan pointed out each female as she said their names.
The large boy stepped forward, took Megan's hand and shook affably while replying, "Nice to meet ya bro!" After this unusual greeting he continued while pointing out each boy in turn, "This black baldy bro is Ajani, the Aussie bro here is Levi, the broody American bro over there is Randal, the Chinaman bro is Jun-jie and my name is Wiremu."
Megan had to take a moment to parse the large boy's usage of the word 'bro' but was able to follow well enough. "I apologise if this is rude to ask but I have to know. Are you all real humans?" Megan asked despite already knowing the answer as she wanted to see how the AI would respond.
A silent message seemed to pass through the group as they all simultaneously made eye-contact with each other and Jia-xin replied, "No Megan, we are not real humans but are temporary AI constructs created for the sole purpose of making up a training group of ten participants in this training environment. That being said and understanding your situation here we are probably the closest approximation of Human interaction you are going to get for a while." Jia-xin stepped forward and placed a hand on Megan's shoulder. "We promise to do everything in our programming to make this training as seamless as can be though."
The all sat as a group to chat but were quickly interrupted by a loud whistle that ended in a pitch so high it was almost painful. After silence reigned for a few moments the black metal door split down the middle and both sides ponderously opened towards them, ominous fog roiled from within obscuring the inside and from this thick mist stepped forward a large imposing man dressed in what was obviously a military uniform, insignias and medals jangled as he stomped his feet down, body completely still, heels together, and his toes pointed out at a forty-five degree angle. The man's chest puffed out, shoulders squared, and his eyes locked directly onto the people before him.
The man's right arm raised so that his upper arm was parallel to the ground, with the forearm, wrist, and hand forming a perfectly straight line. His Fingers and the thumb of his hand were extended, straight, and tightly joined together. The outer edge of his hand was tilted slightly down so that neither the back of the hand nor the palm was openly visible to the front. Then, with a swift, sharp and confident gesture he angled his arm up until the tip of his right forefinger touched the outside corner of his right eyebrow, he held his hand there for a beat of three seconds then his right arm dropped sharply straight back down to his side. Megan's eyes widened, did she just witness her first military precision salute, she felt impressed.
The man stood seemingly letting them acclimatise to his presence before yelling, " Good morning recruits. Welcome to the Dauntless Empire's elite training regimen facility! My name is Drill Sargent Atkinson." He started pacing in front of them with precise steps, "Your first lesson starts now and entails one of the things you will become VERY used to and that is how to stand at attention and salute your superior officer!"
Drill Sargent Atkinson (or Drill Sargent as he demanded to be called) then proceeded to instruct them in this stance and how to perform a military salute the same as he had demonstrated before. After hours of gruelling instruction on what equated to standing still and saluting everyone was looking understandable frazzled when the Drill Sargent continued. "Ok recruits, looks like this is as good as you lot can give right now. This is your last chance to leave this training, once you pass through those doors there is no quitting and no mercy until you have completed the training to the official standard." He paused and waited a few moments, but when no one responded he then directed them to walk through the doors and enter 'The Punisher'.