Reminiscence

“Listen here, you maggots!” the colonel shouted and his rough voice echoed in the spacious hall. “We will be landing in zone KR2-Y778, so expect heavy resistance! You have been equipped with the newest prototype tech we have, but it won’t protect you against your stupidity!”

The colonel’s sudden shouting woke me up from my daydreaming. I opened my eyes and looked around. I was standing among hundreds of other people, in a dimly lit metal hall. The heavy air inside carried a very unique odor, a mix of an acrid smell combined with a metallic sensation.

What’s happening? Where am I? I tried to remember something, but I felt like my head was going to explode if I continued. I dug deeper into my memory, but the pain just magnified. Who am I?

A pulsating sensation ran down my arm, almost making me jump in surprise. I raised my hand up and noticed the dark, leathery suit wrapping around every crook of my body. It was not made out of fabric, but tiny dark particles that arranged and rearranged themself to engulf my whole figure as a second skin. As I gaped at my arm, I realized this was no regular suit, but a living organism.

“Lucky for you, jarheads, you will get some help!” continued the tall, baldheaded man with stubble and strict features, who was standing on an elevated platform and looking down on us.

Suddenly, sharp pain rushed all over my body, a feeling of thousand needles piercing my skin. My muscles stopped responding to my commands and it started to be problematic to breathe. Cold sweat ran down my spine and my limbs started to shake. I tried to breathe through it, but my eyesight became blurry.

“Endure it, it will be over soon,” resonated a strict woman's voice clearly in my head. “It is a normal reaction.”

Confused, I looked around to see who was talking to me, but I found nobody.

“Why are you looking around? It shouldn’t be the first time you use neural communication,” continued the voice. “That is one of the first lectures in the ASOST.”

What is ASOST?

“ASOST. The Alliance Special Operation Selection and Training academy.” answered the voice.

“Thank you.” I replied automatically, without giving it a second thought. “Wait! Can you read my thoughts?!”

I immediately regretted shouting it aloud, as several people around turned towards me and I could feel their gazes landing on me.

“Of course I can, because I am now part of your neural system,” explained the voice and added with a pinch of disappointment: “Sheesh, why did I end up with you?”

Who the hell are you?

“I am the Synchronous Enhanced Neural Artificial Intelligence of your bio-suit. Please call me Sen.”

Enhanced Artificial Intelligence? Bio-suit? Can you please explain to me what is going on?

“You must be joking. We don’t have time for this and I am not your babysitter. Open your defenses so I can upload the information into your brain.”

Open what?

“Lower your brain chip firewall so I can access your memory and upload everything you need to know directly there.”

If you tell me how to do it Sen, gladly.

“Just…” she paused for a while before continuing. “You know what? Let me do it, ok?”

Sure Sen.

At that very moment I felt like someone or something started to crawl deep inside of my mind. It was subtle and barely noticeable, but at the same time frightening and unavoidable. A slight pressure appeared in my forehead, which graduated up to the point of being unbearable. Dizziness emerged right afterwards and I nearly fainted. Then the pressure and unpleasant feeling vanished, like with a snap of fingers. I expected Sen’s voice, but even after a minute, she remained silent.

Sen? Are you still there?

Inconspicuously I looked around. Although everyone was silent, it was noticeable from their gestures and face expressions that they were also communicating with their AI’s. Some were standing still, immersed into themselves, others did some static stretching, while the rest were testing the basic functions and capabilities of their bio-suits. I endured another minute of silence which felt like eternity before I asked again.

Did something happen?

Silence was interrupted by the colonel, who obviously enjoyed naming his underlings using his huge vocabulary of various degrading soldier nicknames which he obviously gained through the decades of his military service. “So worms, enough with the slacking off. By now you should be ready and fully synchronized with your bio-suit, because we will enter the atmosphere in any minute.”

Sen! I really need you!

“What the hell are you?” Sen’s voice finally resounded in my head. She sounded weak, occasionally interrupted by some sort of interference and sounded way more robotic than previously.

I don’t know what you are talking about. What happened?

“I got attacked and almost died!”

Can an AI die?

“Of course not, it was just a twist of words.”

Then I am happy to hear that you are still… hmm... alive. So what happened?

“I tried to enter your chip, but I couldn’t access, nor localize it. And then I got attacked, something started to penetrate my defenses and overwrite my code. I barely managed to stop it and save myself. It took some time to repair myself afterwards.”

How can something attack you?

“I have no answer for this. But I will report this afterwards, for now we are out of time.”

As Sen finished her sentence, the hall vibrated and with a loud hissing of escaping air, a huge door opened on one side of the wall. Daylight pierced the darkness inside through the widening gap. As the smell of petrichor air filled my nose, I saw that others were already rushing towards the outside.

What? Weren't we supposed to enter the atmosphere soon? How is it we already landed?

“Is this your first interstellar travel? First time entering the atmosphere? Even a child knows that with our technology, there is no shaking, no vibrations or anything at all when you enter the atmosphere. In addition to that, this is a high grade military ship, not some casual cruise.”

Well, I...

“Shut up already and get your ass moving. I assume you know how to walk at least.” Sen seemed to have regained her strength and her voice sounded even more commanding than before - if that was even possible.

I ignored AI’s remarks and took a step forward. One careful, insecure, slow step. To my surprise, the suit  felt natural, holding my weight, strengthening and supporting me. Thanks to it, the step was effortless and precise. I started to run.

Energy surged through my body and I never felt so capable and confident before in my life. I felt like I could do a somersault or run a marathon and not break a sweat.

I reached the gate quicker than I anticipated, catching up with the rest of the group and the sunlight blinded my sight for a few seconds. An urban jungle stretched as far as my eyes could see. Tall buildings, futuristic skyscrapers, beautiful city squares, monumental fountains…. laid totally destroyed, in ruins.

Sounds of intense battle, explosions and screams echoed through the streets, amplified by the enclosed spaces of the ruined structures. I stopped at the edge of the loading ramp, took a big breath and listened to my racing heartbeat, as hundreds of droplets moistened my face. Others, full of eagerness and impatience, rushed around me without stopping or taking time to observe the situation.

“Forward!” shouted someone amidst the surrounding charging crowd. “Use the terrain to our advantage! Don’t let them breathe!”

I saw our enemies swarming on and in the ruined buildings. Frightening pure black humanoid figures, enveloped by darkness itself. Some had four arms, others had countless tentacles instead of limbs, but all of them were bipedal. There were other things they all had in common; they lacked facial features and had two shining thin lines where eyes should be. 

I joined others and reached instinctively to my waist. It was that very moment when I realized I don’t have any weapon. Not in my hands, nor on my back or around my loins. I frantically started searching around my body for any kind of a weapon. A rifle, a gun, or heck, even a knife, would make me feel more secure in this situation. But I came up empty-handed.

Sen, I don’t have a weapon. What should I do now?

“I am the weapon of course. For an experienced user, I can be a deadly weapon. But I’m not sure about you.”

How does that work?

“Why am I not surprised?” she sighed exasperated. “You do not have the slightest idea how to use the bio-suit and what it is capable of. There is no time to upload the necessary information.”

How about explaining it to me? You know, just telling me what to do, step by step?

“Easier said than done. But of course you know how to do it, since you have passed the final examination.”

I looked around. Ally soldiers were running up the vertical walls, jumping from one roof to another, using some kind of tentacles. When I looked closer, the suit grew nodules here and there, which could extend to a few meters and attach themselves onto the surface, helping the bio-suit wearer to do things no ordinary human could dream to achieve. They could form blades or claws as they desired and used it to cut down their enemies.

To my surprise, the style of enemy combat wasn’t that different from our own. They could change their bodies as well and in the heat of the moment, it was difficult to tell them apart.

Sen, do you know how exactly the bio-suit works?

“We do not have time for complex, scientific explanations of how the whole bio-suit works and operates. I can explain that  to you later. Assuming, you stay alive, of course.”

How can I learn to control it to such a precise degree like they do?

“Years of practice, experimenting and life or death situations amid combat. They were the same as you are. Similarly to what you were taught, they use their imagination to sprout tentacles or claws, but do it more naturally due to their proficiency.”

I imagined myself growing a tentacle, similar to the one I saw the other combatants were using to move. Then an unknown, indescribable feeling, similar to itching appeared on my back. In a fraction of a second a nodule formed from which immediately sprouted a tentacle, about a meter long. It was a weird, tingling sensation. The new sensory sensation flooded my brain as I could feel the new muscles expanding and falling in place. I cautiously moved the newly formed tentacle around, curious, how well could I control it. To my surprise it felt just the same as moving any other limb. I felt a giant grin stretching on my face.

“How? That shouldn’t be possible! What did you do?”

“What do you mean now Sen?” I asked aloud, confused and irritated, while I subconsciously sprouted another three tentacles. “I did only what you told me to do.”

“What are you? I didn’t receive any brain input from you to control the bio-suit.” she asked suspiciously.

That is weird, I am sorry San, I have no idea how I did it, but that's good, right?

“It is impossible for a human being to operate the bio-suit without my help! Unless...” the tone of her voice did not predict anything good. 

Sudden stabbing pain rushed towards my head. It was so intense, it forced me to fall down on my knees. I grabbed my head and put pressure on the temples.

“What is happening?” I wheezed through my clenched teeth. “That pain! Sen, make it stop!”

“I  am overriding your firewall manually, I need to verify your brain chip right now. This may hurt for a while.”

“Sen, stop! Please! Make it stop!” I shouted, while twisted in agony.

She didn’t respond and the pain got even worse. I can’t say if it took seconds or minutes, but it felt like eternity. Then, something broke or unlocked inside of me. The pain vanished and countless images, scenes and memories poured into my brain.

How our peaceful race was backstabbed, attacked and almost annihilated right after signing a cooperation treaty. Flashes of aliens, looking almost like us, bringing destruction, disease and spilling our blood just because of our planetary resources and advanced bio technology. How they used our own creations and science, modified it and used it to conquer our planet. How they enslaved us and forced us onto the brink of extinction. I couldn’t comprehend how an advanced race, which was capable of traveling through the galaxy, would come to pillage, destroy and kill.

“Of course, you don't need a brain chip to command the suit,” Sens’ voice hissed in my head. The suit suddenly hardened around my body and became solid like concrete. It made me freeze kneeling, with my hands still holding my head. I fell flat on my face and broke my nose, which started to bleed heavily. Figures were rushing around me, but ignored my sudden fall or the pool of blood spreading from under my head.

“Oh fuck! That hurts,” I mumbled. The suit compressed around my chest, making it difficult for me to breathe or talk properly. Sen, what is going on?

“You  almost  got  me, you bastard.” Sen sharply replied with a cold voice. “You almost got me! Nice timing, for an enemy sleeper agent which infiltrated our ranks you played it really well. The lack of the brain chip explains everything. I have already immobilized you. The emergency response unit should be here any minute. Any struggle is pointless.”

I couldn’t move, no matter how much I struggled. I was lying there on the wet ground, waiting for my death, with sounds of combat and explosions penetrated into my ears, when a different voice filled my head. Out of nowhere, I could no longer hear the sounds of battle, only a silent buzzing followed by a long tinnitus. It stopped after a few seconds and a very familiar, a mother-like, tender voice resounded in my mind.

“Welcome home, Envoy 0. The enemy AI was removed from your bio-suit neural system. You can freely control it from now on. You know what to do. Rendezvous afterwards at coordinates 233.798 and 471.060.”

I saw the strike team running towards my direction, stood up and with a whim, covered my head with the bio-suit. Two additional arms, ending with sharp claws grew from under my arms and six tentacles sprouted from my back.

“It’s showtime,” I whispered under my breath as I charged towards my enemies, with a smirk on my lips.