Chapter 8 - Briefing

  Walking across the faux wooden stage, a woman in a suit waltzed forward, stealing the attention from the gruff colonel. Her outfit was a woman’s corporate outfit with a tailored blazer and shirt, with the option of a pencil skirt or matching trousers (she’d worn the skirt). Her long blonde hair was tied up in a bun, locked in place by an intricate hair clip that resembled an animal long extinct. Her skin radiated a glow that seemed artificial as her face was smooth and reflected the light in an almost hexagonal pattern. The blazer was synthetic, its beautiful black layers meshed together with metallic thread that glittered in the stage lights. Attached to the breast pocket of the buttoned blazer, a glass like rectangle hung; it intermittently glowed an array of colours as it swayed with her steps. Her shirt was a flawless white, that looked like it had never seen creasing or crumpling. Her inky black skirt looked like a soft, synthetic material but it gave off the feeling that it was as strong as steel. With each step, her black heels clicked against the floor. Reaching the center of the stage, the woman turned to face the onlooking soldiers. Her expression was like a mask- Lisa couldn't decipher a single thought from her face even as the woman scanned the audience.

  “Good morning.” The woman’s dignified voice boomed into the hall, filling every corner. “My name is Mrs. Holland, I am Director Walker’s secretary and I will be delivering the briefing for you today.” Lisa felt confused, such a high profile corporate figure talking to (albeit elite) soldiers felt- off. Clicking her fingers, the wall behind her flickered to life displaying a screen with a huge block of text.

  “Before we can continue, every one of your contracts have been updated to include these following terms.” The screen behind her started to scroll down at a brisk pace, though if you focused you'd be able to read it. The text kept scrolling as she spoke again. “By attending this briefing you have automatically accepted these terms so there is no point running through them.”

  With another click the still scrolling text skipped to another slide with four characters written in bold. X-01.

  “Congratulations, IZ-200s, you have been selected via the board of directors to partake in The Falling Mountains largest project to date. This project is called X-01, hopefully the first in a long line of X projects. The highest level physicists, computer scientists and engineers have rethought a way to break past the Old world beliefs on space and time and allow it to bend to the companies desires." The slide changed to display a 3D scan of a slightly different looking earth. ‘’Using Patent pending technology, we have devised a way for long range spatial travel. And this is X-01, your destination." The slight pause between Mrs. Holland’s sentences gave way for the room to erupt in murmurs and whispers. It was out of character for the otherwise obedient, silent statues, but even Lisa moved her head to gauge reactions of the other soldiers, and to get a good look at Joe.

  Mrs. Holland clicked her fingers again, displeasure on her face while doing so. Inside the helmets of the soldiers, red text filled their vision.

  “Override: Full stasis: initiated.” like a light switch being flipped, the room fell eerily silent as the heads of the mass of soldiers moved to face forwards, their lips freezing shut. Within three seconds the soldiers turned into statues observing the two people on stage. With a sideways glance at the Cornel, she started to speak again.

  “Using our new understanding of black holes, space time and old world wormholes, now redubbed as Troy Loft bridges, named after our founder, we are able to travel light years instantaneously. Your task is simple: you are to travel through to X-01 and support the researchers there until relevant data is collected. Once that has completed you are tasked with defense of the base until evacuation in five years. Within the two weeks of the manned expedition we have only had two incidents, one being a direct attack on the researchers and one being a false flag." The slide flickered to two pictures of a lizard looking humanoid laying on a table while a selection of photographs of old world animals accompanied them. Its features were scaled and sharp with an elongated snout instead of a nose with two rows of sharp teeth hidden within their mouths. As Lisa looked at the old world animals, the one labeled, “Bearded dragon (Pogona Vitticeps)” looked the most like the monster. While the monster looked like a human, its proportions were more like a young teen rather than a human adult as it was short and quite thin.

  “These creatures conducted an attack on the base within six hours of the manned crew arriving. Although these ‘’Lizard men’’, as they have been dubbed, attacked with primitive spears and nets, one biologist lost his life. Due to environmental factors, our schedule has been set back as we haven't been able to launch any satellites or do local environmental scans beyond 200 kilometers and even then the data is heavily varied and unreliable. So we have come to the current theory that these are the current dominant species in this area.” The current slide moved onward showing a looped video of one of these lizard men walking in a white box with a bed in the corner. Its movements were panicked and erratic with the sheets of the bed ripped and left discarded in the snow white, padded room. The video lasted about 20 seconds before looping on itself, and while the video had no audio itself, it was painfully obvious that the monster was yelling.

  “We captured one and it’s being held at the temporary base we have set up; make sure, unless stated otherwise, you avoid contact with the captured monster and stay clear from its holding cell. It will be clearly marked and your onboard AI will be alerted to the containment zone if you get too close.”

  The slide moved onward and displayed a topological map of a small clearing in a woodland.

  “This is the temporary base set up at the drop off zone at the end of the Troy Loft bridge, however the camp is unable to sustain itself for longer than one more month. As a result, the first task you are given is to help set up a nuclear fusion reactor and connect it to a nearby river, though I'll leave the specifics up to Colonel Muller. The local area is a woodland which I was made aware of that our soldiers are not trained with this environment, thus with Director Walker's approval simulations of woodland environments will be added to onsite training facilities. I expect a gift from the Director won't be wasted.”

  Mrs. Holland’s glare was like ice, scowling at everyone in the room before clicking her fingers again, her expression returning to her normal neutral facade. Lisa felt like her head was going to explode again today; if her body would listen to her commands, she would be rubbing her temples and trying to soothe the coming headache. The corporate suit who nobody at Lisa’s level should be interacting with was telling them about space travel and black holes- topics which confused her immensely.

  “With the weather being stormy ever since making landfall, we are unable to determine unknown weather phenomenon or patterns in weather, so you are all to assume it is strictly storming until we are able to gather more information.” Mrs. Holland continued, the slide changing into a simulation of the weather, with timestamps of the previous weeks and predictions of future weather. With another click, demanding attention, the screen behind the two presenters changed to a warning symbol in the top right with small text running alongside it.

  “Before the end of the briefing I have to make you aware of potential current and future dangers due to our lack of information, so pay close attention.” A click of her hand increased the size of one of the lines at the top of the slide, allowing everyone to read.

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  “We have been running tests on the local atmosphere and our studies so far have come back with inconclusive data on the breathability of the air. Although the lizard men have lungs akin to earth’s animals, and ourselves, do not breathe the air without your helmet's air filter and purification.” she clicked again, and the text shrunk while the second line grew to replace the last line.

  “Microorganisms are still under investigation.” Mrs. Holland's voice droned out as Lisa couldn't concentrate; years of relentless training to kill off the psychos that attack and kidnap innocent people- just to be shipped off somewhere else? she could feel herself get angry, ignoring the slides occasionally changing.

  “Im here to pay off my debt," Lisa spoke in her mind while taking the deepest breaths possible in her frozen state. “As long as I'm paid, that's all that matters, someone else can kill off the maniacs ruining the world.” She soothed her building rage and tried to concentrate on the rest of the lecture.

  The briefing from Mrs. Holland took a while longer, with more confusing graphs and data sets than she had seen in school. They talked about airborne diseases, infections, wildlife and a whole host of things. It was only until Mrs. Holland had finished her speech on increased radiation in local fauna and flora, that the screen turned black, and she stopped speaking.

  “Thank you for your time.” Cornel Muller gave a quick salute to the woman who nodded in satisfaction. The suited woman began to walk away off stage, until just as the last of her heels disappeared behind the curtain. A bright red glow illuminated Lisa's face.

  “Override: Full stasis updated - Partial stasis reapplied.” The infamous red text of the Falling Mountains’ AI filled her screen as the muscles in her face and neck finally responded to her commands. Although she could breath during full stasis, she let out an exasperated breath and moved her head around slightly, beginning to feel warm blood flow.

  The colonel dropped his hand and turned to the audience of soldiers who were all moving their heads slightly.

  “As Mrs. Holland said, other than the researchers who are already stationed there, we are the first to set foot on this new planet. As the vanguard, we are tasked with defence and security. Our first call is to set up a nuclear reactor; this will require half of the force we have available to do so, meaning you will be selected for this opportunity the higher your squad scores on the simulators we have been given access to.” he took a deep breath and started pacing around the stage. “There has already been a death without our assistance, and as elites of the falling mountains military, I expect not one more hair on those scientists' heads are damaged. They are the backbone of this operation, and if some are to fall, who knows if we can make it back.” His old scarred face looked at the soldiers following his pacing, the silence being held for a few more moments before he broke it again.

  “I will inform the platoon leaders of when your squad has access to the trainers. Now I have a few more topics to discuss on the logistics side of this mission.” A glowing hologram appeared above his left arm. It was blue in colour and the size of an A4 piece of paper and about as thin as one too. With a slow nod, he saluted the soldiers and meandered behind the red curtain.

  ____________________________________________________________________________

  Mrs. Holland continued on the corridor she came from to get to the meeting room. Although it was only her heels clicking in the blindingly white room, she was not alone. Appearing out of nowhere a robotic head materialized beside her, its face glossy and smooth, mimicking the shape of a human’s without any of the truly ‘’human’’ characteristics of one. In the centre, a dim red light glowed. It looked at Mrs. Holland.

  “MRS HOLLAND, DIRECTOR WALKER WISHES TO TALK TO YOU IMMEDIATELY. SHALL I CONFIRM HIS REQUEST?” instead of the clunky robotic, droning sound androids usually had, this one spoke with a silky soft voice that flowed smoothly.

  “Yes, I am heading to his office now.”

  “CONFIRMED” the android spoke before its head phased out of sight with a wave of pixels.

  Reaching the end of the corridor, two large framed combat androids stood blocking a sealed door. Instead of the shoulder mounted missile silos they would usually be fitted with for open combat, a rectangular box mounted on a tentacle-like appendage tracked Mrs. Holland as she got closer. Coming within thirty meters, a laser emitted from the device. (which looked like an old world style security camera.)

  With two lasers pinned on her heart and forehead, it didn't slow her stride. Walking across a red line splitting the corridor, the two robots moved in sync, bringing up their arms in an hostile manner with the heatsinks glowing with the building power forced into the laser cannons. Reaching a double red stripe painted on the floor, she stopped and stared at the two towering robots not even five meters from her. The android on the right’s shoulder device snaked its way down, extending its cord like a robotic arm. If she was still in her old skin she would have been sweating at the heat from the two cannons pointed at her, slowly swaying, matching her body's natural movements.

  As the device reached her eyeline, its laser extended into a wide cone that illuminated her face. Its bright red glow changed to a less intense, softer green after observing her for a few seconds, then turning off. Mrs Holland remained still, allowing for the mechanical snake to move towards her right eye. From the black glass surface, a circular cover from the center slid open giving way for a needle to slide out. The blocky pen-tipped sized needle extended further and further towards her cornea. Mrs Holland couldn't stop herself from nervously smiling and giving off a small shudder. The needle passed through the metallic eye and locked itself inside; Mrs Holland felt a familiar tingle of electricity in her brain. Once the robot was satisfied with the information it had collected, the key returned to the scanner and the black glass closed up. The heat from the androids' arms cooled significantly as they lowered to their sides. As the camera moved back to its resting position on the shoulder of the goliath, the two robots took a heavy step to the side, leading Mrs Holland to the sealed door. Performing a similar tedious verification process, this time using her wrist port rather than the eye. The three layered door opened, a heavy thud ringing out as both doors retracted into the wall.

  Stepping inside the small elevator, she waited briefly to feel her guardians presence, before activating one of two buttons. With the doors closing, the force of being launched up let the woman take a deep breath. Rubbing her eyes, she slouched against the side railing. The number above the door escalated consistently until they were climbing floors in seconds. She finished rubbing her eye, making sure it felt normal again. The light pierced the one way glass that was the wall she was leaning on. Turning her head, she saw yellow smog overlaying the world. Being on one of the central spires and climbing fast, she looked at the soldiers patrolling the grounds looking like light worker ants while the occasional combat androids were more like soldier ants. Reaching around about fifty floors up, the smog dissipated significantly with the moon hanging high in the sky, smothered in clouds, the bright spotlights burning away at the yellow fog mounted on the numerous skyscrapers were the cities’ light. At a hundred or so floors, the high rise apartments and residential blocks started to reach their limit, with large clunky designs, they ruined the beauty of the glossy corporate buildings that reached the clouds. As Mrs Holland soared higher and higher while gently reducing speed she could see the Falling Mountains buildings and defence platforms reaching to the horizon, the white marble stone and black oneway glass looking stunning in the spotlight’s light.

  The elevator slowed to a stop at the 196th floor, opening into a lobby with three other elevators’ closed doors. The curved room was layered with mahogany lined with gold. The room was a semi-circle, with the elevators on the curved section while a large wood door and a few lights were the only features on the flat wall. Centered in the room was a long desk with a few papers scattered along a padded section. Walking forward, Mrs. Holland shifted through the papers on the table and, picking up a small stack, she moved to the door and knocked.

  “Mr Walker, it's Olivia.”