1 Long Wait
I open my eyes and see only darkness around me which then rapidly spreads outwards revealing me inside the center of a crater. I start to hear strange voices, monstrous cries, coming from the shadows. One voice starts to become more understandable from the chaos of sounds.
"It's time to face it, for the first and final time!"
I then awaken, I sit up from my bed, covered in sweat, and my heart racing.
(Another nightmare, 3rd time this week, maybe my nerves is what's causing it or my condition since I haven't had an episode in a while but the aptitude test is today to see if I am eligible for recruitment.)
I get up from my bed, put on my uniform, and go check the terminal with facial recognition for any updates on today's Drex readings.
(Drex, the beasts that appeared when the Calamity happened 10 years ago. They started appearing after large spires of red crystals started piercing through the ground, getting as tall and large as skyscrapers.)
Nothing interesting showed up on the terminal beside the new recruitment evaluations, it's for the new task force that's been in development stages since the Calamity and the military weaponry doesn't affect the Drex much besides annoying it.
Obsidian has worked with the government even before the Calamity and has developed weapons and armaments against the Drex so far.
I take a look through the terminal some more and I take a look at my profile status.
Date: January 13th, 2041
Name: Zandyll Azaki
Age: 20
Birth: 22nd of February, 2020
Power: Unknown
Siblings: None
Family:
Saito Azaki (Father) - Status: Alive
Kaya Azaki (Mother) - Status: Deceased
Yoshida Azaki (Grandfather) - Status: Deceased
(The only person who knows about my power is Dad and the lead researcher who's known my dad since before the Calamity. I had countless tests on me to see what my power really is but I won't let them know, no one should know about what I can do.)
I scroll down more on the profile page about me.
Feats: Currently unknown
Weaknesses: Currently unknown
(That's right I guess, I've been here since I was 10. After they took me in, they started to find more people with powers that gained them after the Calamity, except nobody besides me and the other two knows my power.)
I close the terminal and I go to my desk and grab my NeuroBud, it's still being worked on but it is a communicator and holographic display in one. It can communicate with people that are on the network and HQ.
The display appears, like my eyes are the monitor and the NeuroBud is the computer, I see a message sent to me almost immediately.
"Zandyll, please report to the aptitude test chamber and receive further instructions when inside."
I close the message and make my way out of the door.
I go down the hall and into the elevator, I hit the training facility button and the door closes and locks. I feel the large elevator shift and move downward, after 2 minutes of waiting, the elevator stops and opens the doors. I see a hallway that leads to a bulkhead door with 2 officers tending to it.
I go down the hall and meet with the officers in front of it, blocking my path. I use my NeuroBud to send my profile and authorization along with the message that I needed. They look over the information quickly and let me inside, they salute and open the bulkhead for me, allowing me to proceed.
I enter a large room, walls covered in cement and steel along with some technological devices in the center on a lift. I walk through and head to the device and see a window open up toward the top of the room. I see several scientists, a few of the first members of the original task force, and alongside them are my father and the head researcher.
"Zandyll, would you please walk into the device in front of you, it will scan and test your psionic aptitude, and if you are eligible, you will have a collar attached to you which in return will provide enhancement to your physical abilities alongside your powers. We will know your power and psionic ability after the test. Now please proceed."
The head researcher says to me before cutting the microphone and speaking to my father and task force members.
(No going back now, this is the only way that I can be accepted, and I'll face whatever tests and consequences my results say.)
I step into the device, it sends several metal pillars around me that have sensors on them. It starts to spin slowly then picks up speed rapidly and the sensors activate. I stay still during this entire process and eventually it stops spinning and lifts upward.
"Congratulations Zandyll, you're our first recruit in the new task force division. Now please wait for the collar to bind."
The device above me lowers a robotic arm that had a metal collar that from what I can see has sensors and injectors attached. It wraps around my neck and attaches itself.
"Now that it's connected, let's boot up the pairing sequence."
He then moved to the terminal beside him and starts the process.
(Finally, I'm accepted, I can finally help with the threat the Calamity has brought upon us all.)
I take a deep sigh.
The collar snaps and breaks into pieces.
The device starts reading out my psionic and physical attributes in front of me and everyone, it goes up and it keeps going, it doesn't stop even after its maximum reading. The machine starts reading Unknown on the screen and starts to crack and the machine shakes until it cannot function once more.
"That's very strange but promising it seems, your physical and psionic aptitude is higher than what we expected, it could not read your power because it was something unfamiliar to us, and the collar before it broke read that it cannot read the target, it was still in development but it will have to do."
The main researcher stops speaking and looks over at my father.
"What do we do now president?"
My father looks at me and proceeds.
"Zandyll, welcome to the new task force, congratulations."
