1 My Decision
The year 2053, September 13.
"Ten years have passed since the end of the great third world war, the world has already healed almost all the scars of the great war and has entered a new period of peace, with the world treaty of absolute peace, the carrying and use of weapons of mass destruction worldwide without union permission, even firearms and the recently developed plasma weapons were banned in general use without permission from the union government, not even a country's military had access to them are.
Thanks to this treaty, violence worldwide dropped to historic levels and humanity managed to take a step further, beginning to develop further after the technological stagnation of the great war.
And in times of peace like these, it is sought to explore new horizons to forget the terrors of the past, for this reason the world-class company HotPotato developed the new fully immersive virtual reality game, set in a medieval and fantastic world with many different cultures and histories. to satisfy human curiosity Road Of Destiny which is-"
At that moment, in a random restaurant in the center of Clover City, the waiter turned off the high-tech television as he prepared to close his place while sighing thinking about how much technology has advanced in the last 10 years.
Since the end of the great war and the formation of the world alliance, the focus of the entire humanity has shifted from conflicts and claims to research and technological development.
Shortly after the end of the great war the first fully immersive VR game came out, so these are no longer a novelty 10 years later, but this Road of Destiny seems to be special.
"Maybe I'll buy it and try it later, they say they're preparing to have a player base of around a quarter of the world's population," the waiter thought as he looked out the window.
Suddenly he saw a car go by at high speed on the wide road in front of him, whipping the wind so strong that it rattled the windows of the premises, and right behind him was a motorbike with two men wearing blue suits and safety helmets. specials.
The passenger one had a very wide half-meter barrel as he aimed at the speeding car, in an instant both vehicles had disappeared from the waiter's sight.
"Shit, that was the neutralization squad chasing someone, I didn't think I'd get to see them in action."
The waiter said to himself while fixing his messy hair, the neutralization squad is the elite among the public order forces in the cities, specialized to subdue all criminals using non-lethal weapons and martial arts.
Meanwhile, the two neutralization squad agents who were chasing the runaway car were a bit desperate, the car is much faster than it should be allowed inside Clover City, so it was hard to catch up with their motorcycle despite being of the latest model, thanks to regulations, vehicles for use in cities are normally made to be able to travel at an adequate speed limit.
This law was implemented since with the great technological advances, vehicles have managed to reach enormous speed levels, which would be very dangerous and difficult for governments to control within cities, the only vehicles capable of going a little above those limits imposed in the cities are those of the public forces, especially those of the neutralization unit.
But here they were chasing, criminals who had somehow managed to smuggle an illegal car into the city, leaving them unable to catch up with normal methods and giving them a chance to escape.
"N°6 what the hell are they doing, at this rate they could end up escaping" shouted the man who carried the half-meter cannon on the motorcycle to the bracelet on his hand.
"It could still take a while to surround them, those criminals are very cunning and they are taking too many detours so it is difficult to predict them, and what about you, it is clearly in your firing range so why have you not neutralized that vehicle" replied one voice for the bracelet
"That's not my fault either, these guys are taking very busy roads or with a lot of people, if I shoot them the vehicle could get out of control and cause a tragedy" the man with the cannon replied with resignation.
"This looks bad, if things continue like this his accomplices may act and they can escape... wait!, No. 5 has just reported that he is preparing an ambush, he says to prepare to shoot to the right of the vehicle when the signal," the voice suddenly snapped.
"No. 5? So that's what he was doing all this time… but what the hell do you mean I got ready to shoot, that damn brat is doing things his way again!" the man with the cannon suddenly exclaimed.
"Never mind, it's not like we have a better plan, so let's trust him for now."
The man who was driving the motorcycle suddenly answered, he had been listening to the conversation on the communicator from the beginning, but as a good man of few words he kept his opinion to himself until the end of the conversation.
Grunting a little in response, the man with the cannon spoke no more and raised it again, aiming at the vehicle in front of him that they were chasing and that was gradually moving away from them, it was extremely difficult to keep an eye on an object in such a fast-moving and still more so when you were doing it from a motorcycle that shook a lot more in general, but the man kept his sights perfectly on the target no matter how rough the road was, ready to shoot at any moment.
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In front of the shopping center was a wide two-way road with little traffic, this was the back entrance to this gigantic shopping center and it had a luxurious and technological pedestrian bridge that passed over the road and reached the nearby train station, and It was through it that the true flow of visitors passed.
A little before the pedestrian bridge, a large cargo truck was parked looking in the direction of the bridge, from which a fully equipped person got out in a special blue suit similar to the ones that chased the car, but this man's suit was more robust and seemed more equipped like an astronaut's suit, somewhat losing the elegance of the suit in exchange for power.
The man who got off looked in the direction of the pedestrian bridge as various numbers and calculations flashed on his helmet's display, visible even from the outside.
"Those criminals are cunning, they take so many turns and detours that it's hard to predict where they'll go to surround them, but if No. 3 hasn't neutralized them with the pulse cannon yet, it means that on top of that they choose crowded and high-risk areas." of the accident in case they get shot… if they follow this pattern the probability of them passing through here is high" he mumbled to himself.
After muttering he jumped on top of the truck, and pointed towards the pedestrian bridge with one arm from which a silver-colored rope shot out, the rope stuck to the outside of the pedestrian bridge where many pedestrians were crossing like a spider's web, before contracting and pulling the man onto the bridge.
With a jump powered by his suit and the momentum of the rope, No. 5 managed to climb directly onto the pedestrian bridge in no time, amazing many people who were currently crossing it to go to the mall or the train station.
"An Omega Neutralizing Agent!" exclaimed a surprised voice.
"There must be something serious going on in this area if he shows up here in uniform!" I add a little cautiously another voice.
At one point several voices of alert and excitement rang out across the pedestrian bridge, as some people rushed to leave the scene to avoid getting involved and other curious ones came to watch the show.
No. 5 approached the other end of the pedestrian bridge and looked to the horizon where a black figure could be vaguely seen approaching at high speed down the road.
"Bingo!" exclaimed No. 5 ignoring the commotion around.
At the same time, from his back he took out a circular tube the size of a thermos, which when he took it in his hand instantly stretched on both sides taking the shape of a metallic and technological cane, with holes at its ends similar to those of weapons. .
"Sir, what is that toy?"
Suddenly a childish voice reached the ears of No. 5, turning around in search of the voice, he saw a girl of about 7 years old who had approached him curiously at some point.
"This is not a toy, it's called Midnight and it's a non-lethal neutralization weapon, although it can be really dangerous if you get too close to it" N°5 replied with a smile under his helmet.
"Neutralization weapon? And what is it for? the girl asked again innocently.
"What is it used for? Well of course... to hit the bad guys!" he responded with a laugh #5.
Then, noticing that the fleeing car was very close to his position, he decided to ignore the girl and take action, the car was armored and was traveling at a crazy speed considering that they were inside a city, it was black and its size it was just average.
"I should be able to stop it if I go 100% with Midnight and the combat suit…" he muttered under his breath as he stood at the end of the pedestrian bridge looking at the car a few hundred meters from his position.
At that moment, he jumped down from the pedestrian bridge, predicting the trajectory of the car, as he fell next to the bridge, he hit the tip of his cane against the side of the bridge, releasing a wave of expansive blue light that propelled him faster and more forcefully towards the road...
At the same time, his suit lit up with blue energy through the slits as if it were veins while it was activated at full power, in an instant he approached the front of the moving car and hit the other end of the club on its hood...
With a flash of blue light, a shock wave stronger than the previous one hit the front of the vehicle, significantly reducing its speed and sending it flying forward by inertia.
Behind the car, the two agents who had previously been chasing them saw the scene and were surprised, No. 5 coming out of nowhere and hitting the fugitives so hard, it was unexpected to say the least, but soon after they turned pale with fright, although it had reduced a lot. the speed of the vehicle from the impact still had considerable speed as it flew forward spinning from the reaction of the hit.
But the worst part of the matter is that with its current trajectory and height the car would end up hitting the pedestrian bridge in front of it, which would be just the type of disaster they wanted to avoid, No. 3 reacted immediately and turned the sight of its cannon to pulse with which he threatened them from before following the car, and firing a blue pulse of energy hit the car in its upper right, sending it by reaction against the road in the opposite direction passing inches under the pedestrian bridge.
With a strong impact, the runaway car crashed into the large truck that had previously parked at No. 5, the truck was so heavy that despite the impact the car only slid a little to one side, but its rear compartment was destroyed. The armored black car was currently pinned on it.
It all happened in just a few seconds, astonishing and frightening all the curious onlookers on the bridge, not long after a huge round of applause began to resound from all the onlookers for what had just happened and the successful capture of the criminals.
The motorcycle where the two agents were traveling barely managed to stop in front of No. 5, who was upright in his position in the middle of the now broken road, smoke came out of the suit as if it were a barbecue and all the previous lights were off.
"I have so many things to complain about that I could write a novel about it, but it's clear that you overheated the suit so you better retire to the base for now, leave the rest to me" No. 3 said as he left the cannon aside.
"Okay, I'll accept your offer No. 3" No. 5 replied a little sore.
Shortly after, he got on the motorcycle, moving the suit rigidly and slowly as if he were carrying the pressure of a waterfall on top of him, leaving the scene as spontaneously as he arrived.
"That silly boy never knows how to control himself, fortunately, I react quickly and avoid any accident or it could have been catastrophic" He sighed with an evident tone of pride No. 3 as he watched them leave.
But when he turned around, he almost choked because of the large number of people rushing to the scene with curiosity and the guards of the nearby shopping center in an uproar over what happened, sighing sadly No. 3 resigned himself to fate and went to do his duty. …
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"Ahh I thought I would die in there, that damn suit turns into a microwave when you only use it a little... as always our squad is given the worst quality equipment"
In a large room, a young man in his 20s was lying on a bench, shirtless and semi-naked with only special leggings, dozing on the bench while complaining incessantly.
He was quite tall and athletic, with short hair in the typical crew cut and a 7/10 handsome face, one could say a bit above average.
"Also, why did the hell they gave us this case, those criminals with illegal vehicles clearly should have been driven by the elite squad, but they forced us to catch them by threatening us with a pay penalty… this system of government is rotten…"
His incessant complaints sounded like an alarm clock blaring across the vast room, displaying the potential to wake up even a sedated animal with ease, the other man in the room finally couldn't take it anymore when he finally spoke.
"Shut up Sylas, orders are orders and missions are missions, there's no use complaining in secret when you don't even dare to fart in front of the commander"
The person who spoke was a man with brown skin and average height who appeared to be in his late 20s, with an expression of boredom and seriousness mixed, he was the typically quiet and spiteful neighbor in the neighborhood.
"You just don't understand, Omar, it's unfair to receive this kind of treatment and have to act with a smile in front of those bossy old men, thanking them for their 'consideration' that only makes our lives sour... that's why I've decided" Sylas replied as he shook his head.
"Decided? Determined on what exactly? Omar asked doubtfully as he finished changing.
"Well obviously... I'm going to quit!" Sylas replied calmly as he continued to lie down.
"That?!" Omar exclaimed with surprise, which was unusual for him since he normally gave very lukewarm reactions.
"Just what you heard, a few weeks ago I completed my mandatory military service and I got the notice of this, after which I took quite a bit of time to think and decide what to do from now on, I finally decided that this was not my place. " Sylas calmly narrated as he turned sideways on the bench and scratched his buttock over the special lycra.
"Are you crazy?! After all, you've done and how far you've come, are you going to throw it all away just because your mandatory military service is over? It's a matter of time before you get promoted to the elite division!" Omar claimed.
Looking at the currently upset and angry Omar, and remembering his usual calm and serious self, made a smile appear on Sylas' face, feeling grateful for his consideration, it wouldn't be a lie to say that the members of this squad are practically family to him.
He went on to roll over to the other side with his back to Omar before professionally scratching his other buttock in the methodical, 'bum on the floor, hand on the ass' pose.
"I know what you mean, but I didn't make this decision so lightly and thoughtlessly, I really considered a lot of things and finally decided on this, although I can't tell you much about why... I can only ask you to trust me for now." Sylas answered in a low and a little sad voice.
Omar intended to continue to complain to him and force him to reflect, but upon hearing his lost and depressed tone, he couldn't say a word.
Sylas was the youngest member of the squad, and practically the youngest in the entire neutralization division, having just turned 22 years old, he has come a long way for his age so one would expect him to be someone serious and discreet, but contrary to that Sylas always had a bit of his childish side throughout and was the liveliest.
So just by listening to him now he could realize how serious he was being about this matter, so sighing Omar decided to give up and support him for now, so recovering his usual calm attitude he asked again.
"So, if you want to resign from your position, what do you plan to do to support yourself? Because I can assure you that you will not get any pension from the government just for your few years of service."
Hearing the question, Sylas turned to look back again and smiled at Omar as he raised the hand with which he had previously scratched his buttock and pointed to a discreet billboard that was near the entrance to the room.
"Of course… I will dedicate myself to playing video games!" confessed with a triumphant smile Cain.
"What!?" Omar exclaimed again, once again losing his normal calm attitude.
