Chapter 13: Flying at Mach 2

Kane closed his eyes, calling out to the GUIDE within to initiate the challenge for a dream stage scenario. A moment passed with nothing changing before he suddenly felt the weightlessness of being in a void again. He kept his eyes closed, waiting for the transfer to complete. But as the world around him began to materialize, he could feel the disorienting force of acceleration tugging at his body.

The cockpit of a jet suddenly engulfed him, and the overwhelming speed at which he was moving pressed him against his seat. G-forces acting against him, making him feel as though he'd been thrust into a roller coaster, with the sensation of both ascent and descent simultaneously. His hands were shaking, and he tried to steady himself by gripping the arms of the pilot seat.

His heart raced as the reality of the situation sunk in. He had expected a dream scenario, not this chaotic thrill ride. The cockpit instruments and controls were a confusing mess, and the world was a blur of clouds and sky, the horizon spinning wildly.

*'This is definitely not how I imagined my first scenario would be.*

The panic threatened to take hold as he desperately tried to regain some semblance of control over the unfamiliar aircraft. Maybe he had to safely escape this death ride? There are emergency exit procedures for such situations, right?

But the situation then started to improve, the acceleration stopped, and the cockpit's chaos subsided. The glaring lights and engine's blaring noise subsided as the jet stabilized, and the deafening roar mellowed to a manageable hum. Kane cautiously opened his eyes and found himself flying smoothly through the sky, high above the ground.

A window suddenly popped up in front of him:

Scenario Type: Individual Objective Clearance

Scenario Brief:

You are now part of Operation Sky Recon, tasked with investigating a mysterious anomaly in the designated airspace. Reports from satellite observations suggest a substantial mass presence in the area, but no visual data or images have been captured, making the nature of the anomaly uncertain.

Mission Details:

Deployment: You have been deployed in a state-of-the-art XI89 fighter jet equipped with advanced sensors and communication gear.

Objective 1: Navigate to the coordinates provided in your mission briefing, which is the reported location of the anomaly.

Objective 2: Upon reaching the designated area, conduct thorough observations and data collection.

Objective 3: Ascertain the nature and origin of the anomaly. Gather as much information as possible.

Objective 4: Transmit detailed findings through the designated communication channel. This will be a live feed for real-time updates and data transfer.

Special Instructions:

Maintain constant communication with the command center and other team members.

Stay alert and prepared for unexpected developments.

Exercise caution when approaching or engaging with the anomaly.

Outcome:

Your mission's success is crucial in understanding and dealing with the anomaly. Once you have cleared the objective, further instructions for your next course of action will be provided.

Reading the instructions, Kane nodded to himself. He had learned as much as he could about the scenarios from Eli and Jay's experience, as well as questioning the GUIDE for what it was worth.

While Eli had been in a group scenario where she had to compete with her alternate selves, Jay had been in an individual scenario like him right now. The GUIDE had also revealed that all the three types of stages before the reality stages were just like tutorials. Preparing them for the real deal.

And the reality stage was where the actual competition for life and death would take place. The chilling revelation by the GUIDE two days ago still rang loud in his mind. If they didn't defeat and absorb their alternate selves, they would become the stepping stone for others. And only in the reality stages there was a chance to subdue other alternate selves.

So the three stages before were there to train and make the Residents experience all kinds of encounters, so they could finally face themselves in the final stage. There were set rewards for the dream, memory and world stages. All these rewards, combined with their experiences, would provide them the tools to compete in the reality stages.

And his situation right now resonated true with all the information he had so far.

He immediately set to identify the mechanism and working of the buttons and lights that were spread around him. The GUIDE would provide an explanation if he could not figure it out by himself. But he felt it was necessary to face the challenge by himself for the most part. To decrease the reliability on GUIDE.

Since he had learnt of how randomly the GUIDE worked, with no principles to make sense of its decisions, he had decided to keep it as the last resort in all cases.

As he made himself familiar, he finally noticed that the interior and the complete setup were a lot different from what he remembered seeing in pictures back home. There were fewer buttons and the navigation system was much easier to make sense of.

This was closer to playing a VR game than a mission that decided the direction his future took. He also felt that it was easier for him to remember details and that his physique seemed enhanced slightly, to adjust to the high-speed environment he was in. Perhaps a sudden mutation due to his circumstances? But this was supposed to be a dreamlike simulation, so sudden mutations did not quite make sense. Whatever, he would probably find out once he was out. 

Kane's fingers danced over the control panel as got familiar. A cluster of lights flickered and beeped, revealing valuable information about the jet's status. He muttered to himself, his voice filled with tension, "Alright, this is the throttle... this is the navigation system... and that's the eject button?"

Something momentarily diverted his attention as a holographic window popped up before him. Kane quickly swiped it open to establish a connection with the operations officer, whose face appeared on the screen. The officer, a middle-aged man with a stern expression, began the conversation.

"Kane, this is the command center. You've successfully deployed for Operation Sky Recon. How's everything on your end?"

Adapting to his character, he calmly replied, "Command, this is Kane. Everything seems to be in working order. ETA 5 minutes. I will soon be within the perimeter of the target region. The live feed will begin once I am 1 minute away."

The officer nodded and said, "Be careful out there. This mission might be related to the recent disappearance of the Sky Stations. Call for backup immediately if you notice anything strange."

His voice was grave as he delivered this piece of information that had not been included in the mission briefing. Kane smiled while gritting his teeth, closing the communication channel once the officer was done. He knew there was no way it was going to be anything simple. Now all he could hope was that nothing too extreme was waiting for him there.

He increased his speed and made sure to turn on all forms of surveillance that the jet was equipped with. This tech was definitely better than back at earth, as he looked at the surveillance parameters that were showing on his screen. Spatial detection? Gravitational coherence? Higgs field?

Well, he didn't have to bother with knowing and understanding the value of each parameter, as any object that would enter the detection radius would pop up. From his little understanding of the terms displayed, there was no way anything could bypass the surveillance.

Right as he had that thought, the clouds ahead began to swirl and part, and from them emerged a colossal shadow. Its black scales shimmering like polished steel, horns running down its spines and its enormous wings outstretched. The fiery eyes were locked onto the jet, staring into Kane's soul. The sight was both breathtaking and surreal, as this was his first encounter with a Dragon.