Chapter 12: Ch 12 – Rating

After getting directions from the robot, Issac made his way to the next testing area. He was placed into a small testing room by himself. In front of him was a large platform, and surprisingly, it held his pilot suit. 

"My suit?"

"Mech Pilots are tested and divided according to one criterion."

A voice echoed right as Issac got curious. In the room appeared another person, a large man who looked like a soldier yet seemed to really not want to be there. When he found that he was shorter than Issac though, he straightened up a bit. 

"The most important aspect of a Mech Pilot is their Power. Your Power determines your Echelon ranking and your ability to influence nature, for good or bad. Here, your power will be tested and classified. Be sure to answer all of my questions honestly. Now, you will first tap into our standard emission gun and inject your power into it. After a few small tests there, you will step into your pilot suit, demonstrate your primary power manifestation, and then do a power dump. First, the emission gun."

The man pointed to a table that held a single mounted gun. Issac walked over to it, sitting in the seat. The man grabbed a black cord hanging off the gun and handed it to him. 

"Insert this into your neural interface."

Issac just hummed and did as he said. The jack connected to the port on the back of his head at the base of his skull. Issac didn't feel any different, though he could sense another passage to direct his energy into. 

"Now, inject your power. The gun will automatically fire. Don't worry about its low power or efficiency."

"Okay."

With a nod, Issac controlled the dark energy within him. It streamed through his neural interface and into the weapon. The gun glowed with a dull blue color before letting out a beam. 

The target across from the gun was incinerated by the beam, the metal surface glowing yellow with heat. The man's eyebrow raised. 

"Again."

*Flash!*

"Again."

*Flash!*

Issac input his power every time he was asked to fire. He did this 5 times. Each time Issac did it, he needed to control the manifestation of his power. 

As Issac had learned over the years, there were two states of dark energy. The first state was its 'pure' state in which it didn't have any special attributes. When dark energy was within a person's body, it existed in this state. After all, if the power manifested within the body, it would kill the hosts. 

As soon as the dark energy exited the person's body though, it manifested with the person's power. Only, there were two different ways one could make their power leave their body

Issac's power was dense and concentrated, so the power was directed along his nervous system. In this case, the only way he could extract his power was through the neural interface made of dark iron. The dark iron acted as a medium for dark energy to travel along and not manifest with its power. 

With that interface, Issac could jack into machines, like his pilot suit and this emission gun, and stream his power to them. His power would then manifest within the machine, allowing it to be controlled and directed outward. 

However, there was another way for people to emit their powers. That was through Dark Fields. 

A majority of those with powers produced Dark Fields. These were fields of dark energy that extended one's ability to manifest their power beyond their body, like some kind of aura. This way, those with dark fields didn't need a neural interface to extract their power. They could wield them like magicians. 

However, those who produced dark fields were actually weaker. The field was created as a result of their power being less dense and concentrated. This meant the power was weaker. On the contrary, those with dense and strong powers couldn't create fields as their dark energy was compressed into their nervous system. 

So while those born with stronger powers relied on their neural interfaces, it was worth the expenditure. Additionally, only those with no dark field and a neural interface could become Mech Pilots. Others weren't strong enough to warrant an entire mech. 

It went without saying that every mech pilot in the Mantle had a neural interface. Those with dense powers represented the pinnacle of potential.

As Issac streamed his power into the emission gun, his power would manifest inside what was known as a conversion core. The conversion core was responsible for manifesting dark energy in systematic ways, preventing it from going berserk and destroying the weapon. It was the most important part of any weapon or machine that handled powers. 

Issac could control how his power manifested inside the conversion core. He usually used Hardlight, but this emission gun didn't allow for that. So he had to opt for creating pure beams of light and electricity. His power was controlling anything electromagnetic, which included all photons and their forms. 

Issac would extract energy from the photons or magnetic fields around him, supplying his manifestation that way. Just shoving dark energy through a tube didn't guarantee its effects, and Issac had great freedom in how he manifested his energy. 

He could take from heat sources giving off infrared radiation. He could tap into magnetic fields. He could tap into visible light. He could tap into radio waves and X-rays. Any source of electromagnetic radiation could attribute his dark energy and give it special effects. For instance, some of his shots through the emission gun weren't seen, though they had their effects on the target. 

After firing those five shots, Issac stopped. Then, the man had him step into his pilot suit. 

"Now, I want you to use your power as you normally would. Show me how you usually manifest it."

"Sure."

Issac didn't hide anything. With a wave of the hand, sparks flew and formed an object. The object was a small blue statue, and it resembled the Mantle that Issac saw when flying here.

He handed it to the man, who grabbed it and nodded curiously. He felt the object that was very light and glowed like blue glass. Then, he raised his arm, throwing it straight at the floor.

*Crack!*

The statue cracked, a few pieces shattering and dispersing into motes of light. Issac didn't mind. This was just testing the properties of his power. 

Then, the man asked all sorts of questions about the power. Issac gave him all the details of Hardlight, performing a few other smaller demonstrations. 

After he was satisfied, the man directed Issac's attention elsewhere.

"Now you will inject all your power into this conversion core. This will be taking a measurement of your sheer destructive potential, otherwise known as your Yield. The more power you can inject, the better. This means don't hold back."

"Okay."

Issac obeyed. In front of him was a large conversion core constructed of high purity dark materials and connected to all kinds of energy siphoning devices. 

Issac touched the core, and his power streamed into his pilot suit. It was directly streamed into the core, and his arms began to spark and glow with blue flashes. 

The man watched as Issac frowned and injected all the dark energy he could muster. The siphoning devices became red hot as they extracted all the raw energy. Other than that though, there were no sounds or indications of the chaos inside the conversion core. 

This lasted a mere minute, after which Issac let out a groan and backed off. His soul stung with pain after using so much of his dark energy.  

"...Are you done?"

"Yes."

"...Oh."

The man was stunned for a bit, but just shrugged. He almost looked disappointed in Issac's performance.

After sighing, the man grabbed a device. It was a card, and a display flashed on it with lines of data. 

He didn't read it, instead handing it directly to Issac. Issac ignored the non-physical pain and received it. 

"Congratulations. You're now a certified Mech Pilot. Your classified power, along with all your other details like Clearance, Yield, and level are all listed on there. That card contains a unique identity tied to you and you alone. Connect it with your neural interface and you'll unlock the results of your tests. After that, the card is yours. Don't lose it."

"Thank you."

"Take off your pilot suit and we'll take care of it. After you leave, you should receive further directions from that card of yours."

Issac nodded a bit laboriously, obviously tired from the test and drain of his energy. After he took off the suit, the man led him out, and Issac made his way to a wide open plaza. 

After appearing, he grabbed a small cord on the card and jacked it into his neural interface. Words flashed in his vision and on the card. 

You are reading story Echelon at novel35.com

---

Profile:

Name: Issac Exos

Age: 22

Clearance: Confidential

Technician Rating: Level 3- (Theoretical: 3)

• Generation 13 Ranking: 99

Power: Force Type - Electromagnetic (Manipulation)

• Specialty: Hardlight
  • Description: The ability to congeal Light into solid mass. Can form virtually any object depending on imagination and computational ability. Scale depends on sheer power and control.

Echelon Type(s): Catastrophy, Auxillary

• Catastrophy Rating: Personal - Division 4
  • Yield: 1074
• Auxillary Rating: Beta

---

Issac was impressed by all the different details. Just from those tests, they had actually determined that Issac had an ability that could freely manipulate the electromagnetic force. They also accurately described Hardlight, though he was sure it was only a neat trick to them. 

His Clearance was raised to Confidential. This was technically a level below his technician rating which was at level 3-. Though, Issac wasn't sure what the minus sign meant, or what the theoretical rating meant. Maybe it was just a more specific division. 

As for his Catastrophy rating, Issac wasn't sure what the criteria to hit certain levels were. He also didn't know how good his Yield was. That Yield represented his fullest power output. He would have to measure against others to find out where he stood. 

Then there was the Auxillary rating. Issac wasn't sure what this was, so he tapped the card, prompting a definition to appear. 

---

Auxillary Rating: A rating of a power's utility, disregarding destructive or supportive ability. 

There are four Auxillary classifications. From least to greatest, they are:

Beta

Alpha

Zeta

Omega

Each subsequent rating is determined by the effort required to contain the power, and by extension, the user who controls the power.

Beta means that a power can be easily contained given mild effort by unorganized forces at the same power level.

An Alpha rating means that large organized effort and a general understanding of the ability are required to contain it. 

Those with Zeta ratings are those that take the largest scale efforts by those of a higher power level and a deep understanding of the ability in order to contain it. 

Omega rated powers cannot be contained, except by galactic military efforts.

---

Issac read the definitions and was surprised. 

The ratings were rather broad, but the concept of containment was interesting. Technically, all powers that were used with utility in mind were auxiliary powers. Issac's Hardlight fell under the lowest auxiliary rating. After all, it wasn't much more special than generating objects. Something like invisibility would likely have a higher rating. 

'Maybe I should try and make myself invisible. I can control light, after all.'

Issac thought to himself before looking at the final piece of information on his card. 

"Generation 13 ranking. What does 99 mean? Like, the 99th percentile? Man, I thought I did well on the test. Guess I'm stupid when it comes to this place..."

Issac let out a depressed sigh. He was at the bottom of the barrel in his generation. He wasn't that surprised since he just got here and was younger than the normal age of entry, but he was still hoping to do better. He had thought himself at least somewhat prepared. 

"Well, at least I got in. I can slowly climb from here on out."

*Beep!*

At that moment, Issac heard a rapid beeping sound. He looked at his card that had new words on it. 

"In two hours, I can proceed to my new residence. I get a house? That's nice. Hm, the Omega residential area. Sounds fancy. I guess I can explore until then, huh?"

Issac looked around while mumbling. Many of those around him were cheering with friends, celebrating their admission. However, the number of people in the plaza was far fewer than the plaza Issac had first appeared in. Obviously, many didn't pass. 

At first, Issac thought he could message Anthony. On second thought though, he didn't mind having a bit of alone time. With that, he walked off in a random direction. 

Issac exited the plaza, entering the true Mantle for the first time. When he looked up though, he was stunned.

An inverted world.

The Mantle itself was a moon atop its mother planet. It went without saying that the place was massive. However, Issac did not expect that the Mantle was actually hollow. 

The buildings on the ground all faced the center of the moon, instead of a standard planet where buildings would face outward toward space. When Issac looked above him, he could see the opposite side of the moon, another land filled with massive buildings like the one around him. 

The place was even more exotic than the Megalith, and despite being covered in forests of skyscrapers, there were also natural areas that contained lakes, rivers, mountains, and exotic forests.

In the center of the Mantle was a miniature star that shone light on all surfaces of the inverted world at the same time, simultaneously producing a repulsive gravitational field that kept everyone grounded.

All the buildings seemed to be competing for who could reach the star in the center, rising up several miles in height. Flying cars and even small spaceships flew around the inverted world. Issac even saw massive mechs flying alongside them, the rocket boosters on their backs creating streaks in the sky. 

In this place, there was no single place that stood out. That was because they were all so fantastically huge and grand that Issac couldn't differentiate them. Just like when he flew over the Megalith, he was overwhelmed. 

But after looking for a while, he noticed a few places that were just a step above the others. 

The first was a single large castle. The castle looked both high tech yet medieval. It was also seriously huge. The top of the castle was 20 miles tall, and it covered an area the size of three large cities combined. Issac could see ships, flying cars, and mechs buzzing around this castle like flies. 

That castle was the largest single building in the Mantle, covering a wider area than all others. It was located across the world from him, yet with its grand appearance, he could see it easily. 

The second eye catching structure was actually a series of structures. Issac could see a patch of land that was dotted with a few hundred large islands. On these islands that floated a few miles above the surface were mansions, obviously a residential area. 

These islands were arranged in a spiral staircase pattern, with each subsequent island being higher than the other. There were actually 13 of these spiral island formations, and each had 100 islands that spiraled several miles high. 

Issac sighed in awe. He wished he could live on one of those islands. Compared to his previous farmhouse, it would be a huge upgrade!

Other than these two places, Issac saw thousands of other large scale constructions. Everything from factories to research institutions filled the Mantle. This was a place of the greatest innovation and technological competition, so naturally, it had the best facilities in the galaxy. 

And now, Issac was a dark technician and pilot at the Mantle.

He spent the next two hours wandering around the immediate vicinity. Because he didn't have any money or belongings on him, he couldn't pay a flying car to take him anywhere, not that he had a particular destination. 

At the same time, Issac pulled out his galactic terminal and surfed the net. He grabbed a map of the place after getting into the official database for the Mantle. With his new card and ID, he could get lots of information with a few clicks of the button. They made it really easy for him. 

Using this information, he was about to look up where the Omega Residential Area was, but before he could, he got a call. It was from Anthony.

"I'm in!"

 

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