Chapter 110: The Gauntlet

I staggered out of the teleport beam and fell heavily, shoulder first, into the wall. It wasn't as bad as the first time, and I didn't feel as if I were going to crumble to my knees and puke up whatever was left in my stomach this time, but it was still a thoroughly pleasant experience. Andi chuckled and strode past me, clearly none the worse for wear after the teleportation. 

"I guess your kind don't have teleport technology then?" She chuckled, "Don't worry Craig, gets better after the first couple of spins." 

"Yeah…" I grumbled, pushing myself off the wall and shaking the dizziness out of my head, "It better." 

We had teleported into a large, mostly empty room. The walls, floor and ceiling were all made up of the same shining white tiles, bar what appeared to be a rack of assorted weapons on the far side of the room. An alien was looking through the weapons, it looked big and powerful, and I could only assume its name was Quatz. The creature was a hulking mass that towered over both myself and Andi, with four bulging arms sticking out from its torso. The creature was completely devoid of hair, though I could see what appeared to be a set of ridges or cracks in the back of its amber-skinned head. 

"And what has our esteemed leader brought me this time," Quatz said without turning, its voice low and gruff. "Another pathetic worm from the outer ridge?" It sneered. 

"Well, I suppose he's from the outer reaches in a sense," Andi said, striding out to meet Quatz, who was still working on its weapons. She beckoned me to follow. "But then, not the outer reaches of our galaxy. I've brought you a contender Quatz, the one your squad picked up last night."

Quatz spared us a quick glance at that revelation. Its face was heavy set, a scar trailing down the left side of its face. The alien's right eye blazed with the raw passion of a warrior, red and fiery with no distinction between iris or pupil, just the red. Its left eye was milky white, clearly blinded by whatever blow had given it the scar. 

"You've brought me the death-walker to play with then?" Quatz growled before going back to his work. "He don't look like much."

"Sorry, did he just call me a death-walker?" I asked, a mix of indignation and confusion in my tone. 

"Well, your eyes are dull and our sensors don't pick up any Essence within you, just like the dead, it's what the recovery crews called you… and it's kind of stuck with the people who know you're on the ship," Andi explained with a shrug. 

"Why have you brought him down here anyway Andi? Surely you can't mean to make this Essenceless speck a Protector," Quatz spat the last word, as if associating me and the vaunted position in the same word was too disgusting a concept to bare. 

"Um… You realise I'm standing right here?" I retorted, throwing as much acid into my words as possible, I wasn't liking the prejudice this Quatz was layering onto me. 

"Oh yeah," Quatz said, steeling his one eyed gaze at me, "I know perfectly well that you're here, I can feel your wrongness. It stinks, a creature without any Essence, I can literally feel you." It was then that I noticed the hairline cracks that laced the top and back of Quatz's head flex open and closed, like a fish breathing under water. He must be sensitive to whatever this Essence thing was. 

"Quatz, stand down," Andi ordered, her voice harsh. "Craig's lack of Essence is puzzling, not even the darkest of creatures are devoid of Essence completely, but that is no reason for you to bite his head off. Craig has already pledged himself to this station, for better or worse you will accept that and treat him as fairly as any other new recruit." 

I felt a little glow of pride at that. Though Andi had said that she didn't trust me, she was willing to give me a fair chance. I could see how she had risen to the rank of Captain on this ship, she seemed cool headed in impossible situations. Quatz gave a disgruntled huff before turning around to work on his weapons once more. 

"Fine," he snapped, "I'll treat this wraith the same as I treat any other recruit when it comes to testing, but don't you expect me to play nice beyond that. Should have left this abomination drifting in space." 

I was ready to verbally bite back, but Andi gave me a warning look so I backed down. Quatz really seemed to despise me, as if he could sense that I didn't belong in his world. I suppose my lack of whatever Essence was confirmed that, hopefully I could prove him wrong nonetheless. 

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"So what exactly is this room? Some sort of training space I take it?" I asked. 

Quatz nodded, his head cracks flexing ominously. "Correct, this is the Holo-Grid. A holographic simulation space engineered specifically for training the Protectors and testing out new recruits like yourself. The room is capable of generating hard-light hologram enemies, and the computer subroutines that run the space constantly check your fighting styles and generate enemies designed specifically to overcome them." 

"So the point of the training exercise is to build up your ability to fight against creatures that know exactly how you're meant to move?" I surmised, nodding sagely. 

It was an interesting concept, one that would probably help build up anyone's fighting ability given enough time. Of course, there was only one issue with that, I had never fought anyone back on my world. Other than the occasional bar brawl I was completely devoid of fighting ability. Something that had somehow slipped my mind when I had pledged myself into Andi's Protector service. 

"Ah, so there are some brains in that skull of yours after all," Quatz snorted, his laugh a deep rumbling, "In that case, computer, begin Recruit-Sim Alpha." 

"Wait, hang on a minute there Quatz," I said, panicking slightly, I wasn't ready to start fighting a self-learning hologram. I hadn't even picked up a weapon yet. But it was no use, Quatz and Andi had already faded away, their bodies disappearing in the familiar golden haze of the teleport beam. I was the only one left in the room. 

Well, the only living being left in the room anyway. I heard a solid clunk behind me as the computer system engaged its holo-matrix and spawned in my first enemy. It was a small humanoid creature that looked surprisingly like a shop window dummy from any of many London supermarkets. Its face was devoid of any recognisable facial features, though its body was clearly modeled after my own. The hologram crouched down, awaiting my movements, defensive. It wanted me to make the first move. 

My pulse was racing, my blood rushing through my ears, and I found myself terrified once more. But this time there was something different. A strength lurking deep below my initial reaction of fear, writhing around waiting to be released. I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath, visualising myself reaching below that fear and grasping hold of the warmth. All of a sudden that warmth spiked up through the cold of my terror, filling every inch of my body. For the first time, whether it be in my world or this new one, I felt in control. I felt powerful. I opened my eyes once more, and if I didn't know better I would have sworn that the hologram shuddered in fear. 

The power was like instinct, the hot fire of war, and I surrendered myself to its will completely. I darted over to the hologram in less than a second and punched it straight in the gut, there was a feeling of slight warmth from the light it was made up of, and then it shot away as if it had been hit by a car, spiralling away to crash into the wall. It slid down and crumpled into a little pile before winking out of existence altogether. I let out my breath, the fire in my body growing even further. 

"What the hell is happening to me," I muttered, looking down at the fist I had used to send the hologram flying. 

I heard another two clunks behind me and turned to see two holograms, this time one of them had a gun of some sorts and the other held what looked like an energy sword. Again I banished the fear and took hold of the warm energy that I felt flowing beneath. The first hologram started firing its weapon at me, but the energy it shot out was too slow, I could literally see it coming toward me. It was a matter of child's play to avoid the shots coming my way. I sprinted between the shots, darting back and forth all the while drawing closer and closer to the hologram. As I got close enough to land a hit the second hologram took a swing with its sword. I ducked low, sliding on my knees to avoid the slash, and landed a hit on the first hologram. It exploded into motes of light, and the impact blew the other hologram straight backward into the wall where it too disintegrated. 

"Is that all your so called recruitment program has for me then?" I asked, springing back up to my feet and relishing in the power I had discovered. 

Clearly the computer, or more likely Quatz at the controls, had heard my challenge. Unlike the first two times the holo-matrix had spawned enemies to fight with, this next opponent was triple my size. It had the same featureless face, but clearly it was based on another species entirely. Instead of arms it had a series of at least 10 slithering tentacles that writhed as it eyed me up. It had four spindly legs that looked like they should falter under the creature's weight, but instead were holding it up completely fine. I felt slightly wary this time, and I had to remember that the computer would have taken the first two encounters to learn about my fighting patterns. So far I had come at my enemies with a one shot punch after running straight for them. I had a feeling that wouldn't work this time. 

The creature lashed out with one of its tentacles, the appendage moving much faster than the energy shots from the second holograms bullets had. I took hold of the power once more and dove to the side, not a moment too soon. The creature didn't give me any time to collect myself, however, as its tentacles began firing at me one after the other. I knew that if any of them hit me I was done for. I ran across the floor of the room, narrowly avoiding each tentacle. I couldn't get close, if there had been less of the muscly arms I might have been able to draw close, but as it was this creatures offensive gave it an almost perfect defense. 

I let the instinct take over once more, allowing the flow of power to direct my movements. I ran up to the wall, the creature slamming its tentacles into the ground just a second too late every time. Then I launched myself straight at the wall, twisting in the air so that I landed feet first. I used my momentum to run a few steps up the wall before springing off of it, flying in a large arc over the creature's head. It had reacted in exactly the way I had expected, slamming all of its tentacles down where I had been a moment earlier. I landed, and it was exposed. I darted straight forward, punching the creature in its back. Much like the first three holograms it disappeared in a flash of light and sparkling motes of energy. 

I fell to one knee, breathing heavily, the energy that had been powering all of those movements had receded and I felt incredibly worn out. Two golden glows of light sprung into life before me, and out of them stepped Andi and Quatz, both of them had equally shocked looks on their face. 

"So," I said, standing unsteadily, "How'd I do?"

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