Xiao didn"t know if this Lauren kid was deliberately provoking him or not. He wants Xiao Yan to strategize how an aircraft can evade the president"s fire control system and complete a raid in one minute. The goal of which is to blow up the president"s office.
Xiao felt a cold sweat gather along his spine. Should he really answer this question or will he be suspected as a Surge insurgent?
Just as Lauren was puffing in pride, Xiao hooked to the terminal and the timer began. The fire control system in the presidential palace is quite advanced. It is the masterpiece of the Central Academy of Sciences. The last time the Surge attacked the building, they were unable to reach the presidential office with two aircraft.
Lauren obviously wants Xiao Yan to do an impossible task.
Xiao closed his eyes and his thoughts rushed through the system. The holographic display kept scrolling the data and it flashed rapidly in pace with his thought. Still, according to the simulation, the aircraft was unable to gain access to the weapons system. Lauren smirked as he looked on.
The time pa.s.sed quickly and Lauren pointedly reminded him, "hey you still have thirty seconds left."
Several students have excitedly gathered around them.
"Look! This fool wants to hit the president"s office with an aircraft!"
"How is that possible?! The fire control system of the presidential palace is the masterpiece of Major Ritz!"
"How is this possible! The fire control system of the presidential palace is the masterpiece of Major Reitz!"
"20s left!"
The craft flashed a collision warning on its screen as it began the attack. The presidential weapons systems took aim along his flight path. Suddenly the aircraft pulled up, moving at three times the speed and almost colliding with the dome. The weapons system did not have time to adjust to such rapid and extreme maneuvers. The aircraft crashed into the window the president"s office before the engines blew out.
"Oh--"
"Oh my G.o.d!"
All onlookers exclaimed.
Lauren stood stunned. Xiao"s aircraft moved like a headless fly. It broke out of the scope of the fire control system and then collected data along its haphazard flight path to confuse the weapons lock and obtain a trajectory that sent it right into its mark. Exactly how fast was this guy"s brain speed to be able make such crazy calculations?
"Lauren, I am finished." Xiao Yan winked.
"Hey! What"s great, I can do it in nine minutes and fifty-five seconds... you needed nine minutes and fifty-eight seconds!"
Xiao Yan wondered how Ritz would react when he heard this. After the last attack, he upgraded the system. The mission now would be impossible to take on in under 10 minutes.
"Now it is my turn. " Xiao closed his eyes and the terminal aligned with his thoughts to create a sample of the biochemical weapons the Surge had used. He removed some of the more complicated components and left some hints. "This agent, once introduced to a special forces soldier will affect the x-virus and compromise their oxygen availability in the cells. Your task is to create an antidote in ten minutes."
Xiao Yan would actually have preferred to use the exact sample, but the specific agent used is confidential. If he were to input it on an unsecured terminal it would cause alarm. Although this question is not as complicated as a whole research project, most senior researchers would take at least an half hour to answer. Xiao Yan gave him ten minutes. Admittedly, he was being a bit of a bully.
Lauren connected to the terminal, his face was cold and focused. His eyes slid toward Xiao Yan and he flipped him off. Lauren is defiately not a typical teen. He actually invaded a professor"s terminal, stole his pre-set computations and used those to a.s.sist him. This saved him quite a bit of time. Afterward, he easily obtained the answer.
It took only eight minutes.
"That is cheating!"
The onlookers called out.
Lauren glared defiantly at Xiao Yan. "There were no conditions set that stipulated I could not to invade another"s terminal."
"This is academic dishonesty!"
Other students also questioned Lauren.
Although the professor"s terminal settings are far less complicated than those in the lab, the kid was able to invade in three minutes, proving his thinking is fast and active.
"I did not say that you couldn"t invade another"s terminal."
"It"s my turn to ask a question." Lauren smirked at him. Both Xiao Yan and Lauren"s thoughts occupied the same field. Lauren presented Xiao with a virus. He had to synthesize an antiviral agent within ten minutes.
At first glance the virus was only a relatively complex and aggressive virus. It targeted the immune system similar to HIV, a 200 y old virus. Upon closer inspection, this virus was much worse and death occurs within a few hours after infection.
Xiao Yan was intrigued, but it was clear to him that 10 minutes was too generous a time limit. Feeling a bit spiteful, Xiao Yan decided to frustrate Lauren and pushed the speed of the terminal to its upper limit. Unfortunately this system is not as fast as the terminals in his lab. It took Xiao twice as long to reach a solution with the slower system.
"G.o.d, five minutes and forty-one seconds! Is this the speed of G.o.d?"
Lauren"s eyes flashed but he maintained a stiff expression.
"Hey! I was going easy on you to keep the game interesting!" Lauren snapped.
"Hm."
Xiao Yan smiled, but Lauren expression was twisted and sour.
"Why are you laughing!"
"Thank you for your mercy!" Xiao Yan touched his nose. "But now it is my turn to ask the questions."
Xiao Yan decided he could no longer go easy on this arrogant teen. Suddenly his mind flashed to a scene where he was trapped in a room with Heine"s team...
Alright...Let"s see how this kid escapes from death!
In less than thirty seconds Xiao Yan simulated the scenario in the room exactly.
"Lauren, you are trapped in this room. Oxygen will be completely depleted in ten minutes. You don"t have any technical tools on hand. All you have is a gun. Good luck!"
Xiao Yan did not replicate the water flooding into the room, since his escape was aided by the special forces. Because Lauren did not have this advantage, Xiao Yan adjusted the conditions to see how he will respond to an emergency.
"Nothing but a gun? How do you open the door? I don"t see a panel or anything?"
"How to open such a door? It"s a gun...shoot it!" Xiao taunted him.
"This is an impossible task!"
After Lauren fully investigated the door he couldn"t help but yell coldly, "This type of door is only seen in movies!"
"Well I like old movies. They have very important information." Xiao Yan smiled lightly.
Lauren carefully examined the circuit controlling the lock mechanism. He finally took his gun and connected the energy conversion device to the door. He pulled the trigger and the door opened.
"Oh! This is fine too!" Xiao couldn"t help but be surprised.
"If this had happened in real life, I might as well just shoot myself with the gun!"
Lauren looked at Xiao Yan and pulled out a smug smile. "I had hoped you would come up with a more difficult question. But I admit that this was quite interesting."
Xiao Yan knows that Lauren is too full of himself. In reality, it would be impossible to a.n.a.lyze the door circuit using a terminal. He would have to figure out the function of the circuits without one. But it was quite practical to think of the energy converter in the gun. As he was looking at Lauren, Xiao"s mind slipped back to that room full of water. He was looking for the gun and Heine came to his side to help him. He remembered seeing Heine"s profile beneath the water. Somehow this man can capture his gaze and thoughts without so much as an expression or gentle action.
Suddenly Xiao realized that he couldn"t stop thinking about Heine Burton.
"Now it is my turn. You won"t pa.s.s so easily this time." Lauren synthesized a virtual virus sample that included the gene that allows zombies to use the sun for energy.
"What is your question?" Xiao struggled to conceal his shock. This sequence was only mentioned in senior level virology lab cla.s.ses; A course that is specifically designed for the military.
"Reducing the photosynthetic capacity of this virus." Lauren looked Xiao with a playful expression.
Xiao almost couldn"t help himself from laughing out loud. Did this kid want him to make a condensing agent?
"What is the time limit?"
"Five minutes."
"Five minutes... I just have to reduce its photosynthesis, right?"
"Yes. Why? Do want to do something else in five minutes?"
Xiao Yan shook his head. "I was just confirming your question."
Manufacturing of condensing agents is a relatively simple process. The issue with this type pf weaponry has always been the stability of the reactants and the condensing agents. This is why the condensing gun is not widely used to fight zombies.
Xiao works the problem well within the five minutes. He only needs two minutes to configure the agent, and Lauren"s virus is now in a low temperature state upon contact. Gradually it loses the ability to transfer heat.
Lauren stilled. This problem was a headache for many senior level students and few people could formulate such compounds.
"Hey! Who the h.e.l.l is this guy..."
Before Lauren can finish his question Xiao Yan interrupted. "It is my turn."
He closes his eyes and builds another virtual room within the terminal system. The only exit is coded with a 12 digit pa.s.scode that changes every second.
"Lauren, you have five minutes to leave here."
Lauren reveals a disgusted expression and sneers at Xiao Yan. " Again? Do you have a weird perversion where you enjoy imprisoning people?"
His provoking words prompted laughter from the spectators.
Xiao Yan wasn"t ruffled. He simply gestured for him to continue.
"I will warn you. There is no pa.s.sword in the world that I cannot crack."
After his bold claim, Lauren connected and began calculating. He discovered that the code was deceptively complex. Requiring several combinations of s.p.a.ce functions, physical mechanics and electromagnetics, such a wide field of calculations made Lauren brows arch slightly.
Watching Lauren struggle, Xiao Yan felt a bit ashamed. He felt like a bad adult bullying a child.
But Lauren exceeded Xiao"s expectations. With ten seconds left, he broke the cipher and entered the pa.s.scode.
Although the pa.s.scode has been entered correctly, Lauren still can"t seem to open the door. The terminal shows that the force he is exerting has reached the upper limit of human capability. Still the door doesn"t budge.
"s.h.i.t!" Lauren slammed his fist through the hologram display.
Times up.
"What the h.e.l.l is going on? Didn"t he unlock the pa.s.sword?"
"Maybe the pa.s.sword is incorrect?"
"But there was no error!"
Lauren shot a confused glare toward Xiao Yan, who had observed everything without saying a word. "Hey! What the h.e.l.l? Was there an error in my calculations?"
"Your calculations were correct." The corner of Xiao"s lips twitched slightly. "But I just told you to leave the room, I didn"t say that you had to calculate the pa.s.scode."
"What...what...?" Lauren looked at Xiao Yan with an incredulous expression.
"According to the settings on the simulation...I did not lock the door at all. " Xiao Yan entered the virtual room and easily pushed the door open.
Lauren had spent his time trying to slide open a hinged door. He was accustomed to the doors in the Shire and hadn"t thought to pull it open.
"You tricked me!" Lauren stood up and grabbed at Xiao"s collar. He glared ferociously at him and waved a fist under his nose.
Xiao easily caught his wrist and then stood up, pushing Lauren into his seat. The speed at which Xiao moved had all of the students rubbing their eyes in disbelief.
"s.h.i.t! I knew it! You are not a student here! You are with the special forces!"
Half of Lauren"s face was pressed against the back of his chair. His squashed cheek moved against the seat as he grumbled at Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan was surprised at his own ability. His mind flashed rapidly through the training room. He was taken to the ground by Heine Burton. His hands were immobilized and Heine"s knee pressed into him. He can feel the strength in Heine through his movements, a strange energy crackles around him and his breath rushed over the back of his neck. He even imagines that Heine is about to kiss him.
"Hey! HEY! f.u.c.king let me go! You"re breaking my arm!"
The sound of Lauren"s angry howls jolted Xiao Yan back to reality.
He let go and Lauren looked at him as though he just sprouted another head on his shoulders.
"Just what the h.e.l.l are you? Make a weird bet and then use this as way to mess with me! You are not a student here!"
Xiao Yan sighed. "I wasn"t messing with you. You are accustomed to the doors in the Shire that slide to open. This type of thinking walls you off from ideas and solutions. You have to be able to break through this bottleneck when working toward solutions."
Lauren groaned, just when he was about to say something, the air gained an electric current and the air grew thin. A cold indifferent voice sounded.
"Your entertainment today has come to an end, Major Xiao Yan."
Xiao shoulder rolled forward slightly and he turned stiffly around. He saw Heine Burton standing there in his military uniform. Xiao"s face reddened slightly and the soldiers behind him also revealed a chagrined expression at being caught by the boss. Especially since they were wearing school uniforms as they guarded the library. It was a little...
The library went quiet and all eyes were fixed on Heine Burton.
No one can say a word.
Lauren watched Xiao leave until his figure was no longer visible. Then the whole library erupted in a litany of exclamations.
"G.o.d! Lauren! That person is Xiao Yan! Lauren!"
Suddenly, as though something had snapped, Lauren rushed rapidly toward him.
"Xiao Yan -"
The special forces easily stopped him from rushing toward Xiao Yan. They allowed him to struggle futilely as they held him back.
Xiao Yan stopped walking and turned around.
"You really are messing with me right? Such a trap, with your ability...does it give you a sense of accomplishment?!"
"You really are playing me right? With all that ability, you used it to set a trap for me?! Does that give you some sick sense of accomplishment?"
"I was not messing with you. I am looking for an a.s.sistant."
"What?" Lauren frowned.
"The military needs me to choose a research a.s.sociate, but I don"t need a lackey. I need someone who reminds me to push the door open when I try to slide it."
"Ah.." Lauren is so stunned he forgets to struggle against the soldiers holding him back.
Xiao Yan left, following behind Heine.
The maglev door opens upward and Xiao got inside, Heine sat next to him.
His com sounds and an image of a liaison officer appears in front of Xiao Yan.
"Major do you have an a.s.sistant in mind?"
"Hm, Lauren Ann."
The officer"s brows furrowed into a deep crease. "I"m sorry Major, I don"t see a Lauren Ann on the list. Do you want to look it over again?"
"He is not on the list. He is a student."
"...are you sure you will be able to make use of a student as your a.s.sistant?"
"Yes I am sure. When I became Casey"s a.s.sistant I was just a cla.s.s B student."
"Understood."
As dusk settled, the streetlights illuminated the city. The maglev stopped at his apartment building. Xiao Yan opened the door to get out when suddenly Heine grabbed him.
"Let"s get dinner."
Xiao Yan didn"t think he had the right to refuse. Heine changed their destination and they headed toward the second tower
"Hey!"
Xiao Yan yelped in surprise as the maglev gained speed. He doesn"t understand how they can eat at the No.2 tower.
"From there, you can see the sunset outside of Shire."
"Really?"
This is an experience that Xiao Yan had never thought of before.
The tower platform opened. Because there were no craft docked, the entire way was dark.
Xiao Yan felt along the wall and inched forward. Even though he knew there was nothing obstructing his path, he found he could not step as calmly and evenly as Heine.
"Give me your hand."
Heine"s voice pierced through the darkness with sharp clarity.
Xiao Yan reached out blindly. He moved his hand around until his wrist was suddenly and firmly grasped.
"Let"s go."
All of his senses are magnified in the deep pitch of the tower entrance. Heine"s body temperature moves through his fingers. The sensation of heat and electricity coil down to his stomach and his skin tingles. His blood seemed to double in volume at the point of contact. It rushes through his veins to settle and pulsate at his groin.
Not enough....Xiao Yan thought...This is bad...really bad...
"We"re here."
"What?"
Suddenly the end of the channel opened up and an orange light slipped through the gap. Xiao watched Heine"s long and lean legs move powerfully beneath his uniform, his shadow paralleling his elegant movements.
The horizon gradually widened as they neared and the rocky surface of distant mountains becomes visible, draped in the rusty sunlight.
Birds fly amid the shadows of the mountain to suddenly drag the light with him, their wings angling, drawing beautiful lines along the sky.
The sun begins to drop below the foothills.
Xiao Yan sat, his eyes wide and transfixed, when Heine suddenly handed him a packet of biscuits.
" Dinner."
"Hah?" Xiao took the biscuit with a blank expression. Heine settled down at the end of the pa.s.sage. "You think having dinner is eating compressed biscuits."
"The military has improved its taste. In order to accommodate the nutritional needs of the new special forces they must generate 6xs the heat energy as before."
Xiao Yan tentatively took a bit and then promptly spit out. "High...heat...It"s fat!"
With the new x-2, their needs have changed. They now need the additional energy from food and daylight, but if sun cannot be guaranteed, the food must compensate for that.
"I thought maybe a piece of bread with jam, can this even be considered dinner?" Xiao Yan whispered as he sat down far away from Heine, ensuring a wide berth between them.
"What kind of dinner did you want?"
"ah..." Xiao was taken back, he didn"t think Heine would care what kind of dinner he liked.
"This is...This kind of scenery would be nice with a gla.s.s of red wine.."
Xiao Yan looked over at Heine. What was he thinking? Heine couldn"t suddenly produce a gla.s.s of red wine out of thin air. He is not a woman that Heine was trying to woo. He picked up the biscuits and took a bite.
As Heine said, "the taste was improved. It has a creamy vanilla flavor it"s not even as dry and hard as before either." Mainly it just tastes salty. As it slipped down Xiao"s throat he thought...this one of the most horrible foods he has ever tasted.
The hard biscuit drew forth a detailed memory. As he swallowed the rough ration, the image poured into his mind and the scene played out in vivid detail.
****I love that Heine used Xiao"s disgust for the rations to spark his memories. I"m sorry for the many errors present. I proofed the wrong chapter and I had to hurry this one along to upload something. ******