District 42-Chapter 185: Simulation
The soldier started to open his eyes slowly. his heart was pumping hard as if he was going to have a heart attack or something like that.
His thoughts were disconnected and random, and he kept like that for a long time, until he suddenly raised his trunk, passing his hands through his body to identify where he was hurt.
"H-Hurt? What does it mean?" He, then, remembered what happened a while ago. Every single moment he needed to live in his city.
He strived to find where the bullet had struck him, but he couldn’t find any wounds. Even the burnt he had in his right arm was completely gone now.
"B-But, the terrorists, they...!" He looked around and saw himself laying on the ground of that same white room from before.
His mind was dizzy and confused, and for a while he needed to stay in deep thought, trying to sort out what was going on there.
"I was in my old city, and there was an attack but... Hey... I couldn’t be in my city, could I? I mean, there is no way that..." He was looking at his hands.
What he lived a while ago was so real that the White warrior got frightened. His heart didn’t stop racing until that point. A faint pain in the places he got shot was still there, pulsing slightly. All the muscles of his body were stiff as if he just had finished a workout or a fight.
He was struggling to separate what was true and what was merely fiction and to sort out what kind of thing had happened to him.
While he was in deep thought, he saw that the door of the white room opened, and from there, First, Second and Third came in. They had the same playful and mischievous looks on their faces, that contrasted a lot with their black sad masks.
He heard giggles coming from them as the triplet approached him and saw that he was still on the ground, looking to his hands, with his breath unsteady, and sweating a lot.
"What do you think about our simulator, White warrior? Had fun?" First questioned, laughing.
"S-simulator? What in the world..." The soldier felt the anger rising inside him, as he started to connect the points and see what probably was happening.
"Yes, it wasn’t real, you silly." Third said, in an affable tone. "This room is just a training room, that uses simulations to put ourselves into risk situations inside our minds. This way, we can get experience and rate our abilities without the need to involve ourselves in danger."
Casper stood up from the ground slowly, wanting to kill those three people, but still feeling a bit disoriented.
It was better for him to focus on keeping his balance than to judge if it was worth arguing with them, though.
"And, just to note, you were terrible, man... Are you sure you are the same person as that guy in the Midwest Battle? Or the same guy who could escape from Halden? I mean, you died in the first minutes. You were quick to arrive in your building and all, and you did well surviving for this much time, some of your decisions were reasonable... But, man, you died so ridiculously there..." It was the sarcastic Second who was saying that, scratching her short hair.
"Oh, yeah, well remembered, Second. We did it because we wanted you to have the most real first experience with the simulator. There were a lot of things we would like to know about ourselves on the battlefield. However, your performance in your first time was nothing like they reported to us, which is something quite strange..."
Casper finally got back to his senses, looking at each one of them, kind of pissed off, but now understanding that they had their reasons to do what they did before.
"How could you simulate something so real with my own city, in my homeland...?"
First shook his head, denying.
"No, we did the do it, but the simulator did. What this machine does isn’t controlled by people. The simulations are made inside your head, and they will be made from your memories and fears."
The soldier gave him a curious look, and the Sgail knew exactly what he wanted to ask.
"We base these situations in memories and fears of your own to find your flaws, mistakes, and weaknesses, so we can work on it, and also see how you will act when facing a problem that you always were frightened of during your life."
The other two women nodded to him, crossing their arms barely at the same time.
Casper was taking a good grasp of that explanation. He was both amazed and frightened at the same time. It was an efficient, but also cruel, manner to train their troops; crueler than anything he saw at the army.
"So, everything that showed on my mind... That’s what I am the most feared of...? A terrorist attack or something?" Casper put his hand on his head. Although he obviously was scared of the sight of his city being destroyed by a crazy group of criminals, he never thought about it to the point of turn into a constant fear.
"No, Casper. You didn’t understand it very well. Not every single thing will be showing clearly in the simulation. Some details represent your insecurities and weaknesses."
First looked to Third, indicating with his head for her to take the lead. The woman gave a step forward, approaching Casper.
"Do you remember those men, woman, and two children you let die next to that wall? They were the representation of your most constant fear: not be able to save people you want to save.
"The terrorists were the representation of your fear of chaos. Because there is nothing so frightening for you than the sight of an entire society crumbling in front of you.
"Finally, the situation with the couple showed your fear to be cornered, to not have any good options available, to be stuck in a situation where you don’t have control. That’s your fear of destiny."
After she stopped to talk all that information at once, she stepped back again, returning to her position, feeling proud of herself.
First complimented her, then turned to Second, signaling, and she promptly began to report.
"Casper, you had a lot of mistakes during your action, but there are also the good points, and I will be pointing all of them for you. First thing: it was a good decision to reason calmly and set up a mission for you that could end up with that situation. You seemed to have had decided to contact the army from your homeland and ask for reinforcements... 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
"Second, your decision to left those people to die was cold but completely reasonable, and that’s what you need to be. Letting them die hurt your pride, but got you the chance to save more people. Unfortunately, starting from there, your decisions didn’t make sense at all, and you know what they were." Second was rounding Casper as if she was a hunter, trying to find the best angle to catch her prey.
The soldier indeed felt that she was, and he understood why she was getting silent now. She wanted him to say out loud his mistakes. It was a form to discipline him through humiliation.
"I shouldn’t have had tried to protect that couple. Once I got the decision to do so, I should have let them die or survive on their own definitely and quickly. I passed too much time thinking about something that I could not do. After I left there, take the woman with me was a huge mistake, in which made me die before accomplish my mission..."
Second nodded, looking at him with her contemptuous eyes, that somehow irritated the soldier in many ways. She seemed to be underestimating him all the time, and it made him pretty uncomfortable.
Of those three, Second surely was the most difficult to deal with, and she didn’t need a word to take that position in Casper’s opinion.
"Want me to say what is your biggest flaw overall, White warrior?"
Casper stared back at her, narrowing his eyes, prompting her to say what it was.
"You are not a true warrior. You put too much value on other people’s lives and end up messing with your own. You forget that, anyway, our end will be the same, and what matters is to fulfill our mission and fight until the end, in order to go to Valhalla."
That note pierced Casper in his chest. It was like a slap in the face.
"And, you know what? It doesn’t matter how much you try. Once you get yourself needing to decide between someone’s life or another more important thing, if you falter for one second even, as you did with that woman..." She pointed her finger to his forehead, simulating a gun with her hand. "A bullet will be stuck in your head in the next moment."
The White warrior remained silent, with his head lowered.
"That’s it, Casper." First spoke, clapping his hands. "Your first day will end just with this light training. Be prepared for more tomorrow."
Then, he dismissed the soldier.
