Road Of Advancement

The group then quickly made their way over to the obstacle course. Theodore could see the time-table adjust itself as their test was concluded. The subjects didn't change, but their timeslots moved forward a bit. He couldn't yet see in what location the other tests would be held. It seemed the AI would determine the planning in a just-in-time fashion based on their performance.

The obstacle course reminded Theodore of the obstacle course that was build-up back at the family compound. Apparently Kruys had done some research and came up with a similar course. Or perhaps the KMU and the Ops that Kruys trained had similar obstacle courses for their training. He didn't know, but it was beneficial for him to recognise several obstacles. He would not have to familiarise himself with those obstacles but he would brush past them!

The instructor introduced the obstacles and had a projection run the course as an example. He also stated the objective of this course. They were to run the obstacle course one by one - starting five minutes apart. The AI would score them based on their time and athleticism. There were one-hundred and fifty points to be earned. The first one hundred could be earned by completing the course in under thirty minutes. The other fifty points were scored by the AI based on their performance.

Theodore scored one-hundred and thirty-seven points. He was third, behind Dwight and Anthony. Surprisingly, he found Lilly-Anne in fourth with Carson only in fifth place!

They then were hurried along by the alumni as they had some delay due to an examinee fainting after making the finish line. He had given his all, and impressively so made the seventh place! Theodore, however, knew, with as little spots as there were, seventh wasn't enough! Perhaps their group was abnormal, but Theodore could not help but sympathise with the poor guy.

In a laboratory, they were then tested on their aptitude. Theodore had no fear for this particular exam. He was extensively tested at the family compound after awaking from his comatose. Acing this test was a given. With an aptitude of 89%, he even had a better aptitude than the famous 87% of Dwight. Because of the nature of the test, all participants had to sign an NDA. However, Theodore knew everyone was going to speculate about his aptitude after toppling Dwight from the number one spot. He simply signed and stood in line, waiting for his aptitude to shock everyone there.

Dwight tested 87%, Lilly-Anne tested a respectable 78%, Carson 82% and Anthony shocked everyone by testing in at 86%. The Hollow's had really kept their cards close to their c.h.e.s.t this time! The public known aptitude was 79% for Anthony! Theodore was could remember seeing his profile and was surprised to see something as important as this being secret for all the Thompsons family. Perhaps the Hollow family was well versed in (counter-)espionage?

As Theodore's head was running wild with complot theories in his vivid imagination, his name was called up and he took place in the seat of the measuring device. He felt a small electrical shock and the known pleasant feeling of interfacing. The number on his chair immediately rocketed up and seemed to stabilise at 85%. Many people were already shocked at this point. This was the former invalid Theodore!! He crushed all expectations as the number ticked upwards and only stopped at 89%. People were literally looking at him like he was a monster.

The instructor quickly started to instruct everyone to keep this matter absolutely confidential. Then his device ticked up one more time and stated a full 90%. This had even the instructor speechless. This time, even Theodore was surprised and speechless. His aptitude had stabilised or so had doctor proclaimed! However, he did remember that he told him there was a small chance that he would still pass the magical 90%. The chance, however, was one in thousands and was never really considered viable.

This time people in white coats entered the venue and immediately escorted the rest of the examinees out of the venue. A single male then started telling Theodore that his test score was so incredible that they wished to keep it a secret. It was so unheard of to test 90% that the university did not want to divulge this to the competition! Theodore was basically told his entry was guaranteed at this point.

After running several tests to confirm the test score, they let him go and continue his tests. He would be named first in this test and all scores would be censored like usual, completely letting people guess his actual neural aptitude. They at first had wanted to make him second, but in the end, they decided he earned his spot. No-one would guess he passed 90%.

The group was then brought to a room full of simulator pods wherein they would be challenged in a random environment. They were given a standard catalogue with various mech models to chose from. The test was simple: Defeat the AI opponent. Every time you defeated the AI, the AI would increase the difficulty. After you were defeated your score would be calculated.

Theodore chose a light laser-mech that packed a nice punch and had a decent amount of armour for its weight class. Theodore prefered mobility and fighting at a distance. Up close, he felt his reflexes were not quite up to standard. He had been drilled tirelessly with striker, assault, knights and rifle mechs in simulations.

He, in the end, developed a favourable impression of the light rifle-mechs. He felt more compatible with them. Kruys forced him to also continue to practice with the standard knight and striker mechs, but his performance was always a little lackl.u.s.tre.

Kruys then handed him an light-weight Assasin, and this was love at first sight for Theodore. The stealthy nature and the high damage output made him love the archetype. It was, however, completely unsuitable in many occasions. Thus Theodore chose his trusty laser-mech.

Theodore started his simulation and to his surprise found himself in an apocalypse city surrounded by jungle. He cursed at his luck as the advantage of distance was pretty much negated in this terrain. He quickly came back from his judgement as he agilely moved across the roads. The many obstructions would slow down any attacker and he would be able to run rounds around his opponent is he was of a heavier class. With enough cover, this might actually work out pretty good!

Theodore started to search for a suitable ambush location. If he found a suitable vantage point, he could scoop out his opponent and take him out before he even came close.

He quickly spotted a destroyed four-story building where the walls had significantly opened up due to the roof collapsing. He would have a perfect view around the crossroad and enough cover to move around. Worst case scenario, he could flee down the back as there was a hole that he could fit his mech through as well.

As he settled in, he quickly spotted his opponent. A black medium-knight was moving towards the crossroad, straight towards Theodore.

He then shut down his mech's operation as much as possible, so the sensor readings would come up blank. He held his breath as the knight inched closer, warily approaching the crossroad. As he firmly crossed Theodore's range, Theodore opened fire and quickly took out the knight as he was fully exposed to the heavy fire from Theodore.

The first round was an easy round. Theodore then racked up several easy wins. As long as Theodore had a great vantage point, the AI was seemingly powerless.

After five wins, the difficulty had increased notably as Theodore had to flee from his hideout several times and had to win a cat and mouse game with the AI.

His eleventh match was increasingly tight.

Theodore was agilely moving across the thrashed site as he evaded the laser-fire of his AI opponent. The AI had adapted to Theodore's tactics and had surprised him by dropping on him from above. With a damaged left arm and his mechs internals exposed, Theodore had fled the scene after using his mechs power to help a wall collapse on the enemy mech.

He then ran whilst shooting backwards, as he was chased down the main road. Theodore could feel the pressure ramp up as his mech started to feedback the extensive damage. He could feel the mechs balance was of due to the loss of his left arm. It strained him to manoeuvre whilst constantly counter-balancing his mech. A light mech still weighed as much as 35t! The balance was very important!

Theodore knew he couldn't keep running, his mech would fail or a stray shot could take him out. He jumped sideways and sled behind the wall on the corner of the intersection, waited for his laser to cool down a bit and then peeked around the wall.

The AI, wary of this last stand by Theodore, was moving from cover to cover, trying to get a clean shot at Theodore as he moved to gain a good angle.

Theodore panted heavily, the simulation was so intense and realistic that he could feel his energy being drained from the intensive clash.

Theodore racked his brain trying to come up with a plan. He then instinctively grabbed his laser, threw it up the building, jumped up and used his remaining arm to pull himself up the second floor.

He was hit several times but his mech still functioned. Theodore had gained the height-advantage but also paid a grievous price as his mech was alerting him to the dangerous state of his mech. Red alerts were flashing in his vision.

Theodore ignored the signs, in these simulations, it was do or die anyways.

He gripped his laser rifle and laid on the floor, his rifle in front of him, as he searched for the enemy mech. He spotted movement and decided to wait for a clear shot. A brick was thrown from the side of a building and Theodore knew that the enemy mech had fallen back and was waiting for Theodore to expose himself.

Theodore watched the corner of the building like a hawk, breathing in heavily and breathing out quickly, trying to keep his aim as steady as he could. A glimpse of a metal figure was all it took, Theodore pressed the button and opened fire, he could hear the contact of his hits and knew he had done damage. With Theodore now exposed, the enemy mech rushed out.

At that moment, Theodore shot everything he had left with the best precision of his life, aiming for the most damaged part of the torso. His laser simply melted through the last thin armour and the internals were fried!

The enemy mech lights flickered and dimmed. The sound of a mech deactivating had never sounded so loud. Theodore heard it powering down and finally breathed out as he shouted; " M*THERF*CKER, I GOT YOU." The stress had taken its toll and Theodore could not help but swear at his enemy! The intense match had his adrenaline pumping like mad and he was now taking it out on the poor AI.

He then loaded into a new match and the game started all over. With the intense match just over, the wear of the continuous stress and the increased difficulty, Theodore could not win his twelfth match. He put up a valiant fight but was nonetheless crushed into oblivion by an AI that seemed to know his every trick.

As he got out from the simulation pod he was handed energy-drinks and some nutrient packs. The intensity of these matches wore out many of the examinees and the University had thoughtfully prepared for this.

Theodore then checked for his result on his comm as he rested on the side, only Dwight was still inside the simulation, to nobody's surprise. Though some had thought Theodore and Dwight to match up closer, Dwight only exited his simulation after winning sixteen matches! Being famed for mech piloting was no joke. Theodore did manage to become second, closely followed by Carson.

His score was a hundred and forty out of hundred and fifty. Not surprisingly Dwight had a full score.