Karma's a Bitch

A area filled with low light, a couple of couches to rest on, the absence of windows and a man in a fine suit standing in waiting for them. He had a scar across his face, a well groomed beard and a friendly face that was hiding something. It made the woman almost turn around completely and go back home but she had to make sure she saw this through, it was important to the Boss and with that she takes a step out of the elevator, the doors close behind her with the woman in it and descends leaving the two alone in the waiting room together.

“Miss. Hibiki.” The man greets, his smile is as warm as it is handsome. Such a caring energy he put off, fatherly, loving, someone you could trust. At least that helped a little when it came to Mei’s past but even that director had an air about him that was somewhat comforting too.

With a bow, the man introduces himself “I am Director Vulcanus, head of the research and development department for the HIA fan club. I’m grateful for you to join us today.”

“Us…?” Mei questions, keeping still with her hands behind her back, a small amount of ice already collecting in her palms, just in case.

“Yes, come, let me show you what I have planned for you today.” He motions for her to follow in which after a moments hesitation she follows beside him. Around an opening in the back wall behind the waiting room desk and into a long hallway where some researches are seen walking through the hall with clipboards and wearing the typical HIA employee uniform.

“Here in the VIP section, it’s less a place of luxury as most would expect but an area where we test out new equipment being produced to provide the best and ever evolving experience for those in training. You’ve already experienced what it’s like to be in the VR system, how did you like it?” He walks and talks beside her, the curls of his haid gently bounce as they move along and Mei wonders briefly how he doesn’t find it annoying when a strand falls in front of his eyes.

“It was strange. I felt like me but not really. I had a headache after for a few days.” Really, she wasn’t excited about that again. “It is strange to feel impact without pain.”

It wasn’t much of a review but he’ll take it as it’s the most honest someone’s been with him for quite some time. Something like that has value and he looked forward to more of it.

“Right you are. It does take time to get used to it.” They turn to a door and putting in a combination into a number lock, the large iron door opens to a darker room filled with personnel at computers with keys that lit up with various colors, all surrounding a large contraption that looked scarily familiar to Mei.

A large dome shaped glass lid that covered a comfortable looking bed which had a multitude of wires attached to the unit and seeing all the faces of each personnel turn to face the two of them made Mei want to puke. It seemed the director saw this and looked to her with soft, worried eyes.

“I know it can be scary but you have my word you are safe here.” He says, knowing full well the room could make someone feel like some kind of operation was about to be done. This… Helper Mei a little. She walks in with the Director who tells the others to prepare for “stage one.” The glass dome opens slowly and Mei approaches it cautiously, hearing words long since thought to be gone from her mind. ‘Get in and you’ll be fine.’ And when her hand touched the cool metal surface, she looked at the man cautiously as he soon joins her side.

“This is a specialized VR unit, you’ve been in one like it before but this one has special data collecting capabilities that will allow us to both stress test our system and further improve sustainability. This is why I invited you here. All we want is to see you in action and you’re free to go after. I’ll remind you, this isn’t a requirement, you may leave if you’d like.” Such a caring voice, the way he looks down at her, so paternally, like it’s second nature to come as a safety net.

“Ok. I’ll do it.” A small amount of trust. This place wasn’t her facility. Regardless of how she felt stuck in the past here, how she’s been in this position before, heard promises exactly like that. The truth was, she wasn’t alone, someone would come looking for her, Karma wouldn’t abandon her…

A large smile comes to the directors features, he assists her inside of the device and fixes some of the wires proper. “Normally you would have a phrase to say to let us know you’re ready, but since there’s so many in the room, just closing your eyes for a few seconds is enough, we find that to be a easier transition.”

With a nod, the Director takes his place at the front of the room, a large screen descends from the ceiling and turns on.

Mei slowly shuts her eyes, she hears the researches talking, saying what she assumes is standard communication when beginning this test and before she knows it, when her eyes open again she’s inside the simulation. Somewhere on some generated battlefield with no one but herself currently and from above she can hear the Directors voice boom like it’s coming from a loud speaker.

“I would like to take this time to assure you that you are not the first individual to test this machine. There have been a couple before you who were kind enough to allow us to record their combat data.“

It’s here that the image of someone begins to form and Mei immediately recognizes just who it is from the silhouette alone.

Deadly ice blue eyes lock upon her target, her blood freezes to a temperature that boils through her veins, a finger twitches as each agonizing second of numbers and data form her opponent in front of her while the man continues to speak.

Tall ears adorn her crown, a subtle twitch in the left, either a data glitch or a habit picked up by what was recorded. “Today you will be challenging one of those recorded datasets. You may know her, she is fairly popular among the people here.”

A hand rests next to a finger print scanner, that weapon which holds many rumors and even more slain souls, perfectly recreated from the past simulation. Mei knows it’s perfect, she’s drilled each detail of the weapon into her head like a mathematical equation, from the hilt, guard to the blade. “She is the Chief of Section Six, an acting Void Hunter recognized by the Mayor.”