26th June 2042

"Yeah, that should work." Seated in The Crazy Head's living room, Suzuki muttered under his breath as he examined a holographic projection with a pair of bloodshot eyes. The young man glanced at a set of VR Headsets on the sofa with slight hesitation. But then, with a slight frown, he nodded and looked away, affirming his resolve.

"Hey! Got your alert? What's going on?" Taiga broke the living room's peace as he approached Suzuki with the rest of the team. Judging by their sloppy outfits and messy hair, most of them just got out of bed. Spotting the VR headsets, Taiga's eyes sparkled with intrigue. "What's this? You planning on training already? It's just 5'oClock, man."

"Yeah, I called you all to train," admitted Suzuki as he handed each of the team a headset. Without missing a beat, he pointed at the holographic map of the test zone. "I've designed our optimal entry and extraction point. Last night, the other teams uncovered additional intel that the targets have advanced air surveillance systems. If we so much as light a candle at altitude, we'll light up light a Christmas tree on their radars." Suzuki manipulated the hologram so it dropped to a much lower, deep within the high forest trees with a mountain range in the distance. "Because the aliens have several land equipment, their surveillance systems don't work below eight hundred meters." Tapping the screen, he emphasized, "That is our operational zone."

"Okay, so we spawn in. What's the problem that needs training at 5 am?"

"We shouldn't spawn in," explained Suzuki. "I spent the night reading the competition's rules. Genaco's aim is clearly to see how we handle ourselves in a real mission. Spawning is the laziest form of entry, and I'm sure it'll have the lowest score. No, we have to treat it like a real mission. I believe the best form of entry is a HALO Jump from max altitude."

"Oh? Skydiving?" Excitement sparkled in Taiga's broad grin.

"You are disqualified, remember? And it's not as simple as plain skydiving." Suzuki shifted the graphics to reveal himself in a heavily customized, black Infiltrator Gladiator jumping out of the rear end of a cargo plane. Everyone watched with bated breath as Suzuki briefly oriented himself before straightening his body and falling into a steep dive.

"What is that on your back?" Ayumi questioned as she pointed at a rectangular backpack. At first glance, it seemed to be a parachute, but upon closer inspection, it was too large to pass as one.

Suzuki looked at Ayumi. Even in a simple T-shirt and loose pajama pants, the young girl cut a noble figure; perhaps it was her perfectly brushed hair or the way she carried herself. He briefly took in the unfamiliar appearance before answering, "It contains compressed gas, which we'll use to descend," Suzuki said, just as the forests became visible in the sped-up video.

"That's too low." Usman frowned as he watched Suzuki zip past what most would consider the ideal point to pull a parachute.

"We won't be using a parachute," Suzuki revealed as barely visible streams of white gas shot out of several ports on the front end of the suit. "I put in the white gas for visualization. The real deal has no colour or trace. Don't worry."

Chuckling, Jade shook her head as she pointed at the video. "Pretty sure that's the least of anyone's worries right now. This whole thing is cra—" The words froze in Jada's mouth as she witnessed something unbelievable. "...Am I crazy, or is he slowing down?"

In the video, Suzuki oriented himself horizontally as the gas pushed against gravity, gradually slowing his speed of descent. Within a dozen seconds, his speed dropped from terminal velocity to resembling a feather falling from a palm. Having reached a safe velocity at a safe height, Suzuki detached the large canister, which fell to the ground with a soft thud next to him.

"Drop successful," Suzuki reported to an imagined HQ as he stood up and scanned the long mountain range. His visor located the communications tower nestled between two peaks roughly half a kilometre in the distance. "Setting Gladiator to Max Stealth." With those words, the helmet pulled back, revealing Suzuki's grim, determined face.

In reality, Suzuki paused the video. "I got bought the Rapid Descent Kit from the mission store. Thankfully, they are compatible with all Gladiator models, so there should be no issue regardless of the Gladiator you choose." Rewinding the video to the fall, he said, "This is the most important part. In reality, you need at least one thousand jumps and a ton of certification before you are allowed to attempt a Halo Jump. Without proper training, you are likely to blackout and die; lose control, overspin and die; hit your partner mid-dive, knocking out or possibly maiming them and die; throw up in your helmet, messing up your breathing and—"

"And die!" Jade laughed as she rubbed her forehead, her voice tinged with frustration. "We get it. There are a hundred ways we could mess up and die. I'm guessing your training can fix this?"

Suzuki nodded. "We have two advantages over real skydivers that guarantees everyone should be able to master what we need in two days."

"Two days?" Ayumi's brows furrowed. Her voice contained traces of doubt as she challenged, "Isn't that too short? Not everyone is as adaptable as you, Suzuki."

"I adjusted my timing to account for that," admitted Suzuki. The young man felt no shame admitting that he was a bit different from most people. Even James had praised Razznik's ability to adapt to any form he took, from dragons to bears, to snakes, during a particular animal metamorphosis training period. "We only have six days of training. We can't waste more than two days on the jump. The teams still need to perform coordinated simulations to ensure everyone knows their role on the day."

"Alright. Then, what are our advantages?"

Suzuki pointed at the screen. "First, we can practice in a virtual environment. Unlike the real world, you can repeat the jumps and die as much as you like to perfect your technique." He then thumbed his heart as he added, "Secondly, I'm sure you've discovered it by now, but Genaco has somehow modified our bodies. We're just as strong, if not stronger, than Olympic bodybuilders while retaining our lean musculature. I'm no scientist, but common sense and my scale tell me Genaco found a way to increase the density and strength of our muscles without drastically increasing their size. Furthermore, that upgrade applies to our organs and bones as well." Suzuki held out his palm and gently squeezed it into a tight ball. Even now, he could scarcely believe the power contained in his fist. It was a type of strength he thought exclusive to his alter egos. "To put it in simpler terms, we are like Spartan IV's right now. We can handle a lot more punishment than the regular human, and it'll take a lot to make us nauseous or unconscious."

Jade glanced at her dainty hands. "Are you serious? I'm that strong? I don't feel any different."

"Makes sense," acknowledged Suzuki with a nod. "Live No Evil already accustomed your mind and body to dealing with varying levels of superhuman strength. As long as you game regularly, you would never feel alien in your new strength. Your body instinctively knows the strength to apply in any given situation."

"Wow."

"Yeah, but back to the topic. We can keep practising the jumps until we get the timing right at every phase. Ah, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result won't work, so you should use Genaco's AI Assistant program to point out your flaws in each jump. But don't turn it into a crutch because the suit's electronics will be switched off during the first phase. We don't want the radar picking up the suits' electrical signatures."

"That... is brilliant." Ayumi softly praised, with admiration in her gaze. "You should share this with the other teams. This method works best if everyone uses it so the infiltrations teams can land in close proximity."

"Already done," confirmed Suzuki with a terse nod. "I sent the details to the team captains last night. I also sent the instance link to you guys. So, we can train together and practice coordinated jumps."

Saeko softly chuckled as she flipped her messy hair. "Seems you have everything figured out. If you don't mind, I would like to join the training despite my disqualification."

"Nothing wrong with that. It'll be even better if you can stand in for the aliens in the simulated battles. I believe you and Taiga will be the best training partners." Suzuki's eyes narrowed as he observed the weird duo. He always felt strange when it came to these two. For most people, Genaco's games were empowering power fantasies that allowed them to achieve inhuman feats. As a result, it made sense that they grew stronger as they progressed and got used to manipulating increased strength. Things were not quite so clear in Taiga and Saeko's case. Their in-game characters always seemed like a form of cathartic release for repressed otherworldly powers. Rather than growing into their in-game avatars, the avatars were the ones struggling to reach the duo's true abilities.

There was a reason why Kashi felt apprehensive about fighting either anomaly, even with Razznik's inherited memories. There was a confident nonchalance about the two that could only be formed by possessing immense power in reality. In a sense, it was similar to the difference between a real-life mafia hitman versus someone who built a ferocious in-game reputation.

Suzuki had a feeling he would finally experience the duo's true capabilities if they fought with the Gladiator suits. Would the battle sharpen his abilities like a whetstone on a sword, or would it break him like throwing an egg against a rock? He would be lying if he said a part of him was not a little bit curious to find out.

Suzuki shook his head to clear the distracting thoughts and then pointed at the VR headsets. "Everyone gets one. We should get in two hours of training before breaking for exercise and breakfast. Then we'll hold a short meeting to discuss our progress before going in for the next session. Is that fine with everyone?"

"That's fine with me," said Taiga, his lips spreading into a devious grin as he slipped behind Suzuki and massaged his shoulders. "Didn't know you could look so cool as a leader, Suzu-tan. Your shoulders must hurt so much from carrying everyone on your back. Don't worry. Your good Uncle Taiga will lower himself and massage your shoulders."

Jade chuckled as she approached Suzuki with wriggling fingers. "Yeah, yeah. I had no idea you could take charge like this. Leader Suzuki is so cool!"

"Cut it out." Suzuki grabbed Jade's head, preventing her from getting close. With a gentle push, he sent her stumbling to the couch and then ducked away from Taiga. Before anyone else got any ideas, he slumped onto the sofa and put on a headset. "I'll meet you in-game. Don't waste time, or you'll miss the first jump."

"Tch. No fun." Having lost his target, Taiga begrudgingly took a seat on the round sofa with the others and put on the VR headset as they prepared for a brutal training session.

***

"Damn it. That's expensive," Jade muttered as she looked at a hologram depicting the Rapid Descent Kit. The young woman stood in the middle of a giant warehouse filled with millions of Gladiator suits, models, parts and more as far as she could see. She grimaced as she studied the giant circular screen through which she could browse the store's products. Once she selected a product, the item would appear next to the screen in full 3D, allowing her to accurately judge its dimensions and size.

The Rapid Descent Kit was priced at $500,000 and had a level 4 clearance tag. This meant that those with lower clearance levels could not even see it on their menu, let alone buy it. At fourth-level clearance, $500,000 was about a quarter of her monthly earnings. She would have thrown a nationwide parade a few months ago if she made that amount in a year. Now, it appeared it would not be enough for a single training session. Now she understood why Uncle Sam never seemed to have more than enough for their military budget. This stuff was too damn expensive!

Jade held back her tears as she purchased the kit, then turned her attention to a sister screen displaying the current Gladiator models. The Gladiators were broken down into three major classes, which then had a few subclasses of their own. Fortunately, the system provided easy-to-understand introductions.

Gladiator Classes: Infiltrators, Vanguard, Artillery

Subclasses

Infiltrators: Sentinel, Saboteurs, Stalkers

Vanguard: Brutes, Berserkers, Gunners

Artillery: Stormbreaker, Lightbringer, Shadowfall

Infiltrators: Infiltrators are usually lean in design with light armour plating. They prioritize stealth and focus on causing damage behind enemy lines. Infiltrators are not the best at combat, but their utility might be even more important to tilt any battlefield in their favour.

Sentinel – Light Stealth. These models trade stealth systems for powerful Electronic Countermeasure (ECM) capabilities. They hack into enemy communications and machines, negating the need for specialized stealth systems. Terrible in combat. Should avoid direct combat where possible. Best to utilize it as a sniper unit.

Saboteurs – Medium stealth. These models have anti-radar protocols and decent camouflage abilities. They carry multiple bombs, EMPs, grenades and more to destroy enemy structures. They are decent enough in combat to quickly flee if caught and can weather small punishments. Recommended loadout: Rifles and pistols.

Stalkers – Full stealth. Full camo, invisibility and anti-radar protocols. Able to mask heat signatures for two hours before critical dump is required. Made for breaking behind enemy lines to kill enemy commanders in one strike. Due to the need for full stealth, not suitable for direct combat. Recommended loadout: Short Energy Sword, Short Titanium Sword, Pistol.

Vanguards: Vanguards are the leaders of ground battles. These are the units that face the most combat, seeking to destroy the enemy as quickly as possible. As a result, they have significantly more bullet-resistant armour plating.

Brutes – Multiple layers of heavy armour. These large monsters are designed to push at the front, absorbing most ranged enemy fire before rushing into their midst to deal maximum damage with massive hammers or axes. Due to their size, Brutes are best paired with two-handed weapons. The power in their swings can tear through shields and armour alike with relative ease. Recommended Loadout: Greataxe, Zwheihander, Gatling Gun, Shotgun.

Berserkers – Medium armor. Primary battle units. Designed to rush behind Brutes and run rampant in the enemy camp. Berserkers sacrifice armour for improved shields and speed. These allow them to close the distance against enemy troops before tearing them apart with cold weapons. Recommended Loadout: Swords, Spears, Halberds, etc. Can carry a physical rifle to cover retreats.

Gunners – Medium armour: Primary ranged units. Designed to sit back and attack the enemies from a distance. Physical ammo Gunners carry thousands of ammunition in backpacks, whereas plasma and laser gunners require heatsinks to expel heat.

Artillery

Stormbreaker – Brutes outfitted with massive missile launcher base. Limited mobility. Designed to launch death from distance. Needs to be protected by other squads. Can shed its launchers to transform into a Brute when its ammunition runs out

Lightbringer – Repurposed Gunners with added modules to increase heatsink capabilities. Can be ranged or close-up. Utilizes powerful lasers to eliminate enemies from distance. Lightbringers quickly heat up, so need a few minutes to dump heat after prolonged use. Lightbringers utilize plasma and lasers to target energy and physical shields, respectively.

Shadowfall - [Information Redacted] Eliminate on sight!

Jade examined the options before settling on the Sentinel model. Her team was in charge of infiltrating the communications tower, and she specialized in hacking rather than combat. The decision was a no-brainer.

Satisfied with her choice, Jade spent a few minutes customizing the Gladiator. She painted it black with a few purple highlights and then redesigned the models' antennas so that it resembled a triangular crown rather than a dozen spiky hairs. She chose a small pistol and a sniper rifle as additional weapons. She was not proficient with either, but it was better to fire blindly and pray to hit than go in naked.

Jade released a sigh of relief when she noticed the fat zero on the checkout page. Fortunately, the Gladiator selection process was completely free for this mission. She wondered if they would charge for future missions. Regardless, with her choices finalized, Jade pulled up a menu that contained all the instances (VR Worlds) linked to her account and clicked on Suzuki's invitation.

Vwoosh!

Jade endured the familiar sucking feeling as the system transported her to the instance. Thunk! A metallic thunk resonated in Jade's ears shortly after, and she opened her eyes to see several Gladiators standing at the rear of a massive cargo plane. From the rumbling floor and her popping eardrums, Jade surmised the plane was already high in flight.

A black berserker with a long sword on its back tapped the plane's walls to draw everyone's attention. "Everyone's here." Suzuki's slightly distorted voice fed into Jade's helmet, prompting her to notice the team feed at the lower left corner of her field. "I'm sure some of you need a moment or two to get used to the suits." Suzuki looked pointedly at a female-coded gunner. "For the rest, you probably want to learn the basics from the AI to familiarize yourself with the process. That is the best approach, yes. But first..." Suzuki's voice dropped, and Jade could have sworn she almost heard laughter as he said, "Fall."

"Wha—" Before Jade could process his words, the floor disappeared, dumping the stunned, frightened Crazy Heads to their first of many, many deaths!

"SUZUKI, YOU FUCK!"