5 Book 1 - Entrance Exam

"Who are you and what have you done with Etana?" Cisse asked sarcastically. She spoke with a kind tone, but it was lost on him.

"Who are you and what happened …" He was about to make a rude remark about what happened to her legs, but he caught himself. Not because he was worried about offending her, but she had lost her legs in the same accident that had killed his mother. The reminder was a self-inflicted punishment to him. "… to your hair."

Cisse touched her head and thought for a moment. "Nothing," she answered.

"Exactly," he said and messaged her a list of the top ten salons in Paris.

She waggled a finger at him.

The intake for that year was 1,275 cadets. It was the same every year. There were five houses with 255 cadets each.

Although it was a boarding school with astronomical fees, if a potential cadet didn't pass and rank in the top thirteen hundred, they would not be accepted. Although Fortescue was a Tier Three school, it always had more successful applicants than places.

It was one of the many academies in Europe but the only one in Paris. There were three in London, which hurt local pride, two of which had sprouted from the famous universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Germany had four academies in the top three tiers also, which was a low number since that country was an industrial giant.

Daedo completed the math, physics, history, language, chemistry, logic, mental profile and problem-solving tests. As long as he passed the physical test, his results in the academic subjects were sure to place him in the top one hundred.

Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

He had not had the time or energy to review the academic subjects, but he excelled naturally at math, logic, and problem-solving. He was no slouch at physics either, but it was massively broad with some subjective questions that he could not recall the exact answers to. Myrmidon was no assistance; cybernetic activity was monitored and effectively disabled during the exam.

There were at least three thousand thirteen-year-olds taking the tests in waves, Daedo had not yet turned twelve and was still the smallest in his group of a hundred. The sprint was followed by the eight-kilometre run for the physical test.

He was able to place middle of the field in the sprint, coming in sixtieth out of his group of one hundred. And in the eight-kilometre run, all his training paid off, and he came in the top thirty. However, the fastest runners were ahead by a full fifteen minutes. Daedo was a long way from the peak cadets in the physical discipline.

He wondered why it was so important. Surely if you could control a mech with a cybernetic implant, and if you were taking an engineering focus, it would not matter at all.

He heard another cadet, who was slower than him, complaining about that very topic.

"Are you crazy?" came the response from a serious sounding girl. "You can't pilot a mech if you're not fit."

"Uh … why?" asked the boy.

"Because, noob, it's not like VR gaming," she said disdainfully. "We wear suits, and when you move your arm the mech's arm moves. When you jump, the mech jumps. How could you possibly operate a mech for more than ten minutes if you're as fit as a sloth?"

"That's stupid," the boy said without elaborating on the reason why it was stupid. But Daedo was inclined to agree. He would have to find out the reason later.

Daedo barely completed barrage of physical tests. Most cadets completed the squeeze test effortlessly. He wondered how much time they spent preparing for it.

After the obstacle course, he had completed all the elements. Myrmidon was permitted during the physical tests, and it had been monitoring his progress.

Myrmidon: Out of these 123 cadets, you ranked ninety-four, which extrapolates to rank 1,870. This will affect your overall entrance rank, but as long as you passed all elements and rank under 1,275, you will gain entry.

Daedo: What time do I need for the obstacle course?

Myrmidon: It's on the board. Ten minutes.

Daedo: Uh, I see.

It did not seem strange to Daedo that even though he'd seen the board with his eyes, he was so tired and worried that it didn't register in his mind. Myrmidon had perceived the board with the same information that Daedo received, through his vision, and the AI had recognised the significance of the information. This was one of the facets of their symbiotic relationship.

They watched the previous cadets complete the course. This enabled Myrmidon to monitor and advise Daedo during his completion.

Myrmidon: Keep your head down, it's too high for the logs.

Myrmidon: Catch your breath before the climb. Your heart rate is 160; walk the twenty metres.

Myrmidon: The cadets who rolled forward after this drop performed the best.

Between his practice and Myrmidon's advice, Daedo was able to complete the obstacle course in nine minutes and forty-four seconds. Only sixteen to spare. But that was all that mattered.

He had passed the entrance exam.

Daedo would be attending Fortescue Military Academy in the year 2142.

Tier One Academies by Rank

Huawei MA (MA is an abbreviation of Military Academy)

DaVinci MA

Svarksi MA

Oxford

Harvard MA

Massachusetts Military Academy (offshoot of MIT)

Tiger Eight MA (Asia)

Akihabara MA

Tokyo Mech

Munich LMU

Bavarian MA

Stanford Scientific

Tier Two Academies by Rank

Berkley MA

Cambridge

Aachen MA

Duntroon MA

BAE Systems MA

Boeing NA MA

Mercedes MA

SAAB MA

Taiwan Tech

Renault MA

Abu Dhabi MA

Hitachi MA

Tier 3 Academies by Rank

KAIST

Tehran Mech

Templars MA

Lockheed Martin MA

Heidelberg MA

Humboldt MA

Tsinghua MA

Seoul MA

ETH Zurich

Mumbai MA

Fortescue MA

Udon Thani MA

Houses of Fortescue Military Academy

Horus – Purple – Hunter, War

Osiris – Dark Green – Regeneration, Damage

Amun-Ra – Red – Firepower, Energy

Shu – Blue – Flight, Speed

Thoth – White – Calculation, Research

Middle School (M1 to M3) Subjects

Mathematics

Physical Training

Tech Studies – Equipment, Exos, Weapons

Human Studies – Debate, Leadership, Ethics, Profiling

Reference – Military History, Military Regulations, Space Travel History

Strategy – Philosophy, Thinking Methods, Tactics

Physics – Energy, Mechanics, Elec, Thermal, Hydraulic

AI – Nurturing, Cybernetics, Operation

Gunnery

Piloting

An acceptance letter and information document arrived by certified email to Ikaros and Daedo that evening.

"Etana, wait," his father called out as Daedo headed to his room. "Let's open it together."

Daedo rarely did anything with his father. They both mostly kept to themselves, even during meals. And now he would be moving away for most of the year. Daedo felt a pang of guilt. He would miss his father, even though he rarely spent time with him. He wondered why he would feel that way.

They opened the certified email on a count of three. It required proof of identity before viewing was allowed.

"Congratulations, Etana Daedo, you have successfully gained entry into Fortescue Military Academy for the 2142 M1 intake …"

The opening message was followed by several instructions regarding behaviour, schedule, appropriate possessions, rules, exemptions, fees, and required equipment.

One was the military-grade cybernetic implant, which he already possessed, and another unique item was the 'MG Inductive Multifunction Bodysuit.' They also suggested certain suppliers and brands for purchase. There were strict rules regarding specifications. In addition to being military grade, it had to be able to change colour in line with the house colours on most of its surface, excluding a few of the specialised sockets. And it was advised to purchase one with an allowable twenty per cent minimum size expansion capability.

"The semester starts in seven days. We should head into Paris tomorrow and purchase one of these," Ikaros said, although he had work.

"I can just purchase it online," Daedo said.

"These are expensive, and we want to get the right one. You can't try it on with an online purchase."

"Yes, you can. If you have an implant like mine, you can mimic the size and sensory data to simulate a physical fitting."

"And how can you be certain that is accurate?"

"Because it is," Daedo said, offering no reason for his conclusion … like any normal child.

Ikaros gave in. "Oh, alright. I need to go to work anyway."

Suddenly, Daedo was sad that he'd rejected spending time with his father. It did not cross his mind that it was an opportunity for some bonding with Ikaros. For Daedo, it had been from the perspective that purchasing from a physical store was archaic.

He started to search online with Myrmidon to hunt down the ideal bodysuit that met the academy's criteria. He knew they could possess a multitude of sensors which would assist Myrmidon. And if he had to do physical exercise, he wanted one that wouldn't stink and would possibly provide him water and cooling.

This was the sort of item Daedo had saved all his bitcreds for, and while the best suits were hideously expensive, he could afford them. Over the past three years, he'd accumulated over nineteen thousand bitcreds. Even the most expensive suit capable of space travel was only one thousand bitcreds. He laughed at himself. Only one thousand? That was a massive amount of money. He could buy a good house with that much.

He perused all the features available and narrowed down the selection. Until one company's offering caught his eye.

The Axel suit had a customisable option where all the add-ons could be selected, and within five days they would have it delivered to his door. There were only a few options they were missing that competitor suits had.

Daedo first selected all the essential criteria the academy demanded. Then he added the most important.

Sensors internal body – all.

Rather than pick a few, he just selected all of them. He doubted he would ever need blood pressure monitoring, but he wanted the best suit.

Sensors external – all.

Inductive comm pads – all locations.

He selected the most expensive polymer fabric.

Daedo: Myrmidon, check up on this fabric. It's the most expensive; make sure it's the best.

Within minutes, Myrmidon confirmed that it was the best fit for his purpose, allowing breathability, comfort, thermal insulation, protection, wind resistance, water resistance, and camouflage.

There were also security add-ons to stop it from being worn by someone else or tampered with. And most importantly the bodysuit interface, which would allow direct access by Myrmidon to all its information. This alleviated the need to have the bodysuit call for help if he were injured and had other software features as well. Myrmidon could do all that and more, and he could do it better.

Myrmidon: Will the academy consider its movement enhancement features cheating?

Daedo: If it's not in the rules, no. I can't imagine the actual military not using a feature. In a real battle, you cannot cheat. You kill or get killed.

The last thing he added was a helmet that allowed holographic projection and visualisation. The HUD was fully customizable and controllable by Daedo or Myrmidon, which would produce an effect similar to their team work in CyberMech.

The academies required a helmet that allowed visualisation for tutes and augmented reality combat scenarios. But they did not require the enhanced visualisation modes – such as trajectory tracking and holographic projection. Augmented reality modes would be completely different to CyberMech in this regard.

Daedo pressed the button on the order. It would arrive before the semester started. He was not looking forward to his first day wearing the suit. With all the add-ons, it came to twelve hundred bitcreds. It was even more expensive than the spacesuit.

Myrmidon: Are we going to inform the professional teams of our absence from CyberMech?

It had been a month since their last appearance in-game. Daedo had been too tired from training to even log in for a ladder match, let alone compete in a professional one.

Daedo: No, we will just disappear. We have no contracts, so we aren't breaking any deals.

Myrmidon: Our supporters will be disappointed.

In his streaming terms of service, he was paid per individual viewer with other metrics like time viewed and promotional engagement. Sponsorship revenue was based on engagement also, so if he stopped streaming the income would stop, but also he would not be in trouble for breaking a contract.

Daedo: I can't help that. We won't be able to play much. So, I think it's best this way. I was becoming bored with it anyway.

Myrmidon: I have never been bored with anything. Do you think I am immune?

Daedo: You are probably infinitely more patient and disciplined than me. We're about to go to an academy for six years and study subjects like ethics. We will soon know if you can be bored or if you are immune.

The information document from the Fortescue Academy included an orientation with details of what to expect on his first day. On that day, he would find out what his entry ranking was and which house he had been assigned to.

Cadets were assigned to houses based on profiling and test results. Daedo quickly perused the houses and their attributes.

Daedo: Which house do you think we'll be assigned to?

Myrmidon: Horus. Hunter War. That is certainly us.

Myrmidon was basing his guess on their CyberMech performance, and Daedo couldn't blame him. They had spent most of their time together in CyberMech, more than all other activities combined, excluding sleep.

Myrmidon: What is your prediction, Daedo?

Daedo: I'm not sure how well they profiled us. And this is an elite school with all the wealthiest people in the world attending. I have no idea what role they think to place on us. I would like to be Shu – flight, speed. That sounds cool and fits our combat loadout predisposition. And I like the colour blue.

They were both wrong.