Restricted Sector

"... Well, this is a pleasant surprise," Yukino exhumed with a bright smile as she faced the stoic young man before her. Beautiful, dainty fingers clutched onto an electronic tablet, eyes scanning the man with undisguised interest. "It's not every day we get the pleasure of your presence."

Suzuki snorted, unwilling to spend any additional time with this woman. As someone who prided himself in studying human relations (absolute loner wisdom), he was especially sensitive to the hidden layers behind people's actions. His sensitivity to the faces hidden beneath polite masks caused him to develop a slight aversion to people with these masks. This was why Suzuki avoided most people, and also why he found it much easier to understand and get along with the 'villains' of the world.

The group of Taiga, Jade, and Saeko might have been weird in their own ways, but at least they were true to their emotions most of the time. If they were upset, they would speak frankly, and the opposite was true of their joy. Even though they inevitably held secrets as everyone in the world did, he could always be sure of what they felt at a particular time.

Glancing at Yukino, this woman whose very job dictated she kept a constantly amiable expression, Suzuki felt an urge to congratulate himself on not reflexively avoiding her. It was a sign of progress. Taking a deep breath, Suzuki buried his thoughts as he regarded the older woman with a measured gaze. "Have been busy."

Yukino's ensuing bright smile made the young man feel an urge to squint. "Oh, we are aware. We have been keeping tabs on your performance. I must say we have been very impressed."

"Is that so," Suzuki distractedly murmured as he stepped past the woman into the room, once again greeted by the sight of several Full-Body Virtual Drives, their cold metallic exterior creating the illusion of a cemetery.

Suzuki's entrance caught the attention of five people who stood off to the opposing corner, watching something on a row of monitors that took up the wall. Suzuki's eyes glossed over these people, failing to commit their faces to memory before landing on the nearest free Virtual Drive.

Suzuki unceremoniously dropped his bag to the floor and took off his shirt. He did not care for the involuntary gasp Yukino let out at the sight of his scars, only climbing into the Virtual Drive, the slight glint in his eyes betraying his hidden excitement. Nor did he spare a glance towards the other people in the room who suddenly had ferocious glares, mostly from being so blatantly ignored, but also from the irritating pressure they suffered during the brief millisecond his gaze passed over them.

Yes, like they were less than bugs beneath his feet. Utterly unworthy of his attention.

Suzuki did not know the thoughts passing through their heads right now. Then again, he would not have cared either way even if he knew. That was because, at that moment, he was entirely focused on one thing.

As the disorienting void welcomed him, Suzuki mused back to the day he watched the Deus Ex movies and wondered why humans would willingly give up so much just for a piece of mechanical body parts.

However, as his 'body' began to come to life, powered by several thousand jolts of electricity, which he could feel like they were his cells, Suzuki pushed that question to the back of his mind, seeing as the answer was quite obvious: Power!

Even without a direct connection to his body, Suzuki's heart raced as several terabytes of raw data flooded his brain, the stressed organ working in overdrive to sift through and classify the information quickly. Suzuki's body spasmed as he withstood the sharp pain, only relaxing when he finally managed to get the data stream under control.

Even though Suzuki felt like a truck rammed into his brain, he swiftly rode his momentum and activated the Gladiator. The Gladiator's spinal cord, which housed its primary operating system, flared up instantly, then started the millions of bio-engineered nerves that ran throughout its frame, bringing the numerous auxiliary systems directly under Suzuki's control.

The Gladiator's frontal cameras located in its 'eyes' booted, giving Suzuki a view of his environment while waiting for the last set of systems. He was not surprised to find himself in a narrow metallic corridor, about 6ft. wide.

Suzuki stepped out of the pod the Gladiator was stored in, then watched as it closed behind him, forcing him to move forward if he wished to exit this place. Suzuki continued down the hallway, flexing his fingers and familiarizing himself with the subsystems in the machine. The Gladiator he was in was of the agility model. Its sleek, skinny frame barely had any armaments for protection, relying only on the strangely flexible alloy which all the Gladiators had as a base, forming to form their 'flesh' as protection.

The tail, protected by several shifting plates, swished lazily behind him, its purpose to offer increased stability in 3-D environments. Suzuki drew the katana that lay in a scabbard magnetized to the back of his frame. His steps quickened while he examined the blade, impressed by the extensive craftsmanship that went into it. The katana was a single-edged curved blade, just over a meter and a half (5.5ft) in length, made from entirely black material. Its guard was simple: a metal carving of four gates to represent the four seasons, finally completed by a hilt with the kanji for 'Heart' carved onto the top.

The Gladiators were linked to their weapons, allowing Suzuki to feel like the katana was a part of him. It communicated its ability to him: the power of vibration. The blade possessed the unique ability to vibrate at different frequencies over tiny, micro-distances, invisible to the human eye. The vibrations significantly increased the katana's cutting power since it sliced materials at a near molecular level.

Suzuki could not hide his shock as he stared at the weapon in disbelief. Was James sure they were the ones getting invaded and not the ones about to invade? He quickly shook his head as he understood that there was no use wondering. Just because Genaco had mind-blowing advancements did not mean the other countries were sitting down and twiddling their thumbs. Especially America. Suzuki would sooner believe Gandhi was a warmonger before considering the States were not rapidly upping their military might.

Suzuki sheathed the blade along with his stray thoughts as the corridor opened to a much wider path. Suzuki eyed the turrets inlaid on the opposite walls then turned to the path ahead, which was fraught with randomly placed roadblocks designed to impede or restrict movement as much as possible.

The Gladiator flexed its fingers as it once again took in the position of the hanging turrets. Its controller knew they were only visible because it was the first stage in training. After it had memorized the turrets' positions, the Gladiator bold dashed into the hall.

The five people Suzuki had ignored at the observation room watched a Gladiator walk through the beginner 'adjustment' corridor with slow steps, causing a sneer to rise up their lips.

"With that attitude, I thought he was a bigshot," a thirty-year-old man sneered, his bushy jaw shaking with disgust. The man was called Takahiro Ken. For a gamer, he had a very robust body, which showed the hours he regularly spent at the gym. He was a member of the group Silver Spear. He had come to watch his leader train in the jungle. Never would he have expected to be insulted by a snot-nosed brat with no manners.

" Yeah, right," scoffed a small chibi. The girl, Kuoshimida Akiyo, just barely 5ft tall, loudly crunched on a lollipop, pink eyes frowning at the screen. "See how long the fool's taking in the noob walkway. Idiot's probably been playing the game too much and forgot the reason we're here in the first place." She also belonged to 'Silver Spear.'

Next to them, a teenager with neatly brushed brown hair and square rimmed glasses shook his head. "I do not know why, but I feel he is strange," he murmured, his shoulders slightly slumped. "I think we should examine him further. You saw how Yukino-san reacted when he arrived. Like she was excited." The teen, Tsukuda Taidan, lazily raised a hand to stifle his yawn. The lackadaisical young man was impressively the vice head of the group 'Nature's Vanguard' of and was the proud(?) owner of the moniker 'Tidal Wave.'

The last two wore hoodies, so their identities were unclear. However, their gazes were unmistakably glued to the screen. A shaky bony hand slipped out of the sleeves of one of them and pointed at the screen. A raspy voice as if devoid of water for years whispered, "He's moving."

The other three seemed to be used to the voice and did not show any surprised reactions. However, the calmness on their faces soon turned to shock and then abject horror as a lollipop slipped to the floor.

Suzuki easily dodged the systemic assault from a line of turrets ahead of him, his natural, exceptional cognitive abilities heavily boosted by the Gladiator's advanced cameras. To him, these pellets, which traveled at almost a thousand meters per second, were just too slow! His heart exploded in laughter when he finally dashed into a tunnel that signified the end of the first stage.

Suzuki had always lamented the limitations of the human body. Many times, his cognition and reactions were much quicker than his body, failing him on multiple occasions. And even though he threw a lot into severe training, the increase in his body's abilities was very slow and frustrating.

To finally be able to not only follow, but surpass his vision was a joy that the violence-addicted young man could not express in words.

The tunnel opened to another hall, but rather than turrets on the walls, the hallway was packed with several robots, the majority holding firearms of some sort. The terrain here was also a lot more complicated, with lots of platforms, raised blocks, and miniature buildings creating several blind spots or height advantages which he or the enemy robots could take advantage of.

Suzuki did not dare underestimate the skinny robots, even though they were far inferior to the Gladiator model. After all, these were made by the same company that designed L.N.E. The chance that the robots were simple idiots that followed simplistic orders were meager. For all he knew, they could even have their own A.I.

He was right!

Immediately Suzuki exited the tunnel, his vision was blanketed by a dense mass of red and yellow rushing in his direction. Others might have ducked back into the tunnel, but Suzuki instantly raised his hand left hand. The metal just below his wrist slid open, allowing something resembling a gun's barrel to rise out of it. A black mass immediately shot out and latched to the ceiling overhead. By the time the pellets reached his previous location, Suzuki had dethatched the slingshot from the ceiling and was briefly floating in the air during the brief moment of equilibrium.

The robot at the front had only raised its sight when a tiny arrow-like object slammed through its head and into the ground behind it with the ferocity of a tiger. It barely had time to register the damage before the Gladiator slammed into it like a meteor, sparks, and oil blossoming like a lotus flower.

Suzuki swiftly shifted from his position as several rifle shots pelted the ground. He unleashed the katana, swiftly cutting through three robots in one swing. He then backpedaled as a robot launched at him without fear, catching two more jumping from his right and left. Suzuki suddenly paused, his right leg sliding back then clockwise. It cut into the face of the robot to his right, then sent it careening into the robot ahead of him.

The one to the right took advantage of his body, which was still in motion and grabbed for his throat, but the dormant tail suddenly shot upwards and stabbed through the robot's chin to the command center in the brain like a pincer. As sparks flew, Suzuki sheathed the blade and used the tail to push the body ahead of himself to block the next hail of pellets, all the while swiftly dashing to the side.

Suzuki discarded the pellet ridden robot as he scampered up the wall with the ease of a wall gecko, his claws providing impressive traction. He swiftly jumped for an outstretched platform with two robots on it.

Both bots had predicted his movement and trained their rifles at him, their synchronized index fingers on the verge of squeezing their respective triggers.

Their movements slowed to a crawl as the Gladiator speed-analyzed the situation and sent a series of potential solutions to its controller. However, even as the analysis had just begun, Suzuki's arms already flung forward like whips. By the time the analysis ended, sparks had started to escape the rifles as two knife edges barely ten centimeters (four inches) in length ripped through them.

Suzuki spun around as soon as he landed on the platform, his tail smashing the bots to pieces. Without celebrating his victory, he swiftly bent backward, barely dodging a long blade thrust by a robot that had chased after him from behind. The Gladiator's feet's claws dug into the ground for traction as its left hand shot upward and grabbed the hand of the robot flying overhead. It gripped hard, crushing the robot's wrist, its right hand grasping the sword that fell out of the now useless hand.

The robot, seeing its chance, ignored its damaged right hand. Its left thrust with the vigor of a snake, aiming for the Gladiator's chest.

Clang!

The robot's eyes recorded the impossible sparks that flew out as its hand crumbled against the armored tail that had wrapped itself around its owner's throat at the last moment. Before the robot could compute a countermeasure, Suzuki resolutely beheaded it.

Suzuki rose to his feet, and then, with a running start, jumped off the platform at an angle such that he landed on a large 'box' at the center of the hallway. He swiftly blocked three pellets fired by sentries on the box before falling backward over the edge. He stabbed the sword into the side of the box then swung into an open window.

No sooner had he landed did five robots simultaneously lunge at him with daggers drawn. The Gladiator turned on two optical feeds by the side of its head, improving Suzuki's vision to a jarring 280°. If it were any other person, they would need a long period to adjust to the new range, but Kashi had already received more than enough training with Mind's Eye, allowing Suzuki to adjust after only a brief millisecond of discomfort.

Strangely, despite that momentary discomfort, Suzuki's instinct still guided him to his right. Simultaneously, his tail cut an arc around him, momentarily halting three of the five robots' advance.

Suzuki followed the momentum to spin past the advance of the fifth robot. The scabbard screamed as the katana was violently drawn and sliced through the fourth from head to pelvic region, cleanly cutting it in equal halves. Sparks blossomed as his tail parried the backward strike of the robot which had flown past, flinging its arms into the air. Suzuki whirled around, and the katana cut the robot's head clean off.

Of the three whose assault had been momentarily halted, two pulled out pistols and kicked backward to increase their distance while the third pushed forward to face the Gladiator.

Suzuki inwardly smirked as grapplers zipped out of his outstretched arm and stabbed at the two retreating drones.

Without glancing at its companions, the one in the lead suddenly dropped to the ground, virtually falling out of Suzuki's raised sight and slid towards the Gladiator. Barely a meter from the Gladiator, it abruptly shot upward dagger angled for the bottom of its chin.

Suzuki surprisingly showed no reaction to its advance as he reeled in the other two robots. Only when the dagger was inches from his chin did his head tilt ever so slightly to the side. The blade sparked as it brushed the side of his face. By this point, the robot was too far gone to pull back its momentum. It was powerless to resist as Suzuki bashed his head against its rising head, smashing the cognition cameras in its eyes to pieces.

The stunned robot was blasted away as Suzuki's heavy kick angrily lashed out at it. The incoming robots slammed against the outbound robot and combusted in a brilliant show of oil and flames.

Suzuki barely paid any of these attention as he jumped out the window on the other side of the box and continued the trial.

Outside, the five onlookers were too stunned to notice two pods open with a silent hiss. Its occupants, a disheveled, skinny, purple-eyed man in his late twenties to early thirties and a bright teenage girl with eager blue eyes.

The purple-eyed man, Tsukosen Kimuri, picked up his shirt, which lay by the side of the pod and put it on. His left hand scratched a lazy beard while his right searched his pockets and pulled out a cigarette, which he swiftly lit despite Yukino's reproachful glare.

The black-haired teenage girl, Yokina Natsu, likewise put on a sweater. She flicked several locks of hair of her thin, waist-length hair over her shoulders, then brushed her forehead bands with her hands. She glanced at the scraggly man next to her and flashed a smile. "Hey, ossan, how did you do this time?"

Kimuri yawned while he glanced at the young girl. "Made it to the second level this time... Hey, don't call me ossan. I'm still in my twenties."

"Haio... Kemuri-san*," Natsu cheered brightly with a cheeky laugh.

"It's Kimuri."

"Of course, Kemuri-ossan."

"You have a terrible personality," Kimuri snorted as he glanced at the guys by the screen. "Hoo... it seems these knuckleheads found something exciting for them to forget to greet their Overlord." He snuck a glance at Natsu, whose smile seemed to have stiffened somewhat.

"Let's see what's so important, Kemuri-ossan," Natsu rebutted, then made her way to the screen immediately, followed closely by Kimuri.

The first to notice their arrival was Tsukuda Taidan, who smiled at Kimuri. "How was it, boss?"

"Made it past the second level today," Kimuri said with a lazy smile. That's right, this man was the leader of Nature's Vanguard, with the moniker of 'Wind.' His brows slightly rose when he discovered something wrong with the previous question. "You were watching. Why would you ask that?"

Taidan released an awkward chuckle. "We found something interesting, you've got to see it for yourself."

Next to him, Ken stiffly stared at Natsu with a slight tremble in his eyes. Do not look at her age. This young girl was the leader of Silver Spear and was greatly feared for her exceptionally high NS levels and combat ability. He watched as she wordlessly stepped past him, her hand absentmindedly stroking Akiyo's head as she gazed at the figure on the screen.

Natsu's eyes narrowed in shock and rage as she glared at the screen. "Who is he!?" She demanded of no one in particular, and yet everyone at the same time.

"His name is Mato Suzuki," announced Kaido as he entered the room in a timely manner. "The leader of Crazy Heads."

Natsu frowned. "Never heard of him. Is he new?"

"Doubt that," Kaido said with a shake of his head as he took off his shirt. "But I am quite sure his name will soon reach the top." He entered an empty capsule then cast his gaze at the seven people by the screen. "Be careful. That monster will surpass you soon if you relax."

"Mato Suzuki," Kimuri murmured as he released a plume of smoke. He gazed through the smoke at the figure that finally broke through the second level and launched directly into the third with no hesitation. "Interesting..."