Chapter 6: Inevitable Conflict
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Three days later, when the dawn was not even breaking yet. Wright laid his body on the hard mattress that already became his lifelong friend. Then his smartphone suddenly vibrated and the alarm was set off immediately.

 

Only after five minutes had passed did Wright woke up. Although it was still before dawn, Wright already made this his routine. His room was dark and only a few rays from the outside could come inside.

 

“Wait a moment, this day should be the ones where the negotiation is supposed to take place. I remember the news stated such things yesterday.” Wright forcibly opened his eyes that just recently active and still readjust the situation.

 

The blurriness Wright had experienced then changed slowly to the clear vision he usually had. And then the hardest thing to do right after someone wake up, rise from the bed. He did not know which was heavier, his limbs when he was inside the spinning centrifuge or every time he woke up and had to get out from bed?

 

One thing he knew, both of them were as heavy as always. Wright snorted lightly, feeling forced to be separated from the warm and comfortable bed.

 

After taking a bath and preparing his breakfast, Wright then used his smartphone to watch the live stream event from the news channel. And surely, several topics before the negotiation took place and even some of it was just directly fanning the flame.

 

Even better, the tension between the two countries only increased each time passed and the border was full of movement from the military. Orwan and Ridgar bordered at a water body that separated the continent and thus the navy and the air force were deployed the most there.

 

“Really, shouldn’t the negotiation took place at Leisth City? That is the port city nearest to Ridgar even the distance between the soil is not much far.” Wright felt strange when he received this news.

 

One side of him wanted this to continue, turning this to the conflict so he could stay at the militia longer but at the same time, he did not want it to happen. The casualties of the conflict the most was usually civilian and Wright thought about something he had remaining in his life.

 

‘The people that live in both countries, the children at the orphanage, that Traza, Cynthia…Am I good or bad for wishing this condition to develop further instead of reaching a truce?’ it was his little wish to die as someone fulfilling something useful rather than the rotting trash of society. But that meant he also wished for the people he did not even know to be hurt, worse if someone he knew became the victim.

 

Wright kept checking the news related to the negotiation. At most, the reporter only got to the building and not allowed to inquire about the situation inside when the negotiation happened which was happening all the time. Only, it happened real fast as Wright got the news of the building where it took place and the surrounding of that building was packed with people.

 

“This is still dawn!” Wright did not know how those people got spirited so much for than the presence of their emperor. Yes, that man was the only one that would make those people gathered and even before the sunrise.

 

“So much for the morning.” Wright placed his chin on his hand and listened to the news.

 

“Today, we are going to see some important figures which people from both countries know right here at Leisth City. This place was chosen because of the geographical location near the border, a port city which makes it a good place for both economy and military to get in. As for the building the negotiation took place, it is right here behind me…”

 

Wright could see a shadow of that building. The reporter turned around and pointed toward the building, excitement in each word: “That is our Orwan Empire wonder, Hourglass Tower. That’s right dear audiences, this place is where the negotiation took place. And look at the people…hahaha…”

 

The reporter was surprised to see the crowd now even reached his current place. It was so crowded even the cameramen were squeezed.

 

-

 

“Hmm?” when someone saw the car that came to the Hourglass Tower was escorted by some personal unit, it was at that moment he realized some very important figure arrived.

 

And at the front of the tower, the car finally stopped and then someone came out of the car. While the escorts than formed a protective layer from all sides. The security kept checking the condition while assisting the personal unit to enter.

 

And amidst the group, people could see the figure they admired the most especially the people of Orwan. The Emperor himself was wearing clothes that resemble the identity of the empire with the symbol of the empire at the back.

 

Many people watched this from many media and they had one similar feeling, excitement. They only hope that the situation would get better and avoid the conflict with Ridgar at all cost if possible. If the negotiation failed, they could only prepare themselves to take cover from the collateral damage the conflict would create.

 

“I’m nervous. Will this situation turned for the better or not?”

“I don’t know but the situation around the world is no much better than us. Just hope that the emperor gives his best.”

 

At the same time, the military was busy with the possibility of the emerging conflict. They prepared the materials, money, ammunition as well as manpower for the worst scenario possible. Even Wright got the announcement straight away.

 

The tense rose, as the next batch of the convoy, came from the seaport. This convoy was carrying the delegation from the neighboring country, therefore, the tight guards around it. The vehicle, including the one who carried important people, was reinforced with bulletproof material all around its body.

 

“Oh, good. Now comes the delegation from the other side.”

 

Most people could do at that time was to see the act of everyone before the negotiation. Then someone just said that the door to the center of the building was closed and no one allowed to get close.

 

“Surely everyone, this negotiation is a closed one. No one can enter including us from mass media so we can only speculate what the outcome will be.”

 

Wright did not get any interest in watching some people predicting something unknown. Rather than that he took an interest to the thing that could help him during the time he would be in the militia. This morning, he planned to jog around the city while visiting the park.

 

From the very start after the test, Wright decided to stretch his body more frequently. Exercising was one way to increase his body fitness. The reason for that was because Wright found out about the importance of physical fitness to someone who would fly above the sky.

 

Walking around the streets, he saw many people were focused on the news regarding the negotiation. He understood their concern as well but it was just that. All he could do now was to prepare to face anything that might appear in the future, either it was a peaceful negotiation or a futile effort to stop the war Wright had nothing to affect the situation.

 

“Hah, hah…” he moved his legs faster when he saw the park from afar. His body was only on an average standard so when Wright ran for some time, he felt his legs started to get as heavy as if lead were added to it.

 

His breath was rough as sweat dropped his head like a river torrent. He still felt tired only after some light exercise. But to him, that was better than nothing and the only concern he had was about the food he could eat.

 

Wright took a rest and sat on the bench at the park where he could see people were watching the live stream of the situation at the Leisth City, outside the Hourglass Tower. The sunlight then finally reached the park as the sun was rising through the skyscraper.

 

“Should be the time it starts.”

 

-

 

“This is it. Whether we find peace or conflict comes from this negotiation.” Another morning meant another job for someone like John. Fortunately, he was assigned to office desk this time in the City Hall so he only had to be at the City Hall without going anywhere for the rest of the day.

 

His home was near the downtown so it was easy for him to go to the City Hall. After taking the bus and dropped at the terminal, he immediately went to the second floor to meet his superior. When he stepped into the office, he could see the tense increasing each second.

 

Especially his superior, that kind of face appeared when something important happened.

 

“Good morning everyone.” John went to his work table and started to assign each paperwork that would be done immediately and greeted the people around.

 

“Oh, it’s you, John. Long time no see. Happy to see you back from some labor task.”

“Don’t you have a concern about the recent news, John?”

 

Hearing the response from his coworker made John glad. At least they knew the whole situation would affect them all but sadly John knew he had no power to do anything either. He preferred doing something that could help even for a little.

 

But mostly, he thought about Wright since he finally knew Wright managed to enter Temporary Militia Unit. If things escalated further, then Wright would sooner or later be on the frontline. And he also curious about Tanasha too but he would not express this outright.

 

How could she do so many things he knew most people fail to accomplish? It was not about her John thought but what method did she use? His curiosity appeared frequently but as long as she was bringing no harm, it would be fine if he thought about it.

 

-

 

Emperor Fritzgerald X was sitting on one side of the round table, waiting for the representatives of Ridgar to come. His subordinates called to him about the coming of the opposite party. The emperor then tidied himself up as he steeled his will.

 

“Now entering the representatives from Ridgar, Foreign Ministry Abel Kipur. Please welcome him.” The one at the door loudly announced the arrival of the person. And then the first one to appear was the stern-looking face, some of his brown hair that turned white was covered in hair gel.

 

His eyes were as sharp as a tiger locking on its prey, focused and never let go of the thing in its sight. Although Abel was just a Foreign Minister from Ridgar he kept informed about the world overall. Then Abel sad down and Emperor Fritzgerald now could see that young face of the opposite party.

 

‘He is young enough to be a college student, isn’t he? Such an achievement is rare in the world.’ The emperor sighed, did not know whether it was pity or helplessness.

 

“Greetings to you, Your Majesty Emperor of Orwan.” Abel extended his hand and smiled lightly. And the emperor himself then reached to counter his hand and both of them shook hand together.

 

“The same pleasure to attend you in my empire’s wonder, the Hourglass Tower. I hope you can enjoy the facilities and the service during your stay.”

 

And then some other people were gathering on the side of both the emperor and the minister, placing themselves slightly behind the top figures from each nation. Orland who stood the closest to the emperor readjust his glasses, watching the representatives from Ridgar with much attention.

 

Both sides now felt the pressure because they would do something that affects the nation they affiliated with. It was just both sides had the same helplessness in regards to the situation that yet to come.

 

-

 

“Hey, you…do it all over again!” a shout came as soon as Wright made a slight mistake. The first day of militia training, inside the unit was like hell to Wright.

 

But to him, this was nothing. The biggest hell to him was now the entire empire was in the state of preparing a large scale war. He had never worried about his current condition but to those people he relatively knew, he had concern for them.

 

His life was already as good as trash, only recycle would be good for him and only some people find the use of him. Three days ago was the start of it all and what Wright was going to do now was placed on the appointed Virtual Training and his special Simulation Module.

 

‘About the module…why did the staff at the Simulation Room already choose me my module? On top of that, it is the same as the first time I use. Is this fine?’ the N-0821 module was an unforgettable number in Wright’s memory because it was different.

 

Because of that Wright doubt that it just some kind of arrangement for a militia like him. He shuddered when his thought arrived at a certain conclusion that he, his performance in the virtual reality and the practical performance would be under strict watch from the people he did not even know.

 

No, people he only thought as some staff that played their role perhaps also observed him.

 

‘Whatever the intention is, I need improving my ability. Just enough to protect the people I care about.’ Wright then redoing all the training exercise all over again. The one that shouted at him was the instructor and this instructor was watching Wright’s every move, hell even his change in facial muscle was observed.

 

“People from the lowest place in society have to multiply their effort and pray the opportunity comes. If you want to protect someone you care or to beat someone in terms of skill, then do the basic properly, ingrained them to your bones. It is even better to bring it to your dream if possible…”

 

The instructor also shouted at the rest of the group when he noticed they were slowing down.

 

This was the course of the recruits every time they were prepared for the upcoming battle. In short, the negotiation three days ago was utterly failed.

 

-

 

After the news spread out the words about the failed negotiation, the people from both countries could only prepare themselves for the worst. Wright also did similar things as well before he entered the militia branch unit.

 

He did this because, during the time he worked, he would be unable to leave even if he wanted to. First and foremost he contacted every important person he had in mind. The second was to prepare his body and mind for an unexpected situation.

 

Wright got his barracks along with few other people as well. The thick scent of sweat after the rigorous training still permeated inside the barrack. The barrack was large enough but for so many people to be in it, it felt like the space was not large enough.

 

“Hah, looks like the morning exercise will always be like this.” Wright sat on his appointed bed. Muttering on his own, Wright still felt strange to the people around him. He could not start to speak with them but usually responded kindly. But this time Wright felt like this was not enough.

 

The problem was, he did not know if they would accept him well. After all, his reason for joining the militia was not good and there were some fallen nobles mixed in as well. Those that lost their brilliant prestige but not lost their pride, the kind of people Wright did not like to face.

 

Of course in a group where people like Wright who mostly silent, there was someone like to spout things as if his life depends on it.

 

“That instructor, saying about such things to every recruits like us. I bet that he already repeat such words countless times like a broken cassette. ‘If you want to protect someone you care or to beat someone in terms of skill, then do the basic properly, ingrained them to your bones. It is even better to bring it to your dream if possible…’”

 

A young man with a rather long, silver hair showed how the instructor had done things for the morning exercise. Of course, everybody already prepared their towel and things to do when you bath but a little chat would not hurt.

 

“What a joke. If he is really sincere to train us, he should be looking for better encouragement words. Not uttering such words over, over and over again expecting things to change for the better. Anyways, that is my impression on our dear instructor. I’ll go bath now.”

 

Little did Wright know that he and the man would be on the same boat in this conflict. At this moment, Wright could only regard him as a ‘chatterbox’, someone who liked to talk. After the break in the morning and surprisingly good breakfast for Wright, he was faced with the Virtual Reality Module again at the simulation room.

 

“Wright, you come with me.” The instructor patted Wright on the shoulder. This time, Wright wore his military attire albeit it was still for the recruits. But when the instructor said that, everyone shifted their gaze towards Wright as if catching a big affair.

 

“Instructor Sheperd, for what reason?” Wright whispered, feeling unwell with numerous gazes landed on him.

 

For the 88th Cluster, the responsibility fell on the instructor who called Wright now. He also the one who directed the morning training exercise.

 

“The staff at the room notified me and asked to bring you in first. Just follow the order!” Instructor Shepherd pushed Wright, signaling him to quickly enter the room. But this motion caught the interest of the young man with the silver hair.

 

‘He is that silent lurker in the barrack, right?’ he did not know why Wright was put into the priority of the batch. But it was good to remember someone like that.

 

When Wright entered the simulation room once again, he was surprised to see most of the staff already stood and it was for the man at the control center of the room.

 

The man who supervised the simulation this time was the same man with the glasses Wright met during his first trial in the Virtual Module, Callahan Straight. As soon as his sight landed on him, Callahan turned around and their gazes met.

 

Wright felt a little tense, did not expect the change on the figure’s face make it hard for Wright to recognize him even after he knew the man’s identity. But when Wright remembered about his usage of that ‘special’ module, he could only be thankful for that to this man.

 

So he smiled and greeted everyone in the room.

 

“Hello, staffs and Mister Callahan I presume? Can I be informed of what should I do here afterward? I should have entered with the 88th Cluster Unit but it seems like someone arranges me first.” Wright opened his mouth and asked.

 

“Hoh, young man. How’s previous time simulation at that module? Feeling like the difficulty hard?” Callahan asked while chuckled. Wright’s face sunk, he seemed to realize the difficulty of the simulation in that module was a bit different.

 

But it did not matter anymore. Wright felt better knowing that but knew he took a long time to finish it that made him down.

 

“Really? But in the end, I still took a long time to finish it. That is something I can’t ignore and I am looking forward to reducing the completion time.” Wright recovered and said his opinion.

 

“Alright, every staff now go to the assigned position,” Callahan instructed everyone to go to their own designated position while closing his distance to where Wright was.

 

“I’ll explain while directing you to your previous module.” Callahan patted Wright, signaling him to follow his lead. Wright soon followed, waiting for whatever this man’s mouth was going to say.

 

“You see, I currently doing some experiment with the Virtual Module and its relation to the user performance, especially in this age where air supremacy matter most. In the past, we can only train the so-called fledgling of pilots with real aircraft and field experience. But now, it is going to change when this Virtual Reality Module become hit to the world twenty years ago.”

 

“Personal skills can be developed in the virtual world without any harm to the user, that is how the Air Force use this advantage to train their nuggets. The problem is, after some years this popularity boomed the hell out of the world, the problem of difference in virtual reality and the actual practice are found.” Callahan explained the root of the problem.

 

“But some of that problem is solved, even the main issue regarding the drastic difference of situation in the simulation and reality cannot generate the weather condition are done as well. So what else the problem?” Wright did not know what else the problem in the development of the virtual module.

 

Callahan sighed before he answered, “The feeling of truly eliminate your opponent. In other words for any soldiers, the sensation of killing someone. Now you know where I am going?”

 

Wright went silent. That difference always existed no matter what, an absolute flaw on the virtual reality part. You could improve skills and learn how to fly with no worries since the virtual world would regenerate everything you destroyed in it.

 

But that also meant you only treated the enemies inside that world as the same as enemy NPC you encountered in the game, no hard feelings. The enemies were also part of that world, they kept reappearing after some time if they programmed it that way.

 

In reality, though, you dealt with other people like anyone else. Shooting down an aircraft could also mean you killed the one who controls it, in most cases, it was the pilot. This was the thing virtual reality could not produce because everyone inside it at least knew and aware of the virtual world.

 

“Killing someone…that is the hardest thing to recreate in the virtual world. The sensation of ending someone’s life that will certainly not come back…it will be hard to get in the simulation.” Wright closed his eyes, now considering what would he do if that time arrives? The time when he took down his first enemy plane, fully realized the person in it was probably incinerated beyond salvation.

 

“Put those things aside, I want you to keep using that module okay, with the registration series N-0821 here I want you to give it your all just like before.” Callahan put his hands on the slightly different module than the majority.

 

“One question, please? How many people besides me that also use this module ‘accidentally’?” Wright finally asked something that bugged his mind for a while.

 

“Oh, wondering how many people like you? Well, at least you can see them when you are ready to take to the skies with CS-12 on a simple mission. You look tense the entire way since we met, perhaps you have something else?” Callahan opened the module and faced Wright.

 

“Just my personal feeling, Sir. And for the treatment, I sincerely thank you.” Wright waved his hand when he entered the same module he was in before, seeing Callahan readjusting his glasses while nodding his head.

 

“You better doing good things because I spend some investment in you, young man,” Callahan muttered himself before he saw the next one that he put on his recent experiment.

 

It was the silver-haired young man who liked to talk.

 

“Hey, how are you guys doing today monitoring us from outside virtual world? Must be fine since this does not begin yet.”

“Where is Mister Callahan? I thought I will see him immediately after entering this room but as I thought, that young man probably has something to do with him right?”

“Why is everyone ignoring me? The working period is not starting yet, isn’t it?”

 

The man did not know that his words fell on deaf ear already. The staff prepared things after Callahan gave his instruction so who would bother hearing words from him at this time?

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