The Vanguard Protocol
Copyright© 2024 by Sci-FiTy1972
Chapter 5A: Training the Unready
Act I: The Cost of Potential
The Erebus did not ease them in.
The moment the ship entered a stable orbital pattern, the interior shifted—walls reconfiguring, surfaces illuminating with unfamiliar symbols. The calm hum deepened into something more focused, more demanding.
Thomas felt it immediately.
“This doesn’t feel like a tutorial,” he said.
“Correct,” Solace replied. “The Erebus does not train through instruction alone. It trains through exposure.”
Elena frowned, eyes darting across the shifting displays. “That’s ... not how humans learn.”
“It is how humans adapt,” Solace countered.
Gear let out a low whistle as a section of the floor separated, revealing a suspended lattice of glowing energy. “I’m guessing falling in that is bad.”
“Potentially fatal,” Solace said.
Gear blinked. “Good to know.”
The ship divided itself into functional zones—navigation, engineering, systems analysis—each reacting differently to the presence of its assigned human. The Erebus wasn’t just testing knowledge; it was probing limits.
Elena struggled first.
The data streams overwhelmed her, theories colliding with lived reality. She braced herself against a console, breath shallow.
“This violates conservation principles,” she muttered. “Mass displacement without—”
Her display flared red.
“Correction,” Solace said. “Your principles are incomplete.”
Elena swallowed hard, then straightened. “Then teach me the rest.”
Gear’s trial was physical.
The ship presented him with a partially integrated weapons array—alien materials fused with human alloys. His mechanical hand interfaced imperfectly, feedback rattling through his arm.
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.