"Full Contact" is the third segment of the first chapter of Cyber Troopers Virtual-On: Fragmentary Passage, White Fleet V.C.a3.
Credits[]
- Director/Producer/Story/Text: Juro Watari
- Character Design: Hajime Katoki
- Original 3D CG Modelling: Yasuhiro Mori
- CG Illustration: Kouichi Ozaki
- Layout Design: Nobutaka Arii
Virtuaroid(s)[]
White Fleet V.C.a3 03: Full Contact[]
"So, the next thing on the menu is high speed maneuvering during jumps. Are you ready?"
"Well," Vasquez hesitated, "I'd like to switch things up a bit. Can I use the launcher?"
"You're jumping the gun," Bolsar laughs.
"The prototype Sleipner hasn't arrived here yet. We have one that was used on MBV-04. We've made it into a Sleipner emulator that's compatible with the new model's FCS. I don't think there'll be any problems with today's menu."
"Thanks!"
Something strange happened when the Mind Booster was activated. Captain Vasquez, piloting the prototype, suddenly stretched out in convulsions, then stopped moving.
"What's wrong, Captain?" Lieutenant Bolsar's voice rang out from inside the cockpit, but there was no reply from the stiffened pilot.
The monitor showed his face: pale and frozen, his pupils gaping blankly into space, his mouth half-open and dripping with saliva, his pulse and breathing rapid and shallow, his brain waves negligible.
"It's dangerous."
Bolsar, who was watching the situation from inside an observation vehicle away from the prototype, turned to Engineer Glimpe, who was sitting next to him.
"Mind Booster malfunctioned. Testing aborted."
However, the engineer just stared blankly ahead and made no attempt to reply.
"Can you hear me, Glimpe?" Bolsar grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him roughly. "Abort the test. Shut down the power unit of the fuselage. Let me do it!”
"That's...impossible..."
The confused technician muttered, "What?!"
"The XVR-07/07 has transitioned to the autonomous mode of the V-Converter.
"What do you mean?"
"I, I don't really understand..." Glimpe's jaw trembled and his teeth chattered as he squeezed out each word.
"Right after the Captain activated the Mind Booster, the V-Converter's activity level suddenly shot up... And then, after that... it's a mystery to me... Anyway, that unit just now..."
".....it's beyond our control"
I stared at the body again.
I had never heard of this shadow before.
It was a sense of presence.
"...Is that the second aircraft that the mother ship contacted?"
"That's so stupid..." Glimpe's jaw shook violently, his teeth clicking together. "Even if that were the case, who could have done it? And for what purpose? Something like this couldn't have been caused artificially, and it shouldn't have been allowed to happen, and I mean..."
Without warning, the gentle spring sunshine went dark, and darkness took over the lakeside. An ominous gloom. The lake water lost its clear, shiny consistency and took on the appearance of viscous waste liquid, and the ripples went silent as if succumbing to an oppressive silence.
In the eerie silence, a shadow rose from the surface of the water in the center of the lake, and without a clear shape, it approached the shoreline quickly. Before anyone could even imagine what was going on, it revealed its upper body from beneath the water, and a gigantic jet-black machine with sinister crimson borders, with water still dripping from its body, stood on the shoreline. Those nearby who had witnessed the whole thing were momentarily at a loss for words.
"Shadow..."
"What?"
Lieutenant Bolsar couldn't believe his ears when he heard Technician Glimpe muttering in shock beside him. "There's no authentication code. And the V-Converter..."
However, the engineer's words had already reached Bolsar's ears.
However, Captain Vasquez had fallen under Shadow's radar. There was nothing they could do but wait and see how things would turn out. If an ordinary person were to carelessly approach a V-Converter under Shadow's influence, their mind would be completely taken over. Even if they were a pilot who had been with the White Fleet for a long time, they would be easily taken over by Shadow.
The chances of encountering one and escaping safely are virtually nonexistent.
"This particular frequency is emitted from there... There's no mistake, it's a Shadow. A machine with pure shadow attributes."
"What the...!"
Bolsar is facing off against Vasquez's Black Machine.
Vasquez was in the dark. The various displays and interfaces densely arranged around his head were already outside his consciousness, and he was unable to obtain any information from them. No matter how much he tried to move, he felt paralyzed, and would not listen to his commands. When he lowered his gaze, there was nothing to step on at his feet, and far below, something mysterious was welling up from the depths.
A chill runs through my whole body.
Darker than darkness, thick and insubstantial.
A shadow-like figure gradually rose before his eyes.
The thing that came whispered like a shadow.
"...Intal Vasquez..."
A mouth without a mouth, an inaudible voice.
"...You are Intal Vasquez? ...Why are you Intal Vasquez? ...Why are you calling yourself that?...Now, you are Intal Vasquez...Sleeping in the depths of you, the true Vasquez on which you stand..."
Suddenly, a shadow fills the cockpit.
They surrounded Vasquez.
The shadow transformed into something solid, but this was something Vasquez could not accept. The shadow gradually turned into Vasquez himself, into the frightened Vasquez, and then into the real Vasquez, into the more certain Vasquez, with a look of madness in its hollow eyes, reaching out its hands, and then shouting, "Stop it!!"
Vasquez managed to stop himself just in time. Summoning all his willpower, he scolded his unwilling body and struggled to shake off the illusion. An unpleasant noise pricked his ears, and immediately afterwards, the darkness around him cleared.
"!"
On the main monitor, there was a picture of a black machine approaching.
The first blow was one-sided.
The enemy machine instantly closed the distance and fired the swords attached to both arms. Despite his desperate attempts to dodge, the tip of the sword just grazed the base of Vasquez's right arm. The armor of the prototype was weak, and the right arm was instantly rendered unusable. It was a terrifying destructive force.
"This guy...!"
Without a moment's hesitation, the enemy fired a second time. Vasquez predicted the direction and jumped backwards to parry the attack, facing the left side of his machine. However, the enemy's real sword was already in front of him.
"You got me...?!"
The enemy blade dug directly into the shield that Vasquez's machine had quickly raised on its left arm.
In an instant, a blinding white light was emitted. The Shadow's VR, which was closing in on him, seemed taken aback and pulled his hand away. Vasquez was in a daze, and as if guided by something, his hand moved quickly across the console, changing the various control settings of the aircraft. The VOP value instantly exceeded the threshold set by the MSBS that connected the pilot to the VR, and the Mind Booster mounted at the back of the fuselage deployed all binders with a violent autonomous heat dissipation reaction, and the entire fuselage was enveloped in a dazzling light. It also penetrated the cockpit, and attacked in a wave of scorching heat.
In the corner of his fading consciousness, Vasquez saw the vision of an old man in a white lab coat emerging from the dim light.
[To Be Continued]
Gallery[]
