Bending the Rules, A Holographic Journey (Ronin and Alana)

The whisper of turning pages was all that could be heard in the control room of the High Guard Arena. It wasn’t too large of a room. The only entrances were a door leading to the hallways of the base as well as an elevator that led down into the arena itself. In front of Ronin was a large wall of computers and equipment responsible for controlling the complex holographic simulations within the arena beneath him.

The pilot was sitting down in a shiny computer chair reading the arena’s special instruction manual. Installed on the systems were dozens of preloaded battle arenas. From large forests to deep oceans the field could create any battle simulation needed. Today Ronin was bending the rules a bit. Ronin has found within the owner’s manual a way to upload and explore real places from a multitude of years. Zi is surrounded by a fleet of satellites designed to keep an up to date record of every feature of the surface of the planet. The satellites have been recording for decades and an extensive database has been created.

Ronin examined the chapter and learned that by inputting the proper year and coordinates that Ronin could download any time at any place onto the machine and project it before him. This is what Ronin sought to do. While the machine could only produce a rough recreation of a location, that would be just fine for Ronin’s needs. He just wanted to reexperience a place long lost to him. A place he never got a chance to say goodbye to.

Ronin felt he understood the instructions well enough and started up the systems. He entered in the location, the South side of the city of Masami. He entered in the year, just 5 years before their current date. He hit the download button. It would take a few minutes for the program to download all the necessary information to recreate the space as he requested. A smart system would have to fill in the details after the basic outline was retrieved. The satellites couldn’t count individual blades of grass after all.

Just as the program was almost ready Ronin heard a noise. “Oh shit!” Ronin whispered to himself. He wasn’t really supposed to be here and getting caught messing with multimillion credit equipment without permission would look pretty bad on his record. It was too late now the door knob was turning. The light of the hallway poured into the room. A silhouette of a girl stood before him. Her hair reached down near her hips. Ronin swallowed with an audible “gulp”.

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Word Count 436

The woman stepped in and sighed. Ronin gave out a nervous laugh. Alana Taylor was the pilot, Ronin had met her briefly on orientation day but hasn’t had much of a chance to sit down and talk with her. For now, she was scolding him, but it wasn’t long before Ronin realized the obvious truth. She wasn’t supposed to be here either. She looked stressed and eventually dropped her anger. For whatever reason Alana and Ronin were both in a controlled space without proper clearance. As soon as Alana realized this she offered to keep this little interaction secret. There was a moment of silence before Ronin spoke. “So…” He paused as he stood up. He pointed at the screens. “Check this out. We can literally project anything we want.”

The download was complete and Ronin was typing in a few finalizing prompts gesturing for Alana to look. The projection came into view on the screen giving a final confirmation of what the simulation would look like. Ronin’s eyes lit up when he saw the building in front of him. It was only an outline but Ronin was already able to recognize the familiar shape. He couldn’t wait to upload the simulation and go take a look from down in the arena. “So, I already have something up on the simulation, if you want I can project something for you too after this. Nothing inappropriate though.” Ronin laughed trying to lighten up the mood.

Ronin felt a little awkward still, but it could just be nerves from getting caught. After all Ronin still felt his heart beating inside of his chest. Ronin didn’t feel like Alana would tell on him though. And even if she did it’s not like this place could afford to fire two of their pilots. They’d probably just get trash duty or some other unpleasant chore. Totally worth it for what Ronin had in mind. He looked over at the girl who seemed to have been caught off guard by Ronin’s presence in the first place. “So, what do you say? Want to check this out with me.” He paused feeling like Alana may still be a bit nervous about bending the rules. “You really think they can afford to fire us. Takeshi adores me anyway and I have seniority over you, just tell them I told you to do it. You won’t get in trouble. I read up on the manual so I think I know what I’m doing.” Ronin smiled, “I even made sure to turn incognito mode on.”


Word Count 426/ 862

A nearly sinister grin creeped onto Ronin’s face as Alana Taylor agreed to join him on this mission of his. In all honesty, Ronin thrives when he has someone to talk to, or you should probably say talk at. He gets so excited about his ideas and plans that he almost can’t help but to share them. This isn’t to say Ronin doesn’t listen as well. He always tries to keep everyone included during conversation, but simply having someone who he can talk to about his experiences really helps Ronin to organize his thoughts.

Ronin checked over the code one last time to make sure there weren’t any obvious flaws. After verifying that everything seemed to be correct he slammed his fist down on a big glowing button. Like something out of an action movie, the systems started up and the hum of the holographic generators could be heard in the small control room. “While this boots up our first simulation, I feel I should probably explain a few rules I came up with while reading this.” Ronin gestured to a thick book that explained everything there is to know about the equipment and its operation.

“First of all, remember this was created for Zoid battles in mind. So, don’t be surprised if a few minor details of our terrain are left out or simplified. This is normal and allows the system to focus on more important functions during a Zoid match.” Ronin thought about the implications of this. Would he be able to see inside of buildings? Would the grass be detailed or just a low resolution green? The practical implications of a digital space made Ronin excited.

“Secondly, check yourself before you go in and take mental note of everything you have on you.” Ronin felt his pockets. First, he removed a grey cell phone from his front pocket. It was new looking, he had just upgraded after rejoining the team. Second, was a black leather wallet with a red High Guard logo stamped to it. He pulled the wallet from the back pocket of his blue jeans. “I have these two items. I need to make sure I leave with both items. Not only could foreign material potentially fuck up future simulations but it’ll make it way more likely that we’d get caught.” Ronin slid both items back into his pockets. He gestured for Alana to check herself too, the last thing Ronin needed was to lose something like an ID or a cell phone in the arena.

“Lastly we need to make sure we keep this on us while we are down there.” Ronin held up a small remote. It was black and sparkled just a bit when the light hit it. “This remote links back to the control panel and can be used to access the system’s settings while inside the simulation. Usually you’d have someone up here in the control room but since we’ll be down inside the machine this is our only way to shut the system down and exit when we are ready.” The remote was created for maintenance workers when trouble shooting glitches in the system. The remote itself was small, just a single red button fit in its center. Ronin knew with just a press of a button a panel would be displayed with all the options he needed. He could even upload an entirely new simulation from inside the arena if he wanted to.

Ronin stood up from the chair. He slid the remote in his pocket and pulled down on his black tank top. This was a nervous tick to make sure his red boxers weren’t showing despite his top being more then long enough already. Just something he did around others just in case. “So, without further ado I think we are about ready.” Ronin looked over at the control panel. The display said the simulation was 100% loaded and was being projected. “Come on.” Ronin clicked the button to open the elevator and the doors opened. The pilot lead the two inside the chamber. Who knows what this simulation would be like. With a press of the down button Ronin was only a couple moments away from seeing his past played out before him. “So, do you have any questions?” Ronin asked as he waited from the elevator doors to open at the bottom.  
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Word Count: 730/1592

Ronin was caught off guard by the girl’s question. She didn’t ask about the simulation, instead she asked about his relationship with the High Guard Captain. Ronin figured this was fair though, especially after his claim that Takeshi loved him. Ronin laughed, “Tak and I met a little over five years ago, just before the war. At first, we were just team mates but then he moved on up and became a pilot. Though we didn’t really talk for most of it seeing as High Guard more or less fell apart.” Ronin paused and realized the inaccuracy of his statement. While it was, true High Guard vanished, it wasn’t the only reason Ronin failed to keep contact.

About six months before the war Ronin’s father died in a terrible accident. The part shop his family was known for went up in flames in a fiery explosion. His father was burned away with it. That was the reason Ronin lost contact with the Guard. Ronin was so overtaken with guilt and grief that he was unable to return to work. But that was part of the reason Ronin was here today. He figured he might as well explain a bit of the simulation he chose. The elevator doors would open here shortly and when they did she’d expect an explanation one way or another.

“You want to hear about the simulation I pulled up?” Ronin asked somewhat rhetorically as he planned on telling her whether she said yes or not. “You see my father owned a part shop, that is before the fire, and so I pulled up the last recorded image of the shop before it burned down. I just wanted to see it again you know?” Ronin smiled feeling almost embarrassed by how cheesy this all sounded spoken aloud. “You know I grew up in this shop. I have helped my Dad repair Zoids and refurbish parts since gradeschool. I sure do miss it.”
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Word Count: 326/1918

Ronin heard a ding and the elevator doors slid open. Ronin’s jaw dropped, his heart beat quickened from his excitement. The building before him looked exactly as he remembered it. All around was a lush grassy field and in the middle of it was the famous Sander’s Part Shop. Or well a recreation at least. Ronin noticed that the arena focused only on recreating this single building, and all the familiar buildings he remembered on the horizon were missing. The rest of the space where the town should’ve been was replaced by an endless field of grass. This made sense though, Ronin couldn’t expect everything to be identical, and a massive field was appropriate for a Zoid battle.

The part shop itself was simplistic but large. The only decorations were a sign and a logo above a door way with a few well taken care of plants. This door would lead to an aesthetically pleasing lobby, decorated by Ronin’s mother. The only other entrance was a Zoid sized garage door that opened to the hanger. The hanger doors were open, and the inside was well defined yet empty of the usual Zoids that would be receiving repairs. Within the garage was another door that lead into an equally massive warehouse of Zoid parts and equipment. Of course though, this door was always kept locked and was a space only employees could enter. Any parts anyone wanted to buy was easily viewed from a catalogue in the lobby, so there would never be a need for customers to enter the warehouse space.

“You know my father was always fascinated by unlocking the mysteries behind Zoids. Despite knowing how to put them together he always wondered just how they were able to think and feel as much as they did. He’d hold a chip in his hand that, when plugged into the machine, would create thoughts and feelings. It always amazed us both.” Ronin smiled as he responded to Alana’s sentiment. It was true, few have even come close to unlocking the secrets of Zoids. Ronin walked towards the massive building as he spoke taking in the view. He took a deep breath through his nose. “Incredible, even the wind smells the same. It’s incredible how far our science has come.” Ronin’s hair moved as he spoke carried by the steady wind. The digital sun beat down on them with a satisfying warmth. Ronin turned to Alana. “Isn’t it great?”


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Word Cout 409/2327

“Well you sure do have a mouth on ya’ don’t you?” Ronin said with a genuine giggle. He hadn’t heard a girl swear so much since his mother back when Ronin would break curfew. It didn’t really bother Ronin much though. He found it more humorous than anything else. Becoming desensitized to her language Ronin nodded. “But yes, it is great. Too bad we can’t actually stay long.”

Ronin put his arms out and let himself fall backwards. With a gentle thud, Ronin fell into the grass. He felt the green blades for a moment. Surprisingly they felt just as he remembered, He couldn’t help but smile. His arms moved and his hands rested between the simulated dirt and his head. His long messy hair fell over his fingertips as he locked his hands together into a make shift pillow. “Unfortunately, we can’t risk getting caught playing with this equipment. Takeshi would probably have our heads.” Ronin gave out a sigh as he looked up at the sky. White puffy clouds slowly moved above them, memories of cloud watching filled the pilot’s mind. “But at least I got to see this place one last time. That’s all I really wanted.”

Ronin closed his eyes and reached into his pocket. He looked up at Alana. The simulated room produced a light breeze and Ronin couldn’t help but notice the new recruit’s long hair gently flow within it. He could see she felt a bit awkward though. It was almost surprising but she was surprisingly easy to read. It made sense though, after all she had no connection with this place. Ronin shouldn’t keep her for too long. He pulled out the small box from his pocket, a large button was on its surface. “Here, if you wanna project something you should probably do it now. We’ll have to head out in a few minutes.”

Word Count: 313/ 2639