The Aberrations of S.I.D.E.

No. 23: Flying's Overrated

"It is WEDNESDAY, my dudes!" Janus crowed, doing a spin. "It is SIMULATION DAY! I LOVE it here!"

"We had a Simulation Day last week," Virgil reminded him. "And literally every Wednesday before that."

Janus shushed him, waving his hands. "Let me be excited for this, Sourpuss. You love them, too, don't deny it."

"Yeah, I do, but I'm not about to compose a ballad about how much I love them."

"I would," Roman said under his breath.

Virgil let out a sigh. "Of course you would."

Janus threw open the doors to the Ability Usage classroom, humming under his breath. Remus waved at the three of them from where he, Patton, and Logan were sitting.

"Happy Wednesday, my darling," Janus said, giving him a kiss. "Are you prepared to take down everyone in virtual sight?"

Remus grinned. "Yes."

"Just remember, kiddos, it's for practice," Patton interjected. "The simulations are supposed to be preparing us for the dangers we might face on the field---"

"Eh, every crew gets a yearly tracking-down-a-rogue-agent and/or interrogating-a-double-agent mission to really show us the ropes," Remus said. "This right here is war."

"Wait, every crew?" Virgil said, frowning. "How come I haven't gotten to do one yet?" His eyes widened. "Oh god, is it because I don't have enough experience?"

"Emile counted rescuing Janus as our sophomore year field mission," Logan assured him. "They usually happen towards the end of the school year, anyways."

"Though I still had to sit in on a boring-ass investigation over which agent stole money from some division's budget for making unapproved gear," Janus muttered. "Apparently, getting inside information on a cult doesn't count as a field mission."

"The term 'field mission' implies that you were willingly there as an undercover mole," Logan pointed out. "You weren't there out of your own free will."

"But I got vital information!"

Roman cleared his throat. "The point is, we get to go through a daring, virtual gauntlet of mysteries and adventure---the likes of which no one has ever seen before."

"Actually, Remy has a set cycle of simulations that he categorizes by difficulty, and he creates them specifically for each grade," Logan corrected. "So the seniors have experienced this one before."

"Why do you always have to ruin my moment," Roman sighed.

Patton checked his watch. "Oop! Almost time to grab our VR gear!"

Virgil and Roman raced towards the tables lining the arena and each grabbed a set of VR goggles and gloves. All of the other students followed suit.

"Bonjour, chiennes!"

Remy stepped out onto the balcony, VR goggles around his neck. "Everyone, suit up---and if you have a fear of heights, get over it immediately." He paused. "Unless it's deep-set and/or related to past trauma. In which case, you're excused."

Two or three students set their gear down and went back to the bleachers, already pulling out their phones or tablets.

"All righty then, that's settled. Gear and game faces on, everyone!"

Virgil put on the gloves and the goggles, holding his breath a little.

A log-in thing scrolled across his vision, as well as a little virtual keyboard. He typed in his school username and Remy's simulation started.