Field Test

6:22 PM District 5's N.E.P.D's Underground Test Area...

Rook and the doctor went to the test chamber to prepare some calibrations for Rook's newest augments.

"How'd you feeling, Officer Rook?" Asked the doctor as he grabbed a clipboard.

"Good Doc so far nothing too unusual," Rook replied through the earpiece.

"Alright, so far, your vitals are normal. Try doing some basic warm-ups to see if it responds to changes and also to have you all settled out before the first few tests." The doctor grabbed his clipboard and started to write down the data.

Rook nodded from the viewing area and started doing warm-up exercises. 

Stretching side-to-side, up and down I felt the electricity flowing through these nerves the beginning of my path to be part machine. In search of something, an answer maybe? Redemption might be a better word for it. I've lived my life in a cell and prison for the most part I survived without any augments, people saw me as a weird masochist for still living without these machines attached to their bodies prolonging their lives. 

What they didn't understand is that it is poisoning them out of actual skill that the human body could achieve on its own and adding machines assists us and those running it. At least that's what I remember from what the man from MaxTech promised me by the time I'm out of prison.

"You already know how to activate your Overclock right?" Asked the Doctor.

"No, not yet actually," Rook replied.

"Alright, first time for everything I guess. You can communicate with your Cerebral System, right? Nod if you understand this message." Said the Doctor.

Rook nodded.

"Good, you could find there your new augment Overclock. There are three levels of activation on your system at the moment. Let's begin with level 1 and proceed to activate it yourself."

[Overclock Initialized, Welcome Mr. Rook] 

I see so this is what it feels like to have an augment. With so much information being casually thrown at me at lightspeed or as fast as the augments can give me sufficient information. Not gonna lie, it's pretty detailed. I'm missing out on a lot of advancements since I was augmented pretty late into life. 

"Alright, seems like the augments have fully initialized. Mr. Rook, you can begin testing whenever you're ready." Said the Doctor.

"I figured I should do some forward runs first." I relaxed and figured I should communicate with my augments on what settings to use.

[Level 1 Overclock Activating...]

[Clench your right hand to activate Overclock]

[Run towards the location you so desire to go to]

Sounds easy enough... Alright, let's do this.

Rook squeezed his right hand and a burst of energy went throughout his body as if it felt like he got shot from the back as the momentum pushed him forward to the other side of the room with a jolt of energy.

What... The... Hell... Was... THAT?!

"Sounds like you're not used to hyper-acceleration, Mr. Rook." Said the Doctor.

"What do you mean by it?" Rook replied while panting.

"In my years of installing augments for the NEPD and beforehand for the military. Hyper-Acceleration augments aren't new but yours is certainly something else. I found my readings similar to those used by the military in their max settings, and at what level did you use Overclock?" Asked the doctor.

"Level 1," Rook replied.

"Yes, seems like you got something with a lot of potential Mr. Rook your Level 1 is equivalent to a Level 4 Military spec Hyper Acceleration. The one we use for war. This experimental unit given to you might have some untapped potential since I noticed a speed governor on your unit. Best to leave that untouched for now." Advised the Doctor.

"I agree Doc. I'll do another pass and see what happens." Rook straightened up as he prepared for another pass. 

[Overclock ready]

Rook clenched his right hand and went for another run forward. This time he wasn't off-balanced and managed to safely stop. As he understands this he went back and forth with stops in between runs. 

I can feel my body adapting to this kind of stuff. It's scary how this will become second nature it feels like, I'm not human or something. 

"Feeling unnatural Mr. Rook?" As the Doctor came down from the observation deck.

"Is this really what it feels like to have augments?" Rook questioned.

"Yes, Mr. Rook. Yes, it does... Normally we don't get Spinal augments but overall accuracy, fighting ability, and cognitive effectiveness increased by a margin between 15-25% more than the average human. Without the downside of fatigue that brings to the table what limits us humans from exceeding our normal capabilities." The Doctor replied.

"How many times do you think Doc I could use this augment in a day? Like I could feel some stress from using it, so I'm concerned if there's a hard limit." Asked Rook.

"Nothing actually, it's just your body adapting to the new feeling of speed. It's the natural progression we still can't figure out why we can't eliminate without becoming too much of a machine. But your vitals are pretty much on par as you were a few minutes ago so you're pretty much accustomed to it already you just need experience in using that new toy of yours." Said the Doctor.

Before I could reply an alarm was raised calling for everyone on the station.

"We have a situation anyone available in the station meet up in the meeting room! This is not a drill!" As the P.A. announces that we have a situation.

"I guess we have to stop here for today Officer Rook. My advice is for you not to engage in anything combat-related for now as you're not yet ready to take on the field with your freshly installed hardware." The Doctor advised me.

"Doctors orders I guess... Better go see what's happening at least." Rook left the testing facility.

I immediately went to the meeting room soon thereafter as everyone back in the reception area seemingly being overwhelmed with calls and all were working hard to answer everyone's calls. It's getting hectic out there, I better hurry if people are this hectic.

I entered the meeting room as they were already in the middle of their meeting.

"Ah, Officer Rook, great timing we needed more people here." As the chief continued his briefing.

"What's happening?" I whispered to the nearest officer.

"There's currently a gang war happening downtown and it's causing chaos to an entire block. At least 3 gangs are involved in this." The officer replied.

"Officer Rook, you're here." Officer Weiss also arrived late.

"Where were you?" Asked the officer right next to me.

"I was helping the front desk with their situation so it's that time of year again huh?" Officer Weiss sighed as he knew the situation already.

"That time of year again?" I asked.

"Well, Officer Rook this is one of many problems our district faces. Gang wars occur a few times per year here especially downtown where they're most prominent." Officer Weiss seems already experienced this many times.

"Who are the gangs involved in this war?" I asked again.

"Well if we're talking about the big three here it's the Mob, the Union, and the Heretics." Officer Weiss seems not impressed by them...

Seems like this gang war has provoked an entire department, if this is gonna be my first incident it's like throwing a recruit in a lion's den. I better tread carefully...