“Good morning, recruits. I hope you all slept well. Welcome to corporate security. I am your on-boarding instructor, Sergeant Williams. I'm here to get you four spun up on how things work here and to make sure you don't die here on your first day”

  Sergeant Williams looked to be a bit over 40, was around 180 cm tall, and his hair was black and brushed into waves. Running up his right cheek, was an old scar that ended just below the eye. He placed a small chip in front of each of us.

  “First piece of business. At the base of your neck now lies a data port. You can put these chips inside of it, and the computers implanted in your heads will automatically download the information inside. It is cheaper, and faster, than military basic training, with similar results.”

  I reached out and picked up the chip with my left hand. I was suddenly aware of the sense of touch, or at least the tactile feeling of it through the “skin” on the prosthetic. I felt the back of my neck for the port, and found it at the base, where it meets the shoulders. I inserted the chip, at which point, a notification popped into view.

  I quickly accepted the notification and let the information download. I felt my neck begin to warm up, the electronics whirring to life. My vision began to flicker and fade, with my peripheral vision beginning to show hallucinations of things I've never done. I was in a college's classroom, doing coursework on local laws, ordinances, programs, policies, and jurisdiction came into full view. The information seared itself into my mind. The minute details of the law were laid bare, and felt as if I had always known it.

  The speed at which my mind was moving suddenly shifted, and suddenly I came to hands on training, learning on the basic usage of equipment given to OCP security officers. I was learning to put on ballistic armor plates, which plugged into the sockets I had previously noticed. The sockets allowed for the armor to integrate with the cybernetics installed in my body, allowing for pain reduction, data analysis from sensors embedded inside the plates. Below the plates was a bullet and stab resistant body suit, with a standard OCP black two-piece coverall. The final piece was a simple web belt to hold the standard kit: a pistol, ammunition, a medical kit, handcuffs, ect. Each piece came with basic information on usage and maintenance.

  My mind shifted to hundreds of tactical scenarios began to play, creating false memories in my mind. I saw myself kicking down the door to a kill house, firing a rifle at targets. I was completing tactical fire and move exercises. I broke down and rebuilt rifles, pistols, carbines. I was practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and as soon as I hip tossed my sparring partner, I was packing a wound with bandages, and sprinkling quick clot on top. I remembered doing chest compressions on a drowning victim. I felt their ribs crack as I forced air into their lungs. I was shown hundereds of hostage situations. Each ending differently. Some violent, others peaceful. I saw countless people die, some by my hand, and sometimes it was me. It was like I was being fed a script on how to handle situations, and the price for deviation was deadly.

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  I had lost myself in this torrent of information, and my skull felt near to cracking. All the while, a question was slowly gnawing at the back of my mind. With all that had been added, had anything been taken away, and if something had, will it happen again?

  These questions would have to be answered later; the world was returning. I was drenched in sweat, regardless of how chilly the room had felt when I entered. One by one, Alexander, Max, and James woke up. James looked uneasy. I imagine the visuals reminded him of his past.

  “Welcome back to class. I hope your nap was nice”, Sergeant Williams said, letting out a chuckle. “Now that you spent the last hour going through basic training. Let's make sure that information stuck.”

  He stood up, ushering us out into the hallway.

  “We're going to the armory to make sure you're able to equip your kit, integrate with your armor, and do a bit of hands on training.”

  The four of us set off, and after a few twists and turns, we finally arrived to a door, with a small blue sign above, labeling the room. We entered, and saw a room with doors that led to lockers on either side. At the opposite side of the room was a hole in the wall with a shelf on this side, and an attendant on the other.

  We went to the window, and waited for the attendant to give us our basic kit. Along with the duffle bag of equipment, we were given a key for a locker in the locker room. I got locker 309. I entered the locker room, and searched for a minute until I got to mine. V. Sanford adorned the locker in blue lettering. I opened the locker and started to get myself put together.

  First the bodysuit. It was a mess to align the hole in the suit to the sockets. After this, I put the coveralls on over the top. The final piece to put on was a menagerie of armored plates. Each one connecting into the sockets. They wrapped around my arms, with couters protecting the elbows. The leg pieces were easier than the arms, since I was able to use both hands. The thorax pieces had a hinged joint at the shoulders, allowing them to be put on and plugged in.

  Soon, I was properly suited up, and went to leave. Before I got to the door, I saw a mirror, and finally got a good look at myself. The face looking back at me was recognizable, but clearly changed. There were grooves cut into my face, where cybernetics lied underneath, leaving only black lines on top. They ran down my cheek bone, turning down toward my chin. There were flat golden wires running out of my right eye socket, boring back under the skin a cm later. My eyes were different. The iris was a gray color, replacing the brown my biological eyes were.

  I took a step back and looked at myself as a whole. I looked like an up armored ant. I suppose I was. Doubt about the situation filled my mind, but I was here, and with the cybernetics in, I could do nothing but put the feelings aside, and move on.

  “Goddamned ship of me-seus out here”, I muttered.

  I turned and headed out of the locker rooms, ready to join my new co-workers in the upcoming tasks.