TTGLX: Brothers to the End.
Omake Issue X: New Toys.
Captain Hisagi stood looking appraisingly at the strange machine that was set up before him. Behind him was a group of students that looked both perplexed and terrified of the contraption. Captain Nemu Kurotsuchi was positioned beside it with a device in her hand to monitor the machine.
"Is it ready?" he asked tentatively.
"Yes. All systems are running correctly." confirmed Nemu passively.
"And it won't hurt anybody?" Hisagi pressed, clearly suspicious of the metal monstrosity.
"It is none lethal."
That doesn't include things such as maiming though." he pointed out.
Nemu cocked her head slightly. "You are correct. Re-categorisation may be needed." she responded, her face giving no indication that anything was wrong with this. "It is ready for the first student."
Hesitantly Hisagi picked out the first 'volunteer'. The student looked on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The last person to try out one of Squad Twelve's training machines had had to be rolled to Fourth Division barracks with his head firmly planted up his own backside. It was rumoured to have inspired a movie of some kind…
"Stand on the marked location." Nemu instructed. The student stood on the spot marked with an X. "This machine will test you fighting skills. It is in effect an automated sparring partner set to a student's skill settings. I will start it up, your objective is to hit that red plate on it's body without being hit yourself."
The student turned terrified eyes to Hisagi who nodded encouragingly. He turned back to the machine, determination playing across his face. He readied his zanpakuto. The machine began to make a faint whirring noise as it started to clunk into motion. With a deep breath he dashed forward.
A fist burst from the machine and smashed into the boy's face sending him spiralling into the far wall with a crack.
"Maybe they are not ready for this apparatus just yet." Nemu noted aloud as the boy was carried away to the squad Four barracks. "Something simpler may be in order."
She led the shacking students to the next mechanical monstrosity and started to tap away on its consol. "Simply run on this moving track here and do not fall off. This will build strength and endurance."
"That sounds safe enough." commented Hisagi as he watched the rubber belt move at a gentle jog. "Trueman, you're up."
The student gulped, tears in his eyes. "Tell my family that I love them." he wailed as he made his way onto the machine. He stepped onto it like a man might step into a shark's maw. His legs took on the rhythmic thud of an evening jog.
"See. It's not so bad." Hisagi comforted.
As if on cue, the machine began to speed up, turning from a casual jog through the park to a breakneck sprint down a vertical cliff in seconds. Trueman didn't have the breath to scream. He ran for as long as he could then, unable to continue, was fired straight off the end of the machine and into the wall behind with a crack.
Three more machines were tried out and three more students were left broken and mentally traumatised, crying in the corner.
"What the hell, Nemu?" Hisagi grunted. "I thought you said that these were set at a student's level. A captain would struggle against these."
Nemu cocked her head in a confused manner. "My raw data was collected from a student."
"What?"
"The data was gathered many years ago. Lieutenant Kamina allowed me to analyse his training performances back when he was only a student. He informed me that these were a light workout so I reasoned that the data correctly reflected an average student's ability." Nemu informed him.
Hisagi didn't know where to begin. He wanted to yell at her but Nemu was one of those people who you just couldn't get mad at. Instead he sighed. "Kamina should never be used when working out averages. There is nothing average about him. Redo your tests with current students then we will try again."
"I see." nodded the woman. "So Kamina is an anomaly to be studied further. I must find him and examine his body closely."
Hisagi blushed. "Err…sure." He recovered himself. "I'm curious though, what was his power level back then?"
Nemu checked her data pad. "Nine thousand and eight."
"You have to be kidding me. Over nine thousand." He remembered that Nemu didn't understand the concept of 'kidding'. Or of internet culture apparently. "I need a lie down." he grunted before leaving the room.
Nemu was nonplussed. She turned her attention to the terrified students. "Who would like to help me to gather data?" she asked. As one the class ran screaming, diving through windows to avoid her gaze. The room quickly emptied.
Again Nemu showed no signs of having noticed the departure. She held her Datapad up to her mouth. "The subjects have agreed to help me gather field data. Track them down and record their performances."
"Yes captain!" replied the voice that blared from the device. Only a minute had passed before the first scream rang out. Hisagi had been right. New data was always a good thing, she smiled.