Aurora Over a Dead World

Chapter 15: Simulator

"So, students, today we’re going to use the simulation machine for my class. I have a lot to show you and to talk about regarding monsters," I say to the six of them as we arrive at the simulator.

Yesterday, after I had rested and gone for my walk, I came to the school full of excitement, and Delilah, incredibly, was in the teachers’ room very early. She wanted to help me, guiding me to the simulator and telling me how to use it.

So now I’m really eager to test it out, even though it took a while to drag these six rebels to the simulation room, especially Tanya, who didn’t want to come, saying she didn’t need to take part in a "stupid simulation" without even understanding how the machine works.

"Professor, you seem excited. Is using this simulation really that important? It’s not like it’s going to improve our powers. Even though you’re beautiful, I think taking us to a situation where other teachers can’t see us sounds pretty naughty," Edith says with a smirk. Since I’ve been ignoring her flirting, she’s gotten more insistent.

"It’s true that you won’t get any stronger, but you’ll gain experience. Besides, you already seem strong enough. You just need experience to train your powers more properly," I say to them as they stand in the center of the machine. I adjust all the settings and temporarily connect the control center to my head so it can analyze the data and recreate things based on my experience.

It takes a while, since I have a lot of experiences involving monsters. However, as soon as it finishes, I toss the control center aside and go over to the machine next to them. They stare at me, confused.

"Shouldn’t you stay outside?" Eirwen questions, raising an eyebrow.

"What? Hahaha, of course not! I have to be in there to show you everything. Besides, I’ve already adjusted the machine, so I’ll control things from inside, even while I’m in there," I say as I feel the machine activating. The door closes and a beep sounds before everything blacks out for a moment.

We soon appear in a ruined city. The girls look around, surprised by the scenery.

"This here is a city on the planet’s surface. That is to say, this is the [Horizon]. I guess you’ve never seen it before, right?" I say, looking at the sky from down here. It’s so strange to "come back" here after having been sent to Aurora Island.

"This place is where you’ll be spending a lot of your time in the future. Normally, Aurora Island is always moving, but it’s extremely slow, and when we find a place of interest, the island becomes even slower, hovering over an area for a long time to explore."

"Soldiers like us explore these ruins in search of various things, mainly old technology. We dismantle it and use it for new things. We also take energy sources, and sometimes useful monster parts."

"Or else we just clean house, killing monsters to reduce the risk of new generations of monsters joining the older ones and attacking Aurora Island," I tell them, climbing on top of a rock. I recognize the scenery, but it’s somewhat different from what I remember, perhaps because of data from other people who have already used the simulator and seen this place.

"Ohhh!! Professor, what’s that?" Charlotte asks excitedly, pointing to an old, three-meter-tall battery.

"It’s a battery... this city had many of them. Some were even used in the cores that your generation uses. Before it was destroyed, this city here was apparently one that mass-produced them. So, be happy, you’re looking at the ruins that helped you get your state-issued powers." Obviously, even without these batteries, we would still have the cores.

But these batteries helped a lot. Their parts and the energy left in them were used for military and scientific progress, meaning less expenditure of the island’s resources.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s really cool to see a bunch of old scrap," Tanya says, kicking the ground with a look of disdain.

"I see you don’t like your future job?"

"Job? Are you crazy? I’m going to fight monsters! You think I’ll use my incredible powers to collect scrap?" She speaks with a scornful smile as the other girls, aside from Ashlyn, explore our surroundings.

"You will. Life isn’t just about fighting monsters. I myself had to carry many of these batteries the day I came to this city."

"That’s because you’re weak!! You know what? How about a fight at 100%? I can now use all my powers freely, and you won’t die, right?" She speaks with a devilish grin, which draws the attention of the other girls.

"Maybe later. Since you’re all so confident, I’ve decided I want to show you the [Nemesis] today, humanity’s greatest enemy," I say, excited to show them that abomination.

"Who is Nemesis, and why do you speak of her like that as if she were something special?" Rouge questions, her tail twitching slightly.

"Hmmm... Nemesis is the pinnacle of human fear, the strongest monster that exists, and at present, it’s the only monster that could probably annihilate all of humanity if it tried."

"She represents everything — fear, technology, and humanity. Her body integrates all three of these ’foundations,’ and she was what we can call the first and only creation of fear made exclusively to ensure that humanity met its end," I speak like a veteran commander identifying the most dangerous target our species has ever encountered.

"All of you here know that fear monsters are born to annihilate humanity because we meddled where we shouldn’t have. Nemesis is the direct result of our actions, a true cataclysmic natural disaster."

"BUT, unlike other monsters, she is smart, curious, and instead of ending humanity, she sadistically enjoys studying us, just as we study the technology that resulted in her birth. She now, like us, studies what generates her curiosity."

"Nemesis is probably the being closest to a mirror of humanity, and oh, how I hate that fact. She is almost a ’human’ in the mental aspect, a sadistic, cruel human who treats us like ants." Just speaking of her makes my skin crawl and my tail crack against the ground.

"Incidentally, Nemesis’s powers are, basically: total control of non-vectorial technology, like a virus that can infect every form of technology, systems, and normal machines."

"Natural resistance/limitation against vectorial technology, because that was precisely the technology that generated her existence, so she is incapable of controlling that technology, although she is quite resistant to vectorial attacks."

"And she also has a partial vectorial control linked to fear, more like a manipulation of the vectors born from panic, hesitation, flight, and despair. This means she can both create monsters and manipulate humanity’s greatest fears," I tell them what we know are the Nemesis’s powers, though she might have more.

"Tsk, I bet this so-called Nemesis isn’t all that!" Tanya steps forward, crossing her arms and puffing out her chest.

"Oh, really? Curious you should say that. So, how about you six face her in combat? I’ve seen her, and I can attest, the mental projection I have of her must not even be 10% of the original’s power, but it’s already enough to kill all of us here." I myself am included in that; I didn’t die because she had no interest in it during our encounter.

When I propose this, all of them seem tense, because despite being arrogant, it’s still an enemy they’ve never seen.