LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 2: The Klitrom
"Welcome young Terrans to the Klitron. Through this process, you will have the implant that is in the back of your neck that is stopping your talent from manifesting removed. After this, you will go through the main process where you will mentally experience different scenarios that should trigger your talent. Whatever type of talent you unlock will determine which caste you are going to become a member of to serve our society in this current galactic struggle.
After you finish this process, you will be most likely thrust into an entirely new way of living. You could be brought into the scientist caste and develop new items for war. You could become a member of the warrior caste where you will be directly involved in bringing glory to our race. The possibilities are endless
Now I will start to call out your number; when your number is called you will give me your ticket and then I will grant you access to the back rooms where you will go through The Klitron." The adult male said as I saw him place a white bowl on the stand in front of him.
Then he started calling out number one at a time. As soon as he spoke the first number, I saw a short redheaded female standing up, and she went down to the front of the room to give him her number. After that, I saw her walk to the door that was on the right side of the room, and the door slid open just wide enough for her to fit into it.
The man went through the people one at a time. When both rooms were occupied, I waited until the next person moved to begin their Klitron. It took about two hours until I heard him call my number.
As my number was called, I rose from my chair and turned in my number. After that, I walked into the left door hoping that this was just the start of something great in my life.
The door slightly opened for me and I noticed that I was walking into a dark room. That room's lights flickered on as soon as I walked into it, and the door slid shut behind me.
When the lights flickered on, I noticed that I was now in a room that had a metal chair in the center of it. Against the left wall, I saw a cabinet that looked as if it contained a variety of different medicines. To the left of the chair, I saw a circular metal device that had wires with small suction cups that dangled from the device. The floor of the room was entirely covered with white metal tiles. The walls were all colored a dark grey, and the ceiling matched the flooring.
After I was done looking around the room, I waited for the human that was supposed to begin my Klitron to enter the room. I did not have to wait for very long until I saw a young male scientist walk into the room.
"My name is Jason; I am here to help you go through The Klitron. Can you please sit in that chair and remove your shirt?" he asked me as I saw him starting to walk over to the cabinet in the room.
I followed his instructions by removing the utility belts that I had over my shirt before taking off the shirt. Then I placed the items and shirt on the floor beside the chair that was in the middle of the room.
"Now what do you want me to do next?" I asked the scientist with a great amount of urgency in my voice.
"Yes; I need you to sit down in the chair in front of you. After that, I will apply these alcoholic pads onto your vital head areas." He said to me as I saw him open a set of pads.
I sat down in the metal chair and I felt a sharp shiver run down my spine and throughout my back as soon as I made contact with the cold metal chair with my bare skin.
Then I felt a short and sharp sting as the scientist started to dab the alcoholic pads on my head. After that, he placed the wires that were near me on the areas of my head where he had used the alcoholic pads.
"I know that this may feel strange to you, but these wires are all used to scan your brain activity while you are going through the Klitron." He said to me as he was placing the wires on my head.
As soon as that was done, I heard him open a cabinet; and I started to wonder what it was that he had gotten out of it. The worry of what was to come next was only shrunk by the feeling that my life was going to be entirely different after The Klitron.
"Now you will feel a small but sharp tingle run through your shoulders and spine as I use a device to search for the chip that is blocking your talent and remove it."
After he spoke, I felt a suction cup on the back of my neck that made my neck hair stand on end. Then I heard a humming noise as I felt the device run from shoulder to shoulder, and finally down my spine.
"Okay, I have found where your chip was planted". He said to me as the humming got louder before I felt a sharp pain that shallowly tore my skin. "There now that your chip has been removed, I will be injecting you with a serum that will allow you to sleep and mentally experience a variety of different scenarios that might trigger your talent.
Now let me warn you that this drug will fail after the fifth attempt. If you have not unlocked your talent after the fifth scenario you will forever become a member of the casteless."
As he injected my right arm with a red liquid substance, and I felt it starting through my veins. The feeling was quickly overshadowed by a very sleepy feeling that caused my eyes to close shut.
I woke up from the blackout and noticed that I was in a business office sitting in a chair with a female yelling at me in anger.
This female was middle-aged; she had red hair that went down her back, and she wore a black colored dress as well as red wedges. She looked like a well-put-together businesswoman who was meant to be taken seriously despite the general male superiority that was practiced in the business area of The Terran Colthemctive.
"Danny, are you listening to me at all?" she asked me as she was tapping her desk and staring at me with a look of disappointment across her face.
"Yes ma'am; I am listening". I said to her, confused about where I was, so I played along with whatever kind of scenario I had been thrown into as if it meant my life.
"You need to understand that we can only tolerate so many failures in this business. If you fail to meet your daily quota ever again, you will be cast into the lowest ring of society, where all of the failures go. I am assuming that you do not want to become one of the outcasts of this world". She said to me with a very intense expression on her face.
"No, ma'am, I do not want to become an outcast that would bring disgrace on myself and my entire future family".
"If that is the case you need to ensure that you continue to do your work effectively and that you do not end up being a waste of this company's resources. I need you to look over this document that was sent by one of our military intelligence agents and decode it. You only have three more hours to finish. That will be all that I need from you; now please get to work as soon as you leave my office, Danny".
I rose from the chair that I was sitting in and walked out of her office so that I could get my work done as she had requested even though I was still completely confused as to how I even got here since the last thing I officially remember was getting injected with that red liquid for my Klitron process to begin.
If this was part of the process it was a lot different than how I imagined it was going to be.
The area outside of the main manager of this department was filled with cubicles where each person was constantly typing away at a computer. Not a single person looked up at me.
It took me a bit of time to find where my cubicle was since I was still unfamiliar with the area that I had somehow gotten thrust into.
When I found my cubicle, I noticed that it was only large enough for one person, and there was also a plaque with my name on it on the top right side of it, which told me that I had found the right place.
Inside the cubicle, I saw a desk with a PC on top of it. Against the wall that was to my left, I noticed there was a special touch screen; I was curious as to what that was used for. Even though I wanted to look at the screen I chose to instead get entirely focused on my work since I was on a time crunch.
As I was working on the touch screen it began to feel natural for me to do as she had requested of me; even though I was working hard I could not make any breakthroughs I could only translate a few words on the message and I quickly fell asleep on top of the desk due to exhaustion since my mind was being pushed to the limit because this was nothing like what I was used to as a member of the crafting caste.
I opened my eyes and I could hear the sound of active gunfire being shot behind me. Right in front of me, I saw a human that was wearing the armor of the warrior caste as he shook me awake.
"As I told you the cyborg's commandoes are about to be on top of us! This would be the ideal time for each of you to use your talents; because by our god's grace, we will need anything that we can use to survive." The male that had three stars on his helmet meant that he was a very high-ranking individual within the warrior caste.
After I heard him speak, I saw that all of the other troops were in the bunker. I rose onto my feet and grabbed the Dusk-72 assault rifle that was on my right side. I then loaded it with a cartridge that had white rounds that had a lighting symbol on them. These rounds were a unique type of rounds that the Tarren Collective had created to fight the cyborgs.
When the bullets left the rifle, I felt a massive thud from it as it kicked my right shoulder. As soon as the first flurry of bullets left the gun, I saw them split into smaller bullets that had a white aura around them.
As the bullet made contact with the circuits of the enemy briefly stopped moving. Due to this opening, I saw that one of the other humans jumped out from under the safety of the bunker.
I was filled with dread and fear at the thought of being taken alive and experimented on by the cyborgs.
While I was unable to move, I saw the warrior who had jumped out of the bunker had an active talent that made balls of lightning that seemed to generate replacement orbs as soon as they vanished.
"Get back in here Jackson! The electrical charge of the elemental bullets will not last very much longer." The commander said with a tone of urgency that I heard behind his voice.
I saw that as Jason was too busy slicing the circuits of one of the cyborgs with a short sword that had the same glow as the bullets that I fired from my assault rifle to notice that the other cyborgs were powering back up.
As soon as they were powered back up, I watched in fear as they all attacked as one body one will, and killed Jason in one flurry of attacks.
The cyborgs rushed over Jason's lifeless body and into the bunker while chanting their main phrase in unison. "For the queen, we will cleanse this galaxy of the human infestation."
I fired upon them but I seemed to miss all of the shots because of how unsteady my hands had become.
Then the cyborgs rushed at me, and I knew that my life was over as they swung at me with their swords after they spoke in a monotone voice.
"Your race is so weak. They do not stand a chance against us."
Everything around me turned into darkness and I knew that I was not going to become a member of the warrior caste.
When my eyes reopened, I saw that I was in a tent with a table in the center of it. Along the left wall, I saw that there was a variety of different animals that were contained in jars. Around them, I saw that there was a large number of herbs and different colored liquids.
"Danny, we have a patient who has traveled from the outer reaches of Terran-controlled space to have a legendary healer such as yourself heal him of a fatal illness." A young female human that had on the armor of the warrior caste said to me as she made her way to me.
"Sure, let me see if I can heal him," I told her.
A few moments passed before I saw an elderly male who had massive swells and bite marks on both of his ankles.
As he was placed on the table, I saw that his disease was not able to spread to others.
I started to try applying one of the alien creatures on the swells on his legs to suck away the swelling. After that, I noticed that the swells started to disappear from his legs.
The claw marks on his ankles were still there. In an attempt to heal it, I applied a light blue paste, but the infection did not seem to disappear.
I knew that if I failed this patient, I would not be able to live with myself. This meant that there was only one option. I would have to say the phrase if I wanted him to survive for as long as he could.
"By the grace of Caldian, the god of my people, I offer this prayer in exchange for this man's healing. Please entirely heal this man's injuries". I said out loud as my right hand was pointed at him.
Then, a dark green energy started to leave my hand, and his wound started to heal.
After the wound was healed, I was suddenly exhausted as my stamina was depleted. On top of that, I felt a sudden wave of anger and stress that seemed to envelop me. A few moments later the emotional waves disappeared. So, this is what it is like to have a talent; while it feels great, the burden that comes with it will take some getting used to.
Everyone started to cheer as I saw him rise from the table and start to walk around.
I then woke up and noticed that I was now done with the Klitron process and that I was about to become a member of the Healer caste.
"Well; now that your Klitron is complete you have become a healer. Your new life awaits you sir. Please go to the room that has the same symbol as your new caste on it. Your new life awaits you". The scientist said to me as I heard him walk out of the room.
I removed the wires that were on my head and put on my old clothes with a great amount of confidence. I was no longer a member of the crafter caste. I was about to join the rare ranks of the healers, my mother and father would be so proud of what my new life has to offer.