Read Mecha Corps for Free Online Page B

to the doctor who was running Michelle’s drug scan. “Well?”
    “She’s clean,” he said.
    “Good,” Pechter said. “You win.”
    “I win what?” Michelle asked.
    Pechter grinned. “You’ll be the first through the Mind Raze.”
     
    Pechter led Michelle and Matt through the curtains. Beyond them was a large area filled with a wide variety of diagnostic and treatment machines. Matt recognized the sleek, stainless-steel shapes of imagers and the hulking outline of robotic-surgery suites.
    Kyle lay inside a bullet-shaped transparent tube Matt didn’t recognize. Haze filled its interior, thickest around Kyle’s swollen ankle. He saw Matt and Michelle and smiled dreamily, his eyes glazed and faraway.
    “He’s out of it,” Pechter said. “Accelerated Recovery is powerful stuff.”
    “I’ve never heard of it,” Matt said.
    “No reason you should have,” Pechter said. “Though there’s a rumor running around that Acc Rec is the reason the Eridani Tigers are doing so well this season.” Pechter leaned in to add, “Eridani’s Senator Kline has a lot of pull, you know.”
    Pechter led them back through another set of curtains to a small room where a single machine sat. This one didn’t look like any of the others. It was formed of a single, flowing piece of polished dark metal, with complex curves like frozen flame. A reclining seat led up to a translucent cowl, just large enough to accept someone’s head.
    “We’re supposed to call it the Neural Interface Assessment, but that’s pretty boring compared to Mind Raze, don’t you—Ah, er, shit. One sec. Be right back.” Pechter ducked back through the curtains, like maybe he’d forgotten something.
    Matt looked at Michelle. “Look, I think—”
    “Stop it right there,” Michelle cut him off. “Get this straight: we’re not a team now.”
    “I never thought—”
    “I’m not here to help you.” She flashed bright, angry blue eyes. “I’m only here to become Mecha Corps—that’s it. And I’m certainly not here to meet any guys.”
    And I’m not here to meet girls, Matt thought, but he kept his mouth shut. Her bravery, focus, and anger made Michelle that much more interesting, and he didn’t want to piss off the beautiful Earth girl any more than he had already.
    Michelle opened her mouth to say something else, but Pechter ducked back through the curtains again. Now he held a slate.
    “Okay, Army girl, up and at ’em.” Pechter nodded at the machine.
    Michelle didn’t hesitate. She climbed onto the seat and lay back. Pechter nodded and punched a control on his slate. The cowl dropped over her head.
    “Ready?” Pechter said.
    Michelle nodded.
    “This is gonna feel weird. But at least it’s quick.” Pechter pressed a button on his slate. Michelle’s face went blank. Not sleep-blank, but blank like death. Matt shivered as memories swam close behind his eyes.
    Pechter’s slate glowed green. He grinned and pressed a button. Michelle’s lips twitched and her eyes flitted from side to side. She tried to sit up and hit her head on the cowl.
    “Easy,” Pechter said.
    Michelle slid down in the seat and jumped off the machine before the cowl had finished retracting. She took a couple of steps away from it and hugged herself, as if chilled. Her gaze traveled from Pechter to the machine and back again.
    “That was . . . disgusting,” Michelle said.
    Pechter nodded. “That’s what everyone says! The good news is, you passed.” He held up the emerald-glowing slate.
    Michelle blew out a big breath and nodded.
    Pechter turned to Matt. “You’re next, rich boy.”
    Matt opened his mouth to correct Pechter, then stopped himself. Why did he care? Let everyone make their assumptions based on the way he dressed. Let them be wrong.
    Matt got up in the seat. The thin padding covered hard metal, but it wasn’t cold. In fact, it was almost uncomfortably warm.
    “What kind of test is this?” Matt asked.
    “I told you. Mind Raze. Or Neural