Page 110 of Guiding Desire
With the others thus occupied, Vin took Orrey to the fanciest underground shooting range he had ever seen.
The entrance to it was in the Center, which Orrey had visited that first day he’d met Senlas. An elevator took them down, spilling them out into a windowless training facility whose screen walls showed a view of Meridian Park, making the low-ceilinged space seem bigger than it was. A set of stairs set in a compact atrium led up to what the signage simply indicated was “long range.”
“Simulations” was down a corridor at the entrance level, next to the “practice range.” “Armory” was the final corridor, and one of two bots hovering there quietly followed Vin and Orrey down it.
The armory had two doors at the beginning and end of a long, glass-fronted wall. Behind the glass, which Orrey had little doubt was bulletproof, it stretched deep, like a warehouse, guns and ammunition, but under blinking signal lights, also ammo and gun manufacture.
“This is a lot nicer than the protector training facilities,” Orrey said when Vin opened the door to the armory with his palm on the scanner.
“The guns still work the same. You trained on standard models, right?”
“The certified marksperson Conduit Orrey Acton is cleared for the LX series and the Vergis-Series as well as for alpha and gamma rifles,” the bot provided. Its bot eyes turned to Vin. “Guardian Vin is cleared for the full array, but due to the high rate of unforeseen gun malfunctions, we advise you refrain from target practice.”
Orrey’s eyebrows rose. “You can’t shoot?”
“I can, and I do. It just doesn’t work as well as it should. Another downside of being a Guardian. So LX, Vergis, alphas, and gammas?”
“I’ve never shot with any of those though,” Orrey said. “They carry explosive ammo, and we don’t use any models that do.”
The bot turned toward Orrey. “We can assure you that handling is very similar, Conduit Orrey, but please be prepared for a stronger kickback. We advise on strengthening your stance.”
Vin shrugged. “You’ll be fine. I just want to see you shoot something.”
The bot turned to Vin. “Violence directed against living things is strictly forbidden within the facility and on the Grounds. Please refrain from attempting or inciting violence, Guardian Vin.”
“Fucking gun bots. They don’t get metaphor. Or subtlety.”
The bot turned to the side. “We advise conscientious target selection at all times.”
“Let’s see how you do with the LX and the gamma first,” Vin said.
He pointed out both types in their single see-through cases, which were just like at the protector training grounds. Orrey placed his palm on the scanner of each and withdrew the guns, checking that each didn’t contain any ammo, which he then took from the corresponding cases below each weapon.
“We would be happy to carry those for you,” the bot offered, and Orrey handed it the composite fiber guns and ammo.
Vin led the way to the practice range, private booths that each had a 225-degree area where targets could appear in the form of holograms. Orrey had always preferred simulations to holograms because they could create a more realistic environment. At the same time, the guns used for simulations didn’t handle exactly like the real thing. In the end, finding the balance between the two had gotten Orrey certified as fast as he had.
The walls there at the range were similar to servi-floors and able to stop bullets. At the protector facility, they’d been pockmarked; here, not so much.
They don’t get as many shooters,Orrey thought.Well, and they’d never let a Guardian shoot at something other than a pristine wall.He bit his lip for thinking the fine-worthy thought.It’s Senlas’s bad influence, making me think that way.
Orrey rolled his shoulders, took the LX from the bot, and loaded it. It should have been scarier, putting lethal ammunition into the gun, but Orrey didn’t allow himself those feelings.
I respect that this can kill. I’m not afraid of it. The gun doesn’t act, the bullets don’t act. I am the shooter, and I choose the target,he repeated over and over. His fingers never shook once.
“Before you go through the motions, let me make this a bit more challenging,” Vin said.
“Huh? More challenging?”
“Yeah. I think we both know you’d clear this easily. I want to see how you act when it’s not just a game. My secondary power is illusionism. I’ve run into Conduits who routinely shake it off for some reason, but I don’t want you to even try that. I want you to stay in it. Shoot what looks dangerous.”
Orrey’s jaw dropped. “Vin, if I can’t see where I aim, what I shoot, that’s dangerous.”
Vin shrugged. “Only me and the bot here, and I’m not going to make you shoot me.”
The bot turned away from Vin, bot eyes glancing at Orrey. “We always advise to make conscientious choices when handling a weapon.”
“See? The bot trusts me too.”
