After I chatted with the group for a while more, they started to get up from their chairs.
"It'll start soon." Juna told me. She and the others started walking out of the cafeteria and I followed them through a hall into one of the next rooms which was behind a pair of ornate double doors.
It was a theater with a large stage.
"The perks of getting here early!" Etta cheerfully said and pointed to the empty front rows. I followed her and the others to sit down near the front rows, but I preferred to sit not in the front row but a few rows behind. I explained my reasoning and they agreed.
When I got closer to the chairs, they looked pretty luxurious, and when I sat down, they felt just right and brought back memories of an upscale theater I went to. I heard the doors open more times with new visitors, and tended to turn around.
There were some familiar faces and figures; Multi was back and was confidently walking without seeming so tired and she had her own entourage; they were dressed in color-coordinated suits and gowns. Among the next group of people to enter were dressed in the uniform that Valencia was wearing. I shuddered. They were glancing towards us.
"I still don't like that you left, but I'm not going to fight you over it." One of the senior members said to Piritta. She glared at him and tersely said "I have no regrets", but there was no escalation. These Warrior Guild members sat a few rows behind us. I felt a tension in the room, but after a few minutes it subsided since those Warrior Guild members kept to themselves and left us alone. They're here for the show, and for Valencia too.
A camera crew and a lighting crew arrived at the front of the stage, signaling that the start was getting closer yet. The stage had a backdrop of closed red curtains, and a podium stood near the front hinting at what was to be next.
Rows of spotlights were on, and the furthest row out shone its lights at the podium. I could feel the anticipation. The show was about to begin!
Guitar music started to play in a tune that added to the anticipation. The center curtains opened, revealing Piper standing in front of a stylized aquatic-themed backdrop while she was playing the guitar with a microphone in front of her. She waved to the camera and paused to make the announcement:
"Thank you to everyone who could make it to this event! A new Operating Superstar on our team will be making her debut- give it up for Valencia Marisela Lewandoska!" She announced and pointed to the side. Valencia walked from the backstage area to in front of the backdrop and quickly walked over to the podium with a determined expression. She waved to the audience as they applauded.
Piper stayed in front of the backdrop, and started playing a simple tune with distorted notes. It set up a mood that was full of anticipation, and intense.
"Greetings everyone! My name now is Valencia Marisela Lewandoska, though you may know of me as Valencia the Valiant!" She boldly started the speech, pausing to wave at a few people who waved at her in the audience. "Valencia the Valiant! Valencia the Valiant!" Many people in the audience chanted.
I silently looked on with the other Programmable Darling Patrol members, and looked on in amazement.
"Thank you, thank you!" Valencia said, flattered. When the applause quieted down, she continued her speech. Piper turned down the volume of her music on stage, but it continued to complement the tone of Valencia's words.
"This may be the last time you'll see me in this uniform with its ranking insignia I worked and fought so hard to earn in the Flying Crimson Warriors that I have many fond memories. Wearing it now is bittersweet as I sacrificed that path for another that I'm debuting in right now. Before then, my path as a Warrior began as an apprentice like anyone else and through experience climbed my way through the ranks. My guild mates saw my potential grow. I helped them and newer Flying Crimson Warriors members for several cycles. We could be unstoppable together!" Valencia recounted, sounding proud, energetic but also a bit wistful.
She recounted a few of her past adventures with her former guild; many of the guild members in the audience nodded in acknowledgement of each of the adventures before she led into her new path.
"I left a few cycles ago to join the Programmable Darling Patrol and become an Operating Superstar! Do you remember that downtown robbery that was in the news a few days ago?" She boasted and looked at the audience. "They were there and saved the day! I'll be able to join on those missions and I'll still be a Warrior!" She said.
The audience cheered. "But that means I'll be dressing like them on those missions, if you can imagine that." She said with a chuckle at the end and paused for a few moments as if she was giving the audience time to imagine this.
"I'm sorry to my former guild for leaving on rather short notice and not explain it very clearly." She somberly said. "Being an Operating Superstar is still sometimes hard to explain, the hardest skillset to define." She said with a hint of annoyance.
She quickly materialized a screen and keyboard. After a few moments, a holographic cliff emerged on the stage and reached close to the ceiling. The music became more intense. A holographic waterfall then materialized, harmlessly splashing on to the stage.
She then materialized holographic rocks that projected in front of the waterfall, then she jumped up on each of the rocks, able to interact with them as if they were solid, and reached the top so there was only a few inches between her and the ceiling. During each jump, Piper was watching and strummed a chord that was timed to each one.
"This is an example of what the abilities of an OS can do. Channeling the inner workings to alter our immediate surroundings." She explained. As quickly as she materialized the holographic waterfall and rocks, she de-materialized them and floated down to the stage floor.
"That was a demonstration I worked on for my debut for show, but research and security are my specialties. I've seen these abilities of OSes complement their other skillsets and complement the work that others do. It's that versatility that convinced me to join the PrDP and become an OS, and that could also help me with my future ambitions of becoming a Mission Critical Brigadier!
I thought about what she said about what it meant to be an OS. What I've been training to do materializing a few screens is just a basic ability every Techlandian has; the abilities of an OS build onto this further and can be used for great visual effects. This is what I'm more likely to do though." She said and materialized a large holographic window that displayed rows of text with a chart for a short demonstration before she de-materialized them.
"I'd like for my mentor to be on stage." She said. Piroska waved to Valencia and Piper, and walked up to the center stage. Valencia stepped aside from the podium.
"I'm Piroska and I remember many of you..." She said at the podium, and looked at the Flying Crimson Warriors members in the audience. "I'm not on stage looking for a brawl. I'm on stage to proudly announce that I'm Valencia's mentor and proud that she's debuting today after cycles of hard work!" She enthusiastically said; most of the audience applauded.
Several of the members were still glaring at her, but eased up and some started to applaud her. Others had a begrudging respect. Piper improvised the music she was playing and suddenly played a tune that sounded intense and foreboding which made some people in the audience laugh.
Piper eased up the music, and Piroska showed off the remote control she brought with her. A machine about the size of a small refrigerator on its side moved out from the backstage on a set of small wheels; it had a sleek Space Age look to it and had deep red panels with chrome trim. The middle panels opened up to reveal a robotic arm which moved the podium towards the left edge of the stage. The robotic arm folded back inside the machine's panels which closed again, and the machine settled at the right edge of the stage.
Valencia was at the center of the stage and looked towards the machine. Piroska was standing next to it and materialized a barrier surrounding the stage. Valencia smiled, showing off her shark-like teeth and she had a look of determination as she materialized her spear; it was about 6 feet long, was metallic gray with a dark red handle, a large head that was a darker gray in the center with blue gems in the center of it all. It also had etchings of stars and waves on it.
The machine's middle panels opened up again, and a pair of long robotic arms emerge from the machine, one with a sword in its hand. A third robotic arm in between the other two emerged that held a large target. Each of them stood a couple of feet above Valencia's height.
"The duel is about to begin. Valencia needs to hit the target to win!" Piper announced near the back of the stage. She strummed a chord during each step of the countdown. "3... 2.... 1... Go!" She announced and the duel was on and she strummed a new soundtrack to suit a duel!
Valencia immediately looked for an opening to reach the target, but exchanged several rounds of attacks, her spear and the machine's sword clashing with each other. Piroska looked just as determined as Valencia when she was working the remote controls, trying to keep the movements of the robotic arms up with Valencia's fast movements and the trajectory of her spear.
Valencia dodged attacks from the sword, and the machine kept blocking the attacks from her spear, but she wasn't relenting. With each strike and each stab, she was scouting for a weakness in the arm. After several tries, the sword fell from the attacking arm and wasn't able to pick it up. The audience cheered.
"Well played! You found a weakness in it, but we can still put up a good defense!" Piroska boasted, and she controlled the arms with empty hands into a defensive position.
"Do I need to be that good at combat before I debut?" I asked Juna. I was impressed by Valencia's skills, and thought about how I wanted to be a powerful Mage that could banish malware when the need arose, but the thought of putting myself through who knows how much training that Valencia did before I could debut made me briefly question my life choices.
"No." Juna concisely said.
"Only if you want to." Polyxena cheerfully added. "The Great Overcompli-- err... Multi-- put herself through that, but you don't have to."
"Valencia was already a high-level Warrior before she joined us, so it wouldn't be wise to assume you'll need to be as skilled as combat as her." Piritta added. "So was I, but that isn't required and some of us didn't have any combat experience before joining the team."
That was assuring. "Just like a fellow former human I know..." I thought.
During our conversation, the duel continued and Valencia was not giving up looking for an opening with each of the attacks that the robotic arms kept blocking her attacks. When one of the hands was flat on the ground, Valencia put her spear in her holster, ran to the hand and stood on top. The arm moved around and tried to shake her off by raising itself, but this gave Valencia the vantage point she needed; she jumped up and when the other hand tried to block her, she took out her spear and stabbed the hand in the middle of its palm, causing that hand and its arm to stoop to the ground and the audience cheered.
She attacked the other hand to weaken it after she stood on top of it to prevent it from swatting her away from her real target; the target above and behind it. "I bet I can land it in the center!" Valencia boasted; she timed her jump just right off of the hand into the air; she eagerly charged her spear forward and plunged it towards the center of the target.
A loud clang echoed across the stage and the front rows. For the rest of the audience who couldn't hear it, the target also brightly lit up and flashed red.
"You did! Well played!" Piroska cheered to Valencia. She pressed controls on her remote and the robotic limbs that came out of the machine retracted back inside; the machine once again looked like a sideways mini-fridge with wheels on its bottom.
The audience applauded again with chants of "Valencia the Valiant!"
"They loved it!" Valencia boasted.
"My work here is done!" Piroska waved to the audience. She de-materialized the barriers and walked towards the left edge of the stage to leave and return to her seat.
"That looked intense!" I told her.
"It was! Her fighting style and speed tested whether I engineered this machine with fast enough reaction times, and even when I've been mentoring her, she still gives me surprises!" She said and sounded thrilled.
"There are a few more things I want to say for closure about this previous adventure of my life and the start of a new one that will complement my skills. First is that I was there at Piroska's debut party. I was just a rookie in the guild, but I knew of the Programmable Darling Patrol and didn't think any of them would want to host their debut at our place, which I might still want to go to for old time's sake. Ha ha ha..." Valencia started to conclude her speech, but trailed off near the end of the sentence.
"Her choice was reckless, but I thought her willingness to take up challenges and take up risks that night were inspiring!" She said and smiled.
"Attending an Operating Superstar's debut then led me to think about how they can carve their place in Techlandia when the only way seemed to be quietly doing business or scientific tasks or risking themselves to banish malware-- or as my mentor would say, to be just a square working for The Man!" she exclaimed and slammed her fist on the podium stand. "This was cycles before the hobbyist and art movements led by them became visible!" She continued and was fired up again, shaking her fist.
There was a mix of cheering and confusion over her remarks, which I assumed was from the slang that she used. After these mixed reactions settled, she continued.
"Thank you for everything for the many cycles I was part of your guild. May you continue to be strong and fierce, but use your fierce strength wisely to protect civilians, win duels and gather resources from dangerous areas. To my friends there, perhaps we can meet again in the Rowdy Shark Tank tavern to catch up." She said to her former guild members, sounding determined but a bit wistful.
She stood straight up again looking more determined and confident. "And the last thing before the end of this speech, it wasn't this magnificent uniform that made this legend!" She boasted and pointed at herself. The research I'm interested in the most is security so watch out malware, I'll be armed with not just my weapons, but with knowledge to further help Engineers and Maintainers improve our infrastructure. And in the event that they get through, ha ha ha... I'll still be here to fight!" She boasted one more time.
She stepped away from the stage and the audience applauded. She confidently walked back to her seat next to Piroska's, but them slumped over as soon as she sat down.
"...I'd really want to go into sleep mode after this, and I can stay up for days and days at a time." Valencia said, exasperated. People were still applauding and she looked around. "However, I wouldn't mind staying up for the party for a bit longer to appreciate the team and audience." She said with a smile.
