Cybernetic Beast Taming In A Game-like World

The lanky boy with messy brown hair tucked under a pair of yellow multi-lensed goggles pushed up from his bed, glancing backwards to shoot the center boy a scowl. Then he turned to Jethro, who was still standing on the room's threshold, face impassive, his Lizard in his palms. "Don't listen to him! Welcome to the dorm."

He placed a hand on his chest and a broad, genuine smile spread beneath his nose. "I'm Kekius, and this…" he gestured to the dome-shaped mechbeast laying beside his pillow. "...is Cogsworth."

Jethro looked at the mechbeast, and it replied by tilting its head at him. The creature had a smooth, metallic bronze shell and four delicate arms currently fiddling with a tiny circuit board. Its large intelligent eyes blinked at Jethro.

A Brain Turtle.

As expected, the screen appeared immediately, followed by a dizzying cascade of information concerning Brain Turtles, including possible evolution paths. Jethro had to force himself to look away in order to remove the interface.

"What is he wearing?"

The sneering voice came from the other occupied lower bunk. The boy with slicked-back dark hair – the one who had whispered earlier – leaned forward, raking Jethro with a disdainful look. "Do you work in a healthpost or something?" His eyes paused at the small, bandaged Gutterling now peeking out of Jethro's collar. "Haha! Is that why you're bonded with a Gutterling? Do you use it to kill the pests in the clinic vents?"

Jethro didn't say anything. He merely just walked past Kekius and headed to the bunk which had an empty pod above. "This is mine?" he stopped to ask Kekius.

"Yeah," the boy nodded enthusiastically. "If you want the lower pod I wouldn't mind swapping with you. Sorry about the mess," he added, gesturing vaguely at the scattered tools and components near Cogsworth. "Perpetual project zone here."

Jethro ignored the offer. He carefully placed his Lizard on the pillow before climbing onto the pod, sitting on the cushion which was surprisingly very comfortable.

"HEY!" The slick hair boy rose from his pod, placing his feet on the edge to get a better view of Jethro. "Are you ignoring us? That's a mistake you don't want to make, scrap feeder."

Jethro finally looked down at him, his expression coolly assessing. "Let me guess. You're mom's the Dean?"

Kekius choked back a laugh.

The boy grimaced, brows creasing. "I'm Ben Calder. I'm a cousin of Eryn Fenlor. You better start learning how to kowtow and show respect if you want to have the favor of a royal family."

Jethro shrugged casually. "I don't even know who Eryn Fenlor is."

"Why you!" Ben's grip tightened where he held the edge of Jethro's pond. "How can you have the audacity to talk back at me when you're bonded to a scrap! I'm bonded to an Electric Kitsune! You want a Beast Battle right now? Come on then. I'll teach you a lesson right away."

Jethro was running out of words to say. Actually, he couldn't care much to give another reply. This generic bully character didn't deserve his time.

However, the boy in the middle pod, with styled purple hair that fell on both sides of his very handsome face was the one to speak up. He slid down from his pod and adjusted his expensive synthweave jacket.

"Play nice, Ben," he said, his voice smooth as oil. "Even bootlaces have their place."

He looked over his shoulder and he and Jethro locked gazes at that moment. He had a proud smile on his face, and his blue eyes were taunting and condescending. He almost reminded Jethro of Songred, the wannabe Targaryen with all of the aura and none of the courage.

"So you're really the one with the scrap, huh?" he said, chuckling after. "At least, this means I'm still the most popular tamer in this room." He turned fully to face Jethro. "Name's Dash. Dash Brenton."

He gave Jethro a cursory gaze that clearly assessed and dismissed him. "If you're going to stay in this room, try not to trip over Dune." He stroked the head of his mechbeast, a Desert Cheetah sitting on his pod. Its metallic body was covered with peculiar black patterns over the yellow sheen, and it darted its head in different directions, golden eyes glowing. "He moves a lot and doesn't like clumsy people."

As expected, Jethro felt the familiar rush of information crowding his vision. In a blink of an eye, he'd already assessed everything about Kekius's Brain Turtle— it was a Platinum Rank Beast (Grade D) that possessed multiple evolution paths, one of which could lead it to become a World Turtle, a Black Rank Beast with infinite wisdom.

And now, Dash's Desert Cheetah.

It was a Gold Rank (Grade A), which meant Kekius's mechbeast was the most powerful in the room.

But Dash's Cheetah was no joke. It was extremely rapid, with the ability to command sand vortexes from nothing. It also had different evolutionary paths as well.

If Dash tried, he could evolve his Cheetah into a Crimson Thundercat, a Platinum Rank Beast with similar speed powers but the ability to summon streams of red storm.

Jethro knew exactly how to do this. But why would he ever tell him?

"You have to just pretend like you can't hear them." A meek voice came from beside him.

Jethro looked to his left and found a boy hunched on the upper pod of the left bunk. He was a slight figure with nervous eyes that darted up and away. A mop of a brown bowl cut covered his round head and he hid most of his face behind the screenpage of the glyph he was reading.

Jethro immediately noticed the damp-looking rock in a small terrarium by the boy's bed. Inside, sat a small, vibrant, frog-like mechbeast. Its synthetic skin shimmered with iridescent greens and blues, and tiny sparks occasionally flitted around its back.

[Glimmerpond Toad - Bronze Rank]

The screen was quick as always with the information, showing data on the mechbeast including a singular path involving very difficult activities for an evolution into a Boulderbelly Bullfrog (Gold Rank).

"He's right," Kekius said, suddenly appearing nearly eye-level with Jethro on the upper bunk. Jethro glanced down, startled, to see Kekius balanced precariously on the sturdy bronze shell of his Brain Turtle. Cogsworth remained utterly unfazed, one delicate arm still manipulating the circuit board.

"Just ignore them. My brother tells me it happens every year. Extended family members of the royal families overuse their power to boss everyone around."

Jethro gave Kekius a scrutinizing gaze. "They don't seem to be messing with you."

The boy smiled innocently, eyes closing. "Hehehe. That's because I'm the son of a very popular scientist. You might know him. Dr. Darlop Dreamlake."

Jethro pursed his lips, genuinely searching his inherited memories. "Doesn't ring a bell."

Kekius's mouth formed a surprised 'O'. "Eryn Fenlor. Dr. Dreamlake. You really don't know anyone popular, huh?"

"What do you expect?" Jethro shrugged. "I've only been in this world for a week."

"Mhm?" Kekius stared at Jethro, not understanding what he meant by that. Then Jethro smirked at him. Kekius then broke into a surprised, hearty laughter. "You're funny! How about we all got along? What do you say?"

Jethro's gaze shifted to the other boy still half-hidden behind his glyph.

"Oand?" Kekius called him gently.

The boy immediately turned off the screenpage and shuffled to the edge of his pod. "I'd… like that."

Jethro watched him, seeing how nervous and out of place he was. Like a kid sleeping away from home for the first time.

"How about you?" Kekius referred to Jethro. Jethro glanced at him, pressured by the friendly expression on his face. He thought for a moment.

Isolation in this viper's nest of an academy seemed unwise. The former owner of this body lived most of his life in the outskirts of a Lower Sector. He was from another world. Glyphs on the Beastcorp Academy were super expensive. And the screen thing only gave him knowledge about mechbeasts, not social maps or survival strategies.

So, if he was going to navigate this school, he was going to need help. Allies. Accomplices. But… not friends. He couldn't risk that.

With a pretentious sigh, he responded. "I guess."

Kekius beamed, feeling triumphant. "That's awesome! It's good to form friend groups early so you don't feel left out when activities begin tomorrow. Trust me, everyone knows everyone in this place." He looked meaningfully at Dash and Ben, who were now muttering together.

Jethro glanced at the other boy briefly.

"Why don't we reintroduce ourselves? Properly this time!" Kekius suggested. "I'm Kekius. And my mechbeast is Brain Turtle, or a Turtleback— if you prefer the casual term —named Cogsworth. Oand, you go next."

"Oh…" the boy said timidly. He sat up, hugging his pillow as he replied. "I'm Oand. Oand Wexley. And my mechbeast name is Froggy."

Jethro chuckled, looking at the Sparkfrog in the terrarium. "Froggy," he repeated with a small smile. "You didn't think much about that one, mhm?"

Oand smiled nervously.

"It's your turn," Kekius said, still smiling.

Jethro looked down at him for a short moment, before replying.

"I'm Jethro," he said, before his eyes fell on the mech-lizard curled contentedly beside his pillow, already fast asleep. "And this little guy right here… is Scorch."