Chapter 045: Test
If Mason hadn't delivered goods here a few times before, he might not have found this place.
It was a place similar to a fighting gym, or a dojo. In his previous life, such a place wouldn't have been too unusual, but in this technologically advanced society, it was truly a rarity.
Pushing aside the heavy curtain, Mason entered. In the spacious hall, there was only a long desk directly opposite the entrance.
The surrounding furnishings were extremely retro, with very few of the high-tech products seen outside.
Seeing someone enter, the young man sitting behind the desk yawned and casually asked, "Natural human or augmented?"
Augmented refers to any human enhanced through special means, encompassing both technological and biochemical methods.
Mason hesitated for a moment. "Natural human."
The young man glanced at Mason with slight surprise. "Take your watch and go in."
In this highly developed society, completely unmodified natural humans were extremely rare.
The existence of androids had taken away many human jobs, causing many to lose employment and be forced to take the path of cybernetic modification.
At least in terms of work efficiency, unmodified individuals have no advantage and can only barely survive on government assistance.
Entering the building, a familiar feeling washed over him—it was as if he had returned to the gym from his previous life. Simple lockers, large floor-length mirrors—after taking off his jacket and changing, Mason entered the combat training room.
There weren't many people training inside. A few were shirtless, working heavy bags, while others were building strength using various pieces of equipment.
In a corner of the training room, two or three people were constantly maneuvering and striking around a wooden training dummy.
Seeing Mason enter, someone glanced at him and then ignored him. Mason was happy to have some peace and quiet, finding a secluded corner to try out the equipment.
He stretched his body, intending to test his physical fitness.
"Hey man, new here?"
A young man with a military buzz cut and a scar near his eye approached Mason with a grin.
Mason was slightly taken aback. This was actually a Latino face. To be honest, although he hadn't paid much attention, most of the faces he'd seen since arriving in this world had been pretty diverse.
He himself was alright, without obvious ethnic characteristics, looking more like someone of mixed heritage, but this person in front of him clearly had strong Hispanic features.
A sense of familiarity welled up inside him.
"This is my first time here. I'm not very familiar with the place yet—I want to train a bit and test my physical fitness." He didn't hide anything and stated his purpose frankly.
"My name is Rico Martinez. This is my family's gym. What's your name, brother?"
"My name is Mason. You said this is your family's gym?" Mason asked curiously.
"Yeah, a combat training facility. Old school style." Rico smiled.
"You don't seem to be a local."
Mason asked tentatively. To be honest, in the lower city of Border City, he rarely heard news from the outside world—this sense of isolation was incompatible with this highly developed society.
"I'm not from Border City originally. My hometown is far away—let's not talk about it," Rico chuckled but didn't elaborate.
"Didn't you want to test your physical fitness? This way. Although this training room keeps some retro elements, it still has all the necessary high-tech equipment." Rico led Mason to a separate room.
"This is the latest type of body scanner. It can stimulate body cells to provide feedback on physical fitness. Although it's slightly different from reality, it's still quite accurate." Rico pointed to a nearly ten-foot-tall metal device in the middle of the room.
Rico opened the hatch. "Just stand inside. It'll take three minutes to measure you. First time's free." Rico winked at Mason and joked.
"How does this thing work? If my body has been augmented, won't it cause conflicts due to some special implants?" Mason's eyes flickered slightly as he asked.
He naturally didn't want anyone to know the secret in his chest. He was actually hesitant in front of this machine, but a line of information flashing on his personal terminal made him pause.
"External device detected. This can greatly assist our company in collecting information about this world. We suggest the courier make contact and establish a connection to improve the personal panel information."
Since last night, the physical information on his personal panel hadn't been updated. Although he knew he now possessed physical abilities twice the human limit, he still wanted some specific values, hence his earlier question.
"Ha, man, very few people come here to train. Even those who are 'natural' have undergone some modifications, so I naturally considered your question," Rico chuckled.
"This device is the latest model. It doesn't require a full-body scan—it only needs to contact four unmodified major muscle groups to infer overall physical abilities based on the muscle strength of the corresponding areas."
"Because it's not a full-body scan, there are some margins of error, but in my experience, the errors are small and don't matter much." Hearing Rico's words, Mason felt relieved.
"What should I do?"
he asked tentatively.
"Just stand inside." Following Rico's instructions, Mason stood inside the metal chamber. Rico placed four palm-sized panels on his limbs. "That's it."
He closed the chamber door and flipped the switch.
Mason only felt a tingling and buzzing vibration on his skin where it contacted the metal panels. Immediately afterward, it seemed as if all the muscles in his body were being activated.
At first, there was nothing particularly special about it. After two minutes, the vibrating muscles gradually tightened and began to resist the force of the metal panels. After another minute, Rico turned off the machine and opened the chamber door.
"See? Simple as that."
"Hold on—the test report will be calculated soon. I'll send it to your watch in a bit."
Mason didn't pay much attention. As soon as the machine's operation ended, his palm trembled slightly, and a message appeared on his personal terminal:
"Information collection complete, data processing in progress..."
Probationary courier Mason's physical attributes are as follows:
Physical Attributes: 1.97.
Mental Endurance: 2.11.
Energy Level: Not Activated.
Both of these data points were close to 2.0, which should represent twice the human limit after the serum injection. Numerically, the mental attribute seemed to be stronger than the physical attribute, but the personal terminal didn't explain the specific meaning of these two data points.
"Alright, the results are in. Check your watch." Rico's voice came from the side. As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly gasped. "Whoa, your physical fitness is incredible—it's already twice that of an average person."
"Holy shit!"
"Are you some kind of freak? Your mental strength is off the charts?!" Rico couldn't help but exclaim, even attracting the attention of several people exercising nearby.
In his previous life, Mason's physical data would have been that of an Olympic athlete, but in this technologically advanced society, it shouldn't be so remarkable. He was also curious about Rico's reaction.
"Rico, what's going on?" voices came from around him.
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