When We Were Wallflowers

The world has changed a lot since December 22, 2012. Magic is a real force now, with approximately 0.0001% of the world population being able to actually use it. The rest of the world rely instead on Magitek engines to tap into this force, a new energy source that has replaced most of the old energy sources that were used in the early 21st century. This engine, besides providing clean, renewable energy for the world, is capable of re-writing a device's original function on the fly in the hands of a skilled user. The main supplier of Magitek engines and home to most of the world's population of Mages, people who are capable of using magic, is Lemuria, an island-continent that is half the size of Australia and recently created by the Mages, who were running away from early oppression by Mundane people in the mid 2010's. In order to defend their new home from frightened Mundanes, Lemurian scientists developed a suit of armor, known worldwide as Magikiras, or the world's first powered armor. The suits were a major success, and the Lemurian military is comprised almost exclusively of Magikiras units. All this is common knowledge to you, of course. You are a second-generation Lemurian, born after your parents had moved there during the initial migrations to Lemuria. After graduating from high school, you enlisted in the Lemurian military and have been training there for a year now. April 4th, 2050