We made our way back to the . They were giving us an hour before going over student activities. Normally, we would still be in class but choosing extracurriculars was important. They were all ones which would be useful in the military so forget poetry, debate, or skiing. They did have horseback riding. ( Actually Ersah riding). Nud had already wandered off in search of a club which provided food. The massive child’s appetite was unending. Tara opted for an agility/yoga class as well as a student communion of future engineers.. Look at her go.

They had a tactics club where simulated battles took place with A.I. Imagine the Total War games, but where the the tactical options were limitless. Sentient A.I. fought in wars where physics were 99.99% accurate. Sign me up. I could do well and forgo actual work.

Historians used to say history allows us to correct mistakes made in the past. I also enjoyed history, and wanted to see what Arth military strategy was like. It was a win win decision for me.

The gathering of new recruits and old recruiters dissipated at the end of the evening. We were served dinner and left to prepare for our first day of classes. Tara packed her new tablet which held all the needed books, and both Nud and I did as well. We were ready to go and slept without a worry.

The same drill sergeant was our alarm. The clones grabbed their gear and left the building. A few stragglers were pestered and beaten on their way out the door. The people of Arth were not pacifists, or politically correct with the slew of insults referring to race, gender, build, and numerous animals. On second thought, the military place might not be the best place to judge the people though.

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The normal martial arts teacher sat atop a recliner watching older students run back and forth.They looked tired, but physically well. When we arrived, he clambered out of his resting spot and pointed at one of us. ‘Too bad I wasn't picked’ I thought. I wanted to make a lasting impression for our team. The clone stepped forward. “Wham” and he hit the ground as mr.martial arts teacher snapped his neck. Holy shit… The body of the clone stayed on the ground with vacant dead looking eyes. Two medics ran forward with a stretcher and ran back to the base’s hospital with the limp body.

“Get into groups of two this instant!” the teacher said.

I quickly grabbed someone I didn’t know. Nud and Tara paired up separately as well. If they had to duel then pairing with one’s own team was a disadvantage.  I did not see anyone straggle, because Mr. Psycho would not have liked it. Forty-nine pairs were spread across the field giving him wary eyes. We were as good as dead if he felt like it. He murdered a student just to even the number of people. My earlier status which pinned him as normal changed to psychopath.

“In a year’s time, each of you will compete each other. While it does not have to be to the death, I will personally overlook those who try or succeed…” His wicked smile looked out into the sky.

The silence persisted for fifteen minutes before the bell rang for the next class. The students slowly walked away from field, and went to the next class. A building with holes and rubble held chemistry. There weren’t many safety precautions built in the place. I didn’t see a fire extinguisher or an eyewash station. We were only given a pair of flimsy plastic goggles. The buff looking teacher greeted us.

“Hello, I am Mr. Zoro i’ll show you how to make an impact in this class.”

Muscles bulged as he flexed creating an awkward scene. It didn’t help that he had a shit-eating grin whenever looking at one of the female clones. They were probably handling the chemistry class worse than me. I didn’t fancy knowing one mistake and I could go permanently blind or have an appendage ripped off my body from “impacts”.

Maybe I could get away with taking only written tests. The thought quickly ended when the projector showed a three dimensional image with the text “90% labs 10% written (Tests and Quizzes). Things would get ugly in the future. The bell rung and I wondered if any instructor had any normalcy on Arth.