Welcome to MDC

August 10, 2065

Magus Development Center, Soneria

I sat in the small room allotted to me in the aftermath of the other day. I had decided to spend the last few hours of my normal life playing video games, when I realized that all the stuff for doing that was left in my old house. I heard a knock at my door.

“It’s open.” I say, not wanting to get up. The door opens and my father walks in.

“Patrick, could you come with me? I got you a going-away gift, something that will be useful to you in the future.” He said, his voice in what has now become his typical monotone.

“Uh, sure.” I say getting up. “Uh, where have you been these past few days? I havent seen you anywhere.” I ask, trying to make conversation as we walk towards wherever he is leading me.

“Getting your gift ready. I had to go off-planet to retrieve it.”

“Ok.” After a few minutes of silent walking i decide to get something off of my chest. “Dad, just who was that lady?” He stops.

“That was Meredith Jonston, my biggest mistake.” He keeps walking, ending the exchange. After even more awkward silence, we come up to a massive vault. My father walk up to it, puts in a code, and opens the vault. Sitting inside, there was a device about the length of my forearm, and a sheathed katana just below it.

“What exactly are these?” I say, walking closer.

“The armguard is an extremely powerful artifact, it has different effects from person to person.” I walk over to the katana and partially unsheath it, revealing a blood red blade.

“I’m guessing this blade has a story?” I say, resheathing the blade.

“Yes. That was the blade used by Mark Jefferson, one of my best friends, who died at the battle of Citadel, thirty years ago.” He replied, in a somber tone. “It reacts differently to each wielder, but you’ll find that you can run Affinity through it.”

“Thank you so much.” I say, carefully taking both of the gifts. Behind me, I hear somebody else enter the vault.

“Patrick. It’s time.” I hear my mother from behind me. I turn and walk to her, my father following close behind. As I walk next to my mother, I notice that she is completely geared up for combat.

“Is something dangerous happening right now?” I ask her.

“Well, I’ve got an extremely dangerous fugitive with it out for you, me, and Ganashi; along with transporting a magus who is not under military supervision. You could say that things are dangerous right now.” She replies, coldly. I take that as my cue to shut up. We continue down the hallway, in complete silence. As we near the end of the hallway, I see a car by the exit of the base, with a striking Keredith woman standing by the door, looking uncomfortable. She was around my height, looked to be in her fifties, and was wearing the traditional outfit of a Void Lich: a long purple and white robe, likely concealing some form of combat armor. My mother approached her.

“Tys’Ral, I am placing a Magus in your care. Please take him to MDC for me.” She said, before walking away.

“Good morning Tys’Ral.” I say, stepping into the car. She climbs in beside me, motioning to the driver. Tys’Ral immediately relaxes after we leave the military base.

“Holy shit Patrick, I am sorry you had her as a mother.” She says. “She didn’t even say goodbye! What a bitch.”

“It’s not like you were much better.” I hear come from the front seat. I look over at the front seat and see the leader of the Ascended Guard, Marzi Teran. She looks at me. “Good morning Patrick.” I look to my side and see a look of irritation on Tys’Ral’s face.

“I had extenuating circumstances. Managing a country while subverting the Sentinals wasn’t exactly an easy task.”

“And she is stuck with trying to keep the peace, and has to deal with Meredith. I do not envy her one bit.” Tys’Ral shakes her head.

“Ugh, whatever.” She looks at me. “So, Patrick, I have good news and bad news for you. Which would you like first?”

“Uh, the good, I guess.”

“Your abilities got you placed in the A class, the top class at MDC. You are going to be in a class of 9 others.”

“And the bad?” I notice that Marzi is suddenly looking very uncomfortable.

“Well, since your mother made us jump through our collective asses to fit you in the class of ‘68, you ended up betting placed in a dorm room with a girl.” The car goes silent for a second.

“Are you serious?” I ask, confused.

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“Dead serious.” Tys’Ral replies.

“Well, who is it?” I notice Marzi looks even more uncomfortable.

“I’m not too sure. Somebody refused to give me the class roster. Tys’Ral said, taking a jab at Marzi.

“Marzi, do you know?” I ask, curious.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She replied. We sat in silence as the car approached a massive walled off complex. Tys’Ral stretched her arms, as she got out of the car.

“Well, We’re here.” I got out of the car, and took a look at the entrance to MDC. The entrance was built from stone and had a somber look to it, with three insignias towering above the entrance.

“This looks kinda depressing.” I say, stepping out of the car.

“Just wait. You’ll find that it’s better on the inside.” Marzi says, leaving the car. I notice that despite the fact that she is just barely five feet tall, she looks impressive in her uniform. Marzi motions toward the door. As we enter the compound, I am faced with a brightly lit lobby, and I see a peculiar sight at the receptionist desk. Standing at the desk, completing some form of paperwork was a woman wearing a sleeveless purple-and-white dress. She had extremely pale skin, shockingly natural-looking purple hair, and looked to be around my height. I walk up to the receptionist desk, and she looks at me over her shoulder, giving me a cold look.

“Hello. I’m Patrick. What’s your name?” I ask, extending my hand. She ignores me. I look around the lobby and see a restroom off to my left, a security desk to my right, and another doorway just past the security desk. I hear a door opening from where the restrooms were.

“Oh! Hello Patrick.” I look to my left and see a man leaving the men’s room, wearing a bright crimson coat, and looked to be in his mid thirties. He also happened to be my godfather.

“Hey Medlith.” I reply, waving. He walks over and fist bumps Marzi.

“Any word on Zigrus?” He asks, joining us.

“I heard that he is escorting the last member of class A along with Cruzat.” Marzi replies. At the mention of Cruzat, the girl in front of me turned and faced us.

“You know where papa is?” The girl asks, suddenly interested.

“Ah, the social butterfly is still here.” Medlith snarks in response. She gives him an evil look.

“I have a name, you know.” She replies, offended.

“Oh? You do? You wanna share?” Medlith snarks back.

.

“It’s Isendal.” She gets tapped on the shoulder by the receptionist. Isendal retrieves her paperwork and heads for the security desk.

“No goodbye?” Medlith asks. Isendal keeps walking. I walk up to the desk and find that my paperwork was prepared for me in advance. I take my paperwork, say goodbye to Marzi, Tys’Ral, and Medlith; and walk through the entrance to MDC. I am met with a view of a massive, enclosed estate, with buildings spotting the landscape. I walk up to an information terminal located near the entrance and swipe the access card that came with my paperwork. I end up getting directed to the A class housing. As I arrive, I see five townhouses, all in a row. I walk up to dorm A-04, and open the door. By the door, I see my bags stacked up by the closet. I carefully walk into the living room when I see a figure facing away from me, putting on a sport bra.

“Oh hi there roomie! I’m Ale-” Alexia says, as she turns and sees me. Her blue-tinged cheeks turn a vibrant pink. “Patrick. What are you doing here?” She says, giving me an angry look.

“Well, since my mother apparently forced everybody to bend over backwards to get me in here, they had nowhere else to put me. Don’t worry, I’ll confine myself to my room and give you plenty of space.” I say, trying to avoid one of her fits.

“D-don’t worry about it. I’m not that upset about it. At least I know that you won't do anything perverted.” She replies, quickly putting a shirt on. “Do you know anything about the A class?”

“Nope. You?”

“Me neither. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.” I take a seat and relax for a bit when i hear a loud beeping.

“What’s that?” I ask, looking around. Alexia walks over to a computer mounted on the wall. She wakes it up and stands there for a second, silent.

“Patrick, come over here please.” She said, quietly. I get up and walk over to her, looking at the screen over her shoulder. I look at the message at the center of the screen.

“Oh, that is interesting.”