The shrill whistle sounded again, and that got everyone to settle back down. Captain Dexter didn’t waste any time in continuing his speech.
“We here at the College appreciate your time and dedication to be here, and normally we could continue with an elaborate parade and celebration, but considering the constraints we are under to relocate our missing client, these have been canceled.”
There were a wave of groans and boos that quickly died when Chief Winters started to raise his hand. Before his arm got half way in the air, the moaning had stopped, so he let his arm fall back to his side without letting out that ear splitting nose. Thank goodness.
“That being said, there will still be specialized food prepared specifically for Initiation Day, which will be available at all our cantinas through the rest of the day. Make sure to get your share during your dinner hour this evening.”
A low mutter of excitement rippled through the crowd at the anticipation of the special food, but they seemed tempered by the sharp look of Chief Winters.
“Since there won’t be an elaborate celebration naming you each a new Cadet of the Protectorate. I do so now. I may not call you each by name, but know that your service here is noticed and honored. You are now a part of the Protectorate family and we salute you as such.”
Captain Dexter and Chief Winters both stood tall, and then they gave sharp fists to heart to the crowd. This caused many of the new recruits to stand up straighter as they received a salute that usually they would be giving to their superiors. Some even had big grins on their faces. A few returned the salute to the two commanding officers with a look of pride on their faces.
I simply nodded like I normally did when receiving the salute or bow. I suppose I had already gotten use to such things and it didn’t seem like a big deal to me, but it was clear all the recruits thought otherwise. That included Hotoe who had the biggest grin on his face of anyone else I saw in the crowd.
After the moment was over, Dexter addressed the crowd once more. “I will turn things back over to Chief Winters so he can give out your instructions and first assignments. I wish you all the best in your training at the College, and I look forward to seeing each of you in the coming days.
“In closing, I will recite our College motto. Get used to hearing it, because we say it a lot. But even more than that, get used to living it, and you will go far in the Protectorate and beyond. The motto is…Be ready for anything, anytime, any place.”
Captain Dexter then gave Chief Winters a sharp nod, and then he started a brisk walk back to the edge of the assembly. The Chief stepped up and started belting out across the field once more.
“YOU EACH RECEIVED A WELCOME PACKET TODAY. IN IT IS YOUR COLLEGE IDENITY CHIP, WHICH YOU WILL NEED TO VISIT THE CARETAKER ASSIGNED TO YOUR BARRACKS AND HAVE IT INSERTED TODAY. TOMORROW AT THE LATEST. IDENTIFICATION THROUGH YOUR UNITY RING ISN’T ENOUGH. WE REQUIRE THE CHIP IN CASE YOU ARE SEPARATED FROM YOUR UNITY RING, WHICH IN OUR LINE OF WORK HAPPENS MORE THAN YOU THINK.
“YOU ALSO RECEIVED A UNITY RING IN THE PACKET, WHICH IS TO BE USED ONLY FOR COLLEGE BUSINESS. NO PERSONAL CALLS ALLOWED. USE YOUR PERSONAL UNITY RING FOR THAT. AND FINALLY, YOU RECEIVED A TABLET, ON WHICH YOU’LL FIND YOUR FIRST ASSIGNMENTS.
“SINCE YOU ARE NEWBIES, YOU DON’T GET ANY ELECTIVES. YOU TAKE THE CLASSES WE GIVE YOU. NO EXCEPTIONS. YOU DON’T LIKE YOUR ASSIGNMENTS OR SCHEDULE, TOO BAD. IF YOU MAKE IT HERE SIX MONTHS, THEN YOU GET TWO ELECTIVES. THE LONGER YOU ARE HERE, THE MORE CONTROL YOU HAVE OVER YOUR CLASSES AND SCHEDULE.
“AS FOR YOUR ASSIGNMENTS IN OUR SEARCH FOR OUR MISSING CLIENT, I EXPECT YOU TO SHOW UP HERE PROMPTLY DURING THE TIME SLOT DISPLAYED AS SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT. MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN UNIFORM AND ARE WELL HYDRATED AND BRING WATER WITH YOU. SOME OF THESE ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE SEARCHING THE SURROUNDING DESERT.
“ALSO, YOU WILL FIND MORNING ASSEMBLY ON YOUR SCHEDULE. THAT MEANS MEETING HERE EXACTLY AT THE TIME IT SAYS. NOT A SECOND LATER. ANYONE WHO IS LATE GETS LATRINE DUTY FOR TWO DAYS AUTOMATICALLY. IF YOU MAKE A HABIT OF BEING LATE, THEN YOU GET A WEEK OR MORE. HONESTLY, I HOPE MANY OF YOU ARE LATE. SOMEONE HAS TO CLEAN OUR TOILETS.” The Chief stopped long enough to give us all a wicked grin, which sent an involuntary shiver through me. I got the distinct impression he was going to find a lot of other reasons to make sure there were plenty of people to keep the bathrooms cleaned. I sincerely hope I wasn’t among them.
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“I WILL SEE THE FIRST SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT TEAM HERE IN ONE HOUR, SO YOU IDIOTS BETTER GO CHECK YOUR TABLETS TO SEE IF YOU ARE MY FIRST TEAM. DON’T BE LATE. YOU ARE ALL DISMISSED.”
There was a moment of hesitation as everyone tried to decide if it really was okay to move. But it didn’t last long as Chief Winters turned on his heals and marched away. That, more than anything, seemed to be more of a permission slip to move, and the lines of new trainees began to break apart.
Hotoe and I walked toward the entry of the assembly area, and made our way back to the Residence Hall with the surge of other new recruits surrounding us. Everyone seemed in a hurry to check their tablets.
Once there, we went back to our beds and the welcoming packets we had left in our closets. I pulled out my tablet, and as soon as I turned it on, a schedule popped open on the screen.
Click Link Above In Pre-Chapter Author's Note For Link To Class Schedule Image
“You are a Mind Bender?” I heard Hotoe said as he peered over my shoulder to view my schedule.
I had seen that too and it made my mind fumble for a moment. Why the heck would I need an Advanced Mind Bender class? I was no Mind Bender. I remember Markus had said Master Kiev would be keeping an eye on me. Maybe signing me up for his class was a good way to do that.
“Ummm, errr, yeah, I suppose.” I replied, not liking the lie, but I didn’t really see any way around it.
“You don’t sound so excited. You should be excited! Mind Bending is much more interesting than Endurance. All I can do is lift really heavy stuff and go longer without sleep than others.”
Hotoe had his own tablet and I turned around so I could get a better look at it and to hopefully find some reason to change the subject. I quickly saw that our schedules were very similar all except where I had the Advanced Mind Bender, his was Advanced Endurance, and instead of the Technology and Surveillance class, Hotoe had something called Basic Security Procedures.
“Well, Endurance must be important too if they have an advanced class in it,” I pointed out.
Hotoe snorted. “All they are going to do is have us compete against each other to see who can last the longest on different tasks. They also might have us do special projects that those with the Endurance Dome-ni can do the best. Believe me, it gets boring after awhile. I would much prefer using my mind than my body sometimes. But then those with the Endurance Dome-ni always get the physical jobs. Always. ”
I wasn’t sure what to say about that so I changed the subject. “It looks like we have the rest of the classes at the same time. Orientation is only forty minutes out. Maybe we should think about heading there soon.”
Hotoe stashed his tablet back in his closet and pulled out a small clear cube. Inside was a tiny dot suspended in some sort of clear fluid. “Good idea. Orientation is in the auditorium, which is close and the Remaker Repository is right next to it. How about we get are chips implanted on the way?”
I reached into my packet, and pulled out my own clear cube. The little dot inside looked a lot like the distress beacon Markus had put in my wrist. I remembered what he’d said about my identity not holding up under the scrutiny of a Caretaker and wondered how I could get out of this. I decided the best thing to do was to stall as long as possible.
“You go ahead. I have to take care of some personal business in the bathroom,” I said.
“Ah, well don’t take too long. You don’t want to have to clean the toilet you just took a shit in.” The man thought his joke funny and laughed all the way down the barracks and out the door.
I stood there for a moment, wondering what to do next, and realized that maybe a trip to the bathroom wasn’t such a bad idea. I had passed an archway when leaving entering and leaving the barrack, so I decided to check it out. Sure enough, it led to a long room with two sets of ten showers at the back, and the same arrangement of stalls and sinks at the front.
The place was empty, so I took a moment to orientate myself to the bathroom. I was glad to see that there was a small changing area as part of the shower, which was made private with a sturdy curtain. It would make changing much easier and less likely for someone to see the modifier or the family crest on my arm.
I also took advantage of the stalled toilets to relieve myself, and then washed my hands in one of the sinks. I stood there for a very long moment after shutting off the facet to look at my reflection in the mirror. It felt weird seeing a stranger staring back at me, and I think for the first time it really dawned on me what I was doing. It made me feel like I was standing a hair edge’s from a deadly and steep cliff.
Even after over a month of trying to get into the role expected of me as some so-called Prince of the Empire, I felt more like an imposture than ever. This, none of this, was me. Not even a little bit. It was like I had been plucked out of my Earthly life and put inside a strange new reality, doubly so now that I was pretending to be Jasper Ruloc.
Would I ever feel like me again? Would I ever not be completely out of my depth? If only I had some sort of warning. Some sort of notice that my life was going to change. Maybe I wouldn’t feel so… alone. And so utterly and completely unprepared.
I blew out an air of frustration. That sort of mindset wasn’t going to help me. I was doing the best I could with the circumstances I was given, I had to remind myself of that. Also, I was learning a lot quickly, especially since I took on the Ruloc identity. If I lived through all of this, I knew I would be better able to understand Ethia and my role in it even just with the few hours I’d been Ruloc.
I grinned when I thought about how Dur-rele would react when he found out about my latest adventure. I could hear his flustered exasperation now and it made me chuckle to myself all the way out the barracks and to the auditorium.