Feeling refreshed and imbued with motivation, I stood in front of the steps of the bureau. The building itself was massive, with massive curving arches along the side of the building that had to have been built for aesthetics rather than any real structural value. I could see that behind blocked off and walled areas, other reinforced buildings stood with what must be some kind of open space in the middle of the concrete boxes. Readjusting my white t-shirt, I waved to my dear old wrinkled friend, the driver from earlier. Off and walked up the worn concrete stairs.
I could see through the wall-sized windows that it was generally low populated, with only two of the six booths in the back open and two guards at every entrance and exit. It made sense, given that the next transfer of supers was due in what had to be 30 or so minutes, and the fact that only 1 in 10 thousand people ever become powered a year.
The left section of booths had a sign above saying ‘Licence Processing’ while the right had a sign saying ‘Hero Processing’. Steeling my resolve I treaded towards the active right booth, trying to avoid thinking about the guards who held the same weapons and dressed similarly as the ones that were in my hospital room.
The girl at the desk was a beautiful blonde girl with a thick layer of makeup on and a uniform that reminded me of a flight attendant.
“Hello, I’m Elijah Garcia. Here for hero processing” I stammered out.
“Hmm, cutting it close. Think you're the last one. Go ahead, your paperwork’s already been filled out. The door’s to my right. Just wait with the crowd” She unenthusiastically went back to her computer, on which I could see partially that she was playing solitaire.
“Right, cheers” I walked over towards a thick door that blended in with the surrounding light grey wall.
The space behind the building was nothing like I expected. The fortified structures looked vaguely like apartments with stairs going up to numbered doors and covered the whole right flank of the courtyard. While the left looked to be filled with facilities for food and even some shops. I guessed that this was where they keep powered individuals who need to wait for the next transport arrival, lest they lose control of their powers in normal society.
The courtyard itself was decorated with plants and greenery, the whole place having a university vibe to it. In the middle, however, a mass of people congregated. I walked to the back of the group, standing next to a girl around the same age as me who had light skin, fiery red hair and green eyes, which were uncommon traits these days.
As if on cue, a human sized space distorted with a ‘whoomph' ' as a dishevelled man with bags under his eyes walked out of a gouge in space and started talking, dangerously close to spilling the coffee in his hands with the wild gestures he was making. Although too far away for me to hear anything. Smacking himself on the head several smaller 'whoomph’s” could be heard around me as similar distortions albeit smaller, manifested throughout the throngs of people.
“You think they’d get me a microphone. Bloody hell, you better pray to your lucky stars if you don't have teleportation power, because next thing you know, you're going to be stuck on transport duty for the rest of your life.” The disgruntled man's voice came out of the smaller distortions in the air.
“Well, line up in rows of four. I don't have all day.'' The distortions all collapsed seamlessly as four massive portals opened up (10 ft tall and 5 ft wide if I were to estimate), reflecting a foreign landscape of red dirt and green tents on the other side.
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Starting to pay attention, I noticed that there were already pre-established cliques, which made sense since they've all been arriving over the last 14 days. At the front, I could see massive individuals with physical mutations, the front most ones nearing the top of the 10ft portal. You don't tend to see them much in the news, and have always been viewed with scepticism at best and pure animosity at worst. A massive humanoid lump of stone was the first to walk through the portal as space rippled around it. His steps sent vibrations that I could even feel in the back of the group.
Realising that it'd take awhile to get through the throngs of individuals, I looked aside to the person I had ended up next to; the same red haired girl from before. Now that I paid attention to her, she was obviously nervous and was twiddling her thumbs in apprehension.
“Hey there, are you new here too?” I inquired, trying to sound as friendly as possible. I regretted that question almost immediately. My mind said of course she’s new here, dipshit. Everyone’s new here.
“Huh? Yeah, yeah I am. I got here a few hours ago. Everyone seems to already be in groups and have been mighty unfriendly,” the fire haired girl spoke, looking taken aback by the question.
“Do you know anything about the training? We newbies ought to stick together, I reckon.”
She creased her eyebrows in thought before finally talking. “Yeah, sure. You go ahead first and I'll see if my information is worth trading,” she said with a hint of arrogance.
“Okay, well, apparently we’re going to have to get into teams, already leaving us at a disadvantage. But we’re allowed to swap teams throughout the training, so you go now.”
“Hmm, thanks for the information, but I have nothing” she professed while looking away from my eyes.
I blankly stared at her. “Nothing? You've been here for hours,” I complained.
“I told you before that they’re unfriendly!” she piped up before I held a finger up to my lip, having caught others looking at us.
“Okay, okay, then just give me some information about yourself. Like what's your power, since we’re going to be teaming up?” I whispered, leaning in close.
“Hey, that's personal information! You don't just ask a lady that, and who said I even wanted to team up with you?” she chided as her face turned as red as her hair.
“Well for your-” I felt an angry hand push me from behind. I turned and stared at the owner.
“Your turn, bub.” a hulking 7ft man was staring back angrily.
Looking up, I saw we were both at the oblong hole in space and the disgruntled portal hero from before was angrily tapping his foot and pointing at a nonexistent watch on his hand.
We both looked at each other, deciding our argument would be saved for later and stepped through the portal.
I felt space time caress myself in a pressure that felt indescribable. Then I felt like nothing, like I was space itself. The experience ended as soon as it began and I felt bile rise in my throat from the nausea that assaulted me.
I could see real trees upon looking up. The kind you heard wood was made out of, their leafy green glory saturating the outskirts of the camp. The ground had been cleared and compressed into packed dirt. Dark green tents and small fortified buildings dotted the landscape.
A large ‘whoomph’ could be heard behind me, as I assumed the last people filed in. I could hear it again on yet another stand in the distance.
A man of large stature with a salt and pepper beard dressed in dark green tactical gear with camo print on some fabric where the plating did not reach. He reeked of raw power and gestured around the camp with a sword in his right hand and a shield in his right. The man in tactical gear bellowed in a resounding voice:
“Welcome to hell!”