"Good afternoon, I'm Christopher and today I'll be the one helping you sort through all the needed paperwork. Once everything is in order, you will be finally able to freely experience our beautiful Gamma Perimeter" said the finally popped up Chris, sitting in the chair across the desk. A radiant customer service smile, spoilt only by the slight swelling on his left eye, adorned his face.
Johanna had already left, leaving shortly after "persuading" Chris to get up and go perform his duties. In fact, as she had previously mentioned, I needed to get registered before officially entering the perimeter, but I still didn't exactly know the reason why.
"Excuse me, I understand I must undergo this procedure, but what is its purpose?" I asked due to curiosity.
"It's standard procedure to profile people entering the Perimeter, in order to make it easier for the guard corp to identify and apprehend them, in case they pose a threat to the safety of the citizens and the structures. Once all the data is successfully uploaded inside the system, you will be free to go around and even apply to various services" answered Chris without changing expressions.
I nodded, understanding their qualms: even a weak arch could make a huge mess if he put himself to it, and this procedure could be considered to be the bare minimum needed. Luckily, I had no particular intention of causing problems, in fact I simply hoped others wouldn't cause me problems.
"I will now ask some questions and take some measurements, is that fine with you?" said Chris while typing on the computer keyboard.
The man in front of me, although polite, could be considered to be behaving quite boldly. Although what he told me was phrased as a question, it was clear a negative answer wasn't contemplated. This could be cause of irritation for some people and due to the nature of this work, which consisted apparently in interacting with superhuman folks with a certain frequency, it could be quite dangerous. Especially considering the fact that, from what I could perceive, the guy was quite weak. I imagined the reason he showed a sense of security strong enough which apparently made him feel like he could keep such an attitude with someone like me, was the fact that anyone trying anything funny would immediately induce the guard corp to firmly intervene and neutralise the threat.
"Then, let's start. Name?"
“Umh. I don't remember. Let's go with John Doe, seems appropriate to me”.
Chris sent me an odd look, but eventually accepted my suggestion and continued on.
“Fine. Age? No wait, you probably don't know this either. You seem quite young, I'll put seventeen. Then, place of birth? Any recollection?”
I answered by simply shaking my head.
“I'll mark it as "unknown". Let's see, here there are many fields to fill… Please, give me ten minutes to complete these ones, then we'll finish this up with the physical measurements”
With his eyes darting between me and the display, Chris continued to type steadily on the keyboard. I didn't know what he was writing exactly, but I imagined it had something to do with general physical characteristics like facial features and such. After almost ten minutes, he stood up.
“Ok, let's do a rapid check-up”
After having guided me into the adjacent room, which was a small infirmary, and having measured various things, we both returned to our seats to complete the procedure. Once he had entered the missing data inside the system, Chris turned to me anew.
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“Ok, I'd say this is all. Welcome to the Perimeter! Ah, just to say, you are a little bit underweight so make sure to eat plenty from now on. Anyway, what are your plans for the future?”
Finally, the important question had arrived. I had to determine my immediate course of action. I could probably wait for Johanna to return and live off of her for some time, but soon the day where I would be asked to leave if I couldn't pull my own weight would come. Although by considering all the cultivated fields I had seen, this Perimeter seemed to be quite the wealthy one, the condition the world was in didn't permit it to accept dead weight, even if it was an arch. Unfortunately, I had no idea what I could be useful for at the moment. I was a bit strong, but wasn't by any means a trained fighter. Moreover, I had to look for that certain someone who could make my final objective feasible, and I wasn't sure they were located inside this Perimeter.
Suddenly, Chris started talking, distracting me from my thoughts.
“May I put forth a suggestion? Although the standard procedure is to simply take the data about the visitors and then let them go on their way, I think it would probably be better for you to register as a resident here. This would translate in having to comply with stricter regulations, but it would also mean you will receive help finding a place to stay and a job, and more if necessary”
It was clear he was trying to be considerate. Maybe he felt a little bit of pity for me, a young boy without a place or memory. Anyway, I thought about his proposition for a bit, before giving my answer.
“I don't know if I can make this choice now. I'd need some time to think about it”
“I fully understand. Well then, considering it has gotten quite late, I'd propose we eat something and tomorrow morning you can tell me about your decision” said Chris with a genuine smile.
Without me noticing, the sun had almost disappeared beyond the mountains. Chris stood up and guided me to one of the innermost parts of the guard station. We arrived in a small kitchen, full of cooking utensils, a food cabinet, a table with some chairs and even a stove and a faucet. I was quite surprised by these last two, because it meant the amenities of my old world hadn't completely abandoned me. This made me hope I could have access to running water in the bathroom and finally clean my body of all the dust I had accumulated during the day.
After a little while, Chris was done cooking, and put the dishes on the table. It was quite the simple meal, consisting of a soup of various vegetables and legumes, but I was too hungry to care and rapidly gobbled my dinner. Without speaking much, Chris brought me to the room I would be sleeping in for the night, showed me the bathroom and gave me a change of clothes. I was ecstatic at the presence of running water and immediately ran inside. After having thoroughly washed myself, I changed my outfit and went looking for Chris.
I found him again sitting in front of the computer, probably finishing some work left to do.
“Do you need anything else?”
“I think I remembered something” I shamelessly lied.
Chris looked at me with a surprised expression and stood up, before sitting down again.
“Really? May I ask what it is?”
Instead of waiting for the coming day, I decided it was best to ask right away. I needed to confirm if the person I was looking for lived inside the Gamma Perimeter, the one I was supposedly in at the moment.
“Well, I'm not entirely sure, but there is something I would like to confirm. There is a Faye Deveraux among the residents?”
At my words Chris fell deep in thought for a couple of minutes.
“Deveraux you say? I'd have to check. But why are you looking for her?” asked Chris with clear caution.
“Well, it's just that I think we are related in some way, because I think I recall something about her mother… Anyway, if you can get hold of her, please simply tell her this” I answered with the fakest smile I could muster.
Looking at me suspiciously, Chris simply nodded and sent me on my way. Although his first impression hadn't been one of the best, it seemed like he was quite thorough in his work. Before divulging any information about a resident to an unknown third party, he probably wanted to make sure it was safe to do so.
Having completed the final expedition of the day, I headed to my room and jumped into bed, where I quickly fell into a deep dreamless slumber.
I woke up the following morning to the noise of loud chatter. Opening the door to my room, I found Chris who was about to knock.
“Hey John, you have visitors” he told me.
Seemed like finding Faye would be far easier than I thought.