I entered the office and was met with an aesthetic that opposed that of my previous environment. For the most part, the military grounds have been sterile in its intricacies, with either gray or green scaled color palettes filling the surrounding area. Here there was a large emphasis on what I can only assume being those famous trees present in much of Terra’s literature. Well, they are still very present in many planets, just not in my home. We lacked much nature, mostly being a military outpost with some mining centers in cities far outside the reach of where I spent my whole life. Most of the items were made of wood, with occasional foliage mixing up the look. Yet, what stood out the most was the man in front of me.

Major Opal, as Ralf had introduced him, had an imposing build, wide shoulders with very defined lines forming his figure. His olive skin looked well polished compared to the warm expressions I’ve seen floating around, and his black hair, perfectly cut in a buzz cut really gave the vibes I’d expect from a Major in a military outpost. But what struck out the most was his blue eyes. They felt completely out of place. I was continuing to study the man in front of him when his stern voice brought me back to reality.

“Enough staring at me lady, unfortunately for you I don’t sway your way. Now let's get this over with.”

He paused, took a paper and a pen out then looked at me before continuing.

“City of origins, I assume it's the New Horizons Colonial City, am I wrong?”

He raised ever so slightly his eyes from the paper in front of him, so I simply nodded, not sensing it necessary to add any more input.

“Age?”

“16”

The exigent was very curt, he didn’t seem to mind my short answers so I decided not to waste anymore of his time.

“What about your name?”

“Do you need to know that?”

I am genuinely unsure what came over me to give such a reply. I had gone on autopilot and shifted back to my untrustworthy nature. I never gave people my name, well except for Roberto, since I truly hated it. On second thought, it was stupid to act like this with people that likely barely saw us as an equal species, but the damage was done, I was expecting the worst to come my way. Instead, Major Opal’s expression remained calm, simply raising his look properly for the first time as if properly analyzing me. After studying my presence for a bit, he stood up from his chair and took a few steps towards me. He was tall as well, likely above 190 cm which further added to the imposing nature of his build. He continued studying me for a bit, his expression ever so composed, before finally speaking up again, in a calm voice, his tone was equally calm.

“And why did you enter the military if I may ask?”

I looked at him for a moment, and then shook my head.

“You know where I am from, can't you put two and two together?”

At my snarky comment the Major just smiled. I could almost hear a giggle come from his face, before he shook his head in an overly exaggerated manner.

“You're not the type. You hate us to the core… you may find it surprising, but not many of you rats really hate us as much as you claim. You, you're different though, that's why you dared to reply to me in such a tone. ”

“Still, I don't see a valid reason to answer you…”

“I'll make it worth your time”

Major Opal was now dead serious. I could sense his tone shift as he said that. Honestly it had piqued my interest, so regardless of him slowly getting on my nerves I decided to give him an honest answer.

“Dead friend’s last wish”

Yet, the reaction I got was different from anything I would have imagined. I didn't hold the major in high regards from our short interaction, and frankly he had started making me nervous, but hearing him explode in a genuine laughter was simply too much. ‘To hell with this place’ I thought before grabbing the knife I had hidden prior to leaving the dorms and lunged at him. Swift stab to the neck. Sorry Roberto, but my fucking hatred for these people is too great. Calling us rats, pushing us around, laughing at us. They can't even maintain respect when I mention my heartfelt reason. At least with this I'll get some satisfaction, but as my knife reached the point it was meant to make contact with his neck, it felt nothing but void.

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By the time my brain caught up to my body, and my eyes focused on what was in front of me, it was empty. There was no one in front of me. Almost at that same moment, the cold sensation that steel provides was sensed by the back of my neck skin. Fear, that's all I felt. For all my hatred, for all my disgust, it had been for naught, washed away by that cold sensation pressed against the back of my neck. I had hoped for a last hurrah, instead I prepared for the shot that was gonna follow. Yet, once again, as I had prepared to feel his neck on the tip of my knife, my preparation for the gunshot was for naught. Instead, what I heard was…

“I like you. Impulsive, precise, you'll be a great asset to the army. But don't you ever dare step out of line again. You're but a rat, at the disposal of us. Your life, however useful, will never surpass that of your average lab rat. You die, sure, an asset will be lost, but we'll use what we learned from you and prepare the next batch better. That is your value. Right here right now. As long as you're in this building, and once you'll be fighting for us.”

“Then why not kill me right now, what stops me from trying this again?”

My eyes hadn't moved. I was still fixing the void I had tried to stab, but I could feel his composure. It was eerie, as if I hadn't even surprised or threatened him.

“You won't, your survival instincts are strong, you can't explain what just happened, and until you understand, you'll assume the same outcome. Trust me, you'll never know what just happened here.”

“If it isn't you it'll be someone else, what tells you I won't pull something once I leave the camp?”

He smirked

“You will. You will never complete the 10 years of service, and it won't be for the same reason as everyone else. I expect you to pull something, and I can't wait for you to do so. I'm sure you'll break the balance of this conflict.”

He pushed me through the barrel of the gun, and it was at that moment I finally turned around and stared back at him. His blue eyes seemed fierce. I was scared honestly, but even more so than his actions, it was his words. He was right, I couldn't understand. Not what happened, not what he said. Sensing I wasn't going to say anything, Major Opal looked at me and continued.

“Go little boy, squirm away and join your pack of rats, writing a verbal will take me too long.”

I didn't need to be told twice, the creeps, the fear, I didn't want to think about it anymore, so I started going. That's when, as I left, I heard his last goodbye.

“Don't lose that instinct my boy, make sure to keep my miserable life entertained for a long time Pesté”

I hadn't given them my real name, yet there it came, out from the lips of that man. The way he said, made me want to vomit. I headed straight back to the dorms. I spotted some of the other outskirt kids looking around the areas we had access to, but I didn't want to go check that out. I entered back into the dorms and headed straight to the bed lying down. I stared a few minutes at the wooden plates that held the bed above me when a white haired head peaked out from the side.

“You promised you'd tell me your name”

Ah right, I told Vicky I'd let her know when I came back. I thought of finding another excuse to avoid talking to her, but her pouting face made me think this might be a good opportunity to take my mind off what just happened. But damn, she really looked way younger than 16, perhaps it was her height, or her attitude, but she definitely didn't feel of age. I looked up at her and dryly answered her question.

“Pesté”

“What a shit name, your parents must've really hated you.”

Somehow her tone reminded me somewhat of Roberto. I was slightly endeered by it, so my tone slightly softened up.

“I never met my dad, and my mom always called me a pest. The “é” came after she left for the military. Felt like an act of rebellion against her at the time. Not like she ever knew of this act.”

As the conversation went on I slightly reevaluated the girl. She still had a slightly annoying attitude to herself, but I understood it better. I learned that she came from Oasi. It is a planet in the Aurelia star system, the closest of the 3 frontier star systems discovered by humanity. Civilization in this planet was even more recent then the Colonial City in New Horizons since their planet is just one massive desert with extreme heats and unlike home, it wasn't military strategic nor did it have important mines. We were the closest port to Octavia, that planet was nothing on the other hand, until 50 years ago a large oasis was found on the equator line of the planet. She told me that the beauty was so big that humanity got to work to turn it into a tourist paradise. The only way for the rich of Terra and other Sol planets to enjoy the ‘wilderness’ of the frontiers of humanity without the depression that comes with the actual use of these lands.

Her parents immigrated as part of the service crew for the new planet’s tourist resort, but the promises weren't lived up to. Upon arrival, passports were retrieved and effectively the migrant workers were forced to depend on the company that owned the newly minted tourist resort. She was born there, but her time with her parents was short lived. They ultimately died from causes she refused to specify and was given the choice between military and servitude. She took the former and when she hit 16 she was thrown into a ship and here she was. I'm sure she glanced over many details and refused to specify further how she and the migrant workers were treated there, but all she discussed was the lavish lifestyle of the tourists that passed by.

Our conversation ended up getting cut out by Ralf. He insisted we were making too much noise and that the day was getting late, reluctantly she stopped talking and I let my curiosity rest. I never thought I would have cared of the functioning of other planets, but hearing about it just reminded me of Roberto, and I knew he would've loved listening to Vicky, so grabbing onto his dog tag I decided to discover more about our world, to tell him the stories if I met him in an afterlife. I didn't believe in one, but better ready than not if it does exist. Roberto would be extremely disappointed if I had no stories to tell. With these thoughts, I slowly drifted to sleep. The day had been long, even if I didn't do much, but as we were the last batch, tomorrow the 6 months training period would officially begin.