Time boarded the earliest flight and flew by. Weeks elapsed, and Vin, in all his intrepid glory, prepared his goodbyes.
It was a joyous occasion. On an ideal Sunday morning, he stood on the walkway outside the hospital. At the same time, the institution's staff congratulated him on his discharge and wished him good luck on his travels.
He was still acclimating to life but deemed stable enough to achieve liberation from the wards suppressing supervision.
While Vin wished his sister was there to celebrate with them, he felt blessed to have not been alone. He sincerely thanked everyone, which triggered Soap's oh-so-sensitive weeping gland.
"D-Don't forget to call," he stammered, hugging Vin and drunkenly petting Miyo, who feigned docility. His grip was wrinkling an unfairly expensive uniform, so Vin brushed him aside and tided his pearly shirt and red tie.
By some strange coincidence, he was once again aligned with the Dragon's Faction of SU. He hoped the second time around, he could gain some insight into the meaning of the universities divisions.
Public transport honked, which fast-forwarded their detachment. Vin smiled, stuck Soap in the spleen, then stepped back toward the vehicle, "Cya around," he said clearly.
The sniveling man maintained a steady goodbye wave while Vin retreated. "Be careful, and make sure you read everything they give you. Ask questions if you don't understand the paperwork, don't hesitate to walk away if it's ridiculous or you're confused, and y-"
"I got it," interrupted Vin. He dipped into a cab, closed the door, and confidently looked onward. Life, his journey, was finally in gear.
...
He was asleep ten minutes later.
Yea, the driver woke him when they arrived at the airport, and Vin groaned and sluggishly boarded the plane. Of course, he fell asleep during the fight too.
Even though he'd more or less recuperated, he still slept at irregular hours and for drawn-out periods. It was fine while at the hospital, but he needed to adjust to waking up for morning courses.
Once the flight landed on the island, Miyo pecked him awake, and he unboarded. Oddly, the airport wasn't crowded despite being one day before classes.
Vin found it difficult not to cite the discrepancies between his first experience and then. The terminal and pick-up zone's appearance was much more futuristic than he'd dreamed. Hovering lights lit the way to each site, and most of the walls were affixed with digital screens.
As he steered, his head bobbed and zigzagged while rubbernecking at unfamiliar knickknacks and innovations. While walking carelessly, Vin bumped into what he assumed was an employee. However, their shoulder dissipated into bubbles of digital light, and a human-like hologram apologized and offered him assistance.
Dismayed, Vin surveyed the construct for minutes. Poking its devoided body and conversing with it about everything except its primary function. Local burger joints, skate parks, and upcoming events, he persisted until the artificial intelligence exhausted him with a lengthy breakdown of the weather.
Machine or not, he felt it'd be rude to flee after initiating its response, so he endured. It covered the conditions for all four distinct regions, reminding him of how extraordinary the island was. While he was comfortable there, it was freezing and snowing far north of the land mass. The east was always blessed with a beautiful Spring; the south bore Autumn, or 'sweater weather.' Meanwhile, the west coast was experiencing an eternal summer.
Immediately after the weather report, Vin thanked the apparatus and withdrew to his original undertaking. He hailed a taxi, entered, then was asked upfront for compensation. God only knows how many new visitors forgot about the island's unique currency and ended up looking like clowns once it was time to cough up the dough.
Vin received the boot but didn't fret over his transition of travel. He welcomed the opportunity to exercise while simultaneously scouring the district.
Notwithstanding his infatuation with the new world, he managed to arrive at the university within an hour.
He was surprised at how parallel the campus was to his dream. A map exhibited the diamond-shaped camps. The leftmost point was colored yellow, the top red, and the right was blue. The bottom-most point, where he entered, was colorless and housed most administrative facilities.
Even without the legend, he recalled that each point on the map was a 'zone,' and each faction had its own designated shops and classes. He hadn't followed the school's broadcasted events, so he still knew little about the significance of said divisions.
Unlike his first campus visit, he had to visit an admin building and settle some paperwork before becoming an official student.
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The day had freshly awakened, but only a few equally as piqued students were herding to the same structure. Signage led the hand full of scholars through the seasonal colored campus to an office building where he was separated from the pack and taken to a secluded room.
A simple chamber with pale orange walls, a medical bed, and a wide desk with a single folder lying flat. Vin didn't wait long before an annoyed, baggy-eyed man entered and sat in a wheeled chair near the table. He opened the file, glanced at a document, and then glided to Vin.
"We must be getting desperate," he said, reflecting over the paper. "I was a big fan of your father, Gavin Senior."
"I don't get paid enough to be cordial to the marketing team's projects, so I'll get straight to the point."
"Marketing's project?" Vin pushed off the bed, stood firmly, and glared down at the man in the chair. His lavender gaze was risky, seemingly daring the worker to 'act up.'
The fatigued man cleared his throat, scooched back, then adverted his sight toward the file. "Y-yea," he stuttered.
"Viewership has been declining lately; not everyone cares to watch the events, so marketing had the idea to incorporate a 'real life' segment. It's supposed to capture the social lives of student stars and their hardships."
"Marketing handles all the sob stories; I'm just here to get the paperwork signed and install the ch-" He jammed, slammed the folder closed, then resumed. "If you don't like it, you're welcome to leave."
Vin squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I didn't come here. To be on. A reality TV show."
The man's brow raised, and he detected Vin's peculiar sentence structure. "Why the sudden change of cadence?" He asked.
"Stress," Vin frankly explained.
"How curious," commented the staffer, reviewing more of the document. "There's a considerable gap on your file. What were you doing before coming here?"
Still somber from the negative news, Vin deadpanned toward the man and consciously answered, "A government spy."
Following a rigid cackle, the stranger anxiously drummed their foot on the floor. "F-funny," he mumbled.
"From what I've heard, you'll be able to attend like a regular student, minus some chafing interviews and camera time."
Slightly irked, Vin inflated and stomped his foot on the center of the man's chair, narrowly missing his genitals.
"I'll only go on air. When I'm ready," snarled Vin. He kicked the chair, and the man rolled away while being bid to retrieve the required paperwork.
The legal documents were promptly brought to his attention, and Vin skimmed them carefully. Yes, as thoroughly as achievable.
"I don't know what half of this means."
"Soap explained some of the contexts behind these forms. It's essentially a way to prevent me from suing them if I'm hurt."
Comfortable with his rudimentary understanding of it, Vin began to sign away. As he did, the worker loosely narrated each page.
As expected, he was only allowed to bring his uniform and nanosphere into the university. The enrolment was deadlocked, and students couldn't leave the island until graduation.
Communication outside the country was up to their marketing team's discretion, and students could not broadcast or share any information about the school. It was all per the contract, and he would face jail time if he were to share any of the universities' secrets.
Vin's irresponsible and scratchy signature became more audible than the employee, who became timid as they neared the end.
"Oh, and uh," he whispered, basically mumbling as he peered at Vin's unexposed arms. He'd rolled up his sleeves to avoid getting pen ink on them but revealed his own hardcore ink.
"So, we, uh, utilize an experimental technology here. Just a simple brain implant that measures vitals and... It emits a shock that'll render an athlete unconscious once their HP reaches zero. Oh, and it'll amplify pain receptors during events..."
A startling crack sounded when Vin clenched and shattered the pen he used to sign. The wheeled chair jerked back, and the man raised his inadequate defense. He awaited something. But a moment later, Vin tossed a bundle of signed papers to the ground and settled on the table. "Hurry," he ordered.
Awestruck, the employee quickly bent over, gathered the documents, and confirmed they were completed. "Not a single complaint?" he questioned.
No, Vin wasn't disturbed by the terms because they implied that one needed to zero-out to be electrocuted.
In addition to the shock, he learned a person would be expelled from the university and island. No matter the circumstance, zero HP was considered death and was treated as such.
Also interesting. The staff had the same chip inside their heads. So, if they suffered enough damage, their health would drop, and they'd lose their job before being banished from the school.
Teachers, cooks, cash register attendants, the pigeon flying around shitting on the mint campus, everyone was subjected to these rules.
Vin was put under via gas mask and woke up after the insertion. A thin throbbing thundered in a narrow part of his head, parked just behind his left ear. He rubbed the sore spot, sat up, then inquired, "is that all?"
"That's it," replied the man, taking off a latex glove. "Your chip has a unique signature, so you'll be able to activate your nanosphere when needed."
A fact Vin wasn't previously aware of. Just about every country banned the use of nanotechnology without a permit. Yet, he was told every student on the campus could use it on a whim.
Both a phone and a digital watch were provided, and he noted his HP was active and set to 100 despite being out of combat.
Since the procedure was concluded, Vin rose and trudged out of the room. He thumped against the closest wall, exhaled, and veered toward the ceiling.
Far too quiet, he assumed all the rooms were thoroughly soundproofed. "I'm the first one out," he observed. "Maybe I should have taken more time to read..."
"Whatever."