“Ahhhh, that was a good snack.” Clara stretched her arms as she rested on her chair, taking in the cold air of the briefing room alongside Callan and Oliver.

Everyone lounged around in the empty room, accompanied by their thoughts. Some conversed with each other while others took the time to silently think to themselves, including Callan.

Callan looked at his empty clipboard, thinking of jotting random things down to distract his mind from what he had witnessed.

The other teams they went with were nowhere in sight, leaving the five operatives on their own.

Enzo and Hannah both discussed with one another, Marco cleaned his weapon while the woman continued using her interface.

Leaving Callan and the other two with nothing to do.

While looking blankly at his paper, he felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Me and Oliver thought of just walking around to waste time. Wanna come along?” Clara asked, eagerly awaiting an answer alongside Oliver.

“Yeah, sure.” Callan replied quickly, finding a new way to try distracting his mind.

Clara immediately stood up and rushed towards Hannah, briefly speaking to her before returning to the two.

“Hannah said it’ll be fine. Just don’t exit the tower.” She gestured to Callan and Oliver to follow her outside.

Exiting the room, they were immediately greeted to the bustling hallway with S operatives walking or lounging around, without a care in the world.

“Maybe the train area can be a good area to loiter on. It’s rather quiet compared to the other areas of this place. Come.” The two followed behind her, immediately walking into the tide of fast moving operatives, constantly being brushed by their capes.

Passing through other halls and rooms, the three managed to find their way back to the station.

“My my, thought I got us lost. Wonder why they have so many corridors.” Clara spoke.

The station was emptier than before, with fewer trains present.

Oliver looked around in relief.

“You were actually right, this place is pretty quaint.”

Soon, they walked on the stairs to the bridge above the station. The view to the city down below was heavily limited, but enough to get a clear picture of what lay there.

Callan felt relaxed, with little chatter being present, he took in the moment to relax. His ears no longer bombarded by rain or loud voices, only the sound of the trains as they enter or depart.

“I must say, the cramped but rather organized layout of this district is really interesting.” Oliver commented, his eyes gazing around at the large station and the city down below.

The three all leaned on the railing, relaxing in the moment.

Callan looked down at the city buildings. Although similar in appearance to the district in the other tower, it felt more lively, well lit with many people being seen walking around.

“The district is reminding me of my time back in the R tower district. So many machinery and appliances.” Clara remarked.

“Really? I always wanted to be stationed there, near the R division and all that.” Oliver responded.

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Callan was only focused on rewinding and staring off at the district.

“Say Callan, you have a district you always wanted to be stationed at?”

After a short deliberation, Callan decided to give a response.

“I guess just any middle district. But these edge districts are alright.”

“Oh, well the middle districts are pretty quiet. So it’s understandable. It’s just office workers and all that. Far from the forge workers and farmers like there.” Clara stared off at the city.

Callan joined in observing the city, the civilians walked around in dirty and torn clothing, carrying crates or tools. Many of which entered inside the many mine entrances. The buildings looked grimy and barely maintained, showing cracks. Portions were reinforced with sheets of metal, acting as hastily made repairs.

“I guess we’re fortunate to be raised in the middle and center right?” Oliver wondered, saddened by the state of the civilians.

“Yup, managed to join security and become an operative rather than toiling away for some iron or paying heavy taxes. And being at risk of being mutant food in a breach.” She laughed.

After talking, they returned to silently looking at the city down below. Callan noticed that some internal security guards were patrolling the area, their outfits being all too familiar to him.

The team returned to silence once more, ending the conversation and looking out to the bustling but somewhat depressing view.

“So, Callan. Do you have a choice for a division yet? The two looked at Callan, waiting for an answer.

“N-none yet.” He stuttered.

“Well you still got a long way anyway. We gotta accomplish the requirements to become specialists.”

“What are the requirements?” Callan asked.

“Just killing and surviving a good amount of missions, that’s pretty much it. I have my eyes set on the S division. Hope I impressed em in the mission earlier.” She responded, looking at the S operatives in the station.

“As for me, I prefer the R division. Always liked technology.” Oliver joined in.

Callan thought to himself, gaining more information.

‘So this is what I need to become a specialist…’ He thought to himself.

‘Just need to survive, and kill as many as possible while doing so…’

The three stayed for nearly an hour, completely relaxed with the calm environment they were in, taking in the fresh and oddly acrid air of the station.

Callan witnessed as the trains departed, disappearing in mere seconds as they traveled along the tracks to the other towers.

Their rest was interrupted as many S operatives began flooding into the station, bringing their conversations into the place.

“Well, i guess our time’s up now. Let’s head back.” The three made their way down the bridge, seeing many trains arriving into the station to load passengers.

Inside, the main room seemed to be less populated, no longer as cramped as before.

It took a few minutes to maneuver back to the briefing room, almost losing their way again.

The doors opened, allowing them to enter. Everyone turned their heads to see who had entered, quickly looking away to tend to their tasks.

Sitting back down, Clara began cleaning her blade, wiping it down with a cloth from her pocket. Oliver jotted something down on his clipboard, seemingly very concentrated on it.

“Hope we get another mission soon.” Clara said, harshly wiping her sword off of any blood that stained it. Her eyes turned to Callan, noticing him looking at her.

“Don't you have a cloth? Here.” She pulled a second cloth from her pocket, tossing it to Callan.

“A division prioritizes cleanliness as well as proficiency and protection.” She spoke to him, returning to her task of cleaning shortly after.

Callan scrubbed hard on the sword, wiping away the thick layer of viscous red that stained his blade, soaking the cloth quickly.

As time went on, Callan finished cleaning, and handed the cloth back to Clara.

“No, keep it. So you don’t have a dirty sword when coming back to the tower.” She explained.

“Thank you.” He responded. They continued resting in the quarters, awaiting for a new mission while tending to their tools and doing other tasks.