Mark was currently waiting in a long queue, because apparently even in the apocalypse bureaucratic process was going strong.
Ava was standing next to him waiting with Mark.
When they had passed through the thick wall of stone. Their group had arrived to the sound of gentle applause.
Mark was confused at first, but quickly realized the applause was for Sam and Jonathan. They were returning victorious from whatever mission they had been on and both the soldiers and civilians seemed relieved to see them.
Mark couldn't blame them he had seen their strength first hand and they lived up to the hype. Who wouldn't want strong allies near them when the end of the world was here?
Davis and Ava had greeted them when they had arrived having gotten there an hour before. They had already delivered the family and two of them had come to wait atop the wall for their arrival.
In a hive of activity Sam and Jonathan had been led away for debriefing, but not before telling Mark they’d find him when they had the chance. Apparently, they had a lot to talk about.
Mark reminded Jonathan to do so at the very least as he was still hurt badly.
Sergeant Davis and Ava had remained after everyone had dispersed. Davis had thanked Mark once more. Mark chose that moment to ask how he would go about finding missing persons. Davis had said one could look for lost persons as soon as they had done their intake. Then he had assigned Ava to help get Mark settled, Mark had said it wasn't necessary but Davis had insisted, saying it would make things easier on him.
So here Mark waited in a simple tent. The whole camp itself was made of makeshift canvas shelters. There were different sections, such as the soldier’s quarters and civilian resting tents. The mess hall and a whole lot of other sections that Mark had not had time to explore yet.
The queue moved quickly and soon enough Ava pointed him to an open slot and stood behind him. A woman sat at a makeshift desk with a computer in front of her.
Mark sat in the foldout chair. Boe came and sat down too, leaning against his leg.
“Hello and welcome to Prospect Park, we are glad you got here safe. My name is Jess,” she said.
If she was bothered by the guard behind him she didn't show it.
“Hi Jess, I was told I could check here if my friends made it to the camp?” Mark asked.
Jess looked like she had heard this all a million times before, but her business smile never left her face.
“So first we’ll do your intake and then I’ll send you to one of my colleagues who will check for you. The intake is not optional before you ask, it’s how we find your friends. Your name is added to the database and then we can see if anyone matching your friend's description is here. So I’m just going to ask you a few questions please answer honestly for your loved one's sake” Jess said in a practiced tone she had probably used at least a hundred times today.
She then began asking him simple questions such as his name, age, eye color, and many more. Mark went along with her until she came to the last ones.
“Alright. Now, the next few will be focused on your system status. We understand your right to privacy and we won't force you to reveal anything, but the more accurate measure of your strength we can get, the better we can place you. On top of that, it helps get you better jobs, which I’ll explain in a moment” She said, winking.
Mark wasn't going to go spreading his attribute distribution around, but he didn’t mind them knowing he was a healer.
“Right, I’m going to state a range you tell me if your level is equal to or higher. I will warn you not to say a level higher than you are or you may be placed in a job that's too dangerous for your level. one to four,” she said.
When Mark heard this he understood this was their way of approximating people's strength without demanding their level outright. People would then be able to choose how much information they were willing to give away if any at all.
They subtly made it known that the higher your strength the better your job would be. Although he wasn't sure what that meant yet.
Mark was currently level 17 he decided he wouldn’t reveal all his levels but he wanted them to know he at least had some power to help.
So he simply nodded to Jess, indicating he was over level four.
She smiled and started writing something on her computer again. Offhandedly she said.
“Five to seven”
The scale had changed, but it was still on the low end.
So Mark nodded once more.
Her fingers froze and she looked back up at him.
Unsure if she had seen him while she had been looking down he nodded once more.
She pursed her lips and said slowly.
“Eight to ten”
Mark nodded.
Now she was staring at him. Almost as if she was struggling to believe him, but at the same time, she never called him out on it.
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The look in her eyes was telling him she was taking him seriously.
Like she knew he was telling the truth.
Mark then realized that she must have some kind of lie-detection skill like Sam.
It would only make sense, that someone in this position has one. She could vet the people that gave false information.
However, in his case, it didn't matter to him, he simply waited to ask the next question.
“Eleven to twelve,”
She said while watching him like a hawk.
He nodded.
She was looking at him now like she was scared to ask the next range, but her military mask dropped in place and she said confidently. Mark could feel Ava staring daggers into his back.
“Thirteen” was all she said.
he nodded.
"Fourteen" the word sounded out.
Mark realized he had hit a comfortable range and was content to stop there.
However, there was a problem.
See. it didn't matter what he answered here if she had a lie-detector skill as he thought.
If he said yes she would confirm it and if he said no she would be able to tell he was lying.
Either way, she got more information than he wanted her to have. He might be able to cast [Shape Mana] to block the effect, but she was sitting right across from him and would probably notice it going up.
So he chose the next best option.
He simply sat there and said nothing.
She looked at him waiting for a response but when none was forthcoming she sighed and moved on to the next question.
Remaining silent did clue her into the fact that he knew she was using a truth skill. But it couldn’t be helped.
“Right, what is your main stat?” she asked.
“Prana, I'm a healer,” Mark said
“Non-combatant caster,” she said as she typed away on her computer.
“No, I can fight,” he said.
She paused again her eyes flickering over to Ava for a second. Mark realized why Davis had sent Ava with him.
“Hm, right well, I’ve got everything I need. Now jobs. Here everyone is given a task to earn Sp for themselves. One can also take side jobs while not on shift for extra Sp. The ones I can offer you are Medical tent, Kitchen hand, Taskforce… and Day-wall” Jess seemed hesitant on the last one.
“He wants the wall,” Ava said.
Jess stopped looking mildly annoyed but nodded and continued her explanation.
“I was going to recommend the Medical tent, as the pay is good and we really need the healers right now. However, if you are interested Day-wall is where people man the wall and kill anything approaching. It a dangerous job and one needs to know how to fight but the amount of exp points you can get on there is pretty high and the pay is not bad. ” she said smiling.
Ava seem to think it was in his best interest, but he wanted to check the medical tent out and see if he help there.
“Can I do both?” he asked.
Ava snickered. While Jess just pouted her lips.
“Um, unfortunately not, both run at around the same time and I’m not messing with the shift times”
Now it was Ava’s turn to frown.
“Hey, it’s your choice at the end of the day,” she said.
“Well, what about the wall at night?” Mark asked. It seemed a simple fix. He could work in the medical tent by day and the wall by night. He didn't need much sleep anymore apparently.
Both of the women frowned at this.
“Civi’s aren't allowed on the wall at night, except under extreme circumstances. That's half the reason we have civi’s on the wall in the day to let the soldiers rest up for the night raids”
“I can get him clearance if he wants to do that” Ava smiled.
“Listen, I don't know how strong you are, but the wall at night is a completely different story. Even if your friend here can get you clearance I wouldn't recommend it” Jess said.
Mark thought on it for a moment. Jess seemed genuine in her warning but Mark wanted to continue growing and Ava was trying to give him the best path forward.
“I’ll do the medical tent and Night-wall” Mark said, sure of his decision.
Jess sighed in defeat and began typing on her keyboard once more.
“The medical tent hours start at 0800 hours and pay is 10Sp per day. You’ll start tomorrow morning. If your friend here can get you authorization you can be on the wall tonight. It starts at 1900 hours, pay is 5 Sp per day. You will be bunking in the civi’s lodging. Your bunk is number 35, tent 27.”
Mark could see they were trying to enforce some form of routine on the people here. Probably for the best. Keep them calm and working.
“Alright Mark, that's everything. You can exit through there and find my colleagues to assist you,” she said smiling.
Mark got up and thanked Jess.
He didn't see her listing his profile as a tier 1 resource along with the words on the screen that read "Possible candidate for a Security and Augmented Guidance Enforcer. " Flagged for Major D.K and Major G.L
Arriving in the next tent they could see even more people here, a huge corkboard was set up against one of the walls plastered with missing posters of lost loved ones.
Several civilian workers sat behind makeshift counters assisting everyone to locate their family and friends. Probably one of the jobs Jess had spoken about. Mark went forward to one of the empty booths.
“Hi, I’m looking to see if any of my friends had gotten in yet,” he asked.
“Names.” a grumpy man said with bags under his eyes.
“Danphne Colt and Donovan Nox,” he said. Reasoning that if he could find those two he could find the rest.
The man tapped his keys and after about thirty seconds he looked back up and said.
“No one by those names has come in the intake yet,” he said.
Mark curse inwardly.
“Well what about Ethel or Grace,” he said giving him their full names.
The man searched with a sigh but neither came up. Mark was frustrated, they should have been here by now. He had spent a whole extra day running.
He took a breath something must have held them up, he’d have to be patient. In the meantime, he tried another name.
“Um, Andy, I don't know his surname, but he’s probably about eighteen,” Mark said.
The man frowned and started to say.
“Look I can’t waste-”
Ava cleared her throat and scowled at him. He paused as if spotting her for the first time. His eyes widened and he quickly started typing on his computer. It took much longer this time but eventually, he said.
“Yes, it looks like someone matching that description came in recently, here I printed it out for you to check,” the man said, tearing off a small slip of paper and quickly handing it to him.
The slip read. “Bunk 12 tent 23”
Mark nodded to the man and the man gave Ava a salute.
They walked out of the tent into the late morning sun.
“What was that all about?” Mark asked
Ava shrugged.
“Perks of the job.”
Mark now noticed her uniform was slightly different from other passing soldiers.
“Listen I need to get your recommendation from Davis, will you be okay from here on out?” she asked.
Mark watched the bustle of, activity around him. People were moving from place to place. Passing messages. Fixing damaged tents. Performing maintenance on guns and reloading mags. Everywhere he looked people were hard at work. It was a stark contrast to the dead and lonely streets out there.
Mark nodded.
“Yeah, I think I’ll find my way”