Long, curved corridors echoed with the clattering of faux-leather boots upon steel as the cadets rushed after the colonel. Three locks, each protected fingerprint sensors, blocked their way as they hopped over the small ledges the military had installed at doors to reduce the chance of crumpling. The pathway soon diverged, and diverged again, and again, until they would have been lost if they hadn't acted like ducklings following a mother hen; a funny image in Will's mind. Finally, they arrived at an actual, normal door.
"There's eight of you. Introduce yourselves now, then choose your Provisional Ensign."
[Isn't that too fast?!] Will's jaw nearly dropped at the down-to-business approach of an actual military. C(0)D hadn't trained him for this.
"Lacie Allarine. I'm thirteen, from Anverheim's World." The teacher's pet did a very slight bow, and a tress of dark brown hair fell over her face for a moment. He'd have been attracted, if it had been someone his age and not a lanky preteen.
"You're all thirteen and from Anverheim's World, cadets. Hurry it up." The sudden response made the girl pale, and the boy next to her smiled.
"James Bernhal," he introduced himself - a heavyset, rough-looking youth. [Not much of a leader type,] Will thought to himself, glancing at the cowed Lacie [Neither of them].
"Erin Ermine," declared the youth he'd bumped into previously.
[This b*tch,] Will frowned. He'd have to give her a wide berth if he didn't want to find hair in his pasta, or whatever it is people bully with in the distant future's child armies.
"Gerald Rivez. Hope we get along," smiled the next kid, who looked like he belonged in a Target commercial. In Will's experience, people that introduced themselves like that (and looked like that) were either very social or secret weirdos. He hoped it'd be the former.
"Carol Bell," was the next to introduce herself, an inexplicably tall girl with sunken eyes and a permanent frown. [Is it rude to judge children by their cover?] thought Will, wondering if she had height issues.
[Oh, it's my turn. Do I try hard on this, or do I-whatever. It doesn't really matter, these are just kids.]
"I'm Will, Will Franzen," smiled the gloomy youth for the first time since arriving on the station as he looked about his new peers. Gerald smiled back; Erin made a face, as if he looked like a druggie asking for...drugs. [This b*tch.]
"Annie Langles," the girl to his right introduced herself, of average appearance in literally all ways imaginable, except for her bright red hair. [What a sad existence. Wait...I feel like I've heard that last name before...] frowned Will, wracking his brain for the name that sounded like a reference.
"And I'm Jonathan Reiss," nodded the boy to Annie's right, who looked equally uninteresting, though slightly uglier. Was it his crooked nose? Or was one eye bigger than the other? Will couldn't tell.
"Right," nodded Colonel Anverheim, obviously satisfied by their incredibly brief introductions. They'd be living together for four years at minimum; there would be time for bonding later. "Now then. Which of you is going to be the Provisional Ensign?"
The cadets glanced between each other, Will included. For some reason, they were just glancing at him for a moment, though?
"I'll do it, if nobody else wants to," Gerald smiled, looking warmly at the others. [Cold and calculating...] noted Will, nodding.
"Very well," the colonel responded, not waiting for others to have a chance to put themselves on auction, before pulling a ring out of his pocket and tapping it. He spaced out for a moment - secret military tech? - before looking back at the group. "Go take your bunks. Boys right, girls left. Scan into your lockers. Your Provisional Ensign will be given a tablet with a map. You have twenty to settle in and find your way to Cardinal Facility's main deck."