We had our recruits all together in a giant assembly and informed them if their name was called to come forward. We had given the squad leaders a list to call the names of their particular group to have things go quickly. We were done with the names on the list in less than half an hour. We dismissed the rest to go about their regular days as normal.
We stood in front of about three thousand recruits, many faces were curious as to why they were here. Others like Lily, Suites, Futere and a few others knew why they were here and looked eager to get started. We explained what was going to happen and what was expected.
"If you fail this first part, you may go back to your normal groups. If you pass... then we'll see you at the end. We are not looking for the fastest, but it doesn't hurt to have something to brag about later when your muscles are going to be sore!" John yells out through his megaphone.
"When you hear the whistle blow, you are to separate into groups of thirty!"
*whistle*
We see everyone run about to gather into groups of thirty.
"This is your group, you will be given a group number and a day. That day you will be here to start the test at six in the morning."
He nodded to the aides and they all went forward and handed a clipboard to each group that had a day and number on them as they signed their names again. They had to take a large sticker with their group number and the number on the line they signed and stick it on their back to be identified throughout the course today. The rest would get their stickers later.
"Team numbers one through one through twenty will stay today and we will see teams 21-40 tomorrow! Remember your team number and day! You do not get a second chance!"
The teams that stayed stood ready while the rest left to go join the normal squads. When the field had only teams 1-20, I took over.
"Team one, team two, three, four and team five! When the whistle is blown you will run following the orange arrows around the grounds. There is to be no intentional tripping, remember first place is not what we are looking for! Now see you at the end!"
*Whistle*
They scampered off following the orange arrows, we had aides being lookouts to take note of who did what, if their was any camaraderie or foul moves made. after fifteen minutes we had teams six, seven, eight, nine, and ten, and continued on until to finish out the hour. John and I headed to the obstacle course and waited to see who would be first.
From where we were we could see heads moving along the trail we had made, moving past windows in the buildings or jogging on terraces on different buildings, we could even see the balcony jump. There was no one there yet, but they should be soon enough.
"I'm going to snap over to jump, I wanna see what they make of it." I smile at John.
"Yeah go ahead honey, I'll be right here." He gives me quick kiss and I snap to it.
I can hear them panting and running as I look down over the ledge next to one of the aides who doing scouting.
"You can scare the pants off someone when you do that you know?" He jokes and grabs his heart.
"Sorry, keep your britches on. I just wanted to see what they make of this little addition." I say nonchalantly and pay attention as the sounds are getting louder. Soon the first person pops out and stops.
"Hey there is a jump guys!" He yells behind at the crowd forming.
"What?!"
"We can't make that if more than two people jump at a time!"
"Okay. Then that's what we'll do. Start forming two lines!" The first guy yells out. He looks at how far the jump is and looks down.
"There's a safety net! It's a couple of feet wide! We should be good! Just two at a time!" He tells everyone lining up. I can hear grumbling from people but soon there are people jumping across in pairs. The first one helped time the next two jumpers and helped keep things orderly. There were a few who just barrelled past not caring and we took down their numbers.
I told them to make a note next to the one who got there first. I snapped back to the obstacle course and stood there with John informing him of what I just saw.
"You think they're going to enjoy tonight's little test?" John asked me.
"The escape rooms? Oh yes, I think the ones who make it out of them will enjoy them even more." I laugh.
We see the first of the teams running across the field. I look at my watch and see that it took about two hours for these first ones to show up, not bad. They look determined and worn out but that was the point. Pushing your endurance in all terrain styles.
Watching them do a few two foot tall hurdles, before having to climb over a five foot brick wall, run through some tires, up some stacked pallets to a ladder made into monkey bars or bridge across two 10 foot walls. If you monkey across, it's a belly crawl under wire to get to the rope ladder climb.
If you took it as a bridge you have to swing across to the platform for the rope ladder climb. The rope ladder ended on a platform to the fireman pole before an inclined run to a jump whose platform was ninety degrees off from that incline. Once you made the jump, you'd slide down in front of us. Water was ready for those who would need it.
Those who fell along the way would be taken by the aides to get water and sent off to their normal squads. The first person to make it through was ecstatic, jumping, even though they were dripping sweat and tired. John handed them a cup of water and told them to sit and relax as he took the sticker number down.
When all had made it who were going to, we had a little more than half of those teams. It was to be expected though, even though we told them the fastest was not what we were looking for too many thought of it as a race. The ones who made it through were told to show up tonight at nine for the next part of the tests, over at the offices. Then we told them that was all for now they were relieved to go and rest.
We gathered the aides and went back to the offices to go through the names of the ones who had made it. We called out each one and if someone had a note made they were either kept or put on the dismissed list.
"So what happened to the guy who was able to get the jump lines organized?" I asked realizing that no one said anything about him.
"Ma'am, he tripped on the obstacle course and fell, disqualified." One of the aides spoke up.
"Send him an invitation to join tonight. In fact, were their any others who showed promise but were disqualified from a trip, slip, etc?" I ask looking around.
We got some more names and I had them send an invite to them as well. We'd be dismissing some who had made it all the way through due to UN-sportsman like conduct. We had whittled the twenty teams of thirty, six hundred to start, down to three hundred and thirty four. Now our numbers were down to one hundred and ninety-seven going on to the next stage. Plus the twelve others we thought deserved to move forward. We knew that the numbers would go down further tomorrow morning too.
I gave John a look at the numbers and if we only kept a third of each days recruits, our numbers would be low in force.
"Numbers only matter to an extent, they'll still be fierce." He returns my look and I agree with a slight nod.
Later that night we were at the offices with ones who were to going on to the next stage.
"I hope you got a decent rest in, you'll be needing your minds for this next test. We will be calling out your number you used from earlier, if you hear your number come forward to be directed to your room number. These rooms will be your tests, to defeat the room using the clues inside to do whatever it is that is needed. I suggest you try to work as a team to do this. We will be watching you and before we call out your name for rooms I need some people to come forward."
We rattled off the numbers and told them they were dismissed for whatever reason was stated. Some got pissed and stomped off, others didn't seem to care. One in particular just asked, 'why? don't you want someone who's willing to do whatever is needed to win this war?'
To that we agreed, but informed them that it was not to be at the cost of their team members. It was one thing for someone to sacrifice, another to be forced to fail by your team members. When you can't trust your team members to have your back in life or death situations, you would be doomed to fail.
Once everyone had been put into their assigned room, the doors were locked and we sat back and watched. Each room was different with lots of different clues all around, hidden messages, secret compartments, cypher's, and lots of useless things too. The puzzles and hidden items were my favorite ones because so many where right in front of their face, most were going to overlook them.
However, these could each be solved several different ways. When they found what was needed they would be let out to go to their places to sleep. If they still were trying to figure it out when we unlocked the doors at five in the morning they'd be combed through to see who did what and how they worked together.
Once everything was set up and they had started, John and I snapped back to our compound and visited Elena. Cass was there with her sleeping in the chair next to her. She set down the book she was reading and waved us over.
"Ciao, how is everything going?" Elena whispered to us after we gave her a quick little hug.
"It's going, out of the six hundred this morning only a third of that made it to the next test, so we will see if we will end up with a decent regiment. How about you?" John asked her quietly.
"We're alright, they won't let me get out of bed, so they gave me a stupid catheter, but every hour one of the nurses comes by and massages my legs and feet. They only do it for a few minutes to make sure they're not swelling and ensure the blood flow. Other than that, everything is okay. Bored and restless maybe, but okay."
She looks at Cass who's still sleeping soundly, snoring lightly with his head tilted back on the edge of the chair.
"How about them?" I nod towards Cass's sleeping form wondering if I should ask them for a cot for him.
Elena gazes at Cass sadly, turning to us she attempts a brave face.
"They're tired. Stressed out and tired. With the meeting between his father and the country leaders getting closer, he's become even more stressed. This little scare didn't help the situation either."
She rubs her stomach, looking guilty.
"Is he still having trouble getting them to show up?" I ask her, I know the last meeting he had with some of the leaders went well enough. They were not happy about the snap to a different location but after the facts, they agreed to sign the oath.
"Yes, the majority of the ones who are unsure of how to handle things diplomatically, are asking for the meeting after the one with the Erl-king." She informs us.
"Well... what is wrong with that?" John asks.
Elena sighs, weight crosses her face and shoulders as she tells us.
"Thietian and his family believe that anyone who goes to the meeting with the Erl-king will not be allowed to leave alive unless they sign a contract with him."