Ch 7 (E)
Lucas and Allison stood in the doorway listening to Sam's receding footsteps echo down the hall.
"Well, that's that…" A long sigh escaped his lips, Lucas felt defeated. He was usually very keen about his personal spaces and had luckily managed to skate by without having a roommate during his stay at premilitary school, using the pretext of a wheelchair.
A loud beeping sounded over the intercom.
"Hello, recruits! As of now, all expected personnel have made it on base. New students will have the remainder of the hour to get familiar with academy 0's halls before curfew at 8 PM."
"Tomorrow will be orientation day, be prepared. Good night" the sound of a phone being hung up resonated through the speakers as silence once again befell the academy.
"I'm going to explore while we still have daylight left. I'll try to find our classes for tomorrow too," Allison left Lucas to lean in the doorway.
She didn't seem to care that they were now permanent roommates. 'She's probably just hiding it to hold up appearances' Lucas thought.
"Be back in about an hour" Allison waved as she fast walked down the hallway in the direction Sam had gone.
'How the hell did I get myself into this' Lucas then decided to make his way over to his bunk bed.
His steps were wobbly but steadily improving from how they used to be. He could also tell that the amount of force on his legs was reduced tenfold.
Sitting down and taking off his bag, hanging it on a stub protruding from the hastily made metal bunk bed, He realized how difficult the coming days would be when he didn't even know what his powers were.
Lucas fiddled with his new 'legs' for the better half of an hour trying to get the tightly fitted appliance detached from his lower body.
Finally resting it against the lower bunk bed.
By the time he was finished, it was already 8'o clock PM. The sun was setting earlier and earlier indicated the coming of fall.
The rock window directly adjacent to his room's open door leaked an amber light, occasionally flickering when someone passed.
Lucas started exploring his new digital school id's glossary and syllabus, waiting for Allison to return.
…
Hearing a quiet knock on the door Lucas looked up from his tablet, seeing Allison he sat up using his arms, placing his id on the bedside table.
She was unhappy, defeat plastered over her face.
"Did you try to find Sam to negotiate separate rooms?" Lucas could easily tell that she had talked to Sam in hopes of reaching a compromise.
"No!" Allison looked down clearly flustered "I was just looking for our classrooms…"
"You know you said we needed to work together as a team, lying isn't a good start" Lucas reasoned.
"Fine! I did. You don't know how embarrassing it is to share a room with someone I barely know!" Allison took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry, I have just been a little stressed since. what happened on the flight" she had a look on her face Lucas had never seen before.
"It's alright. I would have done the same thing if I could have" Lucas repositioned himself on the bed. "Night".
Allison pressed the button on the wall closing the sliding door.
"Night" Allison climbed up the squeaking ladder and settled into bed.
The end of the first day was drawing near, and the perspective of both recruits had already begun to change.
Lucas's eyelids became heavy as he slipped into warm darkness.
----------
Lucas woke up to the familiar sound of a bugle sound off, he had heard it every day for the past four years, it was nothing new.
"GOOD morning! Zero's!" the voice over the intercom was radiating energy.
"You are all expected to meet in hangar three at 0600. See you then!" the happy feminine voice quickly ceased broadcasting after the announcement.
Lucas groaned; he rubbed his wet cheek free of the saliva that accumulated from the awkward sleeping position he found himself in.
He heard steps on the ladder as he saw Allison descend already dressed in her new green camo uniform.
She looked through the gaps of the ladder at Lucas, still in his clothes from yesterday.
"Better get up, we have ten minutes until we need to leave" she repositioned his exoskeleton as she went for the door "I'll be waiting outside".
Lucas quickly changed his shirt as soon as she left. He took off his pants and slipped into the conveniently positioned exoskeleton already in the standing position.
He had spent so much time taking off the piece yesterday that he had grown accustomed to removing and attaching it relatively fast.
Minutes passed as Lucas shimmied into his new pants along with black combat boots.
Standing up for the first time today made him feel relieved that the suit fit and felt better than yesterday because it was underneath his clothing this time.
Awkwardly walking to the bathroom and freshening up he was finally ready for the day.
Lucas was both nervous and excited, he had been given the chance to rebrand himself anew, avoiding all the unnecessary hassle that used to come with daily school life.
Walking out of the door he recoiled as he almost fell over due to the sheer number of students in the tight hallway. Compared to yesterday it was as if flood gates had opened releasing an ocean of strangely quiet people.
Allison was hugging the wall directly to the left of the door. She looked Lucas up and down making sure his uniform was perfect in every aspect. Lucas wasn't oblivious to her micromanaging.
"Ready?" Her attitude had slightly changed to be more commanding as she was leaning towards a more battle-hardened recruit type. She had subtly changed her mannerisms to fit into her new environment best.
"Yea let's stick close I don't want to get run over and lost. You lead the way" Although Lucas was slightly below average height at his old school when compared to the students in the hall, he was very short…
Even Allison was a few inches taller than him.
As they entered the flow of traffic Lucas had to keep himself from tumbling over because of how difficult it was to walk along with the hall being packed like a can of sardines.
Allison had managed to explore a large part of the campus during her escapade yesterday and came to realize just how truly large this facility was.
While she had managed to find hanger three it wasn't until half an hour after leaving the room.
To say the least, she was glad she had familiarized herself with the layout beforehand.
She was currently trying to maintain a sort of ice-breaker formation for Lucas so he could have a little space to get used to walking unassisted.
As the time passed, the stream of green recruits passed multiple bulkheads and hallways containing everything from training rooms, shops, and armories. The environment reminded Lucas of a miniature city, some hallways even having multiple stories.
Finally, they made their way through a large rectangular door opening to a hangar slightly smaller than the one they had arrived in yesterday.
Once again, the edges of the room housed hexagonal hangers holding advanced fighter aircraft and helicopters. While at the center of the room was a large black platform, six rows of students stood far enough away to allow another six rows between them and the stage.
Lucas could tell these people had already been here for a year, the authority and discipline they showed radiated out, demanding respect.
The stream of new students began to make their way to the front, directly forming their own rows.
Allison and Lucas managed to get a spot in the front row extremely close to the stage.
Taking tips from their upperclassman they all ended up in parade rest, some students better than others.
The front six rows and the back six were like night and day. Some students in the front barely knew the proper way to wear their new academy zero uniforms while the back row was the pure definition of perfect.
As everyone stood there not daring to make a sound out of fear of repercussion the overhead lights above the black stage lit up revealing a tall woman no older than the age of thirty.
Her hair was the color of snow on the tip of a mountain, her eyes as orange as the pit of a volcano.
"I have said this already, But Good morning!" Matching the voice on the intercom she spoke as if she wasn't the commander of the entire base while simultaneously being the most terrifyingly powerful person present.
Her gaze scanned the crowd, whomever was unlucky enough for it to land on tensed up for a second wondering if they had done anything wrong.
The pure orange eyes landed on Lucas, lingering on him for longer than the others.
Although it was only a few seconds Lucas damn near started sweating! Feeling stressed Lucas relaxed into his legs, almost treating them as a seat.
Suddenly taking a serious tone she uttered, "The days of your half-assed military school life are over. Training here will be rigorous; our goal will be to make you sweat enough in training as to bleed less in battle. Or was it… no. anyways you all know the saying"
"This isn't the time for games. This is no longer your average military school or academic experience." She takes a breath as if pausing for dramatic effect.
"We are currently positioned in the western part of Alaska, AKA the front lines" Her eyes shone orange reflecting the bright lights above her.
"Meaning we have combat missions as well as active battlefield situations integrated into our curriculum, they don't call us the most successful academy for no reason"
"The stakes are high but the experience you will receive here is unlike any other. I have seen recruits like you either triumph or die trying" Her face reflected a tinge of sadness.
"Your homeroom teachers' goals today will be to help you understand what we will REALLY do here. Along with some history lessons about this secretive world," She emphasized.
"Today's orientation is relatively minuscule because this year we will be relying more on personal mentors I.E the people who recruited you here to properly explain everything I usually would" She nodded in the direction of a side column of older military personnel.
Lucas could see Sam in the formation.
"Anyways, bleh… I get so tired of the serious stuff" she rubbed her temple in frustration. "Oh! I almost forgot. Hehe. You can call me commander Eclipse" saying this she made peace signs with her hands and put them on the sides of her cheeks like one of those old anime characters.
'She is really… weird' Lucas thought to himself as the entire room stared at her as she held this pose for a solid ten seconds.
"Tough crowd this year I see. Well, That's enough of that. You are all dismissed to find your homerooms and attend your first day of class. Good luck recruits!" her aura was both terrifying yet goofy. Lucas had no idea how she could maintain authority if it wasn't for her raw power.
Students started to file out of the hangar.
"Oh, by the way, if you aren't in your class in the next five minutes you will lose points. Hehe," she walked off stage after projecting her voice one last time.
The students started to panic and pick up the pace because nobody wanted to lose points.
Amidst the chaos of leaving students attempting to get to class on time for their first day.
Lucas felt a knee hit his stomach causing him to keel over onto the ground. Landing his face directly into the cold cement. Landing hard enough to create a large bump on his forehead.
He heard the snicker of a few boys as they blended into the crowd. Lucas gasped for air as he had the wind knocked out of him.
'This will be the start of a fun year…' Lucas, still struggling to stand back up while students kept bumping into his proportionally small frame attempted to locate Allison. But to no avail.
Allison, caught up in her mission to solidify her position at the new school and completely forgot about her battle buddy, eventually leaving the hangar without Lucas.
Struggling to steel himself, precious time had slipped through his fingers. Now in a hangar sparsely filled with mechanics and loaders, the platform once in the middle of the room had reintegrated itself with the floor.
Eventually recovering from his stupor, he collected himself before half-Walking half-Skipping his way out of the hangar.
He hadn't had the chance to master the art of jogging yet, therefore he compromised with a very bizarre motion.
Lucas recalled his homeroom being in room 2A because of the Id syllabus he had read. making his way down the empty halls keeping an eye on the room numbers.
Finally turning the corner to his homeroom class, he realized something right as he opened the door barging in.
He was late.