Govero spoke out to the crowd once again, knocking on his chest with his fist twice, "Yes, you will all have the chance to transcend your feeble existences and be considered a "normal person" provided you have the correct number of merits.
He points to the wall behind him, as text slowly appears on the bright blue screen. The merit exchanges list goes as such:
100 Merits - D Ranked Bunker Citizen
50 Merits - F Ranked Bunker Citizen
25 Merits - Combat Armor
15 - Merits - Assault Rifle [Default] [Worn]
10 - Merits - Pistol [Default] [Worn]
7 - Merits - Healing Kit
5 - Merits - x10 Magazine Clips [Assault Rifle or Pistol]
2 - Merits - Bandage
After the screen scrolled through all the possible selections Govero spoke out once again.
"Additionally, food and rooms will be provided for free along with other items for aid, if you have any questions proceed to the Exploration assistance desk or your rooms in the right hallway… and Good Luck!"
***
Ashur watched him exit through the darkness the same way he came, and a deathly silence proliferated all over the room, he quickly gathered his wits and started exiting through left aisle, others following suite.
He approaches the help desk, luckily arriving before the line reached an unbearable distance. His legs were tired, but it was worth it just to know the whole situation.
The beautiful lady's eyes gaze into his as he approaches, how it was possible for such a woman to have such a piercing gaze eluded all reason.
"How many merits can be earned for missions?" He asks with a smile.
She smiles back, "It depends on the mission's final evaluation, usually the items retrieved,
Injury compensation, or the value of the discovery."
"I see, what about accepting missions, can we reject these?" He replied.
"Yes, you can reject missions but each time you reject a mission your merit count goes down depending on the severity and importance. Since you have no merits right now you must participate in the next mission."
"I understand."
With a frown on his face Ashur proceeded to the dorms area, knowing that he would most likely be next on the chopping block for exploration.
'Damn, what should I do?'
While thinking he eventually stumbled across the sign for the dormitory, as he wondered where his room was a small hexagonal shaped drone flew out and shot out a scanning beam at him and he felt tingly all over.
"SCAN COMPLETE, RESIDENT ASHUR PROCEED TO ROOM C-853."
'Guess that's convenient.'
He proceeded down the corridor till he found C Hall and managed to find his room after about 5 minutes of walking, gazing at his room the walls were made out of pure concrete, running his hands along the furniture, amounting to a bed, seat, and table, and finally smacking his hand across the bed mattress.
"Hm, this will do."
Although it's quite bare I have sufficient room to move around, if need be, though he was concerned about how he would keep himself entertained…
After a few minutes of pacing his room, he resigned himself to watching passing entrants cross his hallway, a few entering their rooms as well and getting adjusted, he began to take in details, the turret covers in the roof of the hallway, a reminder to keep them obedient. Occasionally drones would patrol as well, serving as guards and observers, The hallways are a dark concrete shade of gray, lighting limited with the occasional flicker bringing absolute darkness, though he had no complaints of sleeping in the dark.
Suddenly he hears a door that's about 5 spaces down open, curiously he peeks over and manages to see Joshua leave his room and enter the next corridor to the left, he sees other people going in the same direction and decides it would be safe.
He thinks to himself inwardly, "Better than staying here, at least walking is an improvement to doing nothing."
But Ashur knew the harms of curiosity, as he had learned before from his mistakes, he blends in with the crowd to avoid standing out.
He comes to the T-Intersection of the hallway and can now visibly see the signs on the hallway, Cafeteria, Bathrooms, Laundry, and Deployment. The two pairs each respectively in the corresponding direction.
He comes across another large area, the ceiling quite far off the ground. Ashur had never seen such an articulate place before that he was still quite amazed at the cleanliness of it all. While taking it all in he was suddenly nudged from behind.
"Hurry up, will you, you're holding up the line!"
He snaps to his senses.
"Ah yes, sorry!"
He quickly moves along the fenced line to receive his lunch, copying what the person in front of him did, then collecting his tray and sitting down on a lone table. He eyes someone coming in the direction of his table, who looks to be a similar age to him, blonde hair and blue eyes.
"This seat taken?" He smirks at me.
Getting the joke, I say, "Not at all."
"The name's Davis, I can't help but see how attentively you're staying at Joshua..." He pauses, his smile flattens slightly, and the sounds of the cafeteria are emphasized. He leans closer. "You've mostly heard the truth, but the reality is the reason for betrayal was in actuality over some type of item that was discovered out there in the ruins' but judging from the fact that if he was carrying something the Bunker drones would have already detected it leads me to believe that he has hidden it somewhere safe."
"I actually learned of it first-hand when I saw the gun-fight in a dilapidated village, he pocketed some sort of shiny item and put it into his vest pocket, at the time I was merely farming the land for my mother and father, but decided to run from home in order to possibly change my life with this item, understand?
Reluctantly Ashur pauses for a few moments, looks around his shoulders a few times before responding to Davis.
"Alright I could possibly assist you, but what makes you think I'm qualified, and how can I even trust you?" He squints his eyes at Davis, looking for any signs of possible lying.
Davis gives a light chuckle off and says, "That's quite simple, for trust, beyond mutual benefits of the total value we could receive in returning the item of course?" He continued, "I've seen ruins' explorers out on patrol before, they always have some sort of captain watching them at all times, can't waste any high-tech on keeping track of cannon fodder anyway, can they? Not to mention that even if I did kill you, let's say at the location, the body could not be hidden in time before being discovered by the captain."
"Now as for your qualifications? Being a stranger, an unknown, but being curious enough to dip your toe in the pond a little, a risk-taker, and being in my section, heh."
Slowly Ashur nods and then speaks, "Alright I'll consider it, so long as you are sufficiently prepared, but this doesn't factor out that I still have a choice to tell Joshua about your scheme against him."
Davis grins, "Of course Davis might not even be my real name, so naturally as long as you cannot find my room they might as well be more rumors, nor can a room be opened without express permission from the owner."
Davis slowly got up from his chair and whilst walking away he says, "Give me your final answer tomorrow." Then promptly exits the cafeteria.
Ashur is conflicted on being involved with such a figure on his first day in the bunker, but he knows this is a good opportunity to climb the ranks, and at least having an ally while outside the bunker would be a positive change, he's unused to.
Ashur quickly finishes his meal and goes to his room, barely recognizing it from the blandness of the identical rooms close-by.
He gets into bed and begins to think to himself all throughout the night, should he be concerned about Joshua's retaliation, can Davis truly be trusted, and most importantly... what would he find outside the bunker?