{Nezro's POV}
{16:07 PM, 04/08/2024}
I hadn't taken into account how overwrought the words of someone I didn't even consider important would make me feel, but there I was for the next couple of weeks, trying very hard to prove his statement wrong and failing everytime to do it.
"It's been twenty six days since the departure of the first trifter squad and we are yet to get any new information about their progress from the government."
Those were the words that clung to my ears, as well as my mind as I tuned in to the evening news, an invigorating feeling of emptyness clouding my heart at the thought of being weak. The current dilemma we found ourselves was something I had longed for, hoping that a day would come where humans would be pushed out of their comfort zones.
'Cold feet huh?'
After tons of research, a certain conspiracy kept on spreading about the tests that the trifters had undergone before they were formally appointed. They had received doses of a strange fluid that supposedly mutated their genes, giving them superhuman abilities so they could perform better against the negrons or whatever sentient lifeform they were to encounter.
Although these were merely speculations, I couldn't help but find some legitimacy attached to the observations, judging by how my roommate had acted before departing for his first mission as a trifter.
"I saw him lift our couch with only one hand a while back..." One of the spouse's of the trifters had spoken in an interview, attesting to the authenticity of the ongoing conspiracy. She also stated other observations about his character and disposition but the more she shared, the less believable her words became.
'Seeing is believing I guess'
After spending a few more days at home, I had finally decided to enlist as a trifter. My decision was not in regards to the ongoing speculations online but as a challenge to myself.
If there was even a slight chance that I could experience a world far more different than ours with cutthroat experiences more endangering than any I had ever faced, I wouldn't want to pass it up on accounts of fear.
I turned in my documents the next day and after a week of processing and confirmation, I was called in to receive an orientation about what being a trifter entailed. Since the first team had not returned from their mission, we were to receive an extra two weeks of rigorous training just so we would be better prepared for what's to come.
*****
{SOAR MAIN HALL}
"Mr Nezro Dale, please step into the office by your left to undergo your medical assessment".
The voice of the receptionist over the PA system could be heard throughout the entire hall, making it awkward for me as I stood to answer the call. I reluctantly got up and proceeded to the room I was directed to hastily, avoiding the gazes of everyone that were seated in the hall.
"Please, have a seat"
The gentle voice of the doctor had helped elevate the embarrassment I had been feeling a while ago and I moved to sit on the edge of the bed on the far side of the room in thankfulness. He conducted a few wellness tests on me and after recording the results, he walked towards the monitor at the other end of the room and spoke to it.
"Clear!"
Bewilderment was written all over my face as I could not fathom what it was that the doctor meant when he faced the dormant device to which he spoke to. Just then, as if to provide some insight as to what the action proved, the doctor pointed to a hidden elevator opposite the bed, hidden behind some curtains, urging me to head into it and assuring me of it's safety.
The elevator had only two buttons; up and down, and I instinctively pushed down judging from the fact that the building had no top floor.
By the time I got to the designated floor, I was astonished as to how an entire floor, as spacious as the main hall could've been built without the notice of anyone.
"My name is Dr John Smac, I usually do not handle this part of orientation but seeing as to how much free time I have been having for a while now, I decided to invest it on volunteer work....hehehehe"
"You can count yourself lucky, for I was the one who designed the very fluid you are about to be administered and I need not remind you of the NDA you signed during the course of your application?"
" Y-yes doctor" I stuttered, trotting besides the nerdy scientist.
To think that I would be walking side by side the revolutionist scientist, who had made a breakthrough in bioengineering and astral physics in the previous year and was currently working as a lead scientist for the government, it all seemed very strange to me at the moment and it took a while before I was able to fully digest all the details.
"Now, you must have read in the breakdown what the Z fluid is but I will say just one thing as a bonus. What you are about to receive is a modified version of the previous one that the first team had received and because of that, the psychological fatigue that they experienced after taking it will not apply to you or any one after you".
He pointed towards the hospital bed surrounded with various devices and asked that I lay there while they prepared my dosage. I stared at the briefcase from which a massive syringe was brought out from and watched as one of the scientists diluted the dose before transferring it to a smaller syringe.
"Now you might feel a little dizzy after the shot but fret not, those will be the only side effects you are to encounter." The mad scientist assured.
The pricking of the needle as it pushed further into my skin wasn't as painful as I had expected it to be, rather I felt numb immediately it entered my skin. My vitals were then monitored for another thirty minutes before I was asked to leave. The doctor spoke a final warning to me as I walked towards the elevator, eyes brimming with pride and a wry smile hanging on his face.
"Normally, signs of an ability show after a day or two and in very rare cases it might span up to a month or so. I'd advise that you take precaution in your daily activities from here on out as you do not know what ability you might acquire."
Even after I had retired to my apartment, I couldn't get the scrawny physique of the doctor from my mind, as his strange build hunted me for the next couple of days. The thought of gaining a superhuman ability just like in a fictional work eroded my thoughts as I began to guess what it might be.
I wondered what Rukius ability was and how he was able to keep it a secret from me, a highly observative fellow- if I say so myself.
Days passed into a week and still no signs of an ability showed. I continued my training as per protocol and after the completion of the one month combats training, I was asked to acquire my symbiote before proceeding to the final stage of the training program.
'Symbiotes'.
As they were popularly called, where embodiments of nothingness which had the ability to form a sort of symbiotic relationship with a designated host upon pairing. They originated from the black box; a tool that housed a direct link to void which according to various scientists in the task force, was 'a non existent alternate plane'. It was a gift from the infamous administrator who had appeared at the beginning of everything.
"Please step forward and put your right hand into the box" One of fhe aids directed, eyes fixed on the computing device in her front.
As my hand made contact with the box, I could feel a certain substance entangle my wrist, pulsing as if it were a beating vein. It was thoroughly black and didn't show any signs of life, almost appearing as a non-living object.
I felt a sudden strange connection to the entity and a surge of energy overwhelmed all my senses until I was completely frozen in an instant.
I widened my palm and felt it retract to my index finger, assuming the shape of a ring. According to the Intel regarding the symbiotes, it was a rare case for it to behave in that manner and I was the second person to have experienced it, judging by how almost all members of the task force who had undergone the selection had theirs occupying their wrists, it wasn't supposed to pose as a big deal.
The next month came and went like the ocean wind on the shores of a beach, quick and intense. I was finally cleared for my first mission and I would be meeting the rest of my teammates the following week.
'This is it. This is the moment I have been waiting for!'