I woke some twelve hours later.
"What the hell happened?"
The pages in the book were lined with Anima.
"What? Why?"
So that the knowledge within them is imprinted into your very being. It's brilliant, but both because you're low intelligence, and your low powers of concentration, it sapped you of energy.
"That's bullshit."
I rolled over to my side. Most of the other beds were empty. Eli was sleeping calmly in his bed in the far corner of the room, and one more man lay staring up at the ceiling. I recognized him as one of the other ex-homeless. Reyas and his crew must have been in the gym, or hanging out in the court like always. I pushed myself off the bed and landed on my feet. Once I stepped out of the room, a man greeted me and looked me over.
"If you will, go to the warehouse."
"Why?"
"Last of the onboarding stuff."
"I thought we were heading out in the evening."
"In another three hours. Yes."
Three hours? Shit. Did I have to pack?
I hurried over to the warehouse. Most of the people who had met in the warehouse that first day nearly a week ago, were there now; all seated. The people who had originally been sitting were seated in more comfortable chairs near the front, while everyone else sat on cheap foldable chairs.
All of the women's hair had been trimmed to shoulder-length, and all the men's hair had been buzzed, and facial hair shaved. They each wore olive green pants with legs tucked into brown leather boots that went up to the middle of their shins, a tan shirt tucked into those pants, and a webbing belt pulled over their waist. They each had a large, green bag sitting on the ground beside their chairs. A few of them wore thick green peacoats with the letters WC in bold white embroidered on the back, and above the right breast pocket.
"Over here."
A man motioned for me to sit in a chair. As soon as my ass was in the wooden seat, he tied a towel around my throat and slid a razor over my head. My blonde curls fell out like wool. A minute later my head felt significantly lighter and less itchy. He then did the same with my face; running a straight razor over my cheeks. Everything felt colder when he was done. He brushed me off with a small brush, tore the towel off my throat, and told me to stand up. Eli had apparently followed me in.
"Over here."
A woman waved me over to a long table with piles of folded clothes.
"Name?"
"Lyle Kyle."
"Ah, so you're the one." She sniggered, "She passed me one of the folded piles of clothes, "There are some stalls over there, please change into them in one of those."
"Is it necessary?"
"Completely."
I followed her instructions stepped behind one of the curtains, and stripped out of my scrubs. Everything fit perfectly. Nothing was too tight or too loose. I stepped out, holding my pile of scrubs; the new boots clacking against the wooden door
"What should I do with these?"
She pointed to a trash can right beside her. I dropped the scrubs in and moved over to the next station. A man stood in front of a large shelf carrying a bunch of tightly packed bags.
"Name?"
"Lyle Kyle."
He smirked.
"Ah, you're him."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, nothing." He picked up one of the packs from the shelf and tossed it over to me. It was heavy, and I nearly dropped it. 'And then there's this. Not required to wear it yet, but when you're out in the field you'll need to."
He passed me an olive green peacoat. I stepped away from the table and pulled my coat on. It fit extremely well just like the rest of the clothes, and the material was incredibly warm, yet not too hot. I buttoned up the large olive buttons and walked over to the chairs. Jack waved me over, so I sat beside him. Without his thick curly hair, he looked far more intimidating. Like a shaved bear, almost. His bright blue eyes were more visible, however.
"Well, today's the day?" He said with barely contained excitement.
"So do you know what's going to happen? Are we going to like get on a helicopter or something?"
"No clue. I've never been on a helicopter."
"Ay, homes." Daniel came up behind me and slapped my shoulder. He and his crew take up the seats both beside and behind me, "You look good in a uniform, dawg."
Fresh bruises paint his face and the faces of many of the other men around him. They probably spent a lot of time in the boxing ring in the gym these last few days.
"And you look like shit without the orange."
"Ay, fuck you." He punched my shoulder, and I punched his. "We going to be cool on the other side?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't we?"
"Thought you were avoiding us. Hell, even Jackie Boy here." He reached over and slapped Jack's shoulder, "Worked out with us."
"Oh, nah. I wasn't avoiding you. I was homeless right before this, and I was just enjoying being inside for once."
Daniel burst out laughing and slapped my shoulder. The last man came in while he was doing that. Jack, Daniel, and I talked among ourselves while Eli took a seat behind us. Without his beard, he looked...well downright handsome. His face carried little blemish, even though he used hard drugs for a long time, and his jawline was prominent and pointed. Some of the women glanced back to look at him and whispered among themselves.
The final person took his bag and sat down and a loud tap tap tap came over the microphone. The man who had been at the gun range stood there. The room went quiet as the man took his seat.
"Hello, my name is Bernard Wall, and today I will be talking about the next few hours, and what's expected of you after that. First, I'd like to discuss the contents of your pack." He paced back and forth over the stage as he spoke. "In it, you will find ONE,' He held up a single finger, "sleeping pad. ONE sleeping bag. ONE change of clothes. ONE pair of additional socks. TWO changes of underwear. THREE MREs. ONE canteen. ONE knife and ONE shovel." He took a moment to catch his breath, "and that's it for the mundane items." He clapped and pulled out a tablet-like device from his jacket pocket "If you can, please open your bags and take out the tablet and its holder put on top of all of your stuff. After that, PLEASE close your bag."
We all do so.
"Now take it out of its sleeve."
Once more, we all do so. The screens are black as coal and are cold as ice to the touch. A small clear square sits at the bottom of the device. A camera?
"These magical little things are known as PID — Personal Improvement Devices, through a complex system of installed microphones, inputted data, and a variety of other algorithms I do not have the time to get into, this device will help you improve yourself when you finally step into the Land Beyond."
"What do you mean by, 'improve yourself?'" One of the men in the fancier seats near the front asked.
"Well...alright, do you guys see that little button near the bottom of your device? Please place your thumb on it."
I followed his instructions and hissed loudly as a needle punched out of the plastic, and drew a drop of blood. Everyone around me does the same. The drop of blood quickly vanished within the plastic square. A moment later text appears on the screen.
Hello Mr. Kyle.
The words vanished, and a screen replaced it. It was off-white, and in the middle was a table.
[Name: Lyle Kyle
Age: 23
Rank: F-
Money: 130,001
]
"What does Rank mean?"
"Ah, 'Rank,' is the level of jobs you'll be able to take once in the Land Beyond. They range from F- to A+, and above that, if you manage, S."
"How are they determined?"
"By the median of your skills and stats. Take a look at the top of the screen and you'll see five tabs."
Indeed, at the top of the screen, there were six tabs.
"Personal Stats. Skills. Encyclopedia. Jobs. Map. Friends."
"Press on Stats."
I push my finger on the stat page.
The screen changes and seven bars appear with numbers appearing in the bar:
[
STRENGTH F– O.0%
AGILITY F– 0.0%
ENDURANCE F- 2.5%
REFLEXES F 1%
These bars were bright white when empty, and filled with a little purple in the ones that had percentages such as Endurance, Reflexes, and Perception.
PERCEPTION D+ 6%
INTELLIGENCE F 0%
PERSONABLENESS F- 0%
ANIMA MANIPULATION F- O.0%
]
Pathetic.
I felt that. I press the tablet close to me to stop any prying eyes from seeing my weak stat block.
"All of these are based on the tests we had you do once you acclimated to the blood, and compared to the average score of all contractees, past and present."
"What is this, 'anima manipulation?'"
A woman from the middle of the group asked.
"Oh, you have that? That's pretty unique. Anima...well it's the poison in the air in the Land Beyond. Most people have to work to get that stat block, some, like yourself, unlock it thanks to the transfusion."
A bit of pride swelled within me.
Pathetic.
"Now, press on whatever stat you want."
I press. Intelligence.
The screen changes to a task list:
"Read 10 different books. 0/10
REWARD +10% Mastery
Read 100,000 combined words not on the PID. 0/100,000
REWARD +20% Mastery."
"The tasks you see have to be done within the Land Beyond. The Anima in the miasma reacts to intentional actions, and begins to change you."
"What do these percentages mean?"
"Once you get to 100%, the stat is increased to the next level. C- becomes C, for example."
"What if these get destroyed?"
The man laughed at the question.
"These cannot be destroyed. Don't know how, but even dropping a nuke on these won't destroy them. If you lose them, however, that's a different story. You'll have to pay for a replacement. 2.5 Million dollars. That could be cash, or out of your reward for completing your term. Now go to your skill page."
I hit the, 'back,' button on the screen and navigated to the skill page. A page similar to the stat page opened up There was a drop-down list with the selection, 'learned skills,' currently selected:
[OUTDOOR CAMPING F+ 15%
SCAVENGING D 1.5%
PISTOLS F 1.5%
RIFLES F- 1.5%
SHOTGUNS F- 1.5%
BRAWLING E- 1.5%
TRAP MAKING F- 0.0%
TELEKINESIS F- 0.0%]
Pathetic. But don't worry, I will make you stronger.
Trap Making? Did reading that book give me the skill?
"Some of these were determined by the tests you did, some were determined by an extremely thorough background check, while some you acquired on your own during your free time. These skills determine what kind of jobs you can take when you get to the Land Beyond, and determine how well you'll be compensated for the job."
"You mean we'll be paid even more?"
"Naturally. You will be required to do at least one job a week, unless on an Expedition. Expeditions are large-scale jobs that take, at the least, a month to complete."
"How do we get skills?"
"Doing things, and reading Skill Books; some of which were kindly donated by your seniors to our library. They're expensive, however. The other way is simply by learning from others, experimenting on your own…."
"Expensive? You mean we'll have to pay for them?"
"Yes. Once you get to the Land Beyond you will be given a rifle, a sidearm, and 50 rounds for each, and a pack of either fishing supplies, trap-making supplies, or camping supplies. That will be the last bit of charity you receive. You can either pay with your Term Completion Reward, with any earnings from the jobs you completed, or through items you sell to the merchants within the base town."
"Base town?"
"Yes. It's the White Company's main base of operations within the Land Beyond a town named by our predecessors as, 'New Eden.' There you'll find everything you need, from crafters to merchants willing to buy whatever you have, to places to sleep for the night. Gyms, bookstores...really anything. Everything will cost money, however."
"How will we be paid for completing jobs?"
"Unless it specifically asks you to turn something in, the PID will keep track of your actions. Say, if you're tasked with killing 10 things, once you kill 10 things you will be rewarded automatically, and the balance will be added to your overall balance. If you're tasked with bringing a certain number of fish to a certain merchant, you will have to take the fish there yourself, and the merchant will pay you through the PID. All transactions will be done through it."
"How do we accept jobs?"
" It's all done through the PID. Do you see the job tab? Once you're in the Land Beyond, open it to see what's available for you. Everything you complete helps the White Company in some way or is done at the behest of some corporation or group looking for more resources, so you will be fairly compensated for your work."
"What if we don't do a job a week?" Jack asked.
"Your contract will be terminated. I hear there were some terminations during your first night here…"
My mind flashed to the loud pops outside of the hangar.
"Any other questions?"
The room was quiet. No, there weren't. The heavy implications of what he had just said sat on us. As soon as I am within this Land Beyond I will look at the job tab immediately.
"What are expeditions?" Someone in the crowd asked, "And how do they differ from jobs?"
"Ah, good question." The man said as he clapped his hands in front of himself, "Once you're in the Land Beyond the map function of your PID will open up. If you scroll out you'll find a portion of it is bordered in dotted white lines. All the land within the white lines is owned by the White Company. Everything done within those lines will be classified as, 'jobs.' Expeditions; usually to expand our lands, or exploratory missions for large corporations looking for things like precious metals, oil, and the like. Sometimes a religious organization will send us to look for an artifact for them, or will take place outside of those lines."
"Can we go outside of the lines as we please?"
"If you do, you won't be under the protection of the White Company any longer, and if you don't show a reason why or a financial gain for the White Company, your contract will be terminated."
"How will we get there? Helicopter?" Jack asked.
"No no. Well...I do suppose since I've told you all that you needed to be told, we should start heading over there."
He hopped off the stage. Two people pushed it out of the way so that all that was left was the riveted wall as a backdrop.
"Now, don't freak out." He said as he stepped out of the way.
Four people grabbed hold of a pair of large beams on the wall. They pulled and the wall began to split and open up. A rush of cold wind howled out of the now-open wall. A bright white, swirling wind was locked inside of two large stone pillars.
"Oh my god...it's a Stargate…" Jack murmured. "I am...so happy right now."
I, on the other hand, felt nothing but terror. I suppose all of this was actually real. Expressions on the faces of the people around the room either match mine in terror or Jack's in unconstrained excitement.
"Now, it's not necessary, but I do recommend putting on your coats. It's pretty chilly over there. Now, please line up and step through in an orderly fashion."