In the morning Marcus awoke around five.
His mouth was dry causing him to smack his lips as he slowly sat up from the ground.
The room was dark, barely illuminated by the gentle blue light emitting from the TV.
Felix was sprawled out across the bottom bunk spread eagle style.
Luna was wrapped up in a blanket sitting upright, her silver eyes staring down at Marcus.
"You're still awake?" Marcus asked as he scratched his chin.
"I woke up shortly before you did," Luna replied softly.
"What time is it?" Marcus asked.
Luna turned her attention towards the TV screen, which displayed the time in the bottom left corner.
"5:07 AM." She replied.
Marcus nodded his head slowly in acknowledgment.
Marcus then slowly began to stand up from the floor.
Since he woke up before Felix, he figured it was only right he get washed up and dressed before he did.
Marcus navigated towards the bathroom with sluggish steps, rubbing his eyes and yawning constantly.
Before stepping into the bathroom he turned to look back at Luna with a curious expression, "you wanna go before?" He asked while placing a hand on the wall near the bathroom entrance.
Luna shook her head. "I don't need to use the bathroom currently."
Marcus shrugged. "Suit yourself." He replied as he stepped into the bathroom, gently closing the door behind himself.
Inside the bathroom Marcus turned his attention towards the shower, it was small and circular, built with only enough room for one person.
Beside the shower was a small rack of towels of two sizes, one small bath towel, and another larger drying towel.
There were six in total, three of each size.
Marcus walked over to the rack of towels and grabbed one of the smaller bathing towels.
He then slowly began to undress himself, starting with the bandages wrapped around his forehead and working his way down to his socks.
Once finished, he stepped into the shower and closed its glass door behind himself.
He then turned on the control tablet within the shower and adjusted the water to medium before activating the shower head.
After a brief pause, warm water began to rain down on Marcus's body.
The relief he felt was almost instant, it felt as though his tiredness and exhaustion were being washed away alongside the dirt and grime that covered his body.
He grabbed a bar of soap that was placed within a small compartment within the wall that was connected to the shower and began to lather it upon his towel.
He then began to wash himself with the towel.
As Marcus washed, his mind began to wander on the things he would like to learn in orientation.
He hoped that he'd learn what all the exams consisted of.
There was also the deal with the administrator, Marcus wondered if he'd get to see him again.
Once Marcus was done lathering himself down with his towel, he began to rinse himself off.
Finishing his shower Marcus then switched the shower to drying mode. A large vent that was in the ceiling of the shower began to blow down warm air.
It circulated within the enclosed space of the shower, quickly drying him off with speed and warmth.
Once finished, Marcus stepped out of the shower feeling slightly more awake and relaxed.
He grabbed a towel from the towel rack, this time he grabbed one of the larger drying towels and wrapped it around his waist.
He then made his way towards the sink where her grabbed his began to brush his teeth and wash his face.
The sink was relatively empty.
There was only a cup filled with two toothbrushes and a tube of toothpaste, one toothbrush belonging to Felix and the other to Marcus.
Marcus grabbed his toothbrush and ran it under some warm water. He then applied a small amount of toothpaste to it and began to brush.
His mouth tingled with the sensation of minty fresh toothpaste.
Once he was done brushing his teeth, he washed his face with warm water, further reducing his drowsiness.
He then dried his face with the towel wrapped around his waist. When he finished he exited the bathroom feeling completely awake.
He glanced at Luna who was still sitting in the same position, her silver eyes watching the TV screen with little to no emotion.
Felix meanwhile was slowly stirring awake. "What time is it?" He asked groggily as he reached a hand for his eyes.
Marcus glanced at the TV to check the time, and he noticed it was 5:34 Am.
"Around 5:30," Marcus answered.
Felix yawned as he slowly stood up. "You done with the bathroom?" He asked while stretching his arms high in the air.
Marcus nodded. "Yeah I'm done, but what time do we leave for orientation?"
Felix sighed as he scratched behind his ear. "We meet in the main building at seven, so we should leave at 6:20 if you want breakfast that is."
"Sounds like a plan," Marcus said with an affirming nod.
Felix gave a thumbs up as he navigated towards the bathroom.
Marcus meanwhile turned his attention towards the closet.
Entering it Marcus was greeted with a small space filled with both his and Felix's clothing.
Both boys had similar tastes in clothing, opting for joggers or shorts alongside t-shirts and jackets.
Marcus slipped on a pair of black joggers with a blue T-shirt and blue shoes.
He then stepped out of the closet fully dressed.
Luna turned to look at him with a curious gaze. "You certainly have a bland fashion sense." She said in her usual tone.
Marcus shrugged. "I don't know why you're surprised, you've been with me for almost three months."
Luna smirked. "True, but people see the sun every day, yet they still complain when it's bright."
Marcus chuckled at Luna's jab. "You got me, but it's not like I'm trying to impress anyone, besides I'm pretty sure this place has a uniform from what I know."
"You mean that white suit?" Luna asked,
Marcus nodded, "Mhmm, I wonder when I'll get one?"
"Perhaps we'll find out soon enough," Luna replied as she began to unwrap herself from her blanket cocoon.
She then made her way to the edge of the bed and pushed herself off, slowly floating down like a leaf from a tree.
She landed on the ground with a gentle grace.
Marcus smiled as he approached her. "Aren't you a show-off?" He asked teasingly.
Luna rolled her eyes in slight annoyance. "Can I not get down from the top bunk?" She asked with a frown.
Marcus nodded. "Of course you can, just like when I see something cool I gotta call it out."
Luna turned her away from Marcus with a huff. "Whatever, let's just wait for that fool of a boy Felix."
Marcus nodded. "Sure."
As the duo settled on the bottom bunk, Marcus grabbed the TV remote from the floor and changed the channel to the news.
Marcus eventually found a channel going over the current tension over claims in the South Pole.
"And this just in, both America and the European Union have decided to create joint bases in the region, this of course angered the South American collective, specifically Argentina who claims that both America and Europe are overstepping their boundaries with such an arrogant maneuver…."
Marcus watched with little to no interest, he didn't care about such events especially since he figured nothing would come of it.
Luna, however, watched with wide eyes. She had that same intense curiosity whenever she was reading a good book.
"…. companies like Cyber-Tech and Tokyo robotics have deployed several android units to man these bases in place of European and American troops, leading to their stocks rapidly rising across the board….."
Felix soon emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and a relaxed expression on his face.
He quickly changed into attire that was similar to Marcus's, opting for a white T-shirt and red joggers with a red jacket and shoes.
"You ready to go bro?" Felix asked as he straightened out his jacket.
Marcus turned to Felix and gave a quick nod as he began to stand up.
As Marcus began walking to John Felix at the door, he noticed that Luna wasn't following him.
Turning his head slightly toward her, he noticed Luna was still engrossed in the news report.
Marcy was slightly surprised at how interested Luna was, he almost couldn't believe it. "Yo, you coming?"
Marcus asked with his hand reached out.
Luna turned to face Marcus with a confused expression, her eyes then slowly widened with realization. "Oh, yes." She said as she stood up and straightened out her dress.
With Luna in hand, the trio exited their dorm room and stepped out into the hallway.
The hallways were quiet, with only the sound of other cadets walking down the hallway to either the stairs or the elevator.
"So which one are we taking bro?" Felix asked as he pointed down the hallway.
Marcus noticed that there was a short line for the elevator, so he was going to opt for the stairs.
"Let's take the stairs, no point in being lazy this early in the morning right?" Marcus said with a grin.
Felix nodded in agreement. "Don't see why not."
Walking down the stairwell Marcus and Felix continued to talk.
"You know those white suits every one was wearing?" Marcus asked curiously, "Do you know what does are about?"
Felix nodded. "Mhmm, those are trainee combat suits or TCSs, they offered me one when I first arrived, but I declined."
Marcus raised an eyebrow, "you declined the uniform?" He asked in disbelief.
Felix nodded. "Yeah, there was nothing I could do but wear it, you aren't allowed to use them until the exams start until then you're just carrying around an expensive piece of equipment for no reason."
"Makes sense," Marcus replied as they reached the bottom of the stairwell.
"Speaking of which, why didn't you get one?" Felix asked curiously as they stepped into the lobby.
Marcus thought back to the moment when he first arrived at this complex, and how Dr. Fletcher brought him to meet the administrator. "Let's just say I wasn't awake long enough to get the opportunity."
Felix chuckled as he pointed to his forehead. "I almost forgot you got jumpy with the administrator, must've been a bad time."
Marcus rolled his eyes in amusement. "Don't worry, I'll get him back when I get the chance."
The trio then exited the dormitory, and Felix led them to a long building that were covered in windows, allowing them to see the rows of tables filled sparsely by cadets enjoying breakfast.
"I'm assuming this is the place we get breakfast?" Marcus asked curiously.
Felix nodded. "Yeah bro, you also can get lunch, dinner, and dessert depending on the time of day."
Stepping inside, Marcus was greeted with the smell of various breakfast foods and the sounds of cutlery clacking against plates.
Various other cadets were chatting with each other as they ate, creating a warm and engaging atmosphere.
Felix led Marcus towards the food line, where they grabbed their plates and stood in line.
Felix looked down at Luna, noticing she hadn't grabbed a plate. "Aren't you going to eat?" He asked as he gestured towards a stack of plates near the end of the line on a table.
Luna shook her head.
Felix raised an eyebrow in curiosity, leading Marcus to explain further. "She doesn't eat much, and what little she does eat she usually gets from me."
Felix nodded in understanding.
As they moved through the line, both Felix and Marcus loaded up their plates with food, pancakes, waffles, sausages, eggs, and fruit.
Once their plates were filled they navigated towards a table that was in the far left corner of the building.
Felix sat across from Marcus while Luna sat beside him.
Settled into their seats the noise surrounding them seemed to die down, allowing the group to chat while they ate.
Marcu began cutting into his eggs. "So do you know what happens during orientation?" Marcus asked as he ate a fork full of eggs.
Felix shook his head. "No, I hope you didn't forget I've only been here two days before you have, I've pretty much told you everything I know bro."
Marcus chuckled. "My bad, it's just that you radiate so much confidence that I forgot you are new to all this."
Felix smiled. "Well yeah, but I'm confident because I know whatever gets thrown at me I can handle it, but just because I know how can handle it, doesn't mean I know what exactly 'it' is, you know?"
Marcus nodded. "Yeah I get that, thanks by the way, for being so considerate, especially since we don't know if we'll be competing against each other in the exams."
Felix grinned. "If we do end up competing against each other, I'll beat you, but that doesn't mean I can't be your friend, after all, we're roommates."
"And what does us being roommates have to do with anything?" Marcus asked as he ate a fork full of sausage.
Felix chuckled. "When sharing a space with someone else, you can only sleep peacefully with your guard dropped."
Felix then cut into his waffles as he continued, "And you only drop your guard if you trust that person you are sharing that space with."
Marcus was surprised at Felix's wisdom, rudimentary though it may be, it still held solid advice. "That, surprisingly makes a lot of sense."
Felix grinned, "Of course it does bro, it came from me after all."
The boys chuckled in unison as they continued to eat their breakfast.
The trio fell into a rhythm of eating and talking, discussing the upcoming orientation, talking about video games, and various other topics.
After they finished their meal, Marcus felt a mixture of excitement and anxiety about the upcoming orientation. He wondered what it could mean for his future in this organization. He gathered his plate and followed Felix to put away his dishes.