In the morning, Marcus awoke to Luna sleeping with her head against his chest, and Dr. Fletcher sleeping against his shooting. It was a strange moment, leaving Marcus in a fairly interesting situation.
He looked over to Dr. Fletcher, he was quietly sleeping. Her expression was peaceful, her breathing slow and steady. Her long purple hair was loose and flowed down to the blanket like a river.
Marcus gently lifted his shoulder so that he could wake her. It took two or three bumps, but she soon stirred awake her magenta eyes snapping open as she examined the room.
It wasn't long before she looked over at Marcus, who had a wry smile. "Morning," Marcus said softly.
Dr. Fletcher smiled in response, "Good morning." She replied as she straightened herself up.
"How'd you sleep?" Marcus asked.
"Fine." Dr. Fletcher answered. "What about you?"
"It was fine." Marcus said with a nod of his head, "Thanks for doing this, I really appreciate it." Marcus said as he gestured around the room.
"I'm glad that's the case." Dr. Fletcher said with a warm smile, "Luna was adamant about doing something for you, so be sure to thank her as well."
Marcus nodded as he looked down at Luna. "Of course," Marcus said with a small chuckle.
The room fell into silence, with only the natural hum of the room providing noise.
Dr. Fletcher watched Marcus as he watched Luna, a satisfied glint in her eyes. "You should probably get going." Dr. Fletcher suggested, "I'll clean up here."
"Let me help you, I don't have anything else to do."
Dr. Fletcher shook her head, "that may be the case, but I want to do this alone." She explained with a warm smile.
Marcus nodded as he gently rubbed Luna's shoulders. Luna eventually stirred awake, her eyes snapping open in a similar fashion to Dr. Fletcher's
"Marcus?" She called out as she examined the room.
"Right here," Marcus said as he leaned over Luna's head.
She looked up a relieved expression on her face. "Good morning." She said.
"Morning," Marcus replied with a smirk.
Luna smiled as she turned her attention to Dr. Fletcher, who was already busying herself with tidying up the room. "This was fun," Luna commented.
"Indeed." Dr. Fletcher replied as she approached Marcus and Luna. "We should do this again, but until then, you have places to be, and I have people to see."
Marcus chuckled. "Alright, alright." He said as he rose from the couch. "I get the hints."
"Good." Dr. Fletcher said with a chuckle.
Marcus and Luna began to make their way to the door. Upon reaching it, Marcus looked back at Dr. Fletcher and smirked. "Next time I'll take you out, just pick a date." He said with a smirk.
Dr. Fletcher nodded. "I'll hold you to that." She joked.
With that Marcus and Luna exited the room, making their way back upstairs and through the training center headed for the front doors.
Stepping outside Marcus finally yawned as he stretched his arms out wide. Looking up at the sky Marcus was greeted with the rising sun and the sight of a few cadets heading towards the main building.
Marcus assumed that was the next group of cadets to take their final exam.
"Luna." Marcus asked curiously as he looked down at her, "Did Dr. Fletcher ever tell you how graduation was supposed to go?"
Luna nodded, "Yeah." Luna confirmed, "Apparently, due to the accelerated rate of examinations, cadets should graduate in small groups, and since you were a part of the first group to finish your exam…."
"I'll be a part of the first group to graduate," Marcus said, finishing Luna's sentence.
"So when is graduation?" Marcus asked. "I believe it's a day from now, they have to prepare your uniform, choose your new station, that kind of thing."
"So basically they're looking for a spot to deploy me," Marcus asked.
"From what I conclude, yes," Luna affirmed.
Marcus nodded, "Welp, got a whole day before it's back to work, got anything in mind?"
"Yes, I wanna spend today like last time," Luna said excitedly.
Marcus chuckled. "Your wish, is my command!" He said while pointing a finger high in the air.
And so that's exactly what the duo did, spending the entire day chatting and playing video games.
It wasn't long before Marcus and Felix ran into each other, they began chatting for a bit, with Felix explaining that for his final exam, he and his partner had to face off against a powerful rank-two anomaly, and he had spent most of yesterday attempting to take it down.
After swapping stories about their exam experience, Felix joined Marcus and Luna on their free day.
Once everything was said and done, Marcus found himself sitting in his bed with Luna, he was drifting off to sleep, listening to the sounds of Felix already snoring and the AC blowing air.
The next morning Marcus awoke to a loud announcement echoing through the halls of the dormitory. "Attention, to all cadets who have finished their final exams, you are to meet near the training center at 0600 hours. I repeat….."
"You hear that bro!" Felix exclaimed excitedly, his voice louder than the announcement. "It's time!"
Marcus blinked a few times, attempting to process the moment. "Yeah…" Marcus said as he rubbed his eyes, "Yeah I hear it." He repeated, the announcement finally sinking in.
Today was the day.
Luna stirred beside him, her eyes snapping open as she immediately turned to look at Marcus. Her eyes scanned him up and down. "Good morning." She said softly as she nuzzled against his chest.
"Morning." Marcus chuckled, running his hand through her silky hair.
Marcus glanced over at Felix, who was practically speeding around the room. He darted into the bathroom and slammed the door behind himself.
Marcus chuckled once more as he sat up in bed, "Well, let's get this party started."
Marcus and Felix both got ready for the day, quickly showering and dressing themselves in their staple outfit of simple sweatpants and T-shirts.
When the trio stepped outside, making their way towards the training center, Felix began hugging himself tightly as he began leaning side to side.
Marcus looked over to his friend with an amused expression. "Calm down, Captain Nuts." He teased.
Felix's grin widened. "Calm down?" He asked in feigned disbelief, "I just caught wind in my sails, and I'm going to the freaking moon bro!"
Marcus shook his head with a soft laugh.
When they finally reached the training center, Marcus was greeted with a small gathering of cadets, officers, and personnel. They stood gathered around a small wooden stage with a podium on top.
Beside the stage were twenty uniforms that were exactly the same as what officers wore, and on the other side were twenty folders filled with what looked to be a certificate and deployment details.
It was a little underwhelming to be sure, but Marcus couldn't complain as it was obvious the organization was struggling.
In fact. Marcus felt that this was pretty lucky all things considered, as the organization could've skipped this entire thing, and just shipped him off to be deployed.
Marcus and Felix joined the crowd with the other cadets. Where almost immediately, a girl with short curly hair and light gray eyes, practically tackled him. "Felix!" She exclaimed with a giggle, "I still can't believe we passed."
Felix chuckled nervously as a wry smile spread across his lips.
Marcus glanced over at his with a confused side eye, his mouth slightly agape.
"She's my partner," Felix explained with a nervous chuckle. His face then reddened slightly as he hurriedly corrected himself, "She was my partner during the exams I mean."
The girl who was hugging Felix looked up from his chest and glanced over at Marcus and Luna with a warm smile. "Hi, I'm Tammy."
Marcus licked his lips as he narrowed his eyes at Felix. The pieces finally began falling into place.
Felix wasn't leaving early and staying late because his tests were hard, he was doing it to be with Tammy! "You sly dog…." Marcus mouthed silently.
"Hey!" Felix exclaimed defensively, "you're no better, you and Dr. Flet–"
"Cadets!" A stern, but worn voice rang out from the makeshift stage, Marcus turned his attention to see no other but the administrator himself walking up to the stage. "You've been gathered here today to congratulate you on passing your exams. You've passed both physical and mental trials, you've survived a procedure that had a 40% percent chance of killing you, and not only that but with just two weeks of training, you managed to take down an anomaly that was equal to your respective levels." A genuine grin spread across his wrinkled lips as his eyes held a proud glint.
"If that's not perseverance, then I honestly don't know what is." He said with a laugh, "This is what it means to become an anomaly correction officer, you must expect the unexpected, to find success where others find failure, and most importantly, you must also remember why we do this."
The administrator then nodded his head as he glanced over the small group of cadets, "But I'm sure you couldn't care less about an old man rambling, so without further delay…." The administrator reached out a hand towards an officer who was standing near the folders.
The officer nodded as he handed the administrator a folder, which he accepted.
Bringing the folder closer to himself and opening it, "….will cadet Felix Abel come up to receive his badge and certificate."
Felix grinned uncontrollably as gently removed himself from Tammy's grasp. She had an excitied expression on her face as she began clapping loudly, the other cadets following her lead.
Marcus joined Tammy in clapping. He was proud of Felix's accomplishment, he came in with the goal of proving himself and that's exactly what he did.
"You look really happy for him," Luna commented.
Marcus nodded as he watched Felix step up to the stage. "Yeah, that's my brother," Marcus said earnestly.
Felix saluted the administrator as he greeted him, the administrator returned the gesture, before handing him his folder and a white badge with a black line design.
"Congratulations, Officer Abel." The administrator said as he gave Felix a firm handshake and pat on the back.
"Thank you," Felix said as he stepped away from the administrator. Turning around to depart from the stage, the administrator chucked, pointing towards the uniforms, "Hey, I know the uniform isn't glamorous, but it's still mandatory." He joked.
"Oh right!" Felix said as he walked over to the officer who was handing out uniforms. The officer examined the uniforms quickly, grabbing the one with Felix's name tag.
Felix accepted the uniform, and the crowd began to clap once more. Felix made his way back to Marcus and Tammy with a goofy grin.
"Hello sir," Marcus said with a chuckle.
"Good day cadet," Felix replied, showing off his badge.
As the boys chuckled at their shared joke, the administrator continued calling cadets up one by one.
Each cadet walked up to receive their badge, certificate, and uniform. The ceremony was rather straightforward and informal, much like the entirety of the exams, but in the end, it seemed meaningful in a strange sense.
Eventually, Marcus's name was called. "Cadet Marcus Fall, will you please come forward to receive your badge and certificate." The administrator said as he looked over the crowd.
Marcus took a deep breath, before Felix slapped his back, causing him to stumble forward. "Stop thinking bro, just go," Felix said with a chuckle as he began clapping loudly, nudging Tammy to do the same.
Marcus rolled his eyes as he jogged up to the stage, the crowd clapping and cheering as all eyes were on him. Reaching the stage, the administrator greeted Marcus with a knowing smile. "So…" he began with a smirk, "looks like you're a man after all." He said as he handed Marcus his badge and certificate.
Marcus smirked as he accepted them. "Yeah, I guess it just takes a good hit to the cranium." He joked.
The administrator laughed as he shook Marcus's hand firmly. "Congratulations Marcus." He said sincerely.
Marcus nodded, feeling a great sense of accomplishment.
He turned around, where the officer who was handling the uniforms already had his held out.
Marcus accepted the uniform, before returning to his place beside Felix and Luna.
"We did it, bro," Felix says with a grin as he fist-bumped Marcus.
"That we did Felix." Marcus replied, "That we did."
As the ceremony continued Marcus's mind was racing with thoughts of the future. The new challenges, new places, and new opportunities awaited him.
As the last cadet returned back to the crowd as an officer, the administrator addressed the crowd once more. "Congratulations, you are now officially recognized as officers employed with the organization, now go forth and pack your bags, because you will be deployed within the hour."
The cadets, now officers, laughed in unison, clearly thinking that the administrator was joking.
Though his lips held a smile, he was not joking. "In your folders are your assignment details, your chosen partner, and your assigned mentor. For some of you, your partner will be your mentor due to internal reasons."
Everyone began to open their folders, Marcus included. Looking at the details, Marcus noticed that his assigned partner was Kael, and his mentor was…. Lieutenant Lance?!
Felix's expression fell as he studied the details in his folder. "Bro, he said with a sigh, my mentor is Lieutenant Revia."
"Who's your partner?" Marcus asked curiously, peaking to look at its contents.
"Tammy," Felix replied with a smirk.
Marcus rolled his eyes as he looked back at his own folder, scanning down the page as he looked for where he was to be deployed.
It was New York….
Marcus thought about it for a bit, shaking his head side to side, before eventually nodding, "I got deployed to New York, what about you?" Marcus asked Felix.
"Tokyo." He replied while scratching his head. "That's strange, I don't speak Japanese."
"I do!" Tammy said with excitement.
Felix nodded his head with affirmation. "Well that settles it, time to go to the land of giant robots and anime!" Felix exclaimed as he darted off towards the dorms to pack his bags.
Marcus sighed as he watched him go. "I wanna go to Japan…." he grumbled.