"Charon?"
Kichirou had no clue what Charon was exactly, but he knew it had to be better than the current predicament he found himself in, and so he decided to go with the squadron without a word.
On the trip back to the city, Kichirou saw things he'd never seen before. In the three years he had spent away from civilizations, Kichirou had never even left his own town. Now he was riding on the back of a vehicle that was somehow hovering just above the ground as though the force of gravity was nothing but a mere suggestion.
"Cool, isn't it?
A young woman who couldn't have been any older than 21 spoke.
"When I was your age, I never would've thought that things would end up like they are."
Kichirou thought for a moment.
"Yeah, I don't really understand much, but I'm at the very least glad to be around people again."
After a few days of travel, Kichirou found himself standing in front of the entrance to what appeared to be a bunker. After being driven in on the squad car, Kichirou was greeted with a long, dark hallway, at the end of which lay an auspicious light. When he finally reached the end of the corridor, Kichirou was greeted by an amiable looking man, to which all 5 soldiers saluted and began to shout.
"Supreme Commander Ramirez!"
He waved them off before turning to Kichirou.
"Hey Kid! Damn! You've certainly got some eyes on you there! Well, anyway, I'd like to cordially welcome you to the Charon, the last bastion of humanity. This is mainly a military city, however, you are free to live a completely normal life here."
"Supreme Commander, was it? Thank you for welcoming me into your city, but, what exactly would this military be fighting, exactly? It's not like there are any other armies left on earth to even fight against, right? Considering you called it the 'Last Bastion of Humanity'."
The commander grimaced before responding
"We aren't fighting against other humans anymore.
Kichirou felt incredibly confused
"The Cratering was brought upon us by an alien civilization, which brought the Galactic Defense Alliance's attention to us. They explained to us that, for the past 100 solar cycles, all of the galaxies in our universe have been engaged in a massive war, and that we've now been brought into the fray. Having joined the alliance, some of the brightest scientists in our galaxy were sent to help ready us to join the war effort, and we're almost ready to join in earnest. Plans are to make our debut within the current solar cycle.
The Supreme Commander's face then went back to normal.
"But what does any of that matter to you, right? Come with me out of this office and let's get you settled!"
Kichirou followed, not knowing what to even say. There was so much he didn't know, but at the very least there was one thing he was sure of: Those eyes of his must have been something from whatever alien civilization had attacked them all that time ago. They must've been the ones who'd taken his father from him, and made him survive through those hellish days alone on the surface. Just as these thoughts started racing to him, Commander Ramirez came to a sudden stop, and Kichirou saw the woman who'd rescued him from before.
"Squad Commander Jane Anderson, I assume you understand the responsibility you're taking, correct?"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. You don't have to be so formal all the time, Jack. We've known each other for pretty much forever."
"Well, work is work, Jane. I don't have much of a choice, especially in front of this guy here. Gotta look good in front of the new kid, you know?"
"Whatever Jack, I know the assignment. I'll take good care of him."
'Good care of him? What the hell is she talking about?'
Jane quickly turned to face Kichirou
"I'll be taking care of you from now on. Frankly, your eyes are too much of an anomaly to have you living by yourself or with the other orphans, so I'll be looking over you to make sure nothing weird or dangerous happens."
"Alright, then."
Though Kichirou wasn't exactly pleased by the notion of living with this woman he didn't know, he wasn't exactly opposed. He wanted to be kept close to Earth's fighting force, just in case he ever decided to join the organization. Kichirou was well aware that during the three years he'd lost to the wilderness, he'd developed no skills that would be of any use for an average day job, but perhaps they would help him in a fight for humanity.
Soon, Kichirou was left standing before the door to an apartment he'd soon call home, he'd decided to get a good look at his surroundings first.
'Room number 618, huh. It makes sense, since we are on the 6th floor.
Kichirou then took note of the carpeted hallway
'There's even carpet on the floor of the hallway, they're really going all out here.'
"You just gonna look around or do you wanna finally get your ass inside?"
"Alright, alright, I'm coming."
Kichirou took his first steps into the apartment and took in his surroundings. The apartment seemed to be a quite standard flat. In the middle of what seemed to be the living area there was a medium-sized square table filled with what appeared to be various kinds of snacks and cans of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Adjacent to the table was a couch that was, though worn, very well functioning and had enough space to fit at least 4 people if they were to squeeze together. Across the room from the couch there was a wall-mounted television, big enough to dwarf any of Kichirou's expectations, but not so big as to be considered large by any means.
In a room bordering the living area, Kichirou found what appeared to be a kitchen. There was an oven with a stove top, a microwave, a sink, and other small appliances around the kitchen area, but none were so noteworthy that it required Kichirou any extra thought. It was a kitchen, plain and simple.
Right next to the entrance to the apartment there was a door that presumably led to what Kichirou could only assume to be a bedroom, most likely primarily used by Jane, though he wasn't able to enter this room to further examine it.
"Hey, I'm gonna go out on the balcony for a smoke real quick, get out here soon, we have to talk."
Kichirou who also had a lot of questions to ask Jane some questions, quickly navigated through the living area and down a small flight of stairs and stepped out onto the balcony. Kichirou was immediately astounded by the lights he saw in the distance. He hadn't quite had the time to take it in before, but it was clear to him that Charon was quite the beautiful city.
"You said we have to talk?"
"Yeah, we do. I'm not gonna ask what's up with those emissions coming out of your eyes, but I just want to make sure you'll be okay getting accustomed to this city. Even though everyone else has been living in Charon for the past 3 years during its construction, this place is completely new to you, so there's a lot more to take in at once.
Kichirou nodded, understandingly. He knew that if he wanted to have some semblance of a normal life he'd have to get used to his surroundings first.
"The first thing I want you to do is go out and get used to the city. Meet some people and let them meet you. Here, take these."
Jane threw Kichirou a pair of sunglasses and a hat, as well as a strange clippable bracelet that was fairly thick. Kichirou raised the bangle in the air
"What's this?"
"That's your identification, wallet, everything. Make sure not to lose it, The sunglasses and cap are to make your eye's radiance less noticeable. There's some clothes on the couch so you don't have to keep wearing those rags you have on. Make sure to buy some more clothes while you're out, though. I don't have much for someone like you to wear around here."
The last comment made a lot of sense. Jane was quite tall, taller than Kichirou by quite a bit, and her daily wardrobe wouldn't contain many things a guy Kichirou's age would want to wear in the first place, regardless of whether they fit him or not.
"Alright, I got it."
"Oh, by the way, you may not have noticed the bathroom on the way in since it's not on the same level as everything else. Just turn left on your way in and you'll see it."
"Alright, thanks."
Kichirou quickly picked up the clothes he found on the couch and got changed into the sweatpants and t-shirt Jane had left out for him in the bathroom. After a little fiddling with the ID bracelet, Kichirou was able to just barely figure out how it worked a little bit, being able to bring up a picture of himself as well as a display of just how much money he had in USD. Kichirou saw his own short dark hair, fair skin and what appeared to be normal looking eyes? They must've edited the picture in some way. It also appeared that Jane had graciously gifted him $300 to work with during his outing, an amount that surprised Kichirou quite a lot. He hadn't expected Jane to be so kind to him, but it was apparent that she was a pretty kind person at heart, though she may not always express it in obvious ways. Kichirou pondered this until he eventually stepped out of the stairwell on the outside of the building and onto the sidewalk.