A brown-haired European and American man with a small beard appeared on the high platform on time, and his only action up there was to glance at the ink-black watch on his hand.
It was not clear what brand the watch was from afar, and one could only sense the designer's peak reverence for minimalism.
At 7:35, the entrance closed. The late arriving students were blocked outside the square. At this time there were only seven or eight hundred people in the MU's plaza, less than one tenth of the total number of Class A students.
"The A Academy speech will now begin." The man on the high platform spoke, and I didn't realize until now that he had an earpiece and microphone hanging from his right ear, mistakenly thought to be hair due to the color: "My name is Dyson Andres, last SEAL Grand Commander of the United States of America Sector, and I am now under Calibre Terran, your Headmaster."
"I wanted to surprise you all," Dyson's tone mocked as his intonation began to rise, "but I didn't think you'd surprise me instead. Is that all the smart people you have?"
His words echoed through the stereo in all directions and the territory fell silent, the air heavy on my head. It was quiet, perhaps because of guilt and low self-esteem, or perhaps out of a smart man's intention to simply not be ready to be any kind of outlier.
"You guys are disappointing me." Dyson continued slowly, "A mere five minutes away, and I mercifully gave you an extra five minutes, and less than ten percent of you completed the mission. Do you have any idea what the fuck you're here for!"
"As for the cuties who completed the mission, they get an extra 800 credits. As for you guys ..."
He stormed out, "You're just a bunch of dumbasses! While I don't expect you to be special forces, basically none of you realize that the information you have is wrong! I know some of you came here with the idea of being Special Forces, but you can't even distinguish a map now what the hell do you expect to do later!"
"Now, if you're just one of those especially lucky, fantasy-brained military buffs, dumbasses who think they can be superheroes, or someone who's just here for a layer of gilding the lily, then you can call it a day. There's a transport plane waiting for you at the airport right now."
"Of course to take care of your pathetic egos, we'll tell everyone that you're only returning because you failed the secondary test. We're still merciful."
He had that cold, mocking grin on his face, like a cobra, and you had no way of knowing whether he was treating you like prey or a reptile that wasn't even prey enough. Everyone at the bottom was silent, but the coldness of the soldiers on guard duty was in stark contrast to the paranoia among the students. I look around me and think it doesn't matter, one day at a time is one day at a time. Perhaps this is the most essential difference between me and these people here, each of them has a purpose for being here, but what about me?
For a moment I stood in the fog, surrounded by confusion.
But Dyson clearly didn't give me any more time to get lost. Motorola's iconic "grunt, grunt, grunt" cell phone ringtone rang, in the sound of "hello moto" after Dyson pulled out the old-fashioned cell phone to perform as slowly put next to the microphone.
"This old man is here to pretend to be stupid, sooner or later, he'll become stupid#." Ji Ling muttered. A few people around him still couldn't resist craning their heads to look at him, and the simultaneous interpreter standardly told them the significance of the beautiful Chinese phrase.
"67." a number rang out a few seconds later, and the phone hung up.
"Sixty-seven." Dyson dropped the Motorola off the raised platform in one smooth motion, "It's an honor, you lost 67 classmates in the first hour and 27 minutes of the school year that could have gotten you killed in the future, and as far as I'm concerned I get to teach 67 fewer idiots."
A number of people in the four corners of the room were surprised, "Huh?"
"My men report," Dyson continued his speech, "that a total of 67 people failed to take any effective action towards this mission. Yes, even if you failed, you at least gave action to this mission instead of being useless like those 67 idiots. So, congratulations, those of you who are now either inside or outside the plaza, from today onwards you are part of the A Academy."
"Now, you are to demand of yourselves as soldiers. Your first requirement is to do your best to complete the mission." His eyes swept downward, "If said student has any doubts about that requirement, I don't mind sending you back to the plane you came from."
After seeing no response Dyson nodded with slight satisfaction, "OK then it looks like the rest of you aren't as smug as those idiots. So next start remembering point number two. Always keep your wits about you and your doubts."
"I know many of you are unconvinced by this test, convincing or not convincing will always be most useless on the battlefield of the future. The vast majority of you are probably thinking: yes, I could have accomplished the mission just as well if I'd reacted faster, been luckier, and been faster. I'm glad you made this mistake in浥特兰 and not on the battlefield. If that day ever comes you will never see me here speaking to you but enemy special forces."
"All staff with whom you can interact today are your instructors. If on the battlefield you will encounter everything more brutal than this: there will be enemies at your airborne landing sites, houses rushed in with no hostages but explosives, and traitors among your teammates ... Don't question the veracity of these words, I've been through all of them, and so have your instructors."
"So remember these next words of mine:
Number one, you are not Superman.
Number two, if a stupid method works, it's not a stupid method.
Number three, don't be too visible, because that's how you get attacked.
Rule number four, don't be in a bunker with a guy who's braver than you.
Rule number five, don't forget that the weapon you're holding was made by the lowest bidder.
Rule number six, if your attack goes well, you've been set up.
Rule number seven, no plan can be carried out after a hostile encounter.
Rule 8, all 5-second grenade fuses burn out in 3 seconds.
Rule number nine, pretend to be irrelevant because the enemy may be running low on ammo.
Rule 10, that enemy unit you're not paying attention to is actually the main force of the attack.
Rule 11, the important things are always simple.
Rule 12, the simple things are always difficult.
Rule 13: The well-trodden path is always mined.
Rule 14: If you have nothing to lose but your enemies, you must be at war.
Rule 15, flying bullets have priority of passage.
Rule 16, if the enemy is in your range, don't forget that you're in his.
Rule 17, equipment that has to be used together to be effective is usually not shipped together.
Rule 18, the radio always goes out when you need fire support.
Rule 19, anything you do can get you shot. ---- Doing nothing can get you shot.
Article 20, the only thing more accurate than enemy fire is friendly fire.
Article 21, the behavior of professional soldiers is predictable, but the world is full of amateurs.
Rule number twenty-two, when both armies find themselves pleasant, then they're probably both right."
"So good luck in becoming war machines in the future, a kind of war machine that can keep its sanity and kill at all times, my students." Dyson said softly.
It was many years later that I was able to understand for myself what that really meant; the machine represented standard sanity and self-discipline, and its and the killing itself conflicted with each other. And the only thing that could balance the two together had should not be on the battlefield.
Principles.
There are no rules or morals in the world, the only thing that can control you is the thin line that hangs over your heart. Maybe everyone can pull the trigger on a man with a mean face and a weapon, but what if it's a woman? What about a child?
Not everyone can be like Hong Qigong to Qiu Qian Ren roared out: "Not bad. Old Screamer has killed two hundred and thirty-one people in his life, and each of these two hundred and thirty-one people is a villain, if it is not a corrupt official, a tyrant or a bully, it is a great traitor and a person who is negative about justice and good fortune. The old man is a greedy drinker and a glutton, but he has never killed a good man in his life. Qiu Qian Ren, you are the two hundred and thirty-second person!"
This is a kind of relief, I am not Hong Qigong, not a warrior, just an ordinary person.
Again, it was many years later that I realized it was not that I should envy those great warriors, but that those great warriors should envy me. The future felt like my younger self at the time never thought of another possibility, just like I didn't think of the sudden derailment of my life at the time.
"So that's all that needs to be said, now on to the caveats. One, no matter how many years of training you have ahead of you, in the event of a war you will be the first to rush to the battlefield; two, the number of you eliminated each year will be the number of you admitted the following year, and there are a lot of people out there counting on you; three, there will be a special explanatory document for what your credits are good for; and four, withdrawals are in the Registrar's Office."
After leaving a dismissal, he disappeared above the high platform.