In the corner of my room, which was separated into 4 parts was that weird blue-hair air-vent-having woman, laughing while looking down at some random magazine. She, being there was a bit irritating at first glance, but I barely knew her, and the fact that we have a pretty dang small amount of living space now doesn't have to change anything.
The other two people in here were both men who were currently talking about who-knows-what, both of them were bald and wearing similar clothing—A white shirt with white pants and a white sock cap.
I walked around the room as no one seemed to notice me. It was a rectangular space with nothing but a bed, a closet, and the bathroom that was too tiny to accommodate three people.
Then again, only one person should enter the bathroom at a time anyways.
That didn't make the experience any less awful. The colors and dampness were already disgusting on the eyes and the nose.
If anything... it was suffocating in here, just a little.
"Hah? Is it? Is it really? And then, he did—Heeey! What's the greenhorn doin' over there!?"
I snapped back to reality at the ringing squeaky sound coming from Ootaea.
Did she just name me greenhorn?
"Yo! Greenhorn! Gonna just stand there? Come get along with the rest of us instead of staring at that bathroom for god-knows-what reasons!"
Why were so many people making fun of my demeanor? Why are people so oddly playful to someone they barely knew...? And-
"And don't stare at me like that... I know I'm beautiful, but there's no need to look at me for this long, get it?"
Bingo.
"Ahaha... Sorry, I just found it odd that you would be here..."
"O-ho~ I see, so you expected me to die during training, hmm? Ah, as expected of Dofro. The person whose fear causes him to have nightmares while walking!"
Now she's just making stuff up. "Are you just trying to get on my nerves? Look, I-"
I stopped, frozen in place because one of the bald men came to my side. He gave me a very creepy smile and an even scarier grin. He placed a hand on my shoulder- And when I mention huge, I mean that his hand is huge.
"My name's Je. Nice to meet you, pal. Welcome."
"It's Dofro. name's Dofro, hi."
"Aww. What a boring greeting. Geez man! And you expect to get along here with an attitude like this, hm? You're lucky he's not like those men who tighten up at a glance!" Ootaea spoke about Je, who was not responding and seemed content to remain smiling creepily.
His eyes, a brown that is too black for normal, stared off into the distance as he had not removed his hand from me and started speaking again.
"Ignore the peach. She's still young and unbearable. Unlike my brother over there, his name is Ge. Nice to meet you, partner. Hope we work great in the field of combat together!" He smiled as widely as a Cheshire.
Was it normal to have these two names that sounded weirdly similar...?
For some reason, instead of continuing her usual mockery of insults that were completely random and uncalled for, Ootaea sat down on her bed began staring at nothing in particular, with a finger in her mouth.
Everybody here is acting so strange, maybe except for Je, and hopefully his brother Ge.
"Wait, it's hard to distinguish me and Ge, right? What do you think?"
I nodded along, but after thinking about it, I suppose that everyone has their own difficulties with living life...
"I suppose it is hard, your names are barely spoken any differently, and don't make your appearances the same..."
They were both huge, tall and with long brown hair that fell upon their chests, and had very white faces that glowed lightly in the sun that shone through the windows.
"Ahahaha!" Ge came closer and started laughing. His laughter was a great deal scarier and more booming than Je's voice. Freaks of nature... these brothers, right before my eyes, and apparently under my wings. "Right!? In school. me and Je would have this trouble, we would confuse names a lot! This was common back in the days when we would cause issues to many. It was fun, and it never had to do with school-life, this sort of conflict wasn't our style."
His tone sounded like it had come from some wise guy who would soon reveal the end of the world to us, his voice and intonation were seriously not fitting for the giant guy's words. "By the way! What'd you study before you got here?"
How did it get to that? Well, I suppose I'll bite. "I was studying..." Studying... What did I study here?
For unknown reasons, my mind began to race on things. Study...
'Remember! Do your homework!' An unknown voice said to me.
'Doffy, are you also going to take a test tomorrow?' Another one spoke.
'Do it or else.' The last sentence was the only thing I had a recollection of before I lost track of everything and a headache was on the rise. I pinched my temples in an attempt to nullify the pain, or maybe suppress it.
Ge seemed to notice that something wasn't right. "Are you okay? Sorry, didn't know that studying wasn't your strong suit."
"What're you talkin' about?" Ootaea's voice broke the silence with her snarky, obnoxious speech. "Leave little Greenhorn alone! He's still new here, y'know? Plus, have you heard how long he ran during training today? I bet you anything that he's just sleepy and tired from all of that."
Surprisingly, she actually was being somewhat helpful at a time where my thoughts and concentration were already all messed up.
A weird gap in my memory seemed to occur for reasons not yet apparent to me. It didn't feel too odd at the moment since this is the first time the issue manifests, and my time at the ADF is literally just now starting. Maybe this sort of stuff was to be expected.
In response, Ge placed his hands around his waist and walked away, Je followed right after.
Ootaea walked up to me and placed her palm against my left eye. "Hmm... You know, you should get some rest, we got training tomorrow, and you'll be running along for quite a bit." Her words seem to tell less than her eyes, she had something to say, I know that for sure, but it didn't exactly look like she wanted to add to it.
"Okay, thanks Ootaea... Just give me some space, yeah?" I let out a sigh after realizing her behavior was, by now, entirely predictable. "Sorry, I'll go to sleep." Perhaps some peace and quiet would be best for me.
Ootaea moved away and sat down on her bed, once again looking at the magazines that laid open on it.
I walked to the bunk bed that I had to share with her and climbed up the steps of the ladder. It wasn't bad, the beds weren't super soft but neither were they incredibly firm, and there were two blankets for me which was nice.
While laying atop my bed I thought to myself, what if me and Alice had a kid... How much more perfect would life be then?
What if... Instead of going outside that day, we just stayed home and enjoyed our lives?
Then maybe... none of this would happen. None of this would have become mine, I would still be working a monotonous job. Living the same mundane, bland, unexciting life.
I closed my eyes and wandered off to sleep.
...
There I was, standing in a desolate, white desert.
Infront of me was that Amalgamate that ended her life.
I was naked, yet, my body was shrouded in a fog that didn't allow me to move or speak.
And then, it spoke those same words. "You... Not... Same..."
Its flesh writhed on its surface; it had begun to grow scales and bark, branches and limbs came from its body. Its tongue lulling out and onto the ground. "You... Will... Not..." It grew large and rose above me, then took a step towards me. I could not move, I tried, but I couldn't.
Its movements were swift but lacked grace or speed, and yet I didn't even manage to avoid it.
The pain of its foot hitting my neck was insufferable.
Pain... How? I was dreaming. None of this could be real. But it was real. Its face had become all blurred, the legs of it too, blurry like a puddle of water. The smell of that horrible thing had made me wake up from the nightmare.
As I had fallen off of the bed, I was lucky that there was a blanket below me.
"Hey man, you alright? You seem to be sweating real hard." Je... Or was it Ge? Either way, one of the brothers lent me a hand with a concerned look plastered on their face.
I shook off the remaining effects of the dream and turned to see his face again.
Ge... I don't know much about him, but he doesn't feel right in the slightest.
"You... You shouldn't... Not... Be-" My vision was going crazy, I had no idea what I was looking at.
Effects from the dream? A two-dimensional sound? Perhaps a one-dimensional voice. Or a four-dimensional sense of touch? Could be a seven-dimensional smell. Was it the 10-dimensional sight? No. This is the eleven-dimensional taste. The twelve-dimensional taste. Could it be a Zero-dimensional existence? There is nothing that can make this problem easier to bear. Easier to bear? My memories were easy to understand. Easy. Easy. Easy to... Understand? Easy to understand. My own murmurs are inaudible. They were all loud and deafening at first. The first sounds of hearing. Then, I regained my sanity.
Ge was in my sight, Ootaea too. They both stood and looked at me with worry.
"You okay, Greenhorn...? You seem to have seen better days." She looked more worried than yesterday. "Sorry."
"Yeah. What did you just say? Something about dimensions... are you-"
"Yes, yes. I'm alright. I just had a terrible dream and woke up like that." My thoughts were returning to the present moment. It seems that Ge wasn't lending a hand anymore, if he even was lending one to begin with.
"I've got some water if you're thirsty." Ootaea offered a cup to me, I accepted it graciously. I drank from the cup.
"Thank you. Maybe you aren't as crazy as I thought...?" My words probably didn't seem as honest as they could have been, perhaps due to my intonation, or my voice itself being shaky after that bizarre sequence of events.
Ootaea chuckled to herself. "Hehe... Don't test me! I can easily punch the crap out of ya, weakling!" Her tone shifted from kind to menacing and then back to a cheerful one in the matter of seconds. I don't get this girl.
A long whistle blew from the speakers, then a gruff sounding voice spoke into a microphone, though it felt a lot like he was trying his best not to fall asleep.
"This concludes your first night in our fine establishment, soldiers... As of now, the training course has officially started. Please, remain silent and allow our division leaders to retrieve you and guide you to the yard. Remember to eat first at... the cafeteria. Follow the instructions that the soldiers provide you with, thank you."
With his speech being cut short right as we heard him yawn, I didn't know how to react. But before I could think on it further, a strong and loud female voice blared through the speakers.
"Wake up soldiers! It is I, Yovan Shap! Leader of the Rescue Division! I know you're all scared, but there's no reason to fear! We are safe as we are! Do not falter, men and women!"
I hadn't noticed but Ootaea had walked right beside me, smiling as she usually does.
The woman known as 'Yovan' Continued to speak through the speakers, "I, Yovan! Will deliver to you, my soldiers, my words, to convey the greatest strength possible. The power of willpower! If you believe in the life of the civilians you fight for! And trust me! Those poor folk out there need our help! We cannot forget that! As long as you follow my commands! You will never falter! You will be trained under the mighty force of the rescue squad!"
Her voice was proud and clear. She didn't stutter nor did she hesitate to speak loudly and proudly.
She also continued speaking for five entire minutes, straight. It was a bunch of things such as 'We will not falter' and 'We shall persevere through the greatest misery,' over and over in different ways.
It wasn't inspiring, that's for sure, and I suppose I'm not a part of this division as Je and Ge prepared themselves and left the room, leaving me and Ootaea waiting.
That same gruff voice returned and spoke into the intercom, "Here is Division Leader Tiette... Commanding Officer of the Hunting Force... We hunt amalgamates... And... Yawn... Kill 'em. Simple... Get ready and don't leave the dorms yet, Because I have a few more things to say... We... Are... Good and kind... To kill Amalgamates... Killing these beasts saves us from any threat... These are monsters that feed off humans, don't forget it..." You could feel how tired Tiette was just from the way he spoke... Perhaps he was a busy man who barely got any sleep. "...Hm... Where was I? Oh, right... Kill Amalgamates, don't leave people to die, save 'em, do that good stuff... Hm... And, that's about it. If the emblem on your shirt lights up, then move to the cafeteria and eat something healthy. Go through the second door after you come back. That's the briefing room for the hunting division, we await your... Your..." He seemed to have dozed off... What a strange individual.
But as soon as he finished, the black badge on my shirt lit up. I quickly turned my head so that I could see if Ootaea's lit up.
But... to no avail, it remained blank.
So it is just me, hm?
Either way, I was prepared to be alone in the first place.
"Greenhorn! Looks like we'll be apart from each other for quite a while, eh?"
"It seems like it, Ootaea. If you have something to say, you better say it quick."
Ootaea shrugged. "Meh, not really. See you later, greenhorn!"
As I stepped out and headed to the cafeteria hall, I caught sight of a few other individuals who might be joining me in the hunting division.
All of them looked quite unique and definitely belonged here in the ADF. The vibe they gave me was... Rather hostile, to be frank. I guess it was my first impression to think these guys are killers, though some of them were pretty nice. Two big guys who were joking among each others seemed to be the 'gentle-giant' type.
Others were clearly built differently, such as a shorter man who wore an eyepatch with a missing eye and scars across his face. Looked like a typical edgy character from a comic or something...
As I approached the line to get some food, I couldn't help but glance back at the 'edgy man'.
I'm not sure what it was, maybe the fact that I didn't know him at all or what. All I can say is that he gave me this really uneasy feeling deep in my gut.
Not that it matters much in the end.
I ended up waiting for about 20 minutes in the line before I got my food, mainly vegetables, some meat and milk.
...Where were we, middle school? What is with this food? I'm not a boy in his teenage years, come on!
Oh well, food's food. Can't complain.
I ate alone for my first time here, looking around I saw that most people here were eating alone as well, with the exception of 4 groups that seem to have formed already.
It was rather unsettling to be eating alone. It reminded me of Alice...
The more time went by, the more it hit me.
Alice wasn't by my side anymore, that warmness that used to greet me in the morning, gone, along with her smiles, laughter, tears and angry rants when she felt displeased about something.
Just like that, I felt my heart sink deep. But this was no time to let myself be swallowed up by misery. I'll let it eat me up, just not now. Not here.
It took me about 15 minutes to finish, then I rushed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my hands. Afterwards, the intercom buzzed with the voice of Tiette yet again,
"Attention, Hunting Division members... As breakfast is over, you now must... Zzzz... Excuse me, head to your rooms and dress... Up in appropriate clothing... We have provided the hunting gear... For the recruits... And for the new members, you need to check in to... Briefing room number two... And meet up with... Me..."
I think I finally realized why he's talking so lazily.
I walked towards the second briefing room with the other new people around here.
I felt someone tug my shirt and speak, "Hey, rookie! Where's your badge?" One of the guys who was way taller than me had said as I stood near the door with the rest of the newbies, including the edgy man and gentle giants.
"Huh?"
"Your badge, greenhorn!" A familiar voice called out behind me.
"Oh, Ootaea. I thought you wouldn't be joining the hunting squad?"
"Ehhhhh?! Did ya seriously forget about me just now??!! C'mon!"
I nodded. "Anyways, what badge are you talking about?"
Ootaea looked straight at my shirt. "Ah, nevermind. Seems you were wearin' it the whole time! You'll be fine! Oh, and ignore that guy, he's a bit of a perfectionist so he gets bothered by small details!"
"Nah, it's not like that. I've just never seen this person before..." The tall man spoke.
"And who're you callin' person, huh?" Ootaea said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" The tall man questioned with a stern voice. His size didn't exactly help make him seem less intimidating than he actually was.
"Greenhorn right here is a man of war! Y'know!? Ain't no person like him around here!" She pointed at my face and grinned wildly.
I sighed and looked away from the little banter that was ensuing between Ootaea and that tall man, ignoring the argument. Ahead of me was the door that led into the briefing room and the hallway that followed that door seemed darker than the usual white light that was normally spread across all other areas of the complex. It looked strangely devoid of colors and life.
As I waited for everyone to enter the briefing room ahead of me, I noticed a man with long, messy black hair and a sunken face inside the briefing room. He turned around as all of us slowly entered, sighing with exasperation after seeing all our faces and turning his gaze directly at me.
"Ah... Welcome... Newcomers... Today we won't be doing any actual training... But rather, mental preparation and readiness for the job that awaits us... Each of you will have a personalized... Training regime fit for... your abilities and physique... And therefore... I will be assigning you to a chair... For some sort of... A virtual reality simulator, in order... to test your mental and emotional capacity... Before beginning anything physically." Tiette yawned midway through his sentences and each sentence sounded very forced.
He then proceeded to talk to each of us in line, assigning a chair with a letter and number and explained the process for everyone.
"The machines over there are virtual reality simulators... Designed to function... Based on your memories and mental capabilities, thus making every test result... Different for each member... Of our crew... Though we hope that no one starts to go mad over there... So please make sure to report anything strange to any nearby guards... If you need assistance outside of the simulation... Otherwise, I hope you find... Your way to becoming a great member of the ADF... Hunting Division."
At some point, he started leaning forward on his table with a bored expression plastered upon his face.
Finally, it was my turn to be assigned to a machine.
I sat down in front of the VR goggles and put them on. Tiette's voice explaining to me, "The helmet and glove set-up will create... Illusions that make everything... Look and feel real... The gloves work in a similar manner... To haptic technology... Giving feedback based on movement... But remember, do not... Panic while in the illusion... You may exit at any time... By tapping three times on either side of the device... At which point we'll begin training... After finishing your personalized... Simulation program... And we'll recheck your physical health after... Waking up. Is all of that understood?"
"...Understood."
"Good... Now, press the button on top of the glove controllers and enjoy the simulation... Farewell."
The next moment, I suddenly felt dizzy. I could barely keep my eyes open as the scene before me began to change.
And what I saw ahead of me was a street.