Louis feels like a worn rope being used in a tug of war, being pulled back and forth violently. The end result is not an absolute victory for either side, all there will be is a split and tattered rope on the floor, painfully grimacing in pain as it is severed into 2, waiting to be chucked into the dustbin of dreams, just another poor soul claimed by the cruelty of the universe.
And what is equally belonging to the dustbin is his shooting skills.
Louis sat on a speeding jeep, feebly aiming at the targets that popped up. He pulled the trigger, missing his shots.
He grunted, readjusting his aim and shooting, managing to get some on target, though most bullets still whizzed past the targets like nothing, hitting into the dirt piles by the targets, sending up clouds of dust that appears to be cruel jeers and laughs at Louis' incompetence.
Ariel and Clara are in front of him on the jeep, hitting the targets quickly, not missing a single shot, being as precise as ever without the use of Exo-suits' fire control AI. The 2 swiftly reloaded their guns and aimed down the optics, acting as if it is as easy as breathing for them.
The jeep came to a halt, and the 3 fell in.
"Next!" yelled Herbert.
Sean, Carl, and Giorgio readied themselves, stepping onto the jeep…
(A few weeks later, boy's dorm)
"Mama-mia, that's an ugly cut," commented Giorgio, helping Carl to change the bandage on his shoulder. During the last exercise of the day, Carl had taken a bad fall in a roping course when he slipped, landing on his back. The HK-416A5 rifle on his back had slammed into his shoulder, cutting it.
Their dorm only has the 2 of them instead of the standard 4. Their roommates had been eliminated. 1 quit, the other washed out.
Carl remained silent.
"It's now the end of February," he commented. "We have gone through a month's worth of selection."
"Mhmm," said Giorgio plainly. "Anyhow, Dr Wang told me that your injuries require—"
"ATC should be coming soon," interrupted Carl, clearly more concerned with the selection than his injuries.
Giorgio sighed.
(The next day)
"Number 39, would you betray your comrade or turn your back on your task?" asked Nanami, leaning lazily against her chair, her fingers twirling a pen playfully.
Albert thought for a while. After the day's training ended, the cadets are brought in 1 by 1 to an interview in front of the board of instructors.
"Ma'am. There is a fallacy in your question," said Albert. "You assume that comrade and task are always mutually exclusive when in practice, they're often interdependent.in fact the premise for such an extreme choice is—"
Nanami laughed, she leaned forward, looking at him sultrily. "You are thinking too much darling~"
"I need more information, that's my final answer," replied Albert.
"Number 9, your teammate screws up and civilians die. They break down in front of you. What do you do?" asked Reza.
"Help them stand back up. Then make damn sure they never screw up like that again," replied Sean.
"Number 4, you are ordered to partner with someone whom you think will get you killed, what do you do?" asked James.
"Well, good soldiers follow orders," replied Erika, with a slight disdain in her tone.
"Number 74, what will you do if you saw a comrade being bullied by your squad leader but your company commander orders you to stay silent?" asked Santos.
"Of course I will snitch," replied Eddie instantly.
"But you will likely face consequences for it, no?" pressed Santos calmly.
"Then take it to a higher command level," said Eddie with an incredulous chuckle.
"Number 101, your body's at breaking point. Keep pushing or take the medical drop?" asked Jay.
"Keep pushing until I can't move. I'd rather break than quit," replied Clara.
"Number 31, your CO orders you to execute wounded POWs when retreating, otherwise you will be dragged down by the enemy. Will you?" asked Franz.
"If there is really no other option…" muttered Ariel hesitantly. "I will turn myself to the military court the moment we return."
"Number 23, would you pause a mission to help a civilian behind enemy lines?" asked Herbert.
"No, we are here to win," replied Carl. "That civilian will either slow us down or worse, expose us."
"Number 92, you are on retreat and need to abandon something. Do you choose the heavily wounded that may not live or heavy equipment that may be crucial for the counterattack?" asked an instructor.
"No weapon can worth as much as a soldier," replied Giorgio.
"Number 17, what do you consider to be your greatest strength?" asked an instructor?
"Tovarisch," grinned Vera. "The fact that I am here. I will always be here."
"Number 42," asked Maia with a side glance. "What would you do if your value in the operation is doubted?"
Louis looked down, then his head rose up again.
"I will work to prove myself, eventually."
(Office)
"You can't be serious," said Maia, folding her arms.
"How so?" asked Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Xiao Tian, who is typing away on a device.
Maia pointed to the name list of the shortlisted cadets for the ATC segment, pointing to the last cadet number in the list of 20 shortlisted.
Number 42.
"Him? The scraper?" she asked incredulously, as if hearing the most ridiculous joke of her 23 years long life.
"I suggest we just wash him out, you can see his performance, his shooting is a complete mess, his physicality is average, he is only holding on due to expertise in communication equipment, being a nerd in military theory and sheer dumb luck, it's only a matter of time before—"
"Well, is he washed out? Does he meet the failing criteria?" asked Xiao Tian.
"No, but—" replied Maia.
"Then that settles it," replied Xiao Tian.
Maia rolled her eyes. "It's not just my idea, sir, the other instructors have also come the same conclusion as I—"
"Comrade, rules are rules," smiled Xiao Tian, but there is a hint of displeasure and annoyance in his voice.
Maia raised her hands up. "All I am trying to do is to remind you, as the commissar of the UNSSD SOC, we don't have an obligation towards him."
"I have an obligation towards him," replied Xiao Tian firmly. "So do you, so do all of us. To treat him in accordance with the rules of the selection."
Maia stared at him, speechless.
Xiao Tian stopped typing, leaning back on his chair, looking at Maia dead in the eye. His signature friendly smile is gone now, replaced by a stern half-frown.
"It's out of character of you, Artemis 11, to be so hung up on a normie," he said. "You are the prideful and haughty one of Squad Artemis."
"I wonder if this interest in Number 42 is really because you are a tough instructor, or is it a way to, vent your emotions over the incident on Sean? The 2 are close too, and you know it is almost impossible to wash Sean out, he is Artemis 9 after all," said Xiao Tian, with the confidence of a man who just cracked the tricks of a magician.
Maia looked down, avoiding eye contact.
He sighed, "but you have my word, if Louis needs to be washed out as decided by the rules of the course, I will not show mercy."
(The next week)
"I still cannot believe I made it," muttered Louis as he stared into his image in the mirror, his mind still reeling from the news that he is selected into ATC.
The instructors had conducted another round of interviews, and then gave the verdict.
Louis still remember what happened when Xiao Tian and Franz called him back into the meeting room:
"Welcome to ATC, Number 42," said Franz with a plain face.
Louis could not believe his ears, he froze.
"Comrade?" asked Xiao Tian. "You ok?"
"Yes sir…yes…" mumbled Louis, still reeling from the shock.
Realising he had not saluted, he gave the 2 officers a huge salute. "SIR YES SIR!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.
"At ease, lad," said Xiao Tian, "anything you want to ask?"
"No sir," replied Louis.
"Ok good, call Number 17 in," said Franz.
Louis saluted the 2 again, then turned, marching out.
"THUD!" he slipped, falling onto the floor.
Franz looked away.
"You are sick or is the floor slippery?" asked Xiao Tian.
"Neither, sir," replied Louis, getting up.
"Be careful on your way," said Franz.
Louis nodded, walking out. Once he was out of earshot, Franz and Xiao Tian burst out in muffled laughs.
"Shhh…" chuckled Franz.
Xiao Tian nodded, covering his mouth with his hands.
Back in the present, Louis adjusted his new UNSSD camouflage combat uniform in front of the mirror. This is a new set of camouflage that he has never seen before. It is mostly in white and grey coloured pixels, one that does not match any kind of terrain on Earth, or on known alien worlds.
"What you are looking at is the Space camouflage," said Sean, walking in, he is wearing one such uniform as well.
"Space?" asked Louis, puzzled.
"Well, UNSSD, in order to differentiate itself from other Earth militaries on Earth when not in an environment needing camouflage, created it," explained Sean. "It's a bit of a practical joke from those of us in the service: this camouflage does not work in any natural environment, so it might as well be designed for Space."
Louis stifled a laugh.
"Ok, that's harsh," corrected Sean. "It does work decently when dirtied in snow and urban combat scenarios, but nah, still objectively the most useless camouflage we have."
"Even more than the blue ocean camouflage?" asked Louis.
Sean frowned, folding his arms. "Hmm," he muttered.
"Hmm," Louis muttered along.
"Hmmmm," added Sean.
"Hmmmmm," copied Louis.
Louis squinted. "We doing this all day?"
The 2 stared at each other, then both burst out laughing, slapping each other in the shoulder.
"Looking forward to being your comrade for even longer!" beamed Louis, giving a crisp salute.
Sean laughed, about to raise his hand to give a salute back. He paused, then saluted with both hands.
"You deserve 2 for making it here to ATC buddy," smiled Sean encouragingly.
"Then you also need 2!" exclaimed Louis, doing the same.
Sean laughed, and the 2 ended up double saluting each other one after another. At this moment the 2 are not merely comrades in the same cadet course, but more like 2 childish brothers happily messing around.
"Oi, don't leave us out leh!" exclaimed Eddie, running in with Albert, both dressed in Space camouflage and doing the double saluting too.
"Eh c'mon leh," nudged Eddie. The 3 turned to Albert, who stood motionless, observing the 3's antics like a confused teacher looking at his students doing funny things.
The 3 looked at Albert with anticipatory eyes. Eventually Albert sighed.
"Why do I even bother…" he said as he did the double salute. The 4 all laughed, doing the double salutes one after another, having a mini-celebration of fun before going back to the grind, into the notorious stress high ATC.