It has been three hours since the incident. Zeth and Zoey find themselves in a room, detained by the Zoldier Forces for standard procedure, as they were present in the attack.
[You should've eaten his brain if you wanted answers.]
You should be the one telling me.
[If I knew then, I could've just picked some baby. But I don't get to choose, and neither do you! So deal with it, you're stuck with me!"
So, I'm your first?
[You stupid, virgin, lame, loser, shut up! I hate you and your guts. What do you mean by my 'first'? You have no respect for someone like me, if I can just rip your Zystem out of you, I would and leave you dying here! I hope they torture you—]
Zeth switched his conversation with Zela off by putting the thought at the back of his brain. Slowly, he is learning how to be a proper underling, and he just has to master the Zystem he has.
He takes a breath, contemplating the difference between Zystem users. On the one hand, some Zoldiers possess Zystem powers. On the other hand, there are underlings outside the Force, and not from any other city. Besides himself, it was his first time meeting an underling outside Burns.
But what am I? Zeth thought, I wasn't born with powers… What did the doctor do to me?
There is the matter of the doctor. Zeth learned that Zystems are powers you are born with, so how come he gained one now? Questions upon questions stacked in his mind, he must uncover everything, he thought.
After the confrontation hours ago, they were detained by the reinforcement. Zeth escaped questions about the dead Zoldiers and enemy underling by simply walking away from the scene, and being with the evacuating civilians led by Zoey.
They were put in a detention room inside the Zoldier Forces headquarters of Burn Abbey. It is centrally located in the city, and the surrounding area is a massive administrative complex and training field designed to accommodate the needs and logistics of running a military organization.
The detention room is built with isolation in mind. The metal walls and ceramic flooring emit a cold atmosphere usually found in interrogation rooms.
And that is what Zeth expects to happen now.
Zeth checks himself out, inspecting every inch of his body. The jumpsuit given to them covers his stitches. He observes his legs, it is someone else's, but it feels like his. He wants to explore his powers further.
"And that's why you should chew peas properly before or after an intense workout!"
Zoey has been talking for a while now. Apparently, Zeth has been ignoring her. He nods dumbfoundedly.
"Yeah."
Zoey wears the same jumpsuit, though it doesn't quite fit her figure. The suit strains her frame, making her curves more noticeable, and leaves the collar slightly unzipped, enough to reveal her cleavage.
"I'm glad you helped with the evacuation. We could've helped them defeat the intruders. I just keep thinking about the Zoldiers. I wonder if we could've helped. They wouldn't have to sacrifice their lives."
Zoey sighs, sullenly recalling what happened.
"We did what we were meant to do. Follow orders and keep everyone safe. Give yourself credit, too. You saved those civilians. You led the evacuation, and I followed you."
No one knew what Zeth did, but he figured it was best to keep it a secret.
"But I couldn't save everyone."
"You can't. What matters is that you saved lives."
"What do you think they'll do to us?"
She asked innocently, worried about the possible punishments.
"Whatever it is, I'm sure we're not in trouble."
SLAM!
The door slams open, the Zoldier with the mullet kicks it wide, and his loud entrance catches Zeth and Zoey by surprise.
"You two are in serious trouble!"
Zeth stares at the tapered, bleached, curled mullet; he has cleanly shaved the side of his hairline.
"My name is Zach, squad leader of Team 26, call me captain, nice to meet ya! I will be your investigator today. Anyway, enough of the introductions. I want to know your name, so how about it?"
Zach is a tall, slim, muscular man. Appears to be conventionally attractive. Besides his mullet, his most prominent feature is his necklace. Its pendant is a small puzzle piece, seemingly intended to be part of a set. He is also wearing the same jumpsuit.
Zoey attempts to match Zach's energy, and she stands up stiff and ready.
"Sir, I'm Zoey Grim, sir! I am from the city of Burn Abbey, and we were on our way for the orientation here at HQ when the market was attacked, sir!"
"Outstanding, Zoey! I believe you were responsible for the evacuation?"
"Sir, yes, sir! Along with my friend here, sir!"
Zach turns to Zeth, intensely staring at him, expecting him to respond.
"Err, I'm Zeth… Just Zeth, err, sir?"
Zeth stands up sheepishly, his confidence wavers as he tries to match everyone's vibe.
Zach carefully looks at them, rubbing his chin, then hums in agreement. He gives a cocky smirk before throwing a thumbs-up.
"Alright! Very well, you two look legit! I deem you two innocent of collaborating with the enemy! Thus, I shall hereby declare you two as innocent of any wrongdoing!"
Zoey cheers, raising her arms.
"Hooray!"
Baffled, Zeth reluctantly chuckled.
"H-Hooray…"
"You heard that right! Since I captured one of the two suspects, we do not have enough evidence to believe that the two of you are collaborators. We have no reason to detain you any longer. So, sorry about that! You know how this detention thing is–it's a dirty business! So, save me some paperwork and let's just be innocent! And since you two missed the orientation, allow me to do it for you!"
"Hooray!"
Zeth exhales a heavy sigh. He has to endure this before resuming his search for the doctor.
"But first, show me your documents!"
"Yes, sir!"
Zoey pulls out her papers inside her jumpsuit and hands them to Zach.
The captain did not even bother to skim through, just forcefully putting them down on the table in front of them.
"Pass!"
Zach then lowers his posture, levelling with Zeth, staring at him, ironically oblivious.
"Err, I lost my papers during the evacuation. Sir."
Zeth rubs the lobe of his ear.
"Hmm. Alright, totally fine! You two are now official recruits of the Zoldier Forces of the United Polities! I grant you rank Zero, congratulations!"
"Hooray!"
Zoey continues to cheer.
'Alright, let's see here…"
Zach pulls out a few crumpled papers from his pockets, unfolds them, and quickly reads through them. Throwing is aside when they're not the ones he's looking for, until he pollutes the room with trash and loads of wasted paper.
"Aha! Alright, here. It's from fifteen years ago, but I'm sure they haven't updated it. Now, I am going to read you the oath, and you can recite it with me if you'd like. I don't know. But let's just get on with it, right?"
Zach smiles, he doesn't know what he's doing, and Zeth can sense it.
"Sir, yes, sir!"
Zoey answers enthusiastically again, and she does a snappy salute.
Meanwhile, Zeth is nonchalant, but he wishes for everything to be over.
"I, solemnly pledge, to the Force, to be an official recruit and carry the rank of Zero… Bla, bla, bla… I can't read this… The print is a bit faded… But, uh…"
Zach said as he squints while reading the paper he is holding.
"I shall die for the squad… Uh?"
Zach continues until he pauses and sighs.
"My old squad members sacrificed their lives to defeat an enemy to protect the city…"
Zach's mood shifts, his tone turns serious, and an air of genuine sadness looms. He bows in silence for a quick second before raising his head again.
"First order of business: I have requested HQ to assign you two to me as my newest squad members! You are now designated to regular rank Zero Zoldiers, congratulations!"
The two of them exchange glances, Zoey tries her best to contain her surprise while Zeth blankly glares at being in an inescapable predicament.
"But it doesn't mean you will skip the boring Academy lectures and stuff. From now on, I will train both of you. You will learn everything you need to know! For only one week, I will shape you into battle-ready Zoldiers!"
"Hooray!"
Zoey jumps with glee, celebrating the sudden promotion.
"And you won't be needing years of boring lectures just to know what the Zoldier Forces are, right?! Everybody knows about ZF, and if you don't know, then you must be living under a rock! Ain't that right, recruits?"
Zach laughs, followed by Zoey.
Zeth is undecided about the opportunity. But his hesitance with training weighs less than knowing more about what the Forces know. Ultimately, he believed it was beneficial for his search for the doctor.
"H-Hooray!"
Zeth faintly said as he pumped his hand in the air.