"Mm."
"Mmmmmmm."
"What?"
Stanley Kleitos woke up forgetting where he was. In a bedroom.
For around five peaceful seconds, the new and unfamiliar metal ceiling above him meant absolutely nothing. His single bed with a fluffy, warm quilt and sheet was all that mattered to him. Stanley loved his sleep more than anything when he was tired.
The small dorm room was plain but comfortable. Thin carpet kept the floor warm, while a tiny bathroom had been crammed into one corner behind a white metal door divider. A narrow wardrobe stood empty, only with his jacket and shirt inside. Stanley hadn't exactly packed before walking through an anomalous door.
Besides the bed, only two things gave the room any unique personality: a tall mirror and the lounge chair in the corner.
He looked at the lounge chair.
{Bottoms up. Good job. Why do I still remember that?}
Then somebody screamed outside of pure rage.
A whole bunch of clutter crashed to the floor. It sounded like something had fallen apart.
Someone else cheered.
Stanley remained beneath the blanket, snugging himself inside.
{Yeah. Broken Halo. This fuck-ass group of apparent future amazing people.}
Another extremely loud metal noise followed, like weights in the gym hitting the ground hard.
{I've made a terrible decision for my sanity. Gosh. All because I wanted to try something different.}
He turned onto his left side.
Then came three violent knocks against his door.
"STANLEY! DUDE! GET YOUR ASS OUT!"
Daryl Carter. This mechanic was apparently incapable of remaining still for more than ten seconds.
Of course, it was Daryl doing this.
"YOU'RE LATE!"
Stanley slowly sat upright, like a zombie leaning out of an open grave.
"FOR WHAT?" He shouted with the minimal energy this man had.
There was a pause outside from Daryl.
"I DON'T KNOW YET!"
Stanley stared at the door.
{I hate this place so much.}
He smiled sleepily while looking at his door.
{I actually really like this place. It's kind of like a dorm room with fucking weird people. People who came together from Mr Magnus.} Stanley, in his dirty pants with no shirt on, opened the door to see Daryl in actually comfy-looking clothes, mainly another baggy shirt with a slogan and track pants, mainly used for running. Mind you, this was seven in the morning.
Daryl: "OK, I KNOW NOW! JORDAN, OBLIVION AND SHENG-RI ARE ALL BENCHING THEIR PR'S!"
{Their personal record? I know the gym is a little close to here, but why now?}
Stanley: "Yeah, that's cool and all. Can I get changed? I don't want to visit them without a shirt, Daryl."
Stanley indeed was annoyed in the state he was in.
Daryl: "Well, Oblivion doesn't wear one unless he's going out. He's shirtless right now; no one cares here! Not even the girls!" He spoke in a friendly manner, even after seeing Stanley's skinny body type.
"You're welcome in the gym! The heavy hitters in this team all work out at four till eight, then do their tasks, jobs, more and blah blah blah."
Once again, He did more weird body language as he went in for a double high five in the air, on Stanley's head, much to his annoyance.
"Follow, bud. WE GOT GYM TO DO BEFORE WE SET OUT!"
He screamed in the dormitories. One groan was heard down the aisle.
Stanley: "Better go, man."
"Yeah, dude."
They both speed-walked out of the building, through the glass doors, and walked an estimated three hundred metres to the left from the bedrooms to another big, rectangular, modular white building. They both got greeted at the double doors of glass.
{Shit, man, I've met Sheng-Ri, but not Jordan or Oblivion. God, the noise is loud. Muscle demons, from what I imagine.}
Daryl waited beside him, giving Stanley the chance to walk in first.
Silence.
Stanley was waiting for Daryl to jump in first.
"Dude, walk in. It's best to greet them even if you feel scared."
Stanley turned his head to Daryl.
"Think like the way you see yourself is different from how other people see you, like a hundred per cent. I know you're nervous. I've had many nervous experiences meeting new people or people I feel fond of. I can relate a lot, man. But if you carry yourself with a physical look, even if you're not happy, you can manage to look happy."
Stanley looked at Daryl with interest. He didn't expect such an emotional answer from him.
Daryl: "I may look happy, but am I truly happy? Am I nervous? Scared? You'll never know unless you ask."
{Uh, is he telling me to ask? Should I? I don't know if I should. But he's definitely right. But I don't have the confidence to mask myself anymore.}
Daryl suddenly used his index fingers on the corners of Stanley's mouth, making a smile manually.
"Try it."
He took his fingers out, and Stanley kept the smile up in his own way that was natural and made him look happy. This was Daryl's way of knowing his words got through the deep-thinking man.
Stanley slowly grabbed the handle of the right door and pushed. He pushed.
Nothing. He pushed harder. Still nothing.
His smile disappeared.
Daryl stared at him.
"Oh, Stanley, pull, dude."
Much to Stanley's embarrassment, he actually pulled the door this time, to be greeted by a surprisingly ordinary gym. No floating weights. No holographic trainers or rep counters. No machines Stanley couldn't understand. Just racks, benches, cables, plates and enough reinforced metal to make the building look indestructible and a comfortable floor with a fake grass callisthenics section.
Daryl: "Great, WE MADE IT WITH STAN!"
He shouted upwards, getting the attention of the three powerlifters in the bench section of the room.
{God, Oh god. Fucking idiot. I'd much prefer it if he died earlier than embarrassing me.}
He bumped Daryl's shoulder on purpose, which Daryl interpreted as Stanley being uncomfortable.
"Come on, better to have someone introduce you rather than greeting them yourself."
Stanley was silent as the two walked towards the three in the back section, with massive barbells and squatting racks. He could make out three incredibly tall people. Two darker-toned and one pale. They were close together, one darker-toned male spotting and the pale one squatting down, while another was doing repetitions at extraordinary speeds with a barbell.
Daryl spread both arms in the air with big energy.
"Stanley, meet Jordan Renner and Oblivion Veryon."
Stanley looked at Sheng-Ri, who was wearing an enclosed gym tracksuit with a cap on.
{She seems comfortable. Long-ass black shorts, though.}
Then Jordan.
Then Oblivion.
Then Jordan again.
{Which one is—}
"You're a fucking short man. Stanley. heh."
He wore a white tank top three sizes too large and bright yellow shorts, a uniquely cheerful colour choice for someone who looked ready to punch through a building.
Stanley blinked fast.
Jordan stared down at him while sitting upright with an extremely huge barbell on his legs.
Jordan had walnut-brown skin, an almost perfectly symmetrical face and an eyebrow piercing above a thin scar that looked like it came from a small blade. Semi-long box dreads fell towards his forehead, big thick eyebrows and an unimpressed expression.
"Excuse me, man?"
"I expected you to be taller. But look at you, bro."
{Okay. Fuck you too, Jordan. Did I fuck up that already? I don't think I'm that ugly.}
His body frame was that of a lean, muscular man who was around six feet five inches tall, and his vibe was one of a rapper or a celebrity. Untouchable.
'Yeah, that's so kind of you." He said sarcastically, mocking himself with a silly tone.
"Don't worry. Short guys are cool too." Jordan replied in his nonchalant voice.
Sheng-Ri gained a faint smile, which Stanley noticed instantaneously. Then soon later, his attention was taken by the void-coloured man. He waved a friendly wave at him, though his appearance was definitely not friendly.
Sheng-Ri: "Hey Stanley. Good sleep?" She talked more, like she had energy, compared to yesterday.
"Yeah, Sheng-Ri. You?" He looked back at her, nodding with a grin.
"Oh yeah. I'm just a bit worn out from my collection mission with Aurora. Then I had to deal with these three dick-for-brains at four AM. " As she pointed at all three, getting mixed reactions from all of them. Daryl being annoyed, Jordan taking it without a care and Oblivion frowning.
She still spoke calmly, concisely, and with her personality showing a bit more.
"Sounds like a lot, you know?" He scratched his head, trying to come up with things to say while the speaker played music in the back corner.
Then, the other man who hadn't butted in yet spoke nicely.
'Hey Stanley. I'm guessing since you were with Tallurre, He'd tell you about his scar."
The man behind Sheng-Ri, Oblivion, had an extremely massive muscle frame that resembled how people talk about Greek gods, except his skin colour was pure black and sometimes faint purple. He was pure-blooded Nullari, his skin sometimes glowing with shades of deep purple, travelling around like light, dimly or with the look of electricity.
The enormous figure beside her extended a hand.
"My name just got told, but I'll say it again. Oblivion Veryon, Nice to meet you."
"Oblivion." Stanley paused before speaking again. "That's right. I did hear s-stuff from him."
Stanley looked at the hand before shaking it.
Stanley's hand disappeared inside Oblivion's. The Nullari's palm was absurdly large and roughened by years of something Stanley didn't particularly want explained.
Then back at Oblivion
"Stanley, I lost my cool at Tallurre. At least he's alive." He chuckled slightly.
Jordan and Sheng-Ri turned their heads around, nearly letting a big laugh out at Stanley's shocked face.
Two short horns rose above his temples. His purple eyes were stranger: circular, almost void-like, narrowing towards dark centres in a faint spiral. His nose was thin and had bigger lips than most. His jet-black hair resembled a burst-fade mullet, which highlighted his two horns. His eyebrows were also black and thicker than most.
'It's a joke, if you couldn't tell, by the way." He muttered after he noticed Stanley taking his comment seriously.
"I know."
{Oh God. Wow, man, A Nullari. A minority race, besides Sheng-Ri – at least that's what I think – but he's kinda friendly? But that was a horrid joke. "}
His outfit was pretty simple: no shirt and baggy ripped denim jeans that could count as a blanket, with two white pearl studs in his earlobes, and he carried all that strength casually. Stanley got the uncomfortable thought that Oblivion was constantly holding something back, not with effort, but from habit.
Daryl: "Anyway, you met them. Amazing dude. Now, you don't go to the gym a lot, do you?"
Daryl tapped Stanley on the shoulder, gaining his attention.
Sheng-Ri stayed while Oblivion and Jordan went back to doing repetitions. Jordan was doing an incline dumbbell bench press, but moving so fast that there were three afterimages of him moving. This made Stanley take a step back.
Sheng-Ri: "Jordan is like, hmm. How do I say this? Like a really angry man venting his emotions. He got a graft embedded into his right calf, which makes his wrath true. I really have to let you know just in case." Sheng-Ri put her left arm out onto her hip, tapping Stanley with her elbow and tilting her head.
"Uh, you seriously mean that? How'd you get injured?"
Stanley looked at Jordan with immense doubt and curiosity. He leaned forward, putting his hand on his thighs, crouching and trying to spot the Anomaly.
Daryl and Sheng-Ri both giggle slightly, which causes Stanley to come back up, flustered and embarrassed immediately.
Stanley: "You two… STOP THAT!"
"I'm CURIOUS, ALRIGHT!"
From being flustered, Stanley crouched down to avoid the blur that was Jordan's arms and saw something swirling like brown liquid in a river, rapid, swirling and churning on his calf.
Jordan: "And by the way, just ask me about it."
Jordan stopped and put his heavy dumbbells back on his legs, sitting up straight and with a kill-shot stare. Directed at Stanley. Daryl laughs loudly, and Sheng-Ri smiles at Stanley's moment.
Stanley straightened immediately and nodded back at him rapidly.
Stanley: "Sorry, Jordan."
Jordan: "Didn't say apologise, Stanley."
Jordan put the dumbbells down on the floor and moved back a tiny bit and raised his right leg to be on top of the bench sitting part, then pointed at his right calf, which was slightly more visible than before, still being fifteen metres away.
"Come." Stanley walks over with his hands in his pockets, acting nonchalant."
Stanley felt the emotions and heat coming off the man in front of him. Steam can be faintly seen, with his shoulder sagging down and head tilted forward like he needed a break, and Stanley was next.
Stanley raised his arms when he got around two metres close and said, "Look, man, It's normal to be curious. Magnus told me I'm a curious guy, so I do what I do best, man: be curious." He was nervous and yapped again.
"Shut up, man. Magnus told us too. We know." He said in an annoyed, angry voice.
"My apparent gift is controlled mayhem. I'd call it rage". His first semi-smile.
Jordan: "Wrath of Man. Makes me better at everything physical when I'm pissed off." His fingers signalled the calf that seemed like an ocean moving, which was perfectly in line with his other calf.
Stanley stared at him in confusion.
{Was something like this just accessible by Magnus? Oh wait. He saw the future a year ago.}
"E-everything?" Stanley said in a quiet voice.
"Everything."
Daryl shouted with his hands at his mouth. Sheng-Ri giggled. Oblivion faintly stopped doing squats to hear the conversation.
"He's fucking shit at cooking, Stan, the man!"
Jordan looked at him.
Stanley looked at Jordan with a look of relief.
Daryl's small smile slowly disappeared. Then turned into a disgusting one.
"I meant physical prowess." His eyes opened wider than ever, and his eye bags showed.
Stanley: "Look, I didn't really care too much about that, man. Don't worry about that fucker." Stanley whispered, then pointed at Daryl with his weird posture, next to Sheng-Ri, who seemed confused by the point.
Jordan scoffed in annoyance and disgust.
Jordan looked past him at Daryl.
Then back at Stanley.
"You just called your new friend a fucker to get on my good side?"
Stanley's smile weakened.
"No, man, I just—"
"That's exactly what you did. Retard." He got angrier and scrutinised Stanley's face."
Stanley: "Uh, no, sorry, I meant –" He seemed disastrously worried he might ruin this.
Jordan: "Get the fuck out of my space." He stood up, his right calf swirling faster and towering over Stanley, who was 5'9".
Stanley turned around without saying anything and speed-walked back to Daryl and Sheng-Ri, moving to where Daryl stood this time. He didn't feel confident around Sheng-Ri.
Daryl: Dude, what did you say?" Daryl turned to look annoyed.
"It shouldn't be that easy to make him annoyed, Stanley, Man."
{FUCK. FUCK. FUCK. FUCK. FUCK. Shit, man. I did that. I really tried to make Daryl look shit while I could get on his good side. Man, I'm such a bitch. What I did was so gay. First morning and I've already made one of them hate me. He's six-foot-five, angry, and anger literally makes him stronger.}
Daryl stared at Stanley. Sheng-Ri stared at Stanley. Stanley stared at the floor submissively.
Daryl: "So?" He looked worried. Sheng-Ri raised her eyebrows high.
Stanley remained silent.
"What did you say?" Stanley scratched the back of his neck.
"Nothing, man. Just some bullshit." He said quietly. Jordan shouted from fifteen metres away. "HE CALLED YOU A FUCKER TO GET ON MY GOOD SIDE!"
Stanley closed his eyes tightly.
{Oh, fuck me. I deserve that. Yep. mm. Gosh dang it.}}
Daryl slowly turned his head towards Jordan, shocked a little.
Then back towards Stanley.
His mouth opened slightly with annoyance.
"Dude." His face became smug and judgemental.
Sheng-Ri put her left hand on her forehead, covering her face in cringe. Looking away.
Stanley remained silent.
"I KNOW, MAN" his voice was semi-broken.
"You have been here for one day, Stanley. Shit." Sheng-Ri said tiredly.
"I know."
"One day." She bonked Stanley on his head with the side of her left arm.
"I know, Sheng-Ri." He spoke quietly
"You insulted your first friend here to impress someone you met five minutes ago."
Stanley looked at her. She looked back with an annoyed face. She bit her lips hard.
"When you put it like that, it sounds way worse."
Sheng-Ri tilted her head.
"How else can I put it, Dumb arse?"
Stanley opened his mouth. He looked at Daryl, back at Sheng-Ri. They both seemed cringed out, not too annoyed or angry.
Nothing came out of his voice box.
Daryl suddenly plopped both hands on Stanley's shoulders.
"Stanley." He stated clearly and strongly.
"Yeah?"
"That was fucking pathetic, dude." Stanley looked genuinely wounded and hurt by this.
"Man –"
"I'm just being honest!"
Stanley's voice toned down. "You didn't have to say it like that."
"The truth hurts. Dude."
"You're enjoying this." Stanley looked back at Sheng-Ri, mimicking eating popcorn.
"Just a little bit. He-he."
Sheng-Ri: "A lot, I can see."
Daryl removed his hands from Stanley's shoulders and started walking backwards towards the callisthenics section, which had plenty of space for stretching and certain exercise equipment.
"Anyway, I forgive you. You said some bullshit, alright? That's all it was."
Stanley followed him with his eyes.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I've been called worse things."
"By whom?"
Daryl leaned his head towards Sheng-Ri.
She frowned.
"You deserved those."
"I KNOW!"
Stanley gave a small laugh, although his face was still warm from embarrassment.
He looked back towards Jordan.
Jordan was already exercising again at supersonic speeds. Oblivion was back to doing squats with custom weights set by a machine.
{He's not even looking at me. Maybe he doesn't hate me. Maybe he's just annoyed.}
Jordan suddenly looked directly at him. He stopped doing his workout and death-stared him down.
Stanley immediately turned around and walked up behind Daryl's trail. Sheng-Ri then walked back to her bench and started doing hammer curls with custom weights like oblivion.
{He hates me.}
Daryl: "COME HERE, STANWY!" He shouted.
"No." Stanley looked genuinely annoyed.
"COME HERE, DUDE!"
"Stop calling me that."
Daryl was standing beneath a tall pull-up bar in the fake-grass section of the gym.
Stanley reluctantly walked over.
Daryl pointed upwards.
"Pull-ups."
Stanley looked at the bar.
Then at Daryl.
Then back at the bar.
"No."
"Why?"
"I don't know if I can do one."
Daryl's eyebrows raised.
"You've never done a pull-up?"
"No, I haven't done one in a bit." Stanley smiled faintly. A memory went through him.
"That's not so different." He crossed his arms and posed weirdly again.
"How?"
"Because saying you can't do something you haven't done in a while is bullshit."
Stanley looked at the bar again. It seemed unnecessarily high.
Daryl clapped his hands together.
"Jump."
Stanley: "Don't order me around, or else I'm going to call you things."
Daryl: "Jump." He wasn't bothered.
Stanley jumped.
His fingers barely touched the bar before he fell back onto the grass. Daryl stared at him and nearly laughed.
Sheng-Ri so happened to take a glimpse during his "Jump" also.
Stanley looked between them, embarrassed and more uncomfortable than before.
"I'm five-nine. Fuck both of you assholes."
Daryl burst out laughing.
Sheng-Ri turned her head away, but Stanley could see her smiling and nearly showing joy on her tired slate of a face.
Daryl: "Alright, alright. Come here." He dragged a small, soft, black square beneath the bar.
Stanley then stepped onto it and wrapped both hands around the metal.
Stanley: "Now what?" He knew, but acted like he didn't.
Daryl: "Pull yourself up."
"I understand the basic concept, Daryl."
"Then do it. Or else I'm going to say worse things than you possibly can think about." He wasn't kidding. Stanley then looked back at the bar above him and jumped.
Stanley stepped off the platform.
His entire body immediately dropped straight.
{Oh fuck me.}
He pulled hard. Nothing happened. His arms tensed. His shoulders shook. His face slowly became red and tense with strain.
Daryl: "COME ON YOU BITCH!" He said with a happy tone.
"SHUT UP!"
"COME ON, STAN!"
"I'M TRYING!"
Stanley pulled harder. His body slowly rose to the bar. Barely. His chin was nowhere close to the bar.
Then he dropped.
His shoes hit the platform, slipping and tumbling backwards awkwardly, and he fell headfirst onto soft fake grass while Daryl laughed, pointing at him.
Stanley breathed heavily and looked at Daryl.
"There. Happy now? I know I'm weak."
"No."
"What?"
"You didn't do one."
"I KNOW. I KNOW I'M WEAK, AND I HATE THAT ABOUT ME!"
Daryl stepped behind him.
"Again. The only way to make you stop hating being weak is now."
Stanley looked offended and tired.
"Man, my arms already hurt, D—"
"Stanley."
Daryl's voice was strangely calmer now, less powerful but more impactful.
Daryl: "Again. I'll help."
Stanley stared at him for a second before grabbing the bar again, hanging for a second.
He stepped off into the air.
Daryl: "Pull."
Stanley pulled with some of his might.
This time, Daryl supported some of his weight from behind on his back ribs, not lifting him completely, just enough to keep him moving.
"Keep going, man."
Stanley gritted his teeth and shook hard.
His arms shook again.
"Daryl."
"Keep going."
"DARYL."
"YOU'RE THERE!"
Stanley pulled one final time with all his might this time.
His chin passed the bar, resting on the pole, with a disgruntled face of discomfort.
"YES!" He raised his arms in the air.
Daryl screamed so loudly that the people inside turned around. Sheng-Ri, Jordan, Oblivion. They all saw him drop onto the grass and stumbled backwards, catching his fall this time.
Daryl grabbed him by both shoulders and shook him violently and excitedly.
"FIRST PULL-UP IN A LONG TIME! YOU'RE SO WEAK! HAHA-HA!"
Stanley: "You helped me that time."
"DOESN'T MATTER!"
"YES, IT DOES!" He looked at Daryl, annoyed that someone could be helping him. He doesn't think he deserves it.
"Yayyyyyyyyy."
Sheng-Ri slowly clapped from several metres away. Jordan and Oblivion kept focusing on their incredible workouts with custom weights.
Stanley looked at her.
"Don't celebrate with that tone." He smiled. "I don't like it."
"I'm being supportive of a new teammate," Sheng-Ri shouted mildly.
"You're smiling. It worked, my support, because I'm so beautiful." She also commented.
"Yeah. Thanks." Stanley seemed confused that she praised herself while praising him.
Sheng-Ri: "What? You can't handle sarcasm from a woman?" She muttered to herself. Stanley just didn't know it was like that.
The fallen push-up warrior rubbed his aching arms.
{That actually felt pretty good. Mentally at least.}
Daryl pointed at the bar again.
"Now nine more."
Stanley stared at him with shock, then anger.
"Go fuck yourself."
A voice came from the entrance.
"Excellent teamwork."
Everyone looked towards the glass doors.
Magnus stood inside the gym.
Four people stood behind him.
Stanley recognised them immediately—not because he knew their names, but because he knew the expressions on their faces.
Comfort.
Nervousness.
Up-tightness.
One of them looked like they hadn't slept.
{Oh, They're new too. Those guys and girls. I honestly forgot.}
Magnus walked further into the gym, his arm extended like a hug, looking like a coffee shop owner, wearing a grey and white chequered sweater that looked like it came from his mum and trousers that looked like curtains.
"Good morning, Team. Five new members today."
Jordan put his dumbbells down on his lap.
Oblivion stepped away from the squat rack, letting the barbell hit the floor.
Sheng-Ri stopped smiling. She became focused.
Daryl's entire attitude changed. Not completely, but enough for Stanley to notice.
Magnus looked around the room.
Then at Stanley.
Then, the four people followed behind him quickly.
Magnus: "I believe introductions are needed."
Stanley glanced at the new people like him.
{Thank God. I'm not the only one who has no fucking idea what's happening. Breakfast?}
Magnus smiled.
"Come. All of you."
Nobody moved immediately. Magnus' smile weakened and turned into a blank face, one that's got used to this carefree attitude.
"We have two hundred light-years to travel today. I'd prefer not to spend the first hundred metres convincing you to do stuff."
Daryl leaned towards Stanley.
"He does this."
Stanley whispered back.
"Does what?"
"Talks like everything he says is going to be written in the history books."
Stanley looked directly at Daryl.
"I can hear you." Stated Stanley.
Daryl immediately walked towards him.
"GOOD MORNING, MR MAGNUS!"
Stanley followed.
{I think I made the right decision coming here.}
Magnus: "Follow me. I got something I gotta do." He signalled to follow him wherever he was going, and the five left.
And Magnus sped away faster than sound. A blur of old-money-styled colours. Stanley's long hair got blown backwards, and he registered that Magnus had just left.
{Yo, what? Sure, I've seen people like that casually, but Jesus Christ, He just sped off. }
Daryl said to all of them, "He's probably cooking up another disaster. Go to the lunchroom."
The kitchen was louder than Stanley expected. Not because anyone was arguing. Because Magnus was cooking. Or, better, attempting to cook. Palm oil violently cracked from a wide black pan as Magnus stood over it with a spatula in one hand and his other hand planted against the counter. His coat had been thrown over the back of a dining chair.
Stanley stopped at the entrance. How did he get here so fast?
{This is what he gathered us for? Breakfast?}
The man who had gathered the group together was currently staring down at three eggs as if they were his children. Daryl walked straight past Stanley and the four and went to Magnus, showing he isn't afraid.
Daryl: "Burning breakfast again?"
"No." He looked at Daryl with disgust for a few seconds.
Daryl looked into the pan.
Magnus looked at Daryl again.
Daryl slowly walked away.
"Looks delicious." He commented with a silly tone that gave off sarcastic vibes, as his body wobbled while shrugging.
Magnus: "Thank you." He took it gracefully.
Stanley entered the room, followed by Oswald, Tono, and Aurora, Chidieberre and then Sheng-Ri. Stanley then got the courage to look around at the place's food reserves.
{Surprisingly fresh. What am I saying? There's a fucking farm.}
Sheng-Ri had been quiet since leaving the gym. Stanley thought he knew why.
His reason was that he had managed to pull up twice. Two. With Daryl holding his back.
And Sheng-Ri had witnessed both of them.
She walked past him towards the refrigerator.
"Good workout, Stanley." She said casually, with overwhelming sarcasm. A joke sentence.
Stanley looked at her, then back to looking around.
"Don't." He pointed at her while he looked in the white cabinets near the stove, close to Magnus.
"I said it was good."
"You laughed and giggled at me. Sheng-Ri." He faintly smiled. He knew he was getting attached, but was a bit hesitant.
"I smiled, duh. That's different. Numpty." She smugly smiled, almost like she had a sarcastic version of one, and took out a jar of blackberry spread.
"You turned around because you were laughing at my stupidity."
Sheng-Ri reached further down into the cabinet, with her shoulder only being visible, and her body having to curve a bit. Stanley moved back. He didn't know whether to stay there as a sign of comfort or move out of respect.
Sheng-Ri: "I was looking for water."
"The water was on the floor." He turned back at her while looking for cookies and returned the same smug, sarcastic face. She then paused. Then she closed the cabinet on Stanley's forearm. "Ow."
Sheng-Ri: "Then I was mistaken."
Daryl slapped Stanley on the back, interrupting Stanley's conversation.
"Don't worry, Stan. Two is a retry."
Stanley: "You were holding half my body weight."
Daryl: "Still a beginning."
"I hate overly positive people like you, you know that?"
"Man, I really don't think that."
{Unfortunately, he's right. I just don't wanna show that.}
"Stanley."
Magnus didn't turn around.
Stanley looked over.
"Yeah?"
"How do you like your goose eggs?"
Stanley blinked.
"Uh. Smashed?"
Magnus stared at the pan. Then, a tongue click and looked back.
"They're all scrambled now, sadly."
"I really don't think that's how you're supposed to—"
Magnus: "You're having scrambled eggs."
Stanley nodded ferociously, like a submissive dog.
"Okay."
Sheng-Ri and Daryl looked away from the cringe worthy sight.
{I don't know why I expected something different from him.}
A chair scraped across the floor.
Stanley turned around to look at the table some distance from the kitchen bench.
One of the four newcomers from earlier had already taken a seat at the enormous wooden table, leaning backwards with both arms folded. Another was sitting on the stools beside the counter, quietly eating something Stanley couldn't identify with all his knowledge. The remaining two stayed near another corner of the white-shaded room while arguing with each other.
Stanley looked between them.
{Right. Them. They look like they bully middle school kids.}
He had almost forgotten about that. Five people arrived yesterday.
He was only one of them. Probably the last.
Magnus pointed the spatula towards the table without looking away from the pan.
"Sit."
Nobody moved.
Magnus looked over his shoulder.
"All of you."
Chairs began moving.
Daryl immediately sat down.
Sheng-Ri took a chair near the corner.
Stanley remained standing for another second, trying to figure out where exactly he was supposed to sit in the beautiful wooden table that seemed like it came from 2027. Old stuff.
Daryl slapped the empty chair beside him repeatedly and loudly
"Kleitos.."
"I'm right here."
"STAN."
"I can hear you." His voice got more annoyed.
"STANLEY." He kept speaking in a stupid tone.
Stanley reluctantly sat next to him.
I made a mistake befriending this man. He needs to know I'm not that special. I shouldn't be able to be friends with such a good person.}
One by one, the others joined them in about five minutes. Jordan arrived next, still sweating from the gym, with a small towel hanging around his neck.
Jordan: "Food?" He looked down at the fluffy carpet, exhausted.
"Eventually," Magnus replied.
Jordan looked towards him.
"I'm going to make my own protein." As he walked to the kitchen.
Magnus: "Sit down."
Jordan sat down.
Oblivion entered behind him, ducking slightly beneath the doorway, but his two horns bumped into the bit. Stanley watched him walk towards the table.
Then watched the chair get easily pulled out.
Then Oblivion went down to sit.
Then the chair again.
{That thing isn't surviving.}
Oblivion sat down and tucked himself forward, like Stanley wasn't expecting a catastrophe. The chair survived.
{The greatest level of engineering.}
Magnus finally turned the heat down.
"Now."
The room gradually quietened. Not completely. Daryl was tapping his fingers against the table. Jordan was drinking directly from a large bottle shaped like a big dumbbell. Someone Stanley hadn't learnt the name of yet was whispering to another new person.
Sheng-Ri was peeling the label from her blue metal water bottle. But compared to before, it was quiet. Magnus remained at the kitchen stove.
Magnus: "Yesterday were introductions."
He cracked another egg and wobbled smoothly and subtly.
"Today we will get more clarification about this month's mission."
Stanley leaned forward slightly.
Magnus continued.
"Five new people arrived here yesterday. None of you was brought here for the same reason."
One of the newcomers raised a hand. Someone who looked like a goth woman. She pulled off the hard look easily.
Magnus looked over.
"You don't need to raise your hand. Chidieberre"
The hand slowly went down.
"Sorry." She said grimly.
Magnus. "You also don't need to apologise."
Chidieberre: "Sorry."
Magnus stared at them. eyeing them down one by one.
A few people around the table laughed, only the veterans.
Magnus returned to the stove.
"Broken Halo isn't a military unit. It isn't a branch of GALACTICA, SOLARR or CELESTICA. You all aren't soldiers, and I won't treat you like soldiers."
Jordan lifted a finger nonchalantly while he flopped down, trying to sleep on the place mat of blue and white.
Jordan: "We do have guns."
"Yes."
Oblivion spoke next confidently. He carried himself like a gentleman, sitting up straight and putting a serviette on his lap.
Daryl: "And the shuttle has military-grade armour."
Magnus: "Yes."
Daryl looked back at Magnus,
"And also—"
"Daryl."
"Yeah?"
"Shut up." He said casually, like he had to say this a million times.
"Gotcha."
Magnus finally moved the pan away from the heat.
"What Broken Halo does depends on is our services. Exploration. Investigation. Recovery. Escorting. Research. Occasionally, things that weren't included in the original agreement."
Daryl nodded sleepily.
"Most of the time." He mumbled.
Magnus ignored him.
"You will have jobs outside this group. You will have lives outside this group. Some of you already do."
His eyes briefly moved across the table.
Stanley couldn't tell who he was looking at. The only people not there were the apprentices and Tallurre.
"But when Broken Halo sets out, I expect everyone involved to understand one thing."
Magnus placed the pan on the marble counter.
"If you don't know something, say it, please."
Silence. Comfortable silence from the people used to him; the rest were tense.
Magnus: "If you're frightened, say it."
Stanley looked down slightly at the place mat.
"If you're injured, say it."
Jordan stopped smiling.
"And if something looks wrong, even if everyone else says it's fine—"
Magnus finally walked towards the table slowly.
"Say it."
He placed the pan directly in the middle.
Everyone looked at it.
Jordan leaned forward.
"Is that the speech?"
Magnus chuckled. "Nah."
Jordan: "Good."
Magnus: "That's breakfast."
Jordan stared into the pan.
"That's shit in a pan."
A giggle broke across the table from Sheng-Ri. Magnus smiled faintly at the two.
He pulled out the chair at the head of the table and sat down.
Magnus: "Now we can talk about where we're going."
Stanley looked around.
Daryl is on his right.
Sheng-Ri sat across the table.
Jordan is already attempting to steal food from the pan on the other end of the table.
Oblivion was silently watching him do it. Opposite of Chidieberre, who was on Stanley's left.
Four strangers who had arrived alongside Stanley. And they seemed like they were just as stand-out as the average member here.
Magnus was at the head.
For the first time since walking through that door, Stanley had the strange realisation that everyone around this table had been brought here for a reason.
Including him.
{Fuck.}
Magnus put his arms off the table and sat straighter than Oblivion.
"Our next paid job is two hundred light years from here to discuss business. At-"