Paramythi I: City of Glass
Chapter Seven: Here I Am

After Elias had dressed himself and navigated his way around the corridors towards the room he had been brought to the day before, he was greeted with the sight of his fellow recruits sitting around the long dining table filled with all kinds of food for breakfast; including pancakes, muffins, doughnuts, bacon, eggs, toast, fruit and oatmeal. All eyes focused on him the moment he stepped on through the sliding motion of the door – how on earth Quincy managed to keep it ajar earlier was beyond him — and he forced a small, shy smile before taking a seat across from Helios just like yesterday.

“The Rebellion must have some expert cook, huh?” Helios exclaimed. His light brown hair was tufted up in different places, promoting his obvious bedhead. He looked sleepy and energetic all at once; a quality which Elias would like to learn. “You should try the muffins, they got all sorts!”

“Did we all pass our interviews?” Elias asked, reaching for a muffin as instructed by Helios.

“Yeah.” Eris nodded and shuffled closer to Elias’ side of the table. Whatever endearing shyness had been plaguing her earlier was no longer apparent as she reached out to fill her plate for breakfast. “It seems we will begin training almost immediately!”

“Man, I can’t wait…” Helios chuckled. “Hey, Elias, you got the captain when you were interviewed like me! Wasn’t he cool?”

“He really was.” Elias agreed. “Who interviewed you, Riyo…?” The reluctance was perhaps too noticeable in his voice when he turned towards the redhead. Nonetheless, Elias did not wish to leave someone out of the fold since he was almost guaranteed to end up as someone’s partner from this table. “The chairwoman or the captain?”

Riyo did not reply at first, thus causing Elias to regret even making the effort to attempt conversation. After a small second’s notice, Riyo’s tongue peeked out from their rosy lips and they removed a cherry pip from their mouth, dropped it into a small bowl next to their plate of food, and wiped their hands with a napkin. “The chairwoman.”

“Oh, what’s she like?” Eris smiled fondly towards Riyo. “Is she as intimidating as she looks?”

“Not really,” came Riyo’s flat response. They popped another cherry into their mouth and worked around the pip, glossy eyes jumping over to Psykhe’s direction. “Ask her. She was interviewed by the chairwoman, too.”

Psykhe had been masterfully applying maple syrup to her apple pancakes when her name was mentioned, thus causing everyone to turn their attention on her. “Pardon me, I wasn’t listening.” She admitted and closed up the lid on her syrup with reluctance. “Come again?”

“The chairwoman.” Said Eris. “What is she like?”

Psykhe lifted a brow. “Pleasant, I suppose.” She reached out for a knife and fork to cut up her meal and dragged the sharp curve of her blade across the sticky surface of her pancakes, cutting deep in slow motions with a satisfied smirk. “She asked a lot of questions about my family, though. Did she ask you many questions about yours, Midas?”

Riyo’s brows knit together and they dragged their tongue along their teeth behind parted lips, contemplating how to address Psykhe without appearing as hostile as they felt. Much to Riyo’s fortune, however, Helios was paying considerable attention to the atmosphere in the air and waved his arms out with an eagerness to grab Psykhe’s attention.

“Delicate subject! Woah, woah!” Pulling a wide grin, Helios sat back against his chair with Psykhe’s serious eyes burning him down. “Ri doesn’t have a family. They made it pretty clear last night!”

Elias noticed the glare Riyo was sending the Faeman. He wished to address it and assist Helios with playing the good guy when Riyo looked back down to their plate full of cherries and popped another one in their mouth as if the situation had not even occurred. When their bright eyes found Elias staring, they were inclined to glare with a deadly intent until he turned his head and quietly returned to his meal.

“Can I ask why your brother went to prison, Psykhe…?” Eris said.

Silence had never fallen so fast on a scene for as long as Elias had lived. He had not been informed of the whole situation himself but found that such a question like that being directed to someone like Psykhe would result in utter chaos.

Helios and Riyo seemed to share this idea with Elias and the three turned their eyes to Eris and Psykhe; the latter of who had ceased cutting up her pancakes and looked frozen in place.

“Was that not a good thing to ask?” Blinking, Eris’ cheeks flushed a deep red against the darkness of her skin and she gasped, hand covering her mouth. “Oh, Psykhe, I am so sorry! Please, you don’t have to answer such a thing if you don’t want to!”

“No,” Psykhe lifted her head and, to everyone’s surprise, smiled. “I don’t mind.”

Elias lowered his hands from his plate and folded them over his lap. He could not directly label just why he wanted to hear the story of Psykhe’s secrets, or even if he wanted to know how it ended. Curiosity was simply a human trait! Asides all of that, he knew such a story would be related to the Rebellion somehow; judging by the way Quincy had reacted upon hearing of Psykhe’s last name.

Psykhe dabbed her lips with a napkin and folded it neatly upon the table’s surface before she began speaking. “My brother was arrested for—“

“Good morning, recruits!”

Psykhe’s story was cut short and Quincy’s entrance claimed the spotlight.

Eris shrieked with fright and covered her mouth as her wide eyes found Quincy’s partner, a hunched figure with ghoulish features and hollow cheekbones. Quincy merely laughed at the little misleading introduction and struggled to place the pile of paperwork in his arms down onto the very edge of the table without disturbing the delightful decorations of food.

“Everyone, this is Zyki Kronos, my unit partner. They own the archives in the library here on Base. They will also be responsible for monitoring your vitals during training.” Quincy breathed easy and stepped back, revealing Zyki from the shadows. “Believe it or not, they’re ten times more nervous about meeting you than you are of meeting them.”

“Speak for yourself…” Mumbled Zyki. They raised their hand to their lips, sharp teeth dragging themselves against the metal ends of their false claws. “Only five of you, eh? That’s no fun…” Scanning across each youthful face, Zyki soon found Psykhe and smirked.

Eris swallowed down the lump in her throat and stood up from her seat. “I-I’m sorry for screaming! Please forgive me! I’ve just never seen an, ugh...I-I’m sorry!” She bowed her head and, with shaky hands, raised her plate of food as an offering and token to enhance her apology.

Zyki actually looked surprised by this and glanced from Eris to her plate a number of times. “Ahh…” Unsure of where to put themselves in such a situation, Zyki took a piece of toast from the plate and muttered a small ‘thanks.’

Eris exhaled loudly and sank into her chair, legs giving way. “Thank goodness…”

“Wasn’t that kind of over the top?” Riyo bluntly stated, eyes half-lidded with disinterest.

“Am I stealing your spotlight~?” Zyki hummed lowly. They seemed to materialise behind Riyo’s chair after skipping around on the other side of the table between Elias and Eris. “Is the baby Allawo crying, hm?”

Riyo practically jumped from their seat and stumbled back, thigh brushing against Helios’ chair; which caused another shriek of surprise to leave their lips. “What the hell?!”

Helios burst into laughter and slapped the surface of the table in his hysteric. “Hey, Ri! I didn’t know you could actually be scared! By another Allawo, no less!” He boasted, a grin spreading as Zyki tipped their head with appreciation. “I didn’t think someone like Mister Quincy could have such cool company.”

“Awww. D’ya hear that, Quince?” Zyki strode towards Helios’ chair and ran their metal claws across the back of its fine, polished woodwork. “I’m the cool one now. I wonder if I could be cooler than the Captain…hmmm…”

“We could always run a poll?” Quincy suggested. Since Zyki had begun their mischief around the room, he had not once looked up from his stack of paper and looked extremely calm for such an awkward range of emotions hovering in the air. “I’m sure Kane would be just as interested with the result.”

“Judging by my analysis, Reidonn would be the one to win for certain. Perhaps Theo would come second…?” Tipping their head, Zyki smiled towards Elias and made their way back over to him, hand reaching out without a specific indication regarding what they would do next.

Elias felt his heart pound when the lights in the room lit Zyki’s face up, exposing their strange features and deadened skin. He was staring so much that he forgot Zyki had been holding their hand out for him to take and gasped with fright when Zyki enclosed their icy palm over his impatiently.

“Captain Kane told us all about you last night at our meeting. He likes you, Elias Kara.” Zyki cooed, scratching the ends of their claws across the back of Elias’ hand. “He said a lot last night.”

“Oh, I—well, thanks. I think? Umm…” With wide eyes, Elias turned his attention towards Quincy and was unsurprisingly betrayed by the man’s lack of attention to Zyki’s behaviour.

“And you…~” Zyki unceremoniously dropped Elias’ hand and climbed over the numerous chairs, empty with the ghosts of all the recruits who would never see this room. “You seem a little too comfortable over here, away from your little friends.” Bending a knee against the nearest chair beside Psykhe, Zyki came to a stop and stole a muffin from the table. “So…what’s your poison? Syrup, huh?”

Psykhe tucked back a lock of blonde hair and cut up her pancakes without so much as a mere glance in Zyki’s direction. “We are all associates. Not friends. I am giving them space.” She explained, taking the forkful of syrupy goodness as if to close the topic.

“You won’t make a very good teammate if you think like that…” With a ′tut’, Zyki placed their piece of toast from Eris’ plate, along with the muffin they had stolen from the table, upon the nearest dish and sat down in the chair closest to Psykhe, unceremoniously swinging their legs over the arm and slouched with a content sigh. “Quincy and I get to decide who you’ll be paired up with, you know~”

This piece of information seemed to grab everyone’s attention. The sounds of chewing food and cutlery tapping against china surfaces subsided as eyes looked towards the strange, eerie being that was Zyki.

“Tell me, Trezla, who would you like to be teamed up with? Someone from this table…take your pick.” Zyki cooed lightly and took a small bite from their muffin, eyes keenly focused upon Psykhe. “Can’t guarantee they will be your actual teammate, but I like to think you guys could at least get the chance to feel as if you’re in control.”

Psykhe laid down her cutlery and dabbed her lips for the second time that morning. She seemed content with her eyes practically closed and shoulders pulled back into a relaxed, professional posture. “I do not mind. Whoever turns out to be my partner shall be a valuable asset. I believe everyone here has their own fill of potential and I accept that.”

“Nice speech,” Zyki smirked. “But I want to hear you name someone. It’s not fun otherwise.”

Psykhe opened her eyes and leant back. She surveyed the room slowly, made a face at Quincy for paying such little attention, and then stared with her serious, burning gaze upon Elias Kara.

“…I would like Riyo Midas.” Psykhe finally said; much to everyone’s surprise. She broke the connection with Elias’ warm eyes and tilted her head, returning back to her food. She took her cutlery back into her hands, skilfully cut the remainder of her pancakes, and refused to meet Zyki’s eyes when she said, “satisfied?”

“To an extent, I suppose.” Came Zyki’s low, unamused reply.

Elias had been staring at the whole scene up until this point. He was smart enough to pull his gaze away the moment Zyki pushed off of their chair and strode towards him and Eris.

For a moment, Elias was almost certain that Zyki would drop this question on all of them. It left him with little time to really collect his thoughts on who to pick; Helios or Eris? In the end, he supposed, Eris would be asked first and then she would almost certainly choose Helios since he was about ten times calmer and fun-loving than Elias could ever force himself to be.

Content with accepting his fate sooner than later, Elias slouched against his chair when Zyki brushed past Eris…and straight over to the door.

“You’re not gonna ask the rest of us?” Helios blurted, addressing the topic everyone else had been thinking.

“Nah,” waving a hand in the air, Zyki grinned at the young recruits and pivoted towards the exit. “You’re all too predictable.”

Quincy snorted quietly in amidst his rearrangement of papers and quietly excused himself as he followed Zyki out into the hallway. “I’ll let you get back to your meals.” Nodding towards the expecting faces around the table, Quincy smiled and exchanged a sceptical look of expression towards his partner as they disappeared from sight.

“…I’m rather glad that person didn’t ask me to choose…” Eris sighed. “I wouldn’t have been able to make such a decision.”

“Same here,” Helios grunted, arms folding behind his head. “You think you would have been able to pick, Elias? It’s kinda pressuring since they’ll be your partner for, like, the rest of your life in the Rebellion.”

Elias swallowed down his nerves and played with the food on his plate timidly. “I guess it is kind of pressuring, yeah. I mean…I’ve wanted to join the Rebellion for a long time now, but I guess the idea of having a partner never really hit me until now.”

“You a lone wolf kinda guy, Elias?” Helios mused with his trademark smirk returning to his lips.

“Guess so.”

Psykhe continued to feed herself during the conversation of her fellow recruits and made zero contact to engage with them at any given second. She did not need to raise her head to feel at all within the moment, nor did she need recognition of who was glaring at her the whole time she chewed on her pancakes.

Riyo’s furious eyes were almost a match for Psykhe’s own serious glare - which made the girl feel somewhat amused - and she did very little to hide the wide smile upon her lips as she finished her pancakes

“After you sent me the file last night, I just had to come and meet her myself!” Zyki exclaimed, twirling in the hallway as if in a dance. “Merine does indeed have a little sister called Psykhe, there is no denying that she is the one sitting at that table~!”

Quincy, utterly calm and collected in comparison to Zyki’s small outburst, rubbed around the sore spot by his stitched temple and sighed. “I wonder why she’s here. According to Ciiria’s interview with her, Psykhe was very specific in her answers to every question; including why her brother was sent to prison.”

“Why?” Zyki paused, a slouch in their posture as they leant against the wall lazily. “How did she answer?”

“She was totally honest! She simply explained how Merine was arrested for the slaughter of Sylvannix and abuse for the church! I just can’t see her real purpose... does she intend to catch us off guard? Avenge her brother’s arrest?”

“That’s what an idiot would do. She hardly seems to be the role of the fool; wouldn’t you say? No, perhaps it is something else…”

“We could be looking at this all wrong. I mean, she could quite easily be trying to restore the good name to the Trezla family after everything her brother has done to tarnish it? If joining the Rebellion was the way to do that, then we shouldn’t stick our noses in it so much.”

“I disagree,” Zyki sighed. “The Trezla family’s name was tarnished shortly after the Sylvannix were able to cross Emvolo’s border years ago. Merine’s father made his racist speeches and was pretty open about his loyalty to Capitol right up until he died. All those plans towards the church and slaughter of Sylvannix were probably left in his will or letters like we already discussed!”

“…A young woman, born into a noble family who supports Capitol beliefs, joins the Rebellion, the very people who put her brother away all those years ago, to work alongside the races her father had been so hated towards.” Mulling over the situation in his head, Quincy groaned and tipped his head back, fingers rubbing against his temple once again. “I still think we may be taking this too precisely…”

“Come now, you really think all of this is mere coincidence, Quincy?” Twirling around slowly, Zyki’s eyes focused on their partner and they paused, posture steadying. “…does your wound still hurt?”

“Hm? Oh, no…it’s just a little sore.” Replied Quincy. “There was just a lot of Prowlers, and I never really go into battle, so I was just caught off guard and—“

Zyki managed to shut Quincy up, albeit not intentionally, when the cold metal from the tips of their claws clanked together in cupping Quincy’s chin and lifting his head towards the light in order to look at the swelling gash upon his head. Hollow, dead eyes seemed less ghostly up close, Quincy decided, and Zyki’s expression actually looked concerned for once.

“Do I scare you, Quince?” Mumbled Zyki. “Am I really that terrifying that you stop talking whenever I get too close?”

“N-No…not at all…!” Quincy tried shaking his head between the sturdy grip of Zyki’s fingers and swallowed, his throat bobbing against the collar of his shirt. “It’s not like that…”

“I hope so,” Zyki whispered. “I would hate to think we’re not friends after being partners for so long.”

Unsure of whether he should reply or stay quiet, move closer or step away, Quincy was frozen on the spot with his guard in ruins at his feet. He supposed such a feeling was a lot like the night at the pub. He had been cornered by those horrible Prowlers and had felt this exact feeling of overcoming dread and adrenaline all at once.

Maybe Zyki really did terrify him. Quincy would hate to admit it, and yet, he was unable to calculate any other reason as to why his heart was racing at such a speed, or why he could not think clearly enough to actually do anything.

“You should probably have Neoma look at it,” Zyki said, breaking the silence and stepped away. “She’s in the training hall this morning with Tovi. I told them to get things ready for the recruits. You know how they enjoy sharpening those weapons.” A wicked smile crossed their lips and they snickered. “I would be worried about them if not for their appreciation for sharp things.”

“Right,” Quincy swallowed dryly and forced his eyes to shut a number of times. Whatever had come over him began to die away as his composure returned and he reminded himself about the recruits in waiting. “When does the training start for them? I would need to inform them this afternoon when I give them their base passes and MDUs.”

“Reidonn and Ciiria were working on a schedule late hours last night. They want to get them up and ready effective immediately. It looks like it’s gonna be next week at the latest.” Standing on their toes, Zyki nodded towards the door at the end of the corridor where one of the new recruits had emerged from. “We’ll keep a close eye on the Trezla girl, but keep a low profile. Call me if you need anything else.”

“Thanks, Zyki.” Quincy straightened his shoulders and shook his troubled thoughts away before turning to meet the recruit who had wandered out to meet him. Forcing a positive expression onto his painful face, Quincy folded his hands behind his back and glanced the young man over once or twice in the process of recalling his name. “Elias Kara…what can I help you with?”

Elias followed the outlines of Zyki in the distance until they were gone, then turned his head up towards Quincy; trying his hardest not to look or feel as guilty as he really was. “I need you to do me a really big favour…” Came the small, reluctant whisper. “It may involve some lying.”

“Sounds serious.” Quincy crossed his arms. “Do tell!”

Elias looked down to the floor and shifted, rocking his weight to one leg as if to ease his nerves. “Well, it’s my sister. She actually kinda hates this place and, I know it was stupid of me, but I lied to her when she called me this morning. She asked where I was and I told her I had joined some kind of summer camp, then I think I convinced her I was gonna be away for a year? I basically tried to convince her it was like some great educational institution. Anyways, she’s given me a day to get one of my 'so-called teachers' to phone her and confirm that I’m in a safe place since I’m gonna be here for a year in training.” Hurrying the last of his sentence, Elias felt his cheeks burn with an intense fury and solemnly focused on the clean, polished floorboards in shame.

“You want me to pretend to be a teacher?” Quincy sighed. “Elias, you know Capitol's Governor changed the law on adult-age years ago. Now that you’re sixteen, you’re legally free to do whatever you please without the permission of your guardians or parents. You don’t necessarily need your sister’s approval to join the Rebellion, or a summer camp, for that matter.”

“But I don’t want to disappoint her!” Elias countered. “You don’t understand…I need her to be okay with my absence until I’m strong enough to tell her the truth. Please, you can just help me for the first year, while I’m here training, and when I’ve finished my first mission, I can go home and tell her where I’ve really been and she would have to be proud of me!”

The look written on Quincy’s face was a collection of sympathy and concentration. When he finally spoke, he was no longer using the sweetened tone he had been speaking with all through today and yesterday; this kind of voice was sterner and much more suited to a member of the Rebellion’s council. “I will consider it.”

“You will?” Elias gasped.

Quincy nodded. “Considering I take the suggestion to Kane, and he seems quite eager to see you thrive here, so the answer would most certainly be a yes.” Sighing, Quincy pinched the bridge of his nose and mumbled something incoherent before adding, in a much more audible tone, “but you must promise me that you will not keep your real whereabouts a secret any longer than the first year of your training.”

“I promise!” Elias beamed. “Thank you, Quincy, I mean, sir!”

A nervous chuckle passed through Quincy’s lips. “You don’t need to call me that… Now, I need the five of you to finish up with breakfast and come see me down in the training hall for your registration as part of the Rebellion. I will be passing you over to Neoma, our medic, and Tovi, our weapons’ master. They will be observing your training, along with Zyki.”

“And when will you see the captain? My sister will hunt me down if I don’t get this call to her by sundown.”

“Kane is in Capitol right now.” Quincy tapped his chin. “But I shall have a word with him the moment he has time to spare. I’ll come and replace you for your sister’s number before dinner; that’s a promise.”

“Thank you.” Elias was, suffice to say, more than relieved and could not stop his lips from pulling back into a wide smile. “I’m going to go and tell the others to finish up. We’ll see you in the training hall soon!” The eagerness from his voice rushed down to his legs and he bolted, starting for the sliding door at the end of the corridor.

“See you,” Quincy resisted the urge to laugh at such enthusiastic behaviour and was reminded of when Enzo joined up with the Rebellion. The pleasantness of such a time caused him to smile and he called out just before Elias could make his escape. “There are hologram maps all over the base! Don’t be afraid to ask for directions to the hall if you need any!”

Content with the arrangement of schedules and the small talk he had shared with Elias, Quincy focused on making his own way down to the training hall to have Neoma check over his wound.

The upcoming year would no doubt be a relatively easy one considering they only had five recruits when they would usually have over thirty or forty join up every year. His only concern would be fixated on Psykhe’s progress and whatever it was she was hoping to gain from joining up.

By the time Elias and the others had found their way down to the training hall, Neoma and Tovi had finished sharpening all of the weapons on display and seemed to be heavily engrossed with the small radio sitting on a tall box of aircraft missiles.

The audio seemed a little unsteady, thus whoever was listening needed to strain their ears somewhat just to catch on to whatever was being announced. Suffice to say, neither Neoma or Tovi looked very happy when the broadcast was over and the former threw her arms into the air with a loud scoff.

“So, Capitol claims to have had a breakout of Prowlers, huh? That’s the best excuse they got?” She reached out to flick the small device off and crossed her arms, hips swaying to ignite her irritable feelings. “I would have considered believing it if only there were other casualties between the pub and their headquarters. What do they think we are? Stupid?!”

Tovi shrugged, making no other attempt to engage with the topic any further as he recognised Elias and the other recruits strolling in. Clearing his throat, the man nudged Neoma in the side and nodded, motioning for her to turn around and greet their guests.

“Oh!” With an awkward smile, Neoma washed away her furious expression and plastered a wide smile to sweeten the dread. “So sorry! Hey, there! I’m Neoma, I’m the medic here in the Rebellion. I’ll also be training you guys with some of your weapon studies.”

Helios stepped forward and took the reins from Elias — who had been kind enough to lead the rest of them down here — and flashed Neoma a worthy smile. “Hey there, I’m Helios. This here is Elias, Ri, Eris and Psykhe.”

Riyo scoffed and stepped up to shake hands with Neoma. “It’s Riyo.” They corrected lowly as their bright eyes carried to something of higher importance to them; the weapons. “When will we be handling our own skills?”

“Nice to meet’cha, Riyo.” Neoma laughed lightly and followed the Allawo’s gaze towards the glinting metal of swords and spears, arrows and lances. “That all depends on the schedule. Tovi and I just polished them up in case you guys already had a preference. If you have a quality already, then we’ll note it down and help you guys enhance it when you start your training. But remember; joining the Rebellion isn’t just about grabbing a gun and heading into battle. It’s about unity.”

“I know that,” Riyo muttered. “My qualities lie in the bow.”

“Neat! So does Tovi’s!” Neoma exclaimed. “I guess he’ll be your personal instructor when you start training!” Looking around to the rest of the bunch, Neoma beckoned them to approach the kit of weapons and patted them on the shoulder with a reassuring laugh. “Don’t be shy. A weapon ain’t dangerous unless someone picks ’em up. Just take your pick!”

Helios chose the set of handguns while Eris, much to everyone’s surprise, chose the large double-bitted fighting axe. Neoma was impressed with their fluid thought of choice and made sure to write everything down before her attention wandered to Elias.

“You never held a weapon before, boy?”

Elias shook his head. “No, ma’am. Never.”

“Not to worry,” Neoma pressed the palm of her hand to the boy’s shoulders and squeezed gently. “We got plenty of time to work with your flaws. Besides, even if a weapon ain’t your kind of thing, you could always end up like Quincy and work from the inside with tactical skills!”

“I see.” Smiling warily, Elias watched Psykhe move from the corner of his eye and held back his awe when she announced her choice of weapon as the scythe. “I’ll think about it, thank you.”

“You’re very welcome, lad.” Neoma beamed. “Oh, Quincy! Where were you?” Averting her attention away from Elias, she skipped over to the man in question. “Did you hear the radio broadcast?” She lowered her voice between the two of them and her eyes turned serious. “They’ve covered up the Prowler massacre, saying it was some outbreak. Can you believe that?”

Quincy kept his face in check and refused to look even a little shaken up by the additional news. “Well, that means there’s very little for us to do in such standards.” He replied just as quietly. “Let us get on with this. Our recruits need attention and training. I’m sure Kane will think of something. Oh, and thanks for restitching my head earlier. I feel a lot better.”

“Hey, mister Quincy!” Helios yelled, “do we get the schedules for our training yet? I can’t keep waiting around.”

Quincy laughed and excused himself from Neoma’s side. “I’m glad to see your eagerness, but I hope you are all keeping reality in check. It’s not all about war and fighting. You’ll even end up doing some simple errands during missions which won’t even include violence.”

As he made his way over, the recruits took notice of the small crate he was carrying and were especially keen on its contents when he placed it upon the ground and took one of the many identical devices out to display in the palm of his hand and explained its means.

“But first, let me give you all your Mobile Data Units, otherwise known as your MDUs. They work as storage banks for your personal process within the Rebellion, your rank among us, and the list of missions you have been assigned to. You can also use them as phones to contact any one of us as your superiors, and it also has maps of the kingdoms and any other additional info you may need to help you in your first few years as newly made recruits.”

Standing in a line, Quincy handed each new member an MDU and told them to turn it on.

“It will need a recognition of your fingerprint in order to accustom itself to you as the owner, after that, it’s entirely up to you to add whatever you like; granted we monitor your progress and sign off on your mission data log after you complete your missions. But, of course, we won’t need to worry about that until after your training.” Quincy folded his arms behind his back and looked over the five faces staring up at him with high expectations. “I want to congratulate you all for making it this far. Training begins next week at the latest and I expect you all to attend and prove to us why you think you’d make a difference here in the Rebellion. Good luck.”