The hall's interior was a lot larger than it looked from the exterior. Walking in, the first thing which caught Jace's attention was the large stage.
About a tenth of the length of the hall, a raised platform lay. Jace guessed it was probably half his height but that wasn't what caught his attention.
What did were the chairs placed on the platform. Spaced between each other, Jace had a feeling that they weren't just used for mere decoration.
Choosing to ignore it for now, Jace surveyed the hall. The walls were the same washed-off Grey the exterior had been.
On it were pictures and paintings. Jace glanced at the one nearest to him.
It was a photo of a young man, barely a few years older than Jace. He was sitting on a pile of Rache corpses, his surroundings littered with the corpses of humans and Rache.
Behind him was devastation. Broken down buildings, shrapnel from explosives and even broken guns. Yet, the picture told a story everyone knew, one of hope.
It was the famous Battle of Lille, and the first battle humanity had won in the cold long War. Even though humanity had lost thirty percent more soldiers than the Rache, they had taken back the region.
And the man in the center. Calean Munro, the man universally acknowledged as the first and strongest ability user.
His ability was still a mystery which many tried to uncover. Some claimed it had been a form of mass manipulation, others argued it was a form of time and space manipulation. A few even thought that a god had blessed him with powers beyond human comprehension.
The only public written record of how his ability worked was by his best friend who had simply said 'Around him, time and space are a mess. It's like the laws of the world bow to him. Sometimes, he's as fragile as a man, weak, defenseless. And other times. He's a god. The only known thing is that his powers, they're unmeasurable'.
Jace sighed internally. Unmeasurable power was a topic he had heard a lot about courtesy of Edgis.
And so, to him. There was really nothing such as unmeasurable power. All things had weaknesses or limits. You just had to find them.
As Jace thought, he heard it. A click-clacking of heels against the floor.
He watched, as a young dainty figure appeared on the stage. Wearing an ocean blue dress that rose just above her knees and looking about Jace's age, she appeared out of her depth on the podium.
That was until Jace heard the murmuring around him.
"Isn't that Kem?"
"I heard she vanished. Never thought she would be here"
"Time to store this memory for later"
A few people glanced at the person who said that last statement. Simply shrugging, he replied "What? It's not my fault. I mean look at her"
The minute the girl now known as Kem sat, another young man walked in. This time Jace was able to notice a door on the stage, hidden in the corner.
The young man walked out, his black hair sweeping over his amethyst eyes. Strapped to his back was a double-edged sword and while he looked young, Jace could see it as he walked. The tense fists, his eyes scanning for any unforeseen danger. This was a veteran.
Surprisingly, Jace wasn't able to glean a lot of information from the crowd. Most of what he heard were people trying to guess his identity.
He sat just as the next person walked out. By this time Jace had an idea what was going on. They were creating heroes.
Not heroes in the sense of do-gooders who never did a wrong, but heroes in the sense of people you aim to reach. They were setting up the Instructors as those types of heroes.
From the reaction of the crowd Jace knew he was right. Most people had stars in their eyes as they watched. Those stars would transform into seeds which would fill their hearts and cause them to grow.
Jace focused his attention on the person who was now sitting down. Wearing a flannel which surprisingly looked good on him and with a sword strapped to his waist, he gave off the feeling of a knight on vacation. Partially because he was.
One of the many factions which still shared or tried to share the olden methods had knighted him. Whether or not everyone universally recognized it, that didn't matter. To them, he was a knight.
The next person to come out was a middle-aged woman. Walking slowly, it felt like the earth itself was opening up and paving a way for her.
And of course the comments about her did not disappoint.
"Isn't that Bailey"
"I heard she stopped fighting after getting a critical injury"
"I want her to sit on my face"
She sat but not before flashing a small concealed smile to Kem.
By this time Jace and a few others were getting bored. The entire orientation couldn't just be a bunch of instructors strutting across the stage like it was a walkway. That meant something was going to happen, soon.
The next person to walk in was someone Jace and probably every other person knew well.
Her face was one of the most recognizable, she was hailed as one of the Military's most useful assets and was the face of unawakened humans reaching greater heights.
Walking across the stage, the scar on her face was prominent and her short hair shook as she walked.
"Isn't that?"
"I thought she was on a mission"
"I need me a mommy"
As she sat, she took the only remaining seat. And then it happened.
The walls of the hall began to shake, the ground rumbling.
Then there was a pause, and then a sharp loud sound. Like that of thunder. And then another one. And then another one.
Jace looked up as a built man walked across the stage. Every step coincided with the sound as Jace felt a peculiar feeling emanating from him.
It wrapped around Jace like a fog, doing nothing other than existing.
The man on the stage walked over to the podium, his military uniform bearing the familiar UAE logo. His hand was raised high, motionless, unmoving.
His hair was drawn so tightly back his face was stretched, but that only served to make the numerous tiny scars on his face look larger.
He stopped in front of the podium, his eyes surveying. A slight smile slipped out from his lips.
And then his hand fell.
A sudden pressure pressed down on Jace, forcing him to bow. Jace fought against the pressure, resisting.
Around him people fell and for a second Jace thought he had overcome it. Until it descended again.
This time, with a vengeance. His knee gave way as he collapsed onto the floor, struggling to lift his head above his waist.
If he had looked around, he would have noticed a few people still standing. But he didn't have the luxury.
The man spoke after surveying the scene in front of him. "Pathetic isn't it. The future of humanity kneeling, cowering".
The pressure disappeared just as it had come, in a flash. Jace rose unsteadily, his legs promising to betray him as he stood.
The man spoke again "You see, my job is to turn you from your incompetent weak self into a weapon of humanity by all means necessary".
He paused for dramatic effect before continuing "Know that your life is now in my hands. Your families, your friends. They all signed a contract stating that your lives belong to the military for this one year. And so I'll make sure to use it well".
And with that, he walked off back to the door he came from. As he did, the woman known as Instructor Bailey walked up to the podium.
Flashing a nervous smile, she whispered into the microphone "As you leave the hall you'll see someone handing a bunch of bracelets. That's your new military-officiated Cyberlink"
With that she clapped her hands together and declared "With that. Cheer up, have a laugh with friends, go on a few dates. The trauma won't come till the second month."
And with that, orientation ended.