Korvet and I were falling fast into the bright megastructure of nonsensical wires and corridors, aiming for the ground floor.
I cannot explain how we were able to avoid hitting the obstacles; they are everywhere. One small mistake and I would've been sliced clean from the bottom of my legs to the top of my head.
With a light impact, Korvet and I reached the ground. "Whoo, I hope it didn't make you dizzy!" Korvet asked while I struggled to stand straight. "You can let my hips go, dude. You are fine, we reached the floor." Korvet slapped my hands off his body, and I lost balance, falling headfirst into the hard, rocky pavement.
We are supposed to meet the high-ranking officials. Apparently, they have called me to their ongoing meeting. Korvet carried me through a hall full of nothing but white lights.
'Vasila and the other cadets from her unit will be assembled there. You need to sit there silently, and it'll all be fine.." Korvet said in a hurried voice.
'Why? What will happen if I talk?' I dared to ask. There are too many things that I didn't know about these guardian forces. The higher-ranked officers must know who was responsible for killing the people of my shell. They must have the answers that I'm looking for.
'The Officers are judging your fate. We don't allow children of the shell in our base. This is the first time in history that someone from the shell has set foot in our base.. They're deciding if they want to keep you here or transfer you to some other shell' replied Korvet, who felt uneasy, yet optimistic.
'Vasila's Managing Officer is arguing about your capabilities to the Board of the Guardian Force, so let them do what they need to do. Unit Vasila and I believe that you have the power to be useful.. Others argue that you don't belong here. Don't give them a reason to hate you by talking.'
'O-okay.. I'll be silent then.' I replied.
'But I don't understand, what power do I have..?'
'Don't bother. The officers would know the potential candidate for a pilot when they see it. Do you know what Unit Vasila specialises in?' Korvet asked me, fully expecting me to give the wrong answer.
'I... don't know', I replied.
'Well, you'll know soon enough', Korvet replied and opened a door.
This room is way different from the quarters that we came from. It's a large room with a huge round table with chairs on all sides, with the centre occupied by a holographic system.
The walls were pure white. The table is pure white. Amidst the chairs, a couple of people were already seated when Korvet and I entered the room, who turned their heads in unison and stared at me, each having a distinct reaction but refraining from saying anything nonetheless.
Silent and cunning eyes met me for a brief moment and returned to the table once again.
A Black young girl with dreadlocked white hair rose from her seat. She wore a leather coat, but it was much shorter than Korvet's. She wore rings of iron on her arms and abdomen.. She had a distinct facial feature. Her dreads were long, reaching below her ears. She got close to my ears and whispered, 'Sit quietly with me, don't say anything!'
This must be Vasila. I remember her voice.
'Alright..' I replied and followed Vasila.
Strange people were watching me from the holographic screen. Unlike the people here, who just looked for a moment and stopped, these hologram people on the screen didn't stop staring at me.
I feel weird. It's like I'm the only odd person here. Vasila took me by my hand and made me sit next to her at the table.
The table only had a few people present.
I noticed that there were a couple of people who wore the same outfit as Vasila and Korvet, who took his seat next to me, and didn't talk the whole time.
I realised that my side of the table is where all the cadets of Unit Vasila are seated. The opposite side of this table consisted of 7 more cadets who wore different outfit than Unit Vasila. They each wore a green specs and eminated different statistical numbers in real time. One of them caught me staring at them and i looked away to not piss them off.
There was also a mixed group of more than 23 cadets and troopers who wore leather coats were seated at the other side of this table.
They seemed to be uninterested to be present in this meeting and they had a sort of lavish feel to their looks.
I assumed that they must belong to a different unit of guardian force. What made them unique from the rest of the cadets is they each wore the same metal armour that designated officers wore.
Could they be the ones responsible for activities related to shell management?
Why are they avoiding to look at me then? They could also very well be senior cadets who are engaged in hard training so I couldn't come to conclusions without solid proof.
At my side, Vasila is seated to my left and Korvet is seated to my right. three other cadets were seated beside them. I assume, they also belong to Unit Vasila.
I peeked from the corner of my eyes and say a rough looking dude at Korvet's side. He noticed me and turned his head to stare me back. He took his hand out and pointed his middle fingers at me. There is a female cadet who sat next to him who slapped his hands and hushed him to behave himself.
Their voice didn't sound like a female, and that was odd to me.. maybe i heard it wrong.
At Vasila's side, a guy with a mushroom cut hairstyle was tapping his feet. He seemed to be anxious. I didn't know why, and i couldn't tell his face reactions from this distance. He had a long nose. Those were the only things that i could tell from here.
At the other side of the table, three officers who wore leather coats and black masks with the god Wokan's name, imprinted in translucent characters had turned their heads towards me. Each of the officers had a holographic keyboard which they were using to type something on the desk. They also had a floating window infront of them.
This is the first time seeing these hologram tech. Kyle told me that guardian forces have been using this amazing technology for a long time.
I have one alarming issue to address now. These people looked similar to the officer who pushed me from the shell, but obviously, that officer didn't wear leather coats. Yet, I was feeling uncomfortable.. What if that officer is present in this room?
One of them stood up and pressed a button on his mask to take it off his face.
He is an old man with a thick brown moustache and hair. He gave me a quick smile and sat down to start typing something on the holographic keyboard on his desk.
'Who is he..?' I whispered to Korvet.
'Be quiet!' Vasila replied and grabbed one of my hands tightly.
The whole room was silent for a couple of minutes before one of the people inside the holographic screen at the centre of the round table broke the silence.
"We'll now begin with the discussion for the potential capabilities of subject WL-591. The decision made during this meeting will be applied to similar cases in the near future. Keep the conversation civil and only bring up facts with no bias. This meeting is being monitored by master-ranked officers from nearby regions, marked with similar living conditions. Now, begin with the talk." said one of the officers on the screen and fell silent.
Timeskip cutscene:
'My brother.. you should control yourself.. I seen your eyes during the battle today. It's not human anymore. Don't let the hatred destroy your senses.' said Korvet who opened my mecha hatch and stared at me, beyond worried.
I kept staring at the blank screen. my hands clutching the dashboard and circuit panels.
'Get out of there.. You made everyone worry..' Korvet said and lifted me up from my seat by force.
I got out of my mech with Korvet and stared at him. He tried to walk off to the quarters with me.
'You should've been there..' I replied to Korvet, who slowly turned his head around.
He took off his leather coat's hoodie.
'I'm sorry, what? can you say it again?' asked Korvet.
'You should've been there..' I repeated again.
'You should've been there when he needed your assist.. Where were you at that time, Korvet?'
'YOU F##KING TAKE THAT BACK!..' Korvet yelled, and grabbed me by the neck.
I didn't resist or fight back. I let him take his anger out on me. Korvet realised that he had gone too far. He took his hands off me.
Like, he was utterly repulsed by his own actions.
'I'm sorry.. I shouldn't have done that.' Korvet apologised and fixed my leather coat, touching my neck gently. 'Cal has cooked something special tonight.. let's go.. home, wei wei?'