Unity

Three: Arrival

I was woken up by shouting. Someone was yelling to "Get off the hoverplane, now!" I looked around groggily. I was strapped into a chair, one of five against a metal wall. I felt the soft humming of an engine around me. I moved to unbuckle the straps and felt a pain in my back. Everything came flooding back to me, the test, the victory, Mallory's sudden outburst. I had a new shirt and my side was bandaged, there must've been someone with medical training here. I climbed free from the seat and walked hesitantly towards a large opening in the wall.

The rest of my new team stood straight in front of the Recruiter. I guessed they were pushed from the plane so they couldn't wake me.

"Mathis!" The Recruiter shouted. "There is no excuse for tardiness! Get in line!"

I rejoined the others, standing next to Lynette. She shot me a concerned smile. I sent back a tight-lipped one. I felt Mallory's eyes drilling into my head. What was her problem? I looked at the Recruiter and he glared back with hard steel eyes.

"You are the best in this country." The Recruiter told us. "Because of that everyone here will be receiving a monthly salary of a generous amount and special living quarters here in the Facility. But don't let that make you think you are the best of the best." The Recruiter frowned harshly. "Here you are the least experienced, the least skilled, the worst of the best."

We winced collectively.

"So over the next year you will be given increasingly intensive training. This training will whip you into Agents or kill you in the process. You will be given specific schedules to train in certain fields until you are the best of the best. Once a month you will be given a mock field assignment. Failure to complete this assignment will result in punishment, more often than not a dock in your pay. The same thing will happen if any of you are caught going against the Facility. Discipline is the most important quality here so don't you forget it."

We saluted, the traditional right hand over the collar bone just below the neck exposing the throat, symbolizing how we lay ourselves bare for the land of New Pangea.

The Recruiter directed us to follow him into the building. The entire Facility was huge, spreading further than I could see, but it was all encompassed by a huge metal wall topped with barbed wire. The Recruiter scanned his retina, his fingerprint and put in a passcode before the gate opened. There was an unbelievable expanse of land surrounding the main building. It was extremely modern, made of a shining metal and glass, surrounded by a metal dome, probably a biosphere. To get into it the Recruiter had to activate a voice password, give a blood sample and have his hand scanned. The inside was just as modern and huge as the outside. The Recruiter began talking again.

"Within the Facility, not only do we have multiple simulation rooms for training but also zones of different environments to prepare you for every situation possible." He explained. "Each year of Agents gets their own wing of the building that you will stay in until your training is complete. Yours, the East Wing, will be under my administration. You may call me Supervisor Lautrec and you will answer to me. Before you ask, yes there are three other teams training here, you will not disturb them as they are much more valuable than you at this point."

We came to a hallway with a double sliding door. Supervisor Lautrec pointed to a panel. "This is where you will insert your keys. Each of you will get one key so don't lose it. It unlocks the wing and your personal quarters. This key may also be important in mock field assignments or special training. Come up and take one now."

He pulled a string of five keys from his pocket and held them out. We each took one. They were not like normal keys, they were flat pieces of glass that displayed circuitry on the inside. They each had small holes on the top so we could attach them to something. Mine had a silver number two on one side.