Steampunk CTs

“EXCUSE ME! I’M SORRY!” I rushed through the crowd, trying to disrupt as few people as possible.

“Watch where you’re going, parasite!” A Holian yelled at me as I accidentally bumped into him and kept moving. You can call me whatever you want! You can even call me a parasite! But you know what?! This parasite is going to school!

Though, it’s a real shame that I’m late on my first day…

After that crazy CT burned zone four to the ground, that man the Terror Crusher lived up to his end of the bargain. All Haustorians in Holia were briefly moved to the opposite end of the country to zone one: the capital zone of Holia. There, we trained under the Terror Crusher while everyone’s homes were being rebuilt. As the year went on, our bond and respect for TC grew. Although he would be busy with CT work, he always made sure to check on us once or twice a week to see how we were progressing and we appreciated him for that. He even wanted us to be on a first name basis. Ori immediately ran with it, calling him Terrance, but my mom told me when I was little to always show respect when talking to my elders, so I decided to call him Mr. Terrance.

When everyone’s homes were rebuilt, they returned to zone four. As per the deal, Ori and I stayed to train with the help of the number one CT. We made sure we were in peak condition for the promised day of our enlistment into zone one’s CT academy.

I bursted through the double doors of the academy and scanned the main lobby for anyone that could point me in the right direction and was met with not a soul in the room. All of the lights were on. It even had a front desk and splitting hallways, but no one was here…

“O…k?” Looked to the top of one of the hallway’s door frames and saw a sign that said “classrooms.” Perfect! Now I can be on my way!”

I bursted through the door of the first classroom in the hallway and…saw no one. Since no one was there, I tried the next one. And the next. Then the next.

“What kind of ghost town am I in?!?!” I was about to rip my hair out, but stopped when I heard yelling coming from outside the window. When I pushed the blinds aside, I saw Ori with a small group of people. In front of that group was a lean and muscular man with a drill sergeant hat and the standard BCT uniform. This guy’s uniform was different from the one that attacked zone four, though. His uniform was decorated with different medals. That must be the Instructor Ori said was teaching us over the year! I think his name is Instructor Matthews! Thank goodness I found where class was happening! I shouldn’t waste any more time getting there. There’s only one thing I can do to speed up the process.

Go through the window!

I quickly found the latch on the window and unlocked it. When I did, everyone looked over to me as I opened the window and climbed out.

There, I saw all of my classmates. At a glance, it looked like there were about six people there. I’ll introduce myself to them after I break the ice. All of their heads tracked me as I ran to Instructor Matthews and expressed my apologies for being late. Even Ori gave me a concerned look as I stepped face to face with the Instructor.

“I’M VERY SORRY INSTRUCTOR MATTHEWS!” I prostrated myself in front of the man that’ll be teaching me counter-terrorism for the next year.

Ori taught me the difference between a Holian apology and a Haustorian apology. Haustorians put their palms together and rub them back and forth while bowing their head, whilst Holians prostrate themselves as much as possible. Hopefully this’ll be enough of an apology. I'm putting my everything into this!

“Get up…” the instructor ordered me.

“Yes, Instructor!”

“THAT’S SIR TO YOU!”

“Y-YES SIR!” I was immediately startled as I jumped to my feet.

“You’re trainee Arno Achebe, correct?”

“YES SIR!”

“How in Taramos’s great and holy name did you manage to be late for your enlistment ceremony?”

Honesty is the best policy! I have to tell him the truth and nothing but the truth if I want him to look past this mistake I made! With my most sincere expression, I told him how my morning went.

“BREAKFAST IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY, SIR! SO I DECIDED TO HAVE BREAKFAST! BUT WHEN I FINISHED EATING, THE FOOD DIDN’T SIT WELL WITH ME SO I IMMEDIATELY HAD TO GO TO TAKE A DUMP, SIR!”

…

“Why…” Instructor Matthews asked.

“Are you asking me why people poop, sir? Ori told me about the process once so I think I can explain it to you.” I then tried my best to explain why people poop to Instructor Matthews. To my surprise, he was quite attentive and listened closely as I talked about the process. Now that I think about it, everyone was quiet. I guess Holian education skims over bodily functions. Once I finished, the instructor told me to do fifty laps around the track.

“Oh! Are we starting our first training exercise—”

“No. Just you.” He snapped at me.

“Wait, what did I do—”

“MOVE IT, TRAINEE!” Instructor Matthews headbutted me. I recoiled in pain but worked through that sore spot he made to get on the track and start running.

===

After running those fifty laps, I ran fifty more because the Sergeant must’ve realized I wasn’t that tired. After that, it was time for lunch.

“WOAAAAAAAAAAH! LOOK! LOOK AT ALL OF THIS FOOD, ARNO!” Ori pressed her face against the display case, face brimming with excitement.

“Yeah, yeah I see…” I assured her as I scanned the academy’s cafeteria. Although the rest of the school didn’t have any staff, the kitchen had a bunch of people working hard to make food from all over the world. Everywhere except for Haustoria, sadly.

When Ori and I grabbed our food and found some seats, one of the trainees from earlier was carrying a plate of Holian food and stood over the both of us. As soon as we locked eyes, I could tell that held himself in very high regard.

“Would you look at that? It’s poop boy.”

“Me? My name is Arno.” I pointed to myself. Surely he isn’t talking to me. He’s got my name completely wrong.

“I know what your name is.” He said as he made his way towards me.

This must be his way of making friends. Well, beggars can’t be choosers. Other than Ori, this would be my first friend around the same age as me.

“Well since you know my name already, is it alright if I get yours?” I asked the trainee.

“You’re talking to the son of the governor of zone one, Derris Zi Foxtrot.”

Holy crap! It makes sense that I would see people from other zones here, but the son of a governor?! The terrorist threat plagues the entire country so it’s good to see that there are people here to lend a hand no matter what walk of life they come from.

“That’s right, poop boy. And I know it’s the specialty of you parasites to steal jobs from people, but…” He grabbed and squeezed my shoulder as hard as he could. All while making eye contact with me. “This career is gonna be a bit harder to break into. Especially after that massive blunder you pulled off. Hell, you’re gonna have to do extraordinarily well at the obstacle course today. That’s the only way you’re gonna offset that late mark.”

“In that case, I’ll be completely fine! I’m somewhat of a savant when it comes to physical stuff. Is Savant the right word Ori?” I looked over to realize Ori was busy devouring the various plates of food she got. “I’m just gonna assume savant is the right word!”

“Oh really?” Derris raised his eyebrow as he eyed me down from head to toe.

“In that case, why don’t we have a little wager?”

“A wager?” I asked.

“Yup! Whoever completes the obstacle course today first is the winner. I see your friend over there is really enjoying the buffet. So if you win, I’ll pay for the meals of both you and your friend. And if I win…you have to be my servant for the year.” He said.

Seems like a fair enough deal. I just have to not lose. I’m really confident in my strength, so that shouldn’t be too hard. Besides, a part of me wants to show this guy exactly what Haustorians can do.

“Deal!” We shook on the wager.

As he left, he said with a sly smirk “Good luck! You’re gonna need it when going up against the flash of zone one!”

As they left, Ori rose from her seat to get more food. She already finished her first round of food.

“Man, I kind of feel bad for him. He doesn't know how strong you are…”

“You have that much faith that I’m going to win?” I asked her.

“Of course. You’re the brawn to my brain, after all.” She gave me a reassuring smile before she ran off to get more food.

Having her believe in me like that makes me feel like I can do anything. If I had to describe it, it makes me feel like the chosen one or something.

When I was halfway through my meal and Ori came back with her third round, we continued to eat together. While we were eating, a group of four trainees made their way towards us. One was a tall, heavyset man with curly hair that covered the majority of his eyes. Another was a girl with short pink hair. That’s interesting. I don’t really see that many people dying their hair since it makes them stand out. The third was a middle-aged man with a tired expression. The girl with pink hair was the first to speak up.

“Hey there! Do you mind if we sit with you?” She asked.

I was getting a completely different vibe from her compared to the impression I got from Derris, so I was more than happy to make some new friends.

“Cool! By the way, my name’s Anna. The big guy over there is Gollie, and the older fellow is Rono.”

“So you guys seem very different from everyone else. If you don’t mind me asking, how did you guys become friends?” Ori was mowing down her food, so I figured I’d ask some questions.

“We were kinda always lumped together. Holians can be pretty mean to people that are different from them. Gollie gets bullied for being so big, Rono gets bullied for choosing to become a CT at a later age, even I get teased because of my hair even though I was born this way'' Anna mentioned as everyone took their seats at our table.

“But enough about us, you just picked a fight with the Derris Zi Foxtrot. You’re either really confident or really stupid.” Rono said.

“He’s…a bit…of both” Ori took small breaks in her eating to quickly interject.

“Yeah about him…his buddies called him ‘the flash of zone one.’ What’s that about?” I asked.

That’s when Anna explained Derris’s family history to me. The country of Holia is broken up into four zones. The people of each zone choose who they want to govern them via voting. When terrorism began to rise, Derris’s father saw an opportunity to become governor and took it by becoming a counterterrorist. At the time, the people of zone one were getting flak for being “elitists with old money.” So to combat that, Derris’s father became a counterterrorist and rose in the ranks. With everyone seeing a CT from zone one putting his life on the line for the middle and lower class citizens of the other zones, it discredited their argument in a way. He used that narrative to secure the governor seat.

“Before he retired, he was called the flash of zone one. It’s because with the way he fought, it seemed like he always beat his opponents in a flash. When a CT has a kid that also wants to become a CT, it’s like they’re picking up the mantle, so the kid adopts their parent’s title if they have one.”

“That’s pretty amazing when you think about it. I understand why he’s so prideful now.” I said.

“Yeah. In a way, he has to be.” Anna said before finishing her drink.

When we finished our food and filed out of the cafeteria, we saw a trainee standing in the middle of the hallway with a black face mask and his hands in his pockets. He must be that last guy that was at the enlistment ceremony. It seemed like he was waiting for us.

“What is your purpose?”

“My…purpose?” I tilted my head in confusion.

“Why are you here?” He pointed at Ori and I.

Why am I here? Isn’t it obvious? To become a CT. But he doesn’t want that answer, does he? He’s assuming I’m here to cause trouble. I’ll eventually win him over but what should I say now?

“Same reason you’re here: To become counter-terrorists. That should be enough.” Ori stepped up to answer before I could think of anything.

“Just don’t get in my way. If you happen to be a terrorist, I won’t hesitate to crush you.” The masked man threatened us before walking away.

“Talk about an edgelord.” Ori rolled her eyes.

“Is he gonna be okay?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but when the instructor was yelling at us, he didn’t move an inch…” Anna then went on to tell me what was going on before I got there. Instructor Matthews was going person by person, getting into people’s faces and yelling at them. Ori flinched a bit and looked like she wanted to beat the tar out of the instructor. When he asked why she was looking like that, she said no reason. Derris didn’t budge an inch. In fact, it looked as if he was looking down on him. Once he realized this, the Instructor headbutted him and brought him to his knees. With Gollie and Rono, they immediately broke into tears, but maintained their stance.

But when Instructor Matthews went toe to toe with this man, he was like an immovable object. No matter how much he got berated or physically assaulted, he didn’t budge. He simply kept giving the instructor the same horrific glare.

“What’s your name, trainee?”

“Jack Hanes.”

“And why are you here, Hanes?”

“To exterminate all terrorists.” He said with a fierce glare.”

“Well I know exactly what’s in your blood, Hanes. Don’t disappoint me.” He said as he began to reposition himself front and center. That’s where I came in.

He must have a parent or family member that was a CT too. Wow, some of my colleagues have a high bar to meet. Some of them are as ambitious as Ori and I. Seriously, “exterminate all terrorists?” With classmates like these, I’ll have to be at peak performance or I’m sure to fall behind.

===

Later on in the day, our division worked on paperwork for the BCT. We filed countless pages of incidents. Our instructor explained that as far as paperwork goes, the only difference between a terrorist incident that involved CTs and a regular police report is a simple stamp. This stamp always has to be applied when counter terrorists are involved. As soon as a CT steps into the field, whoever they are fighting is deemed a terrorist. Therefore, the police have to make a copy of their report, stamp it, and send it to the BCT for further analysis.

While I was sorting through the papers, Instructor Matthews was getting ready to announce something.

"It's come to my attention that Trainees Arno and Derris are having themselves a little race! This is just the competitive spirit that’s needed here at the academy. There are some talks of people from other zones joining to see the spectacle!"

Huh?

The instructor looked at the both of us and said "the academy and possibly even the country looks forward to seeing your race."

HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH?!

Possibly the country?! I've gotta put my game face on in that case!

I looked over to Derris to see how he was taking it and when I peered over to him, I noticed that just for a brief moment, his face was completely pale. Though as soon as more eyes were set on him, he was quick to change his expression.

A part of me feels bad for him, he probably has to keep up appearances all the time because of his status. I hope he'll be okay…