8 Guardian Dan

"You are Crey? "

The intimidating bald man asked while keeping his fingers crossed over his desk. Crey felt an odd premonition about how he already knew his name. He suddenly had a vague inkling about where it might be going…..

"Yes Sir! Thanks out there for…"

The bald man waved his hand like it was just a secondary issue, nothing important. He looked down on his table and clicked some buttons to unfold a screen on his wooden table top. And soon after some clicks on the screen which was not visible to Crey from where he was standing, he shut down it and then looked back at Crey,

"I am Major General Dan and here at Terra Academy, you are going to take admission as a 'ward' of mine. In other words, I am your Guardian here, and by glimpsing at your minimal expressions right now I can safely assume that you must have already realized that it is your uncle who has cropped up this strategy."

Crey had his left eyebrow twitching as he with great difficulty managed to get his emotions of 'damn you old man!' under his control. He rubbed his face as he coughed politely to ask a question he was burning to know to General Dan, his new Guardian.

"*Cough* So Sir, You know my uncle? "

Dan stood up from his chair and put his hands behind his back as he began to walk outside.

"No, in fact, your uncle must have some reach because a very close friend of mine had asked me this favor to look after you. But…..if you think this is going to make your life easier here. You are very very wrong.

Rather, you may be facing more stringent supervision, and difficulties" He stopped and looked back to stare at the young man. "Because I don't want failures under my personal watch."

Crey didn't respond to his warning as he was thinking of some other things, especially how his nearly useless old uncle could have connections to some high military positions. While Dan nodded inside to see the composure of the young man, at least he doesn't look like a spoiled brat to him.

Dan began to walk away but right at this moment Crey woke up from his thoughts as he hurriedly asked him,

"Excuse me, sir! For Exams I think I haven't prepared anything ...." He tried to gauge the attitude of this strict general. As if he really is doing this unwillingly then he might throw him out, right at this very moment to make his plan to crash exams successfully.

Dan stopped and turned around slowly. There was not a single trace of varied expression visible on his face as he scrutinized the young man. Only after a few seconds of pause did he declare,

"Maybe you don't know or you are pretending to not know, but the 'wards' recommended personally by Academy Generals don't need to go on a written test. This is a privilege and the reason for envy of this position. You will be taking a direct Field exam tomorrow morning, be prepared. My aide will give you the rest of the instructions."

After these words, he went away leaving stunned Crey behind. Only after a few minutes, he sat down on the chair still in dismay as he mused himself in worry.

'Great! This means I am nearly enrolled as the field exam is the only thing left. Looks like there is no chance to crash this Academy Exam, just as I thought, the old man finishes the chore to end which he takes up every time. Clearly, he must have a fail-safe already employed if I attempted to fail deliberately here. '

While Crey was considering this, outside Dan was meeting with his aide who was an old man with both prosthetic robotic arms. After giving him a few instructions about the new student, he walked away with a frown on his face. Walking not much farther, he sent a message on his Watch-ID to someone which read 'call me when free'.

"Heck! If Uncle is so adamant then let it be. Moreover, I had never managed to beat him in any field whether it was mind games or repair work. Then I should accept my fate to graduate as a Military Officer, well it certainly wouldn't be worse than that. ...…."

Crey said as he chuckled and shook his head but suddenly his face turned serious as he slammed his fist on his thigh.

"F*ck that! I am still going to fail. Let's see what he has planned."

After venting his frustration, Crey leaned down on his chair to relax for some time. As he was relaxing, his drifting thoughts began to roll on their own. Looking broadly, maybe it wouldn't be so hard if he had to enroll here, Food, Salary, and lucrative Exo Armor - which is seriously the only thing he was attracted to. The pinnacle of Human tech, the brilliance of every generation even going back before Apocalypse, all tugged together to make this intelligent artifact which could easily double or maybe triple Evolved Fighter's power. It was fascinating.

As a Machinist, who had worked alongside his uncle learning everything from him. His knowledge and interest in machines were no less than any scientist or Engineer. Therefore, just thinking about his own Exo-Armor was giving him thrills. Suddenly he had a premonition that the Military might not be such a bad idea.

Suddenly the door opened bringing the expressionless Crey to reality from his ludicrous daydreams. They were just ridiculous plans or you could say worthless imaginations because he was well aware that he had no intention to seek them or work hard to achieve them in real life. He thinks of such things precisely because he was never going to do so. He was more of a 'going with flow' guy.

Crey was an unambitious, lethargic, and 'keeping to himself' man who had no dream of becoming a hero, falling in love, or becoming the best fighter out there. Exactly why he was pretty much alone without any friends of his age. Thus, to pass the time he had developed a cringe habit of daydreaming some ridiculous situations to keep himself entertained.

"Excuse me, sir! May I come in? "