1 I: Encountering Comrades

Light.

A bright, blinding light.

It was the first sight I saw after opening my eyes slightly with a hazy memory and an aching head, my nose scrunched up as my arm went over to the front of my face. Everything either looked too bright or too dark when I glanced around to wherever I was in a confused manner. I positioned my elbows on both sides of my body and tried to lift myself up from my current state. As I was about to sit, a split pain and horrendous ache throbbed across my head that made me groan form the pain, clutching my head with my hands with gritting teeth. Suddenly, I started to hear voices coming from a memory I never thought I had.

"Michaelis, survive." The voice was saying, guilt and regret lacing the words with a hint of crying. The ringing in my ears got violent as it repeated the same name over and over again.

"Michaelis."

"Michaelis."

"Michaelis. . . do not fall."

At last, everything went silent. The ringing stopped. The migraine seized. It all disappeared as if it never happened in the first place. When I opened my eyes a little bit, I saw at least four people in the distance wearing the same clothes just like mine: white shirts and white pants along with a with bandanna of the same color wrapped around their wrist, expressions weary and confused.

"Really, kid? Your first time in this shithole and that's how you say 'hi'?" A deep, scowling voice said from beside me, followed by footsteps and murmuring. I averted my gaze upwards, eyes squinting, to see a raven-haired, paled skin man leaning down slightly with an eyebrow raised towards me. His frightful gray orbs pierced into mine, aura intimidating and demeanor's so cold it could freeze me to death.

Though, the only thing that made him less scary was his height. The man was much shorter than I was by a few inches.

"Give the kid a break, Arius. It's not like he can control it." Another person spoke from behind what I guess was Arius-- the terrifying short man who almost stepped on me.

"Tch. Whatever you say, chief."

"Arius."

"Fuck off."

The taller man sighed and ignored Arius' attitude. He stood up from a plastic chair and walked over to me, reaching his hand out for me to grab, which I did.

"I apologize for his frame of mind. He's usually not that… impolite." The man carefully said as he helped me up in the process. He had a blond hair that was styled in an undercut, blue eyes just like mine, and was much taller than Arius and I. "What's your name, son?"

I shifted uncomfortably and tried to recall my name within the depths of my mind. I cleared my throat and replied nervously, "M-Michaelis."

"Michaelis, eh? Never heard that kind of name before." The blonde chuckled before placing his hand out in front of me as an indication for a friendly gesture. I clasped my hand with his as we shook it. "I'm Clay, basically the leader here of our small group."

"And yet you refused when I called you 'chief'." Arius murmured, in which Clay ignored.

Three more people stepped forward, both girls and a boy. The first girl rushed over to me with a wide smile spread across her face, examining me excitedly as she let out a small squeal.

"Hi, the name's Minerva." She exclaimed. "I look forward to talk with you more since we're stuck in these four-walled, boring place." Minerva moved away for the other girl to introduce herself.

"Hey," The girl flashed me a small smile, waving her hand. "I'm Diedre. Not really a great name to pronounce well, but you'll get used to it."

"Well, I kinda like it." I blurted out so suddenly, making my eyes wide from what I just replied. I tried my best not to cover my mouth with the palm of my hand while hiding the faint dusted pink cheeks from her.

"Thanks. I appreciate it." She nodded, that smile on her face not fading. My eyes glanced to a smaller figure beside her. It was a boy tugging at her white shirt shyly. Diedre placed her hand on his back in reassurance, seeing that she was mentally saying that it was okay for him to communicate with me.

"Hi," The boy muttered with his hand waving. "I-I'm Danno, the youngest one here." I gave a small wave to him. He eyed me warily before looking back at Diedre, who just nodded as he walked off towards Clay.

I looked around the place. Six pods were displayed vertically at the far right side of the room with black foams and pillows compressed on the inside that resembled as beds, a faucet placed just a few centimeters beside them. In front of me was a table with six chairs were the group was located, sitting the chairs paralleled to each other. I turned around to see a door that was shut and unbothered. I walked closer to it and placed my hand to its surface, feeling the coldness of the metal seeping through my skin as it vibrated minimally. A small compartment was present beside the door, also sealed shut that looked like it hadn't been touched for a while.

"Don't ask if we ever tried to open that shit, 'cause we did." Arius said, leaning on his chair with an arm draping behind and his leg crossed over the other one. He ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh coming out of his lips, eyes briefly closing before opening them again as he landed his gaze on me. "There's no escape. No plan. No escape plan. It's all bullshit."

Escape? What are they escaping from?

"I would appreciate if you minimize the profanity, Arius." Clay warned in a stern yet calm voice. Diedre and Danno went silent after hearing his voice. I, too, shut my mouth closed.

Arius seemed unfazed by what Clay just said. In fact, he leaned closer to Clay's ear and whispered, "I do not give a goddamn fuck."

Minerva snorted before covering his mouth while trying to compose herself, sitting straight on her chair and clearing her throat. "That was… unprofessional of you, Arius."

"Tch." He stood up and walked to one of the pods, entering it without any haste and lay on the pillow with the blanket now laying over him. "It's already late. Everyone should sleep now before lights out."

Clay, Minerva, and Danno did not say another word and obeyed the shorter man's words, proceeding to their own pods and settling themselves. I felt a finger tapping on my shoulder that made me turn my head to the side to see Diedre, lips pursed and staring at me.

"We figured someone would arrive since a new pod was added here along with a chair." She nodded at me. "Also, I'm sorry about Arius sometimes. He's always like that, especially to Clay."

"Yeah, I noticed." I replied, scratching the back of my head while listening to her talk. It was already getting dark and others were already dozing off.

"I'll explain the rest of the details tomorrow when there's time before the job starts." Diedre was saying, yawning in the process.

I cocked my head in a confused manner. "Job? What job?"

"Oh, you don't know anything? Did the veritans told you at least the details?"

"Veri-- what? Who are they?"

Diedre shrugged, walking to her own bed. "I'll explain the rest tomorrow, Michealis. Get some rest." With that, I gave up on thinking and went to my own pod.

What even is this place? Should I really be here?

As I was about to sleep that night, Diedre looked at me one last time with an unusual blank face and eyes empty unlike before, and said those two words I kept hearing inside my mind.

"Michaelis, survive."