Navigation

City shining outside, no longer nighttime but now it's daytime. Today's subject is navigation, out of bed i woke up just in time for the bell to ring loudly. Oliver and Josh quickly leapt out of their beds, awoken from their slumber.

"I was having a good dream, but oh well." Oliver complained. Outside we immediately walked to the cafeteria with the rest.

We sat down on the same table we always ate on. Arms descended down to give us our food. Same as yesterday's breakfast. I started eating, still heeding Josh's advice i ate slower than before.

"So were gonna face more challenges than we first though before joining." Oliver said.

"What makes you say that?" Josh asked, still eating his food.

"Didn't you hear what the teacher said yesterday? Acid rain, mountains, those weird holes, we didn't expect that exploration will have this much dangers." Oliver replied.

"Oliver, at least we know the new risks now instead of going in blind. We just have to think of the dangers and the safety we must follow. The teacher explained how to stay safe anyway."

"Guess you're right, you're the leader here after all."

"Yes i am." Josh said pridefully.

We finished our food the trays went up and we went our way to the classroom. This time the navigation classroom. Students entered the classroom with us, like our seating placement before. We sat down near the door. Waiting for the class.

Looking at the screen in front of us, it's different from the rest. It didn't show a picture. But instead showed some mapping system with a red dot in the middle flashing in and out every second.

Nobody standing in sight, the class was prepared.

"Alright, today you will learn navigation. Tasks ranging from, marking points of interest, how to use your mapping system, waypoint pinning, the expansion groups and expedition groups, among other topics. We will first start with marking points of interest." The man waved his arm at the screen, the screen changed from the dot going in and out, to a map. In the center was the text: "City" The map expanded as the man held a device in his hand, one that looked like the tablets but solid. The map itself had a green color to it.

"Marking points of interest on your mapping systems is simple. Press on the location you want to mark like so," A text formed above with a keypad beneath it. "Type whatever name you wish to put for it." The teacher typed land for an example and pressed mark. After marking, a new white x shaped symbol came up on the map small with the name under it.

"Next is the mapping system itself." The map zoomed out, showing a larger piece of land. As he expanded, more and more of the x shaped symbols showed up. But farther out, it was all grey, perhaps expedition teams didn't travel that far yet.

The map moved around and zoomed in again. "Just use your fingers to move around, and pinch your 2 fingers on the screen to zoom in. To zoom out just do the opposite. Now for documenting the expansion area in case you are assigned to an expansion group." The map changed, a small green circular area around the city. "This green area here is the completed expansion area, where houses among other structures were created. Safe from the toxic environment with a dome extension from the walls. The job of an expansion explorer is to survey the nearby areas, they will mark any dangers and obstacles for the academy to know before thy begin another expansion operation. Expansion operations must operate close to the city at no point will they wander off without order. The expansion groups are smaller in size compared to the expedition groups as they only need to encircle a certain area beyond the city and the completed expanded line."

The screen switched to a picture of 2 attires of an explorer, one of them had the binoculars insignia like what the survival teacher showed us before, and the other bearing a shovel symbol.

"The shovel symbol bearing explorer is for the expansion explorer while the other is for expedition explorer."

The screen maximized again, now showing a red circle beyond the brown mapped out area beyond through the grey unmarked lands. "This red line is the line for expedition explorers, the explorers may have to be away for months on end depending on the required land documentation. There are specific groups assigned in each direction. They will have the harder task of surveying the unknown, going beyond the cataloged area and into lands that can contain dangers unheard of. Maybe animals survived, or the environment itself is far more dangerous than the documented area. Right now we have groups dispatched through these lands, far from home. Now we have the special task of navigator." the screen showed a picture of another explorer, with goggles on his face, like integrated binoculars.

"Only the most experienced and skilled explorers can become navigators, the navigator's job is to look further than the rest as a scout. Without having to stray away from their group. There can be 5 navigators at a time, they will report directly to the group commander of any danger they spotted. They will also archive the locations marked and the progress they have made during their expedition." The screen changes to a picture of a deep ravine, the photo taken close to it, facing down at the ravine. Deep and possibly bottomless.

"Any obstacles like this must be immediately reported to the academy, after notifying command you are to go around the area, regardless of how far. You must continue moving until your group reaches the required documentation of the area."

These lessons are getting quite dull, but i need to focus. Since this is needed to survive as an explorer. Oliver and Josh are listening deeply to the lesson, staying silent with their eyes glued to the teacher speaking or the screen.

"Going back to the navigator, they will be the ones that chart the course to your destination, constantly changing it with the environment and relaying any possibly shortcuts back to shorten the travel time. They will also keep track if the group is heading in the right direction and not straying off from the assigned direction. They are also tasked with advising the commander on the course, as the commander leads the group, the navigators will constantly see if the course they are moving through is safe. Once the navigators are back in the city they will immediately start putting their documented finds on the city map at command, setting charted courses that may yield the least time to travel, obstacles found, and landmarks. They will also have to notify the commander of any wind change and sudden acid rain, keeping track of the environment and any sudden changes."

The bell rings while the teacher is speaking, quickly silencing him.

"Lunch, alright everyone. One hour to eat and head back here after." We exit out of the classroom, the rest also pouring out the classroom into the cafeteria.

"The navigators got a really hard job." Josh said.

"They sure do, imagine having to constantly change the look of your map every minute or hour." Oliver replied to him.

On our seats we receive the same food, starting to eat almost immediately as the food arrived.

"Hopefully we don't become navigators." Oliver said.

"Calm down we won't, he said only the most skilled are navigators."

"They must have a lot of stories to tell since they are the most skilled then."

"Probably dull walks, or close death stories by the environment." Josh replied.

We continued eating, periodically talking about mundane topics of our lives or what will happen when we do become explorers.

I would have to be gone from the city, they said even for months. I always dreamt of being an explorer, but right now i learned of the risks i would have to take. Now i think of the dangers, i just need to prepare myself that's it. I can't turn back now, these dangers already have ways to avoid them. And a large group to ensure we all stay safe. I have a few weeks of being safe here, after that I'm at the mercy of the environment and the group commander. But with the dangers, i also feel excited. Excited that i can fulfill my dream of wandering the outside of this city, to see the brown lands, hoping to find a sign of life beyond this place. To see a new form of life than anything in this city, a bird not seen before, a beast, anything. I have so much equipment to remember, forgetting any gear or lesson could send me careening into death. But to stay safe i just need to follow whatever task i have and stay close to the group. Safety in numbers right?