Group Expedition

The next day, I was still waiting for Kaiser to assign me a mission. It was still early morning but as most of the members had gotten drunk, most slept here. The lounge was quite crowded this early morning.

A man suddenly walked in with a clean-shaven face.

"Hey, David! You shaved your beard, how come?" Seamus said holding back his snigger.

"Tsk, thanks to you a-holes! My wife loved that beard you know?" David said scornfully as he found himself a seat on the couch.

"Now now, don't be like that man. The more the merrier right? Plus, maybe the second one helps make up for your size." Seamus told him with a smirk.

"Oh!" "hahaha" The others in the lounge who weren't suffering from a headache reacted to Seamus' quip.

"F*ck you" David angrily slumped. It sure sucks to be the butt of all jokes. I wouldn't know though.

Thump Thump

The sound of footsteps on the crickety stairs sounded quieting down the rowdy crowd. The man who came from that direction was none other than Malcolm.

"Seamus, Jimmy, Rohak, Lytton…" The first thing Malcolm did was call out some names.

"And finally, Dan. Head up, the boss wants to talk to you guys." He told us before returning upstairs himself.

I was perplexed by the sudden mass summon. Regardless, the only way to find out was to go over so I leaped off the couch where I was comfortably resting.

I saw five others including Seamus get up at the same time to head over. It naturally didn't take long for all of us to enter Kaiser's office. I was last since I had a tendency to stay behind and observe, I closed the door.

"I have an opportunity for you all. I won't force you. Malcolm here already agreed." Kaiser resting his hand on Malcolm's shoulder from his seat. It looked a bit awkward but we got the message.

"It's a dangerous task. Chances are we won't even successfully leave the city, are you all still willing to join me?" Kaiser's gaze swept past each of us. His expression was solemn and so was everybody else's.

I didn't think hard about it however because of one keyword. Leave! Leaving the city! This had to be a chance to see the surface!

I wanted to do so for two reasons. One was curiosity. How could I not be curious? I still have emotions. The second was personal gain. I could definitely learn more about the world by exploring it. There was also surely a chance to advance through the hunt of mutants.

"Of course" I therefore confidently responded.

This seemed to be a bit unexpected for the others who were still seriously considering it but with my response, they no longer hesitated. They looked at each other and nodded.

"Boss, if it's so dangerous we definitely have to be there to protect you." Seamus responded.

On appearance alone, Kaiser was in his mid or late 40's. He wasn't young anymore exalted or not. Seamus' words were sound and likely came from the bottom of his heart. They were heartfelt. And the others noticed too.

"That's right." One of the younger ones said.

"Boss, I will definitely accompany you" One of the older man said.

The others followed giving me the impression that we were all jumping willingly into our deaths. Isn't this a bit too much drama?

Kaiser, who was holding back the urge to tear up instead let out a sigh of relief. He let out a wry smile and spoke.

"You fools won't reconsider then?" He asked to which everyone solemnly nodded.

There was a brief period of silence.

"Alright. We are heading to the surface. I have a rough map we can look over." Kaiser said as he opened his desk drawer. He brought out the large map and unfolded it on his desk. There wasn't enough space due to the mild clutter making it hard to see from the door.

"Come closer, I'll tell you what our goal is." Kaiser gestured.

We all naturally abided and looked over the large map. This was the surface. Some, especially the younger ones, were thinking with evident awe. It wasn't a picture. Just a map.

But that alone was enough to shock them. The map was like any other map. It had rivers, mountains, roads, etc. It didn't have any labels oddly enough.

"We will be heading here." Kaiser pointed at a verdant portion next to a lake which he then circled with his finger.

"This is called Lake Gloom. It is very toxic and filled with unimaginable danger. I am not confident in approaching it. Luckily we won't be going there. We will go to this grass field as I said." Kaiser told us while we examined the map.

Before anybody could ask why, Kaiser continued.

"The government will be building a military camp next to said Lake. We will hitch a ride with them and drop ourselves off at the grassy field. Our purpose once there is to kill mutants. That is for two reasons, one it is our commission and two, we are too weak." Kaiser's tone seemed a bit self-deprecating.

"This expedition might last as long as an entire month so make sure to have all personal matters settled by tomorrow." Kaiser's words caused some to pause.

"Tomorrow?" One blurted out in disbelief.

"Yes, I am not too happy about that myself." Kaiser answered.

For them, this might be lamentable but I felt that the sooner we left the better. I had nothing to do in Termina for the moment anyway. Shouldn't life in the underground be more exciting than this?

"Boss, who will handle your affairs?" Jimmy asked seeing as he was also given this task last minute.

"I left Wesley to handle it" Kaiser simply responded.

"In that case, there is no problem" Jimmy said with a nod feeling reassured.

"That's it then, try not to expose any of this. We will know the specifics early tomorrow. I expect each of you to be ready by 7 AM sharp." Kaiser said in conclusion.

His choice of words told me he himself was unaware of the specifics.

""""Alright, Boss"""" They all answered in unison. I couldn't help but feel like I was left out of a secret arrangement. Well, whatever.

We all left the office, returning to the lounge. Well, some continued heading downstairs as the sudden announcement didn't give them enough time to prepare their life affairs for the next month.

I relaxed in a corner of the room excitedly awaiting tomorrow. The surface. For some reason, it felt like I would be exploring a new world.