Contrat

As Alexandre stepped into the immense medieval-style hall, he was immediately struck by how sterile and dry the air quality became. There was clearly some powerful air filtration at work, but it was likely for the purpose of protecting against biological or chemical agents, not for any sort of comfort for those living inside.

Just inside the entrance were two people dressed in long black uniform shirts with red armbands bearing the letter "H," like Latika had been wearing when Alexandre had met her in the forest. That meant these two were members of the academy's militia.

Alexandre turned to one of them and said, "Hello. I've passed the entrance exam and want to join the academy."

The militiaman looked at Alexandre, then glanced past him at the others who had followed behind him. Some were already through the checkpoint by now, while others were still waiting in line to be admitted.

"One second," said the militiaman, "I'll contact one of my superiors." He pulled a radio from his belt and spoke into it. "Professor Hart, the selected candidates are here at the main entrance. Good, we're waiting, Madam Director." Then the militiaman turned back to Alexandre. "Wait here. Someone will come and get you." 

About ten minutes later, a pretty woman in a red miniskirt arrived. All the candidates had by now made it into the entranceway with Alexandre, so the woman addressed them all. "Hello, everyone. I'm Elise, the assistant to Co-Director Professor Hart! You're our second group of candidates. Please follow me. We'll fill out the commitment contract first, then we can immediately begin the medical procedure for transformation." 

All the candidates shared glances. They'd all been expecting it to be a little harder to get into the academy, but apparently it was a very straightforward process.

Elise led them through several passages until they arrived at a huge inner courtyard at least 1,000 square meters in area. Most of this space was taken up by a luscious botanical garden with immaculate walkways and a masterpiece of a fountain. The scents of plant life and the moist air created by the fountain struck Alexandre like a blow compared to the clinical atmosphere of the rest of the building.

This seemed to be a common place for students to spend leisure time, as many uniformed young people were walking, laughing, having discussions, and sitting on benches to read. Between the fountain and the quiet conversations, a gentle and soothing murmur filled the air.

Alexandre frowned as he took in all these details. After all the hell he'd just been through, he'd assumed the whole campus would be as brutal as the infamous Navy SEAL hell week training, but this was actually closer to what Alexandre would've expected from any American college campus.

However, Alexandre still remained very wary, despite this revelation. While the other candidates around him grew relaxed and whispered excitedly about the gardens, Alexandre reminded himself of the bloodthirsty nature of the exams.

What they'd already experienced was just a foretaste of what awaited them. There was no way the physical and mental requirements would be relaxed for actual students. But with that, combined with all the study into Hunter military history, Black Zone combat strategy and tactics, and whatever else the courseload would require…

How exactly were there any students as relaxed as the ones in the garden? 'They must have some special motivational system,' Alexandre thought, 'that's more effective than classic, rigid military discipline.' 

It may have been that Elise had taken the candidates through the garden to impress them or put them at ease, because this wasn't their final destination. The party moved through the garden and arrived at a small, empty classroom. Two academy militiamen guarded the entrance and instructed the candidates to leave their luggage outside.

After obeying, the party entered and found a suited man sitting at a desk inside. Two rows of masking tape on the ground marked a narrow passage through the middle of the room, and there was a peculiar machine in one corner of the room. An uncomfortable-looking metal chair was positioned in front of the desk.

The man said in an authoritarian tone, "Form an orderly line in the indicated zone. When I call you, approach, take off the watch you were given in the final test, and place it in the machine. Then return, present your passport, and sign your contract of engagement."

Everyone else hesitated, so Alexandre stepped forward first. He was immediately called, so he placed his watch in the machine which was in the corner. A display on the machine showed the message, "Candidate 23,332: Alexandre HautVille. QUALIFIED." 

The man in the suit gestured at the chair in front of the desk. "Sit down."

Alexandre complied.

"ID and passport," the man demanded.

Alexandre maintained a stoic expression as he withdrew his NY state ID and the fake passport he'd bought from the Underground. The document had worked before, but would it fool this man?

The suited man took Alexandre's documents and handed him a pen and a thick folder filled with pages, then began a scrupulous inspection of the passport.

Suddenly, Alexandre decided he needed to act immediately. There was a non-zero chance that the passport would reveal some kind of imperfection, and that was a risk he couldn't take. He had to distract the suited man at once.

Alexandre focused flipping through every page and simply putting an X on each signature line until the very end, where he signed his name in full. He moved in a blur, finishing in only a handful of seconds.

Alexandre said loudly and rudely, "J'ai Signée Monsieur!" That is, "I've signed, sir."

The suited man was startled by the unexpected French. He looked up and snapped, "You have to sign more than just the final page. Read it thoroughly and speak in a calm and civilized tone in my presence."

Alexandre raised the sheaf of paperwork and silently flipped through it, revealing that he'd marked every field. "I don't give a damn about the details. I just want to destroy some Zombies."

The man in the suit stared at the pages in suspicious disbelief. "I highly advise you to read the full contract," he said. "Only a fool would sign without reading." 

Alexandre feigned an arrogant yawn. "Don't worry, buddy, I'll read it later." He rolled his eyes and smirked. "Do you have a McDonalds around here? I've heard they have them at some colleges. I'm starving."

The man in the suit set down Alexandre's passport and gave a long, heavy sigh. "No, young man. We have no McDonald's here, though there are several restaurants, if you can afford them. Well, you've been advised of the wisest course of action and have chosen to sign anyway. That's your right."

He shook his head in disgust and reached down behind the desk. A moment later, he set a familiar device on the table. "This is your Pip-Boy. Treat it as you would a priceless treasure. You'll use it for your Hunter procedure in the infirmary."

Alexandre took the object and said, "Cool, a new toy! Now all I need is a Lamborghini!" He reached down to scoop up his ID and passport, but the suited man put his hand on them.

"Page 34," he said.

Alexandre frowned. "What?"

"Read page 34, section 11," the man said.

Alexandre flipped to the page and looked at the section. It said, "...you hereby agree to relinquish your passport or equivalent document until such time as the Educator sees fit to return it…"

"So I still get my ID back," Alexandre said.

The suited man gave a tiny smirk. "Of course," he said. His voice was just barely noticeably smug.

Alexandre ignored the tone and picked up his ID, then swaggered out of the room.

Once he was out of sight, Alexandre grinned. His strategy had paid off.He'd come off as nothing but an arrogant idiot and hadn't been taken seriously

Moreover, Alexandre had only lost the counterfeit passport. He'd known from his research that passports were confiscated during onboarding, to prevent new students from deserting in their earliest days at the academy, but Alexandre had decided he wouldn't allow that to happen to him. Now he was enrolled and also had his original passport—the key to his freedom.

But there was another element to Alexandre's independence from the Hunter Association. Once he was outside, Alexandre inspected the new Pip-Boy he'd been given. The device itself was made up of a wristband covered by a large metal box that curved around the user's wrist, with a flat, reinforced glass panel on the top. Alexandre returned to his luggage, made sure nobody was watching, and swapped the new device with the counterfeit he'd bought on the black market. It looked identical, but time would tell if it would actually perform like the original.

Over an hour passed before the rest of the candidates finished signing their own paperwork. Finally, Elise announced, "Alright, we'll now head to the infirmary, where you'll receive the modified Virus Z injections that will give you the physique of a Hunter!"