Arcadia

First Contact

"What are you talking about? I'm suddenly getting recruited out of the blue?!" yelled Yura.

Right after her initial outburst, Yura felt a hand on her shoulder. 

"Hahaha, you're energetic, I give you that. And I thought Jet was a handful already..."

Yura looked back and saw a man a head taller than her. With his facial hair and rough face, Yura assumed that he's over 30 years old. 

Recomposing herself, Yura quickly bowed, noticing the man's formal attire and some badges. "G-good evening! You must be the commander, nice to meet you..!"

Yura's stammering and change in expression was met by a chuckle from the man. He quickly turned serious and addressed Jet.

"As for you, Jet. Looks like you got yourself into trouble...again." 

"Hey, Victor, that guy was harassing Yura here and won't back off. Come on, now," complained Jet

"You know that there's so many ways of resolving things without immediately getting physical," sighed Victor. "Jet, don't force me to dismiss you. We need all the help we can get."

For Yura, Victor suddenly seemed even more imposing than before. It must be his change in tone, or something else.

"Also, another thing. Jet, why did you bring this girl into the base already? Didn't we all have a process of selection among newcomers? A handful of the selected students at the academy exhibit the "potential", and we're not even sure if she qualifies. For all we kno-" 

Jet did not even allow his superior to finish before interrupting. "Victor, why are you saying that in front of her?"

All that statement did was to irritate the superior even more. He replied to Jet once again, now with a scowl in his face. "First of all, you should learn to address me as your Commander, Jet. Second, because of what you did, we have no more choice but to put up with her!"

"Um.. excuse me...." interrupted Yura meekly. She turned around and motioned towards the door.

"Get back here!" shouted Victor.

However, noticing Yura cringe at his booming voice, Victor sighed. "Look, I don't mean what I said. Follow me, and I'll give you a full explanation of what you've gotten yourself into."

Victor left the room, while Yura stayed with Jet. Anxious, she murmered her concern to Jet.

"What's with him?"

"Don't worry about him. He's just become too frank for his own good. Trust me, go ahead. I'll stay here and do some catching up with some of the guys for now."

"You're ditching me?!" responded Yura

The redhead did not reply and quickly leapt down to a lower platform, quickly striking up a conversation with one of the guys busy with computer data.

With a slight groan, Yura exit the room and joined Victor, who was waiting for her.

~~~~~

Upon following Victor, Yura found herself standing with him inside a glass elevator. As the duo descended, Yura clearly saw the floor designs as they descended. She marveled at the amount of people working and shuffling back and forth, delivering equipment, transporting materials and such.

She turned to the other side and saw some giant machines being constructed as well, with several people working together in an effort to assemble it. 

"So, do you find the place to your liking?" asked Victor.

"Um...I can't really describe it. I feel like... I shouldn't be here for some reason..."