Infinite Stratos: Uncle Sam

Chapter 2

Ichika nervously pursed his lips as he nodded resolutely alongside the seven other girls. To hold such a massive responsibility, and he thought middle school would be tough.

"Very good, training starts tomorrow morning. Today you will be given a tour of the base and all its facilities. You will also receive a handbook containing doctrine which will dictate how you eat, sleep, and how you will conduct yourself while I am the instructor. Am I understood?"

"Yes instructor!" Eight voices sounded off in tandem.

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First Day of Training

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Ichika tore into the soggy mashed potatoes on his lunch tray. It felt like there was an endless hole in his stomach; just how many calories had he already burnt?. He idly remembered what it said in his assigned booklet about eating in a 'swift and efficient manner'.

He was certainly swift, but his supposed efficiency was thrown out the window as he was piling in more than he could chew at any given point. Taking a nervous glance around, he began to eat at a more sedate pace. He'd already seen some of his fellow trainees punished for much less and he honestly didn't think he'd be able to take any more than what his body had already gone through. It seemed impossible that this was only his first day and 'easiest' according to their instructor.

Taking a seat across from him however was a blonde girl who didn't quite hold herself to the same standard, shoveling food in her mouth by the handful. Some even dropped onto the clean floor as she heaped more and more food into the abyss that was her stomach.

The boy couldn't blame her though. His sister had always encouraged him to go outside and get some proper exercise, but he was positive he'd never worked that hard in his life. The only reason he scraped by was with some determination and a healthier dose of fear.

The morning had started with a bang, literally. Unfortunately for him, all of them shared a room with 4 pairs of bunk beds crammed inside. Was it four in the morning? Maybe it was three? Ichika couldn't remember, but he did remember that the instructor had tossed what looked like a grenade into the room. But instead of blowing up, it produced an obscene amount of everything, giving him a heart attack along with a bruised forehead for slamming his head into the top bunk.

Then it was running, more running, and more running. What greeted the trainees after the seemingly endless run? An obstacle course. Those who did not pass did not get breakfast. For Ichika, that was plenty of motivation.

An alarmingly short breakfast later, things went from terrible to soul crushing. More obstacles, more running, and what their instructor had called high intensity learning. This was the first day and he was pretty sure his lifespan had already decreased.

But what had been the accursed cherry on top was the cold. Mornings were cold here and unfortunately for them, mother nature had deemed today to be suitable for frosty winds. Some fared better than others when it came to enduring the elements. Ichika was unfortunately one of the 'others' as his cushy life of artificial temperature had betrayed him.

Indeed, Ichika could fully understand why the girl across from him looked more like a ravenous hyena eating for the first time in days. She was short, a whole head shorter than him. She always seemed to lag behind on the runs and worse, failed to complete the obstacle course due to not being able to jump and reach the highwall. This was the first meal of the day for the vertically challenged girl.

The initial sympathy rapidly turned to worry for the girl, though, as he sensed the instructor's hawkish gaze fixating on the table the two were seated at. As his apprehensions deepened, the instructor prowled up behind the girl opposite Ichika, casting a withering glare in his direction. The silent signal implored the boy to maintain his silence. Ichika, on his part, solemnly lowered his gaze, bracing himself for the coming storm.