The train failed to reach the estimated time of arrival which was at exactly 20:00. It was around 20:26 when the train finally arrived at its destination, the Treaburn Train Station. A modern and very well made complex, there is a large crowd of people all around the station, most of them arriving from other places. It is because of this tight schedule that the arrival was delayed.
Nevertheless, when the doors opened, all of the passengers left the train. Zane and Malik, grabbing their belongings, are among the first ones to leave since their entire compartment was empty. Shuffling through the dense crowd, they squeezed through the many people they encountered and left the train station at once, stepping into the city of Treaburn.
Neither of them knew anything about this place. The sun had already set and it was getting dark so they needed to find a motel or something cheap just so they could stay there until the Competition starts. Walking through the streets, they could both notice posters and stickers promoting the upcoming Competition. Three days remain until that moment.
Going through a street called the ‘Rosard Street’, Zane spots an old and weary house built of old bricks and covered in a bleak green color. The house isn’t particularly big and it has two floors. Just bellow the roof, a small sign hangs down that says “The Brox Family Motel”. Zane is relieved at this sight as he nudges Malik’s shoulder.
“Look at that, a motel, just what we need. Let’s go and check it out.” Zane points forward and Malik nods as they approach and enter the motel.
The door is open but the inside is dimly lit. A strange smell fills their nostrils, not that it stinks but more like the smell that reminds you of an old and long-lasting place. To the left of the front door is the counter, to the right a small desk with two chairs while just up the front are the stairs that lead to the second floor.
“Welcome my dear guests, the Brox Family is at your service! We offer rooms for staying and sleeping in affordable prices. Are you interested?” An old and petite lady with short white hair and a wrinkled face greets the two teenagers as they look around the entrance room.
“Yes we are Ma’am. We would like to rent a room with two beds for ten days please.” Zane nods to the old lady as he Malik turns his head at his new-found friend. For ten days? Malik wants to protest that amount but decides to stay quiet for now.
“Of course, we have just the room for you two. Please follow me.” The old lady smiled as she picks up a wooden walking cane and with the help of both the wall and her cane starts to walk upstairs. Zane and Malik carry their belongings with them as they follow her.
The second floor is the same as bellow. The walls are cracked and from first glance look like they had been built decades ago but still hold tight. There are three doors to the right and two to the left. The old lady stops at the uppermost to the right, which has a number five on it but the number is all but gone, as if someone had scraped it with a spatula.
“Here, two separate beds, a bathroom and a window with a nice city view. I hope you’ll like it.” The old woman reaches into the pockets of her blouse with her right hand, while leaning onto her walking cane with her left hand. She pulls out two keys attached to a key chain and unlocks the door.
Zane and Malik enter the room and drop their luggage to the ground. They look around. The room looks clean enough. Two small beds, a window, a small desk with two chairs and two cupboards right next to the beds. Despite not being the most luxurious, Zane had at least hoped that it would be cheap enough.
“Well? Are you satisfied?” The old lady says as she blinks with her tired eyelids.
“Sure, it looks comfortable. We aren’t here on vacation anyway, we’re here for business. We’ll take it. How much does it cost?” Zane says while he reaches into his backpack for his wallet to prepare the money.
The old lady spent some time to calculate the total price in her head but after a minute or two she finally answers. Ten dollars for one night. Ten night for the two of them is 200 dollars.
Zane nods as he gives her two bills of 100 dollars. The lady thanks him sincerely as she leaves the keys to the room on the desk while she wishes them good night and then leaves to the entrance room, closing the door behind.
Zane took off his jacket as he relaxes himself on the bed closer to the door, sighing contently.
“Ahh... it feels so good to lay down after all day of sitting in only one spot...”
Malik instead sits on his own bed and scratches his neck.
“So... I owe you 100 bucks?”
“You don’t owe me anything man. It’s my treat. Relax. On another occassion, you’ll also pay for me too, for something else perhaps. That’s what friends do.”
Malik wanted to object but didn’t attempt to. He smirks to Zane’s simple answer as he stands up and starts to rummage through his backpack.
“I’ll go and take a quick shower. See you later.” Malik says as he grabbed his pyjamas and entered the bathroom, locking the door behind him. Zane stood up and went to the window to look at the city bellow him. There wasn’t much to see since they were only on the second floor and the city didn’t seem that much either. On first glance, it looked like it was bigger than his hometown of Midville but not by much. They were maybe two or three really tall buildings but that was it. Why was this city then chosen as the place for this year’s Competition? Maybe they didn’t care about the size or the popularity of the location? Zane’s phone started to ring and he reached into his pockets to answer it. It was his mother, Cecily.
His heart shrinked. Zane wanted to call her earlier but didn’t count on meeting Malik and spending hours talking with him. Hopefully she wouldn’t be mad now.
“Mom... please don’t yell at me, I know I should have called you earlier but I met a new friend and we spent the majority of the train ride talking so I forgot.” Zane answered the phone and immediately made an apology to his mother.
“Zane? Are you okay?” His mother replied, though with no hint of fear or anger in her voice.
“Uh, yeah I am. The train was late because of the tight schedule so we arrived around half-an-hour later than expected. We are now in a motel.”
“We? Oh you mean the friend you mentioned?”
“Yes mom. His name is Malik and he’s a really great guy, even though I just met him. He will also participate in the Competition.”
“I’m glad you have some company. It makes things much easier when you’re not alone. Anyway, I’m fine too and it’s getting late so I won’t bother you anymore my dear. I’m sure you’re tired from your long voyage. Sweet dreams.”
“Good night to you too mom.” And with this Zane ended the call. Immense relief enswarmed him at the fact that his mother wasn’t angry at him for not calling her earlier. But she was right, he needed to rest now. They have three days to do what they want, like exploring this city before the Competition starts but that will have to wait for tomorrow. Right now, it’s time to sleep.
* * *
During the next three days, right before the Competition, Zane and Malik set out on their Treaburn city tour. They only slept at the motel while spending most of their time strolling and walking through the city visiting all the points of interest. While at first they were excited, soon that euphoria dwindled down and nearly faded away completely.
The city of Treaburn is a fine, decent place for living. A calm and relaxed place. But for Malik and Zane’s tastes, maybe a bit too calm. And they didn’t think it in a bad way. The city’s crime rate was almost non-existent and there would be hardly any incidents or accidents happening. But Treaburn is just too mundane and dull. Even the locals would agree to this sentiment when Malik and Zane talked to them. The only reason why the city feels a little more livelier now is because of the Public Security Competition occurring soon.
The duo did meet several individuals who also applied for the Competition. People of various backgrounds and motives and some more shadier than others. It is clear even now that this is going to be a dangerous journey into the unknown.
The last day before the Competition, Zane and Malik arrived at the Motel earlier than before, at around 20:15. They each got a notification on their phones from the Competition Media Team or the C.M.T. whose main purpose is the management of the competitors’ communications and to make sure that no competitor would miss a notification.
The newest email explained that the opening ceremony of the 2023. P.S. Competition will take place tomorrow, that is, on April the 20th starting at exactly 09:00. All the aspiring competitors must arrive at the latest 15 minutes before the start of the opening ceremony. Any competitor who would miss the deadline, would be dismissed and disqualified from this year’s Competition before it even started.
That’s why Zane and Malik made sure to wake up early, at around 07:00 to be extra sure they would be ready and not risk missing the opening ceremony and their chance of becoming a Ranger.
They chatted until the clock hit 11:00. After this, they prepared themselves for their beds and went to sleep, eagerly awaiting the tomorrow’s start of the Competition.
* * *
April the 20th. 08:30. The time has arrived.
Zane and Malik woke up on time and prepared themselves properly and they even had time to eat in a nearby fast food. The Competition will take place in the Treaburn City Stadium, the largest building in the whole city which can accommodate thousands of people and is used for several local sports teams.
The Stadium is on the other side of the city from where Zane’s and Malik’s Motel is located so they hired a taxi who drove them there. The taxi driver talked with them and wished them good luck as he left them at their destination.
As they had expected, there was a huge crowd accumulated in front of the Stadium. Zane didn’t bother counting of course but he suspected that there were anywhere between 200 and 300 competitors waiting. Laughter and gossip spread around quickly but Zane and Malik made sure not to get too involved as they didn’t know what kind of people there would be here.
Around 08:45, the huge gate of the Stadium opened and a man with sunglasses and a megaphone stepped forward, surrounded by several other individuals. They were all wearing black suits and pants along with black ties and shoes and a white collared-up shirt.
“Aspiring competitors of the 2023. Public Security Competition, I hereby welcome you on the behalf of the whole S.S.C. organization. We are very excited with the large number of you that have decided to apply themselves to this event and challenge your wits and your skills.” The guy with the megaphone says, causing a meek and rather pathetic round of applause from the huge crowd. Many of them are already impatient and are just wanting to start already.
“I won’t bother you anymore, so please, step in to the entrance area where you’ll be welcomed by this year’s Competition Committee and the Director himself. And please, because of the large number of all of you, try not to trample over your fellow competitors. Thanks in advance.” But no sooner had the megaphone guy said this, the large crowd started to hurl itself towards the entrance, causing the P.S.A. staff to quickly run inside to safety.
Zane and Malik were among the few that didn’t rush forward and instead, they waited until the dust settled so they could peacefully step inside. Among the other competitors who also waited behind, was a young man with blonde hair and a lanky build, a young girl with a mask covering the lower part of her face, a guy with pink hair and pierced ears and a relaxed guy with a bowl cut and glasses. After the huge crowd dissipated inside, the minority that remained behind also entered the Stadium.
The inside of the Stadium is huge and vast. It is pretty clear that the organizers thought about everything as it didn’t resemble a sports stadium at all and more like a building for accepting dozens of people. The huge crowd mingled amongst themselves as there was a large wooden podium set up at the back of the entrance area. On the podium, apart from the megaphone guy and the initial staff that greeted the competitors who were standing around, there were four other people. A young woman, a middle-aged man, an elderly lady and an old and menacing man.
All four of these enigmatic individuals are seated in soft and comfortable chairs. The old man stands up and approaches the small podium in front of him where a microphone is located. The old guy is of average height, and wears long gray robes along with brown shoes that gives him a wizard-like appearance. He also wears a red fez on his head with a black tassel and a small skullhead placed right at the front of the fez. His body is wrinkled with many decades of life and experience but his sunken red eyes are still a sign of malevolence and insanity. But even he couldn’t escape the grasp of old age as struts around with an old brown wooden cane.
“So you have arrived. You have already been welcomed so I won’t dwell on that. Depending on how you perform here, this might very well be the last time you walk on this planet. Only time will tell. This year we have 256 competitors, not including the 19 who didn’t show up and the 5 who died in the meantime. By the way, my name is Dargus Tovar and I am the senior chief, with the highest rank of the Director, of this branch, the Public Security branch. So if you’re able to survive this game and become a Ranger, then I will be your boss. I wouldn’t recommend that, for your own sake.” The Director coldly announces in a hollow and detached voice. Malik had twitched several times already but at one point, Zane could have sworn that the Director stared into him directly, if even for a mere moment. But even that mere moment, made him feel fear and discomfort of the likes he had never felt before.
A new NPC has entered the game!
- Player Information -
First Name – Dargus
Middle Name – None
Last Name – Tovar
Gender - Male
Birthday – January the 1st
Age – 90
Blood Type - O-
Species – Human
Skin Color – Tanned
Height – 173 cm
Weight – 65 kg
Hair Color – White, peppered with gray
Hair Style – Mostly bald, except for some hair on the sides of his head
Eye Color – Red
Facial Hair – Thick mustache that covers his upper lip
Facial Hair Color – Gray
Clothing Style – Loose, old-fashioned robes along with a red fez with a black tassel and a small skullhead at the front of the fez
Unique Body Features – Wrinkles from old age and sharp and intimidating sunken eyes
Relationships - None
- Stats -
Strength – 200
Speed – 100
Dexterity – 50
Agility – 40
Intelligence – 120
Ike Knowledge – 300
Willpower – 150
Endurance – 50
Unarmed Combat – 100
Armed Combat – 50
Aura Color – Gray
