Hello guys, Drago here. I meant to post this yesterday but my father told me enough technology for the day. This version of the chapter is a bit cleaner and makes a bit more sense than the one I originally intended to post. dear heavens, the bullshit I wrote in that...

“My lucky day?” If getting arrested, punched, and treated as a felon is a ‘lucky day’ then I hope to never have an ‘Unlucky day’

“Yep. High Admiralty decided to give you a position in the military because, from what you told us, you possess a good work ethic and a sense of duty. Something that is valued here in the navy” he spoke professionally 

“What happens if I decline?” memories of those who proudly served to end up in the streets quickly flashed in my mind

“Because you have nothing to prove your identity, it will be hard to find a home, let alone a job”

So my options are either trauma and possible death or living like a rat and probably dying due to the climate. At least death in the military can be quick

“…fine, I accept the position…” I said, defeated 

“Great. Do you have any questions before we start your new job procedure?”

“Can you tell me about what I’m supposed to do in my new job? At least to know what I’m about to face?” times in a factory full of animal carcasses and bloodstained conveyors reminded me of the consequence of not knowing what you getting into

“Commanders are in charge of various military bases depending on rank. Because you’re starting from the bottom, you first command a small outpost with a fleet of KAN-SEN. Mostly sending them to patrol the nearby area and warn us if a hostile force appears” 

Hostile forces? What era are we in? World War 2? And what is Kansen?

“Can I ask what is a Kansen?” 

“I’ll answer that question as we walk there,” he said as he stood up from his seat “So follow me First Class Commander Hermes as where we’re going involves that topic”

I got up from my seat and started to trail behind the man in tuxedo attire, going through a dull corridor. Rows of doors with many symbols and designations that either make no sense or are just plain weird

“The Supply Cooperation Program. What a weird name” The logo had a train rail inside a circle with three arrows pointing at it in a triangular position “Especially the logo”

“Hey, first-class Hermes, are you listening?”  

“Ah, sorry, i got a little distracted by that door Mr…”

“Tinker” (i just got tired of calling him man, he, tuxedo man)

“Right, Mr. Tinker, I was just distracted by the doors” 

“...Ignore that door First class Hermes. It is none of our concern what they do in there.” Tinker spoke in a hushed-down tone. Eyes wandering everywhere looking for anyone or anything that might’ve heard us but relaxed as he found none. “It is best if you don’t try to investigate. The last recruit who tried was heard from again and all their records were erased”

…What 

Tinker coughed a bit to get my attention “Let us go back to the question you asked; What is a KAN-SEN? A KAN-SEN is an Artificial human with the power of a warship. Depending on what warship they are, they can look as young as 8 and as old as 25. They Don't need human food to survive but they can still digest it without a problem”

This reminds me of those super soldier programs in fiction that some nerdy people talk about. Warring something something K. I most definitely butchered that but I never got the appeal in figurines. I thought 

“Hermes, we arrived at the construction room. The final step is truly starting your career as a commander. Getting to own your own KAN-SEN.” he said, his voice holding a bit of pride

“Owning?” I asked, the idea of owning a person not sitting down in his gut

“Hm? Ah, I forgot you said your ‘world’ probably doesn’t have KAN-SEN and most of our general populace doesn’t know about this fact as well. When ‘pulling’ for a KAN-SEN, the machine installs a bomb inside their ‘heart’ that explodes if the commander dies or wills it. This is a safety measure so that we don’t have rogue or disloyal KAN-SENs” 

Saying I was shocked must've been the closest thing to what I felt at that moment. Like who the fuck plants live bombs at people just because you’re afraid that they will rebel. 

“...Do they know that they have bombs implanted in them?” do they even know that they stand on a thin thread that their leader can cut whenever they please? That any action they take might lead to death?

He opened the door and motioned me to enter a dark room with many glowing circles drawn on the ground.

“No, at least not at first,” he said with an uncaring attitude “Now hurry up so you can start your job already”

He patted me on the back as we neared a long table with a bulky computer with a large bulky box connected to it. It had a big hole that was the size of my hand and further inside were 5 needles.

“So, before we start, you need to insert your hand into the machine and let it take blood samples. It will attach a metal wristband to your hand so it doesn't need to repeat this process next time” He rolled down his sleeve to show me a thin metal wristband on his right hand “It will sting a bit but don’t worry, the needles get replaced automatically”

I sighed a bit before I followed his instructions. Inserting my hand into the machine and made sure that my fingers were separated and extended. A bit of humming later I felt something cold quickly wrap around my wrist and then many needles puncturing the skin of my fingertips. The needles stayed there for a couple of seconds, drawing blood from my fingers before just retreating inside the machine once it was satisfied

“Here, band-aids” he gave me five small band-aids, which I thanked him for, and wrapped it around my bleeding figures

“Now for the simpler step… typing your information”