Chapter 10: Metro
Reading the diary left me in a numb and contemplative mood for the rest of the evening.
I’d run from my previous life because it had been utterly hopeless; this world wasn’t much different either. The weather was constantly depressing, not to mention the monsters constantly attacking the walls of an already fracturing republic. Still, this was just the beginning — there would only be worse things to come.
I knew what I’d written. The original novel was meant to end with the total annihilation of humanity. I had gone out of my way to make sure of it. Keeping myself busy to avoid thinking about this fact could only work for so long.
In the end, trying to resist might only be delaying my inevitable death.
Still, attempting another suicide wasn’t very appealing to me. Especially after I read the diary — Victor had gone through too much for his body to just die at the hands of a coward.
Besides, the world had taken everything from me once already — twice if you included Victor. I wasn’t going to stand by and let it take it a third time, not without giving it a bloody good fight.
’I’ll just take it one step at a time for now. I’ll survive for both of us.’
It might have been due to sympathy for Victor, or the selfish desire to get rid of whatever guilt I was feeling. But I was going to honor his last wish — not the part about handing Anna the diary or telling her he’s dead. I wasn’t that stupid.
’I will help her, and take her out of the slums. I will be Victor, and I will also be Leon.’
With that, I ordered dinner, then went to bed early. I didn’t feel like doing much else that night.
---
A loud air raid siren jolted me out of bed, and I found myself waking up on the floor for the second day in a row. Sharp, red flashes of light coming from the window display wiped out any trace of sleep I might have had left.
Then, as though deciding its job was done, it stopped flashing, replacing its display with the fake garden at dawn. The siren stopped as well, this time replaced by an artificial-sounding voice.
"Wake up, Cadet. Classes begin soon."
Immediately after, the simulated nature sounds began playing again.
’It’s official, I hate that fucking window.’
I tried fiddling with the window to disable any alarm option. I even checked the interface for any possible setting like that — still nothing.
I eventually gave up out of frustration and went straight to take a bath. I tried arranging my hair with the shampoo and hair products I found there; it still came out shaggy.
’Why do I even try?’
Looking at the mirror, with my stunted growth, shaggy hair, and lanky limbs, it was like staring at a pale, tired gremlin.
’Ok, maybe gremlin is an exaggeration, but still...’
It was like looking at a human-shaped rat. I don’t know if that makes sense.
A sound blared back in the room.
"Cadet, you have 30 minutes till class begins. It would be in your best interest to get there on time."
"Just great."
I sighed, rushing back into the room. I quickly scoured my wardrobe for my uniform.
The getup reminded me a lot of an old-timey officer’s uniform, mixed with elements from modern elite school uniforms — grey pants, a grey jacket, a white shirt, and a pair of grey boots.
I didn’t know if it was due to my burden, but I still felt chilly, so I wore the shirt with a grey sweater over it, all under the jacket. There was a trench coat, which I would have worn too, if only it wasn’t too big for me. The other clothes weren’t as bad, but they still felt pretty baggy.
’I just had to be short here as well.’
There wasn’t much else to do. So I hid the diary back in its original location, gave the room one last look and left.
Compared to last night, the hallway was populated. Populated, though, not lively. The cadets in the hallway trudged toward the elevator groggily, grumbling all the way through.
"Still no breakfast?"
"What’s wrong with this place?"
"Tch... This wasn’t how it looked in the movies."
They all moved in groups of two or three, having probably met yesterday. Still, there were some that moved alone. At least I wasn’t singular in that.
The elevator had multiple booths. I stepped into one of them along with around five others. There was already a person in it, so six in total.
I didn’t pay them any mind, though — well, apart from being just slightly bitter that they were all taller than me. I definitely wasn’t jealous. Not even a little.
I pulled up the interface. While I’d been messing around with it yesterday, I found a notification from whatever the equivalent of the Gmail app here was. It was a message from the school, informing me about my class, courses, and other activities.
Apparently I was in Class 1-A — which just so happened to be the class almost all of the main characters were assigned to.
’Well that simplifies things.’
It would be rather frustrating constantly heading back and forth to get in touch with them. I would have begged for a transfer if it had been literally anything else.
The school’s interface program had a mapping function too; I’d messed around with it yesterday as well. I input the location with a thought.
’Class 1-A.’
Immediately, the interface collapsed into an arrow pointing upward. I still hadn’t gotten over how useful the interface was.
’Might be the best thing in this story.’
The elevator came to a stop at what looked to be a subway station — but five times larger — with multiple bridges and walkways connecting to different tracks. The arrow hovered over a train on the left, a directive which I promptly followed.
I estimated I still had about 20 minutes before classes started.
’No need to rush.’
I pulled my jacket tighter before entering the cart. Unsurprisingly, it was already nearly full, with the only free seat being by a freckled girl with brunette hair. Not wishing to delay them any longer, I hurriedly sat beside her.
Almost immediately, the train lurched forward, with the subway and tunnels outside turning into a blur. The cart stayed silent and steady as we kept at it for almost a minute. Then, just as suddenly as we’d started, the train came to a halt.
The new station was similar to the old one, but instead of elevators, there was a large stairwell heading upward. The occupants immediately rushed forward, some pushing and shoving in order to get out faster.
Wisely, I decided not to join them. I wasn’t feeling like getting elbowed to death.
It appeared the girl beside me was rather wise as well.
After waiting for the crowd to clear a bit, I stepped out of the train as well, following the girl, who’d gone a bit earlier.
The arrow pointed toward the staircase now. Not that I needed it to know — I remembered writing those stairs myself.
The real Academy lay beyond them.