Be Careful Now
[That didn't go well]
Loras emerged back into the room shortly after everything unfolded. He had brown souvenir bags with the letter 'G' in an exquisite font on them. Loras paused for a moment, noticing the deduction in the numbers, he only frowned before placing the bags on the nearest table.
"I can see things aren't going well," Loras started, walking to the shelf he had stuffed some files in earlier.
"Of course things aren't going well, it won't go well with this kind of squad," Nate replied, still trying to get hold of Jamie. "You know what happened the last time we were there."
"So, you're afraid to blame yourself if any of them dies?" Loras asked, shuffling the papers.
"What? No. I'm afraid they're gonna slow me down. Me and Jamie. Causing none of us to come back alive," Nate finished with a deadly glare at Levi.
"That is true," Loras said, folding his arms and looking straight ahead at Nate. "But when you have no choice, you look for better solutions instead of wimping like a squirrel." He picked up the bags, sharing them one to each of them. The two left for Abby and Paige were handed to Levi and Jamie, respectively.
Levi tried his possible best to fish out a good story from the tiny details they were giving. It seems Abby and this Nate guy must have a huge brawl, even before this crew meeting, Levi thought.
"The Director says so, you act so," Loras said, clapping his hands as he walked to the front of the room.
"The Director knows nothing," Nate sneered.
"Be careful now," Loras said as he passed around the papers in the same ratio as the bags. "Not all tutors are like me." He continued, "And... remember the Director answers to someone else who we are quite knowledgeable of," he finished with a short look at Jamie.
Loras clapped his hands one more time and rubbed them together. "Okay!" He boomed. "Shall we?" He asked, gesturing to the door.
Everyone stayed seated for a while. Jamie had taken another glance at Levi, so did Nate. He drummed his fingers on the table as the room was quiet.
Box made the first move. He got up quickly and walked to the door, patting Levi at the back as he went. Levi was shocked, Box was the one he defeated at The Colosseum, wasn't he?
Loras checked his watch before looking at the motionless academics. "This is almost 9pm, I don't have time for this."
---
Loras had taken them to another building at the far end of the institution, picking up Abby and Paige on the way.
Levi noticed the increment in infrastructure, although the area was scanty. The ground wasn't tarred or tiled, it was made out of smooth metal, and Levi could see steellike rectangular boxes arranged to different locations in the vast place.
Loras drove them in a vehicle that looked like a golf cart, stopping occasionally to clear them with the security officials littered everywhere. It was astonishing. Astonishing enough to derail Levi's periodic eyelocks with Jamie.
[Isn't it surprising?]
[The rest of the world is an abyss, in chaos, suffering or in mid quality and this place is booming as ever]
Levi couldn't help but agree with the construct. He had grown up in the North Wing, in spite of the fact that he was born in a poor home, he still lived a better life than some people. A better life than those in the south regions of the West and East Wings, where the raid had crept in a bit.
Although people go about with their daily activities, it's still a horrible thing. The cloud gets darker the more you move south, the civilization declines, and the state of living reduces. Levi termed himself very lucky to have saved enough to get a bus fare from the West Wing back to Tundra in the North Wing.
He stared into the dark sky and to the moon. The half moon shot a beautiful pose, discharging its light onto the huge institution. Levi took careful looks at the securities. They were troopers, all in black, wielding phaser and raeger rifles.
The sight of these weapons always made Levi shiver. Red and blue colours, with tiny discreet hydraulic movements in the breech area. Levi sighed, he had always known Namib to be the most advanced city in the four wings, but not as advanced as this.
Loras stopped the vehicle at the foot of a building beaming with the usual golden lights. The academics all stepped out, still keeping the malice in the atmosphere.
Inside the building, Levi noticed it looked like a hotel like those he sees in movies. There were majestic adults inside, all walking elegantly on the red rug. It's definitely a hotel, Levi concluded. What's a hotel doing in the Academy?
Loras led them to the end of the reception room, towards an elevator. Nate and Jamie were faster and walking with confidence, must be because they've been here before.
The preoccupants, a man in a blue suit and a lady in a red gown walked out when the elevator opened. Loras stepped in, alongside Nate, Jamie and Paige.
"C'mon, chop chop. Let's go," Loras said. No way they were all gonna stuff themselves so close to each other in that. Box got in first with his hands in his pockets. Abby, Brody and Levi followed suit reluctantly.
The lift was slow and quiet, only disturbed by the loud gum chewing of Paige. Brody, Levi and Box were relaxed to the wall of one side while Nate, Jamie and Paige to the other, cold gazes moving to and fro. Abby stood with Loras, facing the elevator door as if she was planning to burst out first.
The door opened with the usual ding at floor 27. The group stepped out to see a hallway-close. It was just a hallway with doors at each side and no further connections.
Loras picked up his pace and stood in the middle of everything. He smiled at them with both arms extended to the parallel walls, presenting them. "Here we are!" He sighed, "Gosh, I've always wanted to do this."
Brody and Levi stood close to each other, giving themselves occasional glances to make things less foreign for them.
Loras continued loudly as he spun around, "Take any room of your choice." He had said, gesturing to the ten doors in the hallway, five each side. "Don't bother about food and clothes, they're all there. None of you are vegans and all of you are in the same body size bracket." He laughed shortly. "Enjoy yourselves why you can, tomorrow we take med tests and all procedures," he finished, before entering one room.
The academics stood still for a while, not sure if Loras was pulling their strings. Not until they heard his door lock.
Levi and Brody gave a swift handshake before they chose their rooms. Abby, Paige and Box had already entered different rooms. Levi felt his heart sink when he saw Jamie and Nate going into the same room.
He stood there for a second, hoping to be proved wrong. But he heard the door lock.