Citizen [No access to rifts]

Trainees and Recruits (<- You are here)

Troopers & Security & Support Units (1-5 ranks)

Elite Troopers & Security (1-3 ranks)

Special Operatives

Squad Leaders

Officers (1-5 ranks)

Directors (1-5 ranks)

Chiefs

Executives (Planet Level Rulers)

Inner Circle (Presidential Advisors)

President Windsor Freeman

The official structure of the World Government (post-outbreak).

Prepared by Administration Officer Jolie McJames

***

What. Was. That?

“Are you mad?” Kaito Ren hissed. “You just killed us.”

“Open a portal, now!”

“Wha—Where?”

“Anywhere but not here.”

Kaito Ren growled. A vertical portal came to life and the captain threw Murphy Polloc’s body through it. Keynes stared at them and couldn’t decide if this was real or not.

Captain Ventura just killed a man without batting an eye.

Kaito Ren looked up and checked if they had installed CCTV. They didn’t. It wasn’t a consolation. How would they explain the researcher’s disappearance? They were screwed.

“Why, Ventura?”

The captain stood, his hands on the table. He glanced at Keynes then at Kaito Ren and for the first time in his life Keynes was scared of the captain. If the man decided to kill him, there was nothing Keynes could do to stop him. I’m powerless again. Like on the day the government grunts abducted me. He hated how it made him feel.

His heart painfully hammered in his chest as the silence stretched.

“He would grass on us.”

“So what?” Kaito Ren snapped. “They’d slap our wrists and tell us to behave. But now? Now Esopp would make example of us.”

“I can handle Esopp.”

Kaito Ren closed his eyes and breathed out, trying to calm down.

“Are you trying to pick a fight with the World Government?”

“I had no choice.” The captain defended his action, which only made him look worse in Keynes’s eyes. Murphy Polloc was a good man. He didn’t deserve to die. “It was necessary.”

Kaito Ren gave him a stink eye and turned away from the captain. He picked up the papers from the table and stared at them. Keynes did likewise and realized that he couldn’t concentrate on the questions. His mind replayed the death of Murphy Polloc.

“He was just level 1,” Keynes said offhandedly, more to himself than anyone else.

“And he arrived with President Freeman on the day of the rift’s opening,” Kaito Ren added.

“That’s what I am trying to tell you,” the captain said, losing his patience. “That man’s agenda was fishy.”

“Like what? Monitoring us? Isn’t what the entire city is going to do?”

“My bet is – he was trying to replicate Keynes’s Talent so they didn’t need to rely on him.”

That got their attention. Even if it was the truth, it didn’t mean he should’ve been killed. They couldn’t just go around and kill people they didn’t like.

Kaito Ren shook his head. His red hair looked a bit more dishevelled than a moment ago.

“Would that actually be a bad thing? It’d take pressure off Keynes.”

The captain softly snorted.

“The Kid is the only person in the world—or perhaps in the solar system—who holds the key to the World Government’s total domination. Did you miss what is going on? The President and his buddies want to rule without the High Parliament’s oversight. No more democracy for us, just pure totalitarianism. If they replicate his Talent. It won’t make his life easier. They’d never let him see the daylight. But as long as he is the only one who can open rifts, there is a chance he can escape and screw the bastards.”

“So I am literally a gatekeeper now,” Keynes said. It wasn’t even a question. He understood what Captain Ventura was saying and in a way it terrified him because by following this line of reasoning he’d actually see merit in murdering Murphy Polloc. Who am I turning into? A pragmatic hobo who will elbow his way to the top? It seemed not unrealistic anymore. After all, he desired to be stronger and strength might not be the cheapest thing to come by.

Their conversation was cut short when Jolie McJames entered the room. She stopped short, her honey eyes looking around in confusion until they fell on the captain. Keynes, and perhaps Kaito Ren, were sure this was it. She was going to raise an alarm—or do something else—because the alarm was going on.

Her honey eyes stared at Captain Ventura with radiating turmoil.

“I don’t remember you,” she said to him. “Where is the older man with white, messy hair?”

Keynes had to will himself to remain still. He had no idea what the hell was going on here. How did she not remember—oh, he figured it out then. It’d happened once to him and Kaito Ren as well. They hadn’t had memories of talking with the captain until he released them. It had to be his Talent. He could make others forget him… That was a terrifying Talent.

“Sorry!” he shot to his feet. “It is my fault. My Talent is broken. It makes other people perceive me differently.”

She frowned.

“I’ve never heard about a broken Talent,” she said sceptically, edging toward the door. They were losing her and it made Keynes fear that the captain would decide to kill the woman as well.

“You hadn't heard about the rifts either until a month ago.”

It made her stop but only briefly.

“If what you’re saying is true. I will need to see your Talent.”

Keynes squinted at Kaito Ren and the tension on the specialist face was enough to turn him into a stone statue. Why everything had to hinge on the idiot?

Then something happened to her. It was a minute change but uncertainty showed itself there.

“Miss, are you alright?” the captain asked. “We were just talking about the paperwork when you froze. Was it the attack that unnerved you?”

Wha—ah, the freaking captain used his Talent again. This shit was powerful.

“Right, right. Sorry,” she said quickly, completely oblivious to what had been said minutes ago. “I could swear you were older and had white hair.”

“Must be the attack,” the captain admitted. “Could we sit down and go over the applications? We aren’t in our best shape either. The attack on the city has unsettled us as well.” The captain looked at them and they needed a moment to read his intentions.

They nodded.

***

Officer Jolie McJames was a strange person. Not appearance-wise, in this regard, she was just another mid-thirties woman to Keynes. What he meant was her personality.

She praised the new World Government with a passion that defied logic. According to her, the trackers would reduce crime and their future versions—which she didn’t explain—would take better care of fragile people. Whatever it meant, it only embedded in Keynes the conviction that they were on a timer. This government would not stop until they had absolute control.

It made him angry because it meant that the captain did the correct thing by eliminating Murphy Polloc. It still felt cruel and wrong but as he’d said – it was necessary.

She was so chuffed and her praise extended so far that Keynes was close to punching her a few times. How could she be so blind? Were the others like her? If yes, then the world was a truly screwed up place.

Eventually, they finished the applications, which made her more amicable and seemed that she completely took Murphy Polloc out of her head. True, the man spent in her presence maybe twenty seconds but still… it only showed the power of some Talents.

They stepped away from the table with three finished applications. And then she noticed something on the floor. Keynes and others glanced down as well and froze.

It was the fourth application.

Oh, bollocks.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“You must have given me a double,” the captain smoothly explained.

“Right…” She frowned but didn’t challenge him.

***

A soldier was waiting for them outside the building. He was tasked with leading them to the living quarters. With unprocessed applications, they couldn’t move freely within the city. Trackers weren’t enough apparently.

They had no information about the city so the captain decided to draw the info out of the soldier, which was a very smart move. He could make him forget the conversation later and so Kaito Ren and Keynes didn’t talk.

The Scottish Cluster was a city, walled and built from scratch in a couple of weeks. It was divided into several districts with varying clearing access. The soldier didn’t go into details, only named the districts: headquarters, rifts compound, research facility, barracks, administration officers, warehouses (of which one was destroyed in the attack), living quarters and leisure centre.

It also was the busiest place Keynes had seen. They passed many pockets of bustling activity, they were not finished with this place, which was obvious. Their living quarters were nothing else but cabins and more permanent buildings were still under construction.

“Thanks, soldier.”

“It’s no longer a soldier but a trooper. They renamed us,” he corrected the captain before he left them in front of their respective cabins.

There was no enthusiasm in the soldier—trooper’s voice. So not everyone was fanatic like the administration officer. It was a fleeting relief.

“Are they training to make themselves into the Galactic Empire.”

Both men gave Keynes an awkward glance.

“What’s the plan, Ventura? They’ll figure it out before the day is over. Trackers, remember?”

“Tell them the truth. I killed him because he called me a moron and forced you to open a portal and stay quiet.”

“That’s not exactly the truth,” Keynes noted.

“From now on think as if it is.”

“What about you?”

“I will be fine.”

“Listen, we—” Kaito Ren started but the captain his hand.

“No. You cannot go with me. You wouldn’t be able to keep up with me. You need to train, harder than before. Get as much training as you can before they force you to level up.” He stared at Kaito Ren for a second. “Make sure the Kid gets where he needs to.”

“Where are you going?” Kaito Ren asked.

“It’s safer for you to not know. Now, go to your cabins and wait two hours then go and report on me.”

They did as he said.

In theory, it was a good plan but it had one glaring flaw, which Keynes failed to tell them. If the captain used his Talent on others, why didn’t he use it on them two? Wouldn’t it erase the entire killing and make it harder for everyone to figure out the truth? Or maybe it didn’t work like that?

***

They came for Keynes an hour later, put a black bag on his head and led him somewhere. He would be able to recreate the path from memory alone but he didn’t think it was important right now. He was scared, of course, who wouldn’t be but they also needed him.

Eventually, they made him sit down and took off the black bag.

An interrogation room with a one-way mirror.

Judging by the size it was another cabin. Handcuffed to the table he waited for an interrogator for hours. His anxiety climbed up until he jumped when a door opened.

He hated every second here and it only strengthened his resolution to escape.

He didn’t expect Esopp Earl to be the interrogator but here he was.

“Okay, boy, talk to me. What happened to Murphy Polloc?”

He gave Esopp Earl the version he’d agreed with Kaito Ren and the captain.

“Why didn’t you tell someone earlier?”

Keynes closed his eyes, replaying the moment of killing. Captain Ventura moved with a speed that made Keynes realize what happened after it happened. He explained that to Esopp Earl.

This did the trick.

“Justice will be served.”

With that short statement, the interrogation ended. Keynes wondered if he was fooled or something because it couldn’t be that easy, right? Unless, they didn’t need his version. He started to worry about the captain. They came too soon. Even though he bragged that he could handle Level 7, it didn’t mean he’d spoken the truth.

After some time spent alone in the interrogation room, a soldier came to pick him up and took him to the rifts compound. From the outside, it looked like a massive warehouse, which actually stood next to it. The security was insane here. Two barbed fences, control points, and a high number of troopers wearing black masks. I can totally see them building a planet destroyer like in the movie the Last Hope of the Universe.

“What’s with all the security?” Keynes asked.

“You are one of those prodigy kids, aren’t you?” the trooper replied.

Not knowing what the ‘prodigy kids’ were Keynes couldn’t confirm.

The man grunted not satisfied with the answer.

The trooper escorted Keynes to the main gate where a ginger-bearded man was waiting for them. He dismissed the trooper with a wave and invited Keynes inside the compound.

Did they seriously raise it in five weeks? It wasn’t an Avenger-level sophistication but the amount of work they put into this impressed him.

After leaving a corridor and small office space, they walked out into the first hall. It was full of racks and pallets with covered materials. Keynes couldn’t tell what was on the pallets as everything was covered up. They were tagged but the man’s quick pace didn’t allow Keynes to focus on what was written on labels.

“What’s this stuff?”

The man turned his head to Keynes, surprised as if not expecting questions from his visitor.

“Materials from the rifts.”

Oh. So their comprehension of the rifts was far more advanced than the base in Jamaica had made him believe. It was terrifying and exciting at the same time. Things that could be achieved with Level 1 materials. He’d never chopped a normal tree but a Level 1 tree was very hard to cut. Even Kaito Ren needed to buckle down to finish a tree in less than twenty-five minutes.

They moved on to a large slide door. The ginger-beard man placed his hand on the palm reader, it turned green, then the door slid to the right.

The second hall was the size of a stadium! And it was bustling with activity like an anthill with thousands of people moving around. There were several points of interest that Keynes wanted to know about. The rifts were here; people stacked boxes and crates on the pallets or put them inside the metal containers. And then, Keynes spotted the rift. A procession of workers was moving in and out of it.

These people weren’t joking about it, they used the rifts not only for the essence and items but raw materials as well. Something the researchers at the Jamaican base neglected—or didn’t care about it because they knew something on this scale was happening elsewhere.

Keynes and his guide didn’t stop to admire the activity. They entered a smaller room with many chairs arrayed in front of a rostrum.

“Pick a seat.”

They were alone in the room.

“You are forbidden from revealing your Talent and you are not allowed to inquire about the other Talents.”

He returned to the rostrum, pressed a button and said.

“Bring them in.”

Did he mean the ‘prodigy kids’? His answer came in the form of six young people who were told to take seats as well. The room had seventy-two seats and the six that entered kept some distance from each other. Keynes thanked them for this silently. He didn’t feel like mingling with others. The ginger-bearded guy stayed by the rostrum as he overlooked the seats. He waited for another person to arrive.

Jolie McJames entered the room. She stopped a few steps from the ginger-bearded man. He nodded to her then his attention returned to Keynes and the other six seated teenagers.

“My name is Christopher Wolf and I am a director of Special Ops academy. This is Administration Officer Jolie McAdams, I believe you’ve met her yesterday or this morning. She is here to explain the structures of the new World Government. I urge you to pay attention, this is important.”

She took it as her cue and stepped behind the rostrum. She glanced over then spoke. Keynes searched for any signs of agitation but there were none.

“Hello, I’d like to briefly explain your role in our structures as you may feel confused—”

A brown-haired guy in glasses and pale complexion interrupted.

“Why exactly are we here?”

“Ask questions at the end,” Christoper Wolf said.

“What is your name?” Officer McJames asked.

“Lazark.”

“Lazark, the seven of you are the first students of Special Ops academy. You’re here because of your Talents. Now let me explain how you fit into this.

“In the new World Government, you will have special, often unique roles that will only apply to you as individuals. For simplicity, we will call you special operatives.”

“Something like assassins?” an Asian girl asked. She had black straight hair that ended at her jawline, violet eyes and was nice but nothing of Sakura’s calibre. And both of them were a shadow of what Vivena was to Keynes. He threw all three girls out of his head. He didn’t need distractions. He was aware that the world faced an unimaginable disaster while the World Government decided to take over the world and he was the key to the World Government’s success, literally. He needed to understand what was going to happen. He had to be ready for the worst and shouldn’t rely on the captain or Kaito Ren to help him.

“Assassins among others options, yes. But as the name suggests, special operatives will take care of special cases and will fulfil special needs that cannot be fulfilled by anyone else within the World Government.”

“Can you tell us more about the criterium—” Lazark was in a middle of a question when Christoper Wolf interrupted him.

“I think I made myself clear when I told you to wait with question till the end, did I not?”

Lazark nodded, sheepishly, though his eyes remained vivid with curiosity.

“Please continue, Officer McJames.”

“You will hear that the World Government became a totalitarian superstate but that is a lie. In fact, we are evolving into a military superstate. It doesn’t mean citizens do not matter to us. They still are a vital part of our society but it is only through the new World Government, that we can achieve our best.”

Keynes was confused… Was she a preacher now?

She glanced down at the papers.

“Your current status is a special operative trainee. You’re at the bottom of the social strata, barely above citizens—”

“Didn’t you say citizens were vital to your society and now they are at the bottom? What is going on here?”

Christopher Wolf grew a shade redder, but still containing his anger. This bunch wasn’t easy to work with it seemed.

“The new system also introduces harsher disciplinary actions for those who cannot follow the orders. One more interruption and you will have a chance to exper—”

“I am okay with that,” the Asian girl said. She wasn’t laughing, she wasn’t joking, she just stated the fact. A ballsy girl.

“Daiyu Fen, am I right?”

“Yes.”

“One of the core tenets of the new system is discipline.”

“You need us,” Daiyu Fen said, unmoved.

“We do.” Christoper Wolf stepped in. “But you need us more. Without the World Government you'll have nothing.”

It was a blatant lie from the director, nonetheless Keynes grew annoyed with the girl. He actually wanted to know more about this new system. A military superstate? Just a PR hiding a true face of a devil, or Palpatine. In a place like this, he couldn’t act blindly or give others the benefit of doubt as he’d used to do. Director Wolf and Officer McJames were here to sell them a beautiful lie of the new world. Keynes no longer was buying it. They were here to exploit him. That was all.

“Here.” She turned on a screen beside her showing the new structure. “Memorize it.”

After Officer McJames left, the mood in the room seemed to take a hit. They needed a few moments to digest the revelations. It was either you were with the World Government or you’d be stuck on Level 1 until you die. No access to rifts for citizens and those caught killing other humans for essence would face the death penalty.

“What is with the gloomy faces? Soon you will realize how lucky you are. Your Talents alone put you in the most prestigious group. You will be trained, prepared and levelled up continuously until you reach your full potential. You’re our future.”

“Why will you train us?” a black guy with an athletic body asked. “Isn’t levelling us up enough?”

That was a neat question. One that Keynes would like to ask the director as well.

“Rift essence is very potent and Level 1 bodies cannot handle it well enough. After initial testing, we have learned that training some of your attributes eases or eliminates the pain.”

So it wasn’t the Spirit attribute alone that benefited absorption of the rift essence. Guiding the essence surely helped Keynes more than training his attributes though.

While some of the captain’s dire suspicions turned to be true this training development was something more sinister. It proved that the World Government learned, adapted and understood that there was room for improvement. They didn’t know about guiding the essence and meditating with spiritual objects though. Also, they only wanted to train some attributes and Captain Ventura emphasized the importance of training all attributes before levelling up. Ignoring the question about the source of his knowledge, Keynes thanked the captain in his mind. Without him, Keynes future would’ve looked bleaker.

Keynes’s attention returned to the room, Lazark was offensively asking questions about the rifts, outbreak, training, World Government and a dozen other topics that didn’t bear any significance for their group, although they were interesting.

Eventually, Director Wolf had enough and raised his hand.

“No more questions. You will receive a training and rift excursion schedule on your way back to the living quarters. Have a good night.”

He gave them one last look and left.

“Am I the only one who feels like they spent the last hour trying either to scare us or preach to us?” Lazark asked.

“Yo, man, this thing is shady,” a massive, bearish guy rumbled slowly. “They didn’t even listen to my parents when they said I cannot go with them.”

“Are we some kind of Black Order or other crazy stuff?” a blond guy with pierced nose and tattoos on his neck asked. Despite his question, he didn’t look troubled.

“Training is good though.”

“Pain is not,” the bearish guy said.

He waved at his comment and added, “It won’t be that bad. It may look shady but this is the World Government. They have the know-how. Their training must be out of this world. And I’m interested in those famous rifts. I’ve never been inside. Maybe they will let me kick some monster’s ass?”

He sounded like Keynes’s brother. Were these the ‘prodigy kids’? Hopefully not.

“So, what are your names?” Daiyu Fen. “I am Daiyu Fen.”

“Lazark, but you know it already.”

“Samuel King,” said the black guy. “I hope they have some kind of ranking here. It will grow dull without competition.”

“Butchereyev,” said the bearish man.

“Oxford Sioux,” the blond said his name, looking somewhat bored.

Only two persons were left in the group. Keynes and a mousy girl. He didn’t think she’d do it and opened his mouth to have it behind him when she spoke.

“Tulli.”

She had a soft, VERY quiet voice, but one that sounded nice. Like his mother’s. Could she have a soothing-like Talent?

And then all attention was on him…

“Keynes Kid and…” He almost said right here and now that he desired to escape this place but some last-minute corrections in his brain kicked in and stopped him from making a grave mistake. “…it is nice to meet you?”

Crap, I should have finished this with a joke.