"Alright, listen up! Today, all of you have officially completed your basic training! You will be given a day to rest before we begin the next phase of your training: practical exercises! We will head into the Maze to accomplish simple objectives and missions under the supervision of an official squad! You will be judged and ranked based on your performance, which will influence your squad choice! The better you perform, the better squads you will have available to you!" Sergeant Callista announced. "However, you must remember that we are entering the Maze! You will face death! Take this day to put your affairs in order, take a good break, and don't leave any regrets behind. I'll see you all tomorrow."

The recruits looked between each other, not sure whether to be excited or nervous, Sergeant Callista's stern warning at the end leaving them weirdly numb. "Guys, remember, we have Chris! With him around, the danger we face will be reduced dramatically!" Beth exclaimed, trying to diffuse the dense atmosphere. "Now, who wants to help us buy beds so we don't have to sleep on the hard ground every night!"

"Right, Chris."

"I'm down! Should we get beds for the other squad as well?"

"Should we get snacks as well?"

"Yeah! And a TV!"

"We'll need a generator for electricity."

Chris turned to Beth. "What have you done?!?"

"Let's go to the mall!" Beth announced, ignoring Chris, leading the squad away, dragging Chris along after her.

Sergeant Callista watched them go with a frown. "I need to warn the others."

The squad swarmed into the mall, rushing every which way to get the various items they wanted to stash in Chris's world. Chris and Beth went to the furniture store first, getting fifty cheap, but decent beds, quickly loading them into the Immortal World. Every now and then a group would find them and bring something else into the world. It was soon filled with food, games, electronics, generators, and a lot of pretty much useless crap that Chris was pretty sure the squad only got because they were a little too excited. They'd been stuck in boot camp for the last six weeks, and they now had the freedom to actually spend the generous salary they'd been receiving.

"Teenagers are dumb." Chris sighed, shaking his head.

"Chris, you are a teenager." Beth rolled her eyes at him.

"Am I though?" Chris raised an eyebrow at her.

Beth paused. "Fair."

Chris's phone rang, and Chris pulled it out to see Derek was calling. "Yo, what's up?" Chris asked as he answered the phone.

"Hey, you want to get lunch? You're on break too, right?" Derek asked.

"Hold on." Chris replied before turning to Beth. "Derek wants to get lunch. You in?"

"Sure! Should we invite Penny and Thad as well?" Beth asked.

"Probably." Chris nodded, turning back to the phone. "Yeah, but invite Penny and Thad too."

"Obviously. I was going to call them next. Where do you want to go?" Derek asked.

Chris paused. "Hellfire?"

After finishing making plans with Derek, Chris and Beth headed out, leaving a point for the other recruits to access the Immortal World. Chris could monitor a meter radius around every point, so whenever a recruit approached, he could open the portal for them. Chris had to admit, the strangest thing he had to get used to recently was having all this extra awareness. He could block a lot of it out, but even so, there was so much that he was watching that it almost felt like his head should have exploded at some point from the sheer amount of information he was getting. What was really difficult to get used to was the fact that he couldn't act on that awareness. He was aware of everything, but he could only do so much at once. He could talk with Beth and open portals, but if he wanted to start organizing the Immortal World as well, he just wouldn't be able to do it. One of the tasks would get ignored in favor of the other. It was like he had unlimited input, but a miniscule output. It was frustrating.

Chris and Beth met Derek by the lifts, before heading down to the forty-fourth level together to meet up with Penny and Thad. Both Beth and Chris were used to working out, so neither of them had changed much, but Derek had gone from a not in shape, but not out of shape form to a fit and almost dangerous looking individual, showing the effectiveness of their training. Chris thought he might have improved even more than the others in his own squad, who'd benefited from training in the Immortal World!

"Dude, what happened to you? This looks like more than six weeks of training." Chris asked, raising an eyebrow at Derek.

Derek smirked. "I figured out a side benefit of my ability. When I train, keeping my ability on at a low level, it stimulates muscle growth. Of course, that's nothing compared with your freak squad! What the hell do you guys do all day? We never see you train, yet you all improve faster than almost everyone else!"

"It's all thanks to Chris!" Beth exclaimed excitedly. "We do all our training in his world! When we spar, we can go all out, and every time we die, we come back stronger! It's amazing!"

Derek blinked at her, before turning to Chris. "That works?"

Chris shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, you've seen the results."

Derek sighed. "Fuck! Why couldn't I have ended up in your squad!"

Chris chuckled. "You just aren't lucky enough. Don't worry though, just do well in the evaluation and we can be on the same squad then."

Beth snorted. "You'll need to do better than well. There's only three slots available per squad, and Chris and I already take up two. Literally every member of our squad is going to be gunning for that last one, too. You'll need to beat all of them if you want to be with us."

Chris frowned. "You think so? I mean, I get that it's nice to be on a team with a high-tier, but I don't think everyone will focus on that."

Beth rolled her eyes. "Not because of me, because of you! You think any of them are going to give up being in the same squad as you after seeing all the benefits your world brings?!? Hell no!"

"Well, shit…" Derek frowned. "Couldn't you pull some strings and get me in with you like you did Chris?"

Beth shook her head. "Sorry, my Dad had to call in a lot of favors just to set that up. He doesn't have the wiggle room to control an entire squad's recruitment slots."

Derek sighed. "Yeah, that figures. Fuck, what am I going to need to do to pull ahead? Maybe I should head back and train a bit more…"

Chris rolled his eyes. "Dude, don't push yourself too hard. Even if we aren't in the same squad at first, we can always transfer later. It won't matter how good your score is if you get yourself killed doing something risky in there just for points."

"Yeah, I know, I'll be careful. Still, I'll need to take at least a bit of risk. You don't stand out if you never do anything." Derek replied.

"Yeah, and you don't do anything if you're dead." Chris shot back. "Just don't be stupid, alright?"

"I won't." Derek agreed, before grinning. "Man, this feels eerily similar to our conversation before the Trial, except we switched sides."

"Yeah, and you almost died during that because you did something risky because of me! Don't do it again." Chris retorted.

Derek rolled his eyes, but nodded anyway. They continued to chat lightly after that, until they finally arrived at the forty-fourth level and headed to the restaurant. Penny and Thad were already there, so they joined them at the table and began to catch up. Penny and Thad had to go back to school while they were gone, and they hadn't done much in the meantime, so the conversation focused on the other three's boot camp stories. Derek talked about a few of the friends he'd made in his squad, and told a few funny stories, such as the time one of his squad mates had decided to sneak into the girls' bunks and steal some panties. The sergeant had caught him in the act, and forced him to train wearing them, and only them, the next day. For whatever reason, it seemed that panties weren't the most ideal for dealing with a certain male organ, and the recruit had had several wardrobe malfunctions that day, particularly when they had to do jumping jacks.

"So, what was Chris like in boot camp?" Penny asked after Derek finished, turning to Beth. "I have a hard time imagining him as a recruit."

Beth grinned. "He was… well, he was Chris. He never disobeyed, always did everything he was told to the best of his abilities, but… he did it in his usual Chris way. Sergeant Callista had no idea what to do with him, at all. I think Chris might be the only person to go through boot camp without getting punished a single time, sheerly because he's too baffling to find something to punish him for. Of course, it didn't help that the squad was relying on his ability to train. I think Sergeant Callista might have been concerned he'd take it away if she was too unreasonable."

Penny shook her head. "That sounds like Chris."

"Oh, it gets better!" Beth replied. "At some point, Chris decided it was easier to kill himself than take a shower. Now, the squad had been training in his world for a while by this point, getting pretty used to death, so one particularly minded it, plus it is admittedly much faster than actually taking a shower. The only problem was, any time he got dirty, he'd just kill himself. So, one day, everyone is in the dining hall for dinner, rushing around like normal, because they only ever give us half an hour to eat, when one of the guys from another squad trips and spills all over Chris! Chris, of course, doesn't say anything, doesn't even look at the guy, before he takes his knife and stabs himself right in the head! He disappears, leaving a pile of clothes, the guy is stuck between shock and freaking out, and half the cafeteria is in chaos, when Chris just casually walks out of a portal, throws his dirty clothes inside, and sits back down to eat like nothing happened! That's how he dealt with pretty much everything that happened. No matter what anyone did, it was like he couldn't be bothered to care."

"That still just sounds like Chris." Thad pointed out.

"Yeah, I know, I'm just saying, even boot camp can't defeat Chris's pervasive Chrisness." Beth replied. "If you want to know what Chris is like as a recruit, well, it's just Chris."

"That is both somewhat disappointing and oddly reassuring." Thad commented.

Chris shrugged. "What can I say, I'm a stable dude."

They talked a bit more about boot camp, when Beth suddenly remembered something. "Oh, Chris, you have to show them your new ability!"

"New ability?" Thad asked, looking at Chris and raising an eyebrow.

Chris sighed. "Yeah, it's- well, look." Chris held out his hand, turning it into the clawed shape of his other form.

Penny's eyes widened. "You actually have a new ability?!? How!?!"

"Well, I'm not sure how much of an ability it is. It's more like another form that I can turn on and off." Chris explained.

Penny crossed her arms. "That's literally my ability."

Chris paused. "Okay, fair."

"Uh, seriously though, how did that happen?" Thad asked, frowning. "People don't just pick up new abilities."

"Well… I'm actually not too sure. We were training in my world, when suddenly, a cocoon formed around me, breaking my body down and reforming it into another form. I'm not sure why I can change back but hey, I'm not complaining." Chris answered.

Beth shuddered. "Me neither. Your other form is creepy."

After lunch, the five of them hung out for the rest of the afternoon, before Beth and Chris went to her parents' place for dinner. David had already heard a lot about what they'd been doing in boot camp, so he only asked a few light questions before they moved on to other topics. The mayoral election was coming up, so David was currently being fought over by the candidates looking for his endorsement, so they started talking about politics.

"See, I like Perez, but every time I meet with him, something just feels… off to me." David commented. "Of course, if I had to choose between him and Johnson, I'm choosing him, but still, he makes me nervous."

"Johnson is the eugenics guy, right? The one that wants to set up breeding programs based on abilities?" Chris asked.

David nodded. "Right. He's got the backing of a few of the Families, too. They're obsessed with getting as strong as they can, as fast as they can. Of course, they're already essentially doing it between themselves, so I don't see why they feel the need to drag the rest of us into their insanity, but that's the way it is."

Chris nodded. "What about Perez? What's his deal? I've never actually looked into it."

David sighed. "As I said, I like him. On paper, he's perfect. He wants to reform the Trial process, so that people can opt out if they want, but if they do, they'll be restricted from having children with anyone who did pass the Trial. Not a perfect solution, I know, but it's better than forcing people to their deaths, don't you think?"

Chris nodded. "It's not bad, though, I will say, if not for the fact I was forced to go into the Maze, I'd never have learned I even have an ability. At least, not until someone tried to kill me or something."

David chuckled. "Yes, well, barring outliers like yourself, I believe it would benefit us more than it would hurt us, especially if we allow people to take the Trial later if they feel confident. Take me for example. Before I learned how to actually use my ability, I was a low-tier who survived the Trial by luck. Now not only am I a high-tier, my daughter is a high-tier as well! Imagine if we'd lost out on that? Given a bit more time to develop my ability, I could have passed the Trial easily. I think more people deserve that chance."

"True." Chris agreed. "So, that's one of his policies. What else?"

"Well, the rest is rather basic. He wants to focus more on artificial meat production, making us less reliant on the Maze, increased access to education, raising teacher salaries across the board, stuff like that. One of his main points is that our advances in technology are one of our greatest strengths, and we can't forget about it in the pursuit of personal power." David explained.

Chris nodded. "Sounds good."

David sighed. "It does. I just wish the guy didn't give me the creeps in person."

"Being a little creepy isn't a terrible quality. Better than eugenics." Chris pointed out.

After dinner, Beth and Chris headed to her room to move all her stuff into the Immortal World, so she could move into her new place the moment it was available. After the evaluation, the new recruits would be official scouts with their own residences.

"Can you believe we're going to be, like, adults? We'll have a job, independence, our own space! It's crazy!" Beth exclaimed excitedly as she packed, the process really bringing the situation into focus for her.

Chris paused, thinking about it, before shrugging. "Eh? I mean, having my own room for once will be nice, but otherwise, I'm not sure how different it will be… though, I kinda already had a lot of independence. Once you're old enough, the orphanage doesn't really micromanage you."

Beth rolled her eyes. "No, think about it. From now on, all your decisions are your own! No one decides anything for you! You choose where you live, how you spend your time, how you spend your money, whether you clean or not, everything! I mean, I already had some of that, but… well, it was always with the understanding that I couldn't do something my parents disagreed with. Now I don't have to worry about that at all!"

Chris cocked his head. "I guess that's fair… I mean, the orphanage did have rules for what we could do while we lived there. Like we couldn't bring things like alcohol or cigarettes into the orphanage. I've just never been particularly interested in any of the things they prohibited, so it wasn't a big deal for me."

Beth paused. "Yeah, I probably won't do any of the things my parents were against either… it's just nice to know I could, you know?"

Chris nodded along, and they continued packing. "So, are you planning on living on base after graduation or are you going to look for a house?" Chris asked after a while.

"Well, my dad says it's best to spend at least the first year living with the squad. It helps build comradery. After that though…" Beth glanced at Chris, before looking away with a flush. "I-I'll see."

"A year, huh?" Chris muttered, thinking something over before shrugging. "I guess it doesn't matter either way."

Beth raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

Chris paused. "Well… I was thinking, if we wanted to get married, then we should probably wait until we have our own place, but then I remembered I have my own world and literally any place could be our own place."

Beth froze. "You- you want to get married?"

Chris paused. "Yes, but… hm, how should I put this. I love you, and I can't ever see myself not wanting to be with you, but I want to make sure I'm stable before we actually go through with it. Maybe that'll be in a few weeks, maybe a few months, I'm not sure."

Beth blinked at him a few times. "So… you do want to get married."

Chris frowned. "Eventually, yes."

"You want to marry me." Beth reiterated.

"I- yes! Why do you- gah!" Chris exclaimed, before being interrupted by Beth literally pouncing on him! They fell to the floor, Beth wrapping her arms around him as she pressed her lips against his, kissing him deeply. Chris was stunned for a moment, not entirely sure why this was happening, but he quickly decided not to question it and enjoy making out with his girlfriend.

After a long while, Beth finally pulled away, looking down at Chris with a soft gaze, before flicking him in the forehead. "When you actually propose, try to be a little more romantic, okay?"

Chris nodded. "I will try. I- I know that stuff doesn't come naturally to me, but- even if I can't show it, I do love you. More than anything." Chris explained, giving Beth a serious look.

Beth smiled, leaning down to kiss him again. "I know. I love you too."

The two of them spent a few more minutes on the floor together, before they had to get back up and get back to packing. Beth was still excited, so every now and then she'd stop and tackle Chris again, but eventually they finished and had to head back to the base. Once they arrived, they had to separate and get to bed. They had to wake up early the next morning.