“Liv… Liv, wake up.” A soft voice says, cutting through the gentle haze of Liv’s sleep, a soft poke on her shoulder rousing her from her rest. She groans, turning in her bus seat to try and escape the pokes– an ultimately fruitless endeavor as the pokes multiply into a barrage of pokes. They had been on the road for an additional 2 days. A short journey compared to Liv’s other escapades, but a long journey nonetheless– and one spent mostly asleep. She had learned more about her new friend, however.

  She was, apparently, here to train so she could go back to her home a stronger warrior. Strangely enough, it was one of the only times she could remember when Charlotte would speak to her without eye contact.

  The poking grows more insistent and far harder, enough to become unignorable. Liv slowly opens her eyes, sitting up as she rubs her face with her gauntleted hand.

  “Whatcha want…” Liv murmurs softly, turning her bleary gaze toward the one who awoke her. Charlotte sits next to her, hovering just above her with a smile. Liv was convinced this woman didn't sleep at this point, always there to greet her when she awoke herself. The moonlight pours through the windows, barely illuminating the bus and its occupants as it thunders down the empty plains. The terrain was one more boring than Liv cared for, a vast nothingness broken up with the occasional outcropping of small hills. The sound of small cicadas whir dominates the night, barring Liv from a peaceful return to her sleep; that, and the one who woke her up in the first place.

  Charlotte scoots away a smidge as Liv looks over at her, her armor clinking gently as she does. “We’ve almost arrived and I simply couldn't wait for your reaction." She says, gesturing down the middle of the bus. Liv cocks her eyebrow, tilting her head to the side. Charlotte seems unphased by the scrutinous look, her smile only growing wider as Liv concedes, her head turning to the window.

  She pushes herself onto her knees, messing with the opening mechanism for a moment before she gets her gauntleted fingers in the two latches, pushing them inward, the window falling halfway down. The cold breeze washing over her face, the smell of grass tickling her nose. She pokes her head out, the wind whipping through her hair as she squints her eyes, trying to make out what Charlotte was speaking of. Her eyes quickly widen as she catches sight of the Initiative, her stomach dropping to the bottom of her body.

  In the distance, a handful of miles away, stands what can only be described as a metropolis beyond compare. Even from here, Liv can see the massive skyscrapers densely packed together like bundled sticks, each piercing the sky, tacks penetrating the domain of the lord himself. The lights of the city glow like stars robbed from the skies, shades of blue, green, yellow, and orange darting across Liv’s vision as the wind billows into her widened eyes.

  The smallest of the buildings seem to be near the outside, each step elevating the next building up, the tallest of the buildings smack dab in the middle: a behemoth of pure concrete that seems near impossible to Liv. It towers above the buildings in its immediate surroundings, a monument to humanity and its continued survival. Even from here, Liv can see the emblem of Hellfire, it's splendor proudly displayed the walls of the metropolis, proud to be called Hellfire. On their journey, the dirt roads had shifted to broken asphalt; though, the streets seemed to get clearer and clearer the closer they got to the Initiative itself.

  “Gosh…” Liv mutters to herself, pulling her torso out of the window, taking her place firmly on the windowsill. She allows one of her hands to grip the top of the bus, stabilizing herself as she speaks. “Ain’t that a sight. You reckon that’s what home used to look like?” Liv asks, her voice full of awe.

  “I wouldn’t know.” Her boss responds. “I wasn’t there when your home was at its prime.”

  “You weren’t?” Liv questions, sparing a side eye toward her boss.

  “I... Don't believe so.” Her boss says, their voice twinged with a hint of melancholy and uncertainty, the most uncertainty she had ever heard from it, an uncertainty it tried to hide; though, an ultimately futile one. Liv had spent more than enough time with the weapon to hear anything out of the ordinary.

  “Huh,” Liv says, admiring the sparkling lights as she processes its words. “I ain’t gonna lie, I thought you were a whole hell of a lot older than you were.”

  “I don’t see how that information matters.”

  “Just happy to finally be learnin’ some stuff ‘bout you.” Liv admits, taking her eyes off the sprawling city. She looks to her boss, an upbeat smile playing across her face. “Reckon I’m gonna get your name soon-.”

  “Highly unlikely.” Her boss says, cutting her off mid sentence. “Also, if you’re not going to use the channel I established in your mind, why did I establish it?”

  “Sorry, sorry.” Liv says mentally, her smile faltering a bit. She returns her gaze to the city for a moment. A sigh escapes her lips, her hand extending toward it. From here, it looked so small, small enough to close her palm around. She wonders, for a brief moment, if the hellhole she called home looked like this in its prime.

  “I think you would’ve liked it.” Alexis’s words echo through her mind, her eyes glazing over a hint. She wonders if the games and such he spoke of still exist in this new world. She wonders, if they are still exist, if she’d truly like them as much as he said.

  “OI. CLOSE THAT DAMN WINDOW!” The driver's voice rings through the bus, Liv's body tensing in response. She quickly scurries back to her seat, clicking her window shut as she looks at the bus driver. His gaze is not turned to her, however.

  “Sorry!” A voice comes from near the front of the bus. A young man around the same age as Liv pokes his head back into the bus, quickly shutting it. His skin is the same as espresso, his hair done up in short twists, not a hint of facial hair on his face. He isn’t as thin as Charlotte, but he’s nowhere as muscular as Liv, a sort of middle ground between the two extremes. A jacket wraps around his shoulders, a black as deep as the sky on a starless night. He seems... Kind. He sits back down the same time Liv does, Liv’s eyes turning to Charlotte. Charlotte looks back to her, her face housing the same small smile it usually does. Liv notices, out of the corner of her eye, a small glimmer shining from her waist. Charlotte's blade was peeking out of its sheathe, the slender woman's hand wrapped firmly around the hilt.

  “The view was nice, wasn’t it?” Charlotte muses, sliding the blade back in its sheathe. A strange feeling washes over Liv, the air rushing out of her lungs for a split second. She coughs, her hand coming up to thump on her chest once, then twice, then thrice. After the fourth, she can feel the oxygen returning to her body, the coughing coming to a slow end.

  “Y-yeah.” Liv says gently, the glimmering lights flashing through her memory. They were beyond her wildest dreams, something that feels almost alien to her mind.

  The bus eventually drives into the city, passing through the tight streets. Liv watching the buildings rush by her. The streets were packed with real, functioning cars driving about in tight lines, their headlights banishing the little amount of darkness that may exist in the brightly lit city. Bikes weave between the packs of cars like fish through coral, some earning yells from those caught in the constricting traffic. Small corner shops are packed with people, bustling with life as all walks of life come to and fro with bags packed with groceries. Children play on the sidewalks, enjoying their exuberant youth, giggles abounding underneath the starless sky.

  Liv reaches out with a hand, her gauntleted hand pressing against the window, awed by the sheer amount of people, jealous of the... Normalcy. Her hand runs down, her eyes flitting to her reflection. She should be smiling; yet, she can’t seem to find the joy to smile.

  After a long, long trek through the endless traffic, the bus screeches to a halt in front of the Initiative building at the heart of the metropolis.

  “Alright, get out.” The bus driver shouts, jutting his thumb toward the door. Liv, Charlotte, and all the other occupants oblige, piling out in droves. Liv steps off the bus, looking around. The street seems to be in a semicircle leading to the entrance to the building, though its an offshoot of the large circle surrounding the towering spire. The other end of the semicircle leads to a large parking garage, though the Employee’s only sign shows the exclusivity of it. Her bus seems to be the last to arrive, said bus humming driving toward the parking garage. She watches as the crowd bustles toward the Initiative’s entrance, Charlotte walking near the end of the group. Liv follows behind Charlotte, her hands buried in her pockets. She knew in her heart that this should be a big moment for her. She had escaped the hellhole of her old home. She'd made it! Yet... It felt almost hollow.

  The crowd piles through the building, starting in the admittedly nice lobby before finding a staircase. They pile down, the idle sound of chatter sounding through the crowded pack. Liv notes that the guy from earlier seems to lead much of the conversation, Charlotte chipping in every now and then. Everyone spoke of their homes, of their families, pets, games, favorite foods, and everything in between. It was a cultural mishmash. While different, each culture had enough key similarities to connect in a way, to compare and share in their shared differences. Liv didn't have those aspects, her life before consisting of nothing but digging. Her way of life was, to put it simple, alien. She didn't have a cultural dish to share with them, didn't have stories of playing catch with her mother or father, didn't have an embarrassing first crush, didn't have stories of interesting weather from her home. She was just... Different.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  “Are you not going to speak to the other humans?” Her boss’s voice rings through her head, her attention snapping to it’s voice.

  “I dunno.” Liv mutters mentally, her eyes shifting between the floor and the crowd in front of her, “Later, I guess.”

  The crowd continues down, winding through long, barely lit hallways until they eventually reach a large, wooden door with intricate designed etched into its surface. It clicks open, revealing a large meeting hall with a stage near the end. It’s bustling with life, hundreds upon hundreds of people bunched together, conversation bustling amongst them. The ceiling arches up, held up by visible rafters embedded in the walls.The lights seem to be connected to the ceiling, their light harsh and bright, but efficient. The floor is made of a simple tile, a concentric white and black that runs across from wall to wall. The stage is empty, each side housing a staircase up. Liv watches as the group of people she occupied disperses into the larger horde, leaving Liv alone with Charlotte.

  A man slowly ascends the stairs from the front of the crowd, one of the eldest Liv had ever seen in the flesh. A tanned man with wispy, white hair that seems to be in the process of thinning already. His skin is marred by the effects of age, though wrinkles are not among the list. His eyes are a bright blue, though they don't seem to be the most noticeable thing about his face. A scar runs down from the ridge of his eyebrow to the top of his lip, giving him a perpetual snarl. His body is bulky, perhaps more than Liv, his shoulders covered by a button up and slacks. The room goes quiet as he finally ascends the steps fully, taking his place in the middle of the stage, his eyes wandering over the group.

  “Hello, everyone.” His voice booms, shattering the silence his presence brought. He reaches deep into his pocket, pulling out a small cigarette, one that wouldn't be out of place in some of the small convenience stores of Liv's home. He takes a long draw as it lights, his chest expanding before he breathes out, a cloud of tobacco laced smoke flying into the air. “My name is George Hargot, Warden of the Beta Branch. Welcome to Lebanon Kansas. On behalf of the Hellfire Initiative, I've come to congratulate you on your hard work.” His voice causes a wave of whispering chatter to abound the room. Liv shoots a confused look to Charlotte, though the thinner woman seems to be lost in shock. At Liv's look, however, she manages to pull herself together enough to speak.

  "He's one of the strongest people in the Initiative. He only answers to Group A." She whispers quickly, though she can see Liv's expression unchanged. Charlotte shakes her head, whispering. "You'll learn about it later."

  George clears his throat, silence overtaking the room once more. "Good, formalities out of the way. Meat and potatoes, then." He claps, his stare suddenly turning as cold as ice. "Frankly put, none of you are worth anything to me, or to Hellfire as you are now."

  A confused murmur goes through the group, one quickly silenced as he stomps his foot down, sending a gust of air through the hall. Many of those who stand closer to the front fall onto their back, Liv having to brace herself just to stay standing, the air blowing her hair back wildly.

  “I’ve seen hundreds of punks like you,” He starts, his arms crossing as he turns the cigarette from one side of his mouth to the other, smoke billowing from his mouth like a dragon, “Thinking you’re hot shit, getting cocky, and dying.” He growls, grabbing his mostly used cigarette, the half smoked paper snapping betwixt his fingers.

  “Well let me be the first to give you a reality check. You aren't a hero, you aren't a warrior of legend, and you sure as hell aren't some exception bred to destroy all Stratas. All of you are noobs, and only a handful of you are gonna make it past retirement. Demons outnumber all of you by a number so high, half of you cant even count it, and the number of people in Hellfire who can possibly take on enough to make a real difference can be counted on my hands. None of you have the raw talent of someone like Micah. If you can't accept that, if your feelings are hurt, or if you just realized dying before retirement isn't in your best interest, then the door is right there." He gestures to the end of the room, to the doors where they entered.

  A silence overtakes the room once more, some of the occupants still scurrying up from their prone positions on the floor. The mood of the hall has seemingly soured, everyone either feeling called out, angry, or ignoring said callout. Liv was moreso interested in the latter part. If this man, strong enough to nearly knock her down with a stomp of a foot, was speaking about this Micah person with such reverence... Was he that strong?

  George nods at the general vibe of the room, his face returning to a more impassive state. "Hardy crowd. That speech usually gets a few people. Alright, let's move on to the actual point of this meeting.” He says, raising two fingers. “You got accepted, but you still need to be placed in a group. Luckily for you sorry bums, the Hellfire Initiative has tests so the less fortunate folks don't get nepo'd out of chances they deserve.”

  He chuckles to himself, None of the crowd following. If it affected him, he doesn't let it show as he continues, lowering one of his fingers.

  “First is the Strength Test. Basically, we’re gonna ask you to lift heavy shit to see who can lift the heaviest shit.” He smirks, lowering another. “Next is your general combat tests. Unfortunately, you gotta fight people sometimes. Synth Corrupted people, weirdo cultists, and some generally dumb asses who think they can just take your weapon from you for a myriad of reasons. Whatever the case, testing your combat prowess is imperative. Once we get all those tests done, we’ll be able to divide you into groups. Questions?” He asks, looking to the crowd. A few hands jut up, including Charlotte’s. Liv looks over the crowd, her eyes hanging a bit as she analyzes those who get their questions answered. George points to someone closer to the front. Liv manages to pin him as the guy from the bus, jumping to get the height necessary to be noticed.

  “Yeah, I got one!” He says, landing back on the floor, his hands falling to his sides. “Just wondering if we would get to pick our own teams.”

  George smirks, looking at him. He reaches into his pocket, pulling out yet another cigar. He flicks his hand, the tip of the cigar igniting as he speaks. “Good question. Typically, you have some small liberties with your group; however, there is a month grace period so you don't run around and join a hundred teams in a week. The only time your choice don't matter is if one of the upper brass pick you up. Letting the strongest thrive in their element is for the best, after all.”

  A wave of murmurs erupts through the crowd, some of discontent, some of relief. George looks over the crowd before pointing to the middle of the crowd. “You, big guy. What's the question?”

  Liv looks over to see a large, metal, hulking man standing in the center of the crowd. In terms of height, he easily trounces her, resting somewhere around Charlotte; furthermore, his body is just as bulky as hers, though that has more to do with the dusty metal encasing him. He's robot-esque in appearance, not a lick of skin visible beneath his armored carapace.

  "Faraji Alema, sir." He booms out, his voice fuzzy. “How free are the strongest in their choices?” He questions.

  A murmur goes through the crowd, trepidation passing through in hushed whispers. It seems that was a question on many a persons mind.

  “Pretty damn free.” George responds, plucking the cigar from his mouth. He allows the smoke to billow for a moment, his next words coming out relaxed. “Top five get any choice of any person, no ifs and buts.”

  An eruption of noise cascades from the crowd, aghast with murmurs of excitement and fear. For the first time, placements were truly in the minds of all. To get a good score means getting the first pick of people.

  “Pay attention.” Liv’s boss’s voice cuts through her mindlessness, causing her to blink back to focus. Liv was still looking at the metallic man, trying to see if she could see a hint of flesh. She wondered if he was a robot or something else, but she hadn’t gotten any hints just from his appearance.

  “I can do whatever I want.” Liv shoots back mentally, crossing her arms as she refocuses on the suited man on stage. Not because they asked, but because she wanted to. Probably. He fields a few more questions about the tests, most of them vague in scope until. As the last hands fall, George’s hands fall to his suit pockets, his eyes wandering the crowd.

  "Alright, no more questions.” He calls, stretching his arms above his head, a cacophony of pops escaping his back. "We'll get to testing soon. Rest up, prepare, all that jazz."

  With that, George descends the stairs, the crowd parting around him as he exits. The crowd begins to follow, Liv and Charlotte near the front of the group. Liv covers her mouth with her hand, yawning as they walk.

  “Tired?” Charlotte asks, a teasing smirk on her face.

  “Yeah. Somethin’ funny bout that?” Liv asks curiously, her head tilting to the side.

  “You slept for half the bus ride. I'm just shocked you could still be tired after all that rest.” Charlotte says, a small giggle escaping her mouth as she covers it.

  “Tch.” Liv mutters, crossing her arms. “Yer fault since ya woke me up.”

  “Oh, is it?” Charlotte leans down a bit, her smile growing wider. “My apologies then.”

  “Oh, uh," Liv starts, an awkward smile growing on her face, "I guess yer forgiven.” As the group continues to advance, Liv taps her chin, a thought springing to her mind. “You reckon this place got any food lyin’ around?”

  “I would assume so. I know they provide for their agents, so it’s not farfetched to believe they have a food court of some sort.” Charlotte muses, turning her smug smile toward Liv once more. “Are you hungry?”

  “Lil bit.” Liv says, patting her stomach.

  “Hmm… Well, I assume they’re closed. Would you like to get something in the morning?” Charlotte asks, her smile growing wider as she sees the gears turn in Liv’s head.

  “I reckon I wouldn’t mind.” Liv says slowly, a smile spreading across her own face. Charlotte had told her about some of the great foods she’s tried, foods that aren't prepackaged or made by Charlotte’s inexperienced hands. Her mouth begins to water at the thought of having something considered “good” by Charlotte's standards.

  The group ascends the stairs, climbing more and more until, eventually, they reach what appears to be a sprawling hallway with room numbers plastered on each door. George smirks, looking over the panting crowd. Only a handful seem unaffected, Liv and Charlotte being among them. Liv watches as George walks off, ascending further up the seemingly endless staircase.

  “I assume we just claim a room.” Charlotte muses, walking forth. She looks to Liv, pointing to the two closest doors. “Neighbors?”

  “Sure.” Liv says, shrugging as she walks to one of the rooms. She notices the key in the lock, turned to be unlocked by default. She grabs it, opening the door, her eyes widening at the scene before her. The entire room is almost as big as the cabin she stayed in with even better accommodations. This place has an entire kitchen with a large bed, a desk, and what appears to be a walk-in closet. Liv gawks as she closes the door behind her, throwing the key onto the counter.

  Liv slowly walks to the bed, running her hand over the sheet. Even with her gauntlets on, she could tell the material was silky smooth. Liv does the only reasonable thing one could do in a situation like this. She jumps up and lays down on the bed, spreading herself like a starfish. A yawn peels from her lips, her mind drifting into the endless sea of sleep. She felt she could get used to the luxury, and having a nice bed under her, of warm food and water. If the Hellfire Initiative could supply that? It was a goal to strive toward, one she would push toward.