The Void Above - Chapter 3

When Kichirou came to, he gathered that he was in the back of some sort of car when a woman's voice called out to him.

"You're alright, aren't you?"

Jane took a puff of her cigarette as she steered the car onto 40th Street, the street their apartment complex was on. It was still a few miles down, though.

"Because of your eyes, and the possibility of you being an anomaly and liability, your band was specifically tailored to have a tracker in it, so we could see where you were at all times.

Jane spoke to Kichirou without taking her eyes of the road. She used one hand to take another puff of her cigarette before continuing.

"You were gone for so long just to buy some clothes and essentials that I thought something may have happened and decided to use it to go find you. You were just lying there unconscious, with someone else. You looked relatively okay, but the other guy…

Jane's voice trailed off as she thought back to what she saw in the alleyway.

"And when I see you, your eyes aren't emanating that purple-blue light anymore."

Kichirou flipped down the passenger side mirror to take a look at himself and realized that what Jane had said was true, the purple-blue light was no longer there. However, his eyes seemed to be distorted in a way, like looking through heated air. Despite his eyes looking distorted, his vision had improved remarkably! Before Kichirou had 15/15 vision, but now he was capable of clearly seeing and reading things from over 25 feet away! It was incredible, but Kichirou hadn't questioned it much. He'd seen many more unbelievable things throughout the day, so a sudden increase in visual acuity was nothing too insane for Kichirou to accept. 

"It's complicated. I don't quite understand it myself."

"You don't need to understand it, and neither does Charon. Specifically the high-ranking officials. You were a liability beforehand, and now that you've done this, a lot of the higher-ups want to get rid of you before you become any more of a problem"

'Am I going to die? Be exiled? I finally found my way back to other people, and I have to pay such a heavy price just for that?'

"Luckily, there's another way out for you.

Kichirou's eyes seemed to ease a little bit. His breathing became much more relaxed and he almost slumped back into his seat.

"Ramirez and I found a way to, at the very least, extend your life, though we can't guarantee you won't die later on. They didn't decide to overlook you, but they were intrigued by the possibility of using that strange power of yours for their purposes. Ramirez and I used the title of Supreme Commander of Earth to fight against the officials. It was eventually decided that you would be enrolled in the specialized military academy in Charon. If you can pass through their curriculum and become an official Earth soldier, it was agreed upon that you would be spared."

Earth was in dire straits at the moment. After most of the world's population was wiped out in the mysterious attack, most of Earth's potential fighting force was wiped out. Even if they wanted to send people to Earth's entrance opportunity, half the people here are nothing but normal civilians. They can't fight, and we don't plan to send them off to die in vain. In the eyes of the board, you're the perfect person to send. Almost like a rabid dog, they plan to send you behind enemy lines to rampage, rather than in their own home."

'So to them, I'm nothing but a danger…'

Kichirou was too unpredictable for the executives and administrative officers in Charon to support. It was clear when he arrived from the purple-blue glow coming from his eyes that Kichirou was no normal boy. He was something special, and the executives labeled him as the only thing they knew that was neither human nor animal. Alien. The executives in Charon took a stance of suspicion when it came to aliens, and they decided to take the same stance when it came to Kichirou. Kichirou had failed to build a rapport with the board, and because of that, it was decided that he be disposed of as soon as possible.

"There's no guarantee you'll be sent out on the B-17E Annexing program. You'll need to prove yourself to be one of the strongest Earth soldiers to become one of the select few who will be appointed to that position. Even if you do, you won't be met with applause when you leave, but with scorn."

"I'll do it.

At that moment, Kichirou's eyes lit up with determination. The same eyes that brought him into this mess, and the same eyes he would use to forge his future.

"I don't want to die, so what choice do I have?" 

In an attempt to survive the fate that'd been shaped for him by everyone but himself, Kichirou made a decision.

"I've been thinking about it for a while now, and I think that's the right place for me, at least for now. Now that I have to do it, I'll at least make it the best I can."

"I'm glad you feel so enthusiastic about it,

Jane flicked her lit cigarette out of the window of the moving car with two fingers before continuing.

"Because there's only a few weeks before the entrance examination. I'll be the one prepping you for the written exam, and Ramirez and I will work together for combat training."

Suddenly, at that moment, the car Jane was driving sped past the apartment complex she and Kichirou lived in together. 

"Where are we going?" 

"Well if we're going to train you in combat, we need to see where exactly you stand, don't we? You'll be joining me and Ramirez for a late night assessment."

"Yawn…Oh my god…"

Kichirou was already tired from the events that had gone down that day, and wanted nothing more than to rest.

"Well if you're aiming to be a top soldier, you're gonna need to work some long nights. Consider this your training for stuff like that!"

Jane laughed out loud at her own comment.

'It wasn't that funny…"

"Well, whatever. I'm sure you'll get used to stuff like this in the future. The military academy in Charon is specially tailored for battles outside of Earth, so be ready for your expectations flipped on their heads."

"Now that you mention it, what will battles out there be like out there? I'm sure it has to differ a little bit from how we did things down here, right?"

Jane's expression went from one of joviality to uncertainty.

"In truth, I don't know what battles will be like out there. Nobody here does."

Before continuing, Jane almost seemed to make an expression of anger.

"That's the main reason why the board and the GDA arranged the B-17E Annexing Program. They'll never say it outright, but I just know they want to use some young, talented, inexperienced kids as guinea pigs to figure some things out about how things really go down up there. We were given a sort of guide on what to train you guys on, but it didn't tell us why exactly we had to train you on those specific combat methods. Just to do it."

Jane eased her grip on the steering wheel, and her face softened.

"I would never encourage you to do this if not for your circumstances, so, instead, I'll just warn you. Stay safe, okay? The line of work you'll be going into means danger all the time, especially in a war as long-lasting as the one we're now a part of. There's something special about you, so make sure you use it to ensure you and everyone you care about are safe before you do something stupid."

Jane's face softened, and Kichirou spoke.

"I'll make sure to be careful, alright Jane?"

"That's good."

At that moment, Jane drastically slowed down her driving, and turned into a sort of parking lot. Due to the advanced floating technology the cars had, they had to be parked in certain spots to prevent damage to the shell from just shutting down the floatation system. As soon as Jane found a parking spot, she turned over to face Kichirou.

"We're here. This is the training facility you'll be using for the next few weeks."

Kichirou looked up at the building, noticing just how tall it was. It appeared to be over over 15 stories tall! It wasn't narrow, either, being quite the wide building, at least from the angle Kichirou was viewing it from. There was an abundance of windows, dotting nearly every floor, save for the top 2.

"It's quite the… imposing, building."

Jane chuckled a bit before answering.

"Hah, yeah, that's what it looks like at first. You'll get more used to it, given how much you'll be here the next couple weeks."

"I guess so."

Kichirou and Jane walked into the building, and were greeted with a male receptionist dressed in all black, with brown hair. He looked to be around his 30s, the same age as Jane. He greeted them with a smile on his face.

"Hello, you two! I recognize you, Jane, but not the boy. Would you like to start a membership, sir?"

Jane spoke up.

"No, he'll just be accompanying me for today. I'll make an account for him specifically next time."

"Alright then. Have a good time today!"

The receptionist waved to them as Kichirou and Jane walked further into the building, eventually entering an elevator. Jane pressed the button to take them to floor 4.

"I'll warn you before we get there, Jack can be a bit enthusiastic when it comes to things like this, but he's a good guy. I wouldn't have gotten the gig I did when we were trying to rebuild without him." 

Kichirou smiled without a thought.

"Alright, how bad can he be?"

At that moment, the elevator door opened with a beep, and Kichirou walked out without a care.

"Oomph!"

Kichirou's carelessness had been graciously rewarded with a punch to his solar plexus, knocking him to the ground immediately.

Jane grabbed him up by the arm, and helped Kichirou walk over to a bench to rest on before turning to Commander Ramirez.

"Can you at least go easy on him for the first day?"

Jack Ramirez then appeared before Kichirou, posing like a superhero.

"You know I can't do that, Jane. He's gotta get ready fast, and this is the best way for him to do that."

Jane rolled her eyes.

"A punch to the solar plexus isn't helping anyone do anything, Jack."

"Whatever you say, Jane. Gotta admit, though, he'll be on his toes from now on. That's an important skill any soldier should know. We'll take today off, since it's so late and the gym'll be closing soon."

Jane helped Kichirou back to his feet before talking again.

"Good idea. We couldn't do much in the time we had anyway, so I'll just take him home for now."

At that moment, Kichirou spoke in a raspy, weak voice.

"I can still go on…!"

Jack laughed loudly 

"Haha! Looks like you've got some fire in you kid! That'll make things a lot easier going forward!"

Jane looked back at the stumbling Kichirou before sighing.

"It doesn't look like you can even stand right now. I know this is your only way to live on, but you need to know when you can't go on anymore. I say we're taking a break today, so we're going home, got it?"

"Got it…"

Kichirou and Jane made their way back out to the car outside, and took the trip home. 

As Kichirou walked into the apartment, he wondered to himself where exactly he'd sleep, a question that was quickly answered when Jane pulled the couch out to reveal a sort of bed. Jane confirmed his thoughts when she came out to speak

"This is where you'll be sleeping. We don't have another room, so you sleep here. I made sure to get a comfortable one so you don't have to worry about that."

After explaining that to Kichirou, Jane walked to her room and paused in the door to say goodnight to Kichirou before closing the door to her room.

"Goodnight."

Kichirou said goodnight, before laying down on the bed and drifting off into a dream.