Induction Ceremony

Its day of the physical examinations. Zane and Mike are back at the facility. Its feels like a habit to show up at the facility every now and then. They are standing in the line along with other candidates in the facility's compound.

"I wonder if they are gonna make us fight some azazels!" Mike whispers to Zane.

"well I'm not against it" Zane replies

Zane can feel Mike's imagination. He wonders if he has to fight some azazels and some how an adventurous incident is bound to happen. Zane feels himself getting a bit impatient. As much as he doesn't work with mike's craziness he does agree, on just this one instance, with his feeling to fight an Azazel.

Corporal stanley walks in front of the columns of candidates.

"Now then the physical examinations will now proceed. You will be assessed on grounds of physical fitness which will be pushups, long-jumps, a 100 meter race, and an obstacle course. After that your blood will be drawn and your medical conditions will also be tested. In the end you will all be assembled back over here and be sent home. You will get a mail or a call from the recruitment on your results for admission in a few days. Goodluck."

Zane could feel Mike's grim disappointment. But for him it was difficult. He wondered if his skinny body could take the rigorous physical test. His morale was low.

The selections began. Zane almost collapsed after just doing a couple pushups. For mike and his healthy and fit body it was routine. 100 meter run nearly killed Zane. He couldn't even feel his legs. After all he used to skip gym class everyday. The obstacle course wasn't anything special. It was the same as what army conscripts would go through. After an hour of grueling physical work, Zane's hell was finally over.

"wow nice work up there" Mike says making fun of Zane.

"yeah you too you damned hippo" Zane replies.

"awww harsh much?" Mike says.

"Shut it" Zane replies.

The candidates were then made to form a line. Because of the crowd Mike and Zane ended up separating. The line was quite long and went through a two-way tent on the compound. Soon after it was Zane's turn in the tent. He went inside to see a military doctor in full uniform along with a guard beside him. In front of the doctor was a table and on it was a large grey rectangular metal box with various wires going in and out of it. It had various screen towards the doctor. On Zane's side was a small hole big enough for a finger and below it was a wider opening for his hand.

"put your finger in first and don't remove it unless I tell you" says the doctor.

Zane obeys as commanded and puts his finger inside. He feels some tube-like contraption touching the tip of his finger.

"alright remove your finger and put your hand in" the doctor says again.

Zane does what is told. His hand feels like touching a glass surface almost like a scanner. Just then a bleep goes into the doctor's screen. He is amused as he raises his eyebrows.

"alright your cleared." The doctor says in an impressed tone.

As Zane walks by he hears the doctor saying "take this ones report to the office". Zane doesn't mind much. He feels as tough he will not be selected. His performance was absolutely trash. Well at least he tried what he could for his sister. He goes home with Mike worried about his sister.

"Maybe she was right?" he mumbles as he walks, remembering roselyn's words.

#

Soon after Zane is back to his routine. He went to school, worked, went to the hospital, had his meals and went back to sleep. Maybe he wasn't going to make it to the USAEC. He didn't get any calls from mike too. Maybe he was too depressed after not being selected? Who knows.

Zane's mind did not work at all. How would he find the necessary fund for his sister in just 3 months. It was tough work. He thought maybe he would just join the army.

Just then he gets a call.

"hello?"

"this is USAEC recruitment, am I speaking to Mr. Zane Raphael?"

"yeah that's me"

"well congratulations sir you have been selected as a cadet through the USAEC recruitment program. You will have to come to the facility with your belongings and you will be given your uniform tomorrow. There will also be an induction ceremony. Failure to come will result in penalty fines up to 1000 dollars." The call hung up.

Zane has a shock in his heart. He has a rush of emotions. Obviously he will show up. But how was he supposed to see is sister.

He calmed himself down. He will visit his siter one more time before leaving. He will also give his apartment on rent. He gets up and begins his packing.

Mike calls him up.

"oh god please don't scream"

Mike yells on his phone. He is selected as well.

#

Zane shows up to the location. This time it's a really large base. Its unlike the selection facility. It is a complex with fortress like walls, lots of smaller and bigger buildings. There was just one large central building. A 5 storey tall grey rectangular building with many windows and glass panels and the number one inscribed on the top of its entrance. The gate was arched with a the inscription 'USAEC 4th DIVISION WEST KNIGHTS'. Zane entered the gates. He was then led towards the large building where his belongings were taken and was told he would receive them in his assigned barracks.

He was given his uniform as well. It was a grey shirt with black blazer and formal trousers and a black tie. It had silver cufflinks at the end of his sleeve. His insignia of the 4th division was on his left shoulder. He was also given a peaked military cap with the emblem of the USAEC at its center. His buttons were also silver with the USAEC emblem on it . It was a bit odd for Zane for a guy his size in a military uniform. He didn't even have mike's support. He was assigned to seattle with the 5th division although he said he would keep touch.

Zane made his way towards the auditorium for his induction.

It was a much larger hall then what he had seen at the training facility. He looked for seats but couldn't find any. Some seats were free but he didn't want to sit beside questionable looking people. Finally he sat beside a female cadet. He looked towards her to greet her only to find out it is Roselyn.

"well look what do we have here? its pale boy" says Roselyn in a taunting tone.

"oh great its miss obnoxious" Zane gives a competitive response.

"yeah well you did succeed in making me eat my words, you're here after all. But lets see if you can survive the big rowdy boys here. Careful they might make you cry." Roselyn says with an evil little smirk on her face.

Zane chooses to ignore her.

Then on the stage a well built lean man walks up on to the stage. He is of high rank and walks like one. He walks on to the lectern and fixes the mic.

"good evening cadets" says the man.

The whole crowd greets him.

"I am Colonel James Obadiah. I am the second-in-command of the 4th division USAEC. I intend to give you a lecture on what we do here. This lecture will be your induction ceremony. We are unlike any armed forces and we give you our utmost respect for volunteering."

It was strange for Zane to see an auditorium of convicts, immigrants and unruly people to sit quietly and listen to the Colonel's speech.

"right then, Azazels, the first incident occurring on 6th January 2001, a category 8 Azazel made landfall on the shores of Dover, England. What followed was the brutal onslaught of London city that destroyed 85% of the city and gave a death toll of 70,000. It took nearly 3 weeks to destroy the Azazel with the full military might of 7 counties including the US. Today we have to battle these monsters on a near daily basis. One day we fight a category 2 hiding in some corner of the city the next day we fight a category 7 destroying beaches of the country. The USAEC was founded for that very reason. To kill Azazels faster. And save peoples lives."

The colonel then directed them to a screen with visuals of Azazels in varying categories.

"Azazels come in 2 types that are standardized globally as: compound and singular. Compound Azazels are those that have 2 or more attributes or powers. Most of the time a compound Azazel is a category 6-10. Singular are those that have just one time of attribute or powers and are usually easy to kill by countering their attacks, usually these range from category 1-5. Azazels come in various shapes and sizes. A category 1 can be 400 meters big while a category 8 can be even the size of a human but the lethality of their powers and capacity to destruction is what gives them a category scale. Patterns of appearance differ but are overall the same for azazels based on categories. Category 1-4 appear once or twice a week, category 5-8 can be in a span of 1 or 6 months and categories 9-10, well lets just say they are a bit hard to come by. Azazels also have classes that relate similarly to flora and fauna of earth which indicate they are from earth. For example there can be a large Azazel with fish like features can be given the class aquatic or type of fish. So how do we, exterminators, fight against these monsters. Well we use their own methods against them. Since the spawning of Azazels humanity as we know it is infected by what is called Azazel bacteria. This virus is secreted from an azazels body and has made way into our bodies. This bacteria mixes up with us our bacteria and cells which means we have the ability to have Azazel powers. Now and exterminator needs to have a potent amount of Azazel bacteria which can help us activate and control it with"

The colonel brings up a small rhombus like metal frame with a glowing amber stone inside it. It has various wires attached to it and is smaller then a palm in size.

"This is a Azazel Human Compatible Core or A.H.C.C. also called as a core. This acts as a control key and activates your Azazel bacteria. Your attributes as exterminators can further be controlled by various weaponry as well. Your attributes can also be affected through brain bacteria meaning whatever you might be thinking as a superpower or anything else can be your attribute. After this core is inserted in your body you will be able to manifest you attributes. It will be almost as if you are an Azazel. The only difference is that exterminators can have only one attribute. All exterminators are singular types. Which may be the only difference between an Azazel and a human. At least for a few of us."

Zane was overwhelmed by the information he had been getting. Not only that many of the cadets were speechless with what they had just learned. It was like bitter truth.

Just then the auditorium alerts went off in a frenzy.

"AZAZEL ATTACK" a guard yelled.

Zane then saw the floor between the first row seats and the stage crack.

The crack imploded into a hole.

And from the hole emerged a large scaled red hand with claws for each finger. The crowd went into chaos. Zane freezes in place. The large red hand towers over him and falls towards him before Roselyn shoves pushes him aside and saves the both of them.

Roselyn sweats out of fear.

Zane is frozen.

Atop them stands a huge towering Azazel's hand.

"oh….my…god" Zane mumbles.