Derrick had once again, reminded Alden that the bed belonged to him, forcing him to get up and go for his mattress. This time, he brought the mattress closer to Derrick's bed and sat on it hoping to continue his conversation but things were a little difficult since the elevations had changed.
"Hey new guy, what's your name?" Someone asked.
Alden turned to see a boy around the same height as himself, slim, cyan hair and a gentle smile one meant to settle a person's heart.
"My name's Alden." Alden responded.
"I see you don't have a proper bed. The name's Gideon and you can sleep on my bed if you want." The boy said pointing to the bottom bunk of the bed to the right of Derrick's bed, perfect.
"Where will you sleep if I sleep at your place?"
"Ha, I've been looking for an excuse to sleep on the floor for the longest time. Now I finally have one." Gideon said with his smile still as bright as ever.
Alden went to pick up his mattress but Gideon stopped him.
"Leave it, my is as good a mattress as any and we can skip the whole relocation workload."
Something about Gideon's words made it hard to refuse, as if it was the best choice at the moment. 'Mind element, used so subtle no one would notice that there's anything wrong. Ha, alright Gideon, I'll play your game.' Alden thought smiling back at Gideon.
"Alright." He responded getting up and hitting on Gideon's bed.
When he looked up at Derrick, he noticed his new friend looking at him with a pitying gaze.
"Don't tell me you're also about to become one of his hypnotized lackeys." Derrick said solemnly.
"Oh please, you really think that low of me?" Alden asked as his eyes began to glow negating the lingering effects of the mind element.
"Oh, I like you, but why don't you just keep that on all the time, no one's gonna arrest you."
"Wait really, I can do that?"
"I thought you were already doing that, did you honestly think my natural eye color was this bright, its red yes but not quite crimson. You can reduce the Ressence output to reduce the glow so it looks more natural but this will also reduce its effects slightly. Am assuming you're a legacy user and your legacy works similar to mine."
"Hmmm, bold assumption considering this is your first time seeing any skill of mine."
"Call it an intuition."
And with that the lights shut off signaling the time.
The next day arrived quickly, due to his first night experience, Alden woke up early around 2:00am and began preparing to use the shower. Despite his best efforts, the simple fact that he was moving near Derrick's bed woke him up and like clockwork, he also picked up his items which he had hidden near his bed for convenience and went to the shower before Alden was done preparing.
There was no one in the bathroom apart from Alden and Derrick, Alden for his own peace of mind turned his back to Derrick and they bathed in silence before returning back to the room to freshen up. Again Alden had to swallow his displeasure and wear the black shorts provided with a white shirt.
Around 6:00am the others slowly began to wake up. The morning almost seemed like a repeat of the previous day, it all seemed almost mechanical until around 11:15am, a parent walked into the barracks, then another and soon, the place was filled with parents who came to visit their children.
Alden sat on Gideon's bed, a change of location but a welcomed one nonetheless as no one would have to remind him that it was their bed, assuming Gideon's offer wasn't just for yesterday. He was in the same mental state as previously when the door to the room opened. His head flickered instinctively towards the doorway as a figure stepped in.
Alden hadn't taken Derrick's advice to keep his ocular skill active not because he didn't want to but rather because of the peculiarities of that skill. He named the skill prying eyes specifically because it allowed him to see the secrets of a situation meaning he could see anything that was meant to be hidden.
Because the skill wasn't active, he was momentarily blindsided by a parent who walked in to inspect the room to see if it was in good condition for their child.
Alden sat there stunned, Derrick nowhere to be seen as this unexpected event unfolded. Soon enough the parent left leaving Alden's mind in turmoil, what was going on, if parents are arriving does that mean his mother was coming.
Three more inspections and a lot of shared food later, some parents had brought food for their children and usually the children shared it with their friends, Derrick finally returned to the room, flanking him on both sides were Wilson and Henry.
He quickly separated from them and moved to his bed Where he was immediately met with Alden's inquisitive gaze.
"What?" He asked confused.
"What's going on, why are parents moving in and out of this place?" And right on que, the door opened and another parent came for an inspection.
"Oh yeah you don't know, today is the end of our grace period meaning starting tomorrow, things will feel real, like how a base is supposed to feel you know, missions, training and the likes, so they've given parents the chance to see their children one last time before everything officially takes of." Derrick explained.
"Damn, so am late late." Alden said astonished.
The grace period was ending and here he was, the freshest most uninformed person here.
"Don't worry about it, I'll help you till the fog clears up enough for you to move on your own, so if you need anything just ask." Derrick said.
'Ask, the one thing I cannot do, I can't burden you with my-'
Grrrr
His thoughts were interrupted by the rumbling of his stomach. Right, he hadn't eaten nor drank anything since he got here. Hearing the sound, Derrick chuckled lightly.
"Ha, I was wondering when you'd eventually crack, if you crossed today without so much as a drop of water I'd worry you weren't human. Am still pretty skeptical considering you're supposed to be in a worst condition than a simple rumbling stomach after almost three days without water."