After some light hearted teasing at Alden's expense, Derrick decided to help Alden find some good food to buy however before he could finish preparing to go out, the senior from yesterday came back to whisper something in Derrick's ear.
"Ah sorry, I wanted to show you the food market area but something just came up." Derrick explained.
The senior then picked a random student nearby to show him the way to a place known as the food lab. The student nodded and walked out without a word causing Alden to scramble after him.
Stepping out of the room for the first time since he'd got her, Alden looked around at the unfamiliar environment. There was a wide compound with a beautiful garden at its center and the various rooms boxed around the compound, the gate on one side, the washroom and bathroom on the opposite to the left of the compound where he was standing was the juniors corridor and to the right was the seniors corridor.
Before he had time to admire the place some more he saw the boy almost at the gate and rushed after him. Without missing a beat the boy broke into a jog while Alden tried to catch up without outright sprinting. Soon enough he caught up and maintained pace all the way to the other side of the compound. It took about ten minutes at jog speed to get to a small research station where a staff member had prepared some fried rice which she was selling. After giving her 20 credits, she packaged his food for him and they were on their way.
Soon enough, he was back in the room, sitting on Gideon's bed. The whole experience felt like a blur to him, he hadn't even gotten the chance to fully map out the actual base and yet the grace period was ending this evening.
He sat the absentmindedly eating his meal, when the food ran out, he rummaged through his things and picked out a bottle of water before emptying it's content down his throat then like a well oiled machine he moved to the front of the room where a trashcan stood and dumped his rubbish before returning to Gideon's bed without paying attention to anything around him.
"Wow, am starting to think that's your default mode, just zone out until something interesting happens." Derrick stated having suddenly manifested himself next to his bed.
"Oh Derrick, you're done with whatever you need to do?" Alden asked.
"Nah, we'll be heading out this evening to deal with some unfinished business." Derrick replied.
They continued talking for a while whilst Alden formulated a plan on how to request a tour of the base from Derrick before tomorrow.
Time moved quickly and soon it was 6:00pm, evening dining. That's when the senior entered the room. As soon as he entered, two students finished whatever they needed quickly and began hovering around the door, one of them was Wilson.
"Hey, don't wait up, this might take a while." Derrick stated.
"Wait Derrick, can I tag along with you guys so I can find my way around the compound?" Alden asked.
"Sorry Alden, bad time." Derrick responded, that's when he saw Henry minding his own business at his own bed.
"Hey Henry, come here real quick."
Without hesitation, Henry jumped from his top bunk landing on both feet with bearly a grunt and walked over to Derrick.
"What do you need?" Henry asked
"I want you to take him on a tour of the compound." Derrick stated gesturing to Alden.
"Sure thing, follow me." He stated to Derrick and Alden respectively.
Alden followed as they headed towards the door. Once they were outside, a third person tagged himself along and they headed for the base.
Henry started with the biggest building, the dining and assembly hall which was at the center of the base compound, from there they headed to the departmental task halls which were separated into sectors, every sector owning its own group of assigned students as well as a collection of buildings that were useful to that specific sector.
Next he showed him the medical center but they didn't enter, then they moved on to administration near the gate opposite the field. There was no real rhythm or specific way these buildings were placed, they were just scattered across the place. They continued their tour of all the places that were important for the students to know ending at the food market which had closed as it was night. On their way back to the barracks, the additional student separated to go do something else.
"So, how did you find the tour." Henry asked.
"Oh it was a good tour. Though I'd like to know the more intricate parts of the base later, I understand we didn't have time for the full thing this evening." Alden responded.
"Ha well, if you get the chance to explore later, make sure you don't go too deeply, there are places that not even the captains are allowed to go." Henry warned.
"Oh don't worry big guy, am not gonna go around looking for trouble." Alden reassured.
"Hey Henry, you seem like a good guy, do you think you can help me with something." Alden asked.
"Sure what is it?"
"Well see, I'm quite new here and I is precisely because of this that everyone around me is ahead of me. I need your help to stay out of trouble, don't worry, I won't ask you to do anything crazy for me, just intimidate people into thinking twice before they mess with me, something like a silent Sentinel of mine and in return, I'll help you with whatever situation you find yourself in as best I can. Please." Alden requested tugging on Henry's heartstrings as he extended his hand.
"Fine, the request seems simple enough so I'll help you." Henry stated shaking Alden's hand.
What Henry failed to notice was the subtle glow in Alden's eyes that slowly intensified as they shook hands. Henry especially didn't notice the crimson being purged from his eyes as a silver luster replaced it all in the span of one handshake.
"Ok, we can finally head back."