“Good morning, Retvik Rethianos. Welcome to your orientation meeting.”
Retvik’s eyes snapped open as he was rudely awoken from his sleep. He was strapped to a chair, sitting in a bright, white room. Strangely, Retvik could see his breath, condensing then on the glass window in front of him, making Retvik realise how… cold he was. Clearly this cell was being kept at a cool temperature, which would have made Retvik rather comfortable if he was able to move.
“Uh, good morning. Where am I and who am I speaking to?” Retvik asked as calmly as he could. The unusual situation was making him somewhat anxious, but no one else needed to know that.
There was what looked like just one Rethan on the other side of the glass. Retvik knew they were not completely alone, he could sense others, but this was the one talking to them. Their colours and armour though were most surprising, a combination of orange-yellow and translucent blue plating, a stark contrast to their rather bright and somewhat aggressive eyes and particularly sharp teeth.
“I am Captain Trismit and I will be helping you gain control of your accidentally given fire abilities. Or at least I will be, after your orientation meeting and kyraipnatic conditioning.”
“You are going to freeze me and mess with my mind?” Retvik grunted. “I… I thought I would be more surprised, but this seems… almost expected.”
“Well, it is not true mind control, it is simply a subconscious method of restraining you and giving you subliminal control so you do not set yourself on fire while you sleep. Which happened to you on the way here.”
Retvik grunted. That explained why his arms were sore again. “So what am I to expect while I am here?”
Trismit glanced over his shoulder, then turned back to Retvik, monitoring him through the glass and two cameras stationed above him.
“What will happen is quite simple. You will spend the next 5 days sedated and placed into a cold chamber, wired up to machinery that will allow us to see into and act within your thoughts. During this process, we will train your subconscious self the basics of elemental control, while also testing your mental stress. Once you have completed subconscious training, you will be woken up, given time to recuperate and then go into Min-Max testing, where we will examine the extremes of your new abilities. During this time, you will be measured and studied, and equipment will be prepared for you to help protect your body. After 48 hours of recovery time, you will finally enter Basic Control Studies where you will be taught how to use your newfound abilities properly. After that, depending on your process, you may be able to return to a normal life.”
Trismit waited patiently for Retvik’s response. Most new recruits were terrified upon entering the 11th Legion, and sadly, not many of them even made it past the sleep conditioning, often ending up spending most of their lives sedated. It was no one’s fault, most Rethans physically and mentally could not take the stress of having supernatural abilities. Those who did well often did really well, becoming capable of living normal lives again and potentially even becoming captains in General Litvir’s elite guard. But few ever made it that far.
“That sounds… fine…” Retvik shrugged.
“Fine?” Trismit repeated. He had… expected… some sort of backlash, at least.
“Yes, that sounds fine. When can we get started?”
“You are completely… not at all bothered about what is to come?”
Retvik nodded. “Kid, I have punched gods with my bare fists. I am fairly certain I can go through your program.”
“Really?”
Another nod. Retvik felt determined. He knew what was going to happen and he had a goal in mind. He wasn’t going to let some errant, uncontrollable fire powers stop him.
“Yes, really. I would like to get started as soon as possible.”
“Very well, Retvik!” another voice suddenly echoed into the room. “I applaud your enthusiasm. This will be good for all of us…”