Seven

Chapter Two

"And who are you?" I jolt at the unknown voice coming from behind me. "Whoa, sorry; didn't mean to scare you like that." It's a boy; maybe a few years older than me.

His tone doesn't sound threatening, so I relax my posture. "Ah no, don't worry; you just surprised me a little," I laugh awkwardly.

"Oh, good. So what's your name again?"

"Um, I don't know-"

"You don't know your name?" he cuts in.

"I- yeah, nobody ever gave me one." I feel quite embarrassed by this.

"Okay, but people have to call you something, right?"

Nope, as far as I remember, I've always been nameless. "Well, I haven't been here for long, so nobody calls me anything yet," I don't feel like telling him the whole story.

"Huh, that at least explains why I didn't recognize you earlier; you're a new recruit."

"Yeah, they brought me in on Monday, so I've been here for barely 4 days."

It hasn't been the most pleasant experience so far; I'm alone most of the time, with the majority of superiors not being too fond of me.

"And how do you like it?"

"Um, it's okay I guess," I lie, and he saw it.

"Is it? You don't seem too convincing," he proceeds to tease me.

"Ah, fine, it's pretty awful, but definitely better than what it was outside," I trail off at the end; a sad look in my eyes.

"Oh right, sorry. Um- we still need to make you a name though."

"I'm not a very creative person-"

"But I am." This guy definitely has some ego. "What's your soldier ID?"

"Uhh, A-007." A series of letters that's gonna haunt me for a long time; I suspect.

"Oh, you're in 'A' division; nice. I'm also there." That's strangely relieving for some reason. "Anyway, from now on, I'll call you Seven."

Seven? I mean, I don't have any objections; it sounds a lot better than anything I could come up with. "Oh, that sounds cool."

"Yup, so nice to meet you Seven. I'm Uriah, or Uri for friends," he extends his hand forward for a shake, but when I try to reach it, I can't seem to be able to. It's like the reality has shifted-

"Seven!" I snap my eyes open, and see that gold haired creature hovering over me.

"Wha- I'm awake!"

"Yeah, you are now-" they look at me at me annoyed, "-but you have no idea how long it took you."

"Well, if you had jump cope, I would never have to pass out in the first place-"

"Oh I'm gonna shove that jump shit up your- never mind," they glance away from me.

I straighten up my posture - to look at least a bit more professional - and proceed to gather more information about our trip; "where did the jump take us?"

"Eh," they seem a little afraid of giving me an answer to that, "have a look for yourself."

They open the map on the screen in front of us, and then swiftly look away. I understand why, as what I see makes me anything but calm. "Asher, where the fuck are we?" I ask, trying to sound calm.

"Uh well, somewhere in sector D-"

"Indeed; literally in the middle of nowhere!" I exhale in disbelief. "What kind of coordinates have you entered for it to spew us out at the most remote location possible?!"