We were all gathered at the docking site. About fifty agents and ten squad overseers, standing with our squadmates.
I looked around at the other squads to see who we were training with.
'I still don't understand why he's here?' I couldn't help but wonder upon seeing a red-haired guy standing in one of the other squads. It was Jason Elrod.
'According to the details we were given on the other squads, he was forgiven because his merits greatly outweighed the mistake he made. I doubt that. He took group missions by himself and took down three gang leaders in one month. But everyone knows he uses his family's money to hire goons to finish the missions for him. Either way, he gets the credit. Why do all that when the amount of money he gets is way less than what he spends hiring the goons? He seems alienated from his squadmates in Squad Dalet. Kinda expected based on his rebellious attitude. He'll come in handy.'
"Attention all. The rules of this training camp will now be announced."
Everyone became silent as we all turned to face the man standing on the podium.
"My name is Mr. Manabu. I am the Lieutenant in charge of your squads. This training is meant to help you all grow not only individually but also as squads."
'For some reason, my ability stopped working the moment I stepped foot on this island. Must be it's doing, though I doubt it's aware of my presence here.'
"Now, for the rules. Most of them will be sent to you via email, but I'll have to clarify them. You will all be living on this island for the two months and will be challenged with different real-life scenarios."
"That doesn't sound so hard, does it?" one of the agents whispered to the other.
"Yeah, this might turn out to be fun, with all the recreational facilities and stuff," the other one responded.
"As you might have noticed, the island is packed with facilities, just like a real city, from recreational to administrative to medical. However, access to these will depend on the points you earn. Think of this place as a functioning mini-city, minus the heavy traffic. You might not have known this, but at E.A., an agent's success is measured based on efficiency. The same will apply to squads."
He continued to explain other important details of how life will look. We were going to live in the 'Central Block', the huge cuboid-like building that took up the entire center of the city.
'It must have taken them years to construct that building, given its ultra-modern design.'
We were only allowed to bring clothes with us. Everything else was taken away, even books and electronic devices, other than phones. They said we would find what we needed in our rooms and buy the rest later.
For the boys, a new towel, hand towel, soap, tissue paper, toothbrush, and toothpaste. The girls found some hair and face products too.
The Central Block truly fascinated me. I had heard of it even before I joined E.A., but I didn't expect it to be this great. No wonder agents who walked through its doors never came out the same. It was filled with new technology.
I took some time to walk around the building to familiarise myself with it.
"This place is awesome, right, Caspian?" Garnet asked me as we were walking around.
"Yeah."
I took out my phone and opened Echo.
Flashback, During Mr Manabu's speech_
"It is very easy for one to lose direction while within the city, especially in the Central Block. That is why each one of you is required to download Echo, E.A.'s official App. You will find a rough map of the building that will help you all navigate around it."
End of flashback_
'This app comes in handy. That must be it, the training hall.' I thought for myself as I looked at the center part of the Central Block. It was huge.
We were walking along the hallway when some huge guy shoved Garnet.
"Didn't see you there."
The smug look on his face said otherwise.
"Watch where you're walking." Garnet angrily retorted.
"Careful, wouldn't want to trip over yourself."
He said as he walked away, surrounded by a bunch of goons. He glanced at me as they left, a curious glance.
"What's his deal? Sure wouldn't wanna be in his squad."
"Yeah."
'Fiske London, Squad Alef. What are you doing here?'
Physical training began the next day. We were told to run laps around the central block, then around the city, do muscle exercises, skip ropes, run more laps… all under the watchful eyes of the supervisors. At least we had a few breaks in between sessions. The better part of it was anything but easy.
We stuck together with our squad mates and tried encouraging each other. We attended lectures on teamwork, coordination, and communication, that is, the more technical but equally important side of crime fighting.
"All agents get to the shooting grounds." Our one-hour break had just come to an end. It was now 9.30 am.
On the East of the City, there was a somewhat big forest. Those were the shooting grounds. I can't say this was my first time handling a gun, but the instructor gave us some insight on how to use them with better efficiency.
We were required to run across the forest, shooting the targets in the shortest time possible. The expected duration was three hours, resting time included. Those who didn't finish within that period were punished with waking up at 3 a.m. the following day to run laps around the city till 4.50 a.m., monitored through the sensors in our suits. The official waking time was 5 a.m.
One hundred and twenty targets were placed all over the track. There was also a minimum range of five meters within which bullets shot at targets are not registered. Every agent was given the same number of bullets, one hundred and fifty.
The bullets were made of rubber and had sensors in them that responded to the sensors on the targets. Our suits also had sensors to measure the range. We could see the range and timer on the special modified A.I. goggles we were required to wear. There were also CCTV cameras all over the place.
'Just how much money was put into this place?'
Some agents who missed were collecting the bullets they had already used, but to their dismay,
'Once a bullet is used, it becomes useless, it seems. I'm pretty sure they have a mechanism for collecting the bullets after we're done practising.'
Agents with no experience in shooting were suffering. As expected, on the first shooting practice, not a single agent finished on time. And yes, we ran laps in the morning.
The same routine, physical training with lectures, then shooting practice, went on for the next two days. By the end of the fourth day of training, most agents could complete the whole track within the required time, by ignoring the two resting breaks, which lasted five minutes each, and sprinting at the beginning.
Shooting practice wasn't just meant to improve our shooting and gun handling, but also our stamina. Official shooting practice ended at 1 p.m. Those who wanted to take up any other type of training, weapons training other than pistols, driving training, technical training, medical training, or even hand-to-hand combat, were allowed to do so from then on. Though I can't say it was any easier.
Life on the island wasn't as easygoing as most thought. We were going to have to adapt if we were to keep up with the expectations. We all received an email giving us details about our training period. Every week, there would be a test to mark the completion of a stage, with the first month containing four stages.
'So, it's about to begin?'