AutoTerra: Operating Systems
Chapter 50: Interacting
After the meeting with the Aravan071 Team members was over, Astan chose to sit down to rest on the corridor bench of the Military Sector area. Now that he is allowed to roam free because his system data has been disguised with fake system data, other military personnel will not know if Astan is an Iron Rank hunter.
Mavin has also given a new room in the military dormitory to rest before their departure for Feron 072. At the very least, Astan needed to blend in with the other members in order to be considered part of the military.
This corridor is at the very edge of the headquarters building. So, the structure along the edge of the wall is made of thick glass. There Astan sat contemplating, looking at the dark star-studded view of space, and faintly saw the blue atmosphere of Planet Ribelo below.
His hands were tightly interlocked between the thighs. Astan was still thinking about his decision to take part in the military mission. The reason, of course, is to find out the purpose of the dreams and hallucinations that have been continuously shadowing him, and also reopen the lost memories if he is a member of the military.
“Haaah..”.
Astan sighed, bowing his head while closing both eyes.
“You'll be here, won't you?”
Again the voice was heard in his mind. For some reason, his voice sounded so light as if relieved by what the voice knew.
How could the voice know the way Astan thought? Where did this sound actually come from?
“Hey, Friend!”
Spontaneous Astan was aware from his daydream, turning to the side, finding that two young soldiers in the same uniform as himself had come over. There was a smile on the face of the sweeper, while his partner only smiled thinly as a makeshift response.
“You're one team with us on Aravan071, right?” ask the sweeper, approaching the bench Astan with his partner.
Astan is a bit confused to interact. Unlike in Guilds, Astan had to be careful in speaking here. The military usually has its own rules for socializing. He was afraid that if he could carelessly talk like street people, he could be suspected later.
“We have never seen you before,” he continued back, “Are you new?”
“I...” Astan's eyes glanced there and there, looking for an excuse. “Move soldiers of the Ribelo-I.” Group
Yes, not completely Astan lied. Mavin had told me that Vice Chairman Ash was from Ribelo-I Group. If Astan is Ash, then he's not completely lying if he's from there.
“Ooo…. Quickly.” The soldier nodded in understanding. “Oh, yes. Since we are a team, how about we introduce ourselves first? My name is Sadin, and this is my friend Tenma.”
“Halo,” brief greeting his friend named Tenma.
A panel of Astan's system appeared, showing the data of these two soldiers. Thankfully, Astan has set the panel visibility level so that it is not so visible to others.
[Name : Sadin Amar]
[Gender Type: Male]
[Age: 21 years]
[Profession : Warrior]
[Lift: Silver]
[Level: 67]
\=\=*\=\=*\=\=*\=\=
[Private Data]
\=\=*\=\=*\=\=*\=\=
[Private Data]
***
[Name : Tenma Destrin]
[Gender Type: Male]
[Age: 22 years]
[Profession : Warrior]
[Lift: Silver]
[Level :61]
\=\=*\=\=*\=\=*\=\=
[Private Data]
\=\=*\=\=*\=\=*\=\=
[Private Data]
The average team personnel assigned directly are at least Silver rank, so it is natural that many team members who Astan meets are always silver. After all, the level of these two personnel was quite high.
Astan became somewhat inferior when he remembered his original rank and level. It was really like a pebble between the rocks of a cliff.
“My name is Astan.” Astan began shaking hands with the two. “Happy to meet you.”
“It's nice to meet you too, Astan. Can we join?” ask Sadin.
“Oh, sure.”
Astan shifted, giving the two young soldiers a seat to sit on the same bench. They both looked at the view of space, began to take the topic of conversation to familiarize themselves.
“Astan.”
“Hm?”
“How did you feel when you were assigned to the mission to Feron 072?”
When asked that, Astan was a bit hesitant to answer. Typical of people who are lazy to take a hunting mission like Astan suddenly given an official mission from the military, it feels quite tense. Moreover, this mission is difficult.
Like an Iron Rank hunter at the lower level directly forced into an S Level Dungeon. It seems to cross the line of suicidal desires.
“Iyaaa..” Astan stroked his nape doubtfully. “Gugup anyway, Friend.”
As much as possible Astan familiarized himself. His heterochrome eyes returned straight looking at every sparkling grain of stars.
“This mission has failed several times. Directly told to go there, seemed forced into the cage of predators. We don't know what kind of object killed many of the personnel who were sent there. There is a big possibility..”.
Astan took a breath, then exhaled it heavily. It is hard to tell the most frightening facts.
“….We're gonna die. Either it's because it's fighting a strange object, or it died in an accident.”
“Haha…. It is natural to work as a military,” said Sadin.
Although the tone of his speech still sounded light, Sadin seemed to try to hide his sadness.
“During carrying out various missions together, there must be someone killed. Thank you-gratitude if everything is safe, but it's just a small possibility.”
Sadin turned to Tenma who until now did not talk much, preferring to stay silent.
“Me and Tenma have lost a lot of friends from the Military Academy. Various tasks to protect and enforce justice we always run until we must be willing to risk life.”
“Of course we are very sad to lose our comrades in arms, but we must also be grateful for ourselves who are still given a chance by God to live.” Sadin's gaze looked straight ahead again. “Iyaaa…. Alive-dead no one knows. Military work always makes us feel watched by the angel of death who is ready to take our lives at any time.”
“The demands to defend the truth, maintain peace, protect our loved ones, and guarantee a bright future make us have to live this work.”
“Future, yes..?”
The word sounded heartbreaking to Astan. Imagining every living being struggling with reason for the sake of a bright future made him sad. Like death, no one knows the future.
What if their expected bright future ends up worse, more terrifying?
Astan was unable to imagine how sad those who ended up with a tragic fate would be. Expect the best, but even the worst.
A sincere smile spread across Sadin's face. “Again, we have a lot of experience here. Experience togetherness, work experience, and other experiences to further strengthen our mentality to be more resilient to face the unexpected future.”
A smile also slowly appeared on Astan's face. It's true, we don't know what our future really looks like. But with the many experiences that we get from the past, it will increasingly make us mature, mentally steel in the face of the worst possibilities in the future.
Yes, maybe the future is not as bad as Astan imagined.
Oh, come…! Where is the nature of Astan who is relaxed and accepts what is the future that he will live? Just follow the flow of the future like the motto of an Astan Pradipta Cornell. No power, no excess power, no wealth and an abundance of women. The important thing is to be able to eat, breathe, poop has made Astan thousands of grateful.
Alarm digital clock Sadin beep. He looked at the numbers, already showing the time of day.
“Ah, it's lunch hour. Cafeteria again there is a new menu, nih.”
Sadin stood up from the bench, followed by Tenma.
“You're having lunch with us?”
Because Astan wanted to familiarize himself with the people here, he accepted Sadin's offer.
“Bby, if you don't mind.”
The three walked through the corridor. The plan, they will have lunch together in the Military Sector cafeteria.
In the middle of the journey Astan thought, interacting with military members was not as intense as he imagined. Equally relaxed by interacting with hunters, who distinguish only have to maintain behavior.
“Emang new menu what?”
“Rendang scorpion.”
“Rendang—Heh..?!”
Okay, maybe the military-style meal menu is as unique as the Astan breakfast menu every morning.
...~*~*~*~...
