Road to Arcadia: the Path East

Chapter Seven: Theatrics

Kai eked his way in, gently pushing against shoulders until he got a halfway decent view.

It didn't take long to see why everyone stopped.

It was a scene, like one directly out of a textbook they never had. The disaster scenarios they had acted out over the past eight weeks were one thing, they were smaller and a lot more controlled. Whoever the resident displaced theater producers were on Arcadia, the R&R had tapped them for all of their abilities.

From Kai's obstructed view, he tried to see what kind of disaster they were mirroring. He saw bits and pieces of several different kinds, and perhaps that was the point. But before he could get a better look, Rawda stepped in the way of the trainees, blocking their views.

"This," she started with a vibrato that was perhaps too theatrical for even this level of spectacle, "will be your third and final section of assessment day. You didn't expect to go through this entire day without facing one of these, did you?" She laughed to herself, like anyone else would find it funny. "This is how it will work. We'll be assigning you to groups of five--at random. No picking your friends--"

More anxiety lifted from Kai's chest than he was willing to admit.

"Each group will receive preparation time to make a rescue plan. Just so no one is given an unfair advantage, we will not assign groups until the next team has gone. You will have thirty minutes once you're inside the arena to find, treat, and rescue as many individuals as you can safely and effectively. Does anyone have any questions?"

Someone just out of Kai's eyesight raised their hand. "Will we be given an overview before we get in there so we can prepare more specifically?"

Rawda nearly scoffed, equal parts amused and offended. "That was training exclusive. Out there in the field, you may have the recon you think you need, but once you step foot on a scene, anything can happen. I will not give you any parameters before entry, so plan accordingly."

A few of the recruits around him nodded. Kai's eyes scanned what he could of the view, trying to take notice of any specifics he could plan for in advance.

It wasn't long before the instructor shooed them all out into the hallway. She already had a paper filled with names in hand.

Everyone fell silent the moment she picked it up to read. "Our first group will be Arnold, Zollinger, Constance, Juno, and Fairweather."

The named recruits tensed at the sound of their names and the uncomfortable awkwardness of having to go first.

Bakker continued. "You will have thirty minutes of preparation time in the auxiliary room. Everyone else, please wait patiently until you are called. Do not cause any trouble with your idle hands. Do you understand?"

The rest of the trainees murmured in understanding.

"I expect no less. Group one, come with me. I'll show you to the room."

Rawda led the handful of meek recruits out of the room, leaving Kai with nothing more than his thoughts and a room full of mumbling speculators.

The wait was agonizing. A half hour wasn't a long time in the grand scheme of things--in fact, Kai was used to whittling away the days staring into a bleached horizon with only the sounds of rubber on dirt to keep him company--but even with the abbreviated time frame and the surrounding crowd of people, he couldn't stand it. The anticipation, the clutch in his chest as Rawda emerged from the doors of the gym to announce the next group of names as the previous group started, kept each moment going at a biting second by second.