The Program [COMPLETED]

Chapter Two

Aiden made his way to the Foyer, his mind reeling. He was dressed formally in his dark blue Lieutenant's uniform, hardly a wrinkle to be found in the starchy fabric. Virgil walked beside him, anxious to see what the assignments would be for this month's Consignment Day. Aiden had found him after he'd been dismissed by Alena, and the two were now headed along the mass stream of soldiers to the Foyer for the Consignment Ceremony. The hall was booming with the noise of two-hundred chattering soldiers, all prepared to serve and protect their nation. Consignment Day was as important to the soldiers as it was to the country. It was an opportunity; an opportunity to do some good in what was left of the world.

"Where'd you run off to after breakfast?" Aiden questioned his friend.

"Nothing exciting, I'll tell you that much," Virgil snorted. "I had the morning off, so I went with Theo to fuel the jets. It was terrible. You know how he gets when it comes to any type of aircraft. God, I love the man, but he doesn't know when to shut up!"

Aiden stifled a grin. "Your fault. You knew what you were getting into. Let's be honest. Did you really go to the hangars to help Theo, or look good in front of the girls?"

"Whatever works, brother," shrugged Virgil.

They entered the Foyer; the huge concrete room becoming decreasingly massive as soldiers filed in to their seating arrangements. Since Aiden and Virgil shared the same rank, they would be sitting together for the ceremony. Theo would be sitting among the other Sergeants, and Rania with the Privates. The fact that Aiden wouldn't be sitting next to her during the ceremony made him slightly resentful. He wasn't sure about his feelings for Rania, even though everybody else already seemed to make up their minds for him. It appeared that he was always one step behind in that department.

Of course, it helped that Virgil was the romance extraordinaire. Good with just about everything that went with the concept of girls. Aiden had lost count of all the girlfriends Virgil had in Second Unit at one point. Personally, Aiden had been too focused on his duties as a hero to even bother with girls, but over time he was beginning to warm up to the concept. After all, he knew that after the mandatory fifteen years of service to the Program (excluding a soldier's time in training in the youth center) soldiers were allowed to permanently retire from the Program and move to a nearby city to live out their days however they pleased. Aiden had heard stories of Programmers starting families, businesses, marrying and living under the protection of the Units. It was a life Aiden aspired to have following his service.

There were about two hundred recruits in the main building of Second Unit and about seventy or so that lived in the smaller building reserved for young recruits. The recruits that hadn't officially been inducted into the Program were omitted from the Consignment Ceremony, seeing as though they weren't yet qualified to partake in missions. Aiden remembered his own time spent training, longing to escape the textbooks and finally get out into the real world. It had been a long six years, but they had all been worth it up until this point. The Program made sure of that much. Officials sat in chairs upon the grand stage, a single podium set up for what would later be General Xylem's monthly speech. Ornate, blue banners lined the walls of the Foyer with the symbol of Consignment Day; a black x covering a simple stalk of wheat.

Aiden and Virgil found their designated seats, making small talk about the ceremony while they approached their spots. It was a standard procedure for them now, and the two were almost always partnered together in the monthly event. They didn't expect anything different at this point. Aiden and Virgil usually completed all missions together, so it made sense that the two of them shared equal ranks. They took their seats towards the front of the left side, just behind Eden Kaori; a soldier easily recognized for being the hottest girl in Second Unit, much to Aiden's disagreement. She reminded him of a weasel. What she lacked in honor, she made up for in having a terrible personality. Eden was all about rank and much less about serving her country. In her eyes, everyone was beneath her, and her small empire within Second Unit made Aiden truly disgusted to share the Lieutenant's bench with her.