Souvenir's Of Self

31 January 2085

Dear Stranger,

I have decided to record each training day for the next three months as regularly as possible with just one sentence, as a challenge to myself. I think I’ll just write it all in this letter though. So sorry if it’s disjointed but if you want to know what the next three months are like then I think you’ll get over it. Here goes:

We welcomed them, we let them settle in and then we put them through the mud course.

How was that for one sentence? Enough info?  I bet you want to know about the mud course but I’d be going against my one sentence rule if I explained it. What’s that? You don’t mind? Just this once then. The mud course is about a half hour trip from the Lower Town and used to be a police training course. It is a twenty kilometre track with various obstacles including paintball gun wielding snipers in the forested section. And the whole track is kept muddy with iced cold water. That alright for you? ‘Cause that’s all you’re getting. Got a long night ahead.

February 1st: Got them up at three this morning for a run, tactics training today, intro to DT with in-class demonstration too, which was pretty funny

2nd: Kit came today, scared them pretty good; we laughed about the looks on their faces over a beer this afternoon when they were on break.

3rd: I’ve been assigned a lieutenant, Colt, to help me get the group into shape; not sure if I like him, he’s a bit indifferent, aloof; we’ll see.

4th: I sent my first trainee home today, he just couldn’t hack it.

5th: We did our first combat training session today, which was interesting; one person went home with a broken leg.

6th: Based on yesterday’s training session, I’ve put everyone into pairs that they’ll stick with from now on, so they’re real stuck if they don’t like their partner; maybe I’ll be nice and change them if it becomes a problem.

7th: Have you noticed I’ve been using semicolons so I can make my sentences longer?

10th: Sorry for skipping, have had a rough couple of days with a fight breaking out between two of the big idiots who needed to show everyone how tough they are; they’re both in hospital.

11th: I think I’m beginning to understand Colt better; I think he’s a bit like me in that he’s used to sticking to himself and likes observing people to understand them but he’s real hard core in a way I don’t really know how to explain.

12th: We put them through the mud course again today after having made them go for a run in the night.

13th: I feel like I’m going around in circles and not getting anywhere; there’s been another fight and I’ve sent three more trainees home.

14th: Help!

15th: A massive fight broke out last night and I don’t have a clue how to stop the bickering and get them to realise that what we are doing here could save their lives; I’ve put everyone in lockdown for the day to give them some time to think.

16th: I sat everyone down today and showed them two hours’ worth of footage, pictures and police reports of person after person who had been killed by a nightmare; it was really hard seeing some of the pictures because they were cases I’d worked on, bodies I’d seen.

17th: Eight trainees left today.

18th: Kit took today’s lecture period; he talked about the modification of DT, it was one of the best talks I’ve heard in a long time; who knew he could speak so well.

19th: I’ve been rereading Ender’s Game, Grandpa’s third book to me; I feel a strange kinship to Ender’s fictional character, as though we share a similarity of experience, like he would understand me; how sentimental of me.