Dimensions I: Recruit

Chapter 3

John was woken by an inappropriately loud twinkling noise - which turned out to be Jigglebert's alarm clock - and moments later Jigglebert was bouncing on his bed like an impatient child.
"Wake up! Wake up! We must go to field now!"
John groaned and turned over, but Jigglebert pulled him out of bed.
"We can't be late! Important!"
Rubbing his eyes, he finally looked at his watch. It had stopped, presumably because of that portal. Fortunately, however, there was his bedside clock - if that was in fact what it was - which said 7:56.
7:56
Parvus had said to be at the training fields by eight, and he didn't seem to be the sort of person you just disobey. Fortunately John had gone to bed wearing his uniform and Jigglebert knew his way around the building, but they were still going to be late. They rushed out of the door and half stumbled down the stairs. It took them a fair ten minutes at their brisk pace to get to the closest door to the outside world.
The fields were situated in the ginormous quadrangle right in the centre of the building. Through the crisp clear morning air John could only just make out the other three sides, and looking at its size in comparison to the rest of the map, he must have grossly overestimated the hugeness of the rest of the building too.
He did not have time to look up and see the 200 floors described by the map as they ran past the many zen gardens and green parks filling the quadrangle, and they finally stopped at the flat plain of the training fields, twelve minutes late. There was a second giant stood there, surrounded by a range of other creatures, but clearly the one with authority. This one was taller than Parvus, and composed of taut muscles rather than fat. He tapped his foot and wore such an expression on his face that even Jigglebert seemed nervous.
"John. Jigglebert. You are late. Now sit down and I might finally be able to start!" he said sternly but not shouting. They scrambled to obey him.
"Now that everyone is finally here, welcome to Dimensional Headquarters. My name is Professor Yrnopaew, and I am in charge of the weapons and physical fitness of everyone here. You will all doubtless already know much about this establishment so there's really much I need to tell you."
John frowned, and Yrnopaew continued,
"So you must surely be wondering why you were all told to come see me. The reason can be seen on the grass beside me."
All eyes turned to look in the direction of his gesture. On the grass next to him was a pile of gauntlets like the one Parvus had been wearing.
"Now then, I know many of you will already know what these are, but for the benefit of those who don't, please be patient. These are Portal Gauntlets - a triumph of modern technology. Inside it, our best scientists have managed to fit a miniature portal generator as well as a few other functions, about all of which will you learn in due time. They are encased in the near-indestructible Kaew-Yrev alloy and only members of Dimensions Headquarters have ever had them - In fact, they are our signature piece of equipment.
Today, you will be given yours. You need not worry about size as they are self-adjusting, and please do not squabble over getting the 'best' one as they are all identical. You may come forward now to get one each. Oh, and once you put one on, you will not be able to remove it. Security measure."
They all came forward to get their gauntlets, though with great variance in eagerness. John picked up one that was situated away from the others, to avoid having to talk to any of the aliens, with which he was not at all comfortable. As soon as he slipped his hand into the opening, there was a high-tech whirring sound and the glove visibly changed to become smaller and more comfortable - the inside even became cushioned.
He walked back like someone with their nose in a book and glanced up at Jigglebert, who was just sticking out his tongue to pick up his. His tongue? Well, thinking about it he had no other limbs, and upon closer inspection his tongue ended in what looked like a hand, with very short stubby fingers. His gauntlet adjusted itself in the same way that John's had.
John looked down at his. It was made of some soft black metal - presumably the Kaew-Yrev alloy - which moved easily with his hand. Along the back of his hand was a white square, divided into twenty-four further squares by thin, hairlike black lines. They must be some kind of buttons, for controlling it. On his palm was a circle of... a slightly different black, lighter yet less reflective than the rest.
They were dismissed with a stern warning not to play with them until after tomorrow's lecture, and John went with Jigglebert to their dorm for a 'free' afternoon.