The Life of an ATLAS Boy

Armoured Up, Ready to Go

"See? The boy can handle himself."
"Ya, but the fight was easy. And besides, his brother came in to fight."
"In war, don't brothers come to your aid?"
"They do."
"See. I'm right, aren't I?"
"Not quite yet. He will break down and suffer, and soon, be nothing."
"Sir, I don't mean to offend you, but John takes after Samuel. He never gives up. Did you see his form when he drew his gun to stand up? No one but Sam and Calem have such perfection!"
"I see. I'm sure Tay got John to come. You do know SENTINEL is watching him, too?"
"I do."
"Then, bring him here. Tonight."
"Yes sir, Mr. Irons"
***
It's like a dream come true! I actually get to work alongside my brother! I can picture myself, in a nice tac-cam shirt with a sleek black exo on my back, fighting the SENTINELS away with my EM-1 Quantum, burning through the metal exo backs as the screams of the enemy fill the air.
"Are you with us, or against us, Recruit Olsteen?" Senior Officer Taylor Jean-Vien asks in a voice hard, yet soft. I smile, and before I can say my answer, Taylor checks her wristpad.
"Irons wishes to see you tonight, Recruit," she says, jealous. "Never got that invite when I joined."
This is so nice! Not only am I an official member of ATLAS, but I get to meet Jonathan Irons, head of ATLAS. This is such a rush, that when Taylor opens the door, I rush to my brother to tell him the news. "Dad would be proud," is what Calem said. I nod my head, a bit too quick because my neck starts to ache. A group of Guards walk into the school.
"Well, looks like I have to go back to work," Calem says as he puts his helmet back on. "Hopefully we see each other tonight before you go."
"I hope," I mutter as I make my way to the front door. When I open it, the halls are once again crowded with the 1790 kids that are making their way to their classes. Along the way, I see her, the beauty of the school. I smile, and she says," Hey." Her voice is as soft as silk, her eyes twinkle and she smiles back at me. "What's your name?" she asks me.
"John. And what is thy name?" I ask her back, trying to imitate Shakespeare. She smiles a wonderful smile, and laughs a bit. "I'm Dawn. Wait, isn't your last name Olsteen?"
"Ya, why do you ask?"
"You're the new Recruit? Oh my God! You are!" Dawn smiles, and her eyes sparkle once more.
"Am... am I able to get your number?" I ask her awkwardly.
"Sure, recruit," Dawn says with a smile as she watches me pull my phone out. I open up my contacts information, and Dawn already has her number ready. I hand her my phone, which I never let anyone tough my phone, but beautiful Dawn is an exception.
"Here ya go," she cheerfully says as Dawn hands my phone back to me.
"Thanks," is what I manage to say as we wave good-bye to each other. Did I just get a girl's number? I continue to think my life's just a dream when I walk past my classroom. Luckily, the teacher, Ms. Reframd, caught me just as I waltzed unknowingly by my science class. I hurried in and took my seat next to Jamie, my "brother in arms". I guess he, and the whole class, heard that I became the new ATLAS Recruit because every one of the thirty students congratulated me on such a feat. The bell rung, and Period 5 began. Luckily, it was the last period of the day, so I could go home and get ready to meet Irons.
Ms. Reframd stood in front of the class, and boasted, " Lucky John Olsteen, he is now a true Recruit of ATLAS. I feel as if this calls for no homework!" I couldn't hear myself think over the harsh amount of noise the kids made. I thought I went deaf, or at least got my ears ringing like an Stun exploded near me. When the noise died down, Ms. Reframd asked when I would first see action.
"I truly don't know," I told her. "But... I finally get to work alongside my brother!"
That was the best I can come up with. I didn't want to tell about my meeting with Irons tonight, but at least my lie is believable...
When Ms. Reframd finally starts the lesson, I start to daydream. Not about becoming ATLAS, not about family and friends, but about Dawn. Her brown long hair flowing, her skin glistening. Her brown eyes sparkle, her smile warmer than ever.
Someone's nudging me. I look beside me, and Thomas, my science partner, glares at me.
"You need to stop going into whatever imaginary world you go to," he whispers to me. "We're writing a note. Get it down."
I sigh, and start writing the note down, keeping an eye on the clock. Before I know it, the bell rings and the class is dismissed. As I walk the once-more crowded halls, I catch a glimpse of Dawn, and I start after her, only to forget where she went. I smile and turn around to go back to my locker, and soon, get ready to meet Irons. When I finally reach my locker through the mass of kids, I enter my PIN code, grab my bag and head out to wait for my bus. When it finally came, I took my seat and looked out the window, wondering what questions Irons might ask. While in the midst of answering an imaginary question, my eyes catch Dawn's stunning figure. Acting like I've done it my whole life, I reach into my pocket and grab my phone and start texting Dawn. She replies, and I have to say, we had a long conversation that day. Right now, we were only getting to know each other when I found myself starting to flirt a tiny bit. Stop doing this John, I told myself. You just met her today, so don't get carried away already. I settled down, and before you could say "ATLAS Recruit", I was already at my house. I walked through the door, and I'm greeted by my mum embracing me, tears streaming down her face. I guess she heard about who I am now.
"I'm so proud of you, John," she said. "I can't believe that my sons are now ATLAS! It's a dream come true!" As she continues to ramble on about how proud she is, I sneak into my room and continue my conversation with Dawn. It's about 15:10, which is 3:10 in 24-hour/military time. Luckily, neither me nor Dawn have homework, so we end up talking about ourselves. I learned that Dawn's name is Dawn Anna Fetick and her favourite colour is purple. Her birthday is August 14, and luckily, she's the same age as me. She has an older sister that patrols the Mall, and a younger brother who wishes to be an ATLAS Recon Soldier. Dawn, however, has different dreams. Instead of wanting to be part of ATLAS, she wants to be more into the arts industry, mostly painting. She sent me a few pictures of her works, and I have to say, they are impressive.
Calem comes home at 18:00, and tells me that Irons wants me to meet him at 22:00. I hurry and get ready to go. I find my best suit, which ironic enough, is purple, and I find it's matching stripped tie. Calem offers to drive me since his next shift is at ATLAS HeadQuarters. So me and him take a long drive down to the HQ, and we see a group of Assaults jog by, each man carrying either a BAL-27, an AK-12 or a HBRa3 assault rifle, each with a suppressor and an ACOG sight. Talk about accuracy.
When we finally get inside, the ATLAS logo is in the shape of a fountain, water rushing from the top of the "A" down into a small pond with goldfish and multi-coloured rocks. I follow Calem to the elevator, and we head up to the top floor. When we reach the floor, we walk down to the end of the hall, where a beautiful white door with the ATLAS logo perfectly printed on it was what stood in the way between me and the Head of ATLAS. Calem knocks on the door, and no one but Mr. Jonathan Irons opens the door and looks at me with a friendly smile on his face. Surprisingly, I'm almost as tall as he is.
"Welcome, young Jonathan Olsteen. Or would you prefer to call you John?" Irons asked. "Doesn't matter too much to me, sir," is what I say in reply. Irons chuckles a little bit, and bids me that I cone into his luxurious office.
"So, John," Irons says once we find our own leather chairs,"what have you been up to lately son?"
"Nothing much, sir. I mean, being here is really an honor I never thought of."
"Well then, I can see that you're ready to become a soldier."
"Yessir, I am ready."
"Alright then, follow me," Irons tells me as he gets up and walks towards a metal door. I realize that the door is open via handprint scanner, and when Irons gets the door open, all I can see is a long hallway.
"This is the way to the armory," the Head says. "From there, you'll be able to choose your class."
Excited, I almost feel myself skipping as Jonathan keeps a steady pace of a brisk walking speed. We turn right, then left, then another left, and are soon met by a door with "ATLAS" written on it. This door opens automatically, and the room is so dark. Irons flips a switch, and the once dark room is now full of light, and what I see amazes me beyond belief.
Along the left wall is a collection of exo-suits, ranging from a simple grey to a sparkling gold to a pure ATLAS exo. Down the middle are racks filled with weapons, each divided into their separate class types. And on the right wall are an assortment of helmets, gloves, glasses, pants, shirts, loadouts, boots, and knee guards. I stood there, smiling, when I feel myself walk into the room. My body is first trained on the exo-suits, eying each and every one of them. When it comes time to pick, I look for one that looks like the colour of a dawn-filled sky. Eventually, the gold Advanced Arsenal exo is the one I choose, and then Irons leads me over to choose my apparel. I pick out the ATLAS Recon helmet with the Zombie loadout, the KVA Assassin gloves, ATLAS Loyalty pants (which has a white waistband with the ATLAS logo on the front and a white stripe going down each of the sides of the legs), ATLAS Orbital shin guards and ATLAS Orbital boots and a sleek, jet black long sleeve. Finally, Irons leads me over to the weapons section and allows me to fire each one. Eventually, I choose the EPM3 with an ACOG sight, a foregrip and a heat-sink for a longer time before cool down. For my secondary, I chose the BAL-27 with a 4X Magnifier Red Dot Sight, a foregrip, and a laser sight.
"Welcome to ATLAS, Corporal Jonathan Olsteen," Irons says once I get everything fitted. "As soon as you put that helmet on, you will be given your first task."
Quickly, I put on my helmet, and it shows a complete HUD, and despite the confusing outside look, I can see pretty well through the helmet.
"Good. Your first task is to patrol the halls of your school wearing your exo-suit. Remember, do not take off your helmet, no matter who it is that you're talking to."
I nod, then a thought strikes me.
How will Dawn know it's me?