Derrick reluctantly followed Alden as they began walking up the stairs towards the large double wooden doors that led into the dining hall. The whole time he was deliberately moving slowly as his mind raced.
'This is bad, this is really bad. I only made him believe our department might not accept a newcomer as a way to test if he was lying about being placed in our department, after the aptitude test the faculty members especially the woman up there were not pleased about how little talent there was to go around. Am sure she has already seen Alden's file, if everything he says is true then her pride will not let her allow him who didn't even originally apply for this base into the department.'
Without fail they arrived in front of the double doors. Beyond it they could hear a bit of conversation. Choosing to go through with his plan, Alden pushed the doors open coming face to face with the assistant base commander and the man from earlier along with a few nearby students who also had a few things they wanted to discuss.
The assistant base commander stopped moving, looking Alden up and down with a flash of familiarity crossing her eyes.
"Hi ma'am, I had an question about my departmental placement." Alden stated
"Speak young man." She responded.
"Well, I learned during the weekend that the Research and Analysis department had made an aptitude test to select the best students and weed out the rest. I arrived Friday afternoon but my official placement form placed me within that department. I wanted to ask if I could just join the other students within the department or if I'd need to take a makeup test."
"Young man, what was your final grade?"
"I got 17 ma'am."
"Young man, what do you want to be in future."
Alden paused for a while, not expecting such a question in this situation.
"A-A scientist ma'am."
It was at this moment that a gentle smile formed on her face, her voice softening as she delivered her next statement.
"Young man, 17 is not nearly enough qualification for our Research and Analysis department standards. Am sorry to inform you but you can't join that department."
Her words struck like thunder deed within Alden's heart. Derrick felt it from behind Alden, the very moment when the young Alden's heart shattered. He could tell just by looking at him, despite the smile and the attempt to remain stoic and unbothered, he knew deep down, something was lost.
The woman then shifted her gaze to the boy who was standing behind Alden, Derrick.
"Young man, please take him to the General Arts Department sector 2."
Then she looked back at Alden.
"Follow this young man to the Department am assigning you to, sector 2 has the closest operational situation as the Research and Analysis department. A very special sector that I am personally picking out for you. If you do well enough here, you can accumulate enough experience to be a scientist in future." She said softly before turning around to deal with other matters.
Alden stood there for a while, unable to move until Derrick tapped him lightly on the shoulder indicating for him to follow him. Alden followed in silence, his mind as foggy as when he first came here that Friday afternoon. He tried to remain calm and composed on the way but his feet dragged ever so slightly involuntarily.
His posture was slightly hunched, his figure swaying slightly and his mind fully lost to the fog. He didn't even know where he was anymore, it was to the point that he had all but forgotten who he was even following as he was carried by pure instinct after Derrick. Derrick hadn't spoken a single word presumably to allow Alden to process everything that had just occurred.
Despite the base's lack of infrastructural direction or style, they had at least managed to split the compound in two, on one side of the dining hall which stood at the center of the compound were the buildings that were run by staff, the medical center, administration, etc were on that side, that side was also directly behind the base's main gates so as to prevent students from sneaking out and to prevent any dangers from reaching the students first.
On the other side of the dining hall were the department buildings and their sectors. There were five departments, and each had their own rectangular territory and they were stacked on top of each other meaning if one walked in a straight line from the boys barracks they'd pass through every department one at a time until they got to the girls barracks and the General Arts Department was the second to last putting it at quite the distance.
They walked through the Financial Studies Department territory, the Settlement and Survival Department territory and the Exploration and Discovery Department territory before finally arriving at the General Arts Department territory, beyond that was the Research and Analysis Department territory.
Within the General Arts Department territory, there wasn't much to look at, the territory was split into 12 sectors and each sector owned a grid within the territory creating the perfect division. Each sector had its HQ at the center of its grid but that was it, there were no specialized buildings within the grids, just empty land and an HQ at the center.
Derrick took Alden to the far end of the territory and stopped in front of the second grid's sector HQ, sector 2. Derrick walked into the small warehouse like building with Alden in tow. The very moment they stepped through the doorway, all eyes turned to look at them, silence fell at once as everyone focused on the new faces.
Everything became still for a few seconds before someone at the back stood up, tall, muscular and confident, he walked to the front of the room and stopped in front of the newcomers.
"Am guessing he's our new addition." Henry said with a small chuckle as he grabbed Alden by the shoulders guiding him through the crowd towards the back of the room.
And it was through this small interaction, that Derrick, who hadn't paid attention so far, noticed Henry's glistening silver eyes.