"...And then he just told me that I should not tell anyone. Not even him. The situation had gotten so grave that even your thoughts were not safe. He told me that they are watching and will always be watching. We are probably being recorded right now, but I highly doubt it."
James was quiet for a few moments, so Benji was the one who spoke instead.
"So let try to understand this. I specifically instructed you to ask as minimum amount of questions as possible. I also forbade you from seeing my partner, or even knowing his identity. Jeez I must have really been scared of something, because it seems to me like I did genuinely trust you, but then there was somethings to consider as well. I wonder what."
Jack leaned closer towards James and grinned.
"So what exactly did we find Mr James? Do you mind telling us?"
He sighed and shook his head.
"I'm afraid I cannot tell you that. Your thoughts are still not safe, whatever that means. Even though I am not implicated, yet, but you already are. We still do not know how they access information from you, or how they get rid of it. That is why I cannot risk telling you. You'll also just forget in a few hours, so let's just keep shared information as minimum as possible."
Jack clicked his tongue and then turned to Benji.
"Well that cannot be helped. So tell me, Benjamin, when did you realize that something was wrong with your memories?"
Benji looked up.
"I'm afraid i did not. But I did notice that something was wrong with me. I just told myself that I was confused because of the amount of coffee i was consuming and amount of sleep I was getting. I remember a few days ago, you gave me an empty glass bottle, and thanked me for the coffee. I did not recognize the bottle at all, and I certainly did not remember bringing you coffee."
Jack frowned.
"A glass bottle? What bottle?"
"It was pale pink in color, with beautiful intricate floral designs. You just randomly have it to me and said 'thanks for the coffee' without any explanation. But that bottle is way too large for anyone to consume that amount of coffee alone, so.."
"That means we must have had it together on one of our meetings. Ot just one meeting, depending on how one might look at it."
"Bingo!"
James sat opposite them both and listened to them quietly, with a complicated expression on his face. Jack noticed this and raised an eyebrow.
"What is wrong with you?"
James shook his head and sighed.
"Nothing in particular, its just that I've never seen something like this happen in real life before and you guys are just casual about it. One would not even tell that you have days, probably weeks, worth of missing memories. I just, do not know what I would have done."
"Honesty, James, I am not really taking this well either. I do not know how Major is feeling but the more I realize that my brain has been compromised, the more I can feel it succumb into chaos. I may appear calm and composed outside, but my mind is reeling inside. That's because I am having a hard time separating this reality from an ideal nightmare."
Jack sighed.
"I am not really a trusting person by nature, so just imagine how I must feel. But that is negatable, in my opinion. I can get over it. The real problem is the feeling you have the more you find out a large chunk is missing from your memories. It is actually painful physically, believe it or not, I will not even go into the frustrating part of it."
"I'm sorry, I honestly did not know that's how it feels. Please let me know how i help with the investigation."
Jack looked at him somberly and then shook his head lightly.
"For now just do nothing. If you see that we are failing to retain our memories after this, just handle it exactly as you did today. Do not tell us anything either. If I have neglected something, that means i trust you enough to handle it so dont let me down soldier."
"Yes Major!"
"Argh what the fuck? Just call me Jack, that way I will know we are more than superior and subordinate. Just get closer to Benji and help him regain his senses every once in a while. Since I'll be quite busy trying to figure this shit out for the next few days and I will update you on what I find. Try not to expose yourself too much, I'll try and deal with memory loss shit."
James just looked at him tiredly and sighed.
"But Jack, you've already made that promise and failed. What's different about this time?"
Jack was silent again, words dying in his throat before he could speak.
***
Two weeks passed in a blur. In those days, James and Benji had gotten even close, despite the fact that they did not really like each other in the beginning.
They made sure to maintain their friendly facade, to make sure their conversation appeared more casual. Jack joined them for drinks every once in a while, making it look like they had not regained their memories at all.
This strategy worked, to a certain extent at least. That's because in truth, Jack and Benji did not really regain their lost memories, they just relearned everything they knew before.
There was also a good thing about that. The number of missing memories decreased drastically, until it ceased completely.
Jack was the only one with an issue thought, which made sense considering he was still exposed to the said suspect and talked to them almost every day. He did not was to seem distant all of a sudden as to not raise unnecessary suspicion.
It seemed like the suspect was insidious, but also a naive fool. They just assumed that since Jack was acting normal around them, he must have not known anything. They could not have been more wrong.
By this time, Jack knew everything and he was smart about it. He did not even tell his partners, only hinting through codes that he knows everything but cannot tell them because of obvious reasons.
The train stopped at the military depot where dozens upon dozens of military ships. They were enormous, spanning over dozens of kilometers into length. They were so huge that millions of people would be able to fit in each ship. But there was also a fatal flaw to their size.
The ships would only be able to reach Australia in more or less six months, and they did not have that much time. And that is precisely why the five special cohorts were formed. To arrive there first, establish strongholds, and make sure to isolate the infected civilians from the disease-free ones.
And work as twice to potentially contain the disease to stop it from spreading, all while developing a cure for it. If that was even possible.
Tens of thousands of military soldiers gushed out of the train and looked at the massive depot with awe. Benji and James were among those admirers as well. Jack just looked at them and smirked.
"Welcome to the 14-Air Depot of the Cordd Military. Don't fall behind."
***
Soon, all the five special cohorts gathered in front of not-as-huge military aircraft. They were still giant though, its just that Benji was somewhat exited to travel by water in those humongous naval ships.
They all loaded their equipment into their respective airplanes, since each cohort had its own aerial vehicle. All around him, the depot was buzzing with soldiers doing the same. There were loading thousands of supplies into the ships, food, clean clothes and water... the works.
After they were done loading the supplies into planes, they loaded inside and took off.
The aircraft was surprisingly large and spacious inside. It accommodated dozens of working equipment, and even more food and supplies. There was still more than plenty of space for the soldiers to train or like try pilates, i dont know.
It was unsurprisingly boring though, so they all kept each other company once after a few hours. Even Jack would sometimes take a break from his work and join them, even though he was more quiet and reserved.
They would gather around and listen to stories of Oliver's incredible adventures as they enjoyed their food rations. Every once in a while, another member of the cohort would share their own adventures.
Until they asked Jack to share an exciting story or unforgettable adventure with the whole cohort. That was not really a good idea. Even listening to his stories was distressing.
The more they listened to his stories, the more they realized that the rumors about him were not only true, but extremely underexaggarated as well. He was so much worse that people said!
Honestly, everything made sense now. Literally everything. His position in the military, his status, and even how his own companions behaved around him. It seems they were also wary of Jack.
Who could blame them? The guy is a tyrant! His kill count is probably greater that the whole Command Center, combined!
The dude not only became the youngest Leutenant in history, he also became the youngest Captain and Major in history as well. The guy is literally in his early thirties, and he is already on par with legends like Commander Jackson, who is in his late forties by the way.
Even Leutenant Luster and Captain Argeis, whom are both a decade older than him by the way, hold lower ranks that him despite having decades of experience. The only soldier whose achievements were almost on par with Jack was Colonel Jenna, the dark angel with a purple katana.
The purple katana...
That is probably the reason why they were the closest in their cohort. They were practically inseparable. Maybe it is because they understood each other better than anyone else.
After a full 16 hours of flying, the pilots finally announced that they are approaching the Northern Regions, so it would be best for everyone to wear the protective gear as stipulated, since it is still unclear how the disease spreads.
They all looked down from the windows, and what they saw made them deathly pale.