"Good morning, cadets! We want everyone down by the stage at 0800 so we can explain today's tasks!" Liam Mason's voice sounded from the intercom, following an unpleasant recording of an airhorn.
"Better bring your swimsuits, cause you'll be diving in toilet water!" Larry added, and began making some ungodly sounds that were supposed to be laughter. Liam started chastising him for ruining the morning broadcast for the second time.
"Was the budget too tight for us to get a real airhorn?" Dex mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
"Nah, but then Fat Mason would be blaring it directly into your ears all day." Jon explained. Dex shrugged.
"Fair point." He admitted. "I wonder what the tasks in question are."
"Well, no matter what they are, I'm sure we'll do a better job than that dastardly Group B." Bryce exclaimed, smiling very proudly.
"I still can't believe you threw a brick at that Vasquez guy. Don't you think it was a little overkill?" Asked Jon, crossing his arms.
"Please, he's been asking for it since 9th grade. That prick stole my date once, don't you remember?" Bryce explained his hatred for Jet. Jon nodded like it all made sense.
"No he doesn't remember, because he didn't peak in high school." Dex deadpanned, mocking him. Bryce threw a toothbrush at him.
"You look and act like a Group B member, I honestly don't understand how you ended up here." Bryce commented. Dex shook his head.
"Are you done with the banter? We'll be late at this pace." Thomas butted in, already fully dressed for the day,giving the others a signature look of superiority behind the rectangular glasses of his.
"Sorry, mom." Bryce mumbled as he kicked the door open for them to leave.
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After breakfast, they made their way to the stage. Group B was already there, and they were eyeing Group A up and down. Vasquez flipped off Dex, as he was closest to him, and he threw his cigarette holder at him.
"Enough! No more throwing things! Are you all children?" Liam swatted the cigarette holder away from Jet, before he could throw it back at Dex.
"Nah, keep going. It's funny." Larry added, all while munching on a chip. Liam mumbled something about there being at least one child on the island.
"Alright, alright, that's enough." Starman interrupted the chatter (and squabbling) amongst the groups. "So today is the third day of the week, and you'll soon associate the day in question with job day!"
"That means we'll give you jobs to do. Like cleaning." Douglas explained.
"So what, you couldn't hire a janitor so now we gotta do it? What's next, fry cook training?" Dex folded his arms.
"Excellent question, Tuscan! You get a bucket." Starman said. Douglas hurled a bucket full of water and a sponge straight at Dex, smacking him in the face, knocking him down and dousing him in soap water.
"Aw! What the fuck, man?" Dex complained.
"Y'see, we're trying to teach all of you discipline. And doing boring work for once in your lives won't hurt, especially if you've been living off Daddy's money like Tuscan here." Starman explained.
"You'll find your groups and jobs on this sheet of paper here." Douglas said, tossing the sheet into the crowd. "Read it, and get going!"
"Hey, geezers! Your college term paper here doesn't seem to have my name on it." Nikolaoff pointed out.
"Not ours either." Said Jon, referring to himself and Bryce.
"I was getting to that. Y'see children, the King's dear daughter and that weird royal guardsman who's always following her are set to visit later today, to drop off some stuff for us. You are to watch the entrance gate, and show them the way when they arrive!" Starman explained, Nikolaoff groaned.
"You mean I'll have to tolerate these two loons all day?" He complained. Bryce flipped him off.
"Yes, private! And you'd better get used to them, because you might have to save their life in the battlefeild." Douglas shouted, much to Nikolaoff's annoyance.
"Have you gone senile, old man? Why would I ever help these two clowns out?" Nikolaoff whined.
"I won't hear any more, private bowling ball! Off to your post!" Douglas ordered him. Nikolaoff slumped away, grumbling some incoherent nonsense.
"Jeez, what's up his ass?" Asked Bryce.
"You could at least try to mind your language, Bryce." Jon proposed, but Bryce brushed him off, as the two walked over to the gate, following Nikolaoff.
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And so, humiliated and covered with soap from head to toe, Dex slumped off to clean the bathrooms, hauling around the very bucket that had just doused him a couple minutes earlier.
"Stupid Starman and his mindgames... You'd think he'd treat the son of the dude who's money he's being paid with a smidge better." He mumbled to himself as he set the bucket down. "This is really cold."
"Generally people change their clothes when they get wet." Thomas commented as he walked in, carrying one of Dex's spare changes with one arm. He tossed the dry clothes at him, which he caught. "You're welcome."
"Yeah, thanks for digging through my luggage without my knowledge. There's nothing suspicious about that at all." Dex said, awkwardly flashing his teeth at the guy.
"A simple thanks would have sufficed, I think." Thomas raised an eyebrow. Dex shook his head.
"You didn't even bring me a spare cig." Dex walked into a stall and quickly changed his clothes, and also dumped the destroyed box of cigarettes from his pocket into the toilet.
"I think they made garbage bins for that, Tuscan." Thomas commented.
"Well, I'm the one who's gonna be cleaning it." Dex crossed his arms.
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Meanwhile, at the entrance, Bryce and Jon were casually chatting about the esteemed visitors on the way.
"Well, you certainly can't avoid talking to her now, dude." Bryce pointed out, with a sheepish grin on his face.
"I'm not avoiding her, man. It's just awkward to start a conversation with someone you haven't spoken to since you were six." Jon defended himself, raising his hands up.
"Figures you can't talk to a girl." Nikolaoff said, interrupting his sulking in the corner.
"I think 'a girl' might be downplaying it a little." Jon added, but went ignored.
"Man, why are you always so unpleasant to be around? Are you still mad about that paintball thing?" Bryce asked, annoyed at Nikolaoff's douchebaggery.
"Yes, because you cheated." Nikolaoff plainly stated, crossing his arms, glaring daggers at Jon.
"Okay, I did not cheat, if anything, you cheated!" Jon exclaimed, frowning at the other guy.
"Yeah, in retaliation to you cheating!" Nikolaoff raised his arms in exasperation. Jon was about to complain some more, but Bryce swiftly interrupted him.
"Okay, so Johnny cheated, big deal, why do you hate me then?" He requested an explanation. Nikolaoff grimaced at him, as if the answer was obvious.
"Well, you threw a brick at my friend's face." He answered, with surprising calmness.
"That's fair, I guess." Bryce quickly backed down, and they went back to minding their business.
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Back at the bathrooms, Dex and Thomas had gotten to work cleaning the sinks, exchanging little words with each other. Dex knew Thomas wasn't the talkative type, but attempted to break the ice regardless.
"So like, what do you do, exactly? Like for fun." He said, but not with his clearest voice.
"Are you interested in my hobbies, Tuscan?" Thomas asked, following a short pause as he processed the question.
"Not particularly, but it's as good an icebreaker as any." Dex shrugged and gestured to Thomas to start talking. Thomas pondered for a second, and then turned to face Tuscan again.
"Well I'm into the sciences in my leisure time. Chemistry and engineering to be precise. And I also play the piano, sometimes. I compose my own music." Thomas said. "My father was adamant I got a great education, and gave me the push I needed to pursue the piano." He explained, smiling for once
"Jeez you're lucky. Your father sounds like a great guy. On my 10th birthday my old man gave me a wad of cash and a forgery of his signature and told me to 'figure the rest on my own'." Dex reminisced, making a rather uncomfortable face.
"So, what are your hobbies then, Tuscan?" Thomas asked, not particularly interested himself, but slightly curious nonetheless. Dex was taken aback by the question.
"My hobbies? I don't really do anything... I read a little, I guess. And I smoke." Dex replied, not particularly sure of his answer.
"Smoking is a habit, not a hobby, Tuscan." Thomas shook his head. Dex frowned.
"We can't all be chemists." He muttered under his breath, frowning.
"So what books do you read?" Thomas asked him, and he perked up again.
"Oh, well I picked up this new novel about a group of mercenaries working under a mysterious contractor who's after some mystical artifact before I came here..." Dex scratched his neck, awkwardly staring at the half-dirty sink. Thomas gestured to him to continue, much to Dex's surprise. He shrugged and carried on explaining his new book.
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Meanwhile, the people at the entrance had finally spotted the boat with Nick and Renee, as it was approaching the dock. The three rushed over and helped tie it down and anchor it, as Nick unloaded a bunch of crates onto the shore.
"Are you the guys General Starman sent to help us with the carrying?" Renee asked, approaching the three.
"That's us. I'm Bryce and these are Jon and Nik." Bryce introduced himself and his companions, and shook the lady's hand. Jon waved at her and Nikolaoff just stared at them.
"Oh, you're the Johnson boy. My, I haven't seen you in ages! How have you been?" Renee recognised him and extended her hand for him to shake. He did so.
"I've been hanging in there. Living the life, y'know." Jon said, smiling nervously. An awkward silence ensued for a couple seconds, which Bryce quickly picked up on.
"Actually, you probably saw us at the gala last month. We were accompanying Mr. Johnson." He said, putting his arm behind Jon's back and pulling him closer.
"Oh yes! You're like a princess now, Renee!" Jon stuttered, smiling at her. She cringed.
"Eugh, please don't call me that. I've already had to deal with all those foreign ministers calling me 'your highness', I'd rather not have to deal with it from people my age too." Renee complained, crossing her arms.
"Hey, are you losers gonna help carry any of these crates or what?" Nikolaoff exclaimed, lifting up one of Nick's crates and carrying it past them. He stopped in front of Renee, looked her up and down, and raised an eyebrow.
"Is something the matter?" Renee asked, staring right back at him.
"Yeah, your hair's the problem. You look like a witch." Nikolaoff said, and continued walking. Renee was certainly taken aback by the comment, staring at him speechless as he walked away.
"Don't listen to this asshole, Renee. You look great." Jon said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, that jerk just hates everything." Bryce added.
"Thank you, Jon. Now, you guys help Nick while I speak with the general." Renee said, and carried on towards the staff building. Nick came over, tired as always, and gave each of them a crate to carry.
"I wonder what's in these." Bryce pondered. Jon was more curious as to why the general had chosen the three of them specifically for this job, but he didn't bring up his concern.
After a little while, all the crates had been taken to the front of the staff building, and Nick and Renee were ready to go back home.
"Well it was certainly nice to meet you gentlemen. Thanks again for the help." Renee told them while she boarded the boat with Nick.
"Sure was. We'd love to have you around again, wouldn't we Johnny?" Bryce said, nudging at his friend, who had dozed off completely.
"O-oh, yes, absolutely!" He exclaimed, spontaneously standing up straight. Renee shook her head in amusement, and waved at the guys before sailing away on her boat.
"I'm sure something can be arranged." Were her last words before she went away. Bryce made sure she was completely out of earshot before saying anything else.
"Don't worry man, big bro Bryce is here to carry you to victory." Bryce exclaimed, leaning against Jon, who quickly pushed him off of him.
"You can stop insinuating I want to date her, mate. We barely know each other." Jon said, staring unamused at his friend.
"Well I can have her if you don't want her. Absolute beauty, right there. 10/10." Bryce admitted. Jon shook his head.
"She's like a 6 on a good day." Nikolaoff commented, earning a horrified glance from Jon and a shocked face from Bryce.
"Didn't know the closet was this comfy." Bryce joked, with the most douchebaggy expression he could manage plastered all over his face.
"Fuck you, Hansen. I'm going to Jorge's." Nikolaoff said, flipping Bryce off as he slinked away.
"He's crazy. She's at least an 8, right?" Bryce turned to Jon for confirmation, but he just glared at him.
"I am against the very concept of rating women out of 10, it is very immature and objectifies them in a misogynistic manner I don't wish to participate in." Jon said, crossing his arms. Bryce just let out a 'tch' and carried his friend away so they could meet up with the others and they could get lunch.