Chapter 3: What Are The Odds?

As the bus passed out of the slums where Max grew up and into better neighborhoods it began picking up more students. Very few families were like Max's and squandered absolutely everything they received.

The bus slowly filled with his new classmates, and Max took the time to look into each one's mind, evaluating them. What he found were mostly the undeveloped minds of small children. Surely there must be at least a few more like himself, who were more developed, but so far Max hasn't seen much indication of it, except in one student, who has at least played the restricted mecha simulators before.

The bus was almost full of children when a girl called Nico got on, chuckling at the students with their clothes in disarray, their eyes red from a sorrowful parting with their parents. Her reaction intrigues Sam, that's not how any of the others have reacted.

Her friend Nathan gives her a fist bump, showing her the seat he saved beside him and the girl settles in before making fun of her friend for having cried when he got on the bus.

"I hope we're in the same class" Nathan says, looking over the bus full of kids.

"It will be so boring if we're not. Who else can even try to keep up?" Nathan has an Alpha ranked System compatibility with Beta ranked physical potential, though he didn't activate an Innate Talent. Still, that puts him well ahead of his peers in development, and makes him the only other pre academy aged student that Sam's memory scans have found to be capable of playing the VR piloting programs that Max loves.

Most of these kids can barely do multiplication, much less master the multi input processes and calculations needed to get the mecha to do more than basic, crude movements. Before the academy, most games are played on consoles, and a dozen buttons on a controller is a far cry from what is needed to control a Mecha.

The mind that just entered the bus feels very familiar to Sam for some reason, so he reaches out his ability to borrow some additional memories and learn more about this outgoing and confident girl.

To his surprise, it's the girl with memories of her past life. The very first mind he ever touched after he was Reincarnated into this world. He would have recognized those memories of Mecha from anywhere. She had, and might still have, memories of an entire life of Mecha piloting, and her recent memories suggest that has been training just as hard as him to get ready for the academy.

It seems this girl is also in the piloting program, and Sam makes a devout wish that they can become friends. Her memories gave him not only reference and basic skills to work with as an infant, but a purpose in life to survive the neglect and abuse of a childhood spent with his wastrel parents. If he gets reincarnated again, he's definitely asking for some memories.

"When we get there, Even identification numbers to the left, Odd to the right. Odd numbers, your dorm supervisor will be Major Amanda Payne. Respect her as your ranking officer and all will be well." Colonel Black instructs. Both Sam and Nico take note, as they both have odd numbered identifications.

Many of the students have very little idea what he means, beyond being polite and listening to her, and even that is iffy for some of the worst behaved. Their parents had been raising them wild and free, hoping the military would reject them and send them home.

It's a grossly misguided notion, the children have a decade of intensive 'educating' ahead of them, and misbehaving will keep them in the school the entire time without a chance to visit home.

So, they simply mill about the asphalt courtyard with its yellow painted grid pattern, waiting for someone to tell them what to do and meeting their new classmates.

Major Payne is a tall woman with long dark brown hair tied in a military regulation bun, as opposed to Nico's military approved pixie cut of her black curls and Sam's shoulder length blonde perm. Right to the bitter end, his mother insisted on this dreadful haircut. The first chance he gets, the perm is gone.

The major turns, looking at them all assessingly, judging who will be trouble and who to fast track. Nico knows this, it was in the government server she had gained access to, listed as standard procedure for incoming students. Sam knows this too, because Nico knows this and it was in her recent memories when he checked on the bus.

Max spaces out, sorting through the instructors mind and quickly loses track of time and what's happening around him. It's a bad habit of his, but at Dave's house he could usually hide the fact that he was zoned out behind a VR headset.

Knowing what's expected, Nico stands in one of the painted squares at ease, bag beside her, with her feet shoulder width apart, her hands folded in front, in the customary ready stance of the Academy. Nobody else did. In fact they're still horsing around and giggling.

Sam snaps out of his reverie and gets into position next to the only other Cadet that knows what to do, feeling sheepish about his lapse in attention. He's at the academy now, he needs to make good impressions if he's going to get himself chosen as a potential officer cadet.

From the corner of her eye, Nico sees one little blonde haired girl, standing on the mark on the floor to her left. Or is that a boy with a terrible haircut and delicate face? Black shirt, so a boy then. The major smiles a little and makes a mark on her clipboard.

It's about ten minutes before the rest of the students understand that something is expected of them, and that there's a reason why the supervisor isn't speaking or showing them to their rooms before they slowly start lining up on the marked floor.

"Very good Cadets. All under fifteen minutes. You will do one lap around the dormitory at a run for every minute it took you to fall in on your arrival. Lesson one. When you arrive. Fall in."

Four more officers appear and lead the Cadets out "Cadet Nico, Cadet Max, you're with me. Fall in time was under a minute." Major Payne calls.

The two are assigned as roommates, and being the star pupils in the supervisor's eyes, they get first pick of the dorms. All facilities are coed at the school, to build unity amongst the future soldiers. Following that ideal, nothing that divides them except talent and unit is permitted.

"Could you show us a good choice, Major?" Nico asks. "Not too near the bathrooms, but not too far, preferably with a window?"

"Excellent choice Cadet Nico. Tarith Nico, that's an interesting name, a family name perhaps?" Major Payne asks in her all business tone.

"No ma'am it's Nico Tarith" the girl corrects and the Major shows her the official birth record from her tablet. Tarith Nico. Her parents entered her name backwards on the form when she was born.

That's the sort of thing he wouldn't put past his own mother, Max thinks.

"From today you are Cadet Nico. You may apply for a change of name once your basic instruction is complete." Major Payne consoles her with a gentle smile. "look at it this way Cadet, you're the only one that gets to keep her own given name. First names are rarely used here."

This little tidbit, intended for his new roommate, is the single greatest thing that Max has ever heard. Nobody will be calling him Samantha, the name he despises largely because the mother he likes even less chose it for him. Plus, when he finishes school, he can officially change it on his own.

The room the Major shows them to is a corner unit, the only one for students in their year, the other three corners being taken by the supervisors. Both outer walls have windows, and it's a slightly larger room than the other ones they've passed. Every door currently stands open until it has two occupants so that the supervisors can easily confirm which cadets are where and who is not getting with the program.

"Thank you for your consideration Supervisor Payne" Nico and Max say at the same time and the instructor gives them the fist to chest Imperial soldier's salute in return.