The Wheel Of Fortune

The Extanders Headquarters is divided into 5 parts. The main building in which we currently are, the east building, the west building, the south building, and the north building. The building is much larger than I even could imagine. I wonder how much this building cost.

We take a seat near the corner. Almost all the seats are occupied. There are 10 seats on one table. Luckily, the table in which we took a seat was nearly empty with only two people sitting on the other end. Alva sits in front of me.

“So where are you from?” She asks while passing me the menu, “I am from India”

I take the menu and thank her.

“Order whatever you want,” Alva tells me before looking down at her menu.

After deciding my order, Alva leaves the table to place our order and I glance around the cafeteria. Alva comes back after 5 minutes after placing our order and sits down back at her seat. The line must be short.

“Do you have any questions? You can ask me if you have some doubts.” Alva tells me when sees me looking around curiously.

I am still in the stage of processing everything but I also have too many questions. I don’t want to scare her by my continuous questioning so I try to take it slow. I start with my first question,

“Are there any members like me? And if I choose to stay will I be able to meet my family again?” Ada told me that she will talk to my parents but she never told me when will I able to meet them again or if I will even be able to meet them in the first place? Ada did say some people are from ‘your side’. I want to know what happened with them and how is their situation.

“Yes, there are some new members who are also being given time to make their decisions and you will be able to meet your family after you will complete your training. After the training, you can meet them whenever you want.” That’s a relief. I can meet them again and I don’t have to seek their permission. I don’t want anyone’s permission to meet my family.

“Do you have anyone from India?” I want to ask about their experience and opinion. And it will help me adjust to this place, it is better to have a companion at such a strange place.

“No, you are the first one, as far as I know. I will ask my friends if they know anyone.” Alva continues. “I hope we become teammates. There is a vacancy in our team. And there is a 90% chance that we will get a new member this week. Five new members will be joining us this week. And if you agree then it would be 6. Once everyone has decided, an entrance ceremony will be conducted where the newly formed duo, members, and the names of their partners will be announced. The ceremony is expected to take place tomorrow night.”

So they also conduct a welcoming ceremony? It is good that they welcome others in such a grand way but it would be tiring to deal with so many people. I decided to ask her the question which has been bugging me for a while.

“Where are you from, are you also from 'my side’?”

“No, although I am from different city.” She answers. "In fact, most of the Extanders stay here only for work."

“What do Extanders do? And do you also have magic like Ada?” Ada never truly answered my question, only saying risking their lives was not the answer I needed. I need more than that to make my decision.

“Everyone who is wearing the jacket has magic, it is a sign that they are an Extander, so yes, I have powers. And I specialize in ice magic.” I thought so. So there are different types of magic and Ada most probably has electric magic, judging from the sparks.

"This place looks expensive, how much money was spent on this building?"

"It is funded by the Cabinet, I mean the government."

A waiter comes right at this time, places our order in front of us, and walks away. I look at the waiter as he is walking away. Do they even do service like this? I thought we have to go to the counter to bring our order. Isn’t this a cafeteria?

We eat our lunch in silence. I pass my time by observing other, my favorite way to pass time.

I also notice how everybody is busy among themselves and this place is full of young adults. It is at that time that I take note some people who are in casuals. So they allowe visitors as well.

After finishing our lunch she takes me to the training center. Alva starts telling me more about duo while we are on our way, “Duos live together, it is mandatory until you have some problem with each other. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, most of the duos are of the same gender. Same-gender duos are generally preferred. There are also male and female duos but not many.”

“Why?” Are romantic relations not allowed? Not that they necessarily will be in a romantic relationship but still, why do they do this? Or is there another reason? I am not interested in romance, only curious.

“Because if they are of same-gender then they may bond better. I am not saying that girls and boys can’t bond with each other but there needs to be a good balance and tactic understanding between two partners. Well, it wholly depends on the type of person are they so I can’t say if they will bond better with girls or boys,” I don’t say anything but I fully agree with her on this statement. The type of bond they may form lies in the type of person they are.

“And there are also duos who are in a romantic relationship.” So romantic relationship is not a problem, “Anyway, let’s move on to the sequence. Every Sequence has a captain and vice caption. The Caption focuses on practical working, and vice caption focuses on unity and individual capability.” Alva continues explaining.

After going to the ground floor and going through some corridors, we reach the training grounds which is currently buzzing with people. Some are doing archery, some are stretching, some are combating and others are simply standing and talking.

Alva and I stand stop behind the glass window and look over. On hearing whispers, I look to my right and notice a group of 5 people watching over the training.

At first, I thought, by ‘training area’ she meant the open ground but now I understand. This place is an indoor training hall and it is much larger than what I thought it to be.

“Hey! Alva”

Alva and I turn to look at the source of the voice. As soon as I turn, girl in blue hair and a brunette who is few steps behind her comes in my sight.

The girl in blue hair has a layered bob. She has piercing in the ear and nose, olive skin, and hazel eyes. Brunette has wavy long hair like me which reaches her lower back. Freckles are spread across her cheeks, she has pale skin and blue eyes. I look at the strip on their jackets.

Both of them have a magenta color strip. They are from the same sequence? Just then I notice the number above the strip,

Sequence 13

So, they are from the same sequence. We are facing them by the time they reach us. Both of them look at me in question but none comes forward to ask. Alva notices their looks so she decides to explain herself. “She is a new member who might join us, I am giving her a tour.”

Understanding the situation, blue hair girl comes forward and holds out her hand. “I am Elodie, member of Sequence 13.” I extend my hand and give her a firm handshake. “And this is my duo, Liana.” She said points at the brunette. “I am Nadya,” I tell them. Liana smiles at me and I nod in return.

“You are giving her a tour, right? Have you shown her the Equipment room?” Asks Elodie,

“No, I was going to take her there when you both came. Why, do you want to come with us?”

“Yeah, let me do that. I will be able to tell her better about the types of equipment.”

“I have no problem with it.”

“Then, come with us, I will show you the equipment room” Liana and Elodie take me to the equipment room, Alva follows.

Alva and Liana talk among themselves, and Elodie and I walk side-by-side, quietly. We both are not noncommutative when it comes to strangers. I am not much of a conversation starter.

The equipment room is full of different weapons, ranging from swords, sai, ax to bows and arrows. I know the names of some of the weapons because of the games and animes I used to play and watch. I never thought it would come to use in such a way. Every weapon is of a different style.

Without any delay, Elodie starts explaining the uses, strengths, and weaknesses of all the weapons. I listen patiently. She is very passionate in her lectures. Her explanations are clear, on to the point, and detailed. How can she remember every detail? Am I studying to write a weapon theory paper?

Now, I know why she wanted to show the inventory herself. I will never doubt her knowledge about weapons.

“I am normal type and Liana has light type magic.” She answers me when I ask her about their magic. “I specialize in sai. Alva’s main weapon is knives and Liana is the healer of Sequence 13 but she also specializes in hand-to-hand combat.”

“Can anybody have more than one magic type?”

“Yes, there are some people who have more than one power type. Only some but we do find them from time to time. Their training is shorter than normal ones because in one way they are gifted. Normal training is of 16 months but their training lasts for 6 to 9 months.” Alva answers me this time.

Before I could ask some more questions, Liana suggests we take this conversation upstairs. “Now that she has seen the equipment room, why don’t we go back to the resting room to have the rest of the talk? We can be more comfortable there.” Liana suggests.

We all agree to her suggestion and they take me to the resting room. The resting room has floor-to-ceiling glass at one side overlooking the garden, white round tables with bright yellow semi-circle sofa surrounding it, lemon yellow fluffy carpets with track lighting done on the ceiling. There was a reception table on one side with a coffee machine on it. The walls are done in white and yellow.

“What are ‘Oluns’?”

“Oluns are the most powerful Exanders. There are currently 7 Oluns but the number can change at any time. The headquarters has set 10 as the limit for Oluns so there are chances of someone entering the ranks.”

“What is the meaning of Olun?” I have never such a word. Is this some kind of a new word?

“It is derived from our ancient language. It means powerful.” Ancient language? I thought their language is the same as ours but it looks like that is not the case.

By the time our conversation ends it is already 20:00. After eating our dinner in the cafeteria, they take me back to the section where new members are residing. There are 10 rooms for new members, out of which 6 are occupied.

“Is there any vacancy in your sequence?” I ask Liana and Elodie as we step on the escalator.

“Our caption is the one without duo in our sequence and I don’t think he will ever find his duo so we are not sure”, says Liana.

We reach the 2nd floor when a boy around the age of 18 comes forward to greet Elodie. His features are like Korean, is he from Korea? During their talk, Elodie tells him about me and he decides to introduce himself. And when he introduces himself I was proven right. He is from Korea.

“Hey! You can call me Jae, short for Jae-Joon.” He tells me. “Hello, I am Nadya.”

“Are you going to stay?” He asks,

“I have not decided yet. Did you also came here from the ’other side?” I answer him honestly before questioning him.

“Yes, how did you know?” He asks with surprise. I just smile at him. I don’t say anything in return. It is not hard to guess, seeing his features and accent.

He talks with Elodie for some time and goes his way after saying goodbye. Alva, Elodie, and Liana also say their goodbyes in front of my room and go back. I walk inside and close the door behind me. Once I have changed my clothes, I walk out of the washroom and fall on the bed. I sigh and think about what all happened today.

So many events happened in a span of a day. While I was touring the place my mind was on the task. I was focusing on the tour and the information Alva was providing but now that I don’t have anything to distract myself. I am feeling the pressure of my choice.

I am tired, mentally and emotionally.

But I know, I know I still have to think. I have still not made my decision. I have to decide before I go to sleep. Why could they not give me more than one day? Now I am regretting agreeing to give her an answer in a day. I should have said something when she asked for my answer.

But there is no use regretting it now. I rub my face with both my hands and let them fall back on the bed.

Now let's think.