China

August 15th, 2072
Interview Room
Imperial Citizenry Center
Republic of China

For now fifty years, the whole world waged war against itself, none but the most uncivilized of nations taking part in genocides after genocides as a sentiment of extreme xenophobia swept across the world.

The entirety of North America, Russia and South Korea razed to the ground in a deadly exchange of nuclear bombs made the practice of using the mass destruction weapon prohibited and loather by the majority of the world's population and instead let place to World War after World War, making this year, the year of the Dragon, the start of the World War Five. On this occasion, China, who while one of the superpower of this time, have decided to be cautious and to form the Dragons of Confucius, a special corps comprised entirely of young, healthy and fit men to be ruthlessly trained and experimented upon in an effort to make an entire corps of elite and versatile soldiers.

Many advantage would be offered to the young men who would take part in this project, from more desirable brides to a heightened social status. Even a few Foreigners and twice as more Half-Blood would have the chance to enter the Dragons, an especially fortuitous change for those second or even third grade citizens and refugees, though ostracism and bigotry would of course make their lives more difficult than their pure Chinese counterparts.

Such advantage and with the dream of pleasing both their family and venerated ancestors pushed many a young man to enter the Imperial Citizenry Center today, a broadcast four days previous by the future commandant of the Dragons himself egging them on. All day will the young men present be interviewed one by one, until the most fit and dedicated youths present would be lead with nothing but a few personal belonging to an undisclosed location for their introductory Boot Camp as recruits.

A sense of restlessness permeate the air in the vast antechamber now used as a waiting room as whispers resonate in the full room only to be silenced as a sharply dressed military man exits a small door and say, his voice loud and sharp:

“Next!”

August 15th, 2072
Interview Room
Imperial Citizenry Center
Republic of China

There he stood, Posun Bayue, ready to be tested. Unlike the others, or so he had gathered, he was fairly uninformed. He was given a single briefcase full of clothes and a letter saying which flight to catch. Everyone kept telling him to listen to the radio broadcast, but the guards took his phone and handheld radio on the way in.

Posun was in his full combat uniform, excepting his grenades and rifle. One would know that he was definitely military, but not that he was little more than a standard soldier without a dog or computer.

When 'next' was called, Posun stepped up to the challenge. He walked up to the main military man, by the looks of it, and said "Posun Bayue, ready sir." His voice calm and at a good volume.

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If he was being honest, Shao was nervous. If he was being nervous, he had half the mind to walk out of the place and back home where his fiance waited for him. Instead, curling his hands into fists he looked about the waiting room. There were more men in here than Shao could be bothered, all of them in the late teens or early twenties, each of them waiting patiently to be called up. There was occasional chatter between neighbours, voices hushed as they contemplated what would happen to them if they were to pass the interview.

He fended off anyone intending to talk, enjoying his own quiet thoughts as he looked down at the single briefcase sitting between his knees. The little he could take was in there, the first he had packed being a picture of him an his fiance. He sighed at the thought of Ming, rubbing his face absentmindedly before looking up.

What would this interview entail? If they passed where would they go? What would happen to them once they reached their training grounds? And most importantly, in his mind: Would he ever see Ming again?

He swallowed, deciding that such questions were stupid to ponder, all he could do now was sit here and wait to be called upon. He'd go into that room and do as the officer asked. He would let the chips fall where they may. He just hoped to be able to go home in one piece.

His head snapped up from its pondering as a sharply dressed military man stepped into the makeshift waiting room. He demanded attention with every ounce of his presence, eyes cold and focused. He wasn't a man to be trifled with. "Next."

The command was brisk, sharp and without any semblance of emotion. Before Shao was able to stand another man stepped forth, "Posun Bayue, ready sir."

Shao chuckled momentarily under his breath, the man was definitely eager. Much more eager than Shao was. It was his responsibility to help protect his country and by extension, his family, both present and future. That's why Shao was here, not just because his honour compelled him, but because he needed to make sure his family had a future.

Gesturing briskly to the opened door and proceeded to enter and once more close the exit once both he and Bayue were inside the medium-sized room, inhabited by an imposing desk before an even more imposing man with more medals on his pristine uniform than the young man thought possible. All around the room were uniformed military men with a standard pulse pistol on their belt, all with their back straight and posture rigid, apparently ready for any type of threat. The man which had commended the young man to enter then took position before the door, effectively encircling Bayue by well trained combatants.

The man behind the desk, whom Bayue faintly recognized as the General who issued the broadcast five days previously, looked up from some files then and said, his voice cold and stern:

“State you name, age, blood status and civil status, recruit.” He commanded, his tone not leaving any room for protest as he glared at the hopeful young man with dark and sharp eyes, quite possibly assessing his worth.

Posun looked around the room. Seeing the potential for threats, Posun reacted by his hand shooting to his hip. Only after it slapped against his pocket did Posun remember exactly what was happening, and had a small look of humiliation. Until he was called, Posun's posture was that of someone who was nervous. However, Posun was more unnerved by the fact that he was now surrounded by armed and dangerous personnel without a clear escape route, and all he had between him and being a body was two fists.

He walked forward, making sure to fix his posture. This did not fix how his eyes moved. They shot from side to side, looking not at the soldiers, but at their weapons. Even in his armor, the standard pulse pistol could blow him to shreds at this range. When Posun finally got to the General, he took a salute. He was certain that the general would have been a tad bit older, but it just shows that you can't trust gossip from other 'recruits.'

"Posun Bayue, 20 years of age, orphan, and pureblood, sir." Posun said in as official a voice as he could. With how decorated the General was, Posun was sure that he was going into something big, if he went. He sweated from the small amount of stress, but did his best to remain cool. It was just another visit to a general after all.

Nodding stiffly, General Liang stood to his full height of six feet two and started to circle Posun slowly, looking at every sign of weakness with his hawk eyes and muttering comments now and then about what he discovered about the younger man's state of both body and mind.

“Are you familiar with the military, Recruit?” He asked in a growl, the nervous and immediate nodding from Posun seeming to satisfy him.

A few stressful minutes were passed that way then, with questions and the basic physical examination being performed before Posun was deemed apt to make his way to the boot camp in an undisclosed location and told to enter a specified military vehicle to be led there.

“Don't tarry, tardiness is a serious offence in my book, Recruit.” Whispered the General before giving him permission to leave.

As Posun left, the same man as earlier exited the room with him, uttering the same word as ten minutes previous.

“Next!”

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Shao wrung his hands nervously as he waited. It seemed like he sat there for an eternity, waiting for the uptight military official to walk back out and call out the dreaded word. He nearly jumped out of his skin as the word was called, "Next!"

Before anyone else could stand and his nervousness could get the best of him Shao stood. He swallowed and picked up the briefcase at his feet and walked forth, stopping before the man, straight backed with a brisk salute. He clamped his jaw shut to stop his teeth from chattering before he said, "Tengfei Shao, ready sir!"

He had watched the other man leave, seemingly nervous from the encounter with whoever had been inside. He was hoping to pass with flying colours, if he failed now, he didn't think he could face his fiance. She would be disappointed in him, and his honour would have been stripped of him. He swallowed again, awaiting instruction, knees shaking slightly before he stiffened them, trying to look calm and collected, ready for whatever was in store for him.

Posun moved out of the room quickly, grabbing the suitcase that he had left by the door. It was not a nervous type of quick, but a 'I have to be somewhere' type of quick. The rest of Posun was still recovering from the nervousness as he walked. He passed the next man to come to the door with a nod.

The crowd seemed thicker than before as Posun now tried to navigate to the vehicle that he was told to go to. He wanted to get away from the crowd as fast as he could. What had truly put the man on edge was the fact that all of the people crammed into the room showed not a single sign of aggression. To him, that meant that at least one potentially dangerous person was hiding among the crowd. Posun wanted to minimize the risk of being their when one of the dangerous people decide to do something dangerous.

Once Posun managed to reach the hallway, his pace slowed from a hurried walk to a fast walk. He was looking around following the instructions of the general to find his way to the vehicle he was told to report to.