The Marigold Machine » Places

         Footsteps echoed throughout the somewhat quiet hall as Jason Tetrick lugged his suitcase, roller bag, and backpack around. His short black hair bobbed slightly with his movements, black eyes scanned right and left, taking in as much as they could. Unlike most of the new recruits who went straight to their rooms, Jason had decided to explore the grounds first, his curiosity leading him every step of the way. As he wandered from hallway to hallway, and room to room, his thoughts were more focused on his whole experience so far.

Like many children, he was surprised about his Marigold Machine results. His dreams of becoming a surgeon was dashed, and his parents had a hard time letting him go. He knew that the Marigold Machine was always right, 100% accuracy, so fighting it was pointless. He instead focused his efforts to become a medic instead, due to his knowledge of human biology. This way, he believed that his skills could still be used. He was nervous at the bus stop and the ride here, but he noticed plenty of interesting people.

The rich and charismatic looking blond girl with her... guardian? Best friend? Boyfriend? It seemed that someone that protective over someone else would be close in some way, but Jason couldn't tell. What did he know? He couldn't even tell if it was actually a boy or not from his position on the back of the bus. He also remembered the white haired boy and how he was examining a brunette's arm. He noted that she had a cybernetic limb, and the white haired one may have had some adjustments himself, but he wasn't sure if it was cybernetic, or genetics. As someone who studied human biology since he was young, he could tell cybernetic limbs apart from normal limbs, but Jason felt kind of weird when it came to the subject. He believed cybernetics and other adjustments really weren't necessary, that the human body is capable of repairing itself unless the limb is blown clean off. It was a mean to replace, not fix. Was the white haired boy interested in becoming a medic too, or just interested in cybernetics? He would be sure to ask him if he bumped into him again.

Jason pulled himself out of his thoughts when his feet brought him to the infirmary. He took a mental note on where to find this place; he knew he would be interested in exploring it more later. A bit of anxiety built in the pit of his stomach thinking about how bad an infirmary could look when its filled with injured people. It reminded him of when his father had brought him to the hospital to show him where he worked when he was younger, then injured civilians started flooding in from a subway bombing. It wasn't a very pretty sight, and his father told him to wait in his office as he tended to the patients. The sounds of groans and screams of pain throughout the building raked on his ears until he started to cry, and a nurse had to comfort him.

The boy shook it from his thoughts. That was the past, he needed to focus on now and the future. He was going to be a medic, and a damn good one. Speaking of the now, Jason felt it was time to stop exploring and get to his room so he could stop dragging his stuff around with him. He reached into his pocket to retrieve his room card and remind himself where he needed to go.

A small noise of confusion escaped his lips as he checked all his pockets and didn't find it. He quickly put down all his bags and opened them, hoping that he absentmindedly put it in one of his bags when he received it.

"Come on... where are you?" He whispered to himself as he rummaged through his belongings. He couldn't have lost it. It had to be here somewhere. After three more minutes of searching, he ran his hands through his hair with frustration and fear, his eyes widening at the results of his search. He had lost his room key, and he didn't even know what room he was assigned to.

Fuck.

He took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.

"Okay, just relax Jason. Just... backtrack and see if you dropped it along the way." He thought. He spun around to begin, when he realized he had idly walked around with no direction while he was exploring.

Fuck!

He started to panic slightly. He couldn't go request for a new one, could he? This was the military. Don't they punish such carelessness with push-ups or laps or something? What if they don't even allow him to have a room to teach him better responsibility? All these thoughts put him on edge, and he quickly grabbed his things and sprinted down the hallway, almost bumping into someone. He had to find that card. Why did he have to lose it?!

"FUCK!" Is the only word that occupied his thoughts.