"I thought you would never ask," the man says in an exuberant tone, standing up. Twirling in a circle slowly, he walks with his eyes on everyone in the room. "My name is Lance Corporal Ian Chesterfield. I was dragged out of college for the stupid war. But I will make the most of it. My mother always taught me to bring elegance everywhere I go. Every walk I take must be intentional and every bullet I fire must be fired with the intent to kill. Every word I speak must be spoken with the utmost intelligence."
The whole room's eyes widened as if they were watching a film unfold.
"I know I have that impact on people," Ian says, winking. "That is all I have to say, Captain Dashner. I didn't want to take up too much of our precious time as we have a war to fight and we have skills to hone. May we go into the battlefield with elegance." He took his right hand to the air and waved it down, bowing as he sat back into his seat.
"I guess I'll go next! I'm ready to just get out there and take care of business. My name is Staff Sergeant Marcus Dalton." The young brown skinned man with a small Afro and brown eyes looks around the room as if he didn't have a care in the world. "There's only one thing elegant on this planet. I got laid off at my job in the factory and my family fell on hard times so I'm doing this for my mom. She had to beg me though. Hopefully there's enough women out there on the foreign streets for me to lay some pavement down on. I'm just trying to survive, so keep your heads on straight and talk to the chaplain if you have issues.
Captain Dashner shook her head as her eyes peered at Rosemary, who was off in her own world. "Young woman with the blue pigtails, would you mind focusing?"
"Sorry about that, I was just staring at the clouds. I often think that we are like clouds," Rosemary says as she puts her hands out. "We just drift through the universe, and this war is not a part of it. I just know we can make it if we stick together. I am from the city near the outskirts. My parents owned a farm, and we raised cattle for the city. I'm the medic, so I'll be teaching you guys a lot about how to save a life when the situation calls for it." Rosemary nods and sat back down, putting her hands over each other and gazing at the ceiling above.
Abby looks around the room as everybody stares at her. "I guess I'll go next. If you read the file, you already know who I am. I am Abby Berkshire. I am the granddaughter of the famed Timothy Berkshire, one of the heroes of Flora. Please don't treat me any differently because of my name. I'm here to mark my own path and make my grandfather proud. I come from the outskirts of Enclair, near the mountains. I look forward to working with all of you." Abby bows and echoes a gentle smile as her eyes once again glance around the room, everyone peering at her.
"You know that I have to hit that, right?" Marcus says, and took out his comb and brushes his Afro back, licking his lips at Abby.
"Cut the chit chat," Captain Dashner says as she looks over at Luna.
"Luna, she called on you," Abby whispered over to her, nudging her with her elbow.
"I know. All right everyone, my name is Luna Neil and I am from the town of Port Chesten. Please don't ask too much about me as I'm ever interesting. Some people say my glasses are too big. A lot of people say they make me seem smart, but I really don't know. I think they're just trying to make me feel better because I have low self-confidence. I really don't like war and I hope not to kill anybody. But it's my smarts that got me here so yeah. Only talk to me if it's mission related. That is all."
"What did she say?" Marcus exclaimed. "I'm from the country, sister, and I need you to slow down. We both speak the same language, but I need an interpreter to understand what you say." The dark-skinned man took both of his fingers and pulled his ears out, awaiting an answer.
"She's just shy," Abby states. "We are all just getting to know each other here." She cast a glance at Luna, who was sitting next to her, her eyes slightly watering.
"Such innocence should not be protected. Let out your emotion, my dear comrade," Ian states. He reaches out his hand trying to reach Luna from across the room.
"Will all of you just leave that poor little girl alone? She's traumatized and trembling. She is talking about something called a goober. I don't know what a goober is because I'm from a different part of the country. For all I know it could be some sort of pet I don't know. My name is the Bertha Miller Master Sgt. Bertha Miller if you want to be correct. I'm from the outskirts of Masten. I'm here because I got 11 kids. I got laid off on the job." The big boned woman stood up and rubbed her shoulders. "My husband done have a stroke and he can't take care the kids, so all of my family members are watching them so I can go off and fight this war. I'm doing this for them, and who knows, maybe some y'all will learn something from me because I've been around the block more than most to you." Bertha took a seat looking over at Luna, giving her sweet smile. "Don't worry sugar, I'll keep all these hounds off you."