Chapter 2: Welcome to the Staff Family!
A crowd slowly gathered outside of a stall. Everyone murmuring with a sort of concern, "Is he still asleep? I haven't seen him move yet."
"He could be dead."
"Isn't that the new guy's stall?"
"Oh gosh he was in between those two?"
"No wonder he was still asleep. He must have been kept up by the two yelling between stalls."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THOSE TWO?" Idiot on the Right yelled loudly. He strode right over to the crowd. His large size, and booming voice made most people want to shy away, but that was before they had met his one weakness. A stall door across from the crowd opened with a small bang. Idiot realizing who had appeared to his right quickly turned to greet her, "Oh, hi Carla."
Her very name was enough for the crowd to stiffen, turn around, and stand at attention.
This caused an interesting scene. Even though Carla was a good deal shorter than everyone else and had no obvious source of power like someone like Idiot, they all showed her the utmost respect and listened to her every word. Upon seeing the crowd, Carla asked with a grimace and rough voice, "What's the occasion?"
A few elbows to each other's sides decided which person would answer. Idiot stepped forward, "Ma'am, the new guy isn't up yet."
"Then wake him up! The king's Divine Bequeathment starts at 7! I'm assuming you've all checked in with the church? Your time is the king's time! No exceptions! Glory to the king!"
"YES MA'AM!" the crowd shouted back their recognition of their order, "Glory to the king!"
Carla walked away to the meeting area, and the crowd returned to themselves, "So who's waking him up?"
"It doesn't take a crowd to wake up someone."
"I can't believe he's not awake already."
"We can make the idiot do it if we all walk away right now?"
"Sounds good to me! Good luck idiot!"
"Yeah I still need to hit up the church."
Idiot watched everyone leave. It didn't take long for Idiot to realize, he should have just made up an excuse to leave as well. He would curse at them later. Time to wake up this newbie! He turned around to look back inside the stall only to have two grey eyes staring at him, wide open, just a small distance above the door.
Idiot took a step back in surprise, not only was the new guy a kid, but he looked terrified! He had large, sad eyes and dark brown hair that was disheveled. What the heck happened to this kid? He decided to try to coax him out of the stall. After all he hadn't visited the church yet, how was he supposed to face the consequence of such an action at a young age?
"Hey kiddo," Idiot dropped to eye level to ease the kid's nerves.
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Julian thought the man outside his stall door was crazy and immediately tuned him out when he addressed him as 'kid'. Kid? What kid? I'm 18 years old! I'm not that short! And what was all this creepy talk about my 'new family'? Regardless, he decided to play it nice, maybe he looked like a kid. He stroked his chin in thought and immediately reconsidered. How could I look like a kid? I have a gosh dang beard!
Julian stood up to his full height which was just enough to get his face over the stall door. He was about to tell him off before the man in front of him scanned his face. The man looked confused for a second before his face lost interest completely only saying, "Oh," dully and grunting as he placed his hands on his knees to stand at his full height. A good 2 feet taller than Julian.
"You should give up on the beard. It doesn't suit you."
"Excuse me?" Julian frowned. It wasn't really shocking that his beard didn't look good. He had decided that himself earlier. He was going to shave his patchy beard soon. Well, before this whole ordeal, but that didn't mean he wouldn't stand up for himself.
"It looks like you did a poor job at stealing a small pelt and stuck it on your face."
Julian was about to retort when a familiar robotic voice reconnected with a small statement, [Fights between subordinates are not permitted and will result in penalties of experience points and karma points.] Losing track of his thoughts, Julian's frown deepened causing what he knew to be a crease in his brow. He had more questions to ask the system later.
Idiot on the other hand thought this frown was from his joke and bellowed out a laugh followed by a large smile, "Bwa-ha-ha! You remind me of Collin! We should get along just fine! But come, come we should get a move on!" he beckoned Julian out of the stall, and offered his hand, "I'm Geoff Staff, and you?"
Julian clasped his open hand in a handshake, "Julian."
"Oh don't sell yourself short! You're a part of the Staff now! Be proud! Glory to the king!"
Julian smiled awkwardly, "Glory to the king."
Slapping Julian's shoulder with his other hand, Geoff released another laugh, "Welcome to the family, Julian Staff!"
[Achievement Unlocked: Comrades in Arms
Befriend a fellow subordinate! (+5 exp)
New Mission Unlocked: It's dangerous to go alone!
Befriend 3 fellow subordinates! (+15 exp)]
Releasing Julian's hand, Geoff looked over his clothes with a raised eyebrow and mumbling something under his breath before motioning Julian to follow him. "Got some interesting clothes there," he said aloud.
No kidding, Julian's getup was completely different than Geoff's who had a lot less buttons and more strings. Not to mention a lot less colorful.
"Do you remember where you got them?" Geoff asked carefully as he started walking down the hall.
Truthfully Julian did not. He couldn't remember where he bought them. After catching up to Geoff's long strides, he responded, "No, I don't remember where I bought them, but—."
"Ah, I see," Geoff cut him off, You must have been brought in from the Imperial Lab."
"Lab?"
"Oh yeah, a weird place, that one is. Run by one of the king's brothers too, Prince Colton, the eldest son of the previous king if I remember correctly."
"The eldest… previous?" Julian was confused, if this was a monarchy shouldn't the eldest brother be king, "Wait, he's not the king?"
Geoff was taken aback, "Why don't you know this? Our King has explained multiple times why he was chosen!" suddenly he gasped and grabbed Julian by the shoulders, staring deep into his eyes, "YOU AREN'T A PARADIGM SPY ARE YOU?"
"No? I think I might be deaf though," Julian rubbed his ears.
Geoff took a second to contemplate his answer and a look of recognition crossed his face, patting Julian on the shoulder he released him, "I guess Imperial Lab rats are prone to being forgetful. We did have a similar case a while ago," he turned quickly and continued walking in the same direction he was before. They exited the long hallway of stalls through a large doorway. Outside was a courtyard of bustling people all going about their business. Hundreds of feet clattered on the cobbled street. They almost looked like a galaxy as they spiraled around a 3-tiered fountain at the courtyard's center. Geoff continued walking straight through the crowd, and the sea parted for him.
Julian picked up the pace to stay close behind Geoff and not get swept up by the crowd around him. He had a bit more pep in his step as he realized someone might be in a similar situation as him. But, how similar? Did they have a robot in their head too? Cautiously he asked Geoff, "What similar case?"
Geoff's natural voice boomed over the crowd, "You'll meet him in a bit, but I wouldn't suggest getting too close. He's cold and creepy. Says he lost most of his memories of our great country to the experiments at the Lab. Honestly though, the Lab's experiments were just rumors before he came. Ah, here we are, the church."
Julian looked up at the building in front of them. It was a tall, grand building made out of grey, almost silver bricks. Not a single speck of dirt could be seen. On the face of the building, many small pictures were sketched, almost telling a story, but the meaning was lost do to how much the pictures had worn away. On top of the building, a large crown encircled a moon; it was no religious figure Julian had ever seen, "A church?"
"Of course! At the start of Good King Sinclair's reign, going to church became mandatory, everyday. Everyday, we get to worship our Good King," Geoff, with a gentle smile on his face, letting out a loving sigh, "Now," Geoff turned excitedly to face Julian, "Are you ready to meet your king?"
Geoff didn't wait for Julian's answer and excitedly pushed the heavy door in front of them open far enough to let himself through and pulled Julian in along beside him. The room was dark except for the light following them in. But that was before Geoff pulled the door shut.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Prior_Mars
Prior_Mars [Another Author Comment Deleted]
I wonder what I said... no seriously I got rid of it before I read it.
Oh well.
A few plot points changed in this chapter. If you notice any grammatical errors that annoy you let me know. I'll be happy to fix them since I'll be annoyed with them too. lol
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone