Chapter — Useful Enough
Central did not look like somewhere Torin belonged.
Everything was too clean.
Too quiet.
Too expensive.
He had expected to meet someone from upper command.
He had not expected three security checks, two neurological screenings, and a warning that attempting to access restricted command levels could result in immediate memory correction.
Torin decided not to touch anything.
Eventually he entered a large briefing room.
An Admiral sat at the far end.
General Voss stood beside him.
Torin stopped.
Then looked again.
"Captain?"
Voss glanced toward his new insignia.
"General."
Torin blinked. "Since when?"
"Twenty-seven minutes ago."
Torin smiled. "Congratulations."
Voss looked annoyed.
"Don't."
The Admiral almost smiled.
Almost.
He gestured toward the chair opposite him.
"Sit."
Torin obeyed.
The Admiral introduced himself.
"Admiral Ceryn Vale."
Torin straightened.
Everyone in the Corps knew the name.
Vale specialized in intelligence assessment and theater command. He was the sort of person whose reports became somebody else's orders.
Vale opened a file.
"Your physical scores are poor."
Torin's shoulders dropped slightly.
Vale continued, "Your Binary manipulation is substantially below candidate average."
Torin glanced at Voss.
Voss looked completely unsurprised.
Vale continued, "Weapons discipline, mediocre. Tactical processing, improving. Combat experience, insufficient."
Torin asked, "Am I being rejected?"
Vale looked up.
"Under normal circumstances?"
Torin waited.
"Yes."
That hurt.
Vale continued.
"These are not normal circumstances."
A projection appeared.
Kaosu's image rotated above the table.
Vale said, "Most standard Corps personnel cannot remain combat-effective within close proximity to this individual."
Torin looked at the image.
Vale continued, "You had no resistance conditioning. No energy reinforcement. No high-level Binary shielding."
"No."
"And yet you remained conscious."
Torin nodded.
Vale asked, "Why?"
Torin thought about the village.
"My family was behind me."
Vale waited for something more technical.
Nothing came.
Voss gave the faintest smile.
Vale changed the projection.
Nyxus appeared.
Torin immediately recognized the hoodie.
Vale asked, "This is the individual?"
"Yes."
"Nyxus. Designation Access Denied."
Torin nodded.
Vale leaned back.
"You personally witnessed him engage Kaosu?"
"Yes."
"Directly?"
"Yes."
"Did Kaosu appear to be restraining himself?"
Torin remembered mountains breaking.
The sky turning red.
Meteors being dragged across space.
Torin replied, "Not much."
Vale looked toward Voss.
Voss said nothing.
Vale asked, "How powerful was Nyxus?"
Torin considered the question.
"Enough that Kaosu had to take him seriously."
That got the Admiral's attention.
Vale asked, "Anything else?"
Torin nodded.
"He ate during the fight."
Vale stared.
Torin clarified, "A lot."
Voss said, "Relevant?"
Torin replied, "Probably not."
Vale closed the Nyxus file.
"Your report has value."
Torin waited.
Vale continued, "Your scores do not qualify you for standard acceptance."
Torin's face fell.
Vale finished, "Your current usefulness does."
Torin looked up.
Vale slid a Corps insignia across the table.
"Congratulations. You are Continuum Corps."
Torin didn't move.
For years he had imagined that sentence.
It had always sounded louder.
There had usually been music.
Possibly applause.
In reality, it happened in a quiet room while the Martial Division prepared to kill a god.
Torin picked up the insignia.
"Thank you."
Vale looked toward Voss.
"General."
Voss straightened.
Vale continued, "He's yours."
Torin immediately looked concerned.
Voss looked equally displeased.
Vale added, "Three months."
Voss frowned. "For what?"
The projection changed.
A location appeared.
A-27-M-91-U-404
KARMIC OPERATIONAL ZONE
Torin's stomach tightened.
Vale said, "Early-contact forces are being positioned near Karma's active theater."
Voss stared at him.
Vale continued, "More than one million General-class officers have already been committed across the surrounding operational zones."
Torin almost dropped the insignia.
"One million?"
Vale ignored him.
Voss asked, "You want him involved?"
Vale replied, "I want him trained."
"He's nowhere near General-combat standard."
"I know."
"He's nowhere near ordinary combat standard."
Torin looked offended.
Vale continued as though he hadn't heard that.
"He has survived exposure to Kaosu. He knows members of ACT personally. He has direct knowledge of Access Denied. That currently makes him unusual."
Voss looked at Torin.
Then back at Vale.
Vale leaned forward.
"Three months. Train him."
Voss asked, "And if he performs well?"
Vale smiled faintly.
"I'll see whether I can get your new General insignia replaced with an Admiral's."
Voss looked horrified.
"Please don't."
Torin laughed.
Voss turned toward him.
Torin stopped.
Vale stood.
"Dismissed."
As they left, Torin looked down at his Corps insignia.
He had made it.
Technically.
Through a collapsing personnel threshold, a Divine Extermination emergency and what appeared to be administrative desperation.
Still counted.