163 Why I Became A Contractor: Part 1

Tuesday, 25th of June 2021. SDC Main Base 1700 Hours.

Two figures with a standard-issue woodland uniform were in the upper platform of the main base. Patrick sat down on the floor of the upper deck of the main base. His eyes were directed at the sunset on that blue sea. He took a rest with Lynn on that upper deck.

"How was it?" Lynn caressed Patrick's back.

"Well, it was an easy day compared to our usual nature of the operation," Patrick said.

"I see," Lynn said as she was fiddling around with her PDA. She wanted to check on the item that was available to be developed due to the advancement in the team.

[Improved 5.56 Ammo LV.1]

5.56 ammo that has been tapered with better combustible material. Increasing the pressure in the bullet casing and increasing the velocity of the bullet itself. Increasing the effectiveness of 5.56 bullet by 30%

[Develop?] [YES|NO]

Lynn clicked the yes button and the development of the bullet started. It had a timer. The timer indicated the estimated time of completion. Meanwhile, Patrick would enjoy the afternoon with Lynn on the top deck.

"So... We've made it this far eh?" Patrick said.

"Yeah, I can't believe this either," Lynn said.

Both of them had placed an alcoholic beverage between both of them. They wanted to be dead drunk for the first time. They had requested help from Aline in case they had the worst hangover of the history of the newly founded SDC.

The alcoholic drinks were vodka and whiskey. Both were very strong. There were two shot glasses between the bottle.

"Ok, which one we should open first?" Patrick asked.

"Whiskey." Lynn opened the bottle of whiskey and poured one shot at the glass.

Patrick grabbed a glass and he sipped it slowly. The pungent smell of Ethanol immediately hit his nose. Patrick felt uncomfortable, but seeing Lynn gulped down one glass in one single strike made him question his manliness. He did the same thing.

As the liquid touched his throat, the burning sensation from the alcohol immediately got on his nerve. Meanwhile, Lynn had poured another shot at her glass.

"What's the matter, Patrick? I thought you are used to drinking beers in the boarding house with Alex." Lynn said as she poured her whiskey at the glass.

"Nah, give me some of that," Patrick said.

Lynn poured the whiskey on Patrick's glass and Patrick sipped the whiskey. The burning sensation of the alcohol was still there, but his body felt warmer because of the alcohol. Lynn poured another one at his glass and Patrick forcefully drunk it since he didn't want to be seen as weak in front of Lynn.

He gulped down another glass down his throat and he had felt a bit dizzy. There were two suns on his eyes. He had been poisoned by the alcohol. However, Lynn still continued to drink the alcohol shamelessly.

'Hmm, I'd rather be dead drunk as well than letting her got too drunk that she could no longer walk.' Patrick opened the bottle of Vodka. The bottle opening process produced two cracks and Patrick started chugging down the vodka down his throat.

The vodka burned his throat hotter than the whiskey. The alcoholic content on the vodka was way higher than the whiskey. Patrick began to chug down the vodka as if he were in a race with Lynn on that alcoholic beverage drinking contest.

The sun had come down as Patrick was still desperately trying to finish the bottle before Lynn finished her bottle of whiskey. The moons had appeared on the horizon. There were two moons in their eyes. Patrick had finished half the bottle, but Lynn still led the competition since there were ⅛ of the bottle content remaining on her bottle.

Patrick rushed. He sucked the vodka out of the bottle to make sure that he finished that bottle before Lynn finished her whiskey.

'Last one.' Patrick gulped the remains of Vodka inside of that bottle. The 750 ml of vodka with 60% alcohol was drunk by him. It was a shame that Clara didn't join due to her being busy decorating her own room.

Patrick put the bottle on the floor of that main base and he felt as if the world was spinning around him. He looked at Lynn and there were three Lynns. Patrick made sure that his eyes weren't fooling him, but there were really many Lynns in front of his eyes.

"Patrick?" Lynn waved her hand multiple times in front of Patrick.

Patrick shook his head, "Yes?"

"Could I tell you a story?" Lynn asked as she rubbed her face on Patrick's shoulder.

"Ok." Patrick put his head on Lynn's head. Lynn immediately started telling her story. The story was about when she joined the contractor. It all happened a very long time ago, back when she was still in Junior high school.

Patrick remembered that Lynn was not treated well on her junior high school days, but he didn't have any idea about the severity of it since Patrick was not in the same school as Lynn when he was in junior high school. Lynn started telling her story as she was in her drunken state.

***

On a peaceful Friday afternoon, I was in the classroom. The class was empty as usual since there weren't many students left after five o'clock in the afternoon. I was doing an assignment about maths and trigonometry. It was an extra assignment that our teacher gave on that day.

'Phew, finished.' I stood up from my chair and packed my bag. I immediately headed back to my home. Back then, let's just say that I didn't have any friends nor anyone to depend on. My life was ruined since I was some sort of vigilante in that school.

"Look at her. Is she the girl that reported the prince?" One of the girls said as I walked passed them.

The prince was the figure for our school. He was a smart, charming, charismatic, and a student council president in our school. He was idolized by most of the students, mainly because he had all of the qualities that any teenagers wanted to have.

Long story short, I saw him stealing something from the teacher's room. He was stealing a large amount of money from one of the teacher's table. Of course, as a sane person, I immediately approached him to stop doing that.

"Stop it Farl, it's a crime," I grabbed his hands as he stole the cash.

Farl wasn't an idiot, and he was charismatic as hell. He could turn anyone to support him, even when he was clearly in the wrong. After I grabbed his hands, I told him to return the money and he asked me to return it for him.

Unexpectedly, he immediately shouted in the teacher's room that was full of teachers at the moment, "THERE'S SOMEONE STEALING MONEY!!!"

"WHAT?" I returned the money to the desk, but it was too late. The teachers surrounded that teacher's desk and confronted me about the money. They blamed me that I stole the money, but I didn't do it.

"Mrs. McGrath, your parents will be ashamed of your action, I'll call them here," one of the teachers said. He grabbed his phone and called my parents.

"But sir, Farl stole it, not me," I said, but the other teachers preferred Farl's lie instead of my truthful statement.

My parents were called to the school and I was put under surveillance from both my teachers and my parents due to the act that I even didn't do. It didn't matter. I was tired of explaining to a deaf wall, I just acknowledged that I stole it and be done with it.

Guess what? The son of a bitch, Farl, used me as his own toy. He put me under every single blame for his crime since from the day I was blamed by him, my voice was also taken away.

There was a saying that if there was a problem, I could be blamed since I was a troublemaker in their eyes. I was just trying to deal with injustice in my school. Even though Farl was one of the children that a prime minister had, it didn't mean that he had any immunity to the law.

Ok, where was I? As I walked in the hallway of the school, I heard multiple talks about me. They were talking about me as if I weren't there. It was disgusting to hear that. I just ran away as fast as I could to the entrance of the school. Usually, I took a bus to go back home.

However, as I waited for a bus. Something happened, something that changed my life. Something that might be the reason why I became a contractor in the first place.

[To Be Continued...]