Rough Draft Preview of Shinano (New Story)

Shinano

With a final stroke of my pencil, I finished filling in the final question on the multiple choice exam, setting it down in a specific manner to indicate to the proctors that I was finished with the exam, then raising my hand. Within moments, one of the proctors of the rather prestigious entrance exam had collected my papers, as to not give me a chance to change my mind and resume working on the test.

It mattered little to me in the end. I was confident in my answers, and, in general, feeling pretty good about my chances to get onto the ship I wanted to, though there was no guarantee. After all, I was, should I pass the test, effectively joining the military, and that came with the expectation that I’d be happy where I was placed. The location and atmosphere of the exam had also made an effort to drive this home to the prospective officers, who were told to arrive at five in the morning, while the test hadn’t started till seven. Hurry up and wait, after all, was something that every member of the military should be familiar with, after all.

Several students had actually dropped out due to this, not being willing to wait the several hours that it would take to get into the building and take the test. Their loss. After all, being in the military meant good pay, solid retirement, and specifically on a ship, having room and board provided for for at least four months. As far as I was concerned, this was the best deal in life I could get, and, of course, the idea of serving the world as a whole appealed to me as an individual.

Though, had I been born ten years prior, I would have just gone to a normal college, I think. The formation of the Global Unified Military Command had shocked the world, though, to most, it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise.

Especially since the Diplomatic Incident with the world at the other side of the massive portal in the pacific hanging over our world’s head, it wasn’t really that much of a surprise that the governments of the world had decided to unify military command under one organization, though the integration was still ongoing. America, my home, was being especially stubborn about it, to my shame and annoyance.

Regardless, that wasn’t that important in the long run. What mattered was-

“Attention! Pencils DOWN!”