Before Kade had exited his combat class, Dawn was still situated in the interview room, a cold, sterile place that lacked any proper details, only allowing her eyes to find stimuli in the interviewer's presence.
They were an older man with grey strands of hair and a messily shaven face; his pupils told their own story of exhaustion and confidence. His broad shoulders leaned forward as he observed the sleeper in front of him.
She had already told him the basics of her aspect; after all, he already had information about it. Although he was at the academy, he was aligned with the government first and had read the report from the ATV driver when Shadow Blade Kurt had caused a ruckus.
The witness report stated that Dawn suddenly summoned his pistol into reality like a memory and decided to shoot Kurt in the head. The supposedly mundane weapon somehow kills the awakened easily. Well in all matters of facts a man like Kurt should of been able to get away with a couple of shots to the head.
He was an awkward, and a powerful one at that; it should have been impossible.
The document had been reviewed, and it all came to one conclusion.
That Dawn had turned a firearm into a memory.
"You understand why I'm being so direct about this right?"
Dawn shifted slightly in her seat, her golden locks coming to veil her eyes by the slightest margin.
"I understand"
The interviewer nodded.
"Good, because the government will not let an instance like this go unnoticed, and as such they have taken great interest in you sleeper Dawn. Honestly, if you weren't enrolled in the academy, they probably would steal you away for themselves."
Dawn mentally sighed; a couple of years ago, she expected a somewhat normal time back in her life and at the Awakened Academy, like any other sleeper, to be awakened to support under the great song, but any order or sense in her life had been thrown away by now.
With her father presumably kidnapped and the clans of song who she once owed service to now aiming somewhat for her head as well, she had caught herself up in the plot of things that didn't concern her, and now the government wanted to snatch her up thanks to her abilities.
As much as it was stressful, the chaos that was delivered upon her door gave way to opportunities as such.
"So, what does the government want from me? I understand that they want something from me, but you haven't specified what really."
The awakened tapped the table with his fingers, answering matter-of-factly
"The government is still made up of ghouls from times back, people who had lived in a world where guns were still the symbol and epitome of power in this world. Now that the decades have passed, they are still disappointed to see that fantasy go..."
Pointing towards her, he stated.
"And when they saw the video of you, that's when their old fantasies popped back up, one where guns were king, so now they are keen to groom you into a weapon for themselves, one that is unique to them."
Dawn sternly looked at the interviewer.
Dawn did not have much power; it was not as if she could refuse them without consequences, so she had accepted the fact that she would be latched onto them in some sort of connection, and she had the opportunity to receive their support easily.
Gathering confidence, she questioned.
"What do I get out of it then? If they want to buy my loyalty, then they ought to show the price for it."
Although her life was thrown into chaos, there was a goal, a purpose to the paths laid before her, to save her father from the clutches of song, and for that, she would need to be strong, strong enough that she could stand toe to toe with his capturers and the consequences of her rebellion.
The interviewer's lips parted into an amused grin, his tired eyes growing slightly sharper.
"Straight to the point, I have to thank you for that, I was ready to go on for days about why you should consider the offer." He shrugged indefinitely. "Yet again your head is on the line; song made it clear that much."
The interviewer cleared his throat, bringing the communicator.
"First and most importantly, your classes will instead be held at a local facility near the academy, where our specialists will teach you how to handle such firearms effectively for use in combat."
"Second, we will test what you can memorise and then supply you with weaponry that you can assume into your own arsenal, as well as a bonus of 100 dormant soul shards for you to absorb"
Dawn's eyes widened in surprise, she hadn't expected them to go all out, especially when she had yet to face the winter solstice.
'They want to add reassurance that I will survive, seems like there willing to wade the risk of resources spent as such' It was a bit alarming how far they were willing to go for a measly sleeper.
"Third and final is a large surplus of credits. Considering the loss of funds with your father's disappearance, this money would help you live a good life in the waking world."
Dawn let his words hang in the air, before asking.
"What are the conditions..."
The Awakened replied with a stale tone.
"The conditions are as stated.
You will swear allegiance to the government and will be unable to ally yourself with any legacy clan until the government has decided otherwise. You must answer the commands and leadership of the government; any action to oppose this might result in the loss of rights as an awakened and potentially as a human."
Silence was provided, and Dawn considered the decision once again.
She was selling her freedom, a price that would be too high for some to ever agree to pay.
But she had experienced the powerlessness she had felt recently, it would only continue if she didn't fight back against it, Dawn understood that she was only alive because of Kade, despite his great work, she could not allow herself to be weak and latched onto something.
The offer was foolish to refuse and just as foolish to accept. But opportunity rarely came without a catch.
Either way of the deal, she lost something, and freedom was a price that could be carved back to her grasp with the strength given to her.
'I will do what I must'
Taking a deep breath Dawn replied.
"I accept"
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The door clicked shut behind her as Dawn stepped back into the dormitory corridor, taking an agitated stride away.
She didn't look back.
Her face was calm, but her fingers twitched at her side, restless with the choice she had just made. It weighed over her, knotting into dread mixed with mixed with something else, not hope necessarily instead a strange sense of certainty.
'Its in the past now, who cares what future me will regret, right now I'll get the power to ensure I can even live long enough to curse myself for it!'
Life had been overwhelming, Dawn now mentally bummed about the fact that it was most likely never change for a while, it was something she would have to deal with.
Currently she had missed out on whatever class she would have had if the deal had not gone through, so instead she was left with not much to do, except maybe say hi to Kade and have a chat.
Part of her was curious about how the troublemaker dealt with the interviewer; maybe he pissed them off to the point that he got to leave early; it sounded like something he might do.
Either way, talking to him might relive some off her stress; luckily, he had given her the location of his room. She didnt know why she needed the information, but it was great to know at this moment in time.
On her way there she received a few gazes; she was a bit surprised by the attention, but it made sense; after all, she was still wearing the black dress of [Lady Death]. It wasn't normally the attire that sleepers had, as they seemed to always be wearing fewer formal clothes and more styled attire that one could quickly fight if needed.
'Maybe its also because of [Silent]?' The memory had an enchantment which made her movements completely deaf; it didnt do much for her right now, only really muting her footsteps. It only made her feel more hidden between the walkways of the academy.
Despite how much looks she was getting.
Eventually she made it to Kades abode.
She paused outside the door, listening. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe she should—
"Hey Byakko it would be great if you DIDN'T lay on top of me!"
"..."
"You're a two-tonne beast that could easily tear apart an ATV; I don't need to have to worry about being sat on and dying before the solstice!"
Dawn silently listened to the commotion. Confusion written all over her.
'What the fuck is he talking about???'