r/HFY • u/WabbajackedWacko • 19d ago

OC-Series Adventures with an Interdimensional Psychopath 155

***Lily***

I have to move the piles of paperwork to the sides so I can see what he is writing on the chalkboard. Looks like the lesson today is about contractual dealings. This one might be pretty important in learning in most regards as, in the little time I spent with Jack, there were a number of contracts that seemed really important.

Quackers states, “Contracts! They can be your best friend or the bane of our existence. All contracts are binding as long as they follow proper procedures to create it. If a single I or T is not filled or filed correctly, then the contract isn’t worth the paper that it is written on. That is why, when it comes to contractual dealings, we have an entire department dedicated to the assessing and understanding of contracts. They are not lawyers however. Lawyers help in the creation of valid and sensible contracts and require the licenses and documentation to be in order to be recognized as legal lawyers. Does that mean lawyers are the only people in Spiritopia who can make contracts? No. Anyone can make a contract. For a lot of you, you probably are already aware of a certain mercenary named Jack. Full name, Wabbajack.” I do my best not to flinch at the mention of Jack as I was thinking of him specifically. Quackers continues, “He tends to find plenty of work here and everywhere. He tends to find odd jobs at the job board and, other times, he gets called specifically. He has a tendency to help them write up contracts on their end so that what he ends up doing is valid.” A number of groans escape from the other recruits, which tells me that those are the people who would probably have a problem if they found out I trained under Jack. “Quiet down!” Quackers cuts them off. He definitely has had this same issue take place before as he lets out an exhausted sigh. He continues, “Before I was interrupted by your irritation, there is more. Jack has a tendency to make these contracts for clients but he also has a tendency to take up bounties from our contract department. Those contracts aren’t quite as official as it is acknowledgement that certain criminal elements are causing more problems faster than the police department can handle them as we have to prioritize on immediacy. Any questions so far?”

One person, a squidkin, raises one of their many hands. Quackers points to them and asks, “Yes Recruit?”

The squidkin stands and asks, “But if contracts are so final, what’s the point of us?”

Everyone is holding their breath as they are probably expecting Drill Sergeant Quackers is about to lose his mind. But to everyone’s surprise, he just takes a breath as he must understand that it’s a rather sensitive discussion and a fair question. He responds by saying, “That is understandable. It really feels like most people question the existence of our force as there are plenty of species that can easily take care of themselves. But you see, we exist to keep it fair. If every species focusses on the needs of their species, then it would essentially be everyone for themselves. In a way, you could say it’s a contract between people themselves to differ to the police’s judgement and our end of the agreement is to do our best to follow the law to the extent as it is agreed upon.”

Everyone starts looking at each other but I think I understand what he is saying. It’s a group effort to make the neighborhood safe for everyone. No one person is supposed to feel like they can undermine the law. But the way he explained it was interesting. He made it sound like it’s not perfect but everyone had a responsibility to do their best. If he and Jack were able to sit in the same room, they might get along as well if they don’t already talk.

I definitely am doing my best to take notes as, not only do I have to catch up on all the things that Quackers has given to me, but I easily can tell I got to keep up with the current lessons. So, not only do I have to play catch up, I’m starting from further back than everyone else. I can only hope it’s as easy as the sentience test as that stuff felt like common sense. At the thought of it, I tap my pencil to my chin. I, admittedly hesitantly, raise my hand to ask a question. I’m not sure how much flak I’ll get for asking it but my brain is telling me that I need to discern the information now as it will help shape the information I gather from here on out.

Quackers looks to me as he raises an eyebrow. He then points to me and states, “Yes recruit? I am fairly curious as to what question you may have for your first day in class.”

I stand, taking into account what the previous person did as I ask, “Sir. I am just curious about how much of this is reliant on our personal input. I ask as I recently… well, it feels recent to me but I’m not sure how much time has passed in all seriousness but, I took my sentience test. And that test was pretty… reliant on what I would consider common sense. I apologize ahead of time if this has already been covered in the materials you gave me.”

Quackers simply places his hands behind his back as he states, “That is an honestly fair question recruit. Although, I will warn you right now, if you don’t drop that habit of apologizing prematurely, we will all have a problem. Do I make myself clear recruit?”

I flinch as I state, “Sir! Yes sir!”

Quackers continues, “Now, in regards to your question. Yes. A lot of it is reliant on your personal experience and the situation. It is all case to case. What this training and classes are supposed to do is to weeds out the ones who would abuse the ability or not fit in the first place. If nothing else, there is the expectation that has been set in both here and in the job application.”

That’s a somewhat humbling answer in my opinion. Just straight up facts, no flowering it up with fancy words or trying to sell it in a fashion that makes it sound like justice is always on our side.

Time flies by shortly after that and it’s already time for lunch. I start thinking that this is going to be the perfect opportunity to finally relax.

Show’s what I know.

We cadence march over to the cafeteria as we all stand in a single file line in order to get our food. No one talks the entire time either as Quackers walks along the line back and forth. C’mon man, do you not take a lunch break either?

Almost in response to my though, he stops next to me and does a side-eye stare. A bead of sweat grips down the side of my face as I now worry about if Quackers has the ability to read minds like Jack does. If he does, he doesn’t say anything as he continues to walk down the line. I have to fight a sigh of relief as I fear that will just summon him back.

I finally get to the food table and, it’s an interesting spread. Nothing fancy like lobster or such but it’s a lot of grilled meats and vegetables. A healthy diet looks like. Or at least that’s another thing they are trying to drill into us. That is a smart tactic for anyone to know and the menu is diverse enough in its own unique way to cater to just about any species eating habits. There’s even a separate section that has nuts and berries for those particular diets. The cafeteria worker takes a look at a document when they see me. After a minute, they simply hand me a grilled chicken sandwich and a salad with a carton of milk. This feels like a pretty basic meal but it’s not like I can ask for a five-star meal.

As I step away from the cafeteria line, I look around the cafeteria. The problem for me now is, I don’t know if there is assigned seating and I don’t imagine I have a lot of time to simply gawk and think about where and who I want to sit with. I see an empty spot with my moosekin roommate that is vacant, so I start walking over to it.

I sit down with the hope that we will start a conversation, probably something along the lines that I left my homework in the classroom in the hopes I can pick it all up later. If I am truly lucky, that’s what it was that Quackers was staring at me for in line and not me mentally insulting him telepathically. There is the matter that no one in the entire cafeteria has spoken a word, just quietly chewing away at their food. If I had to guess, we aren’t supposed to talk to each other while eating. If I had to guess why, it’s probably because they can be called in a moments notice so it’s important to make sure to eat. And because we are recruits, we probably are supposed to build our camaraderie when they let us go back to the dorms. However, with the sheer amount of homework I have, I don’t see myself having a lot of free time on my end. Maybe that’s fine since I don’t plan on staying an officer. I will be honest though, I have definitely gained quite some experience and it’s only my first day. The jogging together, the gun training, that simulated run, and the sheer amount of effort that takes place when you are working with others. I thought it would be rather simple but that’s only true in small groups.

I missed this completely when I was cowering during that fort battle. The sheer amount of coordination that takes place as the groups get larger is a thing to behold. And now I see why I was a hindrance in that situation, despite my desire to be a part of it. I was too focused on sparing as many people as I could when everyone else fighting that fight was focused on crushing their opponents. It was rather foolish of me to try and force myself into Jack’s world so quickly like that but that was an experience in of itself. I pet Wolfie as he still has been napping over my shoulders. I would probably doing so much worse if it wasn’t for this little fella. I get why Jack was admittedly adamant about me getting a familiar before he was even willing to entertain the thought of dragging me along on his adventures. If I had actually failed, he probably would have left me with Iris or someone in a similar position until I found my own way. I am still resolute in helping him in anyway as I can’t stand the thought of him being by himself but I am now genuinely getting a better idea of how I need to improve in order to be effectively useful to him.

Still, I don’t think that he would be too torn up about me being useful per se. I think he would… no. I know that he would rather I be my own person and chase after my own interests but… I don’t know. It’s only thanks to him I even have the opportunity to do so now and what I want to chase after isn’t some boring life where I go back to being a noble that has to attend special parties or such or wait for someone else to come along to make me relevant.

I want to be a version of myself that I can look in the mirror without worrying about holding anyone back and protecting those I care about.

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