Somewhere on the sea, Bill stood the deck of a Marine warship. As he watched in the distance he spotted a flock of News Coo, and after calling after them, he was dropped the latest addition of the South Blue Times.
What he read disturbed him.
[Massacre at Panhandle Island!]
Under this article was another reoccurring story about roaming gangs of children committing minor crimes, mostly thefts. This phenomenon had happened on several islands, but oddly never any two islands at once.
Shaking his head with the news, he put the paper in one hand and leaned on the ships railing.
By now Bill was on his way to the Science Division HQ at Marineford. He had tried to keep it a secret, but after probing from his mother, Bill spilled the beans on where his father was sending him for officer school.
It had led to one of the few arguments he had even seen his parents get into. Even Ms. Angie didn’t stay quiet and threw accusations at his father.
The issue was that while the Science Division was a part of the Marines organization, its command structure was separate.
This meant, that besides an Admiral or higher, no one from the outside had any say in what actually happened there.
This was particularly bad for Bill because even if he graduated from the school, without intervention from a very high ranked Officer, at best he would get transferred out as a Lieutenant. If he failed, he would be a simple Petty Officer.
The real kicker though, according to his mother, because Command was separate there was a chance Bill would never ‘fail’ the cadet academy and could instead be sent to guard some menial outpost – receiving the same pay and benefits of a Recruit in perpetuity.
Basically, his father had sent him in a situation where he may never actually join the navy!
With the influence Aramaki had, it wasn’t even an outlandish idea that he conspired to get Dr. Vegapunk to do this for a favor!
And so, the fight in the house that day was shocking.
It wasn’t until after his mother, who was now medically cleared, threatened to rejoin the Marines herself did Aramaki relent and claim that he would make sure Bill didn’t stay in the Science Division for his entire eight-year contract.
But what was done was done, not even Aramaki could get Bill out of the contract, and so here he was on the deck of a ship for the first time.
‘Well, its not so bad.’ Bill thought.
The main benefit from joining the Science Divisions cadet program was that he’d be technically under the Marine HQ umbrella.
Furthermore, Aramaki had given Bill a final gift in the form of a booklet which detailed how to use the Moon Step. What made this special was that Bill hadn’t been made to sign an additional service contract. How Aramaki got this permission, Bill didn’t know.
Bill’s mom hadn’t believed Aramaki when the man had claimed he intended to have Bill chose his own cadet school if he had passed the final test. She thought that it was a convenient excuse and demanded her husband to make it right.
So, this gift had been a peacemaking attempt to his wife, but Bill didn’t complain. After all, this technique was one he felt he really needed.
Sighing audibly, Bill didn’t have grand hopes, but in this situation, working with an Admiral wasn’t too farfetched so he stayed positive.
As he was lost in thought, Bill heard a low voice behind him.
“Excuse me…”
Turning his head, Bill saw a red-headed girl whose eyes were covered by thick bangs, looking to be around thirteen. She had a soapy bucket near her feet and a long-handled scrubber.
“Can I help you?”
When he said this, the girl shied away, but answered anyways: “I just… I just need to mop where you’re standing.”
At this moment, Bill was on the far end of the deck, thinking for a second, he assumed that this girl would scrub from one side to the other.
“Oh, sure.”
Moving back to the side, Bill then asked if the girl needed any help.
While Bill was officially a Marine Recruit, he wasn’t stationed anywhere until he got to the academy. Due to this, he didn’t have any jobs on the ship and was essentially just hitching a ride.
However, that didn’t mean he’d forgot how to pitch in.
To his question, the girl looked at Bill through her bangs and her faced turned red. Seeing her quickly refusing his help, Bill almost laughed aloud.
He had to say, he looked rather dapper in the white and blue uniform.
Still, trying not to embarrass the young girl he changed the subject.
“Well, the offer stands. Say, what field are you going into?”
He thought this was a good neutral topic. After all, this girl looked to be the age when Chore Boys started actual specialized training.
The girl answered his question without looking back up to him.
“…. Logistics Specialist”
When she said this, Bill beamed out: “Ah! Great career choice! Did you know for every Special Operator and Gunner there are eight support personnel? And you guys in Logistics have to juggle both!”
Seeing the girl still not reply, Bill decided to wrap it up, by saying that he wished her the best.
As he turned around to leave, the girl stammered out: “W...wait! What’s your name?”
Turning back to her, he answered: “My name is William D. Ox, but my friends call me Bill!”
Stilling her face behind her bangs the young girl answered hopefully: “Can I call you Bill?”
Then with a laugh Bill said as he turned back to leave: “I reckon so! Now in the future if you ever find yourself in charge of requisitions, don’t forget about me!”
With that and a wave, Bill went below deck and began to study the Moon Step manual.
The rest of the journey was relatively uneventful. There had been a few sightings of smaller sea kings under the ship but the seastone bottom made them invisible. There were also two instances of possible pirate sails in the far distance.
As the days went on, Bill sometimes spoke to the red headed girl, whose name was Rose. If Bill had initially been indulging when he claimed he could be her friend, by the end of the journey he would have readily called her one.
Besides that, he would train and shadow the ship’s Captain, seeing what the duties were for a commissioned Officer.
Bill and the man got along well together, after all, Bill was mindful enough to be attentive when the Captain spoke, and smart enough to ask the right questions.
The ship would occasionally stop at Marines bases along the way. Bill learned firsthand about the navy’s greatest instrument, which was, the Eternal Log Pose. These devices saved a vast amount of travel time, with it, Marine Navigators only needed to know the destination, then they could search for expected weather conditions on each island they were likely to cross.
Finally, at the end of the two-month journey, Bill looked up at the massive Marine Headquarters. The size of the structure was logic defying. From his singular point of view, it seemed at least four times the size of the base on Vallipo Island.
After saying his goodbyes to Rose and the rest of the crew, he took a step on the bridge leading to the dock before being called out by the Captain.
Slapping him firmly on the shoulder, the man said: “Recruit! pick your jaw up off the ground. If you think Marineford is impressive, just wait until you see the Gates of Justice!”
Laughing along with the man, Bill replied with a ‘Yes Sir’ before being held back one last time.
“Kid, keep that head on your shoulders and you’ll be a fine Marine! Once you get out of the academy, it’ll be my pleasure serving beside you.”
Appreciating this, Bill replied respectfully.
“I’ll look forward to it Captain Maynard.”
With that Bill left the ship and walked on. While walking to his destination, Bill got some stares.
Although he was only a few months older than sixteen, he stood over seven feet tall. He was well on his way to his fathers nine and half foot height.
Besides that, Bill was handsome in a conventional sense. He wasn’t stunning by any means, but he looked trustworthy and had a body toned from a lifetime of work.
Not minding the glances, Bill looked around as he went. Marineford Town was huge, and in the future, he hoped to explore it well.
After walking the grid-like streets for nearly half an hour, Bill set his backpack down and got his documents out of it. The Science Divisions head office was about a block away, and he was going to be prepared.
So, with papers in hand he walked to the buildings entrance and through the front door. Obviously Marineford wasn’t stranger to giants and nearly every government building had two entrances.
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Walking in, the building looked like a standard office except the very high ceiling. Giving the place a once over, Bill went to the empty reception desk and gave the bell two brisk rings.
After waiting for a couple minutes, Bill gave the bell another couple rings before deciding to look for someone.
“Hello?”
Calling out as he went behind the counter, Bill saw there were stairs to the left but a hallway entrance to his right.
He quickly decided to look downstairs first due to the fact there should be someone on duty, but as he checked down the hallway, he discovered most doors were locked shut, and the one that was open was empty of anything besides a desk.
By this time, he was still calling out periodically, but wasn’t so hesitant.
Walking quickly back to the reception desk, Bill gave it two more rings before walking up the stairs.
At the top of the steps, he was surprised that instead of another office space there was a wide-open area with a dozen tables.
On top of those tables were various graphs, gears, papers and other instruments.
But what caught his eye most of all was a young man standing at the furthest table from the steps.
The young man was average in height but very round with green hair and wore a plain white lab coat with an odd gear-work set of glasses.
Even after clearing his throat, the man still seemed focused on his work, so Bill walked over slowly.
As he got closer, he could see the man working on some kind of equations surrounding a drawing of a cube.
“Excuse me?”
Now startled by Bills close voice the round scientist bounded up before turning around.
“Just in time, just in time!”
As he said this, the man excitedly motioned Bill to come closer.
“See here! This is it!!”
Walking up to the table, Bill looked back and forth. The equations were ones he didn’t recognize.
Bill had been a high school English teacher in his later first life, so it wasn’t a surprise that anything past algebra was alien to him.
“Well, what am I meant to see?”
Looking scandalized by this, the round scientist proclaimed.
“This is PROOF that reality isn’t as it seems! Can’t you tell?”
Not expecting this answer, especially since the paper in front of him was mostly a drawing of a cube, Bill asked carefully.
“Uh, no, I can’t. Could you explain it to me?”
At this question, the man jumped into action. He drew a picture-perfect cube and said to Bill.
“Ok now, which is the front of the cube?”
After pointing to the front and then to the sides, the round scientist said: “Ok now, close your eyes.”
Doing as he was told, Bill said: “Alright.”
“Ok, now, point to the side of the cube is facing you?”
Stumped by this, Bill thought for a few seconds before saying: “Well, there’s no actual cube. It was a drawing.”
“Precisely!”
Spurred on by this the round scientist exclaimed further: “Our minds make an image and project it into reality! You saw the cube clearly on the paper, you saw how it was positioned, these were all invented by your own mind to give you context!
But it wasn’t actually real!”
Shaking his head now, thinking this young man was potentially crazy, Bill retorted with: “Well, it was a drawing. Look, I can see you, I can smell and touch you. You are clearly real.”
“Yes! I am real, but what you see, this face this body, is just your perception of me!
Those perceptions are real, as perceptions, but they are not the fundamental reality.”
As he said this, the round scientist stopped for a second before asking: “When you walked up the stairs, what was behind your head?
The answer is nothing. You couldn’t perceive it, and so it wasn’t real. It was so unreal you never even considered it!”
Stumped by this, Bill thought surely this young man had played a word trick on him. After a quiet minute, he was about to reply when he felt he was in the eyes of a predator.
Turning around with the intention to act, Bill saw a still-empty space.
Dropping his backpack, Bill was about to take the round scientist and run when he heard a mad laughter.
Shurorororo!
Hearing the laughter from directly behind him, Bill reached his hand back – grabbed the round scientist – and bounded forward, away from whatever it was.
Turning his head, he saw a man form out of thin air. This man had on a white lab coat with the two English words for ‘Gas’.
But what stood out to Bill was this guy’s maniacal smile.
Behind Bill, the round scientist muttered in a panicked voice: “Cae…Caesar Clown!”
As if he didn’t hear, the clown poured over the papers the young man had been working on.
“What uninspired TRASH!”
Throwing the papers off to the side, the clown said haughtily.
“I told you Hoffman, this idea of yours is a fool’s errand, and even if it were true what would it matter! We LIVE IN PERCEIVED REALITY!
You should have stayed working with me, but instead look where you are now!”
To this, the round scientist named Hoffman seemed to gain a bit of courage: “Thi..this research is the future!”
As he spoke Caesars stopped listening, as for Bill, his eyes never left the clown.
“Enough! Being here has clearly not helped you see the truth. So, you can just stay here for eternity!
And you! Are you the recruit William Ox?”
Not letting his guard down, Bill still answered with a ‘yes’.
“Good! Very good! At least you look impressive!
I’m here to pick you up. Come with me now.”
As he said this, Caesar drifted away like a cloud.
Looking over his shoulder, Bill asked Hoffman: “Is he a superior?”
Looking troubled the round scientist explained: “Superior? No… but… ah…. He does work directly under Dr. Vegapunk.”
Vegapunk was a man who Bill knew of. So, he grabbed his bag, said goodbye, and cautiously followed the dangerous looking clown.