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Christian winked, stepping around the desk. “Don’t worry. It gives us time to set you up before the day starts.”

“Uh, General Winter wasn’t exactly clear about what I would be doing,” Oscar admitted.

Christian chuckled. “I’m always telling him he needs to leave explaining things to me. But he insists on that personal touch.”

That would explain why the general felt the need to meet Oscar instead of just sending orders for Oscar to follow. The impression that General Winter was not like other generals was only reaffirmed by that thought. Most were happy letting those under them deal with the everyday work and usually only met with someone when shit was going down.

Christian looked him over pensively, and Oscar tried to hide the discomfort he always felt whenever a stranger watched him. Where once he might have ignored it or demanded to know what they wanted, that all changed the moment Oscar found himself beaten, scarred, and armless. It didn’t help that Christian’s eyes were almost the exact same shade of blue as Troy’s.

Christian nodded. “Right, so you’ll be helping me and, by proxy, General Winter.”

“I’m...going to be a receptionist?” Oscar asked, trying to keep his voice as neutral as he could.

Christian winked again. “It’s not so bad, trust me. General Winter informed me you’ll eventually be taking over training, which means you need to know the ins and outs of the system, the base, and the people you’ll be dealing with. Trust me when I say being the person between General Winter and the rest of the world will give you a very good idea of what you’ll have to deal with later.”

“I-I’m not trained for that.”

“Well, that’s why I’m here now, isn’t it? C’mon and take a seat. I’ll get you started.”

Oscar did as he was told, a little bemused by how friendly and passive Christian was, yet somehow maintained an air of authority and control. The man looked to be in complete control of every muscle in his body, not only moving with precision and harmony, but his expression hadn’t altered when Oscar had shown dismay at playing secretary.

“So, how’s your typing?” Christian asked as he rounded the desk.

“Uh,” Oscar began, looking down at his right arm.

Christian shook his head. “I meant before.”

“It was alright,” Oscar said with a shrug.

“Well, we’ll have to see how you do. You’ll mostly work on a computer, but a tablet is also integrated with the system. You can access everything you’ll need from either one.”

Oscar followed him behind the desk, internally squirming as he tried to figure out how this would work. He’d never been a very good typist, and he doubted losing a hand would make him any better.

Christian motioned to one of the two chairs, set up with a computer and keyboard. “We made sure to have something that might work a little better for you.”

At Christian’s gesture, Oscar looked at the keyboard and cocked his head. He’d always thought keyboards came in one setup, but this one was radically different. All the keys were positioned around a black ball in the center of the keyboard.

Christian leaned forward, placing his hand over the ball. “This will serve as a mouse and keyboard. You can move the mouse on the screen with the ball like this, and these are the mouse buttons. Obviously, you’ll need to adjust to the new layout and improve your typing skills, but that’ll come with time.For now, we just need you to know how to operate it and work with the system, which I’ll be covering today.”

“I didn’t know they made this kind of stuff,” Oscar admitted, looking at the radial shape of numbers and letters around the ball.

“Really? You’ve never looked into anything that would make your life easier?” Christian asked.

“Not really, no.”

Gabriel had tried to talk to Oscar, but he hadn’t wanted to hear it. To buy anything that might make his one hand as good as having two felt like quitting to Oscar. He might not be able to fight beside his brothers in the field, but that didn’t mean he had to take charity or help from anyone. He had more sense than to say it aloud, however, not when he was pretty sure whatever Christian said probably came directly from General Winter or at least would be supported by him.

Christian opened a drawer next to the chair and pulled out a tablet. “And this will work in one-handed mode, so you should be able to use it fully. There’s a case so you can prop it up and use it that way, which I’m pretty fond of when I’m sitting down. I won’t lie.”

Oscar nodded along. “Alright, I guess that’s handy.”

Christian tapped the chair. “Here, take a seat, and I’ll get you started on the basics of the system.”

Oscar did as he was told, unable to hide his trepidation. “Basics?”

Christian crouched beside him, chuckling. “Don’t worry. I know that makes it sound complicated, but it’s really not. General Winter went out of his way to ensure the system would be as streamlined and easy to use as possible.”

The elevator dinged, the sliding doors opening to reveal a dark-haired, sour-faced man. Christian straightened, saw who it was, and muttered under his breath.