[Riven's POV]

The holding area which is what Gordon called it....felt like a doctor's waiting room....with white walls that made it seem like an actual dental waiting room to be exact.

Plastic chairs arranged in neat rows, fluorescent lighting that hummed with persistent irritation, and the kind of institutional beige walls that made it even more...damned.

Riven sat among a dozen other people who'd been deemed worthy of evaluation but not yet worthy of trust.

To his left, a middle-aged man with burn scars covering half his face stared at his hands with the hollow expression of someone who'd seen too much.

And to his right, a young woman maybe Elena's age clutched a backpack like it contained everything she owned....which it probably did.

"How long have you been waiting?" Riven asked the scarred man quietly.

"Hmm....that's a weird question....but its been three days now," the man replied without looking up. "They seem to take this interview thoroughly here....but its better than being dead, I suppose."

Riven looked at the man with a deadpan expression "sure, I guess...."

Gordon had left him here with promises that "the process doesn't take long" and instructions to "answer honestly but don't volunteer information they don't ask for."

But still....it was the advice that made Riven wonder what kind of questions were coming.

Well, it can't be as bad as the Guild right??...Riven thought to himself as he looked around the room...everyone was either looking at their belongings like they could get robbed at any moment.

While others look like they have given up on their lives...with their hollow looking eyes and dark circles under their eyelids.

Through the room's single window, he could see more of New Eden's organization.

The Guards were also positioned opposite their building chatting over something....

I wonder how good the tea is for them to keep at it like that. Riven slightly smiled looking at them...

At least they were actual people here...not like in the Guild, that had people moving like they were robots or something.

But still, work details moved between buildings with clear purpose.

Even the children he glimpsed seemed to understand their role in maintaining the settlement's security...but they were smiling at least before they saw me..I guess they have safety measures or something incase they see strangers.

These people had turned survival into a system.

"Is this your first evaluation?" the young woman by his right asked, noticing his observation of the settlement's operations.

"Yeah. You?"

"This is my Second time." She shifted her backpack to her lap. "The first settlement i was in....kicked me out after two weeks. They said I was 'resource negative.'" Her bitter laugh suggested that rejection still stung.

"What does that mean?"

"Means I ate more food than I contributed in labor or skills." She extended a scarred hand. "Lisa Park....Former accounting student, current 'professional refuge '. " she said with a giggle.

"Riven Duke. Former..." He paused. What was he, exactly? "Well, Former Guild prisoner, I guess."

Lisa's eyebrows rose. "Guild prisoner? That's either very good or very bad for your evaluation prospects."

Before Riven could ask what she meant, a door opened and a settlement officer entered.

It was a tall, lean man with a aged face....and of course, he has a black hair with it already showing signs of it graying.

"Riven Duke," the officer called.

"Here" Riven couldn't help but say...which made everyone in the room to look at him like he's an elementary student....

Uhm, did I say something wrong??... he looked around puzzled...

The girl (Lisa) didn't say anything but shook her head with a slight smile.

"Ehh?" He felt he missed something but didn't dwell on it.

Riven followed him through corridors of repurposed banking infrastructure that got converted to a military command.

There was reinforced doors, security cameras, weapon storage visible through partially open rooms.

Till they got to a door...it wasn't any different from what he saw along the hallway...just the plain ol reinforced door....uhm...yeah.

The interview room...which was Riven's guess ,was very simple:there was a table, two chairs, and a recording device on the table....

"I'm Lieutenant Hayes," the officer said, settling down on a chair and gestured for Rivento have a sit "This is a standard security evaluation. You only have to answer truthfully and completely."

"Understood."

Hayes consulted his tablet. "Elena Vasquez vouched for your character and stated you helped her escape Guild custody. Confirm or deny."

"Confirm."

"Nature of your relationship with Ms. Vasquez?"

"We were imprisoned in the same facility. I helped her escape because the Guild was using her for medical experimentation."

Hayes made notes. "What's your system classification?"

Here was the first real test.

Elena had warned him about being honest....he can't go around revealing everything about his system.

"It's a Enhancement type," Riven said. "I can boost my physical capabilities under certain conditions."

"What's the specific enhancement category?"

"Adaptive enhancement....I think am not really sure. But it's boosts change depending on the situation."

Phew, that was close...I don't know much about systems but I do know a little bit due to Marcus...

And It wasn't technically a lie.

His emotion looting did provide adaptive enhancements based on what emotions he absorbed.

Hayes wrote more notes. "Any combat experience by any chance?"

"I don't have much.....it's just that I dont have a choice....it's mostly survival situations." Riven answered truthfully.

"Any Guild training?"

Riven's jaw tightened. "..."

"Should I take that for a yes??" Hayes asked with a raised brow.

"They called it training....but I'd see it as a systematic psychological conditioning designed to break down my resistance to following orders."

For the first time, Hayes looked up from his tablet. "Do Elaborate".

"They separated me from my support network...yes, I have a support network...we were a pair, subjected me to stress testing that pushed my abilities past safe limits, and used other prisoners' suffering as leverage to make me comply with their objectives."

Hayes nodded with what might have been understanding. "That's the standard Guild integration protocols"....Hayes took a brief silence before asking Riven a question.

"How did you resist?"

"I didn't..., at least for the most of it....I just survived until I found an opportunity to escape."

"With Ms. Vasquez."

"Yes."

The interview continued for another twenty minutes.

Hayes asked about his knowledge of Guild operations, potential security risks he might pose, his intentions if granted settlement residency.

Riven answered as honestly as he could while keeping his emotion looting abilities vague.

He just kept spamming the 'Enhancement system', 'situational boosts'....

Nothing that would flag him as particularly dangerous or valuable.

When Hayes finished, he closed the tablet with an expression that gave nothing away.

"You'll be assigned provisional resident status pending further evaluation," Hayes said. "You've Thirty days to demonstrate your value to community security and operations."

"What does provisional status mean?"

"Means you're not a guest anymore, but you're not a citizen either. You'll work, contribute, and be observed....if you Perform adequately, then we'll discuss permanent residency. Cause problems or fail to contribute meaningfully..." Hayes shrugged. "Well, There are other settlements."

Riven was escorted to temporary housing...a converted office space with six bunk beds, currently occupied by four other provisional residents.

His bunkmate turned out to be Lisa, who'd apparently finished her own re-evaluation.

"How'd it go?" she asked as he claimed the remaining bottom bunk.

"I got the Provisional status....I got thirty days to prove myself useful."

"Better than rejection right??. What's your assignment?"

"I Don't know yet. They said someone would brief me tomorrow."

As evening fell over New Eden, Riven lay in his narrow bunk and stared at the ceiling. Through thin walls, he could hear conversations from other rooms...people planning work schedules, discussing resource allocation, some were sharing news about patrol reports.

Normal life....

Or as normal as life could be in a post-apocalyptic settlement surrounded by dimensional hazards.

But he couldn't shake the feeling that his real evaluation hadn't even begun yet.

Elena was somewhere in the medical wing, recovering.... and integrating with people who valued her knowledge and potential.

Meanwhile, he was sleeping in temporary housing with other people the settlement hadn't decided were worth keeping.

Tomorrow he'd find out what kind of work they considered suitable for someone with "adaptive enhancement" abilities they didn't fully understand.

Tomorrow he'd begin proving he deserved to stay in the first place he'd found that felt like it might become home.

The settlement's night watch change echoed through the walls....efficient, organized, professional. These people had built something worth defending.

Now he had to convince them he was worth defending too.

As sleep finally came, Riven's last conscious thought was wondering if thirty days would be enough time to prove himself to people who'd already decided Elena was valuable while he remained questionable.

Outside, New Eden's lights created a small island of civilization in the vast darkness of the Scar Zone.

And somewhere in that organized community was Commander Vale, the woman who'd dismissed him as just another Guild escapee with basic abilities.

He'd have to change that assessment if he wanted to stay.

But first, he had to figure out how to be useful to people who seemed to have everything under control without him.

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