It was almost fair to say that Mi-Yung was the highest-ranked secretary in the world, but that insulted her a little. As a Rank 6 Walker, there was a lot she could do and accomplish. Former South Korea would love that idea even more, as it was quite driven in that direction.

  For her, the revenge would be the greatest reward. However, that felt very distant, or like good relationships with other forces across the whole earth. The end of this dark era was more like a distant dream than a job.

  There weren't too many organizations, so Mi-Yung had to be careful and not butcher any remaining strands, relationships, and helps. Others often did the same, or tried to be polite about it, and it was slowly changing a lot in the last few decades.

  The cause?

  The Federation grew out far too quickly and moved upwards in the worldly hierarchy, and did it whilst being close to First Fracture and North America. It wasn't easy to do.

  Then, there was the Emblem Academy, which was partly responsible for the Federation's success, albeit it was more independent and not seen as a crucial and widespread society. It was a private, high-class Walker organization that had very little interest in running around the people of this world and play matchmakers or law-makers.

  But enforcing it was another thing altogether, as Fain was a curious and strange person. Many people realized it too late and discovered the Academy had a hand in much more than just the Federation.

  “Assembly Divisions are Yondu, Mitsudo, Red, Argon, Eagle, and Trunthe. These six provide everything for the Assembly, people, and Walkers. Every one of them has hundreds of Walkers each, both in various Ranks and variants. Each Upper Pillar is a Rank 8 Walker, and Generals are the same, or one Rank lower. It is a stable hierarchy, and each Division does at least one thing better then the rest.”

  “Luke is a Captain at Rank 5? What is above it in the Yondu Division?”

  “Above?” Mi-Yung asked and wondered why he had such a weak reaction to Divisions. Maybe Ellie talked about them? “Well, although he is only a Captain, he has his own team for missions that he picks by himself or by others. It is a fairly lenient and good position, and above it are Private Captains marked by Low or Upper Pillars, or simple Colonels.

  “So that is above it?”

  “No. The next is the General. Luke worked hard and earned a decent status in the Yondu Division, and there are actually not that many who would go that high. Colonels are more serious and handful. I would even argue that life in the military isn't that nice. Traveling, rules, and wars are constant. Darks are hard to keep out of our lives. Without them, what would the Federation be like? I don't want to guess. But as with everything, it isn't all that surprising to see it pessimistically.”

  “I know...”

  “Outside is worse, right? It goes without saying, so sorry to repeat things you must already know. Outside is quite a hectic field. I could not imagine what life must have been like for you... out there, running and doing whatever it takes.” Mi-Yung paused, and her voice softened. “I would like to hear about it from you personally. You are running away from it. From me!”

  “It is not like I complain about it. I wouldn't mind becoming a soldier. It sounds unavoidable.” William said unexpectedly, and was calm like a lake, and didn't even grab his hand.

  He didn't know what sort of prerequisites those Divisions had for new cadets, but some of those Divisions had offered to buy him before. Maybe. He had no idea which, or how to even join one differently than become their recruit and lifelong contractor.

  Luke was like that, etched into the military and disallowed to leave for others because it was that sort of recruitment and commitment. Running away from it wasn’t a good thing. It was traitorous. Wretched. Bad.

  Mi-Yung thought he didn't want to hear her later sentences and secretly scowled. “All this talk is important to you. Divisions, I mean. The incoming Examination will show you everything about them, and you will end up where, I wonder?”

  “Examination?” William raised his brows. “I thought we talked about something else.”

  “Right! Where have I ended? The organizations... Since you need to work towards that cursed Examination, I can move those two topics together. First, we have this.” Mi-Yung walked forward, pointing her finger towards the ocean east of the land called Florida.

  “It is between North America and Europe. In the vast ocean that is known as the Atlantic.” William involuntarily added what he learned from Ellie.

  The Federation was closer to North America, while not being close to anything in particular. Thousands of miles was an enormous distance for most Darks, and only something like Rifts and high Rank Darks would come here from the mainland. Those were rarer, and with established defenses, breaching this place was no longer easy.

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  What was questionable was the proximity of South America, where the Dawn happened in its first knocks and cracks known as the First Fracture.

  William gained a better understanding of the scale of the world not only because of this globe, but also through talks. The fact that he traveled from Canada across the land, observing former New York City, and the Atlantic, filled his mind and eyes with great ideas, as well as torments. The world was immense, yet this globe and heart were little, and the land was vast.

  He saw this earth from a different perceptive that not many people Outside dared to imagine. The helicopter helped a lot indeed. All that travel took quite a lot of hours and no simple efforts, but he didn't need to know it.

  He was still unaware of what Mi-Yung had done to catch him. Frankly, she could’ve pretended an excuse and done it herself, but someone would have caught a whiff of her for sure.

  Thus, Luke was deployed, and along with it, a couple of more unreasonable actions messed with her afterwards. One was even closer, clutched and lectured by Ellie beside the globe.

  Assuming a rough distance between the Federation and Canada, it was thousands upon thousands of miles from his former home. This globe helped with his calculations, while the rest was the sheer scope of the land and waters.

  It used to be full of people. Allegedly. Canada wasn't crowded even before the Dawn, as its people were quite close to the borders of the USA.

  Nowadays, most of the cold north was barren and rough land, though that also pointed to a possible safety. He saw it personally, Outside, or partly from a distance, and that window.

  The planet was deep, big, and distant, yet also under his feet. Almost empty too, looking as if there were no Darks roaming everywhere.

  He wondered how this planet would look like from the cosmic perspective, or what this globe would look like if it was made today.

  How much land was safe? How would the nation change? Not a little, he knew. It would look like a land marked by all the Zones and dangerous and hazardous territories marked by Darks instead.

  America and the Federation were his interests, anyway. There were other places of similar mass and status overseas. The Federation was far from the immediate dangers, but training Walkers wasn’t excessive or difficult anywhere.

  William judged it must be hard to work around with such vastness. That idea also worked with what Mi-Yung touched upon before.

  The world was in pieces. Humanity too. A lot of organisations were way too busy thinking about themselves, their survival, and position. Their future could shift and change like South Korea's. Nobody wanted to become food, let alone a loser.

  As William thought about his ideas, Mi-Yung continued.

  “The Federation is the biggest force in this hemisphere, for obvious reasons. There is simply nothing else, which leaves the other half much more competitive and crazy. But we have South America down below, so that's that. It is quite detached from the Outside as is, since the Dawn came and drove this hemisphere from the South. As for the North America, it is still alive because of human effort and geography of the north. Darks also haven't spread inside way too quickly. It was more about thickness of this land and little corners. Bubbles are there, safe, sound, or impossible to see. They are called safe lands. Safer, is more of a word.”

  “Yet humans still lost. Calling it good is like driving a stick and calling it a horse.” William muttered.

  “Yeah, but it's better to say it this way than describe losses of billions of lives as a good thing. Wait. Scratch that. Many would think that, don't you think?” Mi-Yung asked as she looked at him.

  “I don't mind the harsh truth. It is honest at least,” William said back defensively, fleeting with his eyes to look at South America. A chunk of it was glowing green thanks to a huge Amazon jungle and many lights within this sphere.

  “I won't argue with you.” Glancing back at the globe, she reconsidered what kind of information about Outside forces was appropriate.

  Seeing her return to the previous casual gaze of the "teacher", William returned his gaze. Mi-Yung went ahead with what she thought was fair.

  “Federation isn't a lone little thing. There are other smaller factions within that are part of the Divisions. The USA has most of them. They are in California, Alaska, and the Utah desert.”

  “What are they for? I don't think they are all there for young Walkers to train, right?” William asked an important question that was on his mind for a long, long time.

  For all intents and purposes, if it were not for Mi-Yung, he would've ended up in one of those places. He doubted he would get this library and learning opportunity anywhere else, let alone this quickly.

  “I guess I owe you this answer. You are right. We are training Walkers anywhere we can. Outside is good for that. Maybe even better than the Federation, though that is very subjective. Travel isn't an issue, anyway. There is always a bigger variable: what are the best environments for their upbringing, and what is the leading cause of stability and power within younger Ranks? That can change, like training and painful hunting. What I mean is that increasing Ranks is a big headache for all of us.”

  “So, is it something similar to the Federation? Reinforced place with self-sufficient resources? Sounds like a camp to me. Camp for Walkers.”

  “You say it so bluntly that I almost agree with you. But there is nothing wrong with it. Walkers fight Darks. They gain the System's blessings, growth, and tasks. Don't you know you should respect that?” Mi-Yung glanced back at William, forgetting that his basics were yet to blossom.

  Facepalming herself, she giggled after noticing his frozen expression. “Sorry. Sorry.”

  “Must be hilarious to laugh at the clueless person. A lot of Walkers are the same. Should I be worried about my future?” William lamented without a speck of anger and left Mi-Yung in tears of laughter.

  Not far, Ellie and Celeste had their fun, but one of them couldn't help but gaze at them from time to time, apparently hearing them.

  Blushing, Mi-Yung stopped after a couple of moments and adjusted her hair.

  “Darks will wait. I will definitely bring you to more rooms around the upper floors. Think of it as a reward for today. Don't you think I have the greatest ideas?”

  “...”

  “Very well, I shall continue. There are Europe, Africa, and Russia, which are a bit tricky to call as organizations, but I think of them as such. There is one small land in New Zealand that has an accumulation of resources from its land, but its proximity to Australia is like a large black cloud, so its development is always lacking. It is a beautiful place, though. Not many Darks recognized it for their grounds, so it is relatively peaceful. It is known as the Land of Shepherds.”

  Mi-Yung pointed to one of the lower points on the globe, right beside Australia. It was almost unnoticeable, even if it looked twice smaller than Madagascar on the opposite side of the globe.