- Shit, I’m late

Of all days, I had to oversleep today. I was furious because usually I was an early bird, so this was rare, and on top of that, today were the trials for the White Police.

You are probably wondering. What the fuck is “White Police?”

Let me explain: White Police is an organization managed by the government that protects the citizen and brings justice to society. So, they are basically the police that everyone knows of. The only difference? White Police doesn’t use guns like old police would do, they have swords.

Why is that? Aren’t criminals just going to use guns and have an advantage? Aren’t guns more effective? Well, yeah, all of that is right, but there is a little problem with that: guns do not exist anymore.

So, here goes a story:

In the year 2025, things in the world were bad, like, really bad. A lot of political and economic issues between some of the biggest world powers like the U.S., Russia and China, we were basically on the verge of a new World War, but out of nowhere the presidents of said countries decided they had enough and made a meeting with some other big political figures to put an end to that. Everyone thought the conflict was coming to an end, but little did they know, all of the three countries, with help of some allies, had planned to attack each other at the meeting to eliminate their enemies all at once. To this day some people suspect that it was all a conspiracy and that someone manipulated all of them to create such chaos, but we will never know since it happened over 50 years ago.

Well, where was I? Oh yeah, long story short, with their political heads dead, the big three entered in a state of chaos, and before anyone could do anything about it, they were bombarding each other with their most powerful nuclear weapons. So, in the span of a month, the three biggest countries in the planet were reduced to toxic and poisonous ashes, and, if that wasn’t enough, some other countries took advantage of this fact and started to attack other countries weaker than them with the excuse that they now didn’t have someone to protect them or bringing back old conflicts from a century ago. And like that, less than a year had passed and almost 85% of the World’s territory had been destroyed by nuclear attacks and was completely uninhabited. The only parts that were more or less unaffected were Oceania, South America (from Argentina to Ecuador) and Western Europe (only Portugal, Spain, Belgium and a part of France). I should also add that most of the population of the world was killed, something around 90%. Only the people of those countries plus some that managed to escape their countries in time survived. I think that the number was something around 600 million people survived out of the 8 billion that the World used to have. It was the biggest catastrophe in mankind history. Oh well, shit happens.

Back to the topic, after the war was over and the dust settled, the heads of the remaining countries called an assembly to make a treaty so something like that would never happen again, and to make the rules for the new incoming era. They called it the Ragnarök Treaty, as a reference to the end of the World in the Nordic mythology. Some of the new rules were trade agreements, population distribution and, the one important to this story, one that asked for the immediate destruction of every single fire weapon in existence, all the way from pistols to missiles and nuclear weapons, and the closure of every single industry that made them. This also included chemical weapons and basically anything that wasn’t a white weapon, and industry wise that included other industries like the gunpowder one. In addition to this rule came the question: What would happen to crime? Since the war destroyed the economy of the world, even that of the physically unharmed countries, poverty had incremented a lot during that time, so it was common sense that delinquency would do too. The answer was a bit old fashioned: swords. The metallurgical industries would be managed strictly by the governments so no one could be making swords left and right.

Of course this would not stop criminals from getting their hands on metal or swords by illegal methods, as it always had been, but at least they could reduce those situations to the minimum possible.

And like that, the White Police forces were created. With branch offices in all three zones of the world, they are the police of the new era. The name surged from the fact that they could only use swords a.k.a. white weapons, but also was attributed to the fact that their uniforms weren’t blue like they used to be in most cases, but white. Uniforms which changed a lot from the usual police ones, not only in color. They decided that, since agents would be going against swords, they could use something like a chainmail or even a more heavy armor for better protection.

Now, you might be thinking: Who in the world knew how to use a sword? The answer was easy: almost nobody. But of course, they did something about it too. After the meeting, they gathered every person they could find that where above certain level of mastery with a sword, and asked them to train the first generation of WP of the world. It hadn’t been difficult to convince them since anyone wanted another problem like delinquency to rise after what they had been through.

So, with every aspect covered, they took some volunteers which went through deep investigations to make sure they were suited for the job and some military forces that still wanted to fulfill their duties, gave them the necessary training as fast as possible and founded the three big branches of the White Police, one in what was left of Europe, one in Australia and one in Brazil, which then expanded to their respective frontiers and beyond, until there were more than enough branches to take care of the entire remaining territory.

And that is the end of the story, which brings us back to the present, my present. My name is Theo, 18 years old aspirant to White Police. Well, not yet, but I’ll be once I get to the HQs and pass the examinations. That’s if I make it in time, of course. Somehow I overslept. The trials start at 9 a.m., right now its 8:50 and I have a 20 minute walk to the HQs where the exams take place. So, I have to get out of here and run like my life depends on it.

Snatching an apple from the basket on the kitchen table, I packed a pen for the written part of the test, my wallet, phone and the handle of a sword I’d found with my mom some years ago, as a token for good luck, grabbed my backpack and got out of the house running like a maniac hoping that I could clear the 20 minute walk in less than 10 minutes.

Luckily, the streets were pretty clear since people usually started their shifts between 7.30 and 8.30 a.m. so there was barely anyone walking or driving. Thanks to this, I was able to reach the HQs lobby by 8:59 according to my phone and by 9 I was on a room with other 20 or 30 candidates and an examiner who was in charge of the test.

I’d made my research about the WP trials so I knew what to expect. The written test was basically a formality since the real test was the practical one. This one had some history and politics questions, and some hypothetical situations that could happen, just to see how you would react and based on your answers and a little psychological test that came right after this one, discard those who weren’t suitable for the job.

Then, they took you to a little room with a treadmill and, after taking measurements for your height, arm’s length, weight, etc. they make you walk, jog and run on the treadmill to test your stamina.

With all that done rather easily, we were told to wait on a hall until everyone else finished and meanwhile they started making the preparations for the practical test.

This test was the most important one because here they checked your sword skills, so it was common for candidates to take one or two years after finishing school at 17 or 18, to train and prepare, either attending an academy or, if you had enough money, hiring a private tutor for one or two years before taking the tests.

This wasn’t my case since I knew that I wanted to become an agent for almost 9 years now. Of course, I couldn’t go to an academy at that age, and I didn’t have enough money for a private tutor, so I trained myself. It was really helpful that my mom had a bookstore, because I had access to a lot of books with information about swordsmanship, swordplay, fencing and all that kind of stuff. Nothing that I couldn’t find on the internet, but my mother didn’t let me get free access to it until later in my teen years, so physical books had to do the job.

Every day, from middle school to early high school, my mother picked me up and we walked together to her bookstore, making some stops to buy groceries for that night’s dinner and such.

Once we got there, I helped her accommodate the store, and while she worked, I used the time to finish any homework I had and the remaining hours I read about swords, different types of swords and swordsmanship and practiced with a plastic tube I found in my mother’s deposit.

The first book I found had the fundamentals on one-handed swords, and since the tube fit perfectly for my little body as a one-handed sword, I decided to go with that. Later I tried to change into something thinner like a rapier, so I picked up a stick from the street when walking with my mom, with the excuse that I wanted to use it to play, but once I started wielding it like the book said, I didn’t feel comfortable at all, so I stuck with my original plan of the one-handed short sword. That routine kept going for some years until I entered high school, when I planned to tell my mother about my training and my future plans. But that same year, right before school started, my mom got sick, and shortly after, she passed away.

It still hurts to remember how that infection took over her at an incredible speed, taking her from me in the span of a week. So I won’t enter into details, the only thing you need to know is that I took over her work at the book store (since I needed money, and I never got to meet my dad because he died before my birth), which added to my new high schooler schedule, took a lot of hours away from my training. But that didn’t stop me. I gave up a lot of my social life, attending only to occasional birthday parties once in a while, and used the rest of my extra time training with a wooden sword I bought with my first salary of the bookstore.

-…ntion please

Snapping me out of my train of thoughts, the examiner for my group had arrived and was telling us to listen up while they explained the final test.  

- Hello everyone, I’m agent Violet and I’ll be your examiner on today’s test. As you might know you are going to fight against me and I’ll decide if you are worth of entering the White Police as a trainee

- You will be evaluated in strength, speed, skill, and resourcefulness, and then I’m going to give you an overall grade. Lately we have been very strict with our requirements, and also we are not letting in everyone that passes

People started muttering after hearing this news, and worried faces could be seen all over the room. They had never put a limit on the amount of trainees accepted as long as they met the requirements, but I wasn’t going to give up that easily

-There’s only five open spots, so if 6 of you pass the test, I will decide who continues and who doesn’t

Without worrying about being heard, people started to shout

- That’s not fair!

- My parents will hear about this!

They didn’t even know if they had passed but were already complaining.

Well, it’s not like it affects me so I didn’t say anything and kept my attention on the examiner.

- QUIET!

As soon as agent Violet spoke, the room fell silent.

- I don’t care who you are or where you come from, if you have what it takes then you don’t have to worry. All those complains only reflect your own lack of self-confidence so if I were you, I’d shut up and start focusing. We are going in alphabetical order so everyone wait until you are called. Understood?

- Yes mam’!

- Good. I’ll see you at your test. Good luck.

With that, she turned around and disappear through a door right behind her, which I assume led to the testing room.

I sat on the floor and took off my backpack since my name was probably at the bottom of the list, which meant that I’d have to wait some time.

I opened the zipper of my bag and took out the handle, my lucky charm, just to have something to fidget with.

A couple of minutes passed and while I mentally reviewed some of the answers I made on the written test, someone touched my shoulder, which scared me more than I’d like to admit.

- Oh sorry, wasn’t trying to scare you

- It’s okay, I was totally spaced out

When I turned my face 90 degrees to see who I was talking to, she was already kneeling beside me so we ended up at eye level. Blonde hair fell over her shoulders and through her back, stopping right in the middle. Her posture seemed nearly perfect as her back was completely straight all the way to her neck. I couldn’t be sure because she was basically doing a full squat, but we were almost the same height. Her moss-green tank-top looked pretty baggy on her thin body, but made a perfect fit with the pair of black sweatpants covering her lower half.

- That’s a nice piece of work you have there, where’s the blade?

She looked at me with her curious big almond eyes before giving me a gentle smile.

- I’m Patricia, but call me Pat

I realized I was staring at her a bit too much so turning away and clearing my throat I said:

- Unfortunately it was broken when I found it, but I plan to repair it once I become an agent. I’m Theo by the way

- Nice to meet you Theo. You seem pretty confident on yourself, that’s good

- I’ve been waiting this moment for years so I’m well prepared, how about you?

- Years? That seems a bit excessive, but I’ve been training hard this last year too, you know? So I’m also pretty confident myself

- Hahaha is that a hint of jealousy I detect?

- Shut up, I’m going to be top of this group and you’ll see

- Oh I’d love to see that

- Don’t worry, you will

Our little chatter was interrupted by Violet, our examiner.

- We are ready to start so I’m going to start calling you, okay? First candidate, Allen Patricia, please come with me

- I guess that’s me - Patricia said while standing up.

- Going in first? That sucks, the examiner is in full form and ready to beat your ass. No pressure tho

- Thanks for your words and concern, but I’ll be more than fine

- You’re welcome. Guess I’ll see you later then. Good luck

- Thanks and of course you’ll see me, well, that’s if you also pass the test. See you then

With that, she followed Violet through the door and officially started the White Police practical test.